Chapter 206

I immediately asked Yoo Ju to arrange a meeting with the three new recruits she had mentioned.

The group consisted of two men and one woman.

The unusual thing was that while the two men looked ordinary, the woman stood out.

She had long blonde hair and wore a mask covering half her face.

“Mr. Yoon Seong, these are the people I mentioned,” Yoo Ju said, and the two men immediately bowed in greeting.

“Hello! I’m Jo Byeong-cheol!”

“I’m Bae Joo-won!”

After the two men introduced themselves, the woman finally spoke.

“…I’m Choi Ga-in.”

Their stats were solidly in the upper tier.

Not quite top-tier, but definitely at a level where they’d be welcomed anywhere.

‘The woman is slightly stronger than the two men.’

However, even though they’re upper-tier players, if they were to face a top-tier powerhouse like a ranker, they’d only be useful for buying time.

I think I understand why Yoo Ju hired them.

‘Probably in case something happens when she or Wi Ho-yeon aren’t around.’

In other words, they’re sacrificial pawns meant to hold out until Yoo Ju and Wi Ho-yeon arrive during unexpected crises.

Anyway, since they greeted me, it’s only polite to respond.

“Nice to meet you. I’m Lee Yun-seong.”

“Oh, we’ve heard so much about you! It’s an honor to meet you!”

“Haha, the honor is mine, Mr. Lee Yun-seong.”

‘These guys…’

The way the two men immediately started flattering me was something else.

‘They’re making it way too obvious.’

As someone who knows a thing or two about flattery, I can say they’re amateurs.

Real flattery is when you make it seem genuine, not when it’s blatantly obvious.

“Haha… No, no. The honor is mine. You’re praising me too much.”

“Not at all! We’re just stating the facts. Who in this continent hasn’t heard of your achievements?”

“You’re making me blush.”

In contrast to the two men, the woman just stood there with a businesslike expression.

It reminded me of Wi Ho-yeon when I first met her.

‘From the contract, it seems like they’re joining Eternity, but more like hired mercenaries.’

They’re technically part of Eternity, but it’s a short-term contract. If we’re satisfied, they might get a permanent position later.

‘More like highly paid interns than mercenaries, I guess.’

The pay is pretty good. It’s slightly less than what regular Eternity clan members get, but not by much.

Given their stats, Eternity is paying them more than they’d get elsewhere.

‘That’s probably why they’re so desperate.’

Anyway, I didn’t get any bad vibes from the three of them. Even after checking their status windows, nothing seemed off.

‘Though the woman covering half her face is a bit concerning…’

It would be awkward to ask about it here. She might have personal reasons.

“May I ask which groups you were previously affiliated with?”

The two men answered immediately, as if they had prepared for this question.

“Of course! My friend and I have mostly worked as mercenaries rather than being tied to a specific clan.”

‘Mercenaries, huh…’

“We’ve taken on requests to hunt monsters, large-scale outlaw hunts, small-scale territorial disputes, and so on. We have quite a bit of experience. Haha…”

The two men seemed to be close.

“Ahem, it’s a bit embarrassing to say this, but my friend and I were known as the ‘Warriors of Rehamond.'”

‘What kind of childish title is that?’

“I see. And Ms. Choi Ga-in?”

“…I was part of a clan called Soseongdan, which has since disbanded. After that, I worked as a mercenary like these two.”

When the woman mentioned Soseongdan, the two men’s eyes widened slightly, so it must have been a pretty influential clan.

‘I’ll look into that later.’

Since I hadn’t heard of it, it was probably a clan that disbanded before I arrived on this continent.

“Understood. Now, I’d like to hear about your professions.”

I already knew from checking their status windows, but it’s necessary to hear it directly.

“My friend and I use swords and axes, respectively. Our professions are advanced-tier general professions.”

Advanced-tier means they’re Hero-grade professions.

While Eternity has quite a few Legend-grade professions, Hero-grade is still highly respected on this continent.

‘Outside, you’ll find plenty of people with Normal or Rare-grade professions.’

“…I’m a Hero-grade assassin-type profession.”

Choi Ga-in didn’t specify her exact profession, but it was a unique one, different from the usual swordsman, spearman, martial artist, or assassin.

‘A shadow assassin, perhaps?’

I’m not sure exactly what it entails, but it probably involves some kind of shadow technique.

“Good. Then here’s the plan: Wi Ho-yeon will be your direct supervisor.”

Given Wi Ho-yeon’s reputation, everyone seemed to accept this.

In fact, the two men kept glancing at Wi Ho-yeon, probably because of her looks.

“Ms. Ho-yeon, you’ll be in charge of briefing them on everything.”

“Yes, understood, Mr. Lee Yun-seong.”

“Oh, and if Ms. Ho-yeon is unavailable, Ms. Choi Ga-in will take charge.”

“…Me?”

Choi Ga-in seemed a bit taken aback.

It’s understandable, given that she was suddenly given command authority.

‘Though it’s conditional, of course.’

The reason I gave her authority was simple.

‘She’s the strongest among them.’

And besides, someone who’s quiet and reserved is often more reliable. It shows they’re cautious.

If I made a mistake in judgment, I could always transfer command to someone else.

