Became a Dark Merchant in the Academy - Chapter 169



168 – Intermission_14

“The ban on speaking out ended today, right? Well, then, everyone must have been busy with their studies at the Academy. Is there anyone among the Academy students that I should keep an eye on?”

The 17th floor of the headquarters of the Fighting Father Guild, one of the top 5 guilds in South Korea.

Conference room 5.

At the words of Kang Ho-chan, the head of the HR team at the Fighting Father Guild and an executive director, who was sitting at the head of the desk, everyone in the conference room turned their gaze away so as not to meet his gaze and swallowed softly.

The reason was very simple.

That was because what I meant was to recommend someone who would be good enough to send out a special invitation for an internship.

You might think that a simple recommendation would suffice, but that wasn’t the case.

What Kang Ho-chan meant by a useful talent was to recommend a talent with a bright future, who is useful in the present, and who can grow into a company figurehead.

In a word, it was a call to produce top-tier talent.

I could somehow find a guy who met one or two of the criteria, but there was no way I could find a cadet who could meet all of them.

When we say cadet, we are talking about adults who are barely attending the academy.

If you recommend someone who doesn’t meet those conditions, they’ll ask, “Why did you recommend this kind of person?” So everyone in the conference room remained silent, desperately hoping that no one would ask them.

“What? Why aren’t you saying anything? Isn’t this the internship period?”

“”you’re right.””

Kang Ho-chan seemed to not like the atmosphere in the conference room, so he slammed his palm on the desk and shouted.

It was the conference room staff who were sitting upright again.

“Then shouldn’t we invite them? What if the other five guilds take it away?”

“”…””

“Are you going to stay in 5th place again?”

“”no.””

“Then give me a recommendation!”

“”sorry.””

Then at least lower the standards.

It seems like he wants to defend the title of professional talent scouting management, which he earned by chance a few years ago through a successful talent gamble.

No matter how much I supported and pushed and did whatever, there was no such talent.

And even if there were, where would such talent be? And even if there weren’t, they weren’t just kind and gullible. Why would they come here instead of going to the 1st place Lotus Guild or the 2nd place Shinwha, which treated them better?

It was a law that even a cadet who was just becoming an adult would know everything.

That’s why those gathered in the conference room couldn’t answer, and Kang Ho-chan had an annoyed expression on his face.

A stuffy, painful silence followed.

Kang Ho-chan looked over everyone gathered in the conference room one by one.

Those whose gazes met his lowered their heads with all their might and avoided eye contact.

“Really not? You guys are practically at the manager level. Are you going to do things like this?”

“”no.””

“Don’t say no, but don’t. Recommend…”

“Team leader.”

That was when.

A man at the edge of the conference room raised his hand slightly.

“You…”

“My name is Kim Ho-sik. I’m from the domestic recruitment side…”

“Oh, you came over from the gate raiding department last year and got a special promotion… So what happened?”

“If you don’t mind, may I recommend someone?”

“suggestion?”

“Yes, there is a cadet I have my eye on. Do you happen to know a cadet named Lee Seong-Hyeon who is currently attending Laplace Academy?”

**

“So, Jia, we have to send this kid a special invitation?”

“That’s right. Look at your face. It’s glowing.”

“That’s true, but… don’t you think it’s a bit much to just pick someone by looking at their face?”

“If that were all, I wouldn’t have even brought it up. He came in second place in the Autumn Martial Arts Competition at Laplace Academy. I think it’s safe to say that he has the skills. And judging from his performance in the LA incident, his character is also great. At this level, he’s a talent that will soon become a star player at Yeonhwa. That’s why I’m strongly recommending him. No, I think we should definitely bring him in no matter what conditions are presented.”

The meeting room of the Lotus Guild Leader of the 5th Guild.

Guild leader Seo Yeon-hwa sighed as she watched Seo Ji-ah rolling around on the sofa, stuffing snacks into her mouth.

‘I told him he was my cousin and he said yes and no.’

It seemed like he now knew this was his bedroom.

‘I guess I’ll have to get some discipline in the near future. By the way, Lee Seong-hyeon…’

I remember that the topic of recruiting talent came up often.

Was he the number one recruit among the domestic talents right now?

It is estimated that he is currently at the lower level of Class B, so in 10 years, he will easily be able to move up to Class A, and if he is lucky, he may even aim for the top of Class A.

‘It’s top-notch, though.’

Since all the other useful talents had connections to the same region, it was clear that he was one of the best talents that could be recruited.

However, it was not enough to become a star player in Yeonhwa, the number one guild in South Korea.

I wonder if he knows that the current signboard is Seo Yeon-hwa, the guild leader, S-class hero, and 34th ranked hero.

That’s why Seo Yeon-hwa tilted her head while looking through the documents Seo Ji-ah gave her.

“It’s worth sending a special invitation.”

