---

Chapter

139. Tada! (4)

The cafeteria located at Keroes headquarters.

As lunchtime approached, employees from various departments flocked to the dining hall.

“Is that seaweed soup?”

“And there’s spicy pork, too.”

“Can I have another piece of kim?”

Each employee, upon receiving their food, made their way to an empty seat.

Among them, a staff member from the CS team, working at the customer center, took a spoonful of the green seaweed soup and brought it to their mouth.

However—

“What is this taste?”

The employee grimaced down at their tray after tasting the food.

It was so unappetizing.

“The rice is all clumped together, and the sausage tastes like flour…”

“Try the soup. It’s completely bland.”

“It’s not just bland; there’s not a single solid ingredient in the soup. I thought it was the Han River.”

“Today’s food is the worst ever!”

As employees voiced their complaints one by one, they glanced into the kitchen.

They could see kitchen staff dressed in white hygiene clothing.

Among them, one person had taken off their gloves and mask and was loudly chatting on their mobile phone.

The employees, shoving the tasteless food into their mouths, whispered among themselves while glancing at them.

“They really can’t cook.”

“Was it about three years ago that the guild switched cafeteria vendors?”

“Ever since then, the food quality has plummeted.”

“Why did they switch…?”

“I’d rather eat army rations.”

Keroes had contracted a cafeteria service company to operate the dining hall.

Until about three years ago, the food was fairly decent, but after the vendor change, the quality of the meals dropped significantly.

As the employees continued their conversation on this topic, a middle-aged man, who had worked the longest at Keroes, spoke up.

“The owner of the current cafeteria company is personally close to the Guild Master.”

“Really?”

“Absolutely. I overheard them talking outside before.”

The reason Keroes’ food had gone downhill was that Guild Master Park Joong-seob had switched the cafeteria vendor to a friend’s company.

“The Guild Master doesn’t eat here anymore; he goes out for lunch every time.”

“He knows it’s bad, too.”

“Wow, how petty! Is he pocketing extra cash on the side?”

The switch of the cafeteria wasn’t for the good of the company, but rather for the Guild Master’s own greed.

With suspicion, the employees continued to chat.

Thud!

Finally, one male employee finished his meal, having left more than half of it untouched.

He couldn’t muster the courage to eat any more of this tasteless food, which was worse than convenience store rice balls.

Instead of rice, he downed some water and said, “I’m exhausted from the calls coming in today.”

“Same here. What a pain with Yoo Ji-han…”

Sigh…

The employees sighed collectively.

Since the revelation of Yoo Ji-han as a new Rank 3 Hero and Spirit Master, and his previous association with Keroes, they had been inundated with inquiries about him.

“Just before lunch, someone called asking about Yoo Ji-han’s past.”

“There were similar inquiries when he became a bit famous from that movie, too.”

“But it’s nothing like back then. Today it’s at a whole different level.”

“If I were in their shoes, I’d be curious as well. He was at Keroes for seven years.”

“True.”

The protagonist from the quite successful hero movie.

On top of that, he was a Spirit Master contracted with the Wind Spirit.

Alongside him in the same party was a Mage who graduated top of the Hero Academy and a Tamer who carries a large chinchilla.

Interest in Yoo Ji-han’s party had naturally led to conversations about him within Keroes.

“I used to think he was just a low-tier hero…”

“But still, why did he stay at Keroes for seven years if he had this much potential?”

“We can’t know the inner workings of a hero.”

“Maybe he had his reasons?”

Back when Yoo Ji-han was still with Keroes, the employees had cast strange glances at him, even though he had been there for quite a while, similar to Kim Hyun-tae’s party, as he labored without any fame or recognition.

Thus, rumors circulated about a useless hero clinging to the guild.

“My friend who was sent to support on-site said that he often joined Kim Hyun-tae’s party’s Rank 2 Monster Areas as well.”

“Surviving in a Rank 2 Monster Area means he must have some skill, right?”

“Well, you can’t be sure. He could just be lugging supplies around.”

The former situation of Yoo Ji-han had drastically changed.