However, the two men seemed a bit dissatisfied. I could sense a hint of discontent on their faces.

“…Um, may I ask why?”





“Is there a special reason for giving the command to that person?”

‘Of course, there’s no way they wouldn’t have complaints.’

“For now, I’ve temporarily given them command.”

“Temporarily, you say?”

“Yes. Depending on your actions moving forward, the person in charge of command may change. So, my current decision is just that—temporary.”

The two men exchanged glances for a moment before nodding slightly.

“…Understood.”

******

It had already been a month since the three new members were hired into Eternity.

Bae Joo-won, Jo Byeong-cheol, and Choi Ga-in were training in the provided training ground.

Well, to be precise, the two men were sitting on chairs taking a break, while only Choi Ga-in was actually training.

Watching Choi Ga-in train, Bae Joo-won frowned and spoke up.

“…Man, this really pisses me off.”

“What does?”

“The guy we’re guarding.”

“Ah… that weakling?”

The two men had no complaints about their treatment, but they were quite dissatisfied with the fact that the person they were guarding was just an average clan member of Eternity.

“Damn, it’s not even the Clan Master, Seo Yoo-ju. Why the hell are we guarding some weakling like that? It’s so embarrassing.”

“Well, it sucks like you said, but what can we do? At least the pay comes in on time. And who knows? Maybe we’ll get to officially join Eternity through this.”

“That still hurts my pride. I thought I’d be officially joining Eternity, but this is just like being an intern. Sure, the treatment’s better than an intern, but still…”

“Still, it’s way more comfortable than when we were mercenaries. Though, who knows what’ll happen if things go south.”

“Damn, that’s true, but are we really the kind of people who should be treated like this? We’re not even official clan members. What the hell is this? And you know what?”

“What?”

“The Sword Monarch. I was really surprised when I first saw her. I mean, I’d heard stories, but I didn’t expect her to be that beautiful. She’s insane, right? I’ve seen Ha Yu-ri from a distance before, and she doesn’t even compare.”

“Ha Yu-ri? You mean the one from the Mardan Clan?”

“Yeah. She’s famous across the continent for her looks. I saw her once, and any man would want to take her down at least once.”

“Pfft, you idiot. Like she’d ever fall for you.”

“…Shut up, man. I’m just saying. Anyway, when I saw the Sword Monarch in person, my lower half reacted on its own. I can’t even imagine what it’d feel like to hold a woman like that. Damn…”

“Why are you imagining something you’ll never achieve, you idiot.”

“Damn, who knows? Maybe I’ll get her to fall for me once.”

“Dream big, you moron. Even Gwi Chang failed and got his head chopped off.”

The two men chuckled as they bantered.

“By the way, her eyes were practically dripping honey whenever she looked at Lee Yun-seong. It was like she was looking at her lover or something.”

“Really? But that’s weird. I thought Lee Yun-seong was involved with Seo Yoo-ju?”

“Ugh, that pisses me off too. I was so excited at first. I thought I’d be guarding Seo Yoo-ju and saw it as a chance to rise in status.”

“You crazy bastard. A woman like that would never even look at you.”

“Hey, man, I’ve taken down plenty of women. Charming a young girl like her would be a piece of cake.”

“You idiot, the women you’ve ‘taken down’ were all from brothels, you fool.”

“Hey, it’s not like that. Some of them genuinely liked me. There were even some who asked me to marry them.”

“Stupid. They were just being polite.”

“Hey, no, really.”

“…Whatever. But she’s really going at it, huh.”

At Jo Byeong-cheol’s words, Bae Joo-won also turned his head toward Choi Ga-in, who was training.

“What’s she even doing, working so hard? She’s been around long enough that her growth is probably stunted.”

As Bae Joo-won said, once a player passes the three-year mark, the growth from training becomes incredibly slow.

This is because, although it’s not visible in the status window, each player has a limit to how much their stats can grow based on their individual talent.

Of course, stats don’t stop increasing entirely, but the time and effort required to raise even one stat point becomes enormous compared to before.

That’s why, after passing the three-year mark, most players either seek extreme situations or rely on luck for breakthroughs.

“…Why is she working so hard? Why don’t you take a break?”

At the words directed at her, Choi Ga-in paused her training, caught her breath, and turned her head toward the man.

“Hey, at our level, training is pretty much meaningless, right?”

“…Speak.”

“…What?”

“Don’t use informal speech. Use honorifics.”

“Ah, why so serious? We’re colleagues working together. No need for honorifics.”

The man spoke with a sly grin, but Choi Ga-in responded with a stoic expression.

“Even if it’s temporary, I’m still your superior for now.”

“…Tch.”

After briefly locking eyes with Choi Ga-in, Bae Joo-won reluctantly agreed.

“…Fine. Whatever. So, our esteemed superior, why are you training so hard?”

“…I train to maintain my condition at all times.”

At Choi Ga-in’s answer, Bae Joo-won clicked his tongue.

‘Damn, why is she so cold?’

“…Got it. But why are you covering half your face? You’d probably look pretty if you took that mask off.”

“…Do I need to explain that to you?”

‘Ugh, this bitch has no manners.’

Her attitude clearly showed she had no interest in engaging further.

At Choi Ga-in’s response, Bae Joo-won’s face twisted in annoyance.