Chapter 3

Today, Rion was wearing casual brand clothes.

Hunters were given a time of respite before heading to the next dungeon to prevent their mental sanity from deteriorating any further.

Still, he had been summoned to the Hunter's Association.

His hunter gained sixth sense warned him that whatever he'd see would be unpleasant, but as a worker under the association he had no choice but to attend the summoning.

He sighed as the elevator swung through to one of the higher floors of the tall skyscraper.

Rion nervously checked his watch and hurriedly walked out through the elevator doors. There, he was lead to a high ranking official's room.

The man in the room was someone he was familiar enough with. He'd been supervised by this same person for his entire hunter career.

He was a pleasant middle aged man who had been a past hunter but was fortunate enough to survive through the years.

"Ah… Good morning Sir…"

His supervisor, Jack, chuckled and motioned for him to take a seat.

"Why so stiff today Rion? Did something happen?"

Rion's mouth twitched at his boss's smirk, both perfectly knowing he was about to hear something he didn't want to hear.

"...No sir…"

Jack chuckled louder.

"You've been turning pretty famous along the headlines. I watched yesterday's performance and I can see why you're such a sensation."

"Hah… well… I just did what I could."

Jack nodded,

"You'll be under more stress as you'll be deployed in that same dungeon once again…"

"...Yes… I heard that the dungeon we cleared last night was the first multi-layered dungeon to ever appear…"

"Indeed. The first multiple floor dungeon. We're all assuming the next floor will be even more difficult than the first floor. You won't be entering with the hunters you were with last night…"

It was natural. He had been with other C-Rank Hunters. They were all lucky there had been no deaths nor heavy injuries. The veterans and leaders of the dungeon clear were B-Rank like him, but were too jaded by their age to have a high energy performance like that again so soon.

"We do not know if clearing a floor will reset it's outbreak timer… therefore, we must quickly eliminate the dungeon by all means before an outbreak occurs."

"...I understand."

Jack smiled and patted the awkward and stiff Rion's head.

"...Who will be deployed this time?"

"Apart from you, there'll be 49 other B-Rankers and 10 A-Rankers."

The words were powerful and gave Rion a sense of confidence. Such a high number of rankers meant that he wouldn't have such a heavy responsibility. He'd be more free to do what he'd always done. Not only that, maybe they'd have a chance at eliminating the Sentinel.

"Since it is the first multiple layered dungeon, you'll have many cameras on you," Jack smiled and began patting Rion's shoulder, "Don't be too stiff with the cameras. If you feel awkward just look away and pretend they're not there."

"...Understood," Rion's eye twitched as Jack's pats gradually increased in strength to painful smashes.

Jack chuckled and with serious eyes, he suddenly stopped the humorful atmosphere.

"Onto the more serious things…"

"I knew there'd be something worse than that…" Rion muttered to himself.

"I have received direct orders from a superior."

Rion coughed on the coffee he was drinking after recently taking a liking to drinking such.

His back straightened immediately and awaited Jack's next words.

"You'll receive a manager now as your value has significantly increased. Since you'll be receiving more requests for dungeon clears and different stresses of being a known figure, we have assigned you a manager to help you concentrate on what you just need to do."

"Ah… I see…" Rion remained wary at the next words; he'd be sure the next words would be more terrifying than being deployed for a multi-layered dungeon.

"You manager will—"

There were sudden light knocks on the door, interrupting Jack from speaking anymore.

"Ah, speak of the devil. It might be her."

Rion had a bad premonition about the manager being female… and directly assigned by a superior…

Si-Eun's father was… heavily involved in the Hunter's Association…

"Come in."

There was no way, right?

As the door began opening Rion began sweating uncontrollably.

A pretty young woman dressed professionally with blonde hair styled into a bob cut walked in.

Her gray eyes scanned the room and her eyes twinkled in amusement as she looked at Rion.

"Rion, meet your new manager Cha Si E—"

"Rion…"

"...Si-Eun... what are you doing here?"

She stared at Rion filled with mirth and replied, "I have decided that I'd like to pursue a career in managing B-Rank Hunter Rion… I have the necessary qualifications and can assure you that I'll only make your life easier."

"...Woman… you're making my life difficult…"

Rion's eyes twitched violently as he stared at the naughty woman who smiled brightly at him.

"Ah… it seems you two are acquainted already?"

"...Jack…"

Jack began laughing at Rion's predicament.

"Si-Eun… what are you trying to attempt here?"

Jack laughed loudly seeing the rising tension, "Haha… it might be best that I go and get myself a cup of coffee… Haha…"

After the director hurriedly left the room, Si-Eun smiled even more brightly at Rion.

"Rion, I'll work my hardest to make your hunter career easier."

Rion sighed, "Si-Eun… seriously. It is very probable that I will die in this line of work. I'm telling you that you have to give up on someone like me."

