Chapter 86

Leveling Up Alone: Ragnarok Chapter 85

For E-class hunters, the type of work and the amount of money they earn are similar regardless of which guild they work for.

This is because their main job is to be miners or gatherers.

The contract system itself is structured so that they receive incentives based on the amount of work they do, which means they can only earn as much money as they are willing to work for, regardless of which guild they join.

However, the reason they prefer to join large guilds whenever possible is ultimately for 'safety.'

While the mining team is extracting mana stones inside the dungeon,

and the gathering team is dismantling the dead monsters,

how well the same guild’s attack team can protect them is the most important thing for the lowest-level hunters.

For this reason, although Lim was initially very surprised, he eventually signed the contract that Suho offered.

It was natural.

He had already seen Suho fight using the Shadow Soldiers and had long noticed that Suho was different from other hunters.

Moreover, Suho was not the type of person who would use and discard people like expendable items, as some large guilds might.

‘Since he’s offering the highest pay among E-class hunters, I have to take it.’

After signing the contract, Lim extended his hand to Suho, who would become his guild leader.

"Then, I look forward to working with you, Suho."

[Youngest, you’re so brief. I’ll personally tear you apart to maintain discipline...!]

"Please, I look forward to working with you, Guild Leader!"

Held by the collar by Ber, Lim quickly corrected himself.

Suho chuckled.

"Yes. I look forward to working with you, Assistant Lim, or rather, Brother Do Kyun."

* * *

"Then, please take care of it."

"Understood, President."

Yoo Jin-ho instructed his secretary to start the preparations for leasing one of his buildings to Suho’s guild.

"It was originally a building I was planning to demolish and remodel. But building a new one would take too much time, so use it as it is, even if it’s a bit shabby."

"Thank you, Uncle."

"Sure. Anyway..."

Yoo Jin-ho didn’t say it out loud, but he thought it would only be used temporarily.

If Suho had inherited his father’s talent, making money was just a matter of time.

‘The important thing isn’t the building. He won’t be recruiting more guild members anyway.’

And that thought was accurate.

Suho already had a vast shadow dungeon beneath his feet.

"But, Suho."

Yoo Jin-ho looked at Suho seriously.

"You’ve gathered all three guild members, and I’ll handle the paperwork, so everything is ready. But there’s one important thing missing."

"What is it?"

Yoo Jin-ho’s serious gaze made Suho’s expression turn serious as well.

"Your qualifications."

"Qualifications?"

The word 'qualifications' made Suho’s expression turn serious.

Yoo Jin-ho was the only one who knew about his father’s strength.

His gaze seemed to say:

-Do you really have the qualifications to lead an army!

Swallowing hard, Suho waited for Yoo Jin-ho’s next words with a serious look.

Yoo Jin-ho spoke.

"Yes. Your qualifications. Only hunters who have cleared dungeons more than 20 times can become guild leaders."

"Ah, that’s it."

Suho nodded with a disappointed look.

After all, he was just a novice hunter who had only experienced a few field-type dungeons.

‘I’m going to be very busy from now on.’

Before receiving the guild office from Yoo Jin-ho, he needed to solve this problem first.

* * *

"You’re forming a guild?"

Eshil received an unexpected proposal from Suho, who had visited the shadow dungeon.

"Yeah. You’re also a member of my guild. From now on, you’ll be entering dungeons with me."

"Me too? But I’m not human, is that possible?"

"That’s why I’m here. Let’s take a picture of you. I need to make an ID for you as a foreign worker."

"Foreign worker?"

Eshil tilted her head in confusion.

"Smile."

"Eh, eh?"

Click.

Suho took a picture of Eshil’s face with his phone.

"Is that it?"

"Yeah. That’s it. I’ll take care of the rest with an app."

Suho opened a photo editing app and adjusted Eshil’s face to look as human as possible.

‘Luckily, Eshil looks quite human for a demon. No horns or anything.’

Of course, there were minor peculiarities, like slightly pointed ears, but those could be explained as the result of a hunter’s skill.

‘Some hunters can transform into beasts, so this is nothing compared to that.’

However, some hunters with extremely sensitive senses might notice that Eshil wasn’t human.

‘As long as we don’t run into them, it’s fine.’

But that wasn’t a problem anyway.

His guild would remain at three members for the foreseeable future.

"Ooh! What’s this? I’m getting prettier! Could this be my true form...?!"

"No. It’s not."

Eshil was amazed and moved by the advanced photo editing app.

Despite Suho not doing anything special, the app’s basic editing effects did the job.

"Hmm. Good. It’s appropriately exotic. Since the concept is a mixed-race foreign worker, this should be fine."

"Ah!"

When Suho turned off his phone, Eshil, who had been excitedly looking at her picture, pouted in disappointment.

She then looked at Suho with a sly expression.

"Suho, can I have one of these...?"

