I had an idea as to why Park Deok-Gu lied. While the party members were obtaining their new jobs, he probably asked Kim Hyun-Sung or Sun Hee-Young for consultation. There was a good chance that he found out from them that everyone else obtained an epic-ranked job. I didn’t know how poorly he performed during the expedition, but he must have felt inferior especially when it came to Kim Ye-R. After all, the kid was considered a genius and that probably shocked him quite a bit.
‘Her potential is legendary rank.’
It wasn’t just limited to her abilities. I could discover the details if I increased the rank of Mind’s Eye, but I already realized that Kim Ye-Ri had a lot of potential. When I remembered how well she did in the Garden of Horror last time, I was sure that she grew a lot during this expedition as well.
For Park Deok-Gu, he must have been forced to watch the geniuses at work. Geniuses were human beings in a whole new league. They were the type of people that could easily do something that would take decades for an ordinary person to do. Even though I was still young, I have seen many of those so-called geniuses.
‘Not just on Earth…’
But here as well. Those people possessed abilities that were beyond the common sense of a normal human being and there were many of them here. Jung Ha-Yan could use high-level magic like it was nothing and she could also use magic that was beyond my comprehension. Even though it wasn’t clearly visible yet, Sun Hee-Young’s holy stats had a legendary potential level and with her unique composure, she was able to keep the party together. Kim Ye-Ri was the girl that Kim Hyun-Sung himself brought over from the slums. As for the regressor, being labeled a genius wouldn’t be enough.
‘...’
Honestly, this was a ridiculous lineup. Kim Hyun-Sung’s party was a party where each and every member could be called a genius based on their levels. Of course, Park Deok-Gu was a type of person that had the potential to climb to the higher ranks, but he must have felt all sorts of things during the expedition.
‘A monster.’
Hwang Jung-Yeon even said that she was ashamed after seeing Jung Ha-Yan’s result, but even still, the choice that Park Deok-Gu made was unexpected. When thinking about his personality, I assumed he lied without realizing it because he was cornered, but I was worried about his mental health more than his lie. He seemed a bit pitiful after I obtained the unique epic rank job. He probably felt that he was the only one that was falling behind in the party.
“The job I obtained this time is Archmage,” Jung Ha-Yan said.
“Really?” I asked.
“Yes. It increased my magic as well as my affinity level with all types of properties. Not only is elemental magic included, but… all other magic as well. Hehehe. I can use my magic more effectively now and I even acquired a high-rank magic knowledge, but I can’t say that it’s that amazing right now…” she explained
“That’s great,” I said.
“Also, my magic stat increased to 69, oppa!” she said excitedly.
“Our Ha-Yan is amazing. It increased a lot more than I thought,” I told her.
“My intelligence is 62 as well,” she added.
“Great!”
“According to Mr. Hyun-Sung, I should have no problem reaching the 70s. Just like how Hee-Young unnie’s stats increased even though she doesn’t go out and hunt all that much,” she said.
‘I’m sure that only applies to people like you.’
Mine and Park Deok-Gu’s main stats were in the low 60s. I felt a bit embarrassed because the way she talked about how much she grew sounded as if she was asking me to give her a reward for all the troubles she went through, but it was still worth nodding at her. Basically, the stronger she was, the safer I was. Of course, we could end up in the opposite situation, but her current growth direction was advantageous to me.
When I looked at Jung Ha-Yan, I saw some information about her job.
[Archmage - Epic Rank]
[This job is given to those who have met the requirement to explore the truth about magic. Magic will be increased by 5 and their affinity level for all types of magic will increase as well. There’s nothing known about the jobs that the player can change to later.]
‘Nice.’
I was able to confirm which direction she was going to take in her growth. The name sounded plain, but it fit Jung Ha-Yan pretty well. It was way better than changing into jobs like blood mage, mage of slaughter, or even mad mage.
Basically, Jung Ha-Yan was taking the standard route and that didn’t just apply to Jung Ha-Yan. It was the same for Kim Hyun-Sung as well. I didn’t know his growth path after this, but it seemed like Kim Hyun-Sung was avoiding the most standard form of a swordsman.
[High Ranking Swordsman Trainee - Epic Rank]
[This job is for those who are training in order to realize the extremes of swordsmanship. Strength will be increased by 3, agility by 2, and magic by 1.]
There wasn’t a need for me to read any further. I already found the answer just by looking at the job he chose, which was epic ranked. Kim Hyun-Sung basically considered that job’s rank as another gate that he had to pass through. There wasn’t a need for me to mention again just how important a job was in this world. If I was just an ordinary adventurer, then I would never had made a decision like him.
While the others were talking and shoving their food down their throats, I heard Kim Hyun-Sung’s voice. “Ye-Ri obtained the tracker job.”
“A tracker?” I asked.
“Yes.”
“I think it’s the best job for her since not only will she be able to use a bow, but she will also be able to wield daggers and medium-sized swords thanks to her decent overall stats. With her stats focused on agility and magic, her future job selection will also widen from now on,” he explained.
‘Since she doesn’t have any stats that are below epic.’
“So she doesn’t have to worry about which path she needs to take,” I said.
“Yes, that’s right. That had been the chronic issue of our party. Also, Miss Hee-Young chose Chancellor as her job… so her holy power increased a lot. Mr. Deok-Gu mentioned that he obtained a job that was related to his tanking abilities,” Kim Hyun-Sung said.
When Kim Hyun-Sung said that, I surreptitiously looked over at Sun Hee-Young and immediately saw her job name.
