Chapter 70.

Late night .

Yoo Yeonha was sitting in front of her computer, completely focused on finishing her work . She had organized the Guild Experience Program matter from earlier in the day, and she also had to upload a job post on Violet Banquet . Now, she was working on something she had prepared for a long time .

[Information Guild ‘Falling Blossom’ – Now Hiring]

[A new information guild, Falling Blossom, is looking for elite agents . ]

The founding of an information guild .

Of course, Essence of the Strait had its own information team, but that wasn’t enough . Yoo Yeonha wanted independent ‘shadows’, who only dealt with information .

As such, she worked to establish an information guild for the past year, and now she reached a point where she only needed to find members .

“…Rather than waiting for that lazy bum, I’ll look into it myself . ”

Yoo Jinhyuk suddenly popped up in her mind, and Yoo Yeonha growled .

Meow—

At that moment, Yoo Yeonha’s smartwatch meowed, a ringtone she had personally set .

The sender was Chae Nayun . Yoo Yeonha immediately checked the content .

[Hey, did you see the footage from our fight with the limestone golems?]

As expected of Chae Nayun, she asked something that seemed completely random .

[Yeah, why?]

When Yoo Yeonha sent her reply, she was immediately bombarded with messages .

[Well, you see]

[Um]

[How do I say this]

[Today…]

Yoo Yeonha sighed . She had an idea of what Chae Nayun wanted to say .

[Are you talking about Kim Hajin saving you? It got recorded beautifully . You were practically in his embrace . ]

[What… . Why are you looking at that?]

[Because I have to write a report . ]

Nowadays, drones were deployed faster than Heroes . When a report came in, drones would be sent out from the nearest drone hangar to verify the report . Heroes could only be moved afterward .

As such, the scene of Kim Hajin using his magic power to pull Chae Nayun into his embrace was recorded in high definition .

[Argh, don’t you dare spread it . ]

[I won’t, hehe . So? Did you like it?]

[As if . Anyways, I’m going to a seminar next Tuesday with Kim Suho . Do you wanna come too?]

Chae Nayun quickly changed the subject . Yoo Yeonha retorted shortly .

[No . ]

[Shin Jonghak’s coming too . ]

[Fine, I’ll go . ]

At that moment, a lion’s roar rang out from her smartwatch .

This time, it was a phone call .

The caller was Park Sangho .

Yoo Yeonha picked up the phone thoughtlessly .

“Yes, Park Sangho Hero-nim . ”

—Um, Yeonha-ssi .

Park Sangho spoke in a hurry . As she listened to his explanation, Yoo Yeonha’s face contorted to a frown .

—Um, it looks like Jin-Ah messaged Hajin-ssi on her own . Jin-Ah is saying she didn’t mean it that way, but Hajin-ssi is saying he’s quitting the Guild Experience Program because of it… .

“What? Okay, I’m hanging up for now . ”

Yoo Yeonha bit down on her lips . She was fuming .

‘That damned woman must have finally gone mad . We should be sweet talking him to get him to join us, but this is what she does?’

Yoo Yeonha felt enraged for the first time in a long time . Yi Jin-Ah would always criticize her for every little thing, but Yoo Yeonha endured it because Yi Jin-Ah was a competent person . Knowing that Yi Jin-Ah would eventually come under her leadership, Yoo Yeonha didn’t act hostile on purpose .

But what she did today was absolutely unforgivable .

“I didn’t want to resort to this… . ”

Yoo Yeonha took a deep breath .

She needed to prepare her heart to maximize the effectiveness of this method . Just thinking about it made her face redden, but now was the time to put on a thick skin .

Huuuu—

After taking three more breaths, Yoo Yeonha made a call .

The receiver picked up almost instantly .

Yoo Yeonha twisted her tongue as much as she could .

“…Un, Daddy~ You still weren’t sleeping~?”

**

The next morning, the office of the Essence of the Strait’s vice-leader .

Yi Jin-Ah stood with her back straight in front of the vice-leader, Jung Chulsoo . Looking wronged and upset, she gave an explanation of what happened the day before .

“Well, no, you see, vice-leader-nim, I did message him after he left, but…”

“So it’s true that you messaged him privately . How did you even get his number?”

“Well, I have a friend who works in Cube as a vice-instructor… . ”

The vice-leader let out a sigh .

“What a mess . ”

“No, vice-leader, I swear I didn’t mean to threaten him in any way . ”

Yi Jin-Ah was about to explode from frustration .

“I didn’t explain in detail, so I understand how he might have misunderstood, but…”

—Um, Hajin cadet-nim? This is Yi Jin-Ah, you saw me during the day . Can we talk?

