On Jurim waved lightly during the interview. His black leather glove, notably worn only on his left hand, left a strong impression.
The interviewer seemed to take notice of the glove, their gaze briefly lingering on it.
Jurim tapped the armrest with his gloved hand, drawing the interviewer’s attention back to him.
As their eyes met again, he gave a slow, lazy smirk.
The interviewer, momentarily entranced, hesitated before hastily speaking up.
"Before I proceed with the next question, I’d like to clarify that this is not necessarily MMBC’s stance. Now then—Guild ‘Hyeonak’ has undoubtedly solidified its position as one of Korea’s top guilds. However, it’s also frequently at the center of various incidents and controversies. Some criticize certain guild members for toeing the line a little too closely. Since we have you here, could we hear your thoughts on this matter?"
It was a somewhat provocative question.
The caretakers watching the interview were engrossed in the heated discussion, but Hanguru, oblivious to the situation, simply stared blankly at the screen.
On Jurim remained as composed as ever.
"Hyeonak Guild simply respects and protects the freedom of its members."
Freedom? Protection?
Hanguru’s ears perked up, and he quietly knelt in front of the TV.
"Oh dear, Hanguru. Sit back a little. You’re going to get sucked in."
"Okaaay—"
Hanguru scooted backward on his bottom.
"So, are you saying that Hyeonak Guild plans to continue turning a blind eye to its members’ misconduct?"
Despite the interviewer’s direct approach, Jurim remained unfazed.
"Did you say Hyeonak ‘toes the line’?"
"Yes, that’s correct."
"And you’re asking for my personal thoughts on how people perceive Hyeonak’s actions?"
"That’s right."
"Then I’d say you’re asking the wrong person. If Hyeonak is crossing the line, wouldn’t it make more sense to ask the courts?"
"Excuse me?"
"My answer remains the same. I will continue fulfilling my duties as guild master. Protecting my members and respecting their freedom is my job. Unfortunately, since your question has nothing to do with my role, this is all I can say on the matter."
Jurim shrugged.
With that, he effectively wrapped the interviewer’s loaded question in a napkin and tossed it straight into the trash. The interviewer hesitated, momentarily at a loss for words.
The caretakers chuckled, remarking on how a righteous face seemed to be accompanied by righteous power and a righteous tongue.
Most people were likely impressed by Jurim’s smooth handling of the question. However, Hanguru was fixated on something entirely different.
The part where Hyeonak protected its members and respected their freedom.
Hanguru knew a little about guilds. They were like companies that hunters joined.
He’d heard that being part of a guild made it easier to handle things that were difficult to manage alone.
So that meant... a bank account too? If he joined a guild, could they set up a bank account for him?
What if he became a member of Hyeonak, received the guild’s protection, and freely ran his business?
Suddenly, an image popped into Hanguru’s mind—On Jurim setting up a bank account for him.
And with that money, Hanguru would find his mom and dad, complete his quests, and become the strongest hunter, living happily with his family.
END.
"Now then, Guild Master On, do you have any words for hunters hoping to join Hyeonak?"
Hanguru shut his mouth, which had been hanging open.
Focus. This was a question Hanguru was extremely interested in.
Jurim let out a low hum, resting his chin on his hand while leaning against the chair’s armrest.
"We’ve been receiving a lot of applications... but Hyeonak doesn’t care who you are. Stop sending them."
The interviewer was momentarily speechless.
So was Hanguru, his mouth hanging open once again.
As if delivering the finishing blow, Jurim added,
"That’s all."
He even stood up as if to ask, "Can I leave now?"
"W-wait a moment!"
The interviewer practically begged him to say a little more, and Jurim, looking exhausted, reluctantly sat back down.
With a wry smile, the interviewer wore an expression that all but screamed, This guy is playing us like fools.
"Could you at least say a few words about the type of hunters Hyeonak is looking for?"
"Let’s see."
