78 Chapter 77 (1/2)

The entirety of the Block B had become deathly silent.

'J-just now, definitely, impossible to measure….'

'D-does that mean, that guy's a rank S?'

'I've only ever heard of it, but seeing an impossible to measure rank with my own eyes is….'

Gulp.

The recruitment agents dispatched by various smaller Guilds were busy swallowing dry saliva as they stared at Jin-Woo turning in their direction.

However, none of them tried to talk to him.

”…..”

”…..”

If he was a rank C, then they would've started a war of nerves trying to sign him up to their respective Guilds. They would have formed the proverbial queue just for a chance to talk to him.

What about a rank B, then?

They would pounce on him like crazy while throwing around quite attractive-sounding offers, such as 'guaranteed spot as a high-ranking officer in the Guild', or 'shares in the Guild', etc., etc.

Onlookers would probably see it as an all-out war or something.

Well, it was not such a weird thing when considering the value of a Hunter ranked B, or the fact that they would receive a fat bonus by luring a high-ranked Awakened like that to their Guilds.

There were enough rank Bs who fell for the sweet-talk, after all; they would rather prefer to be the head of a snake, instead of the tail of a dragon.

However, the story changed when it came to a rank A. A rank A would be showered with a crap ton of special privileges by entering large Guilds, never mind small-to-medium Guilds.

Being selected as a member of the main raid team was a given, and since the main raid team only targetted high-ranked dungeons, the financial reward would be quite enormous as well.

Was that all?

If the offers of the Guilds weren't to your liking, you could just establish your own Guild and become its Master.

You could just make a small or a medium Guild by yourself, so was there a real reason to sign with one?

Indeed, rank As were that kind of existence.

However….

This man, who got his magic energy measured just now, was supposedly a rank S.

Not an 'A', but an 'S'.

It might be an easy thing to say, but the truth was, that single letter was only used to denote the very best Awakened in the country, with only nine of them existing in South Korea.

'With that man included, it'll be ten, isn't it?'

'The tenth rank S Hunter…..'

This youth was not someone these headhunters from the various small Guilds could even attempt to talk to.

Gulp….

Nope, all they could do now was to silently swallow their saliva. He was literally a pie in the sky to them.

But, it was then.

'Wait a minute…..'

'This, couldn't this be my opportunity?'

A handful of quick-witted scouts suddenly had this remarkable idea: How about acting as a middleman, guide this new rank S Awakened to a large Guild, and get paid handsomely for their efforts?

The contract signing fee for a rank S would easily exceed tens of billions of Won, at the least. Just one percent of that fee as their commission would prove to be a good enough incentive to quit their current Guilds.

And, if one got lucky and got on the good books of that youth to become his personal agent, then hell, you'd be set for life.

Didn't a personal agent of some rank S Hunter get a Po*sche as a birthday present or something?!

'….Should I try it?'

'My silver tongue won't lose to anyone, anywhere, so, like….'

'Should I just man up and jump in?'

Within a blink of time, all sorts of thoughts entered and exited the minds of the scouts. The ridicule of the failure would only last for a short while, but the sweetness of success would last forever.

Just as the scouts sneakily glanced at their peers and began inching forward….

Someone suddenly pointed towards the entrance of the Block B.

”Huh? Isn't that….?”

Was it because everyone was so tense already?

No one could tell who did it first – everyone seemingly shifted their gazes over in the direction the first man to open his mouth pointed at. The eyes of the scouts widened immediately.

”Heok!”

A man wearing a stylish business suit was entering Block B. There wasn't a single person present who didn't know that man's name.

”Choi…. Choi Jong-In?!”

”Why, why is the leader of the 'Hunters' here?”

Sure enough….

Choi Jong-In felt the gazes of the crowd and lightly tidied up his suit, before walking straight towards Jin-Woo.

'But, isn't this too fast for him to get here after receiving an alert?'

'No, wait a minute. Did he already sign up with the Hunters?'

'Did the Hunters know about him? Well, the top Guild sure operates on another level, no?'

'Yup, as expected….'

