Something was clearly going on.
The shield got half-destroyed, so we couldn't spar, which was fortunate in a way, but it turned into a really embarrassing situation. Still, since I forced some money on them even though they said no compensation was needed, my guilt eased a bit. The students seemed pleased because they got to skip class thanks to it.
Even so, this being an Awakener academy, everyone scattered to do their own training. Seeing a few boys trying to mimic me by practicing roundhouse kicks on the sandbags nearly made me too embarrassed to look up. The silver lining was that there were no other fire-attribute users, so at least no one was trying to copy the Pillar of Fire.
"Though the class got canceled, it's great to see everyone so motivated thanks to Hunter Lee Seo-woo."
"I'm sorry about this, Instructor."
"No need. Thanks to you, they got a glimpse of a higher realm."
That phrasing... has he read some wuxia novels?
"By the way, where did you learn your martial arts?"
"Just some light exercise here and there."
I wasn't sure about Lee Seo-woo, but as for me, it was just the Taekwondo I learned as a kid and a bit of kickboxing after becoming an adult, thinking I should work out. Of course, I didn't stick with it long and just ended up getting a gym membership instead.
"I'd love to spar with you sometime."
"Haha... if the chance comes up."
Of course, I'd beat a hasty retreat before that. There were plenty of promising young Hunter sprouts, but the orphan I was looking for wasn't among them. I hadn't expected to find them right away, but it was still disheartening. Maybe I should head a bit further out and check.
Anyway, it was about lunchtime now, so I should head back to the guild and scope out a few more schools. This time, I'd make sure to announce my visit in advance.
"How about lunch together?"
"I'd love to, but I think I need to visit a few more places."
"Oh dear. I nearly held up a busy person."
"No, no. Contact me next time. I'll be looking forward to it."
"Haha, of course."
The classic Korean trait: saying "let's meet next time" and never doing it. Stick to the national rules, Instructor—Manager? Honestly, with everything going on with Crystal Guild and Seo Ji-hyun, I couldn't give a firm answer. Ever since entering this novel world, I hadn't even gotten to do what I wanted—I was just getting dragged around. Still, if I wanted to survive, I had no choice.
After making that noncommittal promise, I bought a sandwich for lunch on the way back and returned to the vice guild master's office. My inbox was on fire. At first, I thought it was a flood of healer applications, but no. Word must have spread already—visit requests from Awakener academies all over. Somehow, it had gotten out that I was the one going around schools and putting on shows. And it looked like our guild master had heard the news too.
[I know you're back. Come to the guild master's office as soon as you see this message.]
Life where you get scolded the moment you arrive. But when I went up to the guild master's office, Yoo Soo-jung said something unexpected, different from what I'd imagined.
"Your inbox, right? I checked it out too. Doesn't this feel like an opportunity?"
"Pardon? An opportunity?"
"Have you seen the community forums?"
"No."
"You're blowing up right now. Even I was pretty shocked. It was kinda cool, though?"
"Huh?"
Unable to grasp what she meant, she showed me her phone directly.
"What the..."
I knew the students had been filming with their phones earlier, but I hadn't expected them to upload it so quickly. Are there always crazies on every community forum? Not only was it a top post, but in less than an hour, it already had hundreds of comments.
"Surprised, huh? You don't usually do stuff like this."
"Ah..."
"It wasn't bad. First time trying this kind of promotion, though."
I'd forgotten that this was completely out of character for the original Lee Seo-woo, so I was scrambling for what to say when she brushed it off without a care. What a relief.
"Thanks to you, public opinion is completely in our favor right now."
"Glad to hear that."
"Anyway, back to the main topic. All these schools are begging us to come visit, right?"
"Yes. I didn't expect such a strong reaction."
"So, what if we announce that we're supporting underage Awakeners from vulnerable groups while we've got all this attention?"
"It'd draw even more eyes. But isn't that different from why we're looking for orphan Awakeners?"
In Crystal Guild's case, surely they were scouting those kids to squeeze money out of them and discard later. But listening to her excitedly explain, it seemed her thinking was a bit different.
"Think about it. Honestly, mid- and small-sized guilds get a really bad rep for claiming to support vulnerable Awakeners. Why? Because people think there's no guarantee the guild will even survive, so how can they provide support?"
"That makes sense."
"But we're different. Because of you. With a monster who can clear dungeons solo, it doesn't make sense to worry about our guild's survival, right?"
"So, there's some foundation to build the guild on."
"Exactly. And here's the thing—the situation's changed. With Seo Ji-hyun as the last one, there are no more orphans left except you, right?"
"Yes."
Of course, Seo Ji-hyun was doing fine at my place, but I didn't bring it up.
"That means our guild has no more 'cannibal guild' stigma."
"Uh... yeah...?"
"That's the plan for rebranding the guild. Once that's done, it'll prove our foundation is solid, naturally drawing in more applicants. Then we take in a ton of new recruits and rise to top-tier guild status. Of course, you'll have to put in some work."
It was something I never could have anticipated.
Well, in Heroine Revenge, Crystal Guild fell apart after Guild Master Yoo Soo-jung was taken out by Seo Ji-hyun. They timed it perfectly when Lee Seo-woo was away from the guild, so there was no proper response, and losing the guild master caused it to crumble fast. Excluding Lee Seo-woo, the rest were just average anyway, and some had only joined for connections to Yoo Ji-hyeok.
For such a guild to grow...
It wasn't impossible, but hardly simple either. Some of the guild's executives still knew about its shady past, and whether Yoo Ji-hyeok would let a guild used for tax evasion grow unchecked was another issue. He wouldn't outright oppose since it was his daughter, but conversely, he might suppress it to shield her from backlash.
In fact, in Heroine Revenge, when Yoo Ji-hyeok learned Seo Ji-hyun was the one who wrecked his daughter, he mobilized the entire Hunter Association to hunt her down like a rat. By then, though, Seo Ji-hyun was already too strong, so it ended anticlimactically.
Anyway. If that was the case, I needed to move even faster. If I quickly purged the personnel and filled it with my own people, that might satisfy the first condition for surviving this insane spicy revenge story.