By Zephyria ‘If I purify them, Jeong Si-young will also be desperate and treat me well.’
But on the other hand, seeing Lee Hyun-muk directly like this, he also felt greedy. He wasn’t just a High-level Awakener, but a Re-awakened High-level Awakener. Rumors were also circulating online that Lee Hyun-muk was the strongest Awakened in the world.
Although they were collaborating with the Sunrise Guild as per their contract with the government, wasn’t the Sun Guild the best guild at this point? Go Jae-won was merely an intermediate awakened. That meant he was nothing special. Jeong Si-young and Lee Hyun-muk… Park Seung-min was already ecstatic at the thought of being protected by all the High-level Awakeners.
“Um, I can purify you too.”
Park Seung-min, who had only ever encountered people who were desperate for his purification, bringing him stacks of money, probed cautiously. Although Go Jae-won’s face showed displeasure at the act of breaking the contract that stipulated he would only purify Sunrise Guild members, Park Seung-min was the superior party, so Go Jae-won merely gritted his teeth.
Park Seung-min had expected Lee Hyun-muk and Seo Yakrin to welcome his purification and eagerly request it. However, for some reason, instead of responding to his words, they stood rooted to the spot, staring intently at him. If one were to describe the nature of that cold, cold gaze, it would be similar to this:
‘So this is what it’s like.’
It was the look of someone who already knew about him from hearing his explanation. Embarrassed by their complete disregard for his words and their far from friendly gaze, Park Seung-min blushed. He subtly glared at Yohan, who was standing behind the two.
‘He must have badmouthed me.’
He had harbored doubts for a while now about whether Yohan had truly lost his memory, so he felt a little worried, but he soon straightened his shoulders. Even if that were the case, he believed they couldn’t do anything to him, a High-rank Purifier. Too proud to speak to Lee Hyun-muk again, he turned his attention to Yohan.
“Yohan-ssi, how about I do it for you? I can do this much for old times’ sake…”
With the intention of speaking more with Lee Hyun-muk in exchange for a little purification, he quickly stepped forward and reached out to Yang Yohan, but a sharp, cutting hand pushed his away. Park Seung-min’s eyes widened. It was Lee Hyun-muk who had blocked him.
“I’d prefer it if you didn’t touch my guild member so carelessly.”
“…No, you’re speaking as if I’m doing something bad to a friend.”
Park Seung-min shot back, his mood soured, but Lee Hyun-muk merely stared without replying. At that cold, chilling gaze, Park Seung-min involuntarily flinched. Seo Yakrin, standing beside him, watched and then let out a snicker.
“You two really do get along well.”
Seo Yakrin, looking at Park Seung-min as if he were an insect, deeming him not worth dealing with, then glared fiercely at Go Jae-won. He then strode away to undergo the inspection. Park Seung-min, who had never experienced such disregard and contempt since his Awakening, was dumbfounded. He looked back at Go Jae-won, who was pretending not to have heard the conversation, unable to retort. It was a truly pathetic attitude.
“Yohan-ssi, you need to be inspected too.”
“Yes.”
In contrast, Lee Hyun-muk’s attitude towards Yang Yohan was incredibly affectionate.
Park Seung-min’s face turned bright red. Anyone watching would think the roles of High-rank and Low-rank had been reversed. How could a Low-grade person, who had merely spent some time in the Abyss, receive such excessive treatment? He seethed with anger but, unable to retort to Lee Hyun-muk, he just gnawed on his lips. As the Little Sheep team glanced at him with curious eyes and followed Lee Hyun-muk, an impulse arose within Park Seung-min.
“Acting all high and mighty just because you got into the Sun Guild as a parachute hire.”
Unable to hold back, he glared at Yang Yohan, speaking loud enough for everyone to hear. The Little Sheep team members’ eyes widened. Only then did Lee Hyun-muk stop walking and turn his head to look at him again. The gaze was darker and heavier than he expected, causing Park Seung-min to hastily retreat back to Go Jae-won as if fleeing.
‘…Parachute hire?’
For now, he pretended not to notice their actions, not wanting to offend Lee Hyun-muk and Seo Yakrin, but the Little Sheep team members’ gazes darted around busily. In fact, the rumor about a returnee from the Abyss joining the Sun Guild as a new recruit was still a hot topic. Moreover, Yang Yohan was a strong candidate among them, so it was only a matter of time before suspicion turned into certainty.
“Good morning, Yohan-ssi!”
The next day, Yohan, who had braced himself for rejection as a parachute hire and came to the guild, was bewildered. Instead of being criticized or teased, the Little Sheep team members approached him more warmly.
“Did you not catch a cold? I was so nervous I thought I was going to die.”
“I’m going to get a morning coffee, does anyone want anything? How about you, Yohan-oppa?”
“Ah… I’m fine.”
Answering as usual conversation flowed, Yohan felt relieved. It was fortunate that they treated him normally, even though they must have heard Park Seung-min’s words about him being a parachute hire yesterday.
