ALL NOVEL Chapter 17
Chapter 17: Rank 4
“Huh.”
“Wow…”
“Is that supposed to be a chicken?”
People gasped upon seeing the photo of a chicken.
Their reaction made the conference room a bit noisy.
The presenter briefly shut his mouth, waiting for the surrounding noise to quiet down.
“This specimen is currently under investigation at the Hero Department Research Institute and will be registered under the codename MU-1302 in the mutation ledger as the first discovery in the world.”
“Let me see…”
Someone stretched out both hands to gauge the size of the chicken on the screen.
“Not only the head, but its body is larger than a person. The Brazilian chicken doesn’t even compare.”
“The size is impressive, but the scariest part is its beak. According to the researchers, it seems harder than steel…”
“What?”
“…Then isn’t it out of the Rank 5 range?”
A woman scribbled something on paper on the desk.
There were names of various monsters listed, including the Giant Monster.
“To think a mutation occurred in a monster that was once among the most ordinary, like the Giant Monster…! That’s terrifying.”
“We should consider adjusting the rank of the Giant Monster soon.”
“Wait, I’m against that! If the rank of the Giant Monster changes suddenly, many guilds will rebel.”
“I share a similar opinion. The Giant Monster has a significant presence in the Rank 5 Monster Area and occurs frequently abroad, so any rank change would require close consultation with other countries.”
“But what if this mutation appears again? There could be fatalities in inexperienced parties.”
As the topic of adjusting the Giant Monster’s rank was raised, the conference room grew noisy once more.
A man opposing the rank adjustment glared at the presenter.
“What is the extent of the damage caused by MU-1302?”
“One serious injury and one minor injury. There have been no fatalities, and the seriously injured person has regained consciousness after treatment at the hospital.”
“That’s a relief.”
“Which guild handled it?”
“Well…”
The presenter quickly scanned the white document in front of him.
Due to the mistake of a subordinate who passed the materials to him, the guild name was missing.
“Since the situation was urgent, we don’t have that information, but I’ll look it up after the meeting.”
“No need to bother. They’ll come for the mutation anyway, right?”
“There’s no need to check; it was probably a joint effort by Rank 5 parties, so organizing the contributions between guilds will take quite a bit of time.”
Given the urgency of the situation at that time, detailed information hadn’t been relayed.
The Hero Department speculated that at least three parties had joined forces in the fight against the monstrous chicken.
No one thought a party that had been in the Monster Area for less than a month could have subdued it.
“We just need to arrange a suitable reward once they organize over there.”
“Understood.”
“What’s the next topic?”
“The second agenda item is regarding the clash between the International Creature Protection Alliance and Japanese guilds that occurred a few days ago in Kyoto…”
*
In the office of Sweet Fun.
Yoo Ji-han perched on the edge of his chair, accessing a used car trading site on his mobile phone.
He clicked a button in the website menu to enter the hero-exclusive screen.
Due to related laws, vehicles used by heroes—who often transport monster corpses or equipment—are traded separately from regular used cars.
This is because some monsters release poison even after death, and equipment imbued with magic can affect the health of regular individuals if kept in vehicles for extended periods.
“What’s with all this complexity…?”
However, the used car trading site was far more complicated than Yoo Ji-han had imagined.
Year, mileage, price, insurance history, fuel type…
Special options like seats made from monster hides, added poison or fire resistance, and magic coating inside and outside the vehicle.
Choosing a suitable vehicle was extremely challenging for someone with nearly zero driving experience.
Struggling with indecisiveness, he could only browse through photos of cars on the list.
<—The probability of me buying a car I like on the used car site today>
<23%>
‘There’s no solution.’
He eventually sighed and put his phone down.
Kim Si-hu spoke to him.
“Did you find anything good?”
“What’s good…? Is there anyone around you who knows about cars?”
“It’s rare to even have someone with a license.”
“Then let’s just buy one later.”
“Right. There’s no rush since the monster issue is handled by Mongdang.”
Recently, Sweet Fun had been frequently in contact with Jang Sa-im, the representative of the monster disposal company, Mongdang.
By contacting them in advance before hunting in the Monster Area, Mongdang would collect the monsters at a time that suited their exit, selling them at a reasonable price.
This had been happening for two weeks now.
‘I can’t keep operating like this indefinitely.’
This method was only feasible because Sweet Fun was currently Mongdang’s only client.
If Mongdang were to expand its client base, the quick and friendly service they provided might become harder to expect.
And Sweet Fun would also need vehicles as their numbers grew.
After all, they couldn’t be known as a guild that couldn’t even drive around…
“By the way, it seems Jang Sa-im truly has a keen sense for business. I’ve heard everything sells out almost instantly when he puts it on the market.”
“We’ve done well in hunts too.”
“What’s our total earnings so far?”
“Probably just over 30 million won.”
Sweet Fun, which hadn’t been entering the Monster Area daily, still managed to earn 30 million won in two weeks.
After deducting the monster disposal fees and various taxes, the pure profit came to just over 20 million won.
If they continued hunting like this, Sweet Fun might expect revenues more than double that amount in a month.
‘That’s quite impressive in a way.’
Even though the price of a magically coated truck on the used car site started at a minimum of 50 million won!
For a guild with only one Rank 5 party, that was an excellent income.
Sweet Fun was, after all, a newly established guild.
In the current environment where large guilds were absorbing talent, it was definitely not easy for small guilds to survive.
Knock. Knock. Knock.
Someone knocked on the office door from outside.
It seemed the long-awaited guest had arrived.
“Looks like they’ve come.”
“I’ll go.”
