ALL NOVEL Chapter 12
Chapter 12
Now that we had settled on a place to stay, the next step was to officially establish the guild.
Hyun Do-woon had already prepared the necessary documents for setting up the guild, so all that was left was to decide on a name and finalize it. But choosing a name turned out to be unexpectedly difficult.
“What should I go with?”
Lying on the sofa meant to be used as an office and reception area, I had been unable to decide on a name for two hours already.
There were hundreds of guilds in the country, and their sizes varied greatly. The Yeseong Guild, led by Kwon Tae-hyuk, was the largest with an overwhelmingly high number of affiliated hunters.
The guild I belonged to before my regression, ‘Circle’… to be honest, wasn’t very large. No, it was rather on the smaller side. It ranked lower than even mid-sized guilds in the annual guild rankings.
The number of affiliated hunters was very small, barely over twenty. But I never disliked that even once.
‘I actually liked it because of that.’
They were all kind and friendly people. Not to mention the guild master and Ryu Sunghyun, who were especially fond of me and looked after me.
The two of them would often apologize for the guild being weak and powerless, but neither I nor anyone else ever felt ashamed of the guild. That’s why they died fighting on the front lines against the great calamity instead of running away.
“They could have just run away.”
Being a small and powerless guild, no one would have cared if a guild like that disappeared.
Even though everyone would die the same when the great calamity ended the world, at least they could have died in a place of their choosing rather than on the battlefield.
The more I thought about it, the more foolish and naive they seemed. Since the world’s destruction never happened due to my regression, they should all be alive and well now.
‘What if I name the guild something with a similar meaning to ‘Circle’?’
It was a sudden thought, but not a bad one. However, I’d have to be careful not to make it too similar to avoid potential issues.
Having found some direction, I closed my eyes and seriously considered what words might be suitable for a guild name.
‘Circle means a round shape, doesn’t it?’
Come to think of it, there was an incident like this before. It was not long after I had joined the guild on Ryu Sunghyun’s recommendation.
[Why did you choose to name it Circle?]
I asked while playing with the paws of Eunbok, the cat the guild master was raising. The guild master, who was looking at some documents, smiled slightly.
[It seems Hunter Seo-hu doesn’t like our guild name very much.]
The guild master looked up, his eyes curving into crescents. His eyes, directed at me, sparkled softly in the sunlight.
[It doesn’t have much impact, you know. Shouldn’t it be cool or simple like other guilds to stand out more?]
[Is that so?]
[Yes. You named it, right? And Eunbok too. Honestly, I think your naming sense is a bit lacking, Guild Master.]
[Hmm. I’ve heard that before, actually.]
The guild master scratched his cheek sheepishly and said with a smile.
[But what can I do? I like the current guild name.]
[Is there something special about it? Like a reason for choosing Circle?]
[Not particularly, but… don’t you think the meaning is nice?]
[The meaning?]
[Circle means a round shape, after all.]
Relationships go round and round, and the good and bad deeds you commit also come back to you.
Even if the situation you’re in now seems sudden and unfamiliar, if you look closely, the reason that situation came about is also because of you. That’s how everything in the world is…
“Round shape…”
I slowly opened my eyes, repeating the guild master’s fading voice.
Sunlight streaming through the gap in the drawn curtains streaked across the ceiling. After staring at it for a while, I finally made a decision.
“That’s not bad.”
A smile naturally formed as I made up my mind.
I took out my newly fitted phone and typed the guild name I had just thought of in the message box.
“ONE”
I quite liked it. It had deep meaning for me while appearing common to others, so there was no worry about attracting attention.
Without further hesitation, I sent a message with the guild name to the number written on the documents.
“That takes care of the guild issue.”
My mind felt much clearer now that all the complicated matters had been dealt with.
We had some financial leeway, and Cha Sahyun was sticking close to me without complaints, so it would be good to quietly rest and observe our surroundings for a while.
I needed to watch the news to see how the raided laboratory would be dealt with. Also, I had to check if there would be any future problems since both the Yeseong Guild Master and Ryu Sunghyun had seen my face and Cha Sahyun’s.
‘Let’s take it easy, nice and easy.’
I closed my eyes again with a grin.
The most important task for today, deciding on the guild name, was done, so I thought I might as well take a nap.
As I lay on the comfortable sofa with my eyes closed, feeling the breeze gently coming through the open window, sleep began to creep in. Just as my consciousness was starting to fade…
Ding!
