Chapter 43
Chapter 43
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 43
Chapter Title: Special Training (1)
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After clearing 'Anubis's Temple', I exited the dungeon in surprisingly good shape.
Though I hadn't taken down the boss monster myself, the party mood wasn't bad at all.
From the start, all I needed was for Choi Da-eun to behave herself.
Training Team 4 didn't have anyone prone to outbursts or tantrums.
"Park Sun-woo."
The moment we stepped out of the Tower, Choi Da-eun called me back.
She'd sent everyone else home, so why was she singling me out?
'...Did she figure out I'm the masked guy?!'
I'd been so sure she wouldn't catch on.
Was my reign of terror about to end? I looked at Choi Da-eun anxiously.
Her expression was serene.
Much softer and more stable than usual.
'Guess not.'
With her personality, there's no way she'd keep a straight face in front of the man who raped her.
She should've twisted her face into a demon's snarl and charged at me screaming.
"Why?"
"You look pissed that I called you aside? You little shit, huh."
"Eek..."
Choi Da-eun spat out a curse and jerked her arm up.
Her palm hovered in the air, ready to strike anytime, anywhere.
"I kept you back 'cause I have something to do. I made my decision after watching you today."
Choi Da-eun slowly lowered her raised arm and continued.
"Follow me."
Choi Da-eun turned and headed out of Gwanghwamun Square.
She climbed into the car parked in the nearby lot.
I went with Choi Da-eun somewhere.
I learned the destination soon enough.
"Where are we headed?"
"Guild office."
Choi Da-eun was heading to the Milky Way Guild office.
As team leader, her workday didn't end just because the dungeon raid was over.
She had to stop by the guild office, write up the report, and submit it to call it done.
But why was she taking me along?
It was hard to understand.
I hadn't even been near the guild office in half a year.
"...W-Why am I going to the guild office...?"
"You know we're hitting the 10th floor in a fortnight, right?"
Choi Da-eun started talking without even looking at me.
"The guild's raising F-rank hunters to tackle one 10th-floor dungeon. It's to get more support from the government and association... You could call it a showcase of results from all the aid we've gotten so far."
She explained the background with unusual seriousness.
I had no idea she could sound like this.
I figured her usual shrieking at me was her normal tone.
"Including Team 4, ten teams are heading up to the 10th floor. Even with F-ranks mixed in among E-ranks... it's overkill for just one 10th-floor dungeon."
"Overkill?"
"...Fuck, you wanna die?"
"Sorry."
I'd accidentally said something I meant to keep in my head.
Choi Da-eun's briefly gentle voice turned back to a beastly growl.
"Hah, you little shit."
Choi Da-eun shot me a glare and sighed.
"I don't even know if my judgment's right. Huh, you fucker?"
Choi Da-eun turned the wheel.
A woman driving? Fucking sexy.
Blood rushed below, and I got hard.
I wanted to hurry home and summon Choi Da-eun.
She'd treated me decently today, so maybe I'd be gentle with her—no hitting.
"...Anyway, Team 4's going up to the 10th floor too. I'll need someone to lead in my place. Having a C-rank tag along to clean up after you isn't normal raiding. That's the party leader's job, not the team leader's."
"Yes, it is."
I recalled the time raiding with the Mirage Guild.
The guild master and other guys all died, but there was one man who'd led the party as representative.
"I need to pick one and register them, but I've been agonizing over who."
"Ah..."
"You're the closest thing to an ace we've got."
Training Team 4 was basically the bottom of the barrel.
The other teams were growing fast, but we'd been stuck in place for half a year.
It was tough picking any of those screw-up F-rankers to lead.
With C-rank Choi Da-eun around, we didn't need a party leader.
But for the 10th-floor raid, we did.
'...So just F- and E-rankers?'
Not all 10th-floor dungeons were super dangerous.
The weakest on 10 should be easier than the strongest on 8.
'Probably some D-ranks mixed in too.'
The Milky Way Guild had ten training teams total.
Team 4 had six members, but others had more.
Some had grown from F to D-rank.
"After seeing you today, I decided to register you as party leader."
"Me?"
The car stopped.
Caught at a light in front of the Milky Way Guild building.
"Yeah, got a problem?"
"...I'm switching guilds soon?"
"Just this once. You didn't even sign a proper contract, right?"
"True."
"It's all for show. You won't have to do much. Team 4's off their radar anyway."
"That's depressing."
"'Cause you fuckers can't cut it."
"......"
Nothing to say to that.
Back when I didn't have the Taming App...
But not anymore.
Gifted by 'me' from another worldline, I was a budding S-rank hunter.
'No time to hesitate over something like this.'
Party leader or whatever—give me any role.
I'd execute it perfectly.
The car pulled into the building's underground garage.
After parking neatly, we headed up to the Milky Way Guild office.
"Park Sun-woo? Isn't that Park Sun-woo?"
The guild office was on the 7th floor of a 13-story building.
The moment we entered, countless eyes turned our way.
