It had been remarkably simple work to arrange all of her guild visits on the same day. Each guild representative Sua spoke to was eager to see her as soon as possible, insisting that they could accommodate her arrival whenever she preferred.

From her seat in the back of the car service the Association had given her for the day, Sua dragged her gaze thoughtfully over the building that was her destination for her first meeting. In contrast to the Association’s sprawling complex, the Lotus Guild was headquartered in what looked to be a converted hotel, their flower logo glowing a soft pink next to its sign.

Based on what she had read, this was the second largest guild in the country, boasting dozens of A-rank hunters of considerable strength.

There was a small group waiting for Sua when her car pulled up, a young man in glasses rushing forward to get her door before she could open it herself. He dipped a low bow, “Welcome to the Lotus Guild, Hunter Ahn Sua.”

“Thanks.” Being fawned over was getting unsettling quickly, but Sua tried not to linger on it as she slipped out of the car, looking over the other three people waiting to greet her.

Her gaze was immediately drawn to a refined woman in the center: black hair pulled into a delicate up-do with pearl pins holding it in place. While the two people on either side of her both wore suits and badges, this woman was in an elegant pink gown, a ring pulsing with mana twinkling from her right hand.

Catching Sua’s stare, the woman smiled, dipping her head politely, “It’s a pleasure to make your acquaintance, Ahn Sua-ssi. My name is Pyeon Soo-Yun, the Guildmaster of Lotus.”

That certainly explained why her presence was so captivating.

From everything she had read, Pyeon Soo-Yun's leadership was solely responsible for the Lotus Guild’s great success despite their starting without much by way of corporate investment. As the top-ranking healer in Korea, and one of the most powerful ones in Asia, most hunters had no chance of meeting her, much less having Soo-Yun wait outside to greet them.

Where the trappings of power and influence did not have much weight for Sua, she could certainly respect a woman whose reputation indicated a sincere focus on keeping as many people safe as possible.

Sua dipped a respectful bow, “A pleasure to meet you, Pyeon-nim.”

Soo-Yun’s laugh was just as delicate as her appearance, her hand covering her mouth as amusement twinkled in her eyes, “There’s no need for you to be so formal. I don’t think a single S-rank has ever bowed their head to someone less powerful than them.”

Straightening, Sua gave her a small smile (mildly confident it was visible after she had spent an hour practicing in the mirror), “I can’t say that I see the point in looking down on hunters with more experience than I have. I’ve heard good things about your work.”

“You flatter me.” Soo-Yun waved toward the entrance, “If you do not mind my company, I would be happy to show you around our headquarters.”

Following the guildmaster inside, Sua immediately understood the slightly defeated mood around the Association when it came to competing with the major guilds.

While the Lotus Guild's headquarters covered less space than the Association’s complex, it was dripping with expensive amenities: crystal chandeliers dangling from the ceiling and even an entire floor dedicated to a guild-only spa facility. However, the most impressive aspect of the headquarters for Sua was the open clinic for residents of the Jung-gu.

The benefits described by Soo-Yun as they walked also made the Association’s offer pale in comparison: a six billion won salary with a 20% high-risk bonus for S-rank gates and disaster response; custom armor and weapons commissioned on a yearly basis; a personal training facility; and the ability to pick which gates she wanted to clear, plus first selection from the gate clearing rewards.

It was a lot to wrap her head around, but it was difficult to focus on such information when Sua was hyper-aware of the whispers that broke out behind them when they walked past the other guild members.

“Do forgive their curiosity,” Soo-Yun said as they arrived at her office on the top floor of the building. “Most of my members have never worked with an S-rank hunter before since we seldom take international requests.”

“Do you not collaborate with Nightfall for particularly large gates?” Sua asked.

“Ah, our relationship with Nightfall is… less than cordial. Myself and the Nightfall guildmaster seldom see eye-to-eye.”

“What do you disagree about?”

