A few days ago, turning back time, this was the conversation that had come up regarding the lineup for the Counter League.
“Then we’ll put Bruiser Hunter Park Jeong-seok at the top lane, and poison-handling Hunter Lee Hye-jeong in the jungle.”
“Yes.”
“Alright then.”
Jeong Sun-dong and Raid Captain Kim Jong-pil agreed with Lee Shin, who was seated.
With that, two of the four positions—top, jungle, mid, and bottom—were filled with the upper-body roles.
What remained were the mid and bottom positions.
“Originally, Mountain King was going to go mid, right? That might be a bit…”
“After all, there’s also the promise he made…”
“I never go back on my word. I said I wouldn’t step into the frontlines until we reach League 1, so I have to keep it. Until we get to League 1, I’ll back the team up as a supporter.”
“Th-then, coincidentally, the most important dealer line is gone.”
“So it seems.”
Usually, dealers are placed in the mid and bottom lanes.
AP (Ability Power) dealer in mid, AD (Attack Damage) dealer in bottom.
“The AD carries the team to finish the match, and the mid is the team’s core.”
“Woah, if the AD is the last bastion to win the battle, the mi-mid leads the team to higher ground.”
Higher ground. That means promotion.
Dealers are responsible for victory and promotion, yet the key positions for the Counter League were vacant.
And if they had to choose one urgently, it was the mid lane.
“Bottom has two. And Mountain King is there too, so there won’t be any early laning collapse.”
“That’s right. I can handle the AD carry somehow. The most important trait for an AD carry is physical skill, and our kids have plenty. If they stick with a supporter next to them to control it, the bottom won’t be a problem—at least at League 3 level.”
“The real issue is who will fill mid.”
Mid is the center of the battlefield. The lane itself is the hallmark of the Counter League, the flower of the strategy, and the place where grand tactics are executed.
Wide vision, roaming timing, initiating fights.
You need versatility. You must coordinate the battlefield. And you must be the strongest.
Experts don’t call it the “chosen spot” for nothing. This is the domain of geniuses with selected talent. That’s why a Hunter capable of handling mid is the most valuable.
“What do you intend to do?”
It was a question laced with concern but Lee Shin hadn’t wavered even once since the conversation began.
“It’s fine.”
What’s there to worry about? We have the ultimate weapon.
“Our mid is Su-bin.”
________________________________________
“So it’s Park Su-bin that you trusted…”
It was pure admiration escaping Mountain King’s tightly closed lips.
A storm whipped by 39 milk-white orbs at insane speed. Extreme multitasking.
“…Looks like me.”
Beyond overwhelming the enemy with sheer numbers, it was the sight of Mountain King, the legion commander of the spirit corps, detonating the battlefield.
Coincidence? Fate?
Same style, same position—this is almost…
‘Isn’t it like they’re telling me to teach them?’
It might be an exaggeration.
For that statement to hold, Lee Shin would have had to predict Su-bin’s performance exactly even back when he used that barely-there shield.
But is that possible for a single person? An unheard-of ability.
Yet, yet…
Once might be chance, twice is skill.
Lee Shin had already shown him how thoroughly one can analyze a person’s potential.
Thinking of the instruction manual Mountain King held and Lee Shin’s sly face, he chuckled. One thing was certain: being around that guy was never boring.
But unfortunately, this side was serious.
“….”
No one behind Mountain King in the raid squad dared to speak.
The squad had experienced the recent battle as if firsthand through video magic, yet they still hadn’t processed what had happened.
‘What was that just now?’
‘What did I even see?’
‘I can’t organize it—how does it work?’
Their thoughts varied, but their feelings were the same.
Was the youngest really that strong?
No one present doubted Park Su-bin’s talent. Surprisingly, even when seeing Su-bin as clumsy at first meeting, his talent had been acknowledged.
The reason was quite interesting. Su-bin was the youngest Hunter at 16.
A long-standing guild rule: the age of awakening is inversely proportional to talent.
As evidence, only four people had awakened under 16 in Korea, all of whom were active in the top-tier even in League 1.
Add Su-bin’s extraordinary performance, and it was easy to infer that his future was brilliant.
Yet the Su-bin they saw also had clear limits.
For example: ridiculous gear like a mink coat that even their mom wouldn’t wear, king rings, necklaces, and potions and awakenings drunk like water.
From this, it was clear that Su-bin’s dazzling peak performance was still unattainable without reliance on such items.
They predicted that Su-bin’s talent would fully bloom only when he no longer needed these props.
And that bloom wasn’t expected to be now.
But they were delightfully wrong.
The recent 5-on-1 fight was concise and overwhelming, as if mocking them. Calling it a battle was almost embarrassing. Su-bin snapped his fingers, milk-white orbs embroidered the sky, and papapapapap!
End.
That was all. Really.
So now, seeing Su-bin on the field with a clueless expression, stumbling around, didn’t make him feel like a monster?
“Hahaha… this little brat, embarrassing his senior.”
Lee Hye-jeong scratched her head, embarrassed, having told the anxious Su-bin to go easy.
“….”
