The pay for a C-rank Commission wasn't much, or to put it another way, hunters who took on low-level commissions generally didn't have high incomes to begin with, so the fee they could offer to hire Castorice was even less.
Let me first explain how hunters made money.
Generally speaking, hunters needed to form a team of seven to eight people to even qualify to enter a gate.
But before that, there had to be a gate available to enter in the first place.
Gates were national assets. To enter one, you had to pay the fee to purchase it.
If multiple guilds or individuals had their eye on the same gate, an auction would be held. Only after the bidding ended would the gate officially belong to that guild or individual.
The person or guild that won the bid could then bring their own raid team into the gate.
If the raid team was short on members, they had to either recruit more or hire other hunters from the information board.
Hired hunters didn't have to shoulder any of the gate's cost, but in exchange, they had no right to a share of the final profits.
How much they earned from the run usually depended on the terms set by the employer, and in most cases, it couldn't compare to the rewards from getting a cut of the gate's proceeds.
However… there were also situations like this—where someone took on a gate above their team's rank in order to attract powerful fighters.
A one-third share of a C-rank gate's profits was a significant cut for a team consisting of one C-rank hunter and mostly D and E-ranks—it stung, but they'd still make a hefty, guaranteed profit.
Pollux easily pinned the dungeon boss to the ground. Castorice and Han Song-Yi waited for the rest of the raid team to haul out all the magic crystals before finishing off the boss.
"Thank you! Hunter Castorice, truly worthy of an S-rank. A C-rank dungeon boss is no threat to you at all!"
The raid leader's face was practically blooming with joy. The bidding fee for a C-rank gate wasn't cheap, but this risk-free, total-looting income meant he'd hit the jackpot.
Even after giving up one-third as the hiring fee, the remaining two-thirds was more than they'd make from seven or eight D-rank gates. He was eating good.
"Not at all. Thanks to Hunter Kim, Song-Yi and I were able to earn our first real money."
There wasn't a trace of arrogance or smugness on Castorice's face—only genuine gratitude.
This gave Hunter Kim pause. Much of the obsequiousness faded from his expression, and he shook his head. "Let's just say we both got what we needed."
Han Song-Yi stared at the large pile of magic crystals she couldn't even hold, bundled up in her clothes, her eyes practically sparkling.
This haul was even better than last time. Even if half of it went to Castorice, shrinking her share, it was still better than before.
Being a hunter really was a lucrative profession.
But… that was mainly because of Castorice-unnie, wasn't it? If not for her, I'd have died last time… And from what those hunters said, they usually don't make this much.
After splitting the earnings, the two parties waved goodbye.
Watching the purple-haired girl walk away, one of the men beside Hunter Kim looked at him, puzzled. "Boss, what are you looking at?"
Hunter Kim stared at that receding figure for a long moment before sighing. "It's nothing. Just feels like that girl doesn't quite belong in this hunter's world… And besides…"
A girl like that being called the 'Grim Reaper' by so many people online… It was kind of sad.
The duo of Castorice and Han Song-Yi quickly became a hot topic among hunters.
A newly minted S-rank, paired with an E-rank with little combat ability—this bizarre combination of the strongest and the weakest made many people curious about Han Song-Yi.
Just what was the reason that made an S-rank take her into dungeons every single time?
After some investigation, however, people discovered the two weren't friends—they hadn't even known each other before.
Their first meeting was outside the rating room at the Association branch office, and since then, Castorice had kept this unremarkable E-rank by her side.
Why? There didn't seem to be anything special about her at all.
The inexplicable phenomenon didn't stop there.
What was even more puzzling was that a whole week had passed, and aside from being frequently seen interacting with Cha Hae-in at school, Castorice showed not the slightest intention of joining a guild.
Joining a guild might have its downsides, but the benefits were clearly far greater.
As for the benefits of not joining… aside from being able to call yourself a freelancer, there were basically none.
So, just what was the reason this new S-rank was delaying joining a guild?
The truth was actually quite simple.
Castorice lacked neither money nor fame, so there was simply no need for her to join a guild.
While more money could let her quickly accumulate funds and bid on A-rank dungeons… there really was no pressing need.
As it stood, by bidding on B and C-rank dungeons, taking all the profits for herself and Han Song-Yi, and just hiring five or six E-rank hunters to make up the numbers, Castorice was already pulling in a very high income.
Han Song-Yi had even managed to gather enough for her grandmother's first surgery in a short time.
Moreover… Castorice believed that not joining a guild, being a maverick hunter, would actually make her more distinctive and boost her recognition.
S-ranks were never short of discussion, and Castorice was currently the youngest S-rank, the most beautiful S-rank, and also the S-rank with the most bizarre abilities.
With multiple titles like that combined with an air of mystery, countless paparazzi were dying to dig up information on her every day.
At least for the time being, she didn't have to worry about recognition at all.
Life moved forward at a steady, unhurried pace. Another school afternoon after classes let out, and just as Castorice left her classroom, she saw Cha Hae-in walking down the hallway toward her.
"Castorice."
Seeing her, Cha Hae-in immediately offered a smile. "I won the bid for an A-rank gate today, so I wanted to hire you to come along."
"Me, Cha-sunbae?"
Castorice said, surprised.
It was Cha Hae-in, not Hunters.
As mentioned before, joining a guild allowed you to quickly accumulate funds and bid on A-rank dungeons.
Conversely, without a guild, you couldn't bid on A-rank dungeons.
As the top-tier dungeons under normal circumstances, A-ranks not only yielded far higher profits than B-ranks, but there was also a chance to obtain rare equipment or weapons from the boss—gear whose craftsmanship even surpassed that of all the world's artisans.
Such equipment was generally referred to as 'Artifacts.'
This resulted in A-rank gates being almost exclusively controlled by top-tier guilds. Apart from the Five Great Guilds, almost no other guilds or individuals could win the bids.
"Yes, but since I bid under my personal name, it'll just be the two of us this time."
Cha Hae-in said, a bit sheepishly. "For the rest… well, just like you do, we'll hire some hunters to meet the personnel requirement."
Her demeanor was like a good student playing hooky, which Castorice found somewhat amusing.
"But why just the two of us? What about the Hunters Guild?"
Castorice asked curiously.
"Be… because I need to buy an Artifact soon, so I'm a bit short on money… If it's just the two of us, splitting the A-rank gate's profits evenly will earn us more than the guild would make!"
Cha Hae-in's gaze wavered slightly, but she managed to get the words out.
She's clearly lying, or at least feeling guilty.
After a moment's thought, Castorice understood. Cha Hae-in being short on money was just a pretext; using this opportunity to give her money was the real goal.
Maybe it's because of the previous mana hypersensitivity incident, and she wants to repay me?
While Castorice didn't need it, the other woman had a decisive, action-oriented personality.
The fact that she'd waited this long to ask, and was using her personal name instead of Hunters' authority, suggested she'd gone to considerable trouble.
Under these circumstances, refusing her would be too cruel.
"Alright. I could use some startup funds myself. Thank you, Cha-sunbae."
Castorice didn't call her out, instead smiling and expressing her thanks.
"Great! Then let's set off right away!"
--+--
T/N: I have a Patreon! Webnovel will get 3 Chapters Every Day, and advanced chapters will be uploaded on Patreon.
It may not seem worth it now, but maybe in the future. Who knows!
[email protected]/AspenTL
If you guys wanna check it out.