Chapter 18

“We have some materials we prepared in advance.”

Nara Shim presented the materials as if she had researched them herself. Everyone admired the well-organized information.

“Nara is so meticulous!”

“Indeed. We’re benefiting so much. Thank you very much.”

Nara, feeling a prick of guilt, laughed

“No. It’s good if everyone gets help.”

After all, if the party passed, her own success rate would also increase. Nara had intended that from the beginning. Meanwhile, Cho-i was thinking about the A-Rank dungeon that Dongju and Yeonhan had given her. What kind of place would an A-Rank dungeon be? A C-Rank dungeon seemed fun enough, but it wouldn’t be as thrilling as an A-Rank one. And… A-Rank monsters would be even better prey.

“Cho-i!”

Cho-i, who had been unconsciously thinking such thoughts, snapped back to reality at Nara’s call.

“Oh, oh. Why?” “We need to decide our formation. You were listening, right?” “Ah, I’m sorry, I wasn’t. I was thinking about something else.”

Cho-i scratched her head. Then she waved her hand as if apologizing.

“I’m sorry. I’ll focus.”

Cho-i forgot what she had been thinking about just now. The other party members, seemingly kind-hearted, encouraged her, saying she seemed to be worrying a lot. Cho-i smiled and brushed it off.

“Wouldn’t the classic formation be the best?” “I think so too.” “According to the data, there don’t seem to be any unusual monsters. It’s a C-Rank dungeon, after all.” “The only thing we need to be careful of is the blade-shooting boss monster. Even considering that, the diamond formation seems best.” “I think so too.” “Cho-i, what do you think?”

Cho-i, who had been sitting with her chin propped on the table, blinked. And then she said:

“Either way is fine. I can protect everyone.” “…Oh.” “That was pretty cool just now.” “She seems to have some tanking experience.” “I’ve been active as a tank for over five years. I awakened when I was twenty-one. After that, I joined my boyfriend’s uncle’s guild and worked there for quite a long time.” “Oh, so you did have a boyfriend. What is he doing now?” “Hmm, well. What would he be doing? Burning in hellfire?” “Excuse me?” “Hahaha, just kidding.”

When Cho-i laughed, the others awkwardly laughed along, thinking it was a rather unfunny joke. Cho-i laughed and then said,

“He’s dead.” “Hahahaha.”

Hoyeon, thinking it was another unfunny joke, awkwardly laughed along. But the atmosphere was strange. Cho-i added calmly,

“I wonder if he even had a funeral.”

Hoyeon swallowed hard.

“Alright, alright! Anyway.”

Nara clapped her hands to lighten the mood.

“Now that the formation is decided, I think it would be good to talk about our specialties. We’re all the same rank, so we can’t even use Inspect on each other, right?” “Oh, that’s right. That’s a good idea.” Everyone quickly started to change the subject. They were quite desperate. The most desperate, Hoyeon Kim, spoke.

“I’m a melee dealer. A swordsman. I’m quite agile.” “Oh, that’s impressive.” “Hahaha, stats don’t always go as you wish, you know.” “No, that’s plenty good.”

Next was the healer, Yeonsu Nam.

“The healer doesn’t have any special skills. Is she good at healing? Oh, but she can cast a barrier to protect those around her. However, the rank is low, so it’s just a thin shield that can’t last more than a few seconds.”

“But it will be a very important skill in an emergency.”

Hoyeon Kim praised her. Yeonsu Nam smiled thankfully and looked at the next person. All that remained was the dealer, Maru Dan.

“I’m an archer. I have an area-of-effect skill, and that’s my specialty.”

His tone was quite blunt, but he didn’t seem cold.

“What did you do before that, by any chance?”

“I enlisted in the military and awakened as a private, so I was exempted from service.”

Sounds of ‘oh’ were heard from around them. Hoyeon Kim, especially, said with a very envious tone:

“I awakened after I was discharged.”

“Oh, dear…”

Nara comforted him instead. It was a bit lacking for comfort, but anyway. Next was Nara’s turn. Nara confidently puffed out her chest and said:

“I’m a buffer. My specialties are health enhancement and damage reduction. I usually support tanks.”

“Oh, that’s a really good specialty.”

“Right?”

She had reason to boast. She actually received quite good treatment even in her previous Hanshin Guild. The problem was that even with relatively good treatment, if calculated by minimum wage, she was earning less than the Entity. Of course, she received a share of all items and byproducts from the dungeon. Come to think of it, didn’t Cho-i Hyeon not even receive the Entity? As she looked at Cho-i, Cho-i, who had been fiddling with her feet and doing something else, raised her head.

“Me?”

“Yeah, you have to too.”

“I’m a tank. I’m good at smashing monsters.”

“…Oh.”

“You’re a tank?”