Of course, Yohan didn’t know, but after he went home yesterday, this kind of conversation took place among the Little Sheep team members.
‘Wow, so Yang Yohan is a returnee from the Abyss?’
‘It seems Team Leader Lee Hyun-muk personally brought him in. He didn’t exactly deny it back there, did he?’
However, the flow of conversation wasn’t as negative as expected. One of the Little Sheep team members tilted their head, sipping a free guild beverage.
‘But is he really a parachute hire?’
‘Yeah. Should we call that a parachute hire…?’
‘He’s just a genuinely experienced new hire, isn’t he?’
If they hadn’t gone on the Rift exploration today, they might have felt a bit of envy. But after fighting monsters, they knew too well. Monsters are terrifying, and Rifts are dreadful places. Then, how much more dreadful must the Abyss be, where even Lee Hyun-muk’s life was on the line dozens of times? While Lee Hyun-muk and the other Sun Team members were admirable, Yang Yohan also felt equally amazing.
‘No wonder he dodged and caught them so well.’
‘Honestly, he doesn’t seem like a Low-grade, does he?’
‘Even if he is Low-grade, he’ll probably rise to Intermediate soon. There were quite a few Low-grades who became stronger than Intermediate-born individuals in the previous Sunrise Guild.’
There was no one in the Sun Guild who didn’t respect Lee Hyun-muk and the team that belonged to Sunrise before, except for Go Jae-won, who was openly called a traitor. More importantly, a reason for the Sun Guild’s popularity among Awakeners was that they didn’t discriminate against Low-rank Awakeners.
While typically successful guilds like the Sun Guild prioritized recruiting Intermediate Awakeners, the Sun Guild hired individuals based on their potential or diligence, even if they lacked experience or were Low-rank Awakeners. Intermediate Awakeners wouldn’t be hired if they had poor character or reputation, or if there were appropriate reasons.
Because of this, the Sun Guild had a considerable number of guild members who started as Low-rank and became Intermediate or higher. Even if they remained Low-rank, their skills often surpassed the upper echelons of their rank. This indicated the excellent judgment of the guild leader, Lee Hyun-muk. The Little Sheep team members looked around, put their heads together, and whispered.
‘Yang Yohan was like a complete veteran on his own.’
‘I could barely stomach water, but he ate and rested so comfortably, as if he was used to it…’
‘I was really grateful for his help earlier. So I don’t have any complaints.’
‘Besides, what could we do if we had complaints? The guild leader personally recruited him. And I’m just a Low-grade myself.’
Ultimately, their conclusion was that it didn’t matter if he was a parachute hire; if he had backing, it could mean more team-wide support, which would be good. Having reached a conclusion, the Little Sheep team members went back to sipping their drinks. Then, one of them shrugged and said,
‘At least it’s certain he’s not friends with Park Seung-min.’
Unaware of this kind of conversation, Yohan was simply delighted that the Little Sheep team members were such good people.
“Yesterday was the exploration schedule, so will we have training today?”
“I like it here because they teach everything meticulously. My friend didn’t get taught anything, suffered greatly in a Rift, and got mild Corruption after a month. They even made him buy his uniform and pay a guild joining fee.”
“What’s with the guild joining fee? It’s basically like working for a company, just called a guild. Imagine a company asking you to pay an entrance fee. Everyone would laugh.”
“And they always take a hefty commission too.”
As the world became this way, making a living became difficult, so corporate ethics were often ignored. Yohan, who had grown up sheltered, was aghast hearing about the guild’s unimaginable thuggery.
“Little Sheep team members, gather around~!”
A familiar cheerful voice and clapping hands were heard, so he turned his head to see Yoon Seung-ryong waving with Joo Ho-young. The Little Sheep team members immediately stood up and rushed to greet them.
“Sunbae-nim, hello!”
“Yes, yes. Hello. Have you all had breakfast? I’m here to inform you of today’s schedule.”
His voice was gentle, considering he was addressing adults. They rolled their eyes at the treatment they had rarely received since graduating high school.
‘He said he came out after about 10 years in the Abyss.’
It was already dreadful, but the thought of a place where time passed even faster than here was terrifying. Perhaps because of that, the Sun Team treated the Little Sheep team members and the Any-Yang team like children whenever they saw them. It was better than being treated poorly, but as adults, they felt awkward every time. Joo Ho-young said cheerfully,
“Today, we’re going to the Hyunsan Hospital research lab to appraise the value of the monster byproducts we hunted yesterday!”
In truth, the Level 5 monster was something that Lee Hyun-muk and Seo Yakrin had practically handled, making it embarrassing for them to claim they hunted it. Nevertheless, as a commemoration of their first Rift exploration, they were generously giving them the entire sale proceeds without taking any commission, so the Little Sheep team members’ hearts swelled with excitement. Yohan, who had only used monster byproducts for consumption, except for temporary housing, was equally looking forward to it.