NOVEL WEB 8. Entering the Training Institute (2)
Chae Jiseok was still looking straight at Habin, unfazed by the commotion around him. After a brief silence, he spoke.
“You’re trainee Hyun Habin, right?”
“No, I’m not.”
“Want to join our guild?”
“No, I don’t.”
Quick answers, sharp responses. Yet Chae Jiseok didn’t withdraw his intense gaze. Trying to avoid eye contact, Habin busily moved her spoon.
‘Let’s eat quickly and leave this place. Leave right now…’
Whatever he thought seeing this, Chae Jiseok opened his mouth again.
“Um… If you’re curious about the conditions, I can tell you in advance. If you come, the base salary is 1 billion won…”
“That’s low.”
“Low? Then 10 billion?”
“I already have that.”
“Y-You have…?”
‘Why do you have that…?!’
Chae Jiseok’s eyes widened slightly, a rare occurrence. Seeing this, rumors spread like wildfire.
‘Who’s that person talking to Chae Jiseok?’
‘Is it a guild recruitment offer?’
‘Looks like they’re getting rejected!’
‘What’s with that person? They rejected a Solaris recruitment offer! Right to Chae Jiseok’s face!’
‘They said 10 billion is for dogs! Are they rich? A chaebol?’
“……”
‘I didn’t say it was for dogs…’
Amidst the bewildered murmurs around her, Habin swallowed a sigh and shook her head firmly. A very calm and resolute attitude.
“Nope. Not going. Not joining. Absolutely not!”
“……”
Her only goal was to live comfortably without working! No matter how much they offered, she had no intention of joining a guild, even if it killed her.
Habin stood up hurriedly, leaving behind a shocked Chae Jiseok.
◆◇◆◇◆
“The next afternoon schedule is safety training.”
“……”
“As you can see, I’ve become your assigned mentor, so I look forward to working with you.”
‘Why is this person my assigned mentor?’
After lunch. As soon as she unpacked in her dormitory, who should appear but Chae Jiseok. Habin frowned as she looked at his still relaxed face.
‘…Of all people, why is he the mentor? Did he pay someone off? He must have done some behind-the-scenes work.’
As her mind raced, Jiseok called out to Habin.
“Trainee Habin?”
“No matter what, I’m not joining your guild.”
“Ah, about that, please think a bit more…”
“No.”
Despite Habin’s sharp rejections, Chae Jiseok wasn’t fazed at all. Still smiling, he informed her of various schedules and diligently performed his role as a mentor.
For example, he never let Habin get away with being late every morning.
“Trainee Habin! Wake up! You need to attend morning training! You’re already late!”
“Ah, shut up… I’ll go in 5 minutes…”
“You said that yesterday too and missed the entire morning session! I’ll wait until you come out today!”
“Self-declared holiday! Anyway, it’s a self-declared holiday!”
“Hey… This isn’t a university?! You’ll have to retake the training at this rate! You need to go out now!”
Bang bang bang. The merciless knocking on the door.
Not only did he manage Habin’s schedule like clockwork, but also:
“Did you know you can secretly receive deliveries through the back door here? If you get tired of cafeteria food, let me know. I’ll order for you.”
“Oh…? You’re giving out honey tips for once.”
“I still have plenty more honey tips to give, so please bear with me until the end.”
“What? You’re planning to stay here until the end? Aren’t you a vice guild master? Don’t you have people looking for you? Don’t you have work?”
“…For the time being.”
He even offered such valuable advice and encouragement about life in the training institute.
But that made it even more strange.
‘What’s going on? Why is he so enthusiastic? Isn’t that person busy with guild work? He should be annoyed by now… Why is he taking care of me so attentively?’
That’s right.
It was rare for high-ranking Hunters, especially ranker-level Hunters, to come as mentors. They’re all very busy people.
To approach so blatantly just to scout Habin, who was merely A-rank?
If an S-rank had appeared, maybe. No, even if an S-rank appeared, the vice guild master of a major guild wouldn’t come personally.
The problem is that he’s the vice guild master of the internationally renowned ‘Solaris’ guild.
If you had to name the two most successful guilds in Korea, it would undoubtedly be ‘Caligo’ and ‘Solaris’.
Caligo had Korea’s #1 ranked Kang Taeseo as its guild master, while Solaris was a guild created by the two Hunters ranked 2nd and 3rd domestically (one of whom was Chae Jiseok).
Both were equally influential. Hunters’ preferences were split purely based on taste.
Yet the vice guild master of ‘Solaris’ is personally following her around and repeatedly inviting her to join? For a mere A-rank newly awakened?
It doesn’t make sense.
‘So, there must be something, there must be something.’
