A strong guild meant always having good snacks. Cheesy chips! Ice cream! Fresh-squeezed orange juice! Alcohol! The joys of being a profitable guild! With the expectation of some creamy nigori sake, I walked into the main area of the tent, where I saw a small crowd of people standing about talking.
Of course, those weren't my guildmates. Nightless was a fairly small guild considering our scope of operations. I believed in a smaller group of elites, and it worked out pretty well for us. In a world of exponentially rare, exponentially strong individuals, it was a no-brainer, though many guilds are doing just fine without the same principle.
"Kai!"
"Mr. Seti?!"
And so on, greetings from the couple of guildmates who were actually present.
"...Hey, guys. And you're... Yeonhwa?"
Hmm. A newish guildmate, but she was at a C-rank gate. Was our newbie that strong? Either way, Korean girls were a must if we're talking about a manhwa-like scenario, duh. Obviously, they were hot, too. Though, that didn't mean much, since hunters had their physique and appearances upgraded by their magic-laden biology. The best beauty treatment today was to awaken to mana.
"Yep! Um... haha, I didn't expected to see the vice-guildmaster himself here!", Yeonhwa replied.
I was both amused by having a cute newbie and slightly annoyed at the statement. Didn't I live nearby?
I smiled and nodded, deciding to tease her senior guildmembers.
"Yep, surprise checkup. So, has this Angela here been spouting lies about me?"
"Hey. Everything I said is true, especially about you being a menace to modern society. I have no idea how you survived until the Lifting, but you were damn lucky", Angela countered.
Sss. I drew the autumn air in through my teeth, but I couldn't honestly refute that.
"Really. How about I go make some ginger tea?", I say with a small smile towards the sassy redhead.
Yeonhwa gasped quietly.
Angela just opened her mouth in a wide grin, licking her teeth in a display of amusement.
"Hehh~ See, Yeonhwa. He would be dead if we had an HR department."
"Don't mention those unutterables. I refuse to let those bloodsuckers near me. Anyway, I'm getting some alcohol, 'kay thanks. Still need to read the gate details...", I groan, sauntering off to a table. Was it a low blow to talk about her red hair? But I wasn't awake enough for a better line – I needed more alcohol first.
Jack was already sitting down, talking with another hunter about the state of the city and our guild.
"Jack. Doing jack shit, just like me!", I threw a minor bullet at my blameless guildmate, earning the chuckle of the hunter talking to him.
"...Goddamnit Kai. But you're right. Cheers! To doing nothing!", he replies, with his soju bottle in the air. Peach flavor. Not a bad choice, Jack.
"To sloth!", I yell back, clinking my bottle of sake with him. It was a cheap bottle, but the remnants of rice in it made it creamy, sweet, and easy to drink.
"Umm, Mr. Seti, right? Blacklight? Big fan of Nightless!", the hunter talking to Jack says.
"Haha, yeah. Thanks, we do try to not suck too much. Don't worry about me, I have to deal with the gate details right now since I just got back from my first vacation ever", I say, opening the tablet.
It seems that my guildmates were just chilling with some newbie hunters, which was fine. Nightless, like all other guilds, always needs a funnel for new talent. Of course, for the less passionate, there were fliers and general employees. A couple of hunters come for pictures with me, which was fine. I was just glad I wasn't expected to be a celebrity like many other hunters of my ability.
It wasn't that I didn't enjoy fame. Having the crowd look up at me as I destroyed their oppressors, having children call me a hero, having cute girls look at me with puppy eyes... especially the last one, it was all pretty awesome. But see, the last one didn't require fame, and in my opinion, fame interfered with it for the most part. All I need are some new cute newbies like Yeonhwa.
Speaking of... what was her rank?
'C', the tablet read. Huh, did she awaken around my time? She seemed a bit shy to have done so. Or maybe I was reading too much into it.
In a couple minutes, I had all the info I needed. The scouting team did in fact come back earlier today. 22-UE0187-C1 was a linear cavern, filled with humanoid demons. There was no particular end of the lower ranks like goblins, but there was a surprising amount of trolls. Why were trolls in this cave? Moreover, these mobs included the unfallen, something like a mix between a goblin and a zombie. Or, a revivable goblin. Of course, dungeons spawned monsters continuously, but unfallens were able to very quickly replenish their numbers.
