Chapter 345
Chapter 345
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 345
Chapter Title: Take Care
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“Guild Master!”
“Yeah?”
“Over there! They’re coming!”
Atop the city walls.
At the direction Kwon Tam-ji pointed with her finger, from the end of the horizon.
Step, step.
The Byulcheonji members and Joo Dong-hoon’s subordinates were marching in a single file.
“Wow.”
Kim Jin-ah’s mouth fell open at the sight.
It was impressive.
Without any particular aura.
Just by appearing, how could they look so cool?
It was like something out of a comic…!
‘They must’ve had it really rough, huh?’
Even from a distance, Kim Jin-ah could roughly guess what their training had been like.
Apophis, hell, hungry, hurts, save me, please stop already….
And so on….
[‘Chat Window’ Name - Byulcheonji]
[Member Count (23/50)]
They’d been chattering about it in real-time here.
It would’ve been weirder if she didn’t know.
And so, a month had passed.
Finally, they were returning from hell.
Crawling back out.
“Yeah, are the preparations done?”
“Yes.”
Kwon Sun-ji, standing next to Kim Jin-ah, nodded.
“Just like you said, we’ve laid out Grandma Jung-ae’s special dishes and the beer sets.”
The members who’d trained like mad for the group’s growth.
Kim Jin-ah had prepared a feast to help them unwind.
The guild master was the one who’d ordered the training, so she was busy.
Shouldn’t the vice guild master at least take care of things like this?
‘Of course.’
There’s no vice guild master like me in the world.
“Yaaawn.”
Kim Jin-ah stretched languidly.
“It’s been a while, so I’m gonna chug some beer. You in?”
“Sounds good.”
“Yes!”
The Kwon sisters answered immediately.
The best beer in the world was the one you drank with the vice guild master.
Why?
Because it went down so refreshingly and deliciously.
* * *
“Kwahahahaha!”
Jang Dae-woong slammed his foot on the table and raised his iced beer.
Next to him sat the members, freshly washed and sitting tall.
“Drink up! Today’s the day you can drink!”
“Yes, sir!”
“Wooo!”
The one with the highest rank excluding the guild master.
With Jang Dae-woong opening the festivities.
Chomp, chomp.
The members let out mighty roars as they shoved food into their mouths indiscriminately.
Splat, splat, splat!
Food flew everywhere, and the mountain of dishes started vanishing at an astonishing speed.
It was utter chaos.
“Oh my, what’s with these kids? Eat slowly!”
It was so intense that even Grandma Yang Jung-ae was flustered.
“Ughh… So good.”
“I thought about nothing but this for the past month.”
“I thought I was gonna starve to death.”
“Cola! Cola! Cola!”
Their behavior.
Showed just how agonizing the past month had been.
The endless onslaught of Apophis.
In a situation where they couldn’t even have a proper meal because of it.
If they were lucky, they might snag a piece of jerky.
And that was it?
How sharp were those Apophis claws and tail.
If you got hit wrong, you couldn’t eat anything while getting treated.
With teeth falling out and ribs breaking, how could food go down your throat?
But now.
All their treatments were complete.
They’d washed up nice and clean.
And most importantly.
There was food right in front of them.
Made by Yang Jung-ae, who’d become a ranker on cooking skill alone.
How could they hold back?
“Heh.”
Drug Honored One Ji Do-ik chuckled as he watched them.
“What in the world did they go through to turn into such gluttons?”
Even.
The usually prim Gi So-yul was stuffing her face greedily.
‘Hmm.’
Ji Do-ik let out an inward sigh.
The thought crossing his mind.
‘Good thing I didn’t go.’
This feeling was like.
Getting lucky and skipping out on a brutal winter training that everyone else had to endure?
Tsk tsk.
As he inwardly smiled at the sweet honey taste on his tongue.
“Elder?”
“Huh?”
A sudden voice from behind made Ji Do-ik jump.
“…Hmm? Why are you so startled?”
The voice belonged to.
Byulcheonji’s guild master.
The hottest man in the world right now.
The Skeleton Emperor, Joo Dong-hoon.
“Haha, it’s nothing. Just… how do you move without a sound? No presence, haha.”
“Ah, stepping on shadows has become a habit.”
The guild master smiled softly.
“Any progress in the meantime?”
“Heh, I’ve been working hard, but….”
Truth be told.
Ji Do-ik had spent the entire month researching spirit medicines without rest.
He’d slept, but barely.
‘Probably less than four hours a day?’
Ji Do-ik had been trying to incorporate the material Joo Dong-hoon had left him.
‘Apophis Inner Core’ (SSS Grade) into a spirit medicine somehow.
“Looks like I’ll need more materials.”
But if it were that easy, would it be called SSS Grade?
“I’ve been cutting it up and trying combinations, but maybe because my grade is low, it keeps failing.”
Ji Do-ik’s grade was SS.
Still too low to handle SSS Grade materials.
“Materials?”
The guild master smiled and pulled a bundle from his bosom.
A bundle emanating a dreadfully ominous energy.
And then.
“If you run short on materials, just let me know anytime.”
Dump!
He poured out what was inside onto the floor.
Ji Do-ik’s eyes went wide at the sight.
Dozens of things that looked like beast inner cores.
“Wh-what are these…! N-no way?”
Apophis inner cores?
Nah, no way.
To get an Apophis inner core, you’d have to hunt the constellation-grade monster ‘Apophis’ (SSS Grade).
Sure, maybe one or two.
The guild master did take down a giant water dragon, after all.
