Gangwon Province Love Doctor (1)
After living here for a while, there were some things you could not help but start to notice, whether you wanted to or not.
Things our party, having been given special treatment by Blue, had never been able to feel before.
Most humans were like that to begin with, but in a place this enclosed and limited, those behaviors stood out even more sharply.
The trainees here were all standing on roughly equal footing, with the exception of the assault team.
They took the same training and sat through the same classes.
Whatever picture each of them might have been painting in their heads, the closer graduation drew, the more frantically they began to behave, because they understood that ability was what earned you treatment in this world.
Even those who had normally drifted through life without thinking started to grow anxious.
It might not be the most fitting comparison, but if I had to name one, I would have compared them to college entrance examinees. There were some differences, of course, but not enough to make the analogy feel off.
For one thing, as the exam date approached, every trainee began acting as though a fire had landed squarely on their feet.
What they had vaguely assumed before that they might end up in a middling guild, or that someone from one of Lindel’s main guilds might still extend an offer to them if they were decent enough, began collapsing all at once.
They had thought they could at least make a living, but when reality suddenly came pressing forward, they started realizing they had nowhere to go.
Meanwhile, the assault team, and the few others who still had some promise, received guild offers in the form of rolling admissions, and everyone else looked on in envy.
Those left behind grew even more anxious, and in an effort to vent that anxiety, they tried to do something, anything. But talentless people were not going to show some dramatic transformation in a short span of time.
By this point, even to the trainees’ eyes, it was becoming obvious who would rise and who would fall.
People were clearly taking the same classes, yet their results were different; the ones with even a single outstanding talent stood out immediately.
“That one could probably get into a middling guild.”
“Lucky bastard. I heard Red Mercenaries wants him.”
“That girl’s doing well in alchemy, so she can’t be that bad, right?”
“She’s still thinking about Blue’s offer? She got approached by Red Mercenaries too?”
That was the sort of thing people were saying.
For some, a flower-lined road was already decided. For others, there was nowhere at all to go.
The problem was that all of them used the same classrooms, the same dining hall, the same dorms.
An invisible caste system was forming.
The number of maids and servants fawning over Han Sora had begun to explode.
In a society with nothing in it, there were always many people scrambling to catch hold of any rope they could find.
For a brief while, those who had already been practically admitted to a guild got a taste of what upper-class life felt like.
A life in which everyone praised you and treated you well.
Of course, people like that became careful with every little thing they did.
There were a few oddballs who gave off the atmosphere of Don’t come near me like Lee Changryeol, but most simply nodded along and cautiously accepted the benefits being handed to them by the maids and servants.
It’s networking.
It was not a bad thing. Once they went out into society, they would meet one person after another anyway, and building ties with the ones who looked promising was not a bad move even for them.
The problem was the opposite case, the people who had fallen all the way to the bottom.
Being ignored was almost a kindness.
There were always people who found comfort simply in knowing that someone else had it worse than they did.
They were neither preselected guild members nor people with talent. Those who hovered awkwardly somewhere in the middle tormented the weak and then masturbated their own sense of superiority by telling themselves, day after day, that at least they were better off than those losers.
I could not see everything, since they were not in the training center all day, but a few of them, including Han Sora, who had effectively been turned into garbage, were certainly being bullied.
Some of the others had it less severely, but Han Sora, who had once stood at the top before falling, had become a complete object of ridicule.
It was only natural, I thought, for a rookie everyone had expected great things from to wake up one day unable to properly control mana and become a cripple.
There was the reverse case too.
If she was someone who had fallen from the top, then Yoo Ahyoung was, of course, the opposite.
She was the type who rose from the bottom.
Of course, she had not really worked all that hard. She was simply the sort of person who could naturally keep climbing upward.
When she first entered the class, I had praised her potential.
That had apparently earned her some quiet resentment, but as time passed and her true value became apparent, most of the trainees who had disliked her began acting like loyal retainers who would gladly die for her.