[Dark Priest Chancellor - Epic Rank]
I guess she didn’t explain the details to Kim Hyun-Sung because when I lightly nodded, she immediately nodded as well. This was like the evolved job of her previous dark priest job, so it didn’t seem that bad, but I guess she didn’t mention the fact she could also use offensive magic and not just holy magic.
Regardless, the party was growing very smoothly, and excluding the seemingly embarrassed Park Deok-Gu, there weren't any issues for now. No, Park Deok-Gu wasn’t actually an issue. His growth was also surprising, the growth of the people around him was simply extraordinary. I was certain that no matter where he went, Park Deok-Gu would always be welcomed by people thanks to his stats.
‘I should talk to him about it…’
Of course, I had no desire to mention this in a place where all the party members were gathered. I didn’t want the others to know that I had the ability to look at other people’s stats. Moreover, provoking Park Deok-Gu’s inferiority in a place like this wasn’t the right thing to do.
‘There’s nothing dumber than comparing yourself to a genius.’
It sounded a bit harsh, but I wanted him to realize this because a certain level of acceptance would be more helpful for him.
The topic of the conversation was pretty serious, but it started lightening up. They were talking about the mistakes they made in the dungeon and I told them about how I stayed in my room during the time they were gone. When I heard that Jung Ha-Yan cried every day, I just nodded and when they told me that Kim Hyun-Sung saved the party when they were in trouble, I burst into laughter as if I had expected it. Kim Ye-Ri barely expressed her emotions as always, but she started smiling a little bit and her voice got slightly louder than before.
Just then, the door of the guild opened. It was the crazy gramp, Lee Seol-Ho, and the sub guild master, Lee Sang-Hee. I noticed how serious they looked when they entered the guild.
“We’ll have a meeting right now. All the managers in the guild, please gather,” Lee Sang-Hee announced.
“Everyone?”
“Yes, no exceptions. Everyone, please gather. We’ll hold the meeting in my office. How many parties are here?” she asked.
“I think party two are the only ones.”
“Party seven returned this morning, Miss Lee Sang-Hee, Mr. Lee Seol-Ho.”
“Then please have Mr. Ki-Young and Mr. Hyun-Sung attend as well,” she said.
“But they’re…” Lee Seol-Ho said.
“No, everyone needs to gather. It’s about the guild,” she said, cutting off Lee Seol-Ho.
“Okay.”
‘What’s going on?’
It was obviously something serious. Lee Sang-Hee always had a tender look on her face, which reminded me of my mother, but her face looked really pale right now and even the crazy gramp looked worried. I had no idea what happened, but I expected it to be something serious since the senior officers of the guild wore similar expressions on their faces as well.
“Please head upstairs first. I’ll make sure to head there with everybody,” Lee Seol-Ho said.
“Okay, I’ll leave it to you, Mr. Seol-Ho,” Lee Sang-Hee said.
“Okay.”
The normal guild members that weren’t part of a party quickly headed upstairs and were probably on their way to get Hwang Jung-Yeon since party two lived on the fourth floor.
“What happened?” I asked.
“Please head upstairs, Mr. Ki-Young,” Lee Sang-Hee responded.
“Oh… okay,” I said.
“Please.”
The fun atmosphere suddenly turned chaotic. I saw Lee Seol-Ho quietly signaling at me. I didn’t like the way he signaled with his finger, but I decided to listen first to see what was going on.
“The rest of you can spend time on your own until Mr. Ki-Young and I return. Actually, it would probably be best if you all get as much rest as possible,” Kim Hyun-Sung suggested.
“Okay.”
“G-Got it,” Park Deok-Gu stuttered.
‘What’s going on?’
Various thoughts filled my head and my assumptions only got worse when I saw people suddenly grabbing their belongings. The murmurs of the normal guild members got louder and more of them started to arm up. I could hear a lot of voices, but I was sure that they had no idea what was going on.
“Mr. Kim Hyun-Sung, Mr. Lee Ki-Young. The sub guild master is currently in the meeting…”
“Yes, we know. We’ll head upstairs now,” Kim Hyun-Sung said.
“What’s going on?” I asked.
“Oh, I-I don’t know…”
The guild’s receptionist that delivered the message to us quickly lowered her head and ran outside the guild. When we quickly headed upstairs to Lee Sang-Hee’s office, I saw an armed guard opening the door, making it easier for me and Kim Hyun-Sung to quickly enter.
“Is everyone here?” Lee Sang-Hee asked.
“Yes, it seems like it.”
Lee Sang-Hee was sitting at the front. I saw Hwang Jung-Yeon, and the crazy gramp, with his three lackeys. Even the two executive officers whose faces were the only things I could recognize were here…
‘Is this it? Seriously?’
As the guild that represented the free city of Lindel at one point, the number of executive officers that gathered here was far too little than I thought.
“Mr. Ki-Young, Mr. Hyun-Sung, please have a seat. I have some bad news,” she said.
We still had no idea what was going on. I felt discouraged when I saw the grim look on one of the executive officers, but Kim Hyun-Sung looked calm as if he had an idea.
‘Does he know?’
It didn’t take me long to deduce everything. When I recalled the reason why we joined the Blue Guild, I immediately found the answer.
‘He knows.’
Kim Hyun-Sung knew exactly why this was happening. After all, he purposely selected the Blue Guild despite many offers from the large guilds.
As the sub guild master, Lee Sang-Hee started talking…
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