Hunters are bound to have strong egos.
On a fierce battlefield where gates and monsters, swords and magic pour down like rain, hunters must first believe in themselves.
Only by trusting themselves and maintaining a solid center can they coordinate with nearby allies and protect themselves from the madness radiating from the battlefield at a distance.
So it was by no means strange that Lee Hye-jeong frowned at Lee Shin’s suggestion to change her style.
“Well… I don’t think that way.”
No matter how she had been a promising talent forgotten due to various flaws, and how Lee Shin had kindly discovered her, this was still a comment that could easily upset someone.
In fact, Park Jeong-seok’s excessively submissive attitude just before this was the truly unusual thing.
“If I offended you, I apologize. I think there’s been a misunderstanding—I never intended to hurt your pride, Hye-jeong.”
“No… I got excited too. Sorry for raising my voice.”
“I just personally thought that if you changed your style, you could grow even more, so I said it.”
“If you want me to change my style, I’d like to hear the reasoning behind it.”
“Hmm~ very well. In that case.”
Lee Hye-jeong is a nimble, evasive close-range dealer who can sometimes herd mobs—a character similar to the ‘rogue’ often seen in RPGs.
She is fast, daring, and top-tier with her hand skills.
She lacks the brain to understand team tactics, like her allies, but at least she has enough intelligence to act independently—knowing what to do, where, and how.
If she hadn’t failed to grow properly, she could handle solo missions easily.
By these standards, she is a versatile resource usable anywhere.
But there’s just one thing.
This single fatal weakness held her back.
Dealing, damage, attack power.
Despite being called a dealer, Lee Hye-jeong’s attack power was extremely weak.
Right now, in League 4, it’s not noticeable, but by the time she reaches League 3, she would be even more powerless than anyone could imagine.
So the advice Lee Shin gave her was “poison.”
“Depending on how you use it, poison can provide utility, debuffs, and even cover for your lacking attack power—it will be the final master piece to complete Hunter Lee Hye-jeong.”
“Just to be sure, you do know how difficult poison is to utilize, right?”
“Of course. There’s probably no one who knows better than I do.”
“…That’s very much like you, sir. Incredible confidence.”
“You’re free to listen or not. As a representative, I at least hope all hunters who pass through me succeed.”
“Hmm, for someone who called us tools at our first meeting, you’re surprisingly sentimental.”
“Not all tools are the same. If possible, it’s better to have well-managed tools.”
“Really, sir…”
Lee Hye-jeong shook her head as if she couldn’t help it, and the consultation of the raid team ended there.
________________________________________
Alone in the representative’s office, Lee Shin watched Lee Hye-jeong trudging past the window, lost in thought.
“Hmm…”
“Is something wrong?”
“She’s here, hyung.”
Just then, Chae Dong-ha entered and shared the view Lee Shin was seeing: The raid team members gathered on the training field.
The curious thing was that the members were divided around Park Jeong-seok and Lee Hye-jeong, who had just left the office.
“If it were me, I’d pick Hunter Park Jeong-seok.”
“Huh? What do you mean?”
“You’re deciding between Hunter Park Jeong-seok and Hunter Lee Hye-jeong, right?”
“Does it look that way?”
“Yes.”
“Well, that’s not entirely wrong.”
Sometimes this happens.
The reviews are good and people recommend them, but when you try them, they’re just so-so.
Not bad for casual use, but lacking for full use.
Lee Shin defined this as ‘ambiguous.’
And these two characters fit perfectly into that ambiguous category.
________________________________________
※ Park Jeong-seok (Male, 23) (140/181)
Stats
Strength 60, Agility 58
Stamina 51, Intelligence 29
Wisdom 28, Mana 44
Traits (3/9)
“Body Utilization,” “Close Combat Specialist,” “Desire for Recognition”
※ Lee Hye-jeong (Female, 22) (134/183)
Stats
Strength 23, Agility 72
Stamina 49, Intelligence 33
Wisdom 40, Mana 51
Traits (4/9)
“Delicate Hands,” “Throwing Mastery,” “Agile Movements,” “Big Sister”
Park Jeong-seok, with his first trait “Body Utilization,” can be used flexibly in close-range roles, and “Desire for Recognition” can even accelerate growth.