Soo-Yun considered Sua for a moment before answering, “At a fundamental level: the purpose of being a hunter. As a healer, my perspective is focused on helping those who cannot fight. However, Nightfall’s focus on elite results often comes at the expense of casualties for lower ranking guilds or hunters. It is something I rather despise, to be frank.” Soo-Yun smiled faintly, “But that is all I will say on the matter, I am sure you will have the chance to form your own opinion on the both of us.”

If that was truly how Nightfall operated, Sua had a difficult time picturing her brother working for such an organization when he had always been so selfless with her.

“Does Lotus get on with the other guilds?”

“We have a pleasant relationship with most of the other guilds. Certainly all of the others that would have reached out to recruit you.” Soo-Yun’s eyes were a pale blue, thoughtful as they looked Sua over. “From your questions since you arrived, I’m gathering that a guild’s resources will not be your primary factor in deciding where to sign. Is that accurate?”

Sua nodded, “I’m factoring it into my decision, but money isn’t my primary motivator.”

“Do you mind my asking what is?”

The corner of her mouth quirked up in a slightly wry smile, “I’ve got a personal goal I need to reach, but other than that I also want to challenge myself and grow as a fighter.”

“Seeing as we do not prioritize clearing high-risk gates, it seems as if I will not have the pleasure of signing you, then.”

Sua laughed slightly, “High-risk isn’t the only thing I’m interested it. There are still a lot of things about the basics I need to learn, like teamwork. But I’m not planning to make a decision until I get to hear what everyone has to say.”

“And how many guilds are going to be my competition?”

“The Association has already made me an offer. I’m visiting Blade’s End, Crane Guild, the Iron Fortress, and Nightfall today.”

A soft laugh left the guildmaster as she got to her feet, bowing her head once more, “Then you are in for quite an amusing day, I shouldn’t hold you any longer. Thank you for your time, Ahn-ssi.”

“It was nice getting to see how things work around here.” Sua replied as she stood. “Even if I don’t end up signing your offer, I respect the work you do. Give me a call if I could help with something.”

“Likewise.” Soo-Yun slipped a business card from her desk, offering it to Sua. “Especially if you ever require my services. Regardless of who you sign with, I have no intention of letting one of our S-ranks die if I’m capable of preventing it.”

“Thank you.”

•─────⋅☾ ☽⋅─────•

Directly after Lotus, Sua headed to the only major guild being controlled by a business conglomerate.

Sua sat through a thirty-minute recruitment video filled with cameos from actors and idols she knew nothing about while bright stickers popped up all around the screen, boasting about how much money the guild had to spend on its top hunters.

The business guild's primary recruitment tactic seemed to be focused on making Sua feel like a star.

Two interns trailed behind her as she was shown around the guild, rushing to open doors and offering her snacks every few steps. A marketing manager ran ahead of her, taking promotional videos as Sua tried to ask questions about the guild’s operations. Sua was even sent on her way with a backpack of merchandise, everything covered with the guild’s overdone logo of a sword shattering into mana crystals.

Stepping outside of the sleek high-rise felt akin to leaving an alternate dimension, Sua still slightly dazed as she slipped into the car waiting to take her to her next visit.

Advertised as the guild best-suited for someone who wanted to be in "the middle of all the action," the Iron Fortress headquarters looked more like a martial arts school than a hunting guild, and they conducted themselves in a similar manner.

Rather than a tour or a contract pitch, Sua was shown straight to their sparring room, where ten of their best fighters were waiting for her.

All ten men looked like bodybuilders—muscles bulging against their training uniforms—visibly excited at the idea of going toe-to-toe with Sua despite her small stature.

Not that Sua could begrudge them their excitement. After the nightmare of dealing with Blade’s End, she was all too eager to abandon professionalism in favor of beating a few grown men into the ground.

When the last fighter surrendered, Sua straightened from where she had held him in a headlock, quirking a brow at the guildmaster, who had been refereeing the matches. “You’re not joining in?” She asked.

The guildmaster’s delighted laugh was no less jolly after Sua kicked his ass too.

Sua was sent on her way with several offers to treat her to meat the next time she was in Seongdong, only getting the proposed contract when a smaller man in a suit raced out of the building, catching Sua’s car right as they were getting ready to pull away.