Jurim folded his arms, appeared to think for a moment, then nonchalantly spoke.
"If a new S-rank shows up, I might be interested."
And with that, Jurim promptly stood up.
The interviewer, still in shock, scrambled to wrap things up as the screen abruptly cut to a shot of Hyeonak’s towering headquarters.
The caretakers murmured among themselves.
"That’s basically saying they’re not taking anyone."
"He’s got some nerve, even on live TV."
"A righteous face, righteous strength, and a righteous tongue... but not so righteous character, huh?"
At that moment, Hanguru scampered over to one of the caretakers and clung to her.
"Seong saen-nim! Hanguru has a question!"
Oh dear, how adorable. She playfully pinched his chubby cheeks.
"What’s our cute little Hanguru curious about?"
"How do you go there?"
"Hmm?"
The child’s tiny hand was pointing straight at Hyeonak’s towering headquarters.
"Tell me! Tell me!"
The caretaker chuckled at Hanguru’s sparkling, earnest eyes.
It wasn’t surprising for a child to take a liking to someone as striking as On Jurim.
"That place is about a 20-minute bus ride away."
"Put it here, please."
Hanguru opened the maps app on his kid’s phone.
"On the map?"
She hesitated for a moment at his sudden request but ended up marking the location without much resistance.
At his age, it was natural to be curious about many things. And who knew? If they happened to pass by the building, maybe he could even get an autograph.
However, Hanguru’s true purpose was vastly different from what she assumed.
‘Hanguru is an S-rank too!’
Hunter rankings were determined by the Awakener Center, which assessed stats and skills comprehensively.
However, there was one exception—skill rank.
If a hunter possessed even a single Legendary Skill, they were automatically classified as S-rank, regardless of their overall stats.
And Hanguru’s skill? It was Legendary-tier. A bona fide S-rank.
Beep-beep-beep. Beep-beep-beep.
At the sound of the crosswalk signal, Hanguru immediately raised his hand.
The endless safety training at kindergarten had paid off.
As he crossed the street with his hand held high, small chuckles arose from the pedestrians around him.
"How cute."
"Isn’t he a model? Seriously, he looks stunning."
Even after hearing compliments like this hundreds of times, Hanguru still rubbed his flushed cheeks before hurrying along.
His destination was a towering structure standing amidst a forest of skyscrapers.
The headquarters of Hyeonak Guild.
Hanguru spun through the enormous revolving door and stepped into the lobby.
The employees entering the building all tapped their access cards at the entry gate. Below the gate, sturdy metal bars blocked the entrance, only unlocking when a valid card was scanned.
So you can’t get in without that.
Fortunately, Hanguru had something similar.
Rummaging through his backpack, he pulled out a card.
‘Bus card!’
The bus card he had for school trips had proven useful in many ways.
Hanguru waddled over to the entry gate, stood on his tiptoes, and tapped his bus card against the scanner.
Beep—
Thunk. The metal bar didn’t budge.
"Huh?"
Why wasn’t it working? As he tilted his head in confusion, a long shadow loomed over him.
"Are you here running an errand for your parents?".
A security guard stood above him. Hanguru’s eyes darted around.
"Ah... um... I..."
‘I got kicked out!’
The moment they found out he wasn’t a family member of an employee, they lost interest in anything else he had to say.
Hanguru sulked as he stared blankly at the revolving door.
Since he’d been thrown out so quickly, there was no point in trying again. They wouldn’t let him back in.
"Hmmm...."
After a brief moment of contemplation, Hanguru spun through the revolving door again, re-entering the lobby.
The two security guards were still loitering near the entrance.
A mischievous grin spread across Hanguru’s face as he pulled a small toy from his bag.
[Terrifying Laughing Chick Toy (F)]
Automatically detects nearby targets and lets out a terrifying laugh.
Hearing the laugh has a very low chance of inducing 1 second of panic.
‘Go forth!’
Hanguru deployed the Laughing Chick Toy into action.

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