I slowly opened my eyes because it was really loud. After selecting my job yesterday, the last thing I remembered was doing various tests and falling asleep on the spot. My mind went blank as if it had been a while since I’d woken up.
‘How long have I been asleep for?’
I barely slept when I was near the end of my research and since I haven’t cleaned up yet, I had no choice but to sleep in the alchemy workshop instead of my room.
‘I’m tired.’
If I knew I was going to be this tired, it would have been better if I cleaned up and slept in my room. After all, Jung Ha-Yan's gift had a special effect that relieved my fatigue. When I turned my head, I noticed Hwang Jung-Yeon lying on the sofa.
‘I’m sure she’s tired too.’
She tried hard to keep up with my research, so after I was done, she immediately fell asleep. The way she was lying down did make her seem like she wasn’t being careful, but I didn’t have any strange thoughts because it was proof that she was no longer wary of me. This made me happier since the more trustworthy people there were, the better it would be for me. All of a sudden, I heard a voice that woke me up again.
“Wow… I guess our hyung-nim has been tired. The entire second floor is a mess. Hey, noonim! You’ll fall if you run. Hee-Young noonim, say something to her,” Park Deok-Gu said.
“...”
“Let’s clean up for now. Miss Hee-Young, Miss Ha-Yan…” Kim Hyun-Sung said.
“Okay, okay.”
I knew what he was going to say.
The party members that went out on the expedition had finally returned. The smile that I had only lasted for a moment. When I saw Hwang Jung-Yeon sprawled out on the sofa, I started spacing out.
‘That’s not good.’
I heard someone walking up the stairs. Their steps were fast and it was obvious who it was.
‘Jung Ha-Yan.’
Even though there wasn’t any physical contact, I was sure that she wasn’t happy about the fact that I was alone in a room with a woman. In addition, Hwang Jung-Yeon would also be unhappy about her fateful reunion with Park Deok-Gu.
“Oppa… oppa…”
I guess Jung Ha-Yan thought I would be in my alchemy workshop because I immediately heard her knocking on the door. No, since she used a tracking spell on me, she certainly knew I was here. Because she kept knocking on the door, I felt like I was the main character of a horror movie.
Rattle!
“Oppa… are you in there? Are you there?” she asked.
Rattle!
“You’re in there, right? Oppa?” she asked again.
Rattle!
“Hey, maybe he’s sleeping. It seems like he has been researching all night… I think it’ll be best to stay quiet so that he can sleep comfortably, noonim. It’s still early in the morning after all…” Park Deok-Gu suggested.
‘Nice one, Park Deok-Gu!’
“Or maybe something happened to him… maybe he passed out?” Park Deok-Gu asked.
‘That dumb pig!’
Knock, knock.
I kept hearing them knocking on the door and for some reason, I felt like I was being made fun of. Naturally, Hwang Jung-Yeon would wake up because of the sudden loud noises. After slowly rubbing her eyes, it didn’t take her long to realize what was going on. When I saw her looking at me with widened eyes, I couldn’t help but feel a bit more flustered.
“Hyung-nim! Are you sleeping?” Park Deok-Gu asked.
It was a question that ignored common sense because if I was sleeping, I wouldn’t be able to answer it. But if I could answer that I was sleeping and it made sense, then I would have done it.
“Do you think something happened?” he asked.
‘What kind of bullshit is he saying?’
When I signaled her toward the window, Hwang Jung-Yeon nodded desperately.
“Oh, Deok-Gu. I fell asleep and woke up just now,” I said.
“Oppa…” Jung Ha-Yan said.
“So you were sleeping.”
“You came later than expected. I’ll open the door, so hold on,” I told them.
I saw Hwang Jung-Yeon quickly making her way toward the second-floor window. Actually, it wouldn’t be bad to tell them that we had been doing research together from the start, but I wanted to avoid unnecessary misunderstandings. The fact that a man and a woman were together until morning would surely cross Jung Ha-Yan’s limit.