—Ah, right, you’re coming to the guild tomorrow anyways . Let’s talk then .

Thinking back to her message, Yi Jin-Ah really didn’t know what to do . It seemed that the cadet misunderstood her intention .

“Then why were you trying to talk to him privately?”

Yi Jin-Ah muttered hesitantly .

“…It was to talk about a scholarship . ”

“Shut it . The guild leader is going to have a private meeting with you . ”

At that moment, Yi Jin-Ah’s expression broke down .

A private meeting with the guild leader .

An outsider could think that it was a better punishment than being demoted or getting a reduced salary . Although it didn’t even come close to the serious punishments, in Essence of the Strait, there was no other non-serious punishment more fearsome than a private meeting with the guild leader .

Yi Jin-Ah swallowed hard .

“S-Spare me just this once . ”

“I’d love to, but I have no choice . It’s an order from the guild leader . ”

“No, please… . ”

Yi Jin-Ah really was desperate . She was only 25, and the last thing she wanted to do was to meet with the guild leader, which supposedly made one age by five years .

“It’s already decided . Go back . ”

However, the vice-leader was resolute .

In the end, Yi Jin-Ah made her final ditch effort .

“B-But come on! That kid really isn’t up to our guild’s standards! He’s rank 934 for god’s sake! Even if he’s rank 1 in theory, he wouldn’t be here without his connection to Yoo Yeonha, and a mere cadet shouldn’t be allowed to interfere with a guild’s administration!”

On the surface, everything she was saying was right . In truth, even the vice-leader had similar doubts about how a rank 934 cadet was selected to the Guild Experience Program .

“…Huu . ”

However, such doubts were washed clean by what Yoo Jinwoong said yesterday .

He spoke .

“Mountain Tyrant . You’ve heard of that name, right?”

“Of course, do I look like a rookie?”

“Then you should know that the Mountain Tyrant’s vital point is in our guild’s database . ”

“Yes, though you wouldn’t tell me even if I asked . ”

Data on a high-rank monster like the Mountain Tyrant was top-secret information . Even within Essence of the Strait, there weren’t more than ten people who had access to this data . Furthermore, those that knew had their mouths sealed with a magic contract .

“Come here . ”

The vice-leader gestured with his hand . Yi Jin-Ah walked up to him stiffly . The vice-leader then whispered into her ear . Immediately, Yi Jin-Ah was dumbstruck .

“…Is that true?”

“Yeah . Kim Hajin is the one who provided that info . ”

“H-How?”

“This isn’t the first time we’re seeing an oddball among Cube’s cadets . I’m sure he analyzed it himself . It’s not like there aren’t videos of Mountain Tyrant hunts . And didn’t you say so yourself? That he’s rank 1 in theory . ”

Yi Jin-Ah shut her mouth . Thinking about it now, it wouldn’t be impossible for someone so outstanding in problem-solving to analyze a few monsters’ vital points .

“Listen, this is why I always tell you not to judge people by their ranks . Ranks can’t fully encapsulate cadets’ abilities . ”

“… . ”

‘But last hiring season, you told us to reject anyone below rank 100… . ’ Yi Jin-Ah pouted, not daring to voice her thoughts .

“So just accept your punishment . ”

“Ah… . ”

A private meeting with the guild leader wasn’t really a meeting, but a hellish, week-long training . As this “meeting” was under the pretense of a training, there was no trouble with the law, and because anyone would be happy to train under an expert like Yoo Jinwoong, you couldn’t complain about it either .

If Yi Jin-Ah could become stronger through this training, she wouldn’t be so against it . However, because the difference in skill was too big, she would only act as a sandbag for a week .

“…uck . ”

“What uck?”

“…Nothing . I’ll be on my way . ”

Yi Jin-Ah bowed and turned around .

“I’ll hope to see a new you in a week . ”

“… . ”

“I’m only doing this because I care about you . You might be scared now, but it’s better than having it stay on your record . ”

The vice-leader then admonished her .

“Also, don’t even think about contacting him again . ”

“I won’t . ”

“Good . You can go now . ”

“Yeah, yeah . ”

When Yi Jin-Ah grabbed the doorknob, vice-leader chattered for the last time .

“Ah, before you go into training, make sure you apologize to him . ”

**

[You obtained 89SP!]

[Luck bonus applies! You obtained 12 additional SP!]

“…What now?”

When I was looking at my laptop screen nervously, an alert suddenly popped up .

I didn’t know what happened, but I was happy to get more SP .

However, I didn’t have time to celebrate .

“Huu . ”

I let out a deep sigh and got back my focus .

Currently, I was planning on using about 1500SP to create a new Gift .

It wasn’t a Gift related to physical abilities or magic power .