Habin glanced sideways at Chae Jiseok. When their eyes met, he smiled awkwardly and waved. Habin immediately turned her head away.
‘That guy definitely… came knowing something!’
[You’ve finally been discovered!]
‘Damn it.’
There’s no other explanation.
She searched to see if maybe he was playing the mentor role as part of a campaign or volunteer work, but this was also the first time Chae Jiseok had participated as a training institute mentor.
To do something he’s never done before, specifically becoming Habin’s mentor, and inviting her to join the guild from the first day?
“Really… There’s definitely something here. I just don’t know what.”
Habin quickly checked her job title. ‘Magic Swordsman’. Still well-hidden.
Levels aren’t publicly visible anyway, so that should be fine.
She hadn’t even gone outside since awakening… Where could the information have leaked?
‘Could it be… they found out about me exploding the mana stone at the first health center?’
Ugh. Habin clutched her head. She was also curious about how much Chae Jiseok knew and why he wanted to scout her. Was he just interested because he thought she was a strong person hiding her power?
“…Ah, I don’t know. I’ll just watch Netflix and go home after the training period.”
Habin cheerfully flung open her dormitory door. Anyway, if she just diligently rejected guild invitations, got through the training moderately well, and crawled back home, nothing much would happen, right?
At a glance, Chae Jiseok seemed persistent but not a bad person at heart.
[Why do you think that?]
‘Well… There are several reasons.’
Habin propped her chin as she turned on Netflix. In the past, she would have spent an hour deciding what to watch from the main screen.
But things changed after entering the training institute. This was all thanks to Chae Jiseok.
‘Oh, you’re watching ‘Wind and Wish’ too? Then try this. ‘The Magician Who Deceived the Wizard’. It’s fun too!’
It was when she was watching a drama on her phone during lunch break. Chae Jiseok casually dropped a comment as he passed by.
‘…Nah, how could it be fun? I’ll have you know my taste is very picky!’
Habin, full of distrust and wariness, clicked with half-belief…
“Gasp.”
[W-What, what’s the matter?]
“It’s actually really fun? It’s right up my alley…?”
The recommendation was spot on.
Surprisingly, Chae Jiseok had a knack for picking out only truly enjoyable things to recommend.
‘Did you finish ‘The Magician Who Deceived the Wizard’? Then next, Spiderman: New-muniverse is fun too…’
The timing was impeccable. Chae Jiseok would casually approach just as Habin finished the previous series, pinpointing the next work like a master tutor.
Moreover, these were all undoubtedly masterpieces. Not common recommended movies, but hidden gems, great dramas!
Thanks to this, Habin’s quality of life skyrocketed throughout her stay at the training institute. An endless parade of content that hit her taste.
‘That, that person could have made it big as a YouTube movie and drama recommender instead of being a Hunter. He’s too valuable a talent to be just a Hunter!’
Chae Jiseok’s contributions didn’t stop there.
“Well, you must be tired of eating cafeteria food every day? I brought a special menu from nearby today. Want to eat?”
“Gasp. This is Hemesea salmon rice bowl…”
“Oh, you know it?”
Chae Jiseok handed over the chopsticks with a satisfied smile.
He knew many good restaurants too. Habin inwardly held her breath at every meal Chae Jiseok brought as a ‘special meal’. Surprisingly, these were all on the list of restaurants Habin had marked to visit before the world ended.
“Gasp…! This is Up&Down Chicken’s half-and-half boneless seasoned chicken?”
“No way…! This is Jeju Island’s Yeomdan pork cutlet? You have to wait in line for 17 hours for this! How on earth did you…?!”
Chae Jiseok smiled contentedly as he made his pitch.
“If you join our guild, you can enjoy services like this to your heart’s content…”
“Nope! Not going. And I won’t eat for free either. Tell me your account number.”
“……”
Razor-sharp Dutch pay.
No matter how delicious the food in front of her, Habin absolutely refused to eat at Chae Jiseok’s expense.
When she had to eat due to unavoidable circumstances, she calculated precisely and handed over cash.
“Hey, I said I’ll pay for this much. The guild invitation is a joke, just eat…”
“Kim Young-ran Law.”
“This doesn’t even exceed 30,000 won! And you’re not even a public official…”
“Kim Young-ran Law!”
“Ah, really…”
‘Why is the Kim Young-ran Law coming up here…!’
Kim Young-ran Law. (= Act on the Prohibition of Improper Solicitation and Grafting) A strong assertion that public officials cannot legally accept bribes! Of course, it doesn’t apply to Chae Jiseok buying a meal for Habin, who isn’t even a public official.
