D-Rank Constellation Hunter… Stuck Without Internet! - Chapter 74

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 74
A few days later, an official document arrived from Jang Deuk-sung, masquerading as the Hunter Association.
The claim was that they wanted to designate Hunter Ulrim as a fixed member for clearing the S-rank Dungeon.
The document listed various benefits I could receive if I accepted the request, but ultimately, such promises meant nothing to someone who wasn’t human.
“No matter how I read it, the part about not having to participate seems like mere lip service.”
Dan Yibum and Kim Gyuwun shook their heads in agreement.
Dan Yibum had worked at the Association before, so he’d know, and Kim Gyuwun apparently had even handled administrative duties at his previous guild.
Even from my cursory reading, I could tell.
“The guild could express strong refusal from an organizational standpoint, but….”
Ji Chae-ah immediately shook her head.
She’d been reading the two-page document as if committing it to memory, and it seemed she’d reached some conclusion.
“If we do that, Touch One itself could be excluded from the Association’s consideration.”
“What does it mean to be excluded from consideration?”
Ha Gyuhyuk, who had maintained silence throughout, cautiously opened his mouth.
He’d been silent as if becoming one with the wall, but finally seemed inclined to speak.
Ji Chae-ah looked at him and opened her mouth with a gloomy expression.
“Exactly as it sounds. In areas not specified by law—for instance, guild corporate evaluations through review or being rejected as subsidy recipients.”
“You’re saying something like that can happen based on personal feelings?”
“If they input ‘deemed unqualified upon review,’ that’s the end of it. The criteria weren’t clearly disclosed in the first place.”
“Besides, there’s no separate review team, so the Association Director handles each case personally.”
More than ten new guilds emerge daily, and seven of them disband within a month.
Yet subsidy reviews take a minimum of three months per application, sometimes stretching to a year.
There were already complaints about the slowness, and if the Association Director was handling it alone, that explained everything.
“Then why not create a separate team? Is the manpower shortage really that severe?”
Ha Gyuhyuk tilted his head, saying it was strange for even a small guild like ours.
No, Ha Gyuhyuk.
In our case, I’m providing capital so substantial that it’s hard to believe we’re a small guild, so we’re fine.
Otherwise, Touch One would have collapsed two weeks in.
“Hiring managers or senior staff costs a lot of money. So they just keep hiring interns endlessly. The work is difficult, so people leave after training, then leave again after training.”
The mid-level managers in between are mostly hunters with issues clearing dungeons, so they can’t leave either.
Non-hunter backgrounds get overwhelmed by the workload when they arrive and quit en masse, apparently.
“That’s serious.”
And yet this is supposedly the largest hunter-related institution, operating in such a haphazard manner.
The field staff had all demanded reorganization, but the Association Director apparently refused to approve it.
“Even just down to the manager level, people were demanding new guild management guidelines and the formation of a review team.”
“Why does the Association Director handle guild reviews alone in the first place….”
I gently patted Ha Gyuhyuk’s shoulder, which bore the weight of his confusion.
That single gesture drew everyone’s gaze toward me.
I didn’t appreciate such intense attention—it was embarrassing.
I blinked and spoke in a flat tone.
“Do you think modern society is a world where one can seize power simply by holding the position of Hunter Association Chairman?”
Ha Gyuhyuk pondered for a moment before shaking his head.
Right—currently, the status and influence of Dan Yibum, an S-rank Hunter, far exceeded that of the Association Chairman.
Jang Deuk-sung was also S-rank, but everyone has their prime.
His prime had passed, and despite all the infamy that followed him, Dan Yibum was still active.
“You see, Hunters on this Earth form a massive class society rooted in capital.”
I gestured lightly, conjuring a simulation.
A pyramid appeared with S through F marked in each tier.
“The stronger the Hunter, the more they earn. Hunter strength and capital are proportional, so naturally the stronger Hunters wield greater power.”
And to check them, one needs an ‘even stronger’ force.
But realistically, how long can one keep chasing after stronger and stronger individuals?
What guarantee is there that these powerful ones will side with the Association?
Most would rather liberate themselves from the Association’s constraints.
“That’s why the Association Chairman maintains control over the Guilds.”