The administrator looked so embarrassed about the entire thing that Sua couldn't help a little laugh as she was waved off.

Rather than boasting about money or physical might, the Crane Guild held the distinguished honor of having the fewest number of casualties than any other guild of its size in Asia.

As the guildmaster explained things, the guild's focus on cohesive team combat was the primary reason for such an extraordinary reputation.

Not having much experience in fighting collaboratively, Sua watched the team trainings with no small amount of curiosity, soaking in how each member of Crane’s carefully formed parties moved in-sync with their teammates like cogs in a machine.

Whereas she wasn't swayed by the Iron Fortress' muscles, the money inherent in Blade's End, or the prestige of working with Lotus, getting a chance to address an established weakness piqued Sua's interest.

“How do you build teams?” Sua asked after watching the hunters practice for several minutes. "If it is based on rank, wouldn't mine end up being a problem?"

“Your rank is not the only thing we take into consideration when finding team compatibility,” Guildmaster Tan Ki explained, giving her a smile. With his long gray hair tied back in a horsetail and an equally impressive silver beard, he looked more like a kindly grandfather than a guild leader, which was perhaps what made him comfortable to be around. “We look at your strengths and weakness by dissecting your combat style, finding openings that another person could account for. While a B-rank mage would not beat an S-rank mage in a head-on battle, if the B-rank mage's specialization suits your combat style better than the S-rank's specialization, it doesn't make much sense to select the S-rank.”

Sua considered that for a moment, “I’ve been told that my skills are difficult to measure, even by the Association’s best engineers."

“Computers are excellent at objective numbers, but often the person is able to describe things in ways technology can not. We would simply need to see the breadth of your abilities and ask any questions that come to mind.”

As tempting as the sort of training Crane Guild provided, the idea of needing to share detailed information about her training was dangerous.

There were parts that Sua didn’t even know how to begin describing in terms that would make sense to humans. There were other aspects she wasn’t comfortable sharing without having incredible trust in the person she was talking to.

Unlike the Association, where she had already begun tracking the movements of those who had the most exposure to her, Crane Guild was largely an unknown.

“Do you mind my asking something about your leadership decisions?” Sua settled for changing the subject.

“Asking is never frowned on, but I can’t guarantee a satisfactory answer.”

“It’s my understanding that almost all of your combat hunters were out of Seoul during the Guryong Village gate break. As the only major guild in Gangnam-gu, why wasn’t a skeleton force held here in case of an emergency?”

Tan Ki sighed under his breath, clasping his hands behind his back, “I’m afraid the answer is complacency, Ahn-ssi. Before this week, the last gate break in Seoul happened nearly two years ago so my executives and I prioritized training over caution. We got used to not needing such measures, but that will be changed moving forward.”

It was a reasonable answer, even if Sua still found the results hard to swallow. What the fervor around her announcement had overshadowed was the number of people who had died in the village before Sua returned to Earth. When she finally stumbled upon the casualty number, Sua had been stunned: over two-hundred people forgotten simply because they weren’t as valuable as a new hunter.

“I think it’d mean a lot to the people of Guryong Village if that was shared with them.”

He smiled faintly, “You are likely right. I will make sure that’s done. And I’m sure it will mean quite a bit to them that you plan to be an advocate. Many hunters who come from poverty are all to eager to forget that part of their life.”

“That doesn’t surprise me, but there were people there who kept me alive as a child. I’ve got a debt to pay back.”

“It is good to know that you care about things more important than fame and status, Ahn-ssi. I’ll look forward to following your career if you do not select this guild to grow with.”

A soft chime sounded from her pocket, and Sua slipped out her phone to glance at the alarm, her pulse ticking up slightly at the realization of where her next stop was. “I’m afraid I’ve got to get going to my next appointment. It was nice to meet you.”

She was shown out of the guild with bows from everyone she had met, the offered contract already in the back of her mind as Sua slid into the waiting car, doing her best not to look like she was in a rush to finally see Nightfall for herself.