Meanwhile, Lee Hye-jeong’s trait “Delicate Hands” excels in hand-skill-related traits, but carries a strong penalty to strength and attack power.
Each character has clear strengths and weaknesses, hence the dilemma.
If they were lacking like other members, it would be easy to use them as tools, but they are resources that can be utilized all the way to League 1 if managed carefully.
“The immediate return on investment is Park Jeong-seok, but Hye-jeong has better potential and endgame stats. What made you pick Park Jeong-seok?”
“I looked strictly from a market perspective.”
“Oh, market logic is a good approach. Tell me more.”
As Lee Shin gestured, Chae Dong-ha organized his thoughts and spoke.
“According to last year’s Junggak (Central Awakener Management Headquarters) statistics, frontline tanks accounted for 19.6% of all hunters, while dealers accounted for 52.6%. Of course, including both melee and ranged, there may be some error.”
“It’s a fact that dealers overwhelmingly outnumber tanks.”
What Chae Dong-ha wanted to convey was market logic: abundance makes something cheap, scarcity makes it expensive.
There are plenty of dealers and surprisingly few tanks.
The answer comes easily, doesn’t it?
“Moreover, a tank like Park Jeong-seok, who fits the trend, is even more valuable.”
“So Lee Hye-jeong can be easily replaced?”
“There’s more.”
Chae Dong-ha paused and brought a file from the bookshelf.
“Raid management records? This existed?”
“It’s a document I created to summarize consumables and costs for raids.”
“Whoa…! Truly a future genius leader!”
Opening it, the first page shows the familiar item.
The raid’s core resource and the ‘water supply’ of the raid team: Potions.
“You’ve organized it by importance. Neat.”
“Of course, potions first. Anyway, the point I want to show is here. This section here.”
A sheet summarizing consumable usage per hunter.
“Excluding Park Su-bin at rank 1. He’s the representative’s pick and now the guild’s core. Then who’s next?”
“Lee Hye-jeong.”
“Yes.”
Potion consumption number one.
Throwing daggers and various other consumables were also overwhelmingly number one.
“If it’s you, CEO, you should know exactly what I want to say. Maintaining Hunter Lee Hye-jeong costs too much.”
“Looking at the chart, it’s extreme. Almost double compared to second place.”
“Honestly, we can overlook it for now. It’s awkward to say, but she is still worth the money. But in the future?”
The higher the difficulty of League 3 and League 2 gates, the more inevitable the use of consumables becomes.
That means Lee Hye-jeong’s maintenance costs will increase rather than decrease.
This was Chae Dong-ha’s conclusion after considering all of it.
“To put it in car terms, Hunter Lee Hye-jeong is an old sports car. The speed might still be fast, but the fuel efficiency is horrendously terrible. So, in many respects, I think it’s more advantageous to develop Park Jeong-seok, who is stable.”
“Wow, comparing a person to a car. Hyung, I didn’t see you like that—you have no blood or tears.”
“Only the CEO would treat someone as a tool on the first meeting.”
“Hehe, exactly! I’m proud. As a senior bastard, I’m very satisfied to see you becoming an excellent bastard.”
“…I’m not happy about that.”
Every word is correct.
Even during this learning period, such judgment—he truly felt the difference that someone born SS-rank is special.
But he also felt there was still a long way to go.
“I’ve heard your excellent opinion, but sorry, my concern wasn’t which of the two to develop.”
“Excuse me?”
“I will develop both.”
Typically, potential above 180 is considered an A-rank resource.
A-rank means top-tier level.
For example, even if competing in the Asian League or Champions League is impossible, performing well in League 1 is no problem.
In other words, they are versatile.
“What kind of wordplay is this? You’re developing both but still saying it’s not wrong?”