“It just ended up that way.”

Nara Shim opened her mouth to try and salvage the situation.

“She, she’s quite good at attacking even while tanking! That’s why. You can take what she says with a grain of salt!”

“Ah, I see.”

“A tank with a certain level of attack power would definitely be good.”

Everyone nodded as if they understood. Nara Shim sighed inwardly. It’s a relief that everyone is kind. But then, Cho-i suddenly whispered to Nara:

“But isn’t there an original guild member among us?”

“…!”

Nara Shim remembered something she had forgotten at her words. That a Guild Member of Paehyeok was among them for their evaluation. Nara signaled with her eyes to talk about it later, and fortunately, Cho-i understood this time and nodded.

“Then, shall we go to Paehyeok’s practice room today?”

“I heard you can enter by showing your number tag.”

“We don’t have much time, so shall we do that?”

“Okay!”

* * *

The group, who entered Paehyeok’s practice room after showing their number tags, immediately began practicing. First, the dealers went in one by one. It was to check each other’s abilities. When the practice level was set to C-rank, everyone showed a decent performance. Watching them, Nara thought:

‘It’s C-Rank, but they seem better than the two B-Ranks who were in Hanshin.’

In fact, there is an unbridgeable gap between C-rank and B-rank, but perhaps because they were people whose hands and feet didn’t match at all and never practiced, their movements were very inefficient. But the dealers here were different. They showed signs of consistently practicing and honing their skills and bodies.

“Oh, if both dealers are done, shall the tank go in as well?”

“I’ll set it to tank mode.”

“Alright.”

Cho-i casually got up from her seat and headed into the practice room. The practice room was like a normal training ground, but the floor was lower than the surroundings, and it was finished with transparent reinforced glass so that teammates could watch from above. Cho-i took out a cheap sword and shield from her inventory. One of her teammates worried.

“Isn’t that a D-Rank item?”

“Ah, Cho-i isn’t greedy for items…”

“Still, wouldn’t it be better to get one before the trial? It’s hard to deal with C-Rank dungeon boss monsters with items like that.”

“I’ll, I’ll talk to Cho-i.”

Nara Shim laughed and turned her head. She wondered why she hadn’t thought of that. Who on earth would bring a D-Rank item to the Paehyeok testing ground? Cho-i, oblivious, looked at the dummies rising towards her. Are those a bit tough? She raised her shield and bumped into one dummy, very lightly. Bang! The dummy was pushed back and fell, but it didn’t break. Cho-i blinked, then dodged the dummies rushing at her and swung her sword. Again, lightly, just like when she was in lower-rank dungeons. Clang! There was another loud sound, but the dummy was pushed back and tumbled, yet it didn’t break. Cho-i’s eyes widened.

“These guys are a bit tough.”

Delight spread in her eyes.

“They don’t break easily.”

Her teammates, hearing her voice, shook their heads. Indeed, it was impossible to defeat the dummies immediately with those items. In fact, the tank practice mode is designed to test a tank’s defense, so it features dummies that are tougher than those in other C-Rank practice modes. Cho-i grinned and picked up her sword again.

“I can put a little more power into it, right?”

A fierce smile appeared on her lips. And then she immediately leaped into the midst of the dummies.

“Oh?!”

Everyone was surprised. Dummies generally didn’t inflict fatal injuries, but there was still a risk of injury. However, they soon watched what she was doing, their jaws dropping.

Crash! Thwack! Clang! Clank!

She literally started beating the dummies with her shield and sword. And she didn’t get hit even once. Skillfully dodging the dummies that lunged at her, she accurately stabbed and knocked down their weak points, such as their necks or legs. The fallen dummy’s head was soon crushed under Cho-i’s foot. As she fought, her irritation only grew. This was fake prey. She felt her stomach churning. This is fake. It’s fake. It’s not truly enjoyable.

“Ha…”

After destroying all the dummies, Cho-i plopped down on top of a dummy, her legs trembling. Nara rushed over to Cho-i and pulled her out.

“Oh, you seem to be in good condition today.”

“No, this is…”

“Is this normal?”

“If you’re in the top tier of C-Rank, Ms. Nara, is Ms. Cho-i a C Plus?”

“Ah, hahahaha. Well.”

“Ms. Cho-i, are you really a tank? Not a dealer?”

“Unfortunately, I’m a tank. My strength stat is quite high.”

“Ah, I see. None of us could break the dummies. You’re amazing.”

“It just went well today, that’s all.”

Nara stepped in front of Cho-i and answered for her. Cho-i, oblivious, blinked and wore a dissatisfied expression.

“Th-then, shall we all go in together and practice one more time?”

Saying that, Nara turned to Cho-i and said,

“This time, just tank. Don’t attack. Understood?”

“Understood.”