He is a legendary prison guard

Chapter 9:
Grace Guild

“Are you talking about roles?”

Im Sang-hyuk took out a piece of paper and a pen from his briefcase.

He then drew two large circles.
In the left circle, he wrote A, B, and C, and
in the right circle, he wrote D and E.

“At the upper and mid-level gates, E-rank hunters don’t have much to do. As I mentioned earlier, they can only act as porters.”

Sang-hyuk tapped the left circle with the tip of his pen.

He then pointed to the right circle and said, “However, at lower-level gates, E-rank hunters can play a certain role in hunting. And our guild only takes on lower-level gates.”

“Hmm, so if I join the Grace Guild, I can hunt too?”

Shi-hyun continued, thinking about something.

“But isn’t it better for an E-rank hunter to make money easily? Is there a special reason to take the risk of hunting?”

“First of all, let me reiterate that the positions for E-rank hunters in mid- and large guilds are all filled. As for a special reason, it would be income, of course.”

“Income?”

“Porters only receive a fixed payment based on the level of the gate they cleared. But if you hunt, you can receive your fair share. For example, our guild divides all the income from the raid by the number of raid members. If the income is 100 and there are 4 raid members, each would get 25 initially. Finally, we split the income with the guild. E-rank hunters get 4:6, D-rank gets 5:5, and so on. So an E-rank hunter could end up with a final income of 10. Each guild has different distribution methods, but this is how we do it. Do you understand now?”

“Ah, I see. Got it.”

Shi-hyun nodded as if he understood.

Shi-hyun needed hunting to complete his quests.

If he could hunt, it didn’t matter whether the guild was small or not. After all, he wouldn’t be able to do much except act as a porter in a mid- or large guild.

It was an offer he couldn’t refuse.

“Is there a signing bonus?”

“Unfortunately, no guild offers a signing bonus for E-rank hunters.”

“I see… Oh, right. There’s one thing I need to mention.”

Shi-hyun suddenly had a thoughtful expression and spoke up.

“Go ahead.”

“I have a job during the weekdays, so I can only work for the guild on weekends.”

“May I ask what your job is?”

“I’m a prison officer.”

“A prison officer, so you’re a public servant?”

“That’s right.”

“I’ve heard that public servants can’t have side jobs.”

Sang-hyuk’s expression slightly hardened.

“That’s generally true. You can’t engage in profit-making activities outside of your public duties. However, there are quite a few people who secretly have side jobs. Some work in bars, some as substitute drivers, some in laundries, and some deliver newspapers—there are various cases. Many operate businesses under their spouses’ names or take on part-time jobs that don’t include the four major insurances.”

“So as long as you don’t get caught, it’s fine?”

“That’s right.”

“Then I’ll handle it as a part-time job for the weekend without officially registering as a guild member. And if I receive my payment in cash, I won’t get caught, right?”

“Yes.”

“Understood. We’ll do it that way. Given your circumstances, just come in on weekends. There are quite a few E-rank hunters who work side jobs.”

“Is that so?”

“Yes, the income is uncertain. If you’re the sole breadwinner, raising a child can be tough. That’s why many take on side jobs.”

“That makes me feel a bit relieved. I was worried I might be a burden.”

“Haha, no problem. Our guild mainly works on weekends anyway. We have many college students and office workers in the guild. Now, would you like to take a look at the contract?”

“Yes.”

Sang-hyuk took out the contract and handed it to Shi-hyun.

“Take your time to read it. If you have any questions, feel free to ask.”

Shi-hyun began to read the contract slowly.

He always felt that contracts were unnecessarily complicated. It would be better if they were simpler.

At first, he read seriously, but eventually he just skimmed through it.

After all, he thought that if a guild were to cheat hunters with a malicious contract, it wouldn’t last long in this field.

“I’ve read it all.”

“What do you think? Do you intend to sign the contract?”

“Yes, I will sign it.”

Having already made up his mind, he answered without hesitation.

“Hahaha, you made a good decision. Let’s do well together from now on.”

“Thank you for your guidance.”

Thus, Shi-hyun took his first step as a hunter.

—

**<0xCD> <0xCD> ◈**

“Is that the building?”

After signing the contract on Monday, Shi-hyun was heading to the Grace Guild that Saturday. He held a smartphone with a satellite map app open in his hand.

Royal Building, Siheung-dong, Geumcheon-gu.

That’s right.

