Chapter 45
Chapter 45
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 45
Chapter Title: Adventurers
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After delivering the Green God's Tear to Roxley, the party was given a suite in a hotel run by the Keyman Guild.
Roxley, nearly as flustered as Jade had been when they said the three of them would share a room, regained his composure when they requested three separate beds.
And the next morning.
Meeting again in the office of the Keyman Guild’s Roselburg branch manager, Roxley handed over the promised rewards.
A pouch of gold coins that looked quite heavy at a glance, and a few other items.
In terms of value alone, the pouch of gold was likely the best reward, but Kang-seok's interest was drawn more to the items placed beside it.
“I’ve procured the items you mentioned.”
“I know it was a sudden request… Thank you so much.”
“Not at all. They weren’t particularly difficult to obtain.”
Next to the pouch of gold coins were several potion bottles filled with colorful liquids. They were housed in glass vials, much like those in games, perhaps to allow for quick identification by color.
Potions.
In this world where magic was real, magical potions with special effects also existed.
He had heard about them from Baek Gi's party before, so this time he had asked Roxley for them—half out of curiosity, half for research.
“The red potion is effective for treating wounds. The blue one is for restoring depleted mental energy and focus. I sometimes take one myself when I'm overworked.”
“When you’re overworked?”
Seong Yu-jin blinked and asked. She had thought it was a potion that rapidly refilled one's health, like in a game, but was it more like a vitality drink from a pharmacy?
Roxley replied with a gentle smile.
“Potions have different grades, you see. I've heard that the highest-grade potions can even regenerate severed limbs. The mental potions are said to be incredibly effective as well. The one I take when I'm overworked is a lowest-grade mental potion.”
“Whoa, so it’s really like a vitality drink? Then what grade is this one?”
Choi Yu-ra stroked the blue potion, fascinated, and asked.
Roxley replied with a slightly embarrassed expression.
“It's a mid-grade potion. I wanted to procure something better for you, but I was short on time…”
“It’s fine. It was a very last-minute request on our part.”
Kang-seok’s gentle response finally seemed to ease Roxley’s expression. As a merchant, he must have felt bad about providing a subpar item to the party that had solved his guild’s troubles.
Roxley continued, explaining the other potions.
“A single bottle of the purple potion can cure most physical ailments. In fact, it's the most valuable of the potions I've brought. It contains the divine magic of a high-ranking priest.”
“Can it cure things like diseases?”
This time, it was Seong Yu-jin who asked. Roxley offered a troubled smile.
“It can, but it’s not a panacea. I’ve heard adventurers usually keep it on hand as an antidote or for dispelling minor curses.”
The fact that it could be used as an antidote was particularly impressive. He hadn’t encountered any monsters that used poison yet, but considering the future, it would surely come in handy.
“Finally, the white potion is for restoring stamina. This is another one I'm fond of when I'm overworked. And… sometimes for other purposes… ahem.”
For some reason, Roxley blushed and cleared his throat, giving Kang-seok a subtle look.
Seong Yu-jin blinked, Choi Yu-ra narrowed her eyes, and Kang-seok, belatedly recalling Roxley's reaction the night before when they'd said the three of them would share a room, gave a wry smile and changed the subject.
“Have you also looked into Leif Erikson?”
“Of course. His whereabouts have been unknown for the past month.”
“A month?”
“Yes, it doesn't seem he left on a guild request. He didn't recruit any companions from the guild, either.”
Jade had said that Leif Erikson was an adventurer who worked alone.
If that was the case, it seemed he hadn't met the 'hero' of Dungeon Labyrinthos through the Adventurer's Guild.
After observing the party's reaction for a moment, Roxley spoke in a cautious tone.
“How about visiting the Adventurer's Guild yourself?”
It was a natural suggestion given the context. Roxley added more to his story.
“The guild in Roselburg is one of the larger branches of the Adventurer's Guild. I hear that quite a few Players have joined it as well.”
Kang-seok nodded silently. In truth, he had been planning to visit it at some point, even before Roxley brought it up.
“Could we ask you to guide us?”
“I apologize, but it would be difficult for me to guide you personally. Would it be acceptable if I appointed someone else as your guide?”
“I understand, you must be busy with the cleanup. Who are you sending with us?”
When Choi Yu-ra asked cheerfully, Roxley replied with a relieved, gentle expression.
“It is someone you all know well.”
* * *
“Did you all have a good night?”
Inside the carriage waiting outside the Keyman Guild’s Roselburg branch was a very familiar face.
Choi Yu-ra tilted her head slightly and asked.
“Hunt, were you an employee of the Keyman Guild?”
“Not an employee, but I do take on a lot of jobs for them. For me, even these small tasks are all quests. Miss Yu-jin, would you please send me a party invitation?”
“Oh, just a moment.”
Seong Yu-jin quickly added Hunt to the party. A message of light then appeared in the minds of the three.
[Party Member Hunt (M)'s Quest: Guide Choi Kang-seok (M)/Seong Yu-jin (F)/Choi Yu-ra (F) to the Adventurer's Guild.]
“It’s real?”
“It seems the quests differ slightly from game to game. The game I used to play, Great Thief Online, had a lot of these minor quests.”
Of course, the Kron reward for such trivial quests was small, but it was better than nothing. There's a saying that even specks of dust can form a mountain, after all.
Once everyone was in the carriage, Hunt got to the point.
“You’re curious about the Adventurer's Guild?”
