“Yes. I’ve been keeping an eye on you as a hunter from the beginning. I thought you were hiding out here because you disliked combat, but I didn’t realize there were other circumstances.”

It seemed he had overheard my conversation with Hunter Ma Jin Woo earlier.

The conversation about how I’m currently trapped in a dungeon and trying to spread news about myself outside by promoting the campsite.

“Is there really no way to get out of the dungeon?”

“That’s related to the restrictions of my class. I understand the restrictions will be lifted when I reach level 10.”

“That’s fortunate. I was planning to make a recruitment offer regardless.”

“Pardon…?”

“If you join our guild, we can guarantee you the highest salary in the industry. We can also provide any support you need without hesitation. Moreover, our Hwarang will do our utmost to accommodate your convenience—”

“Hunter! Wait a moment!”

I cut him off before he could go on further.

“I can’t join a guild.”

Does he really mean it sincerely even knowing my rank?

If he knew my rank, there would be no reason to make such an offer.

“Even apart from the restrictions, my rank is low and there’s not much I can do. I think you must be mistaken about something…”

Having a fixed rank was a terrifying thing for low-ranked hunters. It felt like being branded and having your hopes and potential destroyed before you could even try anything.

It was embarrassing and shameful to say it with my own mouth.

But he seemed to be proposing quite seriously, so I felt I needed to let him know clearly.

He probably didn’t know or was mistaken about my rank.

“I’m making this offer knowing that you’re F-rank.”

However, contrary to my expectations, he was well aware of my rank.

“You say there’s not much you can do? Do you really think that?”

Then he looked puzzled, as if he couldn’t understand what I was saying.

“Rank doesn’t matter. Rank isn’t everything. Yu Bom, you have new abilities that ordinary supporters don’t have. Not only are they new, but they’re not at all inferior compared to S-rank supporters.”

Hunter Ji Seok Hyeon spoke with confident eyes, even though I was showing a passive and insecure demeanor.

It was enough to make me wonder if I really did have special abilities that a major guild would covet.

“Well, even so…”

Occasionally I do get incredible buff abilities, but they’re not consistent. And if I’m a supporter, I should be participating in the battlefield and casting buff skills, but my ability is closer to creating buff zones.

Hunters have to come to me directly, and they have to complete quests to receive buffs. It could be called new and special, but no matter how I think about it, I don’t seem to be the type of talent a guild would want…

‘Was he concerned that I’m trapped in a dungeon?’

If he was making this offer out of pity for me, it would be better to refuse even more.

“You don’t know your own worth. It’s a shame… I’m saying this because you lack confidence, but Hwarang is not a charity guild. We want to recruit you with good conditions because we need you, Yu Bom.”

Hunter Ji Seok Hyeon spoke firmly, as if he had read even these thoughts of mine.

Well, Hwarang was currently ranked 3rd among guilds.

Not only that, experts predicted that Hwarang could dominate the domestic rankings and reach 1st place in a short time. It’s a guild with such tremendous growth rate and potential.

It didn’t make sense for such a major guild to recruit a hunter with no potential under good conditions.

But could I really do well?

Is being a hunter really what I want?

Even after just a moment’s consideration, I knew that wasn’t it. My purpose in running the campsite was clear.

To survive here.

“I really appreciate the offer. But as you know, my situation is difficult. I haven’t even thought about joining a guild. I haven’t been a hunter for long, and I haven’t even fully grasped my own abilities yet.”

If I could accomplish something as a hunter, that would be different, but for now, I was too busy just trying to survive to have any leeway.

“I understand your intention for now. It’s not something that can be forced…”

Hunter Ji Seok Hyeon said this, but couldn’t hide his disappointment.

“But how about putting your decision on hold for a while?”

“Pardon?”

“Once the video is uploaded, offers will surely come in from other guilds. Because you’re such a capable hunter. Then you’ll believe what I’m saying too.”

I wonder if that’s really true. It still felt bewildering that he was evaluating my worth so highly.

“That’s why I made the offer hastily, but I intended to give you plenty of time to think from the beginning. I’d like you to decide after considering it a bit more.”

“…”

“And there’s one thing I’d like to ask. If such a situation arises, please consider Hwarang first. Hwarang doesn’t want to lose you.”

Hunter Ji Seok Hyeon made his position clear while respecting my wishes. On behalf of Hwarang.

I was a bit surprised by his attitude.

To put it bluntly, he could have threatened me by saying he wouldn’t upload the video if I didn’t join.

But he didn’t seem to have any such intention.

“Thank you for understanding and helping me.”

In any case, their visit to the campsite was an unprecedented stroke of luck for me, and the recruitment offer itself was something to be grateful for.

“I can’t give you a plausible answer right now, but I’ll think about it seriously too.”

“Yes. Thank you. That’s enough.”

Hunter Ji Seok Hyeon smiled as if relieved.

* * *

I don’t know how I fell asleep yesterday. Even though I wasn’t drunk, my middle memories were hazy, not knowing how it happened.

“Teddy… Teddy…”

When I opened my eyes, I was inside the tent. My body felt as heavy as a thousand pounds.

Since awakening as a hunter, I had never felt this bad physically.

As I called for Teddy with a groan, the tent zipper opened with a ziiip sound.

“Master. Are you awake?”

