Chapter 15: Jin Seongha’s Team

Horizon announced the roster for the new team including Jin Seongha. Officially named “Special Raid Team 1,” everyone called it Spec-1 or Jin Seongha’s Team. As the first inter-guild team with Jin Seongha on it, a grand press conference was held.

When Ion entered the guild headquarters wearing the team emblem on his suit, all eyes turned to him—filled with curiosity and some jealousy, though curiosity prevailed.

On the fourth floor, where the press conference was set, Team Leader Lee Jina and Bae Younghoe were chatting.

“Ion Hunter, you’re here,” Lee Jina said.

“Hey, kid. Big bag as usual,” Bae Younghoe added.

Why does this guy keep calling a grown twenty-year-old “kid”?

“I’m not a kid. How’ve you been?”

“Doing great. You look like a little gentleman in that suit. Go inside—your friend’s waiting.”

Friend?

Ion thought of Daon for a moment, but it wasn’t Daon waiting in the lounge.

“Hey, Ion! Over here!” Hong Insu waved enthusiastically.

Next to him sat a familiar woman—Shin Minji, the B-rank healer from the test.

Of the testers, three passed: Hong Insu, Bae Younghoe, and Shin Minji.

“Hi, Ion. We didn’t talk much last time,” Shin Minji said.

“Hello.”

“Insu said you’re not comfy dropping formalities. Do whatever feels good.”

“Yes, Shin Minji Hunter.”

Ion gave a practiced, innocent smile.

Teacher’s harsh training included acting lessons. Mimicking a gentle, smiling youth was easy.

Hong Insu, looking uneasy, changed the topic, continuing his earlier conversation with Shin Minji.

“That attention-seeker’s nuts. Posting about it the second he found out he failed?” Hong Insu said.

“What’s that about, hyung?” Ion asked.

Hong Insu flinched at Ion’s formal tone but quickly answered.

“That prickly guy, Kim Young. The moment he learned he failed, he posted on SNS about the illusion dungeon.”

“He even tagged #JinSeonghaTeam, saying it happened during the test. Total attention-seeker,” Shin Minji added, showing Kim Young’s post.

[didid22

Finally spilling lol #JinSeonghaTeam #Spec1Team test day #IllusionDungeon

Gate stone was B-rank, then turned A-rank, so we bailed. But #Ion #HongInsu didn’t come out. No return stones? Turns out it switched to F-rank, and they cleared it lol

#WonderWhatPersonalRewardWas Should’ve stayed]

Naming them outright…

Ion pressed his temples, head aching. He was already exhausted from running two dungeons a day for a week, failing to find any materials. Nothing was going right.

“Kim Young’s skill was aggro, right? He’s an aggro-puller in real life too, so he awakened that skill,” Shin Minji said. “There might be questions at the press conference. Be ready.”

“Nah, Horizon’ll shut it down. Team Leader said not to worry—they’re not taking illusion dungeon questions,” Hong Insu said, waving it off, though his face looked nervous.

“Noona, I need to talk to Ion for a sec,” Hong Insu said.

“Go ahead,” Shin Minji replied.

Hong Insu slung an arm over Ion’s shoulder and pulled him to a corner of the lounge. Leaning to Ion’s height, he whispered so only an awakened could hear.

“Hey… how’d you know?”

“I didn’t know Kim Young would post that.”

“No, about staying with my sibling.”

“…”

“I’m superstitious, so your words creeped me out. I stuck to my sibling like glue. Once, they got mad, asking why I was tagging along with them and their friends, but I went anyway.”

Hong Insu lowered his voice further.

“That day, a dungeon overflow happened. If I hadn’t been there, my sibling and their friends would’ve died.”

“Where?”

“Hongdae. It made the news. E-rank, thankfully.”

In the novel, Hong Insu’s sibling died in a dungeon overflow at a memorial park near Seoul.

With their parents alive, there was no reason to visit the memorial. Ion had mentioned it as a precaution, but Hongdae?

A chill ran down his spine.

Was some grand narrative force pushing the story back on track?

“You… got a foresight skill?” Hong Insu asked.

“No.”

“Come on, hero, be honest with your sidekick.”

Ion’s disgusted look made Hong Insu hurry on.

“Anyway, thanks to you, I saved my sibling. Mom gave me some fancy plant pots as a gift for you—itemizable ones. I’ll give them now.”

“No, don’t. I’ve got no space. Wait, you told your parents about me?”