As the conversation shifted to him, many speculations about his past surfaced.

However, the majority of employees could not understand why he had kept a low profile at Keroes.

“So why did Yoo Ji-han leave Keroes, then?”

“I heard he made a huge mistake on-site.”

“That’s different from what I know. I heard he demanded way too much money from the guild during re-contract negotiations.”

“Huh? I heard Kim Hyun-tae ordered that?”

While the employees, forgetting to even eat, speculated about Yoo Ji-han…

Guild Master Park Joong-seob remained in his office, not touching his meal.

Tap, tap, tap, tap.

The tip of the pen in Park Joong-seob’s hand repeatedly struck the desk, making a noise.

He had a rather displeased look on his face.

The employee standing at attention in front of him felt a lump in their throat.

They knew very well that the Guild Master was in a bad mood.

Thud!

Park Joong-seob slammed the pen down loudly and said, “I wonder when that party will stabilize…”

He thought that Kim Hyun-tae’s party would stabilize soon.

However, contrary to expectations, they remained unstable to this day.

In particular, the recent injury of Tanker Hwang Joon-ho was a critical blow.

During the few days he was absent due to his injury, they had no choice but to let the other heroes from the party take on external activities.

“I’ve compiled the requests from Kim Hyun-tae’s party members.”

“Go on.”

“First is an artifact. Kim Kang-woo requests a powerful artifact for urgent situations.”

“Hmm! If Kang-woo needs it, we should definitely get it for him.”

Park Joong-seob nodded at Kim Kang-woo’s request.

Buying one or two useful artifacts was not a significant issue.

Since he had watched Kang-woo grow up, it was unnecessary to deliberate over his request.

“Whatever artifact it is, Kang-woo will use it exceptionally well. Allocate a generous budget and prepare whatever he asks for.”

“Yes, understood. Next is a request from Hyun-tae.”

“Hyun-tae?”

“He wants to film a hero movie with the party…”

Park Joong-seob looked surprised at hearing Kim Hyun-tae’s request.

When the internal suggestion to shoot a movie came up once before, Kim Hyun-tae had rejected it, claiming it was too much trouble.

“There’s no reason it can’t work. It would serve as good motivation and would be nice.”

“As a special request, he said he wants it to be on a much grander scale than that movie.”

“Is that… the movie produced by Yoo Ji-han’s party?”

“Yes.”

Kim Hyun-tae insisted that his movie must be grander and more splendid than the one produced by Yoo Ji-han’s party, regardless of the circumstances.

In response, Park Joong-seob slapped his knee and said, “If we step up properly, surpassing that would be no issue at all! Bring in a decent director from outside.”

“Understood.”

“Where did that Yoo Ji-han get lucky and acquire a spirit…”

“…”

“If it weren’t for the spirit, it wouldn’t have attracted this much attention.”

Park Joong-seob clicked his tongue.

Yoo Ji-han, who was essentially just a tool used comfortably at Keroes.

He felt quite displeased that the situation had evolved into such prominence for someone like him.

“As an addition, tell the PR team to keep a close watch on what Yoo Ji-han says to the media. If he makes any comments related to Keroes, we need to have a rebuttal ready immediately.”

“Yes, understood. And next…”

The employee continued to report the opinions gathered from the heroes to Park Joong-seob.

Most of them were respected and accepted since they came from the guild’s core heroes.

And when only the separately gathered opinions remained in the documents…

“…”

The employee hesitated for a moment, then closed the document and concluded the report.

“That’s all.”

“Convey today’s instructions to the respective persons in charge.”

“Yes.”

After finishing the report, the employee exited the office.

He took the elevator to return to his office, glancing down at the documents in his hand.

At the bottom of the document, the last entry was the opinion that Lee Mi-a conveyed to the guild.

[The decrease in overall power since Yoo Ji-han was expelled from the party is far greater than expected…]

[This recent injury of Hwang Joon-ho resulted from the absence of a sub-tanker in the party…]

Each remark referred directly to Yoo Ji-han, who had been expunged from Kim Hyun-tae’s party.

The document also pointed out specific areas that were problematic within the party.