“Why am I sleeping here?”

“You kept dozing off outside, so I moved you.”

I did that? I had no memory of it at all.

Yesterday’s barbecue party continued all night long, and the enthusiasm of the vigorous hunters showed no signs of cooling down.

When I gave them fireworks with no risk of forest fires, bought from the camping market, they went crazy waving and shooting them in front of my eyes all day long.

Unlike them, no matter how hard I tried to stay up late, 3 AM was my limit.

As the campsite owner, I couldn’t bear to go to sleep leaving only the guests, so I hung around, but it seems I eventually fell asleep from energy depletion.

“I see… What about the guests?”

The surroundings were silent, as if yesterday’s bustling atmosphere had been a dream.

“They left early in the morning.”

“Already?”

“They were going to wake you up, but the guests said not to. They said they ate well, had fun, and will definitely come back next time.”

“I didn’t even get to say goodbye properly…”

“Don’t worry, Master! I took care of everything, including breakfast, on your behalf!”

That was a relief. Unlike me, Teddy looked energetic and healthy today as well.

Without Teddy, this campsite would surely have gone bankrupt long ago.

“Good job, Teddy. But I think I’ve caught a cold. Ugh.”

Even though I slept in the tent with the recovery speed buff applied, recovery was slow after forcing myself to move when my energy was at 0.

“I don’t think I can work today. There’s a lot to clean up, right?”

“No, Master, you can rest. I’ve done almost everything!”

“That can’t be. We made such a mess yesterday.”

“The hunters helped a lot.”

“The hunters?”

I definitely heard that all the guests had left, so who could he be talking about?

“Hello.”

While I was wondering, a man appeared.

I was surprised to see a man holding a box full of plastic in one hand and a regular garbage bag in the other.

“Oh! Hunter Chae Dong Hwa? When did you arrive?!”

It was a face I hadn’t seen in a long time. It was Hunter Chae Dong Hwa.

“I came this morning.”

“I’ll do it. Give it to me.”

As I tried to snatch the garbage bag after getting up, he lightly avoided it.

“Take the day off today. I’ll help.”

“But you’re a guest. I can’t make you work.”

“I heard you’re now charging coins for the food sold in the vending machines.”

He said with a rather neat face. His expressionless expression remained the same.

“I’ve been receiving them for free until now.”

“That was fine because there weren’t many guests back then. And I gave them because I wanted to.”

“No. I’ll repay you this time.”

Hunter Chae Dong Hwa’s tone was firm. Normally, I would have insisted it was absolutely not allowed, but today I was really not feeling well, so I was conflicted.

‘But I received high-quality meat last time, and I think that was enough compensation…’

“Of course, I’ll pay the coins too.”

Interpreting my silent stare as something else, he even offered to pay the coins.

“No, really, it’s okay. You gave me meat last time and helped a lot—”

“Then, excuse me.”

Hunter Chae Dong Hwa said only what he wanted to say and walked towards the back of the shower room. That’s where the automatic recycling bin was located.

“Master! No! You need to rest!”

I tried to follow Hunter Chae Dong Hwa, but I couldn’t take a single step before being caught by Teddy.

“But there’s a guest, how can I…”

“I’ll do your share too!”

After continued dissuasion, I returned to the tent. I anxiously surveyed the campsite through the urethane window.

All the tent doors were open to ventilate. The area near the campfire was also clean, and the garbage was gathered in one place, probably to be thrown away all at once.

It was indeed almost cleaned up, as Teddy had said.

‘Sigh, okay. Let’s just rest today. It’s not like I’d be of any help if I went out now anyway.’

I sluggishly crawled into the sleeping bag. Warm sunlight shone down on me.

Due to the “creates a comfortable tent” effect of the tent-pitching skill, the tent maintained the exact temperature and humidity that the user found comfortable.

‘Mm, sleepy…’

Contrary to my worries, drowsiness soon overcame me. When I opened my eyes again, the sunset was approaching.

My body felt much lighter than before. Checking my status window, I saw that my energy had fully recovered.

Lying still, I wasn’t sleepy anymore and had nothing to do.

‘Maybe I’ll check what popped up in the system window yesterday.’

Yesterday, notifications kept ringing non-stop. I was so busy I couldn’t check most of them.

[‘Yu Bom (F)’ has crafted ‘Large Tent’.] [Large Tent has been rented.] [‘Yu Bom (F)’ has acquired 1,000C.] [‘Yu Bom (F)’ has purchased ‘Ice Cream Machine That Doesn’t Need Ingredients (A)’.] [‘Ice Cream Delicious Campsite’ has been added to the campsite’s reputation.] [5% Ice Attribute Resistance has been added to the campsite’s effects]

.

.

.

[The campsite has leveled up. (4->5)] [The campsite area has expanded.] [The capture slot for ‘Bring the Basket (A)’ has increased.] [The ‘Construction’ option has been added.] [The ‘Cooking’ option has been added.]

The level had gone up. It had been slow gaining experience after reaching level 4, but now it was already 5.

Just having hunters stay at the campsite increases my experience, and we accommodated many people, plus the Hwarang hunters diligently completed the Spring Campsite quests.

‘At this growth rate, I should be able to get out of the dungeon soon, right?’

Accordingly, many new things had appeared. I first looked at the ‘Construction’ campsite skill.