“We will now begin the environment test for a smooth AI interview. Please wait a moment.”

In front of Rude, a laptop borrowed from Ihyeon was running. Inside a study cafe for a video interview. Rude was checking the camera with his modeling changed to an office look.

“After practicing so much.”

For about 5 days, they practiced hard meeting at home, meeting at the study cafe, and even practicing diligently with the Lord of Chaos in dreams, but it ended up being an AI interview.

Feeling a bit disappointed, Rude rubbed his hands together. After preparing so hard. It’s a bit deflating that there’s no ‘pressure interview’. Noticing he was feeling upset, the Lord of Chaos comforted him through an indirect message.

[The Lord of Chaos shrugs, saying that face-to-face interviews would have been impossible from the start since ordinary people can’t make eye contact with you for long.]

“Yeah. That’s true.”

Those who make prolonged eye contact with Rude become terrified. Rude tries to control it by overlaying illusions on the avatar’s corneas, but the effect only lasts a few minutes, at most a few dozen minutes.

Unlike briefly passing by or seeing through a screen inside the Gate, it was impossible to block for someone who had to make eye contact and converse for a long time like in an interview.

They both forgot about it while practicing constantly with Ihyeon, who was unaffected even when next to him.

It seems that if he had actually been sitting in the interview room, the interviewers would not have been able to conduct a proper interview due to the fear Rude exudes.

“Maybe it’s better this way.”

Besides, his social anxiety still hadn’t disappeared. While mock interviews with relatively comfortable partners like Ihyeon or the Lord of Chaos were one thing, it was uncertain whether Nari could withstand the pressure of real interviewers.

If he failed to endure and ended up getting rejected….. Rude shook his head after briefly imagining such a situation.

‘No, I’m going to buy a house.’

When he woke up in the morning and went downstairs, Dad was preparing breakfast and Mom was getting ready for work.

Nari would dawdle, not wanting to go to school, but then run off with a friend who came to the front door to go to school together, and in the evening, return home to watch TV with the family.

No matter what anyone says. It’s a place filled with precious memories for Nari. Now that place has become a den of thugs and an abandoned house.

That shouldn’t be. Because Nari is someone who lives in the past rather than the present, he absolutely could not lose that.

“…Pull yourself together and do it properly.”

Rude slapped his cheeks a couple times. It was a habit that had naturally rubbed off on him from being with Ihyeon. Soon, the AI interview began.

[The interview will now begin. Please give a self-introduction for 1 minute.]

“Ah, hello. I’m Rude, applying for the Seongjeon regular recruitment this time.”

Rude was taken aback by the words he uttered. During practice, he had done it arrogantly in the style of ‘intimidating the interviewers’…. And he had done that image training several times, but….

[The Lord of Chaos snickers, saying you can’t do that when it comes to the real thing, can you?]

Strangely, he couldn’t do it. Honestly, as the #1 ranked hunter, he wanted to spout arrogant cider-like remarks and confidently pass the interview.

Practice and reality were different. No matter how skilled Rude was, and even if there were many guilds that would welcome him with open arms besides Seongjeon, nothing worked at the moment of the interview.

He became anxious that it might somehow be revealed that Rude was not the all-powerful #1 ranked hunter, but actually a pathetic coward who couldn’t function socially or get along with others.

‘Th-this…. If this had been a real interview instead of an AI one, it would have been an even bigger problem….’

It seems the ‘social anxiety’ status effect was stronger than expected. Perhaps it was a natural result, since the original character Nari doesn’t have a solid sense of self and is psychologically quite withdrawn.

[The Lord of Chaos praises you, saying this is still great progress.]

‘W-well, I guess being able to speak this fluently even in front of an AI monitor is huge progress for me….’

Fortunately, it seemed the study sessions had an effect, as Rude was able to say what he needed to say naturally, albeit with some stumbling. For a 10-year reclusive loner who had only done part-time jobs, it was tremendous progress.

And then the final question of the basic interview appeared on the monitor.

[What is your motivation for applying to our company?]

Naturally, Rude recalled the interview consulting he had done with Ihyeon.

[This is the timeline separator]

“Alright then! Let’s begin the interview special lecture!”

In a downtown study room. Ihyeon was standing in front of a whiteboard dressed in office attire – a white dress shirt, black tie, and rimless glasses. Rude, sitting cross-legged in a chair, looked Ihyeon up and down.

“What’s with those clothes?”

“Huh? This? I copied it from job seeker content on video sites. Job Search King Park… Oh, does it not suit me?”

“No. Didn’t you have the morning shift today? Did you go to work wearing that?”

“No. I packed clothes in advance and changed into them! The atmosphere is important for things like this!”

Kang Ihyeon grinned. To change clothes after work and come out for an interview lecture… Rude couldn’t even imagine how much enthusiasm it would take to do that.

“Is it weird…?”

“No. It looks cool.”

“Hehe. Thank you…”

When Rude, who was picky about men, readily complimented him, Ihyeon smiled sheepishly. Then he clapped his hands and summarized the situation.

“Anyway, to get into it! With your specs, Rude, they should really be welcoming you with open arms. But I think Seongjeon has a few things they’re curious about, so they’re holding an interview. So if you just prepare for those, I think it’ll be enough…”

“What are they curious about?”

“Hmm”

Wondering how to phrase it, Ihyeon crossed his arms slightly pondering. Shrugging his shoulders, he carefully said to Nari.

