[Legendary hero Specter shows off his powerful charisma. “I have returned.”]

[Fiends trembling in fear. Specter declares war on criminals.]

[The king has returned after 25 years, but how are his skills? A detailed analysis of Specter.]

[Five minutes of silence. As Specter said, guilds, associations, and players must reflect.]

[Seo Jun-ho, the rookie who received high praise from Specter.]

“Hm.” Seo Jun-ho lay on his bed, scratching his stomach as he read over the news. He was looking through all the comments.

– Can Specter really do it? There’s tons of fiends over level 100. 

┖ What’re you worried about? He can mop them up in his free time. 

┖ Free time? lmaoooo all i see is a boomer tryna act tough

– Idk about anything else, but I was surprised at how perfect his sword aura was.

┖ so true. I wonder how his magic circuits were preserved;; specter is specter after all. 

┖ Really? Aren’t sword auras all the same?

┖ This is why you’re not a ranker. 

– Specter was amazing and all, but that’s all in the past. Aren’t there a lot of kids who don’t know him these days?

┖ Nah. They teach about the Five Heroes in elementary school.

┖ im 10 and all my classmates know about specter

“Pfft.”

Online comments didn’t fully reflect the public opinion, but he got a sense of what most people thought.

They’re glad I’m back, but they think I went too far.

The people were riled up by his announcements, but once their excitement settled, they started to worry that the fiends would start to harm them in retaliation.

“It’s not like they’d be quiet if I didn’t say that.” As he closed the window, the Frost Queen snuck up on him.

“Contractor! Contractor!”

“…Ah, geez.”

He grumbled as he stepped into the living room, where she was hugging a remote.

“I have finished season 1. Turn on season 2.”

“……”

It was his fault for introducing her to dramas yesterday. She had stayed up all night.

Seo Jun-ho sighed as he spoke. “Hey, I’ll show you how to use the remote, so do it yourself. Stop waking me up to change it.”

“I do not know such things.” She turned her head coyly and held out the remote. “And prepare some tea. My throat is dry.”

“Am I your servant?”

“Contractor, please~!”

The only thing she learned from watching dramas was how to act all innocent.

Seo Jun-ho turned on season 2 and headed to the kitchen. He poured soda into a large cup. “Here, this is tea that modern humans drink.”

“Hmph, it does not have a refreshing aroma.” She sipped her straw unknowingly, and Seo Jun-ho waited.

“Eek!” She stood up from the sofa and pointed at the cup. “C-Contractor! The beverage has attacked me!”

Seo Jun-ho doubled over in laughter, and she sputtered. “Do not laugh! It’s the truth! My mouth is still stinging!”

He grabbed the cup and gulped down the soda. “This is called a carbonated drink.”

“…Carbon?”

“Aigo, I meant to pour this for myself. I’ll make you a new cup.”

“……!”

The Frost Queen finally realized she’d been tricked and stomped across the sofa. She was still mad when he brought her favorite flower tea. “I will not forget this humiliation…”

“You don’t want to watch season 3?”

“…Hm. Forgiveness is a virtue of a monarch. I shall forget this transgression.” She turned away sheepishly and focused on her drama.

Frost Queen. You can no longer order me around. The weapons he could use against her increased every day. Feeling victorious, Seo Jun-ho stepped out of the house.

“Let’s warm up a bit.”

There were rumors going around the Association that said he was addicted to training, but he still headed to the hall.

Thanks to the fiends at Paradise, I reached level 29, and my Magic stat has also increased quite a bit… He thought that he’d be able to start using his old techniques again. He planned to test them out today. But as he entered the elevator, his Vita rang.

“Hm?” It was a message from Deok-gu.

– Hey, Jun-ho, there are people who want to recruit you.

– Can’t you send them back?

– They’re bigwigs from the Big 6. If you refuse them outright, things will get noisy.

Big 6… He understood why Deok-gu had gone through the trouble of sending a text message this time. If they were guests from the Big 6, he couldn’t turn them back like he usually did. And he said they were bigwigs. That meant that it wasn’t just one person.

Seo Jun-ho recalled the faces he’d seen at the press conference. Gong Juha was definitely there. There had been five others sitting next to her: the team leaders of each Big 6 Guild. Seo Jun-ho sensed that they had come to see him yesterday as well.

Ah, so that’s how they came here so quickly… He had told Deok-gu to announce the press conference only a few hours before it started. No matter how quickly the Big 6 moved, they wouldn’t be able to send down someone from the 2nd floor within that time; it would take at least a day. That’s why he’d been surprised to see them at the press conference.

He became even more sure of it after seeing the text.

Their goal was never to see Specter.

It was to see Seo Jun-ho. There was no doubt that they had come to recruit him after his stock price had soared.

– This is an awkward situation.

– Can’t you just reject them all? What’re they gonna do if I just say I like the Association?

– Some of them are the type of people who’ll break something if they can’t have it.

– Ah.

He nodded. Those kinds of people had always existed. He thought for a second and sent a reply.

– I have a good idea, so leave it to me. Get an empty meeting room and lead them there.

– What? You’re gonna meet them all at once? What the hell are you doing?

– Doing what I’m best at.

Seo Jun-ho pressed ‘send’ and turned around, a smile on his face.

* * *

“……”

“……”

The silence was even heavier than the day before. Kiora had a venomous smile on her face.

“That’s weird. I requested a private meeting with Seo Jun-ho… Why are you guys here?” She said, scanning the others. “Well, I don’t think I’ll have anything to worry about.”