From Guild creation to expansion, from dungeon clearing reservations to subsidy disbursement.
None of it can proceed without the Association’s approval. Penalties for illegal Guilds are severe.
“The source of the Association Chairman’s power ultimately stems from capital control.”
By monopolizing capital allocation, they keep weak to mid-tier Guilds under their thumb.
But then the question arises—what about Guilds wealthy enough to operate independently, or solo Hunters with no need for subsidies?
“Dan Yibum.”
“Yes.”
He, who had been quietly observing the pyramid, turned his gaze toward me.
“How is it working alone? Is it comfortable?”
“When I tried to enter a dungeon solo, the Association refused permission, citing safety concerns. Even though it was a dungeon I could clear by myself.”
The former Guild Member who had tried to confront Dan Yibum in front of the SA Dungeon.
I’d heard he was close enough with Jang Deuk-sung to drink together.
The pyramid crumbles easily.
“Kim Gyuwun, what methods does the Association have to obstruct Touch One?”
“They can deny entry to dungeons they manage under the guise of safety, or claim that the Guild’s slot was lost in the random lottery. Taemyeon experienced this multiple times.”
“Taemyeon was one of the disliked Guilds.”
“Yes, because of me.”
Kim Gyuwun, straightforward as bamboo, would boldly refuse whenever the Association made unreasonable demands based on his judgment.
Taemyeon was financially stable enough that they didn’t apply for subsidies.
But whenever Taemyeon Hunters applied for dungeon entry, the Association would suddenly switch that dungeon’s access to random lottery selection—such incidents were commonplace.
“Honestly, I don’t understand why people would go to such lengths.”
Both Kim Gyuwun and Dan Yibum, who experienced this, had lodged direct protests and resisted in their own ways.
But the Association remained unmoved.
With no legitimate way to earn, Dan Yibum entered that enemy Association, while Kim Gyuwun held on in the sinking Guild before grasping my hand.
From Ji Chae-ah’s account, it seemed the wound had festered quite thoroughly.
The three who had experienced this bore gloomy expressions.
“Why does this keep happening? They say the rich get richer. And then they turn around and summon all the people they’ve harmed to the Hunter Association.”
“Is it because you should keep your enemies close, or does he think that’s how you get closer to people…?”
“When he was at Taemyeon Guild, he acted that way, yet he proposed to me multiple times that I transfer to the Hunter Association. That’s why this official notice sits so wrong with me.”
Ha Gyuhyuk simply watched them converse, his gaze steady and measured.
He couldn’t empathize with their words, but he understood them.
Because I felt exactly the same way.
They were A-rank and S-rank. In other words, they’d never experienced being truly beneath notice.
Did all the victims actually receive an invitation to join the Hunter Association?
A man destined to die as a sacrifice in a dungeon simply because he was D-rank, and a C-rank awakener who perished after being thrown into a massive dungeon—I’d never heard of them receiving such an offer.
– It’s because they don’t know, Se-um.
And Ha Gyuhyuk’s message reached me.
For a moment, it felt like my thoughts had been read aloud, and my eyes widened involuntarily.
He was smiling gently, looking not at the three of them but at me.
– What matters is that to those people too, Hunter Association Director Jang Deuk-sung is a bad person. Needless to say for us.
For a moment, Ha Gyuhyuk was so perfect that tears nearly spilled from my eyes.
My boy had always been this way.
[ Yes, what matters is taking down the bad guy! ]
My heart was petty and narrow-minded, and I almost called it the world of the privileged in that instant.
Once I started nodding enthusiastically, the three of them finally sensed something amiss and looked at me.
“Constellation, what’s wrong?”
Dan Yibum approached me.
As if my avatar body had frozen mid-motion.
I quickly switched my expression to something stern and shook my head.
“No, let’s send a response to the Hunter Association first. Ji Chae-ah and Kim Gyuwun can handle that, right?”
Both of them lit up with enthusiasm.
“Just tell me the content, and I can write it myself.”
“No way! I’m good at official notices! I know all the different formats!”
“Then I just need to tell you the content?”
“Yes.”
I tapped the table once and opened my mouth.
“Let’s cut them open.”

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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