Scouts present all readily accepted the inevitable conclusion to come.

Perhaps, it was a relief that none of them stepped forward and tried to chat up the youth. How embarrassing would it have been, when one of them started yapping on and ended up running into Choi Jong-In, instead?

Only now did they realise the direction this situation had taken.

'Well, with Choi Jong-In's entrance, the picture is complete.'

'Hiya~. This is so cool.'

'To think that the leader of the Hunters Guild has personally stepped up…. Indeed, treatments for S ranks are totally different from the rest, no?'

Although the scouts did feel a bit rueful, they nevertheless witnessed this scene of the leader of the South Korea's top Guild meeting with the Awakened blessed with the highest rank there was, with warm expressions on their faces.

On the other hand….

Jin-Woo was breathing a sigh of relief at the grand entrance of Choi Jong-In.

'What a relief.'

He was pondering what to do next after being stared at by so many pairs of eyes. But what a wonderful timing it was, that man walking in and dividing the attention.

Jin-Woo inwardly thanked Choi Jong-In for providing some unexpected help, and simply walked past the latter. And Choi jong-In's eyes widened in surprise.

'Huh? This can't be right.'

Choi Jong-In hurriedly called out to Jin-Woo.

”Excuse me, can you stop for a second?”

Jin-Woo stopped walking away and turned around to look.

”…..?”

Choi Jong-In's eyes gleamed brightly as he stared into Jin-Woo's face.

'This man's the tenth….'

Choi Jong-In beat around the bush with Chief Park about checking out the situation together or some such, but the truth was, he already had sensed what was happening before coming here.

'I mean, they've been yapping on so loudly about impossible to measure this and device error that, so how can I not hear them?'

Thanks to that, though, he was given a huge opportunity here.

This guy was a rank S. A rank S!!

By signing this man, the Hunters Guild would then boast the services of three S ranks, and be able to brush shoulders with the best Guilds in the world, never mind those found in South Korea.

How could he not salivate over that prospect?

'There's no need to borrow a measuring device, either.'

Just a short meeting of their gazes and he immediately sensed the depths of the youth's strength. Without a doubt, this guy was the highest-grade Hunter there was. Hell, Choi Jong-In saw absolutely no reason to wait for three, four days at all.

”Hmm, hmm.”

Choi Jong-In cleared his throat and formed his trademark smile.

”I'm Choi Jong-In, the leader of the Hunters Guild.”

Of course, Jin-Woo knew that already. Well, that man's face could be seen frequently enough whenever a TV was turned on, after all.

Jin-Woo wondered briefly why such a famous man was trying to talk to him after coming all the way to the Association, but well, he didn't have the leeway to ask for the clarification.

Jin-Woo sneaked a glance at the clock mounted on one of the walls.

'It's already ten to six….'

If he thought about the time he needed to go 'there', then he was cutting it pretty close.

When Jin-Woo formed an expression that implied 'Okay, you're done with your introduction, so hurry up with what you want to say', Choi Jong-In became a bit flustered as he continued on.

”Ah, well, actually…. I'm aware that you just had your Awakened rank evaluation.”

”Yes.”

”By any chance, have you thought of a Guild to join?”

”No.”

A bright smile formed on Choi Jong-In's face when he heard that reply.

'Yup, it's done.'

One of the top three Guilds in the world – 'Hunters'.

What a sweet title that was. From today onwards, it'd not be a simple daydream anymore.

'You're mine.'

Choi Jong-In's chest puffed up from happiness, and spoke the line that might be recorded in the annals of history.

”I'd like to speak to you regarding that issue, so can you spare a minute to talk, please?”

”Sorry, but don't have the time.”

Jin-Woo quickly voiced his refusal and hurriedly left the Block B building.

”...”

It happened so fast that Choi Jong-In didn't even have the chance to think about stopping the youth from leaving. Meanwhile, the Association employees and the scouts from other Guilds belatedly realised what had transpired and began freaking out.

”What the hell??”

”Wait, did Choi Jong-In get kicked to the curve?!”