That day, the group took down four hyena monsters. It was their biggest hunt yet.
But their expressions were nothing but sour.
Sunhee counted the number of monsters loaded onto the collection truck.
‘Eleven.’
Then she saw the twelfth and final hyena monster being loaded.
The last one being loaded was larger than the other hyenas.
She turned her gaze away from the monster.
In her eyes, she saw Yonghoon sitting to the side, disassembling his spear.
‘Eight monsters hunted alone. And the boss monster.’
Her mind flashed back to the fight with the large monster that seemed like the boss.
It happened after the group had taken down all the other monsters and were walking toward the safari area. A large hyena monster had come lumbering out from the safari corner.
All the beasts inside the safari had already been killed by that monster.
When it saw the group, the monster let out a loud roar.
But no sound responded to its cry.
Enraged, the monster strode toward the group.
Yonghoon stepped forward.
And the battle between the monster and Yonghoon began.
Sunhee watched the fight in a daze. It wasn’t the kind of hunting she knew. It was different from the stylish hunts shown in Link System Company videos.
The way Yonghoon fought was concise and intense.
He matched the monster’s momentum, releasing Dimensional Power, and dodged all attacks by moving only his upper body.
Then he raised his spear and stabbed the monster’s body at a rapid, relentless pace.
His upper clothes were shredded and fluttered in pieces, while blood burst from the monster’s body.
Finally, he slipped under the monster’s jaw and stabbed upward with his spear.
He pushed the spear all the way up into the monster’s head. Yonghoon’s whole body was soaked in blood from the wound.
In the end, the spear pierced the monster’s brain, and it collapsed.
Now, covered in blood, he sat calmly to the side, tending to his spear like nothing had happened.
“I-Isn’t that guy scary?”
Jimin whispered quietly into Sunhee’s ear. Her eyes were fixed on Yonghoon.
“Ugh, the way he was drenched in blood and going wild, it was like……”
She couldn’t finish her sentence and trembled.
At Jimin’s words, Sunhee tilted her head.
She was right. It was definitely a frightening and brutal scene. Normally, she would’ve shuddered too.
‘Why did it look cool to me?’
Sunhee found her own feelings strange.
When Yonghoon came out of the bathroom after a quick wash, the others were waiting for him.
Sitting on the benches at the entrance, they looked like lawmakers preparing for a hearing.
But when Yonghoon appeared, they all began to glance at him nervously.
It seemed they were hesitant to throw questions at an E-Rank Awakened who looked like he might have a bad temper.
Sunhee took the lead.
“Why didn’t you tell us you were E-Rank?”
Yonghoon tilted his head at Sunhee’s question.
“Is that a problem?”
Sunhee couldn’t answer right away. It wasn’t like they had suffered any harm.
But human emotions didn’t work that way.
“Then why did an E-Rank person join our team?”
Kangwoo asked the next question. Everyone’s eyes lit up, curious about Yonghoon’s answer.
“Uh, is it because we have high potential?”
Jimin whispered the answer she was hoping for under her breath.
Yonghoon glanced around at the group. His eyes briefly passed over Sunhee.
“I became E-Rank from hunting alone. But E-Rank monsters are hard to hunt solo. So I was hunting F-Rank monsters, and I only joined you because I was causing trouble for you.”
Jimin looked visibly disappointed by Yonghoon’s answer.
“If you’re interested, I’m also open to hunting E-Rank monsters together. Though you’d have to follow my schedule.”
At Yonghoon’s words, the group’s eyes lit up again.
He was the first E-Rank Awakened they’d seen outside of company employees. He was saying he could lead them to E-Rank. It was like a highway had opened up in front of them.
‘Well, it might be a tough road, but-‘
Yonghoon didn’t think much of it. Everyone in the other world went through hardship.
The group gathered again the next day. It was because of what Yonghoon had said at the end yesterday. They sat in a café next to Seoul Station, talking.
Until now, the team had gone hunting once or twice a week. The long travel and tough hunts meant they needed rest.
“Just doing commissioned hunts won’t get you fast growth or big profits.”
At Yonghoon’s words, the others looked puzzled.
“Let’s make it a one-night, two-day trip. We’ll complete the commissioned hunt and sweep the surrounding area. The mountains and fields are overflowing with monsters.”
The group’s expressions hardened. Just hearing it sounded exhausting and dangerous.
“I’ll do my best to ensure your safety.”
At Yonghoon’s words, most of the group fell into thought. But Jimin immediately raised her hand.
“I-I agree! I’ll work really hard. As long as I don’t die or get hurt, I’ll do anything!”
Jimin said, her eyes sparkling at Yonghoon. It was hard to tell where her fear of him from yesterday had gone.
In her eyes, stacks of cash were rolling around.
“I want to do it too. It might be tough, but the earnings seem worth it.”
That was team leader Han, the head of a household. Two members still looked unsure.
“If I become E-Rank, I’ll be helpful too, right?”
Sunhee asked Yonghoon.
She had been worried that her abilities weren’t contributing to the team.
“Above E-Rank, assassin-types hold an absolute position in a team.”
Yonghoon looked at her and said firmly.
At his words, she made up her mind.
“I’ll do it too. I want to become E-Rank.”
As soon as she finished, everyone turned to Kangwoo.
Kangwoo sighed as he saw everyone looking at him.
“Alright. I’ll do it too. It seems like becoming strong quickly is the best option, so I’ll give it my all.”
Yonghoon looked at everyone and nodded.
“Then we’ll start the day after tomorrow.”
Two days passed.
