Chapter 41
Chapter 41
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 41
Chapter Title: Herb Gathering Escort
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“A request?”
Requests were missions that students took on to earn pocket money, credits, and build their reputation.
They came in all varieties, with rewards determined by difficulty.
The key difference from dispatches was that they took place within Lion's Castle.
“There are pharmaceutical company employees who come every weekend to gather herbs. The second-year student who usually guided and protected them left for a dispatch, so the spot’s open.”
“I’ll do it.”
“Heh.”
Even after hearing it was an upperclassman’s duty, he accepted without a second thought.
Kim Jin-myeong was pleased but a bit worried by the predictable response.
“A good number of the herbs they gather are in hazardous zones, and C-rank monsters are likely to appear. Still confident?”
“Yes.”
They were teacher and student, after all.
Jin-myeong had a rough sense of Jae-hyeok’s true abilities.
‘The kid took down the Mirage Bandit leader in one stroke with a sword flashing with lightning.’
It happened too fast for the other students to notice.
The only outward difference between regular Mirage Bandits and their leader was the color of the bandana on their head—nothing worth noting.
‘This kid can handle a D-rank request.’
Jae-hyeok’s stats had been extraordinary even at level 1.
Proof that his life had been forged in blood and sweat.
Trust came naturally.
“Good. I’ll inform the client, so be at the school gate by 5 a.m. Saturday.”
***
Two days later, at dawn.
“Has Kim Jin-myeong lost his mind? What, we’re supposed to work for free? This is how they treat a client with an official deal with the school? What? A first-year? They’re sticking us with some first-year kid as a guide?”
“From B-Class, even.”
“Ha, this is insane. A B-Class newbie’s just gone through their first real battle, right?”
“Yeah. They’ve probably just leveled up for the first time and are all hyped up.”
“Fucking hell, that’s no different from civilians. It’s so ridiculous it’s funny. Do they think Jaekyung’s an easy mark? No way, right? Kim Jin-myeong’s wife is waiting on the new drug our company’s developing for her magic stone disease?”
“It’s because of our third young master that they’re acting like this.”
A massive gate shimmering with deep purple mana.
Five times larger than a typical S-rank gate, this was the sole entrance to Lion's Castle.
As one of Korea’s few points of pride, its defenses were extremely tight.
Dozens of personnel, including ten elite players, stood guard around the clock, strictly controlling outsider access.
The gate’s immensity, the overwhelming mana pouring from it, the stringent security.
Everything was intimidating.
Yet the Jaekyung pharma employees who had just completed entry procedures showed no tension.
They had been visiting Lion's Castle weekly for five years now.
They prided themselves on knowing the place better than most students.
“Sorry we’re late. Let’s head out.”
A young man ran up to the grumbling employees with a smile.
Jaekyung’s third son, Jo Sung-hyun.
“You’re getting later every time. Do you really need to chat and hand out gifts to them every week? Meeting a high-ranking official would be a hundred times more efficient than wasting time on mere gatekeepers.”
Manager Gu Bu-seong shot a dirty look at the players clutching armfuls of shopping bags from Jo Sung-hyun.
“These people go through a lot for us every week, so I wanted to show a little gratitude. It’s just snacks, really. I’ll make sure we’re not late next time.”
“The young master’s too nice for his own good. No wonder Kim Jin-myeong looks down on Jaekyung. And he’s not even a professor—just some lowly teacher.”
Compared to his brothers, Jo Sung-hyun was too young and soft.
He had entered Lion's Castle right after middle school, so his resume was short.
Unlike his brothers, who had been executives for twenty years, his position at the company was merely section chief.
Even after graduating from Lion's Castle, he remained a C-rank player despite full backing from the chairman, unable to land a job anywhere.
A player who was the son of a major corporation’s chairman but lacked skill.
Associations and guilds saw him as nothing but trouble.
“Haha… Is it because our guide today is a first-year? Don’t worry. With Manager Gu, Team Leader Seol, and Team Leader Baek here, what could go wrong?”
“Hmph.”
Gu Bu-seong shook his head and led the employees into the gate.
“You’ve never suffered, so the world looks all rosy to you?”
“Young master, we’re elite personnel prepared for emergencies. We stick to the contract terms. Don’t rely on us more than necessary.”
Team Leader Seol and Team Leader Baek snorted and followed behind Gu Bu-seong.
The same ones who had just badmouthed Jo Sung-hyun’s mentor, Kim Jin-myeong.
“Let’s go.”
Jo Sung-hyun entered the gate last, with the one low-level employee who had stayed by his side.
***
[You have entered Lion's Castle.]
“You folks from Jaekyung?”
“…Yeah.”
Gu Bu-seong nodded curtly.
A boy greeted them in front of the ornate, grand school gate.
He was so tall and poised it was hard to tell at first, but up close, he looked extremely young.
The white stripes on his black gym uniform confirmed he was a first-year.
‘Sending a real first-year rookie to guide and protect us.’
Their previous guide had been a second-year, but an ace over level 40. At least he could protect himself. He knew Lion's Castle’s layout like the back of his hand—no complaints there.
This kid, though? Dead weight.
“I’m Kang Jae-hyeok. Your usual senior guide left for a dispatch, so I’m filling in. I’ll take good care of you, so relax.”
“Kang Jae-hyeok?”
The group looked mildly surprised.
That was it.
The son of Yaksha, who awakened a bloodline skill during the nationally broadcast entrance re-exam.
