Chapter 107 - Renewal (1)
“...Is this really a Dragon's Heart?”
Leila said as she inspected the blue stone in her hand from various angles.
“Even as you say that, you already know it’s genuine, don’t you.”
There was no way a grandmaster-level black magician/alchemist like her would mistake it.
And as if agreeing with my words, Leila nodded her head while slightly turning her gaze away.
“No, but...”
Hmm.
If I saw several more of the sa item wrapped in sothing resembling a tablecloth, I would probably have a similar reaction.
After all, Dragon’s Hearts, of all things, were rolling around as if they were snacks laid out in a marketplace.
“Anyway, with this, the commission fee is settled. Satisfied?”
“...Yeah, I am, but. It doesn't seem like it’s going to end with just the commission fee, does it?”
Leila replied, rolling another Dragon's Heart I handed her in her hand.
Of course not.
I had sohow made a connection with the world’s greatest alchemist, and on that front, I had plenty of Dragon’s Hearts, a top-tier material.
It would be a waste not to place a production request.
“I was hoping you could make a weapon using that as a core.”
“...A weapon? What kind?”
“Rather than a weapon, it’s a slightly more interesting item...”
And as I continued to explain the concept of the item I had in mind.
“...”
“...”
In the seats next to us, an atmosphere that was the epito of awkwardness was rising.
“...Um, sister...?”
“I am Climber Seo Hye-in.”
“...Yes, Climber Seo Hye-in. By any chance, a little while ago, that...”
“No.”
“...”
“I don’t know what you saw, but no. Nothing of the sort happened.”
The combination of Seo Ah-in trying to strike up a conversation while fidgeting and Ms. Seo Hye-in turning her head completely away and brushing off her words.
It seed like adding a ‘Hmph!’ sound effect would fit perfectly.
I an, this was the person who had even opened up a skill slot for just because I was close to her younger sister.
Just how dishonest did you have to be to act like that?
“By the way, Ms. Seo Hye-in. What brings you here?”
It seed like the conversation would make no progress at all if I didn't intervene, so I quickly changed the topic.
At that, Ms. Seo Hye-in looked at and Leila as if she had suddenly rembered sothing.
“...”
She must have placed a request with her.
The kind that I shouldn't find out about.
I thought this person needed to practice her poker face a little more.
“No, I think Mr. Kim Gyu-sik, who can guess that just from a glance, is the crazy one...”
Quiet, you.
“...This actually works out well. I had sothing to deliver to Mr. Kim Gyu-sik anyway.”
“Yes?”
Deliver?
To ?
As soon as I heard those words, the titable in my head instantly unfolded, but there was nothing particularly important that I would be involved in at this point in ti.
Well. If it wasn't an important matter, there would be no reason for Ms. Seo Hye-in to hold back and say such a thing.
“It’s about Mr. Kim Gyu-sik still being F-rank. No matter how you think about it, isn’t it strange?”
But as soon as I heard that sentence, my doubts completely vanished.
Ah, right.
If this kind of talk was coming up at this timing, the set event was obvious.
“Are you talking about a rank renewal?”
“Yes. To be honest, since your face has been getting around here and there lately, there have been continuous talks within the Association about how it’s strange to just leave you as an F-class.”
That was likely true.
In that case, I thought it would be perfectly fine to give a special promotion through a celebrity track. It wasn't as if I hadn't proven my skills.
Of course, the Association wasn’t so foolish as to not have thought of that, but the fact that ‘Ms. Seo Hye-in’ had co to deliver this in person suggested quite a lot.
It ant there was soone pulling strings from behind.
Mr. Seo Jin-seong.
“...”
Well.
If there was a loafer who kept hanging around his two daughters, I, too, would feel like probing a little more closely.
Shall I play along willingly?
“Then let’s do it. The rank renewal.”
“...Yes?”
As if she hadn't expected such a cool response from , Ms. Seo Hye-in’s voice trailed off in a flustered tone.
“A-are, are you sure you’ll be okay?”
“...”
What was with asking if I was okay after she was the one who asked?
It felt like she was admitting with her whole body that this was not a proper rank renewal process.
“Well, there’s nothing to not be okay about.”
To be precise, there was absolutely nothing to lose by going.
The thods of the rank renewal event that ca around this ti varied greatly depending on the branching paths, but the ‘place’ where the event took place was a common factor.
And, well.
There was sothing else that could only be obtained by going there.
***
[ Special Quest: Share Skill Upgrade ]
[ Subdue 2 SS-class Demonic Beasts. (1/2) ]
That’s right.
As expected, it seed that just tearing the heart out of the dragon in a lore battle was properly judged as a ‘subjugation.’
It didn’t say ‘kill’ here either. It ant that as long as it felt like ‘I won!’, regardless of what happened, it was fine.
And the place I was heading to now was where a guy perfectly suited for such an act would appear.
“Hey, look over there. That’s Kim Gyu-sik, right? Is it really him?”
“Should we try talking to him...?”
“...”
Of course, to say I was going to a terrifying place where an SS-class demonic beast would appear, the atmosphere of where I was currently sitting was a little too bright.
The closest approximation would be the feeling of a high school retreat bus.
Among the Climbers aboard the hovercraft provided by the Association, none of them looked to be over their 20s.
