Now that the living situation was sorted, the next step was officially establishing a guild.
Hyun Dowoon had already taken care of the necessary paperwork, so all that was left was choosing a name. And yet, this naming thing turned out to be a lot harder than I expected.
“What should I call it?”
Lying on the couch I’d set up in the office-slash-lounge, I’d been stuck for over two hours, still unable to decide.
There were hundreds of guilds across the country, all varying wildly in size. The Yesung Guild, led by Kwon Taehyuk, was the largest by far, with a massive number of Hunters under its banner.
The guild I’d been a part of before regression—“Circle”—wasn’t big by any stretch. In fact, it was on the smaller end. Every year in the guild rankings, it consistently placed just below the mid-tier ones.
The number of Hunters barely scratched past twenty. But I’d never once hated being there.
‘If anything, that’s what made it great.’
Everyone was kind and warm-hearted. Especially the Guild Leader and Ryu Sunghyun—they looked out for me the most.
Those two always apologized for the guild’s lack of power, but neither I nor anyone else had ever felt ashamed of being part of it. That’s the kind of people they were—people who stood their ground and died fighting the Catastrophe at the frontlines.
“They could’ve just run.”
It was a small, weak guild. If one like that dropped out, nobody would’ve cared.
In the end, we all would’ve died once the world ended anyway. At least they could’ve chosen their own place to die—not some battlefield.
The more I thought about it, the more foolish and noble they seemed. But since I’d regressed, and the end of the world never happened, I could believe they were all still alive now.
‘Maybe I should go with something that has a similar meaning to "Circle."’
The thought came naturally. Not a bad idea. But I had to be careful not to make it too similar—it could cause problems.
Having narrowed it down a little, I closed my eyes and seriously considered what kind of word I could use for the guild name.
‘Circle means round. Like a ring.’
Now that I thought of it, there was something that happened a long time ago. It was shortly after I joined the guild, following Ryu Sunghyun’s invitation.
[Why did you name it "Circle"?]
I had asked while holding and waving around the paw of Eunbok, the cat our Guild Leader kept as a pet. The Guild Leader, who had been reviewing documents, smiled faintly.
[So Hunter Seohu doesn’t like the name of our guild?]
He looked up, his eyes curling gently as sunlight poured over them, softening his gaze.
[It’s not very impactful, is it? Wouldn’t it be better to have a cool or simple name like other guilds? Something that stands out more?]
[You think so?]
[Yeah. You named it, didn’t you? Just like you named Eunbok. Honestly, I think you kinda suck at naming things.]
[Hmm. Been hearing that since forever, actually.]
He scratched his cheek with an awkward smile.
[But what can I say? I like it.]
[Was there some special reason behind it? For naming it "Circle"?]
[Not really... but the meaning’s good, isn’t it?]
[The meaning?]
[Circle means round. A ring.]
Fate comes full circle. The good and bad you put into the world eventually comes back to you.
Even when you’re suddenly thrown into a strange and unfamiliar situation, if you look closer, there’s always a reason why it happened—and it’s usually because of something you did.
That’s how life works...
Muttering those words to myself, I slowly opened my eyes, echoing the fading voice of the Guild Leader.
Sunlight streamed through the open curtains, slicing across the ceiling. I stared at it for a long moment before making my decision.
“That’s not bad.”
Once I made up my mind, a smile crept across my lips.
I pulled out my newly set-up phone and typed the name I’d just come up with into the message window.
「ONE」
I liked it. It held personal meaning for me, yet looked generic enough to avoid attention. A perfect balance.
Without hesitating, I sent the name via text to the number listed on the paperwork.
“That’s the guild settled.”
Now that the thing that had been cluttering up my mind was handled, I felt a lot lighter.
I had enough money saved up, and Cha Sahyeon was staying quietly by my side without any complaints. For now, it would be best to just lay low and observe the situation around me.
I also needed to check the news to see how the raid on the research lab was being covered. Both Kwon Taehyuk and Ryu Sunghyun had seen my and Cha Sahyeon’s faces. I had to find out if that would lead to any complications later on.
‘Take it slow. Nice and easy.’
I grinned lazily and shut my eyes again.
Out of everything I needed to do today, picking the guild name was the most important—and now that it was done, I figured I could treat myself to a quick nap.