He had briefly rocked Korea.
Yes, briefly.
News about Kang Jae-hyeok went quiet right after the broadcast, like a lie.
The association had quickly controlled the media, but ordinary people didn’t know that.
They assumed he was from a fallen family, not worth the press’s attention.
“I wonder if we can really trust you. But we can’t argue with the school’s decision.”
At Gu Bu-seong’s glance, the baggage-carrying employees gathered in front of Jae-hyeok.
“You know the route, right? We’ve got a long way to go—lead on.”
Lion's Castle was vast and treacherous.
And Jaekyung’s target herbs grew mostly in remote areas near hazard zones.
A newbie who couldn’t even fend for himself couldn’t reach the destination just by glancing at a map.
“The path’s complicated and dangerous, so I’ll take the lead…”
When Jo Sung-hyun tried to help, Team Leader Seol grabbed his wrist.
“Enough already. What does Kim Jin-myeong think he’s doing, sending a newbie as guide? It’s you. He figures a Lion's Castle grad like you makes a ‘guide’ unnecessary, mocking Jaekyung to save manpower. Don’t play into that bastard’s hands.”
“Teacher Kim Jin-myeong isn’t like that…”
“Not like that? Then the kid’ll do a fine job. You just stay quiet, young master.”
“……”
***
Let’s see you guide us.
One wrong turn, and I’ll chew you out.
Gu Bu-seong and the team leaders, who had been glaring daggers at the leading Jae-hyeok, slowly dropped their jaws.
“Climb this cliff? Why?”
“It’s faster that way. Why ask the obvious?”
“……”
“What’s with the faces? You didn’t bring civilians to a gate for herb picking, so you’re all players, right? This little cliff a problem?”
“Climbing’s easy. But whether there’s a path behind it? You’re new here, but we’ve been clocking in at Lion's Castle for five years. Never crossed this cliff once.”
“If there’s no path, we climb down. Better than standing around—I’d have gone and come back by now.”
“…I clearly said we’ve got a long way. We need to work till midnight for quota. You want to waste time?”
“Why don’t you guide then, sir?”
“?”
“I’m the guide, so I lead. Keep nitpicking, how am I supposed to do my job? Should I just lie down? Sit here till quota time?”
Thirty minutes.
It had only been about thirty minutes with Jae-hyeok.
Yet Gu Bu-seong already felt rage boiling inside after just thirty minutes.
‘Did I screw up big with Kim Jin-myeong?’
Is that why he sent the torturer as guide?
‘…He didn’t know I’d be in charge, so yeah, mistakes were made.’
Team Leader Baek spoke to him as he clenched his trembling fists, regretting past actions.
“Let’s go for now. If he takes a wrong turn, we hold him accountable then.”
While glaring at Jae-hyeok like they wanted to devour him.
As Jo Sung-hyun started to warn against the menacing, threatening aura.
Step by step.
Jae-hyeok climbed the cliff ahead.
He moved like he was strolling on flat ground, so the Jaekyung employees, gaining confidence, followed willingly.
Less than ten minutes later, they were drenched in cold sweat. The incline steepened higher up.
‘What the hell is this kid?’
‘Locked in his house for eight years just climbing?’
‘F-Fast…’
Jaekyung employees entering Lion's Castle were all players, naturally.
Mostly D-rank, some C-rank, with team leaders and manager at B-rank.
Yet none could match Jae-hyeok’s pace.
To see the boy’s back, they had to crane their necks while clinging to the cliff.
‘Lion's Castle emphasizes terrain adaptation training…’
A newbie just starting to level up climbed effortlessly—truly a prestigious academy.
Jo Sung-hyun, a Lion's Castle grad, somehow kept pace with Jae-hyeok.
The employees’ gazes toward Jo Sung-hyun began to shift.
Team Leader Seol and Team Leader Baek didn’t like that.
They even used skills to overtake him.
And at the cliff’s summit…
“…A swamp?”
A vast swamp stretched below the cliff.
“Cross that, and you’re in the jungle with Alus bracken and black vipers. Way faster than the usual route.”
Days wandering for training spots had paid off.
Jae-hyeok was ready to share various shortcuts with clients.
“You serious? Shoes and clothes will get filthy.”
Far from grateful, Team Leader Seol and Team Leader Baek glared.
Gu Bu-seong, arriving at the summit last, reacted negatively too.
Jae-hyeok tilted his head.
“Clothes? Wash ’em later. No washing machine at home?”
“Huh?”
The team leaders gaped.
A heavy impact hit their rears, launching their bodies into the air.
True to B-rank form, they twisted midair acrobatically, reaching for the cliff—but Jae-hyeok’s scabbard lightly smacked their hands.
“What kind of psycho…!”
“Arrrghhh!!”
Splash! Splash!
“Next.”
‘Next my ass, you lunatic!’
Gu Bu-seong’s eyes shook violently as he backed away. He couldn’t believe this situation.
But it was real.
Jae-hyeok had no intention of dragging a half-day job into a full day.
Better to swing his sword one more time in that period.
“We’ll file a formal complaint to Lion's Castle—arrrghhh!!”
Splash!
“Complaint my foot. I’m trying to get you off early, and you bitch.”
Did these weekend commuters not know the concept of leaving on time?
The boy who shoved three B-rank players off the cliff silently mourned them with pity.
“Uh… should I jump too?”
Jo Sung-hyun, polite even to a distant junior.