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Chapter 18
“Everyone here is a tool.”
Tool (道具).
A device used for work.
The moment such a disrespectful descriptor for human beings with selfhood came out of Lee Shin’s mouth, time and space seemed to freeze.
“Oh… Lord.”
Director Jeong Sun-dong dropped his jaw in utter disbelief.
“…Should I kill… let’s kill… kill him.”
Chae Dong-ha’s fists trembled with murderous impulses.
The front desk staff all rolled their eyes individually. This is manageable, right…? They squeaked unnaturally like broken toys, cautiously glancing at the hunters.
Now, imagine how the hunters gathered here must have felt.
They came on edge, expecting a maniac, but thanks to Lee Shin’s handsome appearance, their tension had somewhat eased… only to get hit straight in the face by his first words.
Confusion, indignation, anger…A total chaos party sparked by a single greeting.
Unfortunately, Lee Shin didn’t seem inclined to stop there.
It was too early to be surprised. He hadn’t even started yet.
“Let’s turn back time. In the past, during the early days of the guild, strategies were very simple. The front line blocks, the rear line attacks. If it’s dangerous, you retreat; if there’s an opportunity, you advance.
It’s simple enough that even Mr. Charles at home could understand. Ah, by the way, Charles is a dog. A five-year-old retriever.”
Even Mr. Charles (dog, 5 years old) could understand how simple strategies once were, but as time went on, things changed.
Strategies became more multifaceted.
“To minimize damage, adjust the line; to maximize attack, pursue efficiency.”
“Experts talk about the evolution of strategies—technological advances, understanding of magic, evolutionary perspectives, blah blah blah. Forget the complicated stuff. What I want to emphasize to you is this.”
Position.
“In strategy, position generally refers to the role and responsibilities required at a certain location, along with optimized behavior patterns.
As strategies became multifaceted, naturally positions became subdivided. Gradually, hunters were expected to take on more and more roles.”
The lines that were once simply front and rear became 1st, 2nd, and 3rd line.
Tankers not only block but also attack.
Basic knowledge for ranged dealers now includes utility skills…
“Even healers, once called nobles, now trend toward learning offensive magic. So, what does this signify?”
Diversity.
“This is the trend of modern strategies!!”
Like Archimedes shouting ‘Eureka!’ in a bathtub, Lee Shin raised his hand and shouted—but the response he got was cold.
“…….”
“…….”
What do you want me to do with that?
Whether it’s strategy diversification or position subdivision, this wasn’t what they wanted to hear.
“So… what does that have to do with us being tools?”
“We have something else to say…”
“Exactly THIS!!”
And the part Lee Shin emphasized was similar.
“Even after explaining this so kindly, your utterly hopeless intelligence! Your understanding! That’s why you are tools.”
“…!!”
Hunters needed for modern strategies are multi-role resources capable of handling various rules. And these multi-role resources must possess certain qualities:
High comprehension, quick judgment, and intelligence.
In short, they must be smart, absolutely.
But
Those gathered here.
Those personally selected by Lee Shin.
• Intelligence 34, Wisdom 41
• Intelligence 28, Wisdom 29
• Intelligence 39, Wisdom 30
They weren’t smart.
They couldn’t multitask.
They couldn’t judge.
“Characters that go completely against modern strategies. They only do what they’re told, and you can’t expect any creative play beyond instructions.”
Passive characters with predictable input and output.
“I decided to call them tools.”
That was why Lee Shin called them tools.
Of course, whether they agreed was another matter.
“What kind of bullshit is that!! If you’re the leader, that’s it!”
“How rude. I’m going to make this public.”
“Seriously, this maniac—do you say that to guildmates sharing the same roof?”
Being treated as a tool was humiliating enough, but now they were told they were stupid? Couldn’t make judgments?
“We’re hunters recognized by the nation. We have at least some pride.”
The hunters furiously condemned Lee Shin but in front of them stood Lee Shin.
“Quiet. A tool talking back?”
He wasn’t the type to care about the whining of people who couldn’t even understand their own level.
“You have clear limits. Once you start using the brain attached to your shoulders, you collapse.”
Expecting multitasking and versatility from them would break them. They’d malfunction. So, to use them properly, you had to keep it as simple as possible.
“Simple… never mind.”
Why explain anything to those who break just from thinking? Useless.
“I’ll just show you.”
Don’t think, don’t doubt.
Follow exactly the way I direct, using the brain I provide.
“Then you’ll naturally realize it.”
That the moment you shine the most is when you are a tool.
________________________________________
Mir Guild Representative’s Office.
“Hahaha! A masterpiece, a masterpiece!”
Kim Jong-pil laughed heartily.
“A tool, you say? Calling someone a tool the first time you meet them? I’ve met many people in my life, but this is the first time I’ve seen such a reckless one like you.”
Lee Shin enjoyed the aroma of his coffee and replied casually.
“Well, it’s not like what I said was wrong. The truth is inherently harsh.”
“Hey, young man. There’s such a thing as basic courtesy as a human being.”
“Courtesy… I think this way: teaching them the naked reality is the greatest courtesy I can give them.”
Who was the one that led the effort to recruit them?
It was Lee Shin himself.
Characters with hardware far superior to their software to a horrifying degree. People who, when forced to adapt to the modern raid rules, would end up eroding even that hardware advantage because they’d eaten the ‘Idiot-Idiot Fruit.’
“Those kinds of guys are the most troublesome. If you just look at their physical potential, they’re clearly above this level. But when, at every turn, their heads hold them back, from their point of view, it drives them crazy.”
“Heh heh, and why is that?”
“Because it feels like they’re almost there. Have you ever been to Noryangjin?”
“Noryangjin? Isn’t that where there are a lot of boarding cram schools?”