“What are you so confident about?” Gong Juha cut in. “There’s not a single member of Hallem that’s received a noble title on the 2nd floor.”

“We don’t care about titles or territory. That’s why we have more members, connections, and information.”

“I don’t believe that.” Heo Junsu, the third team leader of Silent Moon, spoke as he adjusted his glasses. “We have a Count and two Barons. Do you really think a mere mercenary guild can defeat us in terms of connections and information? I don’t think so.”

“…What did you just say? ‘A mere mercenary guild’?” Kiora stood up from her seat, charging her magic. Heo Junsu did the same. The clashing energy between them was about to explode.

Clack.

“Aigo~ Sorry I made you wait.” Seo Jun-ho chuckled as he entered the room. He sat at the head of the table. “Gee, why are you two standing? Have a seat.”

“……”

They couldn’t create a bad image in front of the person they were trying to recruit. Kiora and Heo Junsu cut off their magic and sat down. Seo Jun-ho looked over the six people and placed a voice recorder on the table.

“First of all, I want to record the contents of today’s meeting. Is anyone against it?”

“……”

They exchanged glances. Rankers disliked being recorded, and none of them would have allowed it had it been a private meeting. However, none of them wanted to be the first to speak up. If they’d been given more time, they would have all collectively refused.

“Ah, thank you for giving me permission.”

Silence meant compliance. Seo Jun-ho didn’t miss his chance. He was playing a dangerous game, but he turned on the voice recorder and started to speak.

“Now, then… Why have the honorable team leaders come to find me?”

Kiora was the first to speak. She smiled seductively as she spoke.

“Of course, it’s to recruit the man that broke the record in the Cave of Trials.”

“…Anyone else?”

“We’re all here for the same reason.”

The team leaders nodded. Seo Jun-ho seemed embarrassed.

“Um, I’m sorry, but I can’t do that. I have my own circumstances…”

“I know. It’s because of the contract fee, right? The Hallem Guild is willing to pay for it.”

“Stop acting all big. Everyone here plans to do that.” Heo Junsu snorted. Kiora smiled tightly.

“You keep insulting me… I dare you to keep going.”

“You think I won’t?”

The air in the room soured again, but Seo Jun-ho banged on the table.

“Excuse me. If you two are gonna fight, please fight outside.”

“……?”

The other team leaders held back their laughter, but Kiora and Heo Junsu narrowed their eyes. Even if they were trying to recruit him, they were high rankers and team leaders of the Big 6. Seo Jun-ho was a mere newbie, and his arrogance hurt their pride.

“Haa, this is why I didn’t want to negotiate with a newbie. They think they’re all that.”

“…You should show me respect, as I have.”

Seo Jun-ho smirked in amusement. “Respect? Do people consider dogfights respectful?”

“…Dogfights? Ha. Are you saying that to me?”

“Mr. Seo Jun-ho. Do not keep crossing the line.”

Kiora and Heo Junsu seemed ready to fight him, and the entire room was tense. Gong Juha kept fidgeting and signaling at him to stop. But Seo Jun-ho didn’t avoid their gaze and pointed firmly to the door.

(TN: In Korea, it’s considered rude to make eye contact with someone in a higher position than you.)

“Yes. If you don’t like it, please leave. I don’t want to give this opportunity to rude people.”

“…Opportunity?” Kiora’s face darkened. They were the ones that were giving him the chance to join the Big 6. It was the biggest opportunity that a 1st floor player could get. “I think you’re misunderstanding something here. The one giving the opportunity isn’t you…”

Thunk. Seo Jun-ho silently placed a sheathed sword on the table. They looked at it, wondering what it was. But as they came to the realization, the team leaders’ eyes widened.

“Wait. That sword…”

“Is that the Demon-Beheading Sword?”

It was the sword that Specter had brought to the Gate in Antarctica. Kwon Noya had spent a month hammering it out, and it was one of his most famous weapons.

“You all participated in the press conference, so you should know what’s going on… Specter-nim declared war on the fiends. He is gathering forces to join him when he goes up to the 2nd floor once he recovers completely. He has appointed me as a scout to find such people.”

“……!”

Their eyes popped. Fighting with Specter was the greatest honor one could receive. Not only that, his targets were fiends, a universal representation of evil. They would be fighting “for the sake of justice”. The team leaders quickly did the calculations in their heads.

I did get the feeling that Specter thought highly of Seo Jun-ho.

I see… They have a close enough relationship that Specter felt comfortable appointing him as a scout.

When Specter defeats the fiends, perhaps he’ll mention that our guild helped him…?

The effect will be incomparable. The amount of exposure won’t even compare to the promotions and advertisements we spend astronomical amounts on.

In this day and age, Specter was the best guaranteed ticket to success. The six team leaders knew that they couldn’t miss the opportunity. Kiora and Heo Junsu immediately sat down.

“Ahaha, I’m sorry for showing you something unseemly.”

“My apologies. This will not happen again.”

They trembled in their seats. If they had missed the opportunity to work with Specter because of the heat of the moment, they’d never hear the end of it from their guilds. They swallowed hard. 

It wasn’t just the two of them, though. All six team leaders sat on edge. They were no longer the ones in control of the board.

“Now, then…” Seo Jun-ho put on airs as he spoke. “I will tell you Specter-nim’s four terms.”

This was the thing he was best at: power tripping.