They look much younger than Ms. irin...?
“...They’re so fresh-faced they’re practically green. I feel like I’m leading a group of kids.”
Seo Ah-in, who was fastening her seatbelt in the seat next to , muttered as such.
“Have you ever done sothing like that before?”
“To the extent of guiding the chicks who ca for a tour of the Hunting Alliance...? But the feeling I’m getting from our surroundings right now is very similar to that.”
In fact, the aura rising from our surroundings was very similar to the feeling of chicks chirping.
‘Certainly...’
I had heard from Ms. Seo Hye-in that I was taking a test to be promoted to B-class at once with the help of a special exemption system.
To say that these guys were getting promoted to B-class with , the atmosphere was far too peaceful. I would even believe it if they were said to be Boot camp cadets.
I hadn't been briefed on the test thod, but I could tell at once that sothing was strange.
“...No, wait a minute. I think you’re right?”
“What?”
“They’re wearing cadet badges. I think they’re the sa as the ones we used at Boot camp?”
“...”
No way.
Why was that actually true?
As I was staring that way in disbelief, the hovercraft began to glide down and land sowhere. It seed we had arrived at our destination.
And when we stepped out of the hovercraft, what was revealed before our eyes was an uninhabited island with no sign of human presence.
Hmm. The air is nice.
It was a refreshing feeling, as if I could pull off a fortuitous encounter that I could use for scams for a long, long ti to co.
“The mana is incredibly abundant. It seems like there won’t be a big problem even if we draw on it a little recklessly, right?”
Seo Ah-in said that as she looked around.
Well, it was a characteristic that was favorable to .
Gnosis's Heart was still entrusted to the Master of the Magic Tower. In a situation where I couldn't use mana recklessly without thinking like before, such an environnt would at least serve as a temporary patch.
As I was thinking that, other hovercrafts began to arrive one after another nearby.
And looking at the guys who revealed themselves from inside, the feeling that sothing was strange grew stronger and stronger.
While our side was full of chick-like cadets, the group of guys getting off the other hovercrafts was composed entirely of burly, seasoned, battle-hardened veterans.
No, what is this?
Why do they look like they’ve co to prepare for a war, while only we have a picnic atmosphere?
As I was feeling utterly confused by the atmosphere, Ms. Seo Hye-in ca up onto a platform set up on the beach and grabbed a microphone.
Seeing her in a stiffly worn uniform and with a much sterner expression than usual, I thought that people really do change completely in a public setting.
“To all of you who have attended this Guild Competition Hunting Tournant, thank you for coming all this way. I am Seo Hye-in of the Hunting Alliance, the host of this event.”
A Guild Competition Hunting Tournant... huh.
Hmm.
It was an event that I also rembered.
It was a competition where, along with the party mbers under you, you would hunt freely for two days on an island where demonic beasts appeared, and the side that caught the most ga and scored the most points would win.
Right.
With party mbers.
“C-Climber Kim Gyu-sik looked this way!”
“No. He was staring at the horizon behind you.”
“No! He definitely looked at !”
The chicks chirping behind my back.
And a heavy rifle gunner with 10 years of experience belonging to another guild, a barbarian warrior who looked like he had just co from rolling around on a snowy mountain, a swordsman who looked like he had probably taken care of about 300 people...
“...”
Hey.
You said it was a rank renewal.
Why are you suddenly dropping a hell-difficulty event on ?
***
“...Well, procedurally, it couldn't be helped.”
After the event had progressed to a certain extent, Ms. Seo Hye-in, who had approached , said so in a voice that was suppressing her apologetic feelings.
“It couldn't be helped that this thod was forced upon us by the higher-ups, but it seems those children were the only participants who volunteered to join Mr. Kim Gyu-sik's side...”
“...”
How sad, Kim Gyu-sik.
Was I that unpopular? Was my increased recognition all just an empty shell in the end?
“No, I think it’s actually the opposite.”
“What?”
“In the East Asian region, there hasn't been a case of such rapid growth as Mr. Kim Gyu-sik’s for a while. You single-handedly showed a performance that surpassed the status that several guilds with quite a na for themselves had until now. As a natural course of action...”
“...I must have gotten a lot of flak. With one person being able to do that much, what have you all been doing until now, they must have said.”
“That's correct.”
And this was the result.
It ant that if other guilds were to join my side, they would either threaten them with private retaliation, or completely block the information that I was participating here, or in so way or another, they would have tried to keep the people who were trying to join away, gritting their teeth.
They must have thought that if I failed to perform well here and they achieved better results, their reputation would naturally recover.
“...Ah, you little bastards.”
A person can be successful.
Instead of congratulating for it, what did they have to gain by raining on my parade like this?
“I have nothing more to say than to apologize for putting you in such a difficult situation... Mr. Kim Gyu-sik?”
“Yes?”
“No, um... why are you smiling?”
“Because it’s fun.”
“...”
No. It really was.
Actually, after I had beco sowhat famous, I hadn't had many opportunities to see guys who revealed their hostility and charged at like this.
But to have the guts to charge at so openly, saying ‘please tear to shreds.’ How comndable.
“I think I can go all out without a guilty conscience for the first ti in a while.”
So.
Let’s respond to that sincerity.
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