Chapter 42
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 42
Chapter Title: Romantic Guy (1)
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The next day, when we arrived at the dungeon entrance, we could see the faces of the Incarnation Clan members who had arrived ahead of us.
"Hello. I'm Lee Jae-hyo of Eternity Clan."
"Nice to meet you. I'm Park Da-rim from Incarnation Clan."
Lee Jae-hyo and what appeared to be an executive from Incarnation Clan exchanged greetings.
I figured they might know each other since they were both executives from major clans, but their reactions suggested it was their first time meeting.
The woman who introduced herself as Park Da-rim had a status window similar to Lee Jae-hyo's, or perhaps just a tad lower.
"These must be the new members who just joined Eternity Clan. Nice to meet you. These are our clan's first-year members."
She introduced her clanmates. I couldn't just stand there looking dumbfounded, so I offered a greeting.
"Please take care of us. We're the new recruits who just joined Eternity Clan."
'Excluding the clan executive, they've got three guys and three girls over there—a total of six.'
The Incarnation Clan executive didn't seem to have any particular thoughts about us, but one of the male clan members was giving us a displeased look.
'What's with this guy's glare?'
The man grinned as he approached us.
"Ah... so you're the ones who were supposed to join our clan this batch but ended up in Eternity Clan instead. Nice to meet you."
'...Is this guy insane?'
The circumstances at the training facility were a sensitive topic for both clans. This wasn't something to bring up with strangers.
Even Park Da-rim looked caught off guard, as if she hadn't expected him to say that.
"Myung-jun, that matter..."
"Oh, sorry. I misspoke."
He didn't look sorry at all.
I pulled up the guy's status window.
⚔ STATUS ⚔
⚡ Strength:35
💨 Agility:30
✨ Mana:59
💪 Stamina:49
🍀 Luck:41
🛡️ Resistance:30
Job: Light Sorcerer (Hero Grade)
Unique Trait:
Light Attribute Magic (Hero Grade) - You can use light attribute magic more easily than others. Your Mana stat is permanently increased by 3.
Trait:
Intermediate Understanding of Magic (Rare Grade) - Your comprehension of magic is moderately increased.
'This bastard's got some basis for his confidence, huh?'
He must have entered last batch, so for a first-year, these stats were pretty good. Especially with a Hero-grade job—that was likely one reason he could act so cocky.
Park Da-rim seemed to notice our clan's mood souring and spoke up in an intentionally upbeat tone.
"W-well then, now that everyone's here, shall we head in?"
Lee Jae-hyo didn't look thrilled either, but he nodded at her words.
The dungeon entrance looked like an overgrown ruin shrouded in dense foliage. And so, we entered the dungeon.
⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙
You have entered the Dungeon - Relic of Eyes and Vengeful Spirits.
'Eyes probably means Evil Eyes... but what's Vengeful Spirits?'
I set aside my curiosity about the dungeon's name for now. Soon enough, the Evil Eyes we'd encountered yesterday started appearing.
Having experience fighting them already, our party handled them more skillfully than before.
"Hyun-jin, two on the right!"
At Kang I-seo's call, Hyun-jin immediately slashed the one approaching from the right with his sword. I-seo finished off the other with an arrow.
The ones lunging from the left were being blocked by Ho-won and the spirit that Ha-eun had summoned.
'Pretty straightforward.'
As expected of a general-grade dungeon, the difficulty wasn't high. If anything, it was easier than I'd thought.
'Still, they said there'd be monsters stronger than Evil Eyes, so I shouldn't let my guard down.'
From what I'd heard, dungeons that only featured one type of monster were rare. Usually, at least two kinds appeared.
'There might even be a boss monster.'
Not every dungeon had a boss, but the odds were high.
Our party seemed to have some breathing room, so I glanced over at Incarnation Clan. They'd already cleaned up.
'Definitely... there's a gap between zero-years and first-years.'
Excluding Seo Yu-ju, our party's specs were a bit lower than theirs across the board.
Once we finished off the stragglers, Park Da-rim called out to us.
"Even for this batch's recruits, you're handling things smoothly compared to your peers."
Unlike that Kim Myung-jun guy earlier, Park Da-rim seemed straightforward and praised us after seeing our performance.
You can't ignore genuine praise. I thanked her.
"Haha... thank you. We're flattered you think so. We're still lacking in a lot of areas, though..."
"Not at all, Yun-seong. To perform like this right after leaving the training facility is impressive. As expected of Baronia's hottest party."
They knew my name since Incarnation Clan would have info on our party, but "Baronia's hottest party" caught me off guard.
"Baronia's hottest party?"
"Oh? You didn't know? Word's already spread in Baronia about the party that cleared the tutorial in record time, packed with once-in-a-generation talents."