“Honestly, you’ve always worked solo, right Rude? You even refused to cooperate with other hunters.”

“That’s right.”

“So. Won’t they be wondering ‘Why is this person suddenly…?’ And whether someone who’s been working solo can work well in a team. I guess they’re probably holding the interview to see that?”

Rude briefly stroked his chin. It made sense. If he enters Seongjeon, he’ll have to follow company regulations, take responsibility for partners, and above all, clearly adhere to work hours.

Until now, Rude had used his power to trample the implicit rules among hunters and establish new rules for southern Gyeonggi Province himself. Because of that, an evaluation was needed on whether he could bow his head to other rules and lower himself.

“So if you just answer well about your motivation for applying, there shouldn’t be any problems. From the start, it’s a blessing for us that Rude is coming.”

Ihyeon wrote on the whiteboard with a marker, making squeaking sounds. ‘Motivation for applying’. Seeing the words, Rude answered with a sigh.

“It’s because of money. To make a lot and become rich.”

“Y-you can’t say it like that!”

Ihyeon looked at Rude with surprised eyes. Rude waved his hand with a sigh.

“Yeah, I know. I know you can’t say it like that…. Geez, looking for people to work like cogs in a machine but asking about motivation for applying…”

“Well. They’re looking for cogs that will last a long time. It’s a loss if you quit midway.”

Ihyeon shrugged, saying that as a company, they naturally want to keep people who can stay for as long as possible.

“It’s annoying. I’ll just clear Gates quickly and hand over items, so just give me incentives and salary. I provide labor and they provide money – it’s a transaction. What more do they want.”

Ugh, as Rude was wracking his brain over how to answer the motivation for applying, Ihyeon sat down close beside him.

“How about talking about the Gate we went to?”

“That one?”

“Yes, it suddenly went from Grade 4 to Grade 2, right? They’ve put an embargo on finding the reason now, but people who should know already know. That you cleared it too, Rude.”

“Come to think of it, there hasn’t been any talk about that. It’s been quiet.”

That Gate where that strange cult leader appeared… It went straight from Grade 4 to 2, and even the boss monster was clearly strange, but the media was quiet.

A Grade 2 Gate suddenly appearing in Korea. It was obvious that if that fact came to light, people across the country would be in an uproar, so it seems they silenced it until they could find the reason for the Gate’s sudden grade increase.

Nari honestly didn’t care whether a Grade 1 or 5 appeared or if Korea was on the brink of destruction, so he hadn’t noticed at all.

“Couldn’t we use that to smoothly get through? O-of course! It’s just my thought.”

“What, the #1 ranked hunter suddenly became worried about Korea’s safety because of an anomaly in the Gate, so he’s joining Seongjeon?”

Kang Ihyeon nodded. It certainly sounded plausible on the surface, but Nari wasn’t very convinced.

Rude heaved a deep sigh. He didn’t like spouting words he didn’t mean. Especially saying he was worried about Korea’s safety.

‘Me worrying about Korea’s safety, even a passing dog would laugh.’

It may be a meager sense of pride, but he didn’t want to say even once that he was doing it for Korea.

“I’ll think about it some more…”

Seeing Rude’s lack of confidence, Ihyeon smiled and got up from his seat, rubbing his hands together as he spoke.

“Then, just speak honestly. That’s Rude’s charm. That’s why I like you, Rude!”

[This is the timeline separator]

‘Why did I apply, you ask?’

It was the item he hadn’t prepared an answer for until the end. So he was just going to say he was joining Seongjeon to save Korea, as Kang Ihyeon had pointed out.

Let’s do that. That’s the safe choice. With that final thought, Rude inadvertently looked at the name sticker attached to the laptop. Yi Hyeon. Kang.

Lost in thought, staring blankly at that name, Rude began speaking as if entranced.

“…A few days ago, I met Hunter Kang Ihyeon in a Grade 4 Gate.”

And from Rude’s lips, an answer flowed out without him realizing.

“And I heard from Hunter Kang Ihyeon that ‘there are things that are difficult to do alone’.”

He’s a good person. Someone who reached out a hand to help him come this far, and to give him the desire to come. And someone who gave courage to him as he tried to rejoin society, and supported him until the end.

“The reason I’ve acted alone until now and avoided cooperation is… because I couldn’t trust other people. I thought I could, and had to, solve everything by myself.”

To Rude’s ears, his words were a mess of an answer. Probably no interviewer would have expected this kind of interview response.

But this was Nari’s true inner feelings. Honesty is charm. Rude decided to believe in Ihyeon’s words once more.

“But as Hunter Kang Ihyeon said, after subjugating a Gate together and receiving help, I could tell that I really felt a little… better.”

Of course, like everyone who had been by Nari’s side, Nari knew well that Ihyeon would also one day leave his side.

“So.”

But that couldn’t happen now. At least, it had to be when Nari noticed the signal that he was leaving and was mentally prepared. If not, he would surely break again. Like before.

So he can’t disappoint him. He doesn’t want to disappoint him. He wants to live up to expectations. So a little more…

“I wanted to… believe in Hunter Kang Ihyeon’s words a little. That’s why I applied to Seongjeon.”

He hopes he would be a little happier. So he hopes he would stay by his side a little longer.

The kindness of another person that he felt after a long time was too sweet.

“That is all. Thank you.”