“Yes, and there’s someone we want to find.”
The people Seong Yu-jin had in mind were not just Leif and his companions.
Kim Kang-san and Park Han-yeong.
Her comrades who had cleared the tutorial with her.
Unaware of such details, Hunt simply nodded in understanding. He began to speak in a slightly casual tone.
“Then let me start by explaining the adventurers of this world. To be frank, 'adventurer' is just a nice way of saying 'mercenary.' As you know, monsters appear even between towns in this world. It wouldn't be an exaggeration to call adventurers a private security force that fills the gaps in national security.”
Most nations in this world had small populations relative to their vast territories. It was only natural for there to be gaps in security.
“The Adventurer's Guild is the organization that manages these adventurers. It acts as an intermediary, since it's too inefficient for individuals to handle requests directly. But their power has clear limits. Even a fairly large adventurer group rarely exceeds ten members. The Adventurer's Guild itself is practically a semi-governmental institution.”
“Because a nation would never tolerate an independent armed group within its borders?”
At Choi Yu-ra’s interjection, Hunt let out a small sound of admiration.
“Yes, you've hit the nail on the head. That's why they control them.”
As countless events in world history have proven, an armed force beyond a nation's control always had the potential to cause disaster.
“The Leif Erikson you mentioned was a rather famous adventurer. I looked him up, and he's a five-star grade.”
“Five-star? Adventurers have grades?”
Seong Yu-jin asked. Hunt answered proficiently once again.
“Well, you can't just entrust a request to anyone. The Adventurer's Guild assigns grades based on an adventurer's track record and abilities. The unit of measurement is stars, with one-star being the lowest and seven-star being the highest. Among them, five-star is effectively the highest grade you'll ever see at the guild.”
“Then what about six or seven-star?”
It was Choi Yu-ra. To her slightly childish question, Hunt smiled.
“Only a very small number exist. Have you perhaps heard of the Eight Great Superhumans of the World?”
“Uh-huh, I've heard of them. So a seven-star would be on par with one of the Eight Great Superhumans, right?”
“That's right. In fact, one of the Eight Great Superhumans, Alvaro, the Mercenary King, is a seven-star adventurer. As for the grade below that, six-star, you can count the number of them in any given country on two hands.”
After saying that much, Hunt paused for a moment. After taking a breath, he pointed to himself and said.
“For reference, I'm a three-star.”
“Oh? Hunt, you’re registered with the Adventurer's Guild too?”
“Most of the requests from the Adventurer's Guild also count as quests. Quite a few other Players have registered their names with the guild besides me.”
“Hmm, so what star-grade do you think we'd get if we joined?”
It was a question Choi Yu-ra posed to both herself and Hunt.
Kang-seok and Seong Yu-jin also focused on Hunt, their interest piqued.
Feeling the unique thrill of a storyteller under their gaze, Hunt paused for a moment. Only after teasing the party enough did he offer an answer.
“The Adventurer's Guild grades aren't based solely on combat power. Even Players much stronger than me are usually rated around two or three-star. Besides, if you've only been registered for a short time, there's a limit to the requests you can take. But… for people of your caliber, starting at three or even four-star wouldn't be out of the question.”
The most important factor in an adventurer's grade was their 'request completion ability.'
Of course, the stronger one's combat power, the more one could do, but an adventurer's strength couldn't be equated with their ability to complete requests.
Adventurers and the Adventurer's Guild.
The grades of adventurers.
That was pretty much all there was to discuss for now. After glancing out the carriage window for a moment, Kang-seok spoke after some thought.
“Do you know anything about the 'World Quest,' Hunt?”
Quite some time had passed since they had woken up in this world. But so far, the party had been too busy dealing with the matters at hand to even think about the World Quest.
Hunt was a Player who had been summoned to this world about a month before them. But his situation wasn't much different.
“It's interesting, but to be honest, I haven't even had the chance to look into it yet. It hasn't been long since I got the hang of earning Kron and found some stability… After first passing the tutorial, I was really just living day to day.”
Remaining Survival Time.
Just as Kang-seok had thought yesterday, the Remaining Survival Time served as a strong 'motivator.'
Players had to constantly earn Kron to survive.
And this pressure also strengthened their sense of purpose—the need to clear the 'World Quest' and return to their original world.
What would have happened if there were no Remaining Survival Time?
A significant number of Players would never have even thought about getting stronger.
Instead of tackling the unknown adventure of the 'World Quest,' they might have even given up on returning to their original world altogether.
Most Players were in a similar situation to Hunt.
They were interested in the World Quest, but they didn't have the luxury to investigate it.
Even Kang-seok himself had only found the leeway to look to the future after securing enough Kron to buy several months' worth of survival time.
‘But eventually, most Players will find their footing.’
Hunt's words, 'I've gotten the hang of earning Kron,' were clear proof of that.
Most Players who had passed the tutorial would have become accustomed to acquiring Kron.
If they could earn enough in a day to live for a week, it was only natural for them to gradually find stability, however desperate they might have been at first.
The seven World Quests, the only clue to returning home.
They might even be connected to the reason why the one who caused The Great Summoning brought the Players to this world.
While Kang-seok was lost in his own thoughts, the carriage continued down the main street of Roselburg.
And after some time had passed.
Hunt pointed out the carriage window and spoke.
“We’ve arrived. It's that building you see outside.”
A heavy, solid-looking building made of stacked stone.
The Adventurer's Guild's plaque, symbolizing three swords, greeted the party.