“yes?”

“But no matter how I look at it, it doesn’t seem like it’s something that can be raised to the level of a signboard.”

“Tsk tsk. You really don’t have an eye for detail, sis.”

“what?”

“Why would I recommend it for nothing?”

“huh.”

You said you went on a blind date last time, and you brought some weird guy with you and made a strong recommendation, so I wonder if you haven’t come to your senses this time either.

Of course, this recommendation is not the same as the last one.

Last time, you brought a homeless person, and this time, you brought someone with a very impressive resume.

But I didn’t trust what Seo Ji-ah said.

“Immediately? Sister, don’t you believe me? I’m telling you, this time it’s true.”

“I can’t believe it. It’s true that it’s top-notch according to the data, but it’s not that good.”

“Sister!!”

“My eardrums are about to fall off.”

“Don’t fall, you’ll be fine even if you get a cannon shoved in your ear.”

“what?”

“No, it’s nothing.”

Seo Ji-ah turned her head at Seo Yeon-hwa’s sharp reaction.

Even the most self-willed Seo Ji-ah knew what would happen if Seo Yeon-hwa got really angry.

“Why are you so obsessed with this guy named Lee Seong-hyeon? Do you have a crush on him?”

“You fell in love with me? Hey, sis, there’s no way I would do that. I don’t feel even the slightest bit of emotion towards someone weaker than me.”

That’s true.

Whether or not she was pretty, Seo Ji-ah only considered strength as her standard, so although she was strong for a B-class fighter at that age, it was not enough.

“Then why?”

“that…”

“that?”

“Oh, it could be a mistake, and I wasn’t going to say anything because I wasn’t sure. That guy named Lee Seong-hyeon…”

**

“Is there a possibility that he has a special ability?”

The top floor of the Myth Guild, the office of the vice guild leader.

After hearing Yoo Chae-ah’s report, Shin Jin-ho, the vice guild leader, covered his mouth with his hand and fell into thought for a moment.

That was because he had heard that one of the cadets had a supernatural ability that even the government did not know about.

That means, it is an acquired talent, not an innate talent.

There were only two ways.

A leap of awakening and awakening.

However, the elixir of awakening is supervised and monitored by international organizations, and it is also recorded who takes it and what abilities are gained.

However, the fact that he had an undiscovered ability meant that he may have awakened.

“Is that even possible?”

It’s possible, but the odds aren’t 0%.

However, there are not more than 10 awakened mana power users in the entire world.

The reason was that awakening was a miracle that happened to a warrior who had overcome dozens of life-threatening situations and stood on the brink of life and death countless times.

Of course, there were thousands of people who said they had awakened in words.

Most people only realize it later because the innate trait is so weak that it cannot be properly diagnosed through tests when they are young.

Anyway, such a miracle happened to a mere cadet…

“That’s true. But now there are no sharp tips.”

“…”

That’s true.

In order to survive the threat to Shin Jin-kwang, who was his older brother and the leader of the Shinwha Guild, he had to achieve something quickly, no matter what.

And the fastest and most effective of these is talent acquisition.

Unlike regular companies, the guild’s main business was mostly gate-related work, so this method was possible.

In Mana society, one outstanding person was more valuable than a guild of many ordinary people.

“But even if you try hard to recruit them, what if they don’t have any special abilities? And even if they do have them, what if they’re useless abilities?”

Even though they are in the same supernatural realm, the differences between supernatural realms are extreme.

Some people have the ability to destroy mountains and split seas, while others can only make their skin slippery.

The cadet named Lee Seong-hyeon was clearly an A-class talent.

So, naturally, the guild would be watching closely, and it was clear that special invitations would have been issued at the guild level.

But going further than that, the special exclusive contract was different.

No matter how bright the future may seem, it was only a condition that could be met by someone who could become an S-class, not a condition that could be met by a mere cadet.

That’s why Shin Jin-ho couldn’t open his mouth.

“Is that so? This isn’t the time to be picking on this and that.”

It was exactly as he said.

But I couldn’t gamble.

It may be risky now, but gambling can be a game where one wrong move can cost you your life.

“Still, we need to tell this story in advance, so we can give them time to verify…”

“You know, there’s a no-speaking period set for first-year students.”

There was something like that.

It was a rule established by the Academies and Hero Associations for the cadets.

Perhaps it was for the sake of fair competition and the safety of the cadets.

Failure to comply could result in the revocation of your hero license.

Still, at least give me a heads up…

“But…”

“I can’t help it. Then I’ll tell this story to the guild leader…”

At Shin Jin-ho’s reaction, Yoo Chae-ah turned around with a small smile.

From noble mtl dot com

“…”

And then, step by step, I moved away.

Shin Jin-ho looked at it with concern.

“…Team Leader Yoo, just a moment.”

In the end, he called Yoo Chae-ah.