Chapter 7

I watched the hellish training that continued day after day.

Contrary to my expectations, the team members’ growth rate was quite steep.

So, I raised the training intensity by one level.

They seemed to have gotten used to the E-Rank standard physical training, so I switched to none other than the [Association-Recommended D-Rank Awakener Physical Training] program.

They probably wouldn’t be able to adapt to this.

It was, after all, a program designed for D-Rank Awakeners.

Since it was the first day, they would need time to adjust, so I figured I’d just run them through it for about three hours…

I tilted my head.

What is this?

Am I mistaken?

Why does everyone look like they’re managing just fine?

“Is it tough?”

“No. It’s bearable. Aren’t you going a little easy on us today?”

The close-range Dealer replied with a relaxed expression.

Bearable?

Easy on you? What nonsense. I’m pushing them much harder than yesterday.

I tried my best to hide my bewilderment and asked again.

“…You’re okay?”

“Yes. Maybe it’s because humans are creatures of adaptation. This is just right.”

Just right? That can’t be.

These were people who, just a short while ago, were struggling in E-Rank Dungeons. There was no way they should be finding this bearable.

“What should we have for dinner tonight?”

“How about kongbul.”

“Sounds good.”

I was at a loss for words, seeing them casually deciding on their dinner menu.

Something was wrong.

It definitely wasn’t like this at the beginning.

They used to collapse after 30 minutes, grabbing my legs and begging me to save them.

But now, even after three straight hours of training, they merely seemed a little out of breath.

Wait a minute.

Come to think of it.

I re-examined the list of Dungeons that Team Leader Kim Jeong-su had recently cleared.

Average Raid time: under 2 hours.

They had conquered not only Goblin Dungeons but also Orc and Lizard Dungeons.

Compared to before, when they would spend a minimum of five hours in a Dungeon, this was an incredible rate of growth.

So much so that even I found it baffling.

At the time, I just thought it was a good thing and let it slide.

But thinking about it now, it felt very fishy.

It was too good to just be a good thing…

Just then, someone spoke.

“Come to think of it, this is strange.”

I looked up to see the close-range Dealer tilting his head.

Ah. It was about time I memorized their names.

The close-range Dealer, Kim Soo-gyeom, turned his head with a peculiar look in his eyes. Towards me.

“My Potential Rank is C-Rank, but I was never the type to grow fast. But lately, it’s like… how should I put it? Like my meridians have been cleared?”

Ruminating on his memories, Kim Soo-gyeom stroked his chin and said.

“Even I can feel my sword sinking right into the Monsters. Could this be a Great Awakening?”

“Great Awakening, my ass. If you had a Great Awakening, does that mean I had a Complete Rebirth?”

The Tanker next to him, Lee Won-sik, rolled up his sleeves as if on cue, showing off his brawny biceps.

“These days, Orc bastards’ attacks are less than a mosquito bite. I’m not kidding, the Lizard poison even tasted sweet, you know?”

“Hey, that’s going too far. Then am I a divine archer?”

The Ranger, Choi Soo-jung, who had been shooting her bow nearby, slyly joined in.

“Jumong? Yi Seong-gye? Do you know that feeling, like their spirits are descending upon me? Yesterday, I tried shooting with my eyes closed as an experiment, and an arrow pierced another arrow.”

“Noona. That’s a bit…”

“A bit? Hey, Kim Soo-gyeom. Put an apple on your head and stand over there.”

“All of you, be quiet. Right now, my fists feel like…”

After Team Leader Kim Jeong-su’s outburst passed.

Only then did the team members start to feel a sense of wonder.

“Wait a minute. Does this make sense? Not just one person, but four of us suddenly changing so drastically.”

Someone raised a question with a dubious look on their face.

“It’s not impossible. Look how hard we’re training right now.”

“Just because of training? We might not have trained as hard as we are now, but we were never lazy, were we?”

“That’s true. Something doesn’t quite add up.”

“Isn’t a good thing just a good thing?”

“That’s the problem, it’s too good. We need to know the cause so we can develop it further.”

One by one, the team members began to cross their arms and think deeply.

At that point, I started to feel inexplicably anxious.

