Solo Leveling: Digispirit.

Takuya stepped closer to the Guild Master, who invited him to take a seat.

As he approached, he could immediately sense the man’s magical power.

It was incredibly strong.

More importantly...

It felt strangely familiar.

Takuya frowned for a moment, trying to remember where he had felt that sensation before. They had never met, nor had they interacted in any way.

So why did it feel so familiar?

He searched his memories before finally realizing what it was.

Fire.

It wasn’t the man himself that felt familiar.

It was his element.

He’s a fire-type mage.

That alone created a faint sense of resonance with Takuya’s own fire affinity.

"It’s a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Kanbara," Choi Jong-In said with a smile. "I have to admit, you’re quite young."

"Yeah, I get that a lot," Takuya replied with a small laugh. "I’m still a student, after all. It’s a pleasure to meet you as well, sir."

"Then let’s not beat around the bush," Choi said. "I assume that if you’ve come here, you’re seriously considering joining our guild?"

"I am," Takuya answered honestly. "To be truthful, it’s an excellent offer. I don’t really see any downsides. The only better option would be clearing dungeons by myself, but that’s not exactly realistic. The rights to the best gates are practically monopolized by the major guilds and no individual alone can clean dungeons safetly." (I’m looking at you jinwoo,)

"Good. That’s wonderful."

Choi smiled.

"But..."

Then he leaned back slightly.

"There’s a ’but,’ isn’t there?"

That earned a chuckle from Takuya.

Am I really that easy to read?

No wonder he could never become the manipulative type.

"Actually, it’s pretty simple," Takuya admitted. "I’d like to be assigned to the teams that raid the highest-ranked dungeons available. The higher the rank, the better. Ideally, I’d like to participate exclusively in A-rank raids. Unless there aren’t any available, of course. In that case, B-rank gates would be fine, even C gates."

His reasoning was simple.

He needed data.

As much of it as possible.

And doing that alone was practically impossible. He didn’t have a Shadow Army, nor was he currently strong enough to clear high-ranking dungeons by himself. Joining a guild was simply the best option.

Besides, he didn’t know any trustworthy Hunters he could recruit to form a guild of his own, and the administrative work required to establish and manage one...

No.

That was far too much for a single person to handle, maybeeeee, just maybe in the future, but even then, the hunters guilds was his best bet.

Joining one of Korea’s largest guilds gave him the best opportunity to gather it efficiently. If he ended up assigned to routine B- or C-rank teams, his growth would slow dramatically.

He needed to reach Vritramon before the original timeline began, and also hope for jinwoo to end as the shadow monarch, you can do it buddy, I trust you.

By his estimate, there were only about six months left.

Maybe a little more.

Maybe a little less, probably less.

At first glance, six months sounded like plenty of time.

But Takuya knew better.

It had already taken him an enormous amount of effort just to reach Agnimon.

He had no intention of spending just as long reaching the next stage.

If, for example, he entered the Jeju Island raid at his current level, Beru could probably cut his head off before he even had the chance to react.

Maybe, the request of being assigned to only A rank dungeons sounded presumptuous to Choi.

He didn’t care.

He needed to grow stronger.

After hearing his request, Choi leaned back in his chair.

For Him, It wasn’t an unreasonable demand.

However, granting it wasn’t as simple as it sounded.

Assigning Takuya directly to the guild’s top raid team would mean reorganizing the existing roster.

It wasn’t impossible—if the kid truly had the ability, he would naturally earn a place on Team A or Team B. But placing him there immediately without evaluating him first...

That could do more harm than good.

Team synergy mattered.

Even among A-rank hunters, not everyone fought well together.

Still, Choi wasn’t willing to reject the request outright.

If Takuya had the talent to back up his confidence, he had no problem granting it.

After a moment of thought, Choi made his decision.

"Your request is actually quite reasonable," he said. "However, before I can approve it, you’ll have to prove that you can do more than simply carry your own weight. If you join Team A, you’ll be fighting alongside the strongest hunters in this guild. They’re not just A-rank hunters—they’re the elite among them."

Takuya understood the hidden meaning immediately.

Don’t get cocky, kid.

Being A-rank here doesn’t make you special.

Of course...

He wasn’t about to back down that easily.

"In that case, test me," Takuya replied without hesitation. "Tomorrow, if possible. I can skip school for a day—that won’t be a problem. Evaluate my combat ability, and if you think I’m not good enough afterward, I’ll gladly accept the original assignment. What do you think?"

Choi tapped his fingers lightly against the desk as he considered the proposal.

Then he nodded.

"Tomorrow morning at nine. It’s not the first working hour, but by then all of our members will be here."

That worked perfectly.

He had already secured another A-rank hunter.

Now all that remained was determining where he truly belonged within the guild.

In the end, Takuya hadn’t come to negotiate his salary or benefits.

He had come to make his intentions clear, the kid accepted from the moment of the call.

And if he truly possessed the ability he claimed...

Choi was more than willing to place him on the guild’s main assault team.

"So it’s settled," Choi said as he stood up. "Tomorrow, nine o’clock."