“Don’t look so scary. I didn’t say you’re S-rank. Just that a new friend’s passing comment saved my sibling.”

Ion regretted not making him sign a nondisclosure.

“Don’t talk about me to anyone.”

“Got it… You sure about the pots? Mom went all out.”

“No. Tell her to keep them.”

“She’ll be disappointed.”

Hong Insu pouted.

Ion didn’t care if his mom was disappointed, as long as she didn’t take it out on the plants. As a plant caretaker, she’d probably nurture them even more to cope.

“By the way, an E-rank overflow?” Ion asked.

“Yeah.”

A B-rank Hunter could handle an E-rank dungeon solo, but during overflows, monsters are half to a full rank stronger.

“Must’ve been tough alone.”

“Nah, another Hunter helped. Big foreign guy, spoke Korean well. At least B-rank.”

“No Hahoe mask?”

“Huh? No, just normal.”

It had been over ten days since Ion asked Daon to investigate the Hahoe mask Hunter, with no leads. That likely meant the Hahoe mask was just a concept with no deeper secret.

Having gotten what he needed from Hong Insu, Ion moved to end the talk. But Hong Insu leaned closer.

“What about your personal reward? S-rank, tradeable too.”

“What’d you get?”

“…!”

Ion’s casual question made Hong Insu’s eyes widen and face flush, as if asked something deeply personal.

“Ion, I didn’t know you thought of me so closely…”

It was a natural reaction. Personal rewards were private, like asking to see someone’s inner thigh.

Like saying, “I want to see your inner thigh.”

“I’ll tell just you. I got a disguise item. S-rank!”

“Nice…”

“I-Ion, can I ask what you got…?”

“…A kkwabaegi recipe.”

“Huh?”

“A paper with a kkwabaegi recipe.”

“Seriously? That’s a weird item.”

Ion had just named something random, seeing Hong Insu’s embarrassed squirming.

“If it’s tradeable, sell it to a chef-type Hunter. Black markets pay well. When are you free? Let’s go together. I’m nervous about the black market.”

The black market.

Now was when back-alley markets thrived. The materials Ion couldn’t find in dungeons might be there. But he’d go alone.

Turning away with disinterest, Hong Insu trailed after him.

“What’re you doing after the press conference? Wanna grab food? I told my family I’m eating with a fellow Hunter, so they’ll let me go. I told them not to come, but they did anyway. I didn’t name you, but since you’re the only guy my age, they might guess. My sibling wants to meet you—”

Why’s he so talkative?

Ion was regretting not letting his sibling die when—

The door burst open, and Horizon’s A-rank Hunters poured in. Hong Insu bowed, but they ignored him.

“Five B-ranks, really?”

“Two C-ranks too. Hope they don’t drag us down.”

Of the twenty members, excluding Jin Seongha, thirteen were A-rank—the most among inter-guild teams. Planning to tackle only A- and S-rank dungeons, they were stacked with elites.

The issue was the seven B- and C-ranks, all mercenaries. With no A-rank mercenaries, the Horizon A-ranks saw them as easy targets.

The lounge had been lively with just mercenaries, but the A-ranks’ arrival brought an awkward tension. Mercenaries lowered their voices, while guild members loudly disparaged them as “hyenas” for taking cheap dungeons guilds ignored.

“Heh, fools… They don’t know Ion-nim’s a hidden S-rank,” Hong Insu whispered, chuckling.

“If you’re gonna get revenge, do it when I’m around. As the first to know your secret, I wanna see that sweet payback.”

“Shut up and back off.”

Ion pushed Hong Insu away and joined the subdued mercenaries, finding it easier to stay quiet. But the peace didn’t last.

The door swung open, and a man stormed in.

“Jin Seongha!”

“It’s really him…”

Fresh from clearing an A-rank dungeon that morning, Jin Seongha stood with a slightly prickly expression. The Hunters, even the A-ranks who’d seen him plenty, stood and saluted the hero they’d team with, brimming with discipline.

Daon was beside him. While Jin Seongha took the Hunters’ greetings, she and Ion exchanged only a glance.

“Ion, Corps Leader.”

After the fan-service-like greetings, Jin Seongha called Ion’s name, his voice cold with suppressed anger. All eyes turned to Ion.

Ion stood, smiling brightly.

“Hello, Jin Seongha Hunter. I’m a fan.”

“Fan?”

Jin Seongha scoffed, as if he’d heard “a flood hit the desert.”

“Come outside. We need to talk.”