Faced with a competitor whose growth far exceeded expectations, Park Jeong-seok pressed his lips firmly together.
Jealousy, competition, crisis, anxiety…
Kim Jong-pil nodded at the tension spreading through the raid squad.
Exactly. A raid squad should be like this. The pro world is ruthless. Fall behind in competition, and you’re eliminated. Always be ready to prove yourself.
Yet look.
Luxury brands draped on bodies, overwhelming scents of perfume, women with makeup, men all tanned as if wandering the seas.
Currently, the Mir raid squad was far from professional.
As a side note, during the Kirin Guild era, the wild tiger Kim Jong-pil would have had them cowering in a corner already.
Stepping into the sacred training ground with such a pathetic mindset? You call yourselves pros? He’d have chased them off like bugs.
Compared to back then, Kim Jong-pil had softened a lot due to various incidents.
Rather than chasing rookie chicks during the first season and promotion like catching mice, he used a more elegant approach.
Of course, being unable to strike his younger sibling and rolling on the floor could bruise his pride, but that’s none of Kim Jong-pil’s concern.
“Su-bin.”
― “Yes, sir!”
“Well done. Good, but looks like you forgot to check shield output. There wasn’t enough time to gather the data. Even if it’s hard, hold off on attacking and maintain the battle situation.”
― “Ye-yes!”
“Let’s change the field and go again. Again, you were excellent. Just do as well this time.”
― “Understood!!”
Kim Jong-pil, watching Su-bin nod energetically in the rippling video, released the lever.
The field controller creaked as it descended, and the field in the screen, previously a meadow, changed to a lakeside.
Then Kim Jong-pil pressed a button to open the ‘movement gate’ to the field and finally issued the death sentence.
“What are you doing, six of you? Go in.”
The faces of the raid squad turned pale.
________________________________________
On the bus returning from the stadium.
Even though it was clearly the same route as when they went, the raid team on the way back looked 180 degrees different. From their outfits—now combat gear—to their hairstyles, which had been carefully done but were now rolling in the dust, everything had changed. The scent of mismatched perfume had turned into the intense smell of sweat.
Now they looked worth watching.
Kim Jong-pil nodded in satisfaction and continued speaking about the league.
“5, 4, 3, 2, 1. As the league level rises, it demands more from the guild.
Simply put, the number of matches increases. Raids must now tackle higher-level gates. Entirely new forms of combat, like the counter battle, appear, and the roster expands to handle the busy schedule.”
The number of matches, which had been 38 rounds, increased to 44 rounds.
Gates that were level 3–4 rose to level 4–5.
Half of the new rounds, 21 rounds, changed from monsters to humans, becoming 5v5 hunter counter battles.
The roster, which could only register exactly 15 people for a raid, expanded to 20 in League 3.
“Tight schedules, heavier consumables, and higher equipment hurdles. To handle this burden, the guild naturally has no choice but to expand its size.”
To meet the schedule, they must recruit more members; to handle consumables, they must trade more; to support the raid team with better equipment, they must run around tirelessly.
Just like Mir Guild’s business ventures during this off-season.
“If the guild is this busy, would it be fair for only you to be comfortable? That would be unconscionable.”
The sudden reprimand made the raid team lower their heads.
“What the league demands from hunters is clear: upgraded energy levels, improved hunter skills and performance, and the higher-level competition that results.”
“This is why the league office implicitly treats guilds from League 3 as proper guilds.”
Even the stadium they used today was proof, and the many changes were enough to call it a great upheaval.
Kim Jong-pil made it clear here: you are professionals, and if you don’t strive to survive, you can be discarded at any time.
“The soft, easy-going League 4, where you just entered gates and executed strategies without a care, is over. You are now playing in League 3, and from now on, you must prove your worth every moment.
Starting with me.”
Kim Jong-pil’s gaze swept over the three new recruits in turn.
A slender man holding a wand, a muscular man, and a woman holding a staff.
“…….”
The simple gesture made the raid team tense up.
Though no words were spoken, or rather because none were spoken, Kim Jong-pil’s warning was felt all the more vividly.
“You are no longer fixed members. If you don’t meet my expectations, your place can be vacated at any time.”
Thus began the competition for starting positions.
“In League 4, we set records in every round and rewrote the league’s history. Isn’t that exciting? Every step we take is recorded as a mark in history.”
Even the legendary Mountain King had never reached this uncharted realm.
Perhaps the Mir Guild and Kim Jong-pil were becoming the protagonists of history.
He chuckled, recalling Lee Shin’s words about making them protagonists.
Protagonists of history… I like it.
So from now on, even the Mountain King would have to compete seriously.
“We will achieve this great accomplishment in League 3 as well.”
This is not “wanting to do it.”
It is done. Guaranteed.
It is not a result that comes after the process; the result is fixed first, and the process is adjusted to fit it.
And if they disappoint him during that process, like today they will all be replaced.
From the very beginning, they were recruited as tools, with that mindset.
“Make every day intense.”
The Mir raid team took their first steps into League 3.
Time passed quickly, and the day of Mir Guild’s 1st Round counter battle dawned.