Choi Da-eun drew the first wave, then the second poured onto me trailing behind her like a puppy.
"Wait here a sec."
I got a chance to look around.
Choi Da-eun parked me at her desk and slipped into the president's office.
More precisely, the guild master's room.
The hunters working in the office glanced at me.
All with unkind stares.
Open sneers, looks of contempt, treating me like actual vermin...
'Even her old attitude towards me feels warm by comparison.'
F-rank hunter Park Sun-woo was a frog in a well.
I hadn't raided much outside Training Team 4.
Rarely faced reactions head-on.
Choi Da-eun used to despise me too.
Still does, but a month ago it was worse.
Still better than the Milky Way Guild folks.
She had to drag me along somehow—a hunter on her team.
Invisible nano-level affection lingered.
"Still alive, huh?"
"After sucking up all that guild money, dying now would be rude."
Two whispering.
Were my stats higher? I could hear everything.
'Or maybe they're saying it for me to hear.'
Not just them.
Every staffer and hunter in the Milky Way Guild office glared and mocked me.
"When's that team disbanding?"
"They gonna disband? Nah, not without a wipeout."
Training Team 4 was a gathering of the weakest.
No idea why, but Guild Master Hwang Deok-su had assembled it that way.
We'd just done our jobs diligently.
Thought we gave our best...
Apparently worthless to some.
"What, the master's son in there? Heh, not impossible."
"Master's got his eye on Choi Da-eun. Team 4 stays till he bangs her. Bet my hunter license on it."
"What good's an E-rank license...? Won't even get you a loan, idiot."
"E or D's just one step apart, acting all high."
Even familiar faces chimed in.
Training Team 1 members, the guild's prized prospects.
Half a year of comparisons to those bastards had shredded my self-esteem.
'Leveled up to D recently, huh.'
Training Team 1 tanker Jin Yu-han and supporter Jo Dae-hyeon.
Top fingers among the guild's 12th training batch.
Prime cuts, blooming under full support.
They didn't flinch at Choi Da-eun.
Traded vulgar jokes and chuckled.
Reeking of leisure.
Confidence in their skills bred self-esteem, manly aura.
Enviable.
That ease, laid-back confidence—too enviable.
If I were a ranged DPS?
Would I join a party with F-rank tank Park Sun-woo?
Or one with Jin Yu-han and Jo Dae-hyeon?
Even I'd pick those guys.
That's why it choked me up.
Hard to put into words.
Unaware or not, Jin Yu-han muttered.
"Hope they don't drag us down this time."
"Yo, he's glaring hard."
"Glaring? Like he can do shit. Changes nothing. Heh."
"F-rank for half a year at level 7—total loser."
Jo Dae-hyeon sneered at me.
I'd done nothing to those pricks, so why mock me...?
"Park Sun-woo."
Choi Da-eun returned.
She held a pure white crystal orb—a level measurer.
"What? Why the retard face?"
"...Pardon?"
Choi Da-eun set the level measurer on the desk.
And asked me.
"Fucking sucks, right?"
"......"
"Jealousy from loser shits—really fucking sucks. Worse 'cause it's a job where gaps are obvious at a glance."
She seemed used to the snide remarks.
Choi Da-eun brushed it off casually.
"Thanks to you picking every dumb move for half a year... Team 4's all treated like trash. Money-sucking trash, tenacious trash... Pisses me off thinking about it. Why drag me into it?"
"...Sorry."
"Save your apology, idiot. If that fixed it, I wouldn't have raged all this time."
True.
"Gotta give it back. Pay it in full to feel better."
Choi Da-eun pushed the level measurer toward me.
A palm outline engraved on the white crystal.
"Show 'em on the 10th floor. Prove you're not just some money-guzzling no-growth fucker anymore."
"Harsh words."
"Deal with it, fucker."
Snapped a retort, but she wasn't apologizing.
Strength drained away.
Shoulders slumped.
"Got it? All 12th batch training teams hit the 10th floor. Time to show 'em, fuckers."
I got it.
Coming to the office made it crystal clear.
"Two weeks. Grind hard for two weeks."
"...Yes."
Choi Da-eun looked at me.
Our eyes met.
She meant it.
Choi Da-eun was suppressing the negativity I'd caused, speaking from the heart.
"Put your hand on for level check."
"Yes."
I placed my hand on the level measurer.
It showed only level, excluding stats and skills for privacy.
⚔ STATUS ⚔ 📛 Name: Park Sun-woo ⭐ Level: 10 "......"
"Hah, fuck."
Choi Da-eun let out a heavy sigh.
Annoyed tone, but not the old pent-up rage.
"You'll raid a dungeon with me once a day. Got it?"
Choi Da-eun sat at her desk, typing away.
Todays raid report and Training Team 4 raid leader application.
"Me?"
"Who the fuck else am I talking to?"
"...Sounds like a hassle..."
"What?"
"Sounds great, Team Leader."
No gentle sex for her.
I'd ruin this bitch's pussy.