The breeze drifting through the open window brushed against my skin as I lay back on the soft couch and let my eyelids fall. Sleep was just starting to creep in when—
Ding!
A cheerful notification chime rang out from nearby. Too familiar a sound to ignore.
No way. A sinking feeling hit me as I cracked one eye open and caught the edge of a floating system window hovering in midair.
‘You’ve got to be kidding me.’
I shut my eye again and cursed inwardly.
I didn’t see anything. I didn’t see it. Let’s just sleep. I even covered my eyes with my hand, but the system apparently didn’t care—it pinged again, more insistently.
Ding!
“...”
Ding! Ding! Ding! Ding!
“Oh come on!”
This was insane.
Grumbling with all the irritation I could muster, I shot up from the couch. Across the room, Cha Sahyeon looked up from her convenience store lunch box to watch me. I ignored her and focused on the system window in front of me.
“...Huh?”
What the hell is this? I blinked and read it again, but the new quest notification hadn’t changed. Rubbing my dry eyes, I looked again.
《Main Quest Received!》
《Main Quest: Defeat the current Rank 1 Hunter, “Kwon Taehyuk,” and claim Rank 1 for yourself. (Time Limit: 6 days 23 hours)》
[Main Quest: Defeat the current Rank 1 Hunter “Kwon Taehyuk” and claim Rank 1 (Remaining Time: 6 days 23 hours 58 minutes)]
You must defeat the Rank 1 Hunter “Kwon Taehyuk” and take the top spot.
Warning! If you fail to complete this quest within the time limit, the quest will be marked as failed.
Quest Failure: ���� ��� Decrease
Quest Success: ���� ��� Increase
“...?”
As I examined the quest details more closely, I noticed some garbled text in the failure and success sections and furrowed my brow.
Was that... corrupted text? Or maybe it was a trick—to conceal the penalties and rewards on purpose.
‘Decrease and increase, huh. Sounds like it’s worth succeeding, whatever it is.’
But this quest... was just ridiculous.
“Beat the Rank 1 Hunter, huh... fuck.”
I pressed my hand to my forehead and let out a deep sigh.
Defeat the current number one Hunter? That would be Kwon Taehyuk. And I’m supposed to beat him?
There’s a reason Kwon Taehyuk is both a Guildmaster and the top Hunter. Since the day he Awakened, he’s been hailed as a genius. Every Hunter acknowledges his strength.
He’s not the only S-rank out there, but even among other S-ranks, Kwon Taehyuk stands out. He’s held the number one spot for years.
And now I’m supposed to fight him. And not just fight—win. What the hell kind of quest is that?
“This is fucking insane.”
And of course, there was a time limit.
Even if I ended up losing the fight, I still had to attempt it. That meant I had to meet Kwon Taehyuk and battle him within the week.
‘There’s no way I can pull this off like this. My only shot is to transform using the Hidden Skill before I fight.’
But even turning {N•o•v•e•l•i•g•h•t} into an S-rank with the Hidden Skill didn’t guarantee victory. I still wasn’t used to an S-rank body, and I wasn’t great with weapons, either.
Kwon Taehyuk’s main skill is “Blade Rush.” The guy handles blades like they’re an extension of his own body.
‘Yeah... no way I can win this.’
The more I thought about Kwon Taehyuk, the more my confidence drained away. Clutching my throbbing head, I let out sigh after sigh. Then I felt a small tug on my sleeve.
“Hm?”
I turned to see Cha Sahyeon had walked over from the table and was now looking up at me.
I must’ve startled her when I suddenly jumped up and started yelling like a maniac. She’d come over to check on me.
‘Is she... worried about me?’
When our eyes met, I got the weird sense she was genuinely concerned. Maybe I was imagining it, but it didn’t feel bad. I chuckled and ruffled her hair.
“Something came up. I need to make a call. Go finish your food, alright?”
I gave her a light pat on the back, and only then did she slowly return to the table. Say what you will—she really was obedient when it counted.
After making sure she’d gone back to eating, I picked up my phone.
Whether or not I could actually beat Kwon Taehyuk, I couldn’t just ignore the quest. I had to at least formally apply for a ranking match.
[Main Quest: Defeat the current Rank 1 Hunter “Kwon Taehyuk” and claim Rank 1 (Remaining Time: 6 days 23 hours 54 minutes)]

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