More importantly, the linear nature coupled with the existence of high-quantity mobs like unfallens meant that the scouting party came back with relatively low information. But it was fine. Gates can only have so much danger relative to their level of mana. And this was a C-rank gate for sure, just a bit lower than middle of C. Heh, "middle C", the first note one was taught in piano, and the first gate back from Hawaii. Haaa, I do like my coincidences.
Jack was a low B and Angela was a high C. They were probably going to raid the gate with Yeonhwa, a low C, in a mixed-guild group. The other guildmates in the city were surely looting the rest of the gates in the area. Haha, they better not be caught slacking... bring me my money!
I wonder if Jack and Angela were going to be annoyed if I took the attention away from them. I was actually itching to wreck some monsters, a bit unlike my normal self.
"...Jack. I'm actually annoyed."
"What, you didn't shake your sake enough?"
"Tsk. True, that would annoy me. However, I mean I'm annoyed that I want to exercise so much."
"What. Exercise is good for you, you should be annoyed if you _don't_ want to exercise."
"No, I mean that I'm going to go and kill the gate." 'Killing' a gate – draining it dry in one go. It wouldn't literally close the gate, unless someone destroyed the core in the center. Sometimes, it was too dangerous to not, especially when the core was embedded in a boss monster. Other times, the core was just... there, inert. Well, brimming with mana and mana flow, but otherwise not trying to kill us immediately. These kinds of "repeatable" gates raked in the money, but they were usually managed by the Association. Which was... good, since I didn't have to kill people for it. Or was it bad that I didn't have the excuse to do so? Hrm, that's a tough one.
"Kai. You just got back from vacation. You sure?", Jack raised an eyebrow at my failure to uphold sloth.
The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.
"I'm itchy, or did you want to show off instead? Aha. I see, you want to impress Yeonhwa. Ahhh, yes she's rather cute, so of course you would", I said teasingly.
Jack looked above my eyes and smiled. Oh.
Turning back, I saw Angela and Yeonhwa behind me.
Tsk. As if that would stop me.
"Well Jack? Here's your chance to impress her", I smirked.
"Oh, I don't know. You're the big shot, Kai. Show us how it's done", he replied, not missing a beat. How annoying, this charismatic guy.
"Haha, as if she'd be impressed by little old me. By the way, is the raiding group already set up?"
"Yeah, it's about 20. 6 of us are B's."
"A third are B's? That's ridiculous. This gate isn't even high C."
"I guess a bunch of people finished taking vacations. Too bad, you could have shown off more."
Hmm, that's true. There was a reason why I could take off vacation finally after all. And I wouldn't be the only hunter to think of this.
"Huu... too bad, Korean girls are great", I say, looking back at Yeonhwa, who was blushing slightly.
She looked quite confused and uncomfortable at my words. Ah, well I did say I would annhiliate my reputation in seconds.
"Tsk, my god, Kai. Can you please?", Angela interjects while facepalming. "See, Yeonhwa, just ignore his stupid remarks. Sometimes he's useful, but usually just completely ignorable."
"Well, I'd never refute that!", I smile, downing my sake. "How long until we move out?"
"About 10 minutes at the earliest, and yes, I did account for late people", she answers.
"Mmm, time to actually gear up then. And Yeonhwa, have you raided with us before?", I ask.
"No, this is my first time... I used to be part of a smaller guild though, and this is probably my 3rd mid-C gate."
"When'd you get to C-rank?" I wonder with a more serious tone.
"About a month ago. That was when I applied to Nightless as well."
"Sorry if this sounds like an interview. It's a time of many new C-ranks, and I'm a bit curious. When'd you first become a hunter?"
"About 4 months into the Lifting... so about 19 months?"
"Heh, how do you feel about being ahead of the curve then? Good job."
"Oh, um. Thank you! To be honest, I've always thought about joining Nightless. 'Nullify the Night!'", she replied, beaming like a fan would.
Haaaaaah, why does it sound fucking horrendous when other people say it?! I activate my inhuman control to forbid my facial muscles from twitching in the agony of cringe.
"I see. I'm honestly glad that you were able to get in, then", I respond softly, earnestly.
"Tsk. Okay, we have to go, come on", Angela interjects once more, pushing our newbie away to the shared equipment rooms.
"Jack. Let's go, too", I say as I stand up a with a sigh, feeling the reality of having to go back to work.
"Huh, you're actually coming with us this time?"