But.
‘…Over 50?’
That meant over 50 Apophis?
Unbelievable.
But he had no choice but to believe.
There was no such thing as an item duplication bug in this world.
“Yes, all Apophis inner cores. Total of 53.”
“…Heh.”
He could only laugh.
So those members over there, eating like starved beasts.
Had taken down 53 Apophis in a month?
‘That explains it.’
Something about their auras had changed.
No ranking changes yet.
But if they held the ‘World Ranker Announcement’ again after this year, it’d be a total shake-up.
“Elder.”
“Sp-speak.”
“I’m counting on you. Please focus solely on spirit medicines for the time being.”
“Heh, of course. I’ll do that.”
“And if you need more materials, just tell Arin.”
“Hold on.”
Clench.
Ji Do-ik balled his fist.
Everyone else was working hard; he couldn’t be the one without results.
“Half a year.”
He set his face in determination.
“I’ll produce results within half a year, somehow.”
* * *
Step.
After lightly enjoying some food and beer, I left the members behind and stepped outside.
“Hmm? Leaving already?”
I perked up my ears at the voice.
Turning around.
There was Kim Jin-ah, perched on the garden fence in casual clothes, sipping a beer.
“Why not eat inside…?”
“Why do you think?”
Kim Jin-ah narrowed her eyes like a baby predator.
“…What?”
“You’re heading out, right?”
Gulp!
Kim Jin-ah chugged the rest of her beer in one go and crushed the can.
“We agreed to meet Hase-ra here in a month. And I just got word. The Heavenly Demon just entered the Peach Blossom Paradise.”
“…”
As expected of the vice guild master.
Her info network and instincts were top-notch.
Right.
While eating, I’d sensed Hase-ra’s energy through my Supreme Azure Heart Method.
I’d been on my way out, intuiting the time had come.
“I was gonna leave a message before going.”
“Hmph, sure you were.”
“It’s true.”
I shrugged, and Kim Jin-ah shook her head.
“So, when are you coming back this time? No idea again?”
“W-well… Yeah?”
“You have to come back within a year, no exceptions.”
Right.
Kwon Sun-ji had prophesied a crisis.
“Hmm, well. I’ll do my best.”
“Sigh, you’re going with Hase-ra this time?”
“Yes.”
As I nodded.
Pfft! Kim Jin-ah laughed and cracked open another beer can.
Where does she keep getting those beers from?
Gulp, gulp!
She downed the refreshingly cold beer in ten seconds flat and stared straight at me.
“Guild Master, you know something?”
“…”
“Thanks to you, I’ve already achieved my dream.”
Kim Jin-ah’s dream?
Suddenly, I recalled what she’d said in the past.
- That Demir Workshop you’re trying to grow? Let’s do it together! I’ll turn it into something bigger than a company—no, a guild!
Her declaration to grow the workshop into a major guild.
- At least on par with America’s Demon King Army, Britain’s Oxford, or our Heavenly Demon Divine Church… No, I want to create the greatest group that surpasses them all.
Ah, right.
The Magic Tower was already crushed under Arin.
The Demon King Army and Heavenly Demon Divine Church had been iffy so far.
But starting today, we could say we’d definitely surpassed them.
From the moment the members hunted Apophis on their own without me, Byulcheonji was already the top group by my standards.
“So.”
Crack!
Kim Jin-ah opened another can.
…What the heck.
Did she buy a beer-only sub-space bag or something?
“Take care of yourself, Guild Master.”
It was a phrase loaded with meaning.
Was it because if I died, the dream she’d achieved would crumble?
Or did she sense some ominous foreboding?
‘No.’
I shook my head.
Young as she was, she had experience now.
I could feel the sincerity in Kim Jin-ah’s eyes.
Pure worry for me.
“Yes.”
So I smiled.
“Like always.”
And I promised.
“I’ll come back stronger.”
* * *
‘Hmm.’
Hase-ra, who had entered the Peach Blossom Paradise, tilted her head.
“Hmm?”
Kang So-so, beside her, also frowned.
“What’s this place? The vibe’s changed a lot.”
‘…’
Hase-ra nodded silently.
The overall energy emanating from the city.
Yeah.
The auras of the Byulcheonji rankers she sensed were no joke.
It definitely hadn’t been like this last time.
It felt like they’d all shed a layer and awakened or something?
‘Impressive.’
In that short time.
Had they achieved growth?
She’d spent the past month teaching her subordinates too.
She’d taught the cultists the elders’ martial arts.
And the elders, Breaking Heaven Asura.
Thanks to that.
The Heavenly Demon Divine Church had grown tremendously too.
‘Glowworms under the moonlight, huh.’
Indeed.
That man.
Joo Dong-hoon had something special.
It wasn’t just curiosity on her part.
His rapid growth rate.
His absurd potential.
He must have been involved in the Byulcheonji members’ growth too.
And now.
‘…’
Glance.
Hase-ra looked at her master, Kang So-so, who wore a serious expression.
Now, she was the one even more curious.
That wooden sword.
Ever since seeing that wooden sword.
Master and disciple shared the same interest.
- When the hell does that guy’s month end?
- Arghhh! Damn it, why does one day feel like a year!
Kang So-so had been anticipating her meeting with Joo Dong-hoon even more, so that said it all.
And now.
Finally, the time had come.
Swish!
“You’re here?”
A man appeared before Hase-ra like a shadow.
Hase-ra smiled faintly at Joo Dong-hoon.
Shing!
She drew her sword and swung it.
- Yeah, I’m here.