“Alright, alright, everyone, let’s just continue with the training…”

“Buffs?”

My rushed words were cut short by Choi Soo-jung’s sharp observation.

“It might be because of the buffs.”

“Buffs? What buffs?”

“The Enhancement Skills Choi Gi-woong casts on us every time. Isn’t there something strange about them?”

“Strange? They’re great, what’s the problem?”

“That’s why it’s strange. How should I put it? It’s like a residual image remains on my body. This is a little… weird.”

“Oh, now that you mention it.”

The team members began to agree with Choi Soo-jung one by one.

A cold sweat started to run down my back.

“Movements that were only possible when I had the buff are now possible even normally. I think that’s how it was.”

“It’s like the movements remain even after the effect has worn off.”

The atmosphere was gradually turning strange.

In fact, that was the very thought I’d been having since a while ago.

That’s why I tried to stop them.

Damn it, no one else is listening to this conversation, right?

Around that time, as if by prearrangement, all the team members looked at me.

Their eyes asked the question.

What on earth is going on?

I wanted to ask the same thing.

The reason high-Rank Awakeners train after receiving skills from the Enhancement or Blessing Types is so they can continue training without getting tired.

It’s not to expect the effects to persist even after the buff ends, like what’s happening now.

A skill like that would be a cheat.

But when there are four such cases.

You can’t help but have rational suspicions.

There was no way out of this.

“Then, what you said back then might be true.”

Kim Soo-gyeom said with a dubious expression.

“That you’d have us clear a D-Rank Dungeon.”

At Kim Soo-gyeom’s words, the look in people’s eyes changed.

A sense of hope, of ‘what if,’ was palpable.

So much so that it was burdensome.

“But is Choi Gi-woong’s buff really…”

“No way. It must be your imagination. You all seem to have rested enough, so let’s get back to training.”

I changed the subject, trying to act as nonchalant as possible.

If a rumor got out that my Buff Magic had some strange effect.

This wouldn’t be a problem that ended with Im Han-na.

It was a matter that could get me locked in the Association’s basement and interrogated.

As I was trying to talk my way out of it.

“Come to think of it, I overheard something.”

Choi Soo-jung chuckled as if she had just remembered.

“They were talking about you upstairs, Choi Gi-woong.”

“Upstairs?”

“The Head of Headquarters and the Head Hunter were talking in front of the restroom.”

This was a story I was interested in.

The whole reason I was doing this was to get the attention of Ilseong’s top brass.

Something along the lines of, ‘the guy from the Association is helping Ilseong,’ would be perfect.

But the words that followed completely missed my expectations.

“That Choi Gi-woong person, they said we should probably scout him for our side.”

…What?

Why on earth would a rumor like that be going around?

Is it because Kim Jeong-su’s team has been performing well lately, so they’re looking favorably on me too?

Or are they really planning to expose some corruption and then kick me out?

Ilseong.

A major corporation, with a salary incomparable to the Association’s.

The benefits are amazing, too.

If they were to make me an offer…

I shook my head, clearing the thoughts away.

In any case, that’s that.

Let’s do what needs to be done right now.

“Let’s start thinking about a D-Rank Dungeon.”

At my words, the team members whipped their heads around.

“Really? Are we good enough to clear a D-Rank Dungeon?”

Expectation dripped from their voices.

But I shook my head firmly.

“Don’t misunderstand. You’re not at that level yet.”

I said it bluntly.

Just in case they harbored any strange expectations.

These people still weren’t ready to clear a D-Rank Dungeon.

So I shook my head and said.

“This time, we’re just going to test the waters.”

“Test the waters?”

“We’re just going to submit a raid application. What’s important is showing our ambition to clear D-Ranks as well.”

As it happened, there was exactly one D-Rank Dungeon available to apply for.

A D-Rank Orc-type Dungeon in Suwon Hwaseong.

“It doesn’t cost anything to apply, so let’s just put it in.”

I quickly filled out the application form I had prepared.

Despite my telling them not to, a sense of anticipation began to creep across their faces.

To give them a reality check, I logged into Ilseong’s company intranet.

“The performance results are out, shall we take a look? See what rank we got?”

Ilseong enjoyed fostering competition between departments.