A cheerful notification sound rang out from nearby. It was too familiar a sound to ignore.
No way. With an ominous feeling, I slightly opened my eyes to see the edge of a status window floating in the air.
‘Oh, damn it.’
I cursed inwardly, tightly closing my eyes that had just barely opened.
I didn’t see anything. I didn’t see it. Let’s ignore it and just sleep. As I covered my eyes with my hands, the status window chimed again as if urging me.
Ding!
“……”
Ding! Ding! Ding! Ding!
“Aah!”
This is driving me crazy, really!
I jumped up from the sofa in frustration, and Cha Sahyun, who was eating the lunchbox I had bought him at the two-person dining table, turned to look at me. Regardless, I checked the status window floating in front of me.
“…Huh?”
What is this saying? I checked again in disbelief, but the content of the newly arrived quest remained unchanged. I rubbed my stiff eyes and read the quest one more time.
《A Main Quest has arrived!》
《Main Quest: Defeat the current Rank 1 Hunter ‘Kwon Tae-hyuk’ and claim the Rank 1 position (Time remaining: 6 days 23 hours)》
[Main Quest: Defeat the current Rank 1 Hunter ‘Kwon Tae-hyuk’ and claim the Rank 1 position (Time remaining: 6 days 23 hours 58 minutes)]
You must defeat the Rank 1 Hunter ‘Kwon Tae-hyuk’ and take the number one position.
* Warning! If you fail to complete the quest within the time limit, it will be marked as failed.
Quest Failure: ���� ��� decrease
Quest Success: ���� ��� increase
“…?”
As I examined the quest closely, I frowned upon noticing the strange characters in the failure and success sections.
Is that… corrupted text? Or maybe it’s pretending to be corrupted text to avoid revealing the penalty and reward.
‘Decrease and increase, huh. I should probably try to succeed if possible.’
But the quest difficulty was too extreme to take lightly.
“Achieve Rank 1, seriously…”
I sighed deeply, holding my forehead.
It’s saying to fight and win against the current Rank 1, and the current number one is… Kwon Tae-hyuk. Beat him?
Kwon Tae-hyuk wasn’t Rank 1 and a guild master for nothing. He was a skilled hunter acknowledged by everyone, having been called a genius since the moment he awakened.
S-rank hunters aren’t that common, but Kwon Tae-hyuk isn’t the only one either. Kwon Tae-hyuk has been holding the top position for years because he’s overwhelmingly strong even among other S-rank hunters.
To fight such a Kwon Tae-hyuk. And not just fight, but to win. Does this make any sense?
“I’m going crazy.”
And there was even a time limit.
Even if I lose the fight and fail, I still have to at least attempt it, which means I have to meet and fight Kwon Tae-hyuk within a week?
‘It’s absolutely impossible in this form, the only possibility is fighting after transforming with the hidden skill.’
Honestly, even if I became S-rank with the hidden skill, it would be difficult to beat him. I’m not yet familiar with the S-rank body, and I’m not good with weapons either.
In contrast, Kwon Tae-hyuk’s skill itself is ‘Blade Surge’, so he’s frighteningly good with blades.
‘It still seems difficult to succeed…’
The more I thought about Kwon Tae-hyuk, the more my confidence was shattered. As I held my throbbing head and kept sighing deeply, a small force tugged at my sleeve from the side.
“Hm?”
As I turned my head, I saw that Cha Sahyun, who had been eating at the table, had somehow come close and was looking at me.
It seems he was surprised and came to check when the guy who had been sprawled out sleeping on the sofa suddenly got up and started making a fuss.
‘Is he worried about me in his own way?’
As I met his green eyes, I had a feeling that the child was somehow worried about me. It might be my imagination, but it didn’t feel bad, so I grinned and gently patted Cha Sahyun’s head.
“Something came up. I need to make a phone call, so go finish your meal.”
After patting his back, the child, who had been watching me carefully until the end, finally headed back to the table. When it comes to things like this, he listens perfectly well.
After confirming that Cha Sahyun had resumed his interrupted meal, I picked up my phone.
I don’t know if I can really win in a fight against Kwon Tae-hyuk, but I can’t just give up on the quest without trying, so I at least needed to officially apply for a ranking match.
[Main Quest: Defeat the current Rank 1 Hunter ‘Kwon Tae-hyuk’ and claim the Rank 1 position (Time remaining: 6 days 23 hours 54 minutes)]