Chapter 46: Tier-3

In the morning, Ji-woo still had time to help his mother get ready at home for the necessities. That would get brought to the food stall that had got tidied up beforehand.

While preparing the goods, Ji-woo’s mother asked. “Ji-woo~ya, do you think the notification about your work will come out today?”

“I don’t know, mom. But, I think today we will have good news.”

Ji-woo answered with an awkward smile, trying to cover up his lies. And his mother smiled back at him.

“If it’s a good thing. Then it’s fine.”

“What is Ji-won gonna do later alone?”

“I tell her to come to the food stall if she is bored at home.”

Kreak–

The sound of a room door opening distracted Ji-woo and his mother.

“I can do whatever I want. It’s none of your business.”

Ji-won came out of the room and spitted out some harsh words to Ji-woo, even though the tone was a bit friendly now.

Ji-woo shrugged, uninterested in responding to his little sister’s taunting words.

Ji-woo’s mother tried to soothe the mood. “Ji-won~ah. Your Oppa is only worried about you.”

Ji-won shut her mouth after being reminded by her mother and only watches as her mother and brother prepare to go outside.

Ji-woo’s mother came out first, then Ji-woo immediately followed.

Before Ji-woo went and closed the door from outside, Ji-won spoke some words to her brother.

“Umm, why bother cutting your hair when you look more shabby than before.”

Ji-woo softly giggled. He knew his sister was getting rigid from trying to fix their relationship, which made her scrutinize him rather than compliment him.

“Is not ‘You’ It’s ‘Oppa’ Remember the manners when talking to adults.”

“You … You are still a child, not an adult!”

Ji-woo gave her a subtle smile, leaving the house. He didn’t want to force Ji-won to be nice to him right away. He just wanted their efforts to happen sincerely without coercion.

Ji-woo went with his mother to the food stall. Then he continued to the Demigod guild because he would start his job today as a hunter in the dungeon.

—- —-

The Demigod guild headquarters was very crowded, with more than 100 hunters in front of the building.

Not long, all the hunters quickly moved and formed two teams of 50 each.

“I refuse this appointment!”

Yu-jin didn’t accept that she got assigned to the team that went to tier-3 Portal Gate instead of the team that went to tier-4 Portal Gate. Besides, she got partnered with the only one, Ji-woo. The person she hated the most to the bone. Meanwhile, Lee Tae-han and Kim Gi-tae go to the tier-4 Portal Gate team, a place which she dreamed of it.

Ji-woo, Gi-tae, and Tae-han just watched on the side as Yu-jin complained to Dong-hyun about the division of the team slots.

Yu-jin had never been at a Portal Gate above tier-3. According to rumors, the higher the tier of the Portal Gate, the more resources one could get for hunters, even though the risk of death was also high. That was why she was eager to go to tier-4 rather than tier-3 plus Ji-woo on it.

“It’s an order from Tae-hyun~nim for this hunt. You can’t complain or deny it.”

“I don’t want to!”

Dong-hyun tried to convince Yu-jin of the arrangement, but to no avail. She was still persistent in moving to the tier-4 Portal Gate team to the end.

If not resolved before they go or enter the Portal Gate. Dong-hyun surely would get scolded by the team leader if he was unable to control these new hunters.

“Dong-hyun~ah, let me handle it from here on.”

Dong-hyun was taken aback by the voice and a pat on his shoulder when he was still in the middle of thinking of a way to persuade Yu-jin.

“Ah, yes, Hyung~nim.”

Yu-jin turned her gaze toward the man who made Dong-hyun take a step back.

“It has been decided by me and approved by the Demigod Vice-headmaster.”

“I don’t …”

Before Yu-jin could finish her sentence, Tae-hyun pressed his left hand to her left shoulder.

“Young Miss. You seem to have forgotten where you are right now.”

Tae-hyun leaned closer to Yu-jin and whispered. “It’s Demigod.”

The pressure from that one hand was able to make Yu-jin tremble in fear and unable to move. She could only grit her teeth and obey.

“F-Fine.”

A few days of not seeing other high-ranking hunters made Yu-jin forget what kind of place the Demigod guild was in South Korea.