Her eyes narrowed and she shook her head to deny his claims.

"Rion's a very powerful and talented hunter. Death is still far away from such a person…"

He sighed again, "Si-Eun, please stop talking like that and take this seriously."

She smiled and stepped closer to him, carefully watching his face she slowly questioned, "Rion, do you still care about me?"

Rion stood in silence considering his next words, "...You know that if we're together you'll just end up miserable in the future. The last dungeon run I could've died at least five times if I hadn't been lucky."

"Hmm, well I guess there's no choice but to become a hunter myself, right?"

Rion's face blackened at the words of the mischievous Cha Si Eun.

"Si-Eun… don't say things like that so casually… Dying as a Hunter is more common than living. It is us who die in place of the civilians. When there's a dungeon outbreak, the casualties will be us, not the civilians…" Rion spoke coldly and continued, "Don't throw away your life and dreams."

Si-Eun looked to be considering his words, it seemed to Rion that she might relent.

"In the end, the choice is mine is it not?" Her face turned serious and calmly shed the mischievous humor it had before.

Rion stayed in cold silence.

"Si-Eun, I am begging you… You don't have to throw your life away."

"Hmm, I guess if you insist… I won't become a Hunter…" her face was indecisive, and she slowly uttered the next words, "however… If you don't let me be your manager, I will begin training to be a hunter."

Rion sighed and massaged his temples.

He thought it would be better for her to stay safe. He knew she'd stubbornly become a Hunter if he kept refusing.

"Sigh… Alright."

Her face brightened and she saluted the hunter.

"Let us have a happy cooperation, Mr. Lee."

"..Yes, of course… Ms. Cha."

Jack quickly entered the room, unsurprisingly without the coffee he mentioned he'd get.

"I see you quickly drank your coffee outside, Mr. Jack."

Jack began laughing nervously at Si Eun's words, "Haha… Ms. Cha, I suddenly didn't want to drink coffee anymore…"

Rion had the sudden urge to punch Jack.

"Alright, well since business is finished I'll go prepare for the dungeon."

"Ah, but of course. Go ahead, Rion."

Si Eun raised her hand quickly, "If I may have a few minutes of your time, Mr. Lee?"

Rion's eyes twitched violently, "Yes, what is it?"

From the corner, Si Eun reached for a well-sized silver briefcase. She ignored Rion's twitching eye with a bright smile.

Presenting it to him horizontally, she opened the case to reveal a clean cold weapon.

"This is the Dread sword. It was specially forged for the talented ranker using metal bathed in mana, the blood of the High Orcs and their tusks, and finally infused with a gem of Jasper for a specially boosted strength."

Rion picked the weapon from the hilt. It was perfectly adjusted to his grip, balanced, and weighted perfectly to his comfort.

Rion never commissioned this weapon, and even if he had, it would've been near impossible for the talented blacksmith who forged this weapon to have made it in such a quick time.

Thus, many resources must have been poured to ensure such a high quality weapon was made quickly.

He looked up from the blade to Si-Eun's tender smile.

"...Thank you… Si-Eun."

That was all the warmth Rion had allowed himself to show to the person he cared about most in the world.

Rion placed the sword back in the briefcase and looked away from his ex-girlfriend's happy smile. Her genuine sincerity was a blinding comfort.

"Tomorrow, I will arrive at your house to pick you up at 6:00. I wish Mr. Lee a peaceful rest," Si-Eun politely handed the briefcase to Rion and saw him off.

After all, tomorrow might be Rion's hardest dungeon run.

…

…

…

Rion arrived early to the dungeon at 6:30. The car ride hadn't been at all awkward, though still unusually silent.

The briefing would begin at 6:45 and they would enter the dungeon at 7:30.

"Rion, have you rested well?"

"Yes, thank you Ms. Cha."

She smiled. Noticing Rion's restlessness, she briefly reminded him, "Rion is a talented hunter and has already cleared this dungeon once. You are a natural warrior. Please come back with good results."

He smiled at the floor and eased his heart rate. It wasn't that he was nervous, but that he couldn't wait to test the Dread sword out.

Still, he thanked her for her kind words.

Rion walked alongside his manager towards the rest of the hunters to sign in his participation.

These would be the people who he'd come back alive or stay dead with. Making a good impression wasn't a bad idea.

He bowed to the hunters, all of them more experienced than he, "I am Rion a B-Class Hunter, please take care of me."

"Ah, of course. I'm sure all of us here have long ago heard of your name. I am Larsson, please take care of us as well," a man with fiery red hair he recognized as an A-Rank Hunter shook his hand firmly.

"This time, the dungeon has been upgraded from a C-Rank dungeon to a B-Rank dungeon. Hopefully I don't jinx us but it should be the standard stuff," a blue haired A-Ranker appeared beside Larsson.

"Since Rion has already cleared this dungeon before, please take care of us," the hunters smiled at the talented rookie.