“Literally. I’ll develop both. What I was thinking about was which one to go with.”
“??!!”
The character to develop and the character to go with.
A common beginner GM mistake is confusing these two, just like Chae Dong-ha did.
“Do you have to go together to develop? Then if you don’t go together, should you neglect one of them?”
Coldly evaluate a character’s potential, and develop them as much as possible.
Asking why spend resources if not going together is very amateurish thinking. In the professional world, there’s a very good system called “trade.”
“Ah……!!”
“Remember, hyung. When you manage a raid team later, you must judge objectively without any personal feelings. Even if someone’s life changes based on your choice, never be swayed by emotion.”
“CEO…… you really seem like a CEO.”
“Then is there a fake CEO too?”
Lee Shin had a rarely serious expression.
Sometimes showing a silly side, sometimes shining like this—Chae Dong-ha realized once again that Lee Shin was indeed the CEO.
“Still, thanks to you, I’ve decided.”
Lee Shin picked up the phone and gave instructions.
“Equipment team. Check the underground vault. There should be a pair of shoes I obtained a few days ago. Send them to Park Jeong-seok.”
“Promotion team, from now on focus on Park Jeong-seok as much as possible. Reduce Park Su-bin and Lee Hye-jeong coverage slightly. Yes, it will continue consistently. Good work.”
That’s it for Park Jeong-seok.
Next is Lee Hye-jeong.
“Nothing to do, right? Hyung, come with me for a bit.”
“Where are we going?”
“To get poison for Hye-jeong.”
“Poison?”
“Just follow me.”
“Wait a moment. Let me change my clothes.”
________________________________________
Busan Yeongdeok Potion Factory.
The factory owner was completely flustered by an unexpected visitor.
“Let’s organize this. You mean you want us to cancel the deal with Mir? The client we’ve contracted with for 20 years since my father?”
“Haha, are you crazy?”
Ridiculous. How important is trust in this field!
Unlike the fiercely competitive capital area, in the provinces, everyone knows each other through connections.
Generous-minded thinking that ‘good is good’ is fine when times are good, but when things turn bad, it’s like shackles.
No need to look far—this factory and the Mir guild have had a relationship since the previous generation.
“―But if I cancel unilaterally without justification as you say the next day, I’ll be nothing but a lowlife in Busan.”
Yet the woman, Jeong Sumi, was confident.
In five minutes, no more, no less, the factory owner would willingly become a lowlife.
“How about this?”
She slid the document forward with delicate fingers.
At first, the factory owner turned uncomfortably, muttering “Hmm!”
He did not want to see it and was showing that no petty money could sway him.
But by sheer coincidence, a question mark appeared in the factory owner’s head.
??…… What did I just see?
Seeing the unusual string of zeros, he immediately checked the document, losing face.
He hadn’t seen it wrong. An unbelievable amount was written there.
The factory owner suddenly became polite and a smile appeared on Jeong Su-mi’s face.
“We’ll pay a separate penalty for canceling the contract and handle the taxes on our end. Even if Busan is difficult, we’ll arrange transactions with clients in other regions.”
“R-Really?”
“How about it? With this, you can bear the inconvenience of canceling the contract, right?”
“Y-Yes……?”
“What we expect from you, the factory owner, is simple.”
Try following along.
“Hold the phone like this.
Find the Mir guild like this.
Just say one sentence like this.”
Jeong Su-mi spoke with an enchanting smile.
“C-A-N-C-E-L. T-H-E. C-O-N-T-R-A-C-T.”
A moment later, Jeong Su-mi walked out of the office. She checked her wristwatch.
4 minutes 10 seconds.
The time at which the 20-year contract between Yeongdeok Potion Factory and Mir Guild was canceled, the time the factory owner became a lowlife due to the unrefusable money, and also the time when Lee Myung-hwan’s lover and ally, master of the intelligence guild <Scavenger>, Jeong Su-mi, declared war on Lee Shin.
“The young master knows how to get into a mud fight, huh.”