The title of Top guilds was not just for a display. Those guilds were the frontline hunters if the country experienced a Portal Gate disaster and a symbol of the state’s sovereignty in the world.

How could a hunter like Yu-jin act as if she was someone important in such a place?

Perhaps for other guilds, Yu-jin was a valuable hunter. But for guilds like Demigods, Artates, and Shadow, hunters like Gi-tae were the most important of all talents.

Even a hunter possessing spell mastery was still not enough to match a hunter that owned unique elements.

“Good.”

Tae-hyun then stepped away from Yu-jin and shouted at all hunters who would be participating in the hunt.

“All right. Let’s go!”

“Yes, sir!”

“Yes, Hyung~nim!”

Team 2 and Team 3 respond simultaneously. And there were two black luxury buses ready to take those two teams to hunt.

Demigod team 2 consisted of 13 E-rank hunters, 15 D-rank hunters, 8 C-rank hunters, 7 B-rank hunters, and 6 A-rank hunters. Plus, Tae-hyun, as their supervisor who went with them to tier-4 Portal Gate.

Tae-hyun could only choose the Demigod Team 2 over Team 3 since A-rank hunters got restricted from entering the tier-3 Portal Gate.

The two teams headed to different places due to the location of the Portal Gate, which was far between tier-3 and tier-4.

The bus Ji-woo was in had a calm atmosphere. It was probably because the distribution of hunters in team 3 was balanced. It consists of 11 E-rank hunters, 17 D-rank hunters, 12 C-rank hunters, and 10 B-rank hunters.

The Team 3 leader was confident they could finish the hunt and close the Portal Gate smoothly with such a lineup.

Dong-hyun, who was also in team 3, approached Ji-woo in his seat.

“Ji-woo~si, you don’t have any artifact items, such as armor or anything similar? I mean, you want to enter the Portal Gate with just this outfit?

“You don’t have an artifact weapon or item at all?”

Dong-hyun had been observing Ji-woo from the very beginning. He had never seen Ji-woo take out anything related to the hunters’ gear they usually wore.

Ji-woo shifted his face, looked at Dong-hyun.

“I don’t have any. And there’s no rule that says you can’t go to the Portal Gate with only these ordinary clothes. Am I right?”

“Right.”

Dong-hyun answered subconsciously before slapping his forehead and noticing something wasn’t quite right.

Plak–

“Wait! That’s not what I mean. You know how dangerous a dungeon is, right? Hunter’s gear, such as items that can increase our survival or weapons that allow us to kill or defend against those creatures, is crucial.

“Here, I give you this.”

Dong-hyun took out leather clothes from his backpack and gave them to Ji-woo. There were traces of Mana from that item. Allowed the outfit to be stronger than ordinary clothes.

However, Ji-woo noticed that the leather clothes were not well made even though they looked good. He looked at the other hunters and compared their artifact items to the leather clothes in his hands.

The making was different, and the characteristics were apparent. One seemed to be made by humans on earth, while the other style looked like it was from another world.

Six years of the Portal Gate was too short a time for humanity to develop. Even though it could craft artifact weapons and items, it didn’t quite reach the level of Magic items from the dungeon.

Ji-won didn’t refuse the leather outfit. He needed an item that could last a little longer. Because he no longer wanted to waste his pocket money on clothes like in the Battle Royale because ordinary clothes were not suitable for fighting.

“Thanks. Ah, right. Here, the plain white shirt you gave me last time. Sorry, I’m just returning it now.”

Dong-hyun was surprised that the shirt he gave to Ji-woo got returned to him. He wanted to leave a good impression on Ji-woo by giving the jersey.

“No. No. You don’t need to return that to me. Don’t worry about me.”

However, Ji-woo still insisted on returning the shirt to Dong-hyun. He already appreciated Dong-hyun’s help and intent. It would be onerous for him if the clothes became a gift and did not get returned.

Dong-hyun let out a deep sigh. In the end, he gave up his intention of rejecting Ji-woo.

“Finally, we reached tier-3 Portal Gate.”

Ji-woo shifted his eyes to the bus window, looking at the outside after hearing Dong-hyun’s words. He saw Portal Gate with a 3 meters radius that had more extensive than any Portal Gate he had seen before.