"A phone? You’ll have to buy it with your own money."

"Ah! You’ll give me money?"

"Of course. As a guild member, you’ll earn money based on your hunts. But you’ll also have to buy your own meat with your money."

"Got it!"

Eshil suddenly became enthusiastic.

"But you said there’s one more guild member? Who is it? Is he strong?"

"Hmm."

Suho thought for a moment before speaking.

"No, he’s very weak."

"Huh? How weak?"

"He might die if you touch him. So you must never bully him."

"Really?"

Eshil was puzzled.

* * *

The requirement of clearing dungeons 20 times to become a guild leader wasn’t actually that significant.

Dungeons were popping up like mushrooms, and hunters were frantically clearing them to earn money and prevent potential disasters.

Thus, the role of a guild leader in leading these hunters was crucial.

If someone without dungeon experience led them, valuable talents would die needlessly, leading to more disasters.

So, to meet the requirement, Suho, along with Lim Do Kyun and Eshil, began actively clearing dungeons.

The only downside was that his level wasn’t increasing much during this process.

‘The dungeons are too easy.’

It was inevitable.

The 3-person team of Suho, Eshil, and Lim Do Kyun was too low-level to enter dangerous dungeons.

Therefore, they could only enter dungeons that were almost cleared or field-type dungeons, where the monsters were too weak to give Suho any experience.

However, this was from Suho’s perspective. It was different for Lim Do Kyun.

"Ah! Eshil! Save me!"

"…You’re really weak."

Eshil pitied Lim Do Kyun, who hid behind her whenever monsters appeared.

Meanwhile, next to her, a very brave puppy was charging at the enemies with a fierce look.

"Grr! Grr!"

[The King of Beasts, the Fang Lord, nods approvingly as Gray continues to grow strong.]

[Gray Lv.17]

Fang Wolf

While Suho’s leveling was separate, Gray was steadily growing.

Of course, half of the experience Gray gained...

Ding.

[‘Pet: Gray’ offers 50% of its experience to its owner as an offering.]

Even a negligible amount of experience was shared with Suho.

However, in the long run, this was definitely beneficial.

The more Gray grew, the more experience would be shared during hunts.

[Ha-ha! Good job, Gray! Keep improving and offer more to the Young Lord!]

[Ber uses ‘Skill: Harsh Command’.]

[‘Skill: Harsh Command’ increases Gray’s stats by 50%.]

[‘Skill: Harsh Command’ causes Gray to be cursed with madness.]

"Grr...!"

Under Ber’s harsh command, Gray howled.

The monsters laughed at his howl.

Until they were torn apart.

Crunch!

"…!"

Even if small, Gray was a legitimate heir to the Rakkan.

A predator that instinctively targeted the ‘weak points’ of its enemies.

[The King of Beasts, the Fang Lord, closes his eyes at Gray’s cruelty.]

There were male monsters too.

"Grr!"

Crunch!

* * *

Lee Young-ho, the section chief of the Hyunmu Guild, was in a very bad mood lately.

It had been like this since 'that day.'

The day he was harshly rejected by President Yoo Jin-ho at Ajin Soft.

'I’ll get you back. Someday, I’ll definitely get you back.'

Lee Young-ho gritted his teeth.

The Hyunmu Guild wasn’t as big as the Baekho Guild or the Sasin Guild, but it was still a well-known large guild in Korea.

However, Ajin Soft was a major corporation with significant influence in the business world.

Their industries were different, after all.

No matter how much he thought about it, he couldn’t come up with a proper way to retaliate against President Yoo Jin-ho.

'If he were a hunter, there would be plenty of ways to vent my anger.'

The simplest way would be to use 'strength.'

Hunters were allowed to kill inside dungeons, after all.

Of course, outright murder was illegal, but there was no evidence of murders inside dungeons, so no one could be held accountable.

"…What is that guy doing now?"

Given the situation, it was only natural for Lee Young-ho’s anger to shift to Seong Suho.

"Find out what Seong Suho is doing these days. I heard President Yoo Jin-ho said he would help him form a guild."

"Understood, sir!"

"Hurry up, damn it!"

Smack!

"Ouch! Understood, sir! I’m on it!"

The subordinate, who had been hit on the back of the head by Lee Young-ho, hurriedly logged into HunterNet.

He was the one who had sent a drone camera to Seong Suho’s house on 'that day.'

‘I did it because the section chief told me to, so why am I the only one getting scolded...’

While grinding his teeth in frustration, the subordinate suddenly stopped and looked at Lee Young-ho.

"Sir, Seong Suho…"

"What? Did you find something?"

"It seems he hasn’t formed a guild yet because he doesn’t meet the requirements. He’s currently working hard to gain experience by clearing dungeons."

"Is that so?"

At that moment, Lee Young-ho’s eyes gleamed.

"Find out which dungeon he’s going to next."