But faced with Habin’s extremely firm attitude, Chae Jiseok always gave up and trudged away, accepting the money.
Watching his dejected back, Habin propped her chin.
‘…As expected, that person isn’t popular for nothing.’
It was information she had heard since her porter days. Chae Jiseok has an image of being cheerful and friendly. Thanks to his generous nature of taking care of those around him, he’s popular with people of all ages and genders.
The reason why ‘Solaris’ is not at all inferior to ‘Caligo’, created by Korea’s #1 ranked Kang Taeseo, is partly due to Solaris’ guild master, but also because of the human touch of vice guild master Chae Jiseok, to the extent that such rumors circulate.
Posts comparing Caligo and Solaris, and Kang Taeseo and Chae Jiseok, would often appear on HunterNet.
Title: If you ever have to choose between Caligo and Solaris, definitely choose Solaris. (Will delete soon)
Body: I joined Solaris, but I’m really just a low-level member. A newbie who’s only been here for 2 months, completely invisible.
But today my father suddenly collapsed. It’s a rare disease and the costs are astronomical… I was too shocked to do anything, but somehow the vice guild master found out about my situation and personally looked into hospitals for me, gave me indefinite paid leave until my father wakes up… Supported all the consolation money and treatment costs from his own pocket…
+I’ll delete this post soon as it might identify me
The comment section would explode every time.
└ Viral marketing;;
└ This isn’t viral marketingㅋㅋㅋㅋ There are countless cases like this… Those who know, know. Solaris’ Chae Jiseok is just the light…
└ I’m a low-level member too, but the guild master and vice guild master here are really the real deal. I can’t say in detail, but I’ve received a lot of help too
└ TBH I feel more attached to Chae Jiseok than Kang Taeseo. He just seems like a fundamentally good person. I’ve never even seen Kang Taeseo smile… Always with that cold mysteriousness;; Mysteriousness my foot;;; So cringe….
└ Is the comment above crazy? Why are you suddenly grabbing Kang Taeseo’s hair? Hunters aren’t in a job where they need to smile, does it make sense to criticize that?
└ ㅋㅋㅋ Comparing Chae Jiseok to Kang Taeseoㅋㅋㅋㅋ Can you even compare the national 3rd rank to the world’s 2nd rank? No matter how popular Chae Jiseok is, this isn’t rightㅋㅋㅋ
└ Yeah, no matter how much you guys fight, you’re all just scrubs compared to Fides~
└ Why is Fides coming up here?
└ The comment two above is a troll who just posts ‘scrubs compared to Fides’ on every thread and disappears, ignore them
└ These comments are a mess…. Do you guys only feel satisfied when comparing people?
└ Sigh… Whether it’s Caligo or Solaris, just joining is winning at life. Will most people here ever even receive a business card from them? Just be grateful…
Chae Jiseok.
To begin with, the name of his constellation is ‘Nearest Light’. Everyone assumed that constellation would be the ‘Sun’.
The light that has always been consistently warm to humanity.
As if he hadn’t received the choice of such a constellation for nothing, he was renowned in the world for his warm nature.
A person who is kind and friendly to everyone.
Someone with good sense who likes to take care of others.
Habin could distinguish whether there was sincerity in his kindness or if it was purely for the purpose of using her.
…It seemed the rumors weren’t false.
“I can see why Solaris is thriving. Really, if I were just an ordinary Hunter, I would have joined right away, truly.”
[Ah, are you saying what that human did for you is so great? You didn’t budge an inch at my words! Are you saying that human is more useful than me?]
“Well… Honestly, I have to acknowledge the Yeomdan pork cutlet. Much more useful than Jaljal. To the point where I feel bad comparing.”
Habin muttered sincerely. Ahezar was flabbergasted.
[Are you saying that Netflix whatever and Jeju pork cutlet are better than me, the world’s strongest constellation? To think I’d be outmatched by mere pork cutlet! I can’t accept this!]
“…Let’s acknowledge what needs to be acknowledged, Jaljal. You can’t even subscribe to YouTube Premium. You don’t provide food, you’re not fun, what am I supposed to do with you?”
[This is unfair! So unfair! What’s so great about that YouTube! How did I end up being treated like this!]
Ahezar seemed shocked and yelled for a while. Habin shook her head resignedly.
◆◇◆◇◆
The first few days at the training institute passed peacefully. Anyway, the training for the first week was mostly perfunctory safety education.
Occasionally they would bring in active Hunters for special lectures, but the content of these lectures was just listening to active Hunters’ experiences. In fact, many people besides Habin skipped or dozed off during the training sessions.
But from the second week, that wouldn’t be possible.
Because that’s when the real ‘practical training’ with mentors would begin.