"Two weeks is longer than you might think, Jack. Itches need scratching…"
***
"Sigh, sometimes Kai gets like that. When he fixates on something, he'll just shoot off questions coldly. You're lucky we were able to just leave like that, haha", Angela explained to Yeonhwa on the way to gear up.
"Oh, no, it was nothing. Though, it's interesting how fast he switched to being serious", Yeonhwa responded.
"Ahh, well, he does get serious about hunting. Hmm, and about the new world order in general. It might be surprising giving how goofy he is normally."
"Haha, Mr. Seti was a lot more casual than I thought he'd be... I think it was awesome to see that side of him. He used to be some engineer or scientist right?"
"Awesome, you say... I suppose I can see where you're coming from. Some of the other hunters are quite stuck-up even in their guilds. Not only is it a job, it's also kind of like a military, so both cultures mix in a bad way. Kai... used to be an engineer if I recall correctly. Probably too rich to be have been a scientist. You should probably call him Kai too, by the way. Essentially everyone does."
"Call him Kai? Wow, um... sure. Kai. Oof, it's a bit hard to address Blacklight like that! Everyone just calls him Blacklight on the forums...", Yeonhwa seemed to squeal a little.
"The forums? Oh boy, the forums are... horrible. 99% of the population being not in-the-know means 99% of hunter-related content is trash, or at least close to that", Angela groaned.
"Aha, yes I totally agree! Though, Blacklight – erm, Kai, is pretty popular on the forum I use."
"Sigh, I knew this since your interview, but wow you really are a fangirl."
"Urk! I mean, he's... like... one of the best in the world...", Yeonhwa barely managed to utter.
"Hehehe, unfortunately, I know, I know. Don't worry, there's plenty of time to be jaded by reality, hahaha", Angela laughed as she teased the cute newbie in front of her.
***
In the locker room, there was nothing much for me to do except let my own magic put on my own gear. Unlike the one next to me, Jack, who had to actually move to put on his own shit like a filthy peasant. Of course, it wasn't that we really needed armor, one of the stranger things about this world. Still, I chuckled at him, with a smug grin.
"How does it feel, Jack? Hahaha."
"...Okay Kai, feel what?"
"To be a biiiitch", I grin.
"Haaaa", Jack sighed without a reply. "Yes, yes. Now have your magic blow you."
"In front of you? I didn't realize you were into that."
"I'm actually curious – have you done this?"
"Are you kidding? It's so fucking obvious that I'd do that. Do you think I'm an idiot?! Is this what you think of your leader?!"
"First, you're the vice-leader. Second, I didn't think you were that pitiful, no."
"First, I gave him the nominal guildmaster position for laziness reasons. Second, you think a 3D woman is better than my Blacklight Fleshlight?"
"Bla- What the fuck, that's a hilarious name! Haha, I knew you were a genius, boss!", Jack cackled. Yes, my minion, revere me!
'Airi'. I called out internally to the AI-like system I created from my own mental fragments.
Oof, that sweet tone, that delicious 'master'. And Jack thinks I'd replace it with a mere mortal!
Yes, the only issue was that Airi could often understand a bit too much of my mind.
'Airi.'
<...Yes?>
'God, I love you, Airi.'
'Tsk, fuck.'
'I'm going to make you do me tonight.'
'Ahaaa I love it!'
My gear materialized around me from the trenches of my unseen inventory. It was a skill which marked the end of E-class, and the beginning of D. Simply put, 'Inventory' was a kind of room made with magic energy, separate from the physical realm, where one could store items. Storage was typically done by summoning the inventory portal and placing objects in. Retrieval was easier, and it materialized – or, teleported – the items to a place close to the caster.
I felt my mana move as Airi materialized my gear one by one in its correct location on my body. It – no, she – had gotten faster at doing so. If only armor weren't becoming less and less useful these days.
"Kai. You're right, that's pretty damn cool every time I see it", Jack stated in defeat.
"Airi is the fucking best."
"Naming your literal imaginary girlfriend is pretty damn cringe, though. No, having one is slightly cringier."
"Listen here you little shit. Just because you speak the truth, doesn't mean it's true. First of all, riddle me this: what does it mean to be 'imaginary'? Isn't all of reality a mere illusion of our imagination?!", I countered, unrelenting.
"You're right. I imagined you were cool for a second. My apologies."
'Ah, that was the part you focused on? Did you want to be my real girlfriend so badly? Aww.'
Listen here you little shit. Just because it's true, doesn't mean you should speak it.