“Just sit down.”
Yoo Ji-han gestured for Kim Si-hu to sit back down as he tried to get up.
Then he stood up and opened the door himself.
Screech—
A man in a black suit with a badge stood at the door.
He was one of the officials of the Hero Department whom Yoo Ji-han had encountered a few times at the MA in Bucheon.
“I’m Yang Ji-cheol from the Hero Department!”
“We’re acquainted, right? Come on in.”
“Excuse me.”
Yang Ji-cheol stepped into the office.
He looked around, and Yoo Ji-han could tell he was slightly surprised by the small office.
Soon, he placed something he had been holding onto the desk.
“This is just a small gift.”
“No, what’s with this…?”
It was a wrapped box with a cute monster drawing winking and giving a thumbs-up.
Inside the box was juice extracted from several monsters, which had been popular health products since the monster food business had started.
On one side of the box was written that it was particularly good for men.
‘That guy wasn’t even half as cute as this.’
The reality was a hundred times less cute than the illustrated monster.
Yoo Ji-han, who had encountered the monster in the past, couldn’t help but chuckle inwardly.
He handed a can of drink to Yang Ji-cheol sitting in front of the table and said, “Sorry for not having anything to treat you with.”
“Oh no! We’re the ones who owe a huge debt!”
He shook his head vigorously while waving his hands to indicate it was alright.
Yoo Ji-han and Kim Si-hu were the ones who saved the lives of other parties from a potential deadly situation because of the mutation.
The Hero Department had no choice but to feel greatly thankful.
“Um, I can’t keep you busy, so let’s get straight to the point…”
Yang Ji-cheol rummaged through a black briefcase and pulled something out.
“The first piece of news I have for you is that another guild has decided to relinquish their claims regarding the mutation.”
“So it will be 100% owned by Sweet Fun?”
“Yes, that’s correct.”
He slid the white document he had placed on the table toward Yoo Ji-han.
It was a formal document stating that the mutation MU-1302 was owned by Sweet Fun.
‘Right. This is how it should be if there’s any sense of fairness.’
Yoo Ji-han nodded, satisfied.
The guild that had given up their claim was the one where the party they saved belonged.
Had they been unaware of the topic and insisted on their claim, he would have visited that guild and caused a ruckus.
“And the guild that relinquished ownership would like to send a reward to Sweet Fun.”
“A reward?”
“Yes! They insist they want to express their gratitude for the rescue…”
What a more honorable place than expected!
Yoo Ji-han glanced at Kim Si-hu.
Whether to accept the reward or not required the guild master’s decision.
“Hmm…”
Kim Si-hu leaned on his chin as he considered while looking at Yang Ji-cheol.
“How much is it?”
“I- I didn’t get any information about the amount.”
As soon as he was asked the amount, Yang Ji-cheol appeared slightly flustered.
“Please let them know that if they are willing to give, we won’t refuse!”
“Understood.”
Kim Si-hu didn’t refuse the reward.
After all, Yoo Ji-han’s sword had been damaged as a consequence of that battle.
Even though he managed to get a sword for free from Nam Ho-yeol’s workshop, he thought it would be fine to accept the reward.
“We’ll return the mutation once the investigation is complete in a few days.”
“Could we directly hand it over to the monster disposal company instead of you?”
“That’s possible. Just let me know when you contact us later. And…”
Yang Ji-cheol hesitated, keeping his mouth shut for a moment.
He still had more to say to Sweet Fun.
“There’s also something quite important I have to mention today.”
“What is it?”
“Regarding the Rank 5 Monster Area in Bucheon, specifically where Sweet Fun is currently active with the Giant Monster, we’ve received numerous complaints similar to this from the Hero Department recently…”
Tap, tap, tap.
Yang Ji-cheol tapped the briefcase with his fingers.
Yoo Ji-han was curious about the unfamiliar news and asked, “What kind of complaints?”
“Some parties operating there are claiming that they don’t seem to belong to Rank 5.”
“Excuse me?”
“The party that doesn’t appear to be Rank 5 is hunting too many Giant Monsters, which greatly diminishes opportunities for other guilds. Also, the problem party consists of just two members.”
“…?”
Was there another party operating with just two members besides them?
Or was it…?
Kim Si-hu pointed to himself with a finger.
“Are you saying it could be us?”
“Yes. That’s right.”
As expected.
Yang Ji-cheol was referring to none other than Yoo Ji-han and Kim Si-hu.
‘It couldn’t have been to that extent, could it?’
Yoo Ji-han found it hard to accept that a party of just two members had deprived other guilds of opportunities.
And even if that were true, could it really be considered a problem?
“As you already know, we are indeed a Rank 5 party.”
“Well, it seems other guilds don’t think so. Plus, Ji-han you’ve been in Keroes for seven years without a record, so…”
“…”
Yang Ji-cheol mentioned Yoo Ji-han’s time in the Keroes guild.
However, as an unofficial party member, Yoo Ji-han couldn’t have his experience recognized, so he was treated as Rank 5.
Thus, there wasn’t a formal basis for it to become a problem.
“Hm.”
Yoo Ji-han slightly hardened his expression.
In this case, it would be necessary to respond firmly.
“So, what are you suggesting?”
“…”
“Is the opinion of other guilds that important? I’m sorry, but it seems we don’t have to care about that.”
“Ji-han is right. It’s not our fault that others can’t perform as well as we can.”
“Absolutely right! So what I’d like to request from Sweet Fun is…”
Yang Ji-cheol clasped his hands together on the table.
“I hope you’ll apply for rank promotion to a Rank 4 party as soon as possible.”