“Kyah!”
Hwang Jung-Yeon let out a short scream as she jumped down from the second floor.
The door rattled again.
Rattle, rattle, rattle.
Jung Ha-Yan was desperately shaking the door because she felt that something was off. After looking around the room to see if there were any other traces, I slightly opened the door and saw the faces I haven’t seen for a long time.
I first saw Park Deok-Gu. I was always happy to see him and his innocent smile. I wasn’t sure why, but his eyes were red. When I saw the injuries all over his body, I couldn’t help but think that the expedition hadn’t been easy.
Of course, I was happy to see Jung Ha-Yan as well. She looked around the workshop to find the answer to the scream she heard earlier, but I felt her eyes on me. It only took a moment for her eyes to become filled with tears. Her tears started falling within a few seconds after that, which made her crying feel a bit unrealistic for some reason. Still, I knew that there was no other reason why she was like this. She simply missed me to the point of crying.
I also feel somewhat the same as her since seeing Jung Ha-Yan after so long honestly made me feel better.
“Hiccuuuup… oppa…” she said.
What followed was a strange cry. It was kind of cute, so I lightly patted her head without realizing it.
“Hiccuuup… oppa…” she said again.
“Was it hard?” I asked.
“Hiccuup…”
I saw her shaking her head intensely. She was trying to wipe off her tears using her hand, but it wasn’t really helping. When I slightly opened my arms, Jung Ha-Yan immediately ran into them and started burying her face into my chest.
“I missed you,” she said.
“I missed you too, Ha-Yan,” I said.
It was only half true.
When I looked ahead while patting her head, I saw Sun Hee-Young greeting me and Kim Hyun-Sung looking toward us. It would probably be difficult to get Jung Ha-Yan off of me for the time being, so all I could do was wave while holding her. The mood that they gave off made me think that although it wasn’t perfect, everyone managed to find an answer in their own ways.
‘The expedition was a success.’
I was sure of it.
“It’s been a while, Mr. Ki-Young,” Kim Hyun-Sung said.
“It really has been a while, Mr. Hyun-Sung. How was the expedition?” I asked.
“I wasn’t really satisfied, but we did see results. Even though Ye-Ri only changed her job twice, Miss Hee-Young, Mr. Deok-Gu, and Miss Ha-Yan all managed to change their jobs and their stats increased significantly as well,” he answered.
“That’s a relief,” I commented.
It must have been difficult because Kim Hyun-Sung definitely became nothing more than a day-care teacher in the expedition. The fact that Kim Hyun-Sung’s face became thinner during the one-month excursion made me sure that it had been the case.
“How was it for you, Mr. Ki-Young?” he asked.
“It was the same for me as well. I raised my stats and obtained a new job,” I answered.
“What did you get this time?” he asked.
“Did you get a third job too, hyung-nim?” Park Deok-Gu asked.
“Yeah, I did. I’ll explain the details downstairs,” I replied.
“Ohhh...”
“Honestly, I find it difficult to describe this job that I obtained. But I think it’ll be better if I just show it to you,” I told them.
“Is it the alchemist’s high-rank job?” Kim Hyun-Sung asked.
“Yes. According to the status window, it’s a newly discovered job,” I answered.
“Are you saying it’s a job that didn’t exist before?” he asked.
“That’s what it seems like,” I told him.
“That’s… a bit surprising,” he commented.
“Thanks to that, I had no other choice. If a few jobs popped up at the same time, then I would’ve waited until you returned, but… I had no other choice. But I don’t regret it,” I explained.
“Now, I’m even more curious,” he said.
I was able to see Jung Ha-Yan’s expression because she was still stuck to me and Park Deok-Gu looked really curious as well.
“Man, I should’ve been there during the glorious moment… I’m a bit sad that I wasn’t there with you to help you pick your job,” Park Deok-Gu said disappointingly.
