The Guild Master's Trap
The guild warehouse door creaked open as I stepped inside, my eyes scanning the dimly lit interior. This was an unexpectedly massive windfall.
Originally, this event was a reward given only after joining the Crystal Guild and proving yourself on your first battlefield. That should have been years from now—after graduating from the academy and actually signing with a guild. But thanks to the way things had unfolded, that timeline had been pushed forward dramatically.
The warehouse was packed with items that most people would dismiss even if they were handed over for free. During my first playthrough, I had ignorantly grabbed a bunch of those worthless weapons. But after countless runs, I now knew exactly which pieces in here were the real treasures.
Of course, nothing here was truly top-tier. The genuinely powerful artifacts were already being used by the guild's elite. Still, as expected from the number one ranked guild, there were plenty of items worth tens of millions scattered throughout.
And I knew precisely which ones they were.
“Sigh… I really don’t get any of this.”
Jeong Hayeon let out a long breath beside me.
“Hey.”
“What?”
Her voice was icy cold. It seemed she had given up on acting in front of me. Since I’d already seen through her, she was just going to be herself from now on. That was probably it.
“Pick up that ring in front of you.”
“Why? What is it?”
“Just pick it up. You don’t even know what’s good anyway.”
“You wanna die?”
She snapped at me, but only for a moment. Soon enough, she obediently reached down and grabbed the ring as I’d told her.
“Oh?”
From behind us, Kim Hayoon—the master of the Crystal Guild—had been quietly watching. She stepped forward with a grin.
“You’re quite an interesting one, aren’t you?”
She smiled at me, eyes sparkling. The accessory I’d recommended to her was one that dramatically accelerated mana recovery. With it, she’d be able to fire mana-infused arrows for much longer periods. It wasn’t particularly expensive, but it was exactly what she needed.
As for me…
I glanced around the warehouse and picked up a shabby-looking sword. At that exact moment, Kim Hayoon’s expression froze solid.
Shabby Sword
“...Nam Doyun, are you really choosing that?”
Her voice trembled slightly.
I flashed her a grin. The way she was reacting confirmed I’d made the right choice.
“Yes. This is it.”
I smiled brightly.
“It looks so worn-out… Are you sure that’s what you want?”
Her voice continued to shake.
“Yes. I’m not greedy. This is more than enough for me.”
“Ah! Well, if that’s what you want, then I suppose there’s nothing I can do. You’re selecting that one, right, Nam Doyun?”
“Correct.”
“Then you may take it. Let’s meet again sometime!”
She waved with a forced, cool expression, but I could clearly see the frustration boiling beneath the surface. I gave a polite bow, then left the guild warehouse with Jeong Hayeon and our homeroom teacher.
Thud—
Behind us came the sound of someone collapsing to the floor.
“G-Guild Master…”
Jin Hyewon rushed over to her side. I climbed into the car with the teacher and Jeong Hayeon.
“No matter how I look at it, that was just some beat-up old sword. Why on earth did you pick that?” the homeroom teacher asked.
Jeong Hayeon wore a similar expression of utter confusion.
“Ah… this thing?”
In truth, that shabby sword had once belonged to General Gyebaek himself. Considering its historical value alone, it was easily worth tens of millions.
I smiled to myself.
*****
I lay on my dorm bed, staring at the ceiling. After facing that Demonic Human today, I had felt it more clearly than ever.
Skill 3 - Allows control over the actions of Demonic Humans harboring demonic energy. (Condition: Limited to Demonic Humans faced for more than 1 minute.)
(As skill level increases, the duration of control will also increase.)
I hadn’t been able to react at all to the Demonic Human’s movements. All I could do was stand there and watch blankly as Jeong Hayeon fought. I was completely helpless until Skill 3 finally activated.
Right now, I was far too weak. If Jeong Hayeon hadn’t managed to hold out for that full minute, both of us would have died.
The fundamental problem was my pathetic stats.
These pitiful stats. When the average student had 10 in every category, it was painfully obvious how far behind I was. The only reason I’d survived this long was because my skills were so ridiculously overpowered.
There were many ways to raise stats, but the fastest short-term method was consuming elixirs. Taking an elixir would temporarily boost your stats, making future battles far easier.
I opened the auction house website on my phone.
[Searching for 'Low-Grade Agility Elixir'... (Item does not exist.)]
As expected, no elixirs were listed. They were incredibly rare in this world. A single elixir alchemist could only produce a limited amount, while the demand was enormous. The only realistic way to obtain them was to build a personal connection with an alchemist and receive a direct supply.
The problem was that all the elixir alchemists lived together in one village. And that village was strictly protected by the government—precisely because alchemists were so rare.
To enter the village, you needed a special membership pass. Unfortunately, those passes were extremely difficult to obtain. Only people with immense political power or the chairmen of major corporations in the business world could get one. The top of the top.
Even at Elphon Academy—where the most elite children from political and business families enrolled—the number of students who possessed a membership pass was incredibly small. That was how strict the issuance process was.
It was obviously something that had nothing to do with me.
“Hmm…”
Normally, I should just give up on elixirs. But it felt like too big a waste. There was nothing better for raising stats in a short period of time.
Beep—
A notification sounded on my phone.
What? Who would be texting me?
The message from Cha Jiyun was a completely random comment about the weather. How was I supposed to reply to this?
I couldn’t think of an appropriate response. Part of me wanted to tell her that wasn’t how you were supposed to text people.
She didn’t reply for a while. She was probably just as lost on how to respond to my equally awkward message. Besides, why was it sunny? It was pouring rain outside right now.
Twenty minutes passed without another word from her. Then, finally, my phone buzzed again.
She was finally getting to the point. I already knew about the Deep Forest dungeon from the news article I’d read that morning. It was the second dungeon that the Oriental Guild—where she served as representative—was going to attempt to clear. Since it was still an uncleared dungeon, there was surely no information available yet.
Then perhaps? The message cut off there. Did she delete it mid-sentence?
I let out a small chuckle. It was surprisingly cute to see someone with her personality using these adorable emoticons.
Cha Jiyun didn’t reply for a long time. About twenty minutes later, another message arrived.
And just like that, I decided to visit the Elixir Village together with Cha Jiyun.
Still… I wasn’t sure I’d ever get used to those emoticons she kept using.