But despite the name “Royal,” it was a worn-out five-story building. The exterior was covered in grime, and it seemed like it hadn’t been painted in ages. There were fine cracks everywhere. He was genuinely worried about safety.

‘No elevator either.’

As Shi-hyun entered the building, he wore a look of disbelief. It had been a long time since he had encountered a building without an elevator.

Well, it was a mistake to expect an elevator in such a dilapidated building.

Unfortunately, the Grace Guild was on the fifth floor.

Shi-hyun climbed the narrow, dark stairs.

Fortunately, it wasn’t too high, and he arrived at the fifth floor faster than he expected.

There was a glass door with a sign that read “Grace Guild.”

He hadn’t thought much while coming here, but now that he had arrived, a small tremor arose within him.

It felt like the nervousness before my first day at work.

Shi-hyun paused for a moment to catch his breath before opening the glass door.

Inside were the guild leader Im Sang-hyuk and a man he had never seen before.

The man had narrow eyes and a sharp nose.

He looked to be around thirty years old.

“Hello.”

Shi-hyun was greeted first.

“Welcome, Shi-hyun. Please, have a seat.”

Sang-hyuk gestured for him to sit on the sofa next to the reception table.

Before Shi-hyun could even sit down, the man with the inscrutable smile spoke.

“Wow, a newcomer?”

“That’s right.”

“Wow, our guild leader has finally caught one.”

“Come on, Min-jun, that’s a rude thing to say on a first meeting.”

“Hey, but it’s true. Anyway, nice to meet you. I’m Kang Min-jun. I’m a D-rank hunter, a knight, and I hold the complex roles of our guild’s main dealer and main tank.”

“Nice to meet you too. I’m Lee Shi-hyun, an E-rank hunter and a mercenary.”

Despite hearing that Shi-hyun was an E-rank hunter, Min-jun showed no sign of looking down on him.

That made Shi-hyun’s first impression of Min-jun quite positive.

“How old are you? I’m thirty.”

“We’re the same age then. I’m also thirty.”

“You look younger than I expected. I thought you were younger than me. Let’s speak informally.”

Min-jun suggested immediately.

He seemed to have a very easygoing personality.

“Sure.”

“Great. This is how we should be comfortable with each other, right, Shi-hyun?”

“Min-jun, isn’t it a bit too reckless to speak informally at a first meeting?”

“Ah, who cares? Our guild is truly like a family, you know? I love the family-like atmosphere here so much that I thought about settling down.”

“Min-jun is right. Since you’re older than us, feel free to speak informally.”

Shi-hyun smiled as he replied.

“Oh, if you’re saying that, then I will.”

Sang-hyuk answered with a slightly awkward expression. It seemed he found it hard to speak informally until they got to know each other better.

“Welcome, fifth family member.”

Before long, Min-jun poured a cup of cool water from the water dispenser and placed it in front of Shi-hyun as he spoke.

“Fifth?”

Shi-hyun looked puzzled.

He didn’t understand what it meant.

“That means our guild originally had four members, and now that you’ve joined, we have five.”

“What?”

Even if it was a small guild, only five members? No, there were only four before he joined.

That number was hard to believe.

“Haha, I see you find it hard to believe, but it’s true. Our guild leader made a wrong guarantee once, and we nearly fell apart. We’re barely managing to get back on our feet, and we’ve become known as a poor guild. Who would want to join?”

“Min-jun, why bring that up?”

Sang-hyuk looked as if he had been poked in a sore spot. It seemed an unpleasant memory had resurfaced.

“Come on, isn’t it true? Anyone can tell our guild is poor just by looking at me. Ugh, sorry for bringing this up, Shi-hyun.”

Sang-hyuk scratched his head and apologized.

“It’s okay. I was a bit surprised by the small number of guild members, but as long as I can hunt, I don’t mind.”

“That’s right. You made a good choice. Although we’re poor, there’s a strong sense of family here. You won’t find another guild with such a warm atmosphere, Shi-hyun.”

Shi-hyun took a sip of the cool water Min-jun had poured.

“What about the other two?”

“The other two, Oh? They must be coming now.”

Just then, the glass door opened, and a figure entered.

“Our guild’s lady has arrived.”

The person who entered was a woman with a slender face, wearing tight jeans and a white T-shirt.

She had distinct features and an intelligent look, making her quite beautiful.

Even though she was wearing flat shoes, she seemed to be over 170 cm tall.

“Hey, Eunhye, our new family member has arrived.”