Chapter 34
Chapter 34
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 34
Chapter Title: You've Got the Wrong Person
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A message that suddenly popped up one day.
Since this was the first patch in The Mission, people paid utmost attention. Once they'd read through it all, their reactions could be summed up in one word.
"Fuck."
Rankers were barely tackling C-grade missions now. B-grades were still a pipe dream. Once, a party of rankers had tried a B-grade: 'Orc Lord Subjugation'. Among all the B-grades, it seemed the most doable—probably because "orc," now little more than punching bags, was in the name. They figured it'd be easy.
The result was simple.
42 participants: 11 dead, 24 seriously injured. Those who'd cleared Massacre Mode felt lucky just to kill the orc guards, meet the minimum clear condition, and escape. Against the Orc Lord's bonuses, elite troops, and organized orc charges, even rankers couldn't fight back and routed.
If ranker-only parties fared that poorly, forcing everyone into an S-grade was nothing short of a death sentence.
Some raged at the forced S-grade entry; others despaired. But the constructive response was, "Sitting still gets us killed," and diving into missions.
"Don't freak out too much. The last line clearly says a balance patch is coming. If they just wanted us dead, they wouldn't bother with something this convoluted. Meaning it's definitely clearable somehow."
Spear King Kang Mu-han, Hae Tae Faction leader and top ranker, made a compelling point. Only then did "balance patch" bring some relief. Naturally, eyes turned to the rewards. Top Legend-grade items to extra lives!
At those insane rewards, jaws dropped. To maximize survival odds and snag them, people threw themselves into missions.
"LFG for C-grade! Skill irrelevant! Aiming for max headcount! For Awakening Quest filler!"
"Buying Rare gear for stamina wars! Haggle anything!"
"Recruiting comrades! Minimum ranker-level!"
Watching the plaza frenzy, Sung-hoon muttered simply.
"They're nuts."
Slurp.
Sipping coffee at a second-floor cafe window, Sung-hoon seemed utterly detached from the bustle below. Munching a sandwich between sips, as if above worldly chaos, he stared at his inventory. Two new boxes at the front—fresh since yesterday's tidy-up—drew his eye.
"Hm."
Tap. Tap.
Drumming fingers on the table, he pondered.
The Ranker Gift made sense, with the patch mentioning rewards. But Loki's? No clue.
'Loki. Where've I seen that? Feels like Avengers.'
He recalled the hero movies booming back on Earth. Knowing little Norse myth, Sung-hoon's Loki knowledge was movie-based: bad guy, end of story. Opening it felt risky.
As he wavered, a man pulled out a chair and sat.
"What're you mulling over?"
"Just. The mission in half a month. How to handle it."
"Ah. That."
The man chatting amiably with Sung-hoon was Lee Young-gi, who'd traded info for meals before.
True to Sung-hoon's expectations for room and board, Young-gi and Hye-na delivered steady intel daily. As they grew stronger, basics weren't enough—they demanded more.
Sung-hoon never planned to underpay forever. He equipped them, shared know-how, helped missions, raising them up.
Result: Not quite rankers, but top normal-tier, quasi-rankers. Beyond skill, they'd heeded Sung-hoon's info talk and formed a crude 'info guild.'
Lacking beggar or big-guild polish, it still turned profit. Sung-hoon got VIP treatment.
"Anyway, the info you requested. On those people and their cred."
"Thanks. I'll put it to good use."
"Hold up!"
Grabbing Sung-hoon's hand mid-reach for the folder, Young-gi flashed a contrived smile.
"Gotta pay up, right?"
"Sigh. Ten thousand guild, yeah?"
"Unit's off by one digit. Hundred thousand guild."
A few sheets for 100k guild? Fair, though. It evaluated C-grade competence plus cred from past missions/comrades.
Blind trust in the strong risks backstabs like Il-woo's. Sung-hoon reversed that one fine, but luck won't always hold—could cost lives.
Preventive insurance? 100k guild was cheap.
"Normally 300k, but bro discount. Labor's unpaid."
"Grown a lot? Feeling strong now?"
"Nothing next to you, bro."
Young-gi was capable; beefing with him was hassle. He treated Sung-hoon as benefactor; Sung-hoon liked the respect.
This guy was among the few reliably trustworthy in The Mission.
"Fine. Fat wallet. You get any boxes?"
"Ranking reward? Didn't make rankings."
Hoping for Loki intel—nothing. Sung-hoon shut up.
"Anyway, lunch on you?"
"Just took 100k guild. Buy your own."
"......"
"...Fine, one coffee."
After shooing Young-gi with coffee, Sung-hoon read the docs. Short stack, quick read.
"Mid Spear Arts user. Job: Infantryman. Mostly C-grade yokai swarm clears. Saved comrades in multiples."
"Job: Berserker. Hard to control in combat, but bursts rival rankers."
"Frequent C-grade caravan escorts. Job: Flame Spirit Sorcerer. Solid, no red flags."
He'd prefer solo after last near-disaster, but half a month forced a C-grade regardless.
First Awakening.
Swordsman's condition: Clear 5+ C-grades in Massacre Mode. Sung-hoon had exactly 4. Needed one more.
He knew Moonlit Cave Investigation like home, but other C-grades needed caution—hence this vetting.
'Missions are two types: short-term finishes or long hauls.'
Exterminations/investigations: short. Max a day or two, but high level. Monsters tough, risks high—but quick big gains.
Escorts: long. Days to ten; risks spread for stable clears. Lower yields, though.