However, those conclusions also circled back to Yoo Ji-han, who had been acting as a supporter.

‘I didn’t know Mi-a could write something so lengthy.’

Normally, Lee Mi-a wouldn’t convey her personal opinions to the guild unless something particularly special occurred.

Even when she had something to say, it mostly ended in a sentence or two.

But this time was different.

As if she had realized something, she had sent a remarkably sharp and lengthy opinion.

‘But I can’t report this.’

The employee shook their head.

If they submitted such a report to Park Joong-seob, who had already belittled Yoo Ji-han…

He would surely berate them for why they hadn’t cut off such a useless opinion in advance.

Especially since the sentences included in the report posed many problems.

[While Kim Kang-woo’s physical abilities appear outstanding, I currently have no idea what his role in Kim Hyun-tae’s party is.]

[Despite being pointed out several times for repeating the same mistakes, there’s been no sign of improvement.]

[It’s also problematic that the party leader, Kim Hyun-tae, continues to keep him shielded.]

If Park Joong-seob, who cherished Kim Kang-woo, were to hear such content, he would undoubtedly get angry.

And the one who would bear the brunt of that anger wasn’t Lee Mi-a, but the employee reporting it.

It would be a different story if Lee Mi-a communicated her opinions directly to the Guild Master.

Ha…

Upon arriving at his own office, the employee immediately approached the paper shredder.

Shrrrrrrr—

As they fed the document into the shredder, a loud noise occurred, and the papers were finely chopped.

Opinions that Lee Mi-a had conveyed to the guild crumbled away.

The employee, shoving in the remaining papers into the shredder, thought to themselves.

‘If they ask about what I overlooked later… let’s just say it was an accidental omission.’

As a mere staff member, all one needed to do was speak only the words their superiors wanted to hear and stay quiet.

After all, speaking unwelcome truths in the name of serving the organization could lead to an unpleasant outcome.

*

Yoo Ji-han’s party, now promoted to Rank 3.

Having found it difficult to operate in the previous Rank 4 Monster Areas, they gathered in the office for a meeting, pushing aside the surrounding interest.

The first topic that arose was equipment replacement.

Yoo Ji-han looked around at his party members and said, “First, I will replace everyone’s equipment, including mine.”

“Yes!”

“Before we head to Nam Ho-yeol’s place tomorrow, think carefully about what options you want.”

Excluding Kim Si-hu, who had a dedicated staff, Yoo Ji-han and Min Yu-ri decided to invest at least 200 million in weapons.

As they were investing more in equipment than before, they could choose from a wider array of options and add in the options they desired when placing their orders.

Moreover, thanks to the additional subsidies from the Blue Spirit Society, the financial burden was lessened.

Meanwhile, after buying her first gear, Min Yu-ri wore a frown as she mostly just maintained it since then.

“Umm… I can’t think of anything specific for the options.”

“Then I’ll recommend some for you.”

With a wealth of on-site experience, Yoo Ji-han clearly understood what equipment the party’s ranged dealer, Min Yu-ri, needed.

“Let’s add a few more layers of magic coating, both inside and outside, to Chilla’s armor.”

Click!

Everyone was excited about the idea of changing their equipment.

While Kim Si-hu was operating his phone, searching for options to add to the new gear…

Suddenly—

“Huh?”

“What’s up?”

“Right now, all the Korean media outlets are attacking IUPC.”

“…?!”

A startled Yoo Ji-han and Min Yu-ri hurried over to Kim Si-hu’s side.

[IUPC drenched in blood at Seoum Middle School and Hangang University…]

[Dice captures evidence of human trafficking at IUPC…]

[IUPC develops forbidden technology to mutate monsters…]

[Hero Department: “IUPC must be classified as an anti-national organization.”]

The latest news articles on Kim Si-hu’s phone unleashed a torrent of reports targeting IUPC, almost as if they had been waiting for this very moment.

In stark contrast to the previously positive articles where they often did volunteer work as an organization.

As Yoo Ji-han read through them, he spoke as if relieved, “This is the kind of country it should be.”

 

---