The S-Rank Character Is My Alt

Chapter 13: Welcome to the Sacred Battlefield (2)

「We will now begin the environment test to ensure a smooth AI interview. Please wait a moment.」

In front of Lude, the laptop borrowed from Ihyun was booting up. Inside a study café prepared for the video interview, Lude had changed his avatar into office wear and was checking the camera.

“After all that practice…”

He had practiced hard for about five days, both at home and in the café with Ihyun, and even with the Lord of Chaos in his dreams. Yet in the end, it turned out to be an AI interview.

Lude rubbed his hands together with a slightly disappointed expression. After so much preparation, it felt anticlimactic that the “pressure interview” scenario was gone. Noticing his mood, the Lord of Chaos sent an indirect message of consolation.

[Well, ordinary people cannot look into your eyes for long anyway, so a face-to-face interview was never possible to begin with, says the Lord of Chaos with a shrug.]

“Yeah, that is true.”

Anyone who met Lude’s gaze for too long would be consumed by fear. He had tried to mask it by overlaying illusions onto his avatar’s eyes, but the effect lasted only a few minutes, at most a few dozen.

Unlike passing glances inside a gate or seeing someone through a screen, an interview required prolonged eye contact and conversation. No illusion could block that.

Practicing constantly with Ihyun who was unaffected, and with the Lord of Chaos, had made him forget that fact.

If he had really sat in an actual interview room, the terror he radiated would have made it impossible for the interviewers to do their job.

“Maybe it is better this way.”

And his fear of people still had not vanished. Practice interviews with Ihyun or the Lord of Chaos were one thing, but whether Nari could withstand the pressure of real evaluators was another matter.

If he failed because he couldn't endure it… The thought alone made Lude shake his head firmly.

‘No, I must buy a house.’

When she was a child, if she went downstairs in the morning, her father would be preparing breakfast while her mother got ready for work.

Nari would drag her feet, saying she did not want to go to school, until a friend came to the door and they ran off together. In the evenings, they would return home, watch TV as a family, and relax.

No matter what anyone said, that house was filled with his precious memories. And now, it has become a den for thugs and a ruined building.

That couldn't be allowed. Nari was someone who lived in the past more than the present, and that was something she could never lose.

“…Pull yourself together and do this right.”

Lude slapped his cheeks a couple of times. It was a habit he had picked up naturally from being with Ihyun. At last, the AI interview began.

[The interview will now begin. Please give a one-minute self-introduction.]

“Ah, hello. I am Lude, and I am applying for the Sanctuary Guild’s open recruitment.”

As soon as the words left his mouth, Lude was startled. During practice, he had answered arrogantly, intimidating the “interviewers”... and he had done image training like that several times.

[But you can’t actually do that in the real thing, can you? The Lord of Chaos snickers.]

Strangely, he simply couldn't bring himself to act that way. Honestly, he had wanted to spout arrogant lines as rank one, overwhelm the interviewers, and get accepted on his own terms.

But practice and reality were different. No matter how strong he was, and no matter how many guilds would welcome him outside the Sanctuary Guild, in the moment of an interview, none of that helped.

Instead, he found himself worrying that his true self might be revealed. Behind the rank one specs, she was a coward who couldn't even function socially, and one who couldn't get along with people.

‘I-If… this had been an actual face-to-face interview, I would have been in more trouble…’

The social phobia status ailment was stronger than he had thought. His real self, Nari, had never had a solid ego and had always been psychologically withdrawn. In a way, this feeling was inevitable.

[Still, this is a remarkable improvement, the Lord of Chaos praises you.]

‘T-True. Just being able to speak this much in front of a screen is a huge improvement for me…’

Thankfully, the practice had paid off. Though awkward, Lude was able to speak his mind more naturally. For someone who had lived as a shut-in for ten years, only ever working part-time, this was a massive step forward.

Then the final question of the basic interview appeared on the monitor.

[Why did you choose to apply to our company?]

Naturally, Lude remembered Ihyun’s interview coaching.

* * *

“Now! Time for a special lecture on interviews!”

In a study room in the city, Ihyun stood in front of a whiteboard, dressed in a white shirt, black tie, and thick-rimmed glasses without lenses. Sitting in a chair with his legs crossed, Lude gave him a once-over.

“What is that outfit?”

“Huh? This? I copied it from job prep videos online. Park Hyung, the ‘job prep king’… D-Does it not suit me?”

“You said you worked the morning shift today. Wait, did you wear that to work?”

“Nope. I brought it with me and came here after changing! The immersion is important, you know!”

Ihyun chuckled. Changing after his shift just to hold a mock interview session… Again, it showed a level of enthusiasm Lude could hardly imagine.

“Is it weird, perhaps…?”

“No. Looks good.”

“Hehe. Thank you…”

The compliment came from Lude, who had high standards when judging men. It made Ihyun smile warmly. He then clapped his hands and summarized the situation.