I realized from my fight with the limestone golems that no matter how much effort I put in, my physical stats would only lag behind as time went by .

So rather than investing in my body, I would invest in equipment .

The following was the Gift I wrote .

===

[Random Consolidation System]

[Low rank] [Spirit attribute]

—Scanning

*Scans a designated equipment .

—Random Consolidation

*Consolidates the ‘concept’ of the scanned equipment by 1~100% . The consolidation lasts for 24 hours, after which the consolidation percentage will be randomized once again .

—Growth

*You can use SP to strengthen the Gift ‘Random Consolidation System’ .

===

Random Consolidation System .

It was a Gift that fully utilized my incredible luck stat .

The concept of an equipment was exactly that . For example, consolidating a gun’s concept would strengthen its accuracy, recoil, rpm, firepower, and stability; consolidating a vehicle would strengthen its sturdiness, speed, fuel consumption rate, maneuverability, among others .

Since the boost percentage was completely random, it might seem like it’s completely reliant on luck, but it just so happened that my luck stat surpassed the human threshold . Given that, this Gift was extremely efficient .

“Let’s go . ”

I was more nervous than when I consolidated my equipment in games .

“May Lady Luck shine on me… . ”

Tap .

I hit [save] .

A message popped up on the laptop screen .

[You do not have enough SP . The Gift will be modified accordingly . ]

[An incredible luck applies! A portion of the Gift has been restored . ]

===

[Random Consolidation System]

[Lowest rank] [Spirit attribute]

—Scanning

*Scans up to five designated equipment at once .

—Random Consolidation

*Consolidates the ‘concept’ of the scanned equipment by 1~44% . The consolidation lasts for 24 hours, after which the consolidation percentage will be randomized once again .

*A scan on an equipment can be canceled, after which it will return to normal in one hour .

—Growth

*You can use SP to strengthen the Gift ‘Random Consolidation System’ .

===

I wasn’t too happy with it, but considering this was what I got after my luck preserved some of the original effects, it only meant what I had first was too absurdly strong .

I had to be content with what I got .

“…Hm . ”

I checked the message I got on my smartwatch some time ago .

This was the reason I was racking my brain trying to come up with a Gift .

[Traveling Club Next Friday . Destination: England . ]

It was an announcement from the traveling club .

The next main story event was here .

I picked up the magic sword I kept in my drawer .

**

English Royal Court .

Rachel was enjoying her break in her room . Free from studying, training, and potential danger, she spent the entire day sleeping on her bed .

“Uuun~”

The morning sunlight felt pleasant after 14 hours of sleep .

Each day seemed to get brighter after experiencing a portion of her future on that day .

Tok tok—

Someone knocked on her door .

“Come in . ”

The old man who walked in was Henry, the butler of the English Royal Court, Henry . His hair had now turned grey, and Rachel was more comfortable around him than her own father .

“How was your time in Cube?”

“It was fine . ”

Rachel replied with a smile . However, Henry knew the various fears that were suppressed in her heart .

“You don’t need to worry from now on . We made an agreement with Cube . We’ll be sending a trustworthy agent to Cube . ”

Rachel was relieved to hear the news . With a gentle smile, Rachel praised the butler .

“Ah, also, about the cadet that saved Princess… . ”

He brought up something she had been wondering about, a request she personally made as soon as the final exam ended . Rachel’s ears stood up .

“The Royal Court will contact him . ”

“…Good . ”

Rachel nodded in satisfaction .

Of course, the English Royal Court wasn’t worth much compared to Korea . However, the English Royal Court was a competitive place to get into in its own way, and it also had fairly distinguished Heroes .

Although it wasn’t a particularly enticing choice for the top 100 cadets, Kim Hajin wasn’t in the top 100 . He was currently ranked strangely low, being at rank 934 .

However, his true strength wasn’t on the level of rank 934 . Rachel could still clearly remember what happened that day . A single bullet had blown away an assassin she had trouble dealing with .

But for some reason, Kim Hajin was hiding his true strength . Rachel was happy with it since it meant there wouldn’t be guilds approaching him . Even if there were, that would be illegal . However, as the English Royal Court had a special privilege that allowed them to recruit cadets before graduation, they could make recruitment offers to cadets without breaking the law .

“Thank you, Henry-ssi . ”

“No problem . I’ll leave you to rest then . ”

The butler went away .

Rachel’s room was large and silent . There weren’t many fun things to do either . There were Welsh Corgis in the garden, but they seemed to hate her .

As such, Rachel went back to rolling around on her bed . Then suddenly, she rubbed her belly . Her stomach was flat with well-defined abs, being nowhere big enough to carry a life . But one day… one day…

A shy smile bloomed on her face .

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