“You know it. If you go there, you’ll see long-term students shuffling around in slippers, studying for years.”
Students who are just one step short, who feel that if they just reach out a little further they’ll pass, and so they never leave Noryangjin.
“These guys are the same. Intelligence is not something that shows outwardly unless you acknowledge it yourself, right? ‘If I work hard, I’ll make it. If I push harder, I’ll make it.’ Tortured by false hope, they end up chained to this guild.”
They might not realize it, but more than half of them will drift through the lower leagues, eventually struggle with livelihood issues, join “makeshift raids” as freelance hunters, and in the end quietly retire without anyone noticing.
──That is their inevitable fate a few years from now.
“In a way, they’re pitiful. They were just born in the wrong era. If they had been born about 100 years ago, they might have been pretty big shots. Back in that era from the lore books, when people were said to protect the future of humanity. If you only look at ‘hunting,’ they’re not bad at all.”
“You mean they’re not suited to the current league.”
“It’s a league where scores are tallied and results are recorded. Optimized movement, increasingly complex strategies and tactics. Frankly speaking, they’re not the kind of hunters the modern league wants.”
“Interesting… So you’re saying they’ll retire in a few years, and you’re certain of it?”
“It’s not certainty, it’s the only truth.”
“Heh heh. Fascinating. You speak as if you know their future… as if you’ve seen it.”
Kim Jong-pil rested his chin on his hand and stared intently at Lee Shin.
A strange fellow. Eyes as clear as glass, with boundaries drawn so sharply it was almost unsettling. Just how far can those eyes see?
He kept staring, wondering if he might catch a glimpse of an answer, but once again, Kim Jong-pil gave up on trying to figure out this young partner full of secrets.
“So all of this… is to make me the ‘protagonist,’ even recruiting those ‘tools.’”
“That’s right. The protagonist.”
-Crunch.
Lee Shin cheerfully crunched an ice cube and continued speaking as he walked toward the bookshelf.
“As I said before, sir, you’ve never once been the protagonist. Do you remember why I said that?”
“You said it was because of Jang Dong and Han Jeong-do.”
“That’s right. The Fighting King and the Ten Thousand King. For whatever reason, you had the spotlight stolen by both of them.”
“Hmm, stolen, you say… but to be honest, back then that was the most ideal arrangement. Putting those two at the front.”
“You don’t have to explain it to me. I understand 100%—perfectly.”
The Fighting King, Ma Jang-dong, was an SSS-class, a super-ultra-king-god-emperor, a once-in-history gorilla. A commander who didn’t use him would be unfit for the job.
The problem was the Ten Thousand King. Lee Shin might personally dislike that ‘tool,’ but he acknowledged his ability more than anyone else.
Why?
Because he had worked with him a lot.
“To be honest, there aren’t many ‘perfect’ tools in the whole world like the Ten Thousand King.”
“Oh? Quite a generous assessment, unlike before when you said he couldn’t tell shit from shinola.”
“If you’re a pro, you acknowledge what’s worth acknowledging. I’m sure you personally polished the Ten Thousand King because he was such a perfect tool. If using him guarantees results, what commander would pass that up?”
“Hahaha, you have a knack for commanding yourself.”
Lee Shin’s words hit the mark.
Under the Mountain King Kim Jong-pil’s leadership, the way the Fighting King shone was different from how the Ten Thousand King did.
The Fighting King, with his absurd physique, would draw attention like a black hole anywhere, anytime, in any situation.
The Ten Thousand King, on the other hand, was the most reliable key card Kim Jong-pil could play, and thus earned his spotlight.
If the Fighting King shone on his own, the Ten Thousand King shone in the hands of the Mountain King.
“Realistically, I can’t get you an all-purpose tool like the Ten Thousand King right now.”
“Oh? You say ‘right now’—does that mean you can in the future?”
“Of course. There are so many amazing tools out there that an old Ten Thousand King couldn’t even compare to.”
Anyway—
Lee Shin walked back from the bookshelf.
“So for now, I’ve prepared the best tools I could that can be used halfway decently.”
He handed over a file.
Kim Jong-pil smiled as if to say, “What’s this?” and opened it—
And the smile vanished. The smile that hadn’t left his face once since he entered this room disappeared.
“This is…!”
“An instruction manual.”
Needless to say, this world is not a game.
There’s no such thing as checking your natural talent through ‘stats’ or ‘traits.’
Aside from the “awareness process” you go through upon awakening, the information you can know is minimal.
That’s why training for the awakened always includes a process to objectively assess one’s abilities, and why guilds go all out to quantify and database them.
Even with all that effort, if you asked whether you could know a person’s strengths, weaknesses, stats, and traits perfectly from 1 to 10…
No. Absolutely impossible.
Humans aren’t machines—there will always be errors.
However,
Even so.
There was exactly one person in this world who could answer “Yes” to that question, Lee Shin.
Not only current and potential abilities, but stats and traits as well—
Only Lee Shin could see the rules, the limits, the abilities of this world at a glance.
All through one “status window.”
The file Kim Jong-pil held was a copy of what Lee Shin saw: the “status windows” of the rookie hunters he had just recruited.
“Low intelligence. So bad they can’t even dream of multitasking and can barely make active judgments in an operation. But I was the one who led their recruitment.
If they were truly hopeless, would I have given them to you as a gift?”
No.
The ones Lee Shin gathered definitely had enough potential to overcome their hopelessly bad heads.
“So, how is it? Do you like my gift?”
•••
Time passed.
At last, the first raid day for the Mir Guild arrived.
________________________________________
【 Minimum number of members has been met. 】
【 ‘Manager Status Window’ is disabled. 】
【 ‘Growth Management Window’ is disabled. 】
【 Play your first league match. 】