“Anyway! With your specs, they should treat you like a treasure. But the guild probably has a few questions they want answered. That is why they are doing an interview. If you focus on those, I think you will be fine…”

“What questions?”

“Hmm…”

Ihyun folded his arms, wondering how he needed to tell her this. After shrugging once, he carefully started to explain to Nari.  

“Honestly, you have always worked solo, right? You even rejected cooperation with other Hunters.”

“Yeah.”

“So they will be curious. ‘Why is this man suddenly joining?’ And also, can a soloist work well in a team? I think that is what they want to see.”

Lude rubbed his chin. It made sense. Joining the Sanctuary Guild meant following company rules, taking responsibility for partners, and strictly keeping office hours.

Until now, Lude had bent the unspoken rules of Hunters with force, reshaping the southern provinces of Gyeonggi into his own rules. They needed to know if he could lower his head and live by someone else’s.

“So as long as you answer your reason well, there should be no problem. Honestly, just having you join is already more than enough for them.”

Ihyun scribbled on the whiteboard: “Reason for application.” Looking at the words, Lude sighed.

“But it’s because of money. To get rich.”

“Y-You cannot say that!”

Ihyun looked at him in dismay. Lude waved a hand with a sigh.

“Yeah, I know. I know I can’t say such a thing… But seriously, they are looking for someone to work like a cog in the machine, and still ask about the reason…?”

“Well, they want cogs that last. Quitting midway would be a loss for them.”

As a company, they wanted someone who would stay long-term. Ihyun shrugged.

“So annoying. I will just clear gates on schedule and hand over the loot, so pay me incentives and salary. I provide labor, they provide money. Why are they asking for more?”

Groaning, Lude racked his brain over how to answer. Ihyun scooted closer and sat beside him.

“Why not talk about the gate we went into together?”

“That one?”

“Yes. The one that suddenly rose from class 4 to class 2. Right now it is under embargo, but everyone who knows, knows. And they know you cleared it.”

“True, no word has gotten out now that I think about it.”

That strange gate with the bizarre cult leader... It had jumped from class 4 to 2, and even the boss monster was unusual. Yet the press was silent.

A class 2 gate appearing suddenly in Korea would have caused national panic, so they must have suppressed information until they figured out the cause.

Nari had not noticed this because she didn’t care. Whether a class 1 or 5 appeared, or whether Korea was on the brink of collapse, it did not matter to her after all.

“If you use that, it could pass smoothly. O-Of course! That is just my thought.”

“So, what you’re saying is that the rank one Hunter wants to join the Sanctuary because he is worried about South Korea with the sudden change in gates?”

Ihyun nodded. It sounded plausible outwardly, though it did not sit well with Nari.

Lude sighed. He hated mouthing words that meant nothing, especially pretending to care about Korea’s safety.

‘If I said I cared about Korea’s safety, even a passing dog would laugh.’

It might have been pride, but he could never bring himself to say that.

“I will think about it more…”

Smiling at his hesitant tone, Ihyun stood while rubbing his hands together.

“Then just say it honestly. That is your charm after all. That is why I like you!”

* * *

‘Why did I apply, you ask?’

It was the one question he never settled on. He had planned to just say, as Ihyun suggested, that he applied to protect Korea.

That was the safe route. Thinking so, Lude glanced at the name sticker on the laptop. Ihyun Kang.

Whatever thought he had, after staring blankly for a moment, Lude started to speak as if he was charmed.

“...A few days ago, I met Hunter Kang Ihyun in a class 4 gate.”

Words poured from his mouth before he realized it.

“And Hunter Kang Ihyun asked me, ‘Isn’t it hard to do everything alone?’”

He is a good person. He reached out a hand, gave him a reason to keep going, encouraged him to return to society, and supported him to the end.

“Until now, the reason I acted alone and avoided cooperation was… because I couldn't trust anyone else. I thought I had to solve everything by myself. I thought it had to be that way.”

Lude knew his answer was a mess. No interviewer would expect this kind of reply.

But this was Nari’s true heart. Honesty was a charm. He chose to trust Ihyun’s words once more.

“But after clearing a gate with Hunter Kang Ihyun and receiving his help, I realized… I felt a little better.”

Of course, like everyone else who had been beside Nari, he knew Ihyun would eventually leave.

“So.”

But it couldn’t be now. At least not until Nari could see the signs and prepare her heart. Otherwise, she would certainly shatter again, just like before.

So she couldn’t afford to disappoint him. She must not let him down. She wanted to live up to expectations, even if it was just a little more…

“I wanted to… believe Hunter Kang Ihyun’s words. That is why I applied to the guild.”

She hoped Ihyun would be a little happier. She hoped he would stay by her side a little longer.

The kindness of another person, felt for the first time in so long, was unbearably sweet.

“That is all. Thank you.”