12. Arrival at the South Gate for the Promotion Exam
We arrived at the south gate for the promotion exam, only to find three people already waiting ahead of us. Two men and a woman, chatting in a reasonably amiable atmosphere. Those must be the ones, right?
"Dina, looks like that's the group over there."
"Indeed. Then let us approach, Yeonja!"
As we drew near, one of the men's expression twisted subtly the moment he spotted my face. He knew who I was, that much was clear... though back in the day, I'd have just brushed it off. Now, facing it head-on like this, it left a sour taste. Still, I played it cool, pasting on a friendly smile as I approached them.
"Hello. You folks here for the promotion exam too?"
"Yeah, that's us. And you...?"
The two who responded—the man and woman who didn't yet recognize my face—greeted me back. The one who knew me took a step back, shot me a sidelong glance, then clicked his tongue and turned away.
"Tch..."
I decided to ignore the bastard for now and introduced myself first.
"Yeah, I'm Ian, here to take the exam with you all."
"...Ian? Oh, wait..."
In an instant, the faint goodwill in their eyes shifted to something more complicated upon hearing my name. They hadn't known my face, but the name rang a bell. Well, yeah... my notoriety in the guild was legendary. Three years scraping the bottom, then latching onto Cheong-ah and Bella like some parasite—that derogatory label wasn't going anywhere. Sometimes they called me the house husband in a marginally kinder light... but even that didn't feel like much of a compliment.
I gave a wry smile and nodded.
"Yep, that's the Ian."
"Ah... We've heard the rumors. Name's Aaron. Looks like we'll be testing together. Nice to meet you."
"Same here. Pleasure's mine."
I nodded bitterly and exchanged greetings with Aaron. Then the female adventurer beside him eyed Dina with sparkling curiosity.
"More importantly, who's the little one next to you?"
"Ah, she's a member of my party, tagging along as our conductor this time. Dina?"
"Pleased to meet thee! I am Dina. I shall serve as thy conductor for this trial. But tell me, Yeonja, what precisely doth a conductor do?"
"...Beats me."
I had no clue what exactly they expected her to do. Probably just lend a hand with the exam somehow.
At that moment, the woman beamed at Dina with uncontained excitement.
"I knew it! The Girl Fist King! I've heard so much about you! Kyaa, so cute!"
"...Pardon? What king?"
"The Girl Fist King! She's the rising star buzzing around the guild lately!"
When the hell did Dina pick up such a badass nickname without me knowing? I glanced at her, and she tilted her head innocently, still clutching my hand, utterly clueless.
"Yeonja, why dost thou stare?"
"Nothing, nothing."
"Hee hee, thou art peculiar."
The woman unleashed a torrent of words like machine-gun fire. Aaron reined her in before she went full throttle.
"The one who shows insane skill alongside Ian's party—Hugyeop and Paeguk—every time they team up... I suspected when I saw her with you! I glimpsed her from afar once before—that tiny frame unleashing explosive strikes and overwhelming barrages...!"
"Scully. Calm down."
"Whoops! Sorry about that. I'm Scully. I party with Aaron here. Looking forward to it!"
"Y-yeah. Same."
She was a real ball of energy... kinda draining, honestly.
Afterward, Aaron gestured toward the last one—the guy standing a few paces away, deliberately avoiding my gaze.
"Oh, and... that guy's Widro. He's got some... negative feelings about you, Ian."
"Ah, yeah. I get it."
"Still, it'd be nice if he at least said hello since we're teaming up..."
"Eh, what can you do. Anyway..."
I glanced around and asked, "So, with him and us, that's four for the exam?"
"Uh... not sure. I didn't get the full details. Scully, hear anything?"
"Oh, yeah. I heard there are five in total for this promotion exam."
Karen didn't mention that—who'd she hear it from? I asked her.
"Who told you that?"
"Jina."
"Jina? Oh, right, that Jina."
I vaguely recalled her as Karen's senior receptionist. Older woman, not exactly the friendliest—adventurers had mixed opinions on her.
Five total. Including Dina made five, but since she was just the conductor, probably not counting her. So one more was missing?
"Guess we wait then. Still got time."
"Yeah, sounds good."
"Ooh, can I chat with Dina a bit? So many questions!"
Gathering time hadn't arrived yet, so we waited, swapping small talk. From what I gathered, Aaron was your standard sword-and-shield type—dime a dozen among adventurers. His partner Scully was a brawler who used daggers as backup. Made sense; you couldn't just punch monsters to death easily, so daggers were a necessary sidearm.
No wonder she looked at Dina with such admiration. And Dina perked up at the mention of fists and feet.
"Oh? Thou primarily usest fists?"
"Yes! Daggers are just support... but yeah, mainly hand-to-hand fighter!"
We bantered like that for about 40 minutes. Way past gathering time now. Irritation was building subtly when, in the distance, a party of adventurers approached.
Aaron spotted them with admiration. "Ah, there come the Crow Brothers—silver badge party."
"Crow Brothers?"
"Yeah. Five-man group, but way stronger than their rank suggests. High-paying nobles hire them often."
Their armor gleamed silver in the sunlight—why Crow, though? As they neared us...
"Hm?"
What the...? Why were they heading our way? Before I could question it, a young man who looked freshly of age pushed through them. Dressed in pricey threads at a glance. He scanned us, scowled, and barked,
"You lot the adventurers taking the promotion exam with me?"
Aaron and I exchanged stunned looks. What the hell? Starting off rude as fuck?
"Tch... Buncha iron-rank scrubs who can't even scrape by, huh? Too dumb to answer properly."
I nearly lunged at the smug prick, but Aaron stepped up first.
"Y-yes, that's us. Are you taking the exam with us too?"
"That's right. Rudy Jefferson, eldest son of the Jefferson barony."
The guy—Rudy—introduced himself, eyed us again, and sneered.
"What a sorry bunch."
"Pardon? What do you mean?"
"Am I wrong? Obvious ragtag crew. And what's with the brat? Ridiculous."
"No, she's..."
Before Aaron could finish, Rudy cut him off.
"Tch... Consider yourselves lucky. My crew here's handling this promotion exam for you."
He jerked a thumb backward. What the actual fuck was this? It clicked quick enough.
Promotion busing. The asshole was pulling that cheat.
The loophole for promotion exams was dead simple: take a similar quest near the exam site, "happen" to pass by, "happen" to run into monsters, and clear them. All very "coincidentally." Guilds didn't sweat it much—luck was part of being an adventurer, after all.
Jefferson barony, was it? Didn't ring a bell, but the title and getup screamed well-off family. Not that a dirt-poor nobody like me would know.
"Yeonja, Yeonja."
Dina tugged my sleeve from beside me.
"What's up, Dina?"
"Did that rude bastard just call this body a brat?"
"...Huh?"
"Didn't that rude bastard just call me a brat? Or did I mishear?"
Her voice sank low, laced with subtle killing intent. The tiny thing growling like a pissy chihuahua. Except Dina was leagues beyond one. Had she always been this thuggish? Come to think of it, yeah—lately she was quiet, but she'd always picked fights with Bella...
A sigh escaped me unbidden.