“I wanna go home. Waaah, waaah-“
Jimin was running down the mountain in tears. Her face and body were covered in dirt and small scratches.
The sun had already dipped low, and night was approaching.
“You said you’d protect us! Where are you? Waaah~”
Jimin was running downhill like mad, not even looking around.
Behind her, a large animal was chasing her at lightning speed.
It was a giant rabbit the size of a person.
A black rabbit with glowing red eyes was pursuing her.
She ran frantically, and when a flat area came into view, hope finally returned to her eyes.
“I’m saved!”
Ahead, she saw the rest of the group. They didn’t look much different from Jimin.
“It’s right behind me! That Kang Yonghoon guy was nowhere to be seen!”
She dove behind the group, busy cursing Yonghoon.
But no one responded to her words-they were all staring ahead.
Jimin wiped her tears and turned her head.
There, a giant black rabbit was glaring at the group.
And behind the rabbit, Yonghoon appeared holding a long spear. He had been chasing her from behind the rabbit all along.
Startled, she shut her mouth tight and carefully returned to her spot.
The battle between the group and the giant rabbit began.
It was the second day of their first overnight Hunting trip. On the first day, they had completed a commissioned hunt as usual.
It had been a small cement factory, and this time, the monster was an ordinary feline type, so they finished the hunt without issue.
But their real struggle began from then on.
Yonghoon led the team through the surrounding fields and mountains. Fortunately, they found a monster near the mountain’s edge and managed to capture it together.
After everyone slept in the minibus, they headed into the mountain in earnest on the second day.
They completed three hunts throughout the day, and by sunset, they had entered their final hunt.
During the hunt, Yonghoon trained each person according to their abilities. Defense-type Awakened trained defense, assassin-types trained assassination, and strike-types trained striking.
That’s why this time, Jimin was tasked with luring the monster in the mountain. Among the Awakened, the fastest strike-type Awakened were active as lures in the other world.
A moment later, Kangwoo’s attack managed to subdue the rabbit. They had safely completed the final hunt.
The group immediately called the disposal team. Fortunately, the local team wasn’t far and arrived before sunset.
“The monsters you caught today are four F-Rank medium-class, totaling 48 million won. I’ll transfer it to your account now.”
Team leader Han took out his phone and checked the account. Seeing the payment had gone through, he nodded.
“Still, that’s impressive. You’re hunting without a commission. I wish others were like you.”
The disposal team staff gave team leader Han a thumbs-up.
Team leader Han gave a wry smile. Then he said goodbye to the disposal team and walked back toward the group’s bus.
Inside the bus, people were sprawled across the seats like corpses. They were so exhausted that they couldn’t even sleep and just slumped in a daze.
Jimin, perhaps still bitter from the last hunt, was secretly glaring at Yonghoon.
Team leader Han sat in the middle seat of the bus and began the settlement.
“Today we earned 48 million won. Combined with yesterday, that’s 110 million won total. After deducting 10% for team expenses, that’s 24 million won per person.”
The tired group smiled at team leader Han’s words.
“Yonghoon, yours is 12 million won after excluding the commission fee. Is that okay?”
Team leader Han asked Yonghoon cautiously. He felt bad that the amount was small considering how hard Yonghoon had worked.
Yonghoon nodded at team leader Han’s words.
“That was the agreement.”
Yonghoon had agreed to a prior contract. Instead of taking commission fees, he would receive a share of the hunted monster when he helped during dangerous moments.
Everyone found it odd, but Yonghoon had no choice if he wanted to train them. If he didn’t want to lose money by participating, they had to hunt diligently.
Jimin, who had been glaring at Yonghoon for a while, lowered her head when she heard talk of money. She must have felt sorry.
Yonghoon didn’t place much importance on the money he was earning now.
The true Hunting began at E-Rank.
Two weeks had passed since they started Hunting. It had been over a month since Yonghoon became E-Rank.
Now, even among regular Awakened, one or two E-Rank Awakened were starting to appear.
Already, more than half of the company’s Awakened had become E-Rank.
Eventually, a few days ago, the first team composed entirely of E-Rank Awakened emerged among civilian Awakened.
Sunhee and the other team members felt increasingly sorry toward Yonghoon as time passed.
The Hunting-or rather, the training disguised as Hunting-was extremely tough.
But as their abilities rapidly improved and they earned more money, even the grueling Hunts became enjoyable.
Still, when they found out that other Awakened had reached E-Rank first, the group couldn’t help but feel sorry toward Yonghoon.
But Yonghoon didn’t feel particularly disappointed or regretful.
He had expected this much anyway. The real starting line was after all the team members reached E-Rank.
And beyond that, an overwhelming number of trials awaited them.
Yonghoon believed that once the entire team reached E-Rank, they could quickly catch up to any other team.
And what Yonghoon was focusing on now was a completely different issue. It was about his second ability.
He had already tried hundreds of times. Still unable to grasp it, he was wondering if there might be another method.
Continuing to challenge it was good, but trying different approaches wasn’t a bad idea either.
Time passed, and the last day of that week arrived.
After completing all their Hunts, the group looked at their smart watches with emotional expressions.
That day, the entire group had become E-Rank.
Team leader Han reached E-Rank during the first hunt of the morning. During the second hunt, Jimin and Kangwoo did, and in the final hunt, Sunhee barely succeeded in leveling up.
Everyone was amazed at how they all leveled up on the same day, but of course, it was because Yonghoon had adjusted the training that way.
Seeing everyone’s joyful faces, Yonghoon clenched his fist tightly.
This was only the beginning.