Her evaluation and results as a melee-class trainee, which had been at the very bottom, shot all the way to the top, and once the rumor that Blue had offered her a guild position spread from internet hearsay to fact, she became like a Pied Piper, leading a plague-like swarm of trash around with her from one place to another.
Seeing Yoo Ahyoung now, sitting in front of me and talking with Park Deokgu, I could only think that, yes, the world really was unfair.
“Ahem... so, anyway. Our Blue Guild, right. How should I put it... the support is real good. I mean, I myself used to be nothing special, but once I joined Blue, I changed completely. So, in other words... whatever we can give you, we can give you everything.”
“Ah... yes.”
“If you want to change your life, join Blue! I’m telling you, it’s guaranteed. You’ve probably heard already, right, Miss Yoo Ahyoung? It hasn’t been made official yet, but our guild master hyung and my hyung are practically locked in for one of the Empire’s Eight Seats, and as for our big sister, you should see how well she handles magic. Pyiung pyiung! Kwang! Seriously, your jaw just drops when you watch her.”
“I see.”
“And there’s that little sprinter, Yeri. Once she moves, you can’t even see her properly. Then there’s Spearwoman Cho Hyejin too, and she handles a spear like a ghost. And then! Mage-scholar Jeongyeon is truly brilliant. Probably as smart as my hyung. She almost never forgets anything she’s seen once, and she handles administrative work like it’s nothing! And Sister Sun Heeyoung was a little scary at first, but once you see her spread divine power around, your mouth just hangs open. Anyway, if we go into a dungeon together—”
“Yes.”
“We just rush in all at once, and when the guild master hyung swings his sword, the monsters go flying this way and that, hollo-ro-ro-ro! Just like that! They fall like autumn leaves, and then big sister and hyung and Jeongyeon start blasting magic everywhere! Some of it pops, some of it locks into place, and then it’s just a full-on boom-boom-boom! Yeri’s great with a bow too, so she goes pa-pap-pap-pap with it, and if monsters try to slip through in the middle of all that, then like a ghost, Sister Cho Hyejin’s spear just goes—like this! Like this! Slithering like a snake!”
“Pfft.”
“Before they even get a chance to do anything, everything’s over in a flash! Super fast, super safe. The last time, I mean—”
“Here, have another drink first. And eat more meat! Training center meals are usually pretty terrible, aren’t they?”
“Not really. They’re better than you’d think. The dorms are decent too.”
Deokgu, you’re doing well!
When I saw Yoo Ahyoung break into a small laugh, I had no choice but to admit my guess had been right.
Good.
Hyunsung and I had already met with her several times.
In fact, I had spoken with her myself. Naturally, we had already distributed the guild catalog long ago, and when I worried she might be short on money, I had even gone so far as to keep raising the salary and signing bonus to bring it up again and again.
I had even tried to get close to her first, but Kim Hyunsung was not exactly high on social aptitude, so there was no way he could have persuaded her.
I had also made a fair bit of effort to win Yoo Ahyoung over, but her vaguely guarded attitude had made me decide it would be impossible to push any further.
Then, starting a few days ago, I had put Park Deokgu in play on a hunch, and at last it seemed to be paying off.
I need to be able to tell what he’s thinking.
I could say with confidence that Park Deokgu’s social skill was greater than mine.
He could be a bit polarizing, but he gave off a feeling of being unadorned and honest.
Remembering how he had become friendly with her in an instant at their first meal together, I found myself nodding again.
“You really do seem to be close and get along well.”
“Of course! Didn’t I say so last time too? Sure, everyone else is close as well, but my hyung and I, and Hyunsung hyung, how should I put it... we’ve got a bond that goes all the way back to the Tutorial Dungeon. That unspoken, burning friendship men share! I’m telling you, there is such a thing! These days I feel like I could close my eyes and still know what hyung and hyung are thinking!”
That was definitely an illusion.
“Thinking about the Tutorial Dungeon reminds me, actually. Back then, hyung went thunk and smashed a monster’s skull with a rock, then said to me, Deokgu, if I can do it... you can do even better. Kyaa! Wasn’t it because of those words that I found the courage to keep going in the dungeon? I was terrified and shaking at first, but then I got courage too, and stuff!”