They would score who cleared more Dungeons and post a company-wide notice once a month.

It was childish, like ranking students in school.

But it would be effective now.

Kim Jeong-su’s team had never not been 300th out of Ilseong’s 300 teams.

“It’s going to be at the very bottom, what’s the point of looking.”

Just as I expected, the team members’ anticipation shriveled like a deflated balloon.

“What are you talking about? Look how many Dungeons we cleared this time.”

“It was a death schedule.”

“We probably wiped out every E-Rank Dungeon in Seoul.”

The team members shuddered as they recalled the memory.

Then they stealthily glanced at me.

Hmm.

I admit, making them clear fifteen Dungeons in a week might have been a bit much.

“Ahem. It was all for your own good…”

Just as I was about to rush out an excuse, someone opened the door to the shabby office and appeared.

“So you were all gathered here.”

It was a familiar face.

His name was Choi Hyeong-woo, I think.

An Im Seong-joon fanboy, whose hobby was looking down on people while decked out in expensive gear.

“I heard you applied for the Dungeon we had our eye on, so I came to see.”

“What do you mean, barging in here all of a sudden?”

Team Leader Kim Jeong-su stood up, making his discomfort obvious.

Choi Hyeong-woo spoke with his characteristic smarmy smile.

“Didn’t you apply for the D-Rank Dungeon in Hwaseong?”

“We did, what about it.”

“We had already marked that one for us to clear.”

The last bit of hope on the team members’ faces shriveled like a deflated balloon.

Damn it. This wasn’t how I wanted things to go.

Even if he was a jerk, there was an overwhelming difference between Choi Hyeong-woo’s team and ours, no matter how you looked at it.

With us on the losing end, of course.

His team was a place with proper gear and a well-formed composition.

“You surprised me. I heard someone applied for the Dungeon I’d called dibs on. But you have no idea how relieved I was when I saw Team Leader Kim’s name.”

“……”

“Looking at you, it seems you just did it for the experience. Right?”

“……”

“You haven’t gotten any strange ideas just because you’ve been clearing a few E-Rank Dungeons lately, have you?”

Everyone fell silent at the barrage of words.

The more I watched, the more impressed I was.

He was so detestable I wondered if he had a skill for getting on people’s nerves in his Status Window.

So much so that I wanted to punch him.

“Don’t be too disappointed. You never know. If Team Leader Kim happens to get the raid, I’ll even get you a piece of gear. You can’t clear a D-Rank Dungeon looking like the beggars I saw last time, can you?”

“If you’re done talking, get out.”

“I was just about to. This office is so musty, I can’t stay here for long.”

Then, Choi Hyeong-woo’s gaze landed on the monitor.

“Ah. Looks like you were checking the performance results. Mind if I check with you?”

Naturally taking a seat, Choi Hyeong-woo scrolled down the Excel file.

“Let’s see. Shall we look for Team Leader Kim first?”

Scroll- scroll-

Having scrolled all the way to the bottom, Choi Hyeong-woo tilted his head.

“……Huh.”

I looked at where he had stopped the mouse. It was the very bottom.

But he wasn’t there.

Team Leader Kim Jeong-su’s name.

As if he’d missed the scene he was expecting, Choi Hyeong-woo’s brow furrowed.

“He’s not here? We’re not in last place?”

“Huh, we’re not second to last either?”

“Find it!”

On the other hand, the atmosphere on our side was slowly starting to heat up.

Kim Soo-gyeom, who had naturally taken over the mouse, scrolled back up.

One row, two rows.

Even as he went up, our name was nowhere to be seen.

“Did you scroll past it?”

“No. I checked for sure.”

“Then what? Don’t tell me our name was left out?”

“Look how many Dungeons we cleared this month. We could be a bit higher up.”

“Stop that and just search for the name!”

The noisy clamor, a mix of hopeful anticipation and anxiety, was cut short in the next moment.

“Found it.”

“It wasn’t at the bottom, but at the top?”

The name hadn’t disappeared. We just couldn’t find it.

Because it was too high up.

Right above the line that read [Choi Hyeong-woo Team], at the very top of the D-Rank standard, was Kim Jeong-su’s name.