He extended his hand.

"Takuya... welcome to the Hunters Guild."

The two shook hands, sealing the agreement.

Takuya had officially joined the Hunters Guild.

Now, as long as there wasn’t too much of a gap between his expectations and reality, he was confident he could gather data at an incredible pace.

After leaving the guild headquarters, he headed straight home.

No stopping for food.

No late-night phone calls.

He simply wanted to sleep.

He was actually feeling a little nervous, convinced he would spend hours staring at the ceiling.

Instead...

The moment his head touched the pillow, he fell asleep.

---

The night passed in what felt like an instant.

The next morning, Takuya woke up with more enthusiasm than he had ever shown for school.

After taking a shower and fixing his hair in front of the mirror, a rather ridiculous thought crossed his mind.

"...Should I get a pair of goggles?"

He stared at his reflection for a second before grinning.

"It would be pretty classic."

Shaking his head, he finished getting ready.

Then, with his excitement barely contained, Takuya left for the Hunters Guild,

Once again, Takuya found himself being led somewhere by the receptionist.

This time, however, they didn’t head toward the executive offices. Instead, she guided him to the middle section of the building.

The moment the doors opened, he understood where they were.

A training facility.

The room was enormous, with reinforced walls, floors, and pillars made almost entirely of metal. As Takuya glanced around with his digital senses, he immediately noticed faint traces of mana running through the material itself.

Mana-reinforced metal...

It probably wouldn’t survive a full battle between S-Rank Hunters.

It might not even withstand an all-out fight between high-tier A-Ranks for very long.

Still, for sparring and evaluations...

It was more than enough.

Which was most likely why they had brought him here.

They’re going to test me after all.

As he stepped farther inside, he immediately recognized several familiar faces.

First was the Guild Master himself, Choi Jong-In.

Unlike yesterday, he was wearing a tailored gray suit instead of his white one, though the calm smile and composed demeanor remained exactly the same.

Standing nearby was a blonde woman Takuya recognized instantly.

Jinwoo’s future wife.

Cha Hae-In.

She was dressed in simple athletic clothes rather than armor, and, just as in the original story, she had a tissue covering her nose. Judging from the expression on her face, she looked mildly annoyed to be wearing it.

The remaining people were less familiar.

Some hadn’t appeared much in the manhwa, if at all.

Among them, Takuya recognized Son Kihoon, the leader of the Hunters Guild’s B Strike Team.

Beside him stood Lee Bora, the woman who had questioned him yesterday after the dungeon incident. She was probably the one who had contacted the Guild Master as soon as she learned about his second awakening.

There was another blonde woman who introduced herself as Gina.

Takuya was fairly certain he had seen her somewhere in the manhwa.

She was a mage.

Beautiful, composed, and carrying herself with quiet confidence.

Next was Han Semi.

An A-Rank healer.

That alone made her one of the guild’s most valuable members.

Healers were incredibly rare, and one who had reached A-Rank was even rarer.

Then there was another woman.

She introduced herself as Seo Jiwoo.

If Takuya remembered correctly, she specialized in close combat—a brawler.

He blinked.

...Why are there so many women?

What’s going on?

Finally...

Another man.

Shin Seokjin.

Thank God.

Men are the minority here.

Taking another look around, Takuya realized something else.

Most of the people present were mages or support-oriented Hunters.

There were also a few additional guild members standing farther back, though judging by their mana, they were B-Ranks.

It seemed they hadn’t gathered the entire guild.

Only a handful of members.

"Welcome, Takuya."

Choi Jong-In stepped forward with a smile.

"Now that everyone has introduced themselves, I believe we can begin."

"This time, Cha Hae-In will conduct your evaluation."

"As we discussed yesterday, you don’t mind if the others observe?"

"Of course not."

Takuya answered with an easy smile.

The Guild Master nodded before stepping aside.

Cha Hae-In walked forward.

She still had the tissue covering her nose as she approached him.

Only after putting several meters between herself and the rest of the Hunters did she remove it.

She continued walking until she stopped directly in front of him.

Without saying a word, she extended her hand.

Takuya naturally reached out to shake it.

However...

Just before their hands met, Cha Hae-In suddenly frowned.

Her movement stopped.

Then...

She sniffed once.

A second time.

Instead of backing away, she leaned even closer.

"..."

Takuya froze.

Right...

Her sense of smell.

He remembered now.

Cha Hae-In possessed an abnormally sensitive perception of magical energy, to the point that nearly every Hunter smelled unpleasant to her.

Maybe my Digimon data changes that?

Hopefully it doesn’t smell worse...

She leaned in even closer.

Another quiet sniff.

Her eyes widened ever so slightly.

Then she looked directly at him with genuine surprise.

"...You don’t smell like mana."

She sniffed once more, as if trying to confirm it.

"...You smell like... nothing."

A brief pause followed.

"...Like a normal human with perfume."

For a moment, the entire training room fell silent.

At least..

That sounded like a good thing.

Takuya certainly hoped it was, his reaction only was of OK...