How many times have I heard that story now?
There was one drawback, which was that it was a little embarrassing, but I could definitely live with it.
“You told me that story last time too, Deokgu oppa.”
“Did I?”
“Yes. But it’s still the kind of story that makes me feel good every time I hear it. I can really feel how close the two of you are.”
“Hahaha. In truth, that’s not entirely wrong. Of course, Deokgu and Hayan, whom we met in the Tutorial Dungeon, and our ties with Hyunsung are precious too, but what our Blue Guild wants first and foremost is an atmosphere that feels like family. We’re actually pretty casual with the other guild members too.”
“Ah! I see.”
“Yes. Everyone really is close like family.”
“As close as family, huh! My hyung and big sister might even become real family soon.”
“Ah... so the two of you are dating after all? I had heard some rumors, but I wasn’t sure, so I’d been thinking that might be the case....”
“We... are, for now.”
“And it was this Gangwon Province Love Doctor who brought these two together!”
“Pardon?”
“I played matchmaker in the middle and even handled a crucial part of it. Big sister was a little shy, so I gave her a little shove, ahem.”
“Gangwon Province Love Doctor? Then the two of you met in the Tutorial Dungeon and decided to date there?”
“Yes. For now, that is the case.”
She looked intrigued.
So this kind of thing interests her too.
I supposed that made sense.
Time had passed in a blur, but she was still only in her early twenties, so it was natural enough for her to take interest in a romance story like this.
Just as I was about to open my mouth again, Park Deokgu spoke first.
“Well, the thing is... big sister was a genius to begin with! Ahem! But when we were in the Tutorial Dungeon, there was a rough patch. I don’t know the details, but she’d apparently gotten on people’s bad side....”
“Yes.”
“Some bad people were bullying and excluding her and all that. Back then, our Hyunsung hyung was gathering the survivors together and protecting them in the Tutorial Dungeon, and... anyway, they even made her get less food than the others on purpose! Those rotten bastards!”
“Ah....”
“This is a little hard to say, but some bastard even tried to do something to her! No, maybe I shouldn’t say it like that. Anyway, big sister couldn’t say it herself, but it must have been really hard for her back then.”
“I see.”
“Then who swooped in like a comet? Our Kiyoung hyung.”
I found my face growing hot for no reason.
So embarrassing.
Still, it was not bad.
Yoo Ahyoung’s face, glancing over at me now and then while nodding, came into view.
“At the time, Kiyoung hyung started taking care of our big sister in all sorts of ways. Of course, up to that point hyung said he was just looking after her because she reminded him of his own little sister... but that isn’t how people’s hearts work so easily, is it? Big sister ended up liking hyung too much, so I stepped in and gave a little advice here and there....”
“Yes.”
“You know, if you said Gangwon Province love doctor, Deokgu, there wasn’t a single person in all of Gangwon who wouldn’t know the name. Ahem. It was no big deal. If I really went into detail, it would take forever, but anyway, I gave big sister all kinds of advice and secretly slipped hyung all sorts of tips, and before long the two of them suddenly grew close. Anyone who gets caught in the hands of the Gangwon Province Love Doctor will be just like that!”
“I see.”
“Still, it was really the two of them who made the love bloom in the end. Big sister found the courage, and hyung eventually came to like her too. The beautiful ending of their love was not really my role so much as it was theirs. The Gangwon Province Love Doctor only gave a little support, that’s all.”
This fat bastard...
Watching him discreetly glance at me and give a thumbs-up, my mood soured for no reason, but at least Yoo Ahyoung’s reaction did not seem bad.
She was not only nodding slowly, but by the time he finished speaking, she looked genuinely moved.
That was when she opened her mouth.
“Um....”
“Hm?”
“If it’s all right, could I maybe get some counseling? It’s about joining the guild too....”
It was, of course, a completely unexpected turn of events.