“I’m sure you’ll like it too,” I told him.
“Seriously?”
I didn’t know what Kim Hyun-Sung was thinking, but I was certain that Park Deok-Gu was going to like it because it looked a bit flashy and marvelous on the outside.
“You’re really amazing; you were able to obtain a job on your own,” Kim Hyun-Sung praised.
“It was nothing. By the way, Miss Hee-Young, your…”
“Yes, this is my fourth job,” she said, interrupting me.
“I see.”
The mood of the party was a bit fun. They definitely looked awkward before the expedition, but right now, they all seemed close. It felt like the new members were able to get along with the existing members pretty well. Both Park Deok-Gu and the kid, Kim Ye-Ri looked like they were trying to read Sun Hee-Young’s reaction and it didn’t take me long to realize why they were doing that.
‘Hm.’
I guess she was chosen as the best alternative after me and Kim Hyun-Sung. As the person that had the highest specs, relying on her little by little must have created this result.
‘Not bad.’
Even though she thought that beating up lazy and useless people in society was a new way of doing volunteer work, she was undoubtedly competent and sensible. She was a bit different from Jung Ha-Yan, but she did give off a slightly frightening vibe and these strengths of her probably contributed to making her the best alternative.
I honestly was hoping that Park Deok-Gu would be a bit more proactive, but…
‘Maybe he’s not that skilled yet.’
For some reason, he seemed like he was slightly discouraged.
Because it had been a while since the party members have gathered, the party was in a good mood. They asked me about my job while we were on our way to the practice room, and all I gave them were vague answers or a nod. It felt like I was doing a demonstration.
When we still weren’t members of a guild, the demonstration we showed to the influential figures of the other guilds couldn’t be considered a demonstration. After all, the goal of it was to show my strengths, and show what kind of a person I was by utilizing my attributes. But this time was different. I naturally wanted people to recognize my worth. I had to make the regressor and the party acknowledge the fact that I was even more valuable than I am now.
“I hope I make a good impression. My firepower isn’t all that bad, but I still don’t know whether it’s effective or not…” I said.
“I understand.” Kim Hyun-Sung nodded.
“Ha-Yan, could you let go of me for a moment?” I asked.
“Oh… okay, oppa,” she replied.
I recited my spell. When I started to pour my mana into the catalyst that had been prepared beforehand, I immediately received a reaction. Based on my standards, it wasn’t a large amount of mana. As such, I only had to use this much.
I prepared two things. A catalyst with a magic circle that contained various spells, and a catalyst that would receive the spell. I needed materials that had the same information and ones that could interact with each other. A quality material that could withstand the magic circle that had been compressed and folded over a few times was also very important, but the information was much more important than that. For example…
‘The tooth that Jung Ha-Yan used a spell on and me being the target that’ll receive the spell.’
I did lose my concentration for a bit, but I didn’t have any difficulties completing the spell. I slowly recited the spell.
‘Growth Acceleration.’
This spell could be considered simple.
The small cells of the monster that was receiving the spell suddenly started to expand. The way the small cells started transforming into flesh was a bit grotesque, but it was effective.
Craaaack, crack, craaaack!
All of a sudden, sounds that the party couldn’t understand started to reverberate. It sounded like bones being cracked, but it also sounded like the cells were exploding. The sounds were familiar to me, but I guess it was loud for Kim Ye-Ri because she covered her ears. I thought that the large flesh was going to explode if this continued, but it was starting to transform into my desired form. A monster’s hand suddenly popped out from it.
Craaaaack!
Before the monster could roar, all the party members looked at me as if they were demanding an explanation.
“Hyu… hyung-hyung-nim…” Park Deok-Gu stuttered.
“How… did you manage to do this?” Kim Hyun-Sung said.
Even Kim Hyun-Sung was looking at me the same way.
I felt an unknown pleasure running down my back.
“It’s my job’s attribute,” I answered.
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