'...Rumors have spread throughout the neutral nation?'
I could see why, but it felt burdensome.
'Why are they gilding our image this much?'
Even as allied clans, there was no need to hype us up like this. They were one of the top three clans too, not some mid-tier group.
'There must be some reason.'
It could be something complicated, or maybe they just saw our growth potential and wanted to build rapport early.
Kim Myung-jun, annoyed by Park Da-rim's praise, approached us.
"Hmm... you're pretty good for newbies, but there's still room for polish. Not bad, though."
'This fucking idiot...'
It was ridiculous hearing that from a mere first-year. The nerve of this chick acting like he was graciously acknowledging us.
Seo Yu-ju was glaring at him like he was trash, equally baffled.
Checking the others' status windows, Park Da-rim was an executive, so aside from her, Kim Myung-jun seemed to be the de facto leader of their first-year party.
When we didn't react to his comment, Kim Myung-jun looked a bit irritated.
As we kept moving and taking down the spawning monsters bit by bit, stairs leading underground soon came into view.
Seo Yu-ju spoke up.
"Hmm... it's underground now, so it's dark. We'll need light. A lamp..."
"Light."
As party members rummaged for lamps, I cast a light spell.
Pop.
"Oh, Yun-seong? You know light magic too?"
"Yeah. Thought it'd be useful in the dark."
Of course, we could use a lamp instead, but fighting while holding one makes it hard to respond smoothly to ambushes.
What happened next was absurd.
"Light."
Kim Myung-jun smirked at me slightly and cast an even brighter light spell.
His intent was obvious—mocking me by overwriting my spell with his own.
And sure enough, he spoke up.
"Haha... with my Light spell, you can turn yours off, Yun-seong."
I wasn't sure if he knew about my supposed lack of talent, but today, I was his target.
"I heard you're a Dark Sorcerer... but you're using utility spells instead of attack magic."
Implying that Dark Sorcerers usually focus on offense, but you're talentless, so you stick to conveniences.
I got his angle. Criticizing the others wouldn't reveal flaws easily. As a first-year noob himself, what could he really see? But as a fellow magic class, I was perfect for him to show off against and give "advice" to.
Of course, for me—who hated wasting mana—it was a blessing.
'Mana's precious, and he's offering to cast it for me? Suits me fine.'
I wasn't dumb enough to sweat the small stuff. The problem was our party members—Seo Yu-ju and a few others—glaring at him like they wanted to kill him.
'Oh man, dude...'
I started feeling bad for Kim Myung-jun.
"Ah, thank you. I'll leave the light to you then. As expected of a senior. Hahaha."
'He's bringing it on himself.'
My response wasn't what he'd hoped for, and his face soured as he replied.
"...Sure."
One thing puzzled me: sure, same class, but why was he picking on me specifically?
From the moment we met the Incarnation Clan until now, this guy had been hostile toward me in particular.
The suspicion hit me by chance.
'This bastard... is he buddies with Ju Seung-hwan?'
It was a sudden thought.
If he was close to Ju Seung-hwan, he might blame me for his punishment.
Birds of a feather flock together, after all.
'Gotta test this.'
As we descended the stairs, I feigned an admiring gaze and approached him.
"Can I call you Senior from now on?"
Kim Myung-jun looked at me like I'd poisoned him, caught off guard by my sudden friendliness.
"...Pardon?"
I nearly burst out laughing but held it in, wetting my lips before continuing.
"I've always struggled learning magic. Seeing you cast spells like that... I'm in awe."
Our party members looked utterly confused about my sudden behavior. Praising the guy trash-talking me? They stared like I'd lost it.
Their gazes were distracting, but I pressed on.
"How can I cast magic like you, Senior? If it's okay... could you share your secret? I'm just so talentless..."
"...Uh..."
He was stunned, never expecting this from me. He just stood there dumbfounded.
'Now then...'
I kept my expression innocent, like I had no ulterior motive.
Of course, I laced my voice with a subtle mocking tone.
"Actually... back at the training facility, I learned about mana operation from someone in Incarnation Clan."
"........."
"Sadly, I never got to learn from him again..."
If he was who I thought, he'd know exactly what I meant. If my hunch was right, he'd react here.
"What the fuck, you little shit?!"
The problem was his reaction was way more extreme than I'd anticipated.
'What? What's his deal?'
He suddenly grabbed my collar and yelled, freezing the atmosphere.
Park Da-rim and Lee Jae-hyo rushed over, asking what happened.
They probably thought it was a verbal spat since he'd sworn.
I was pretty shocked too—I hadn't expected this level of freakout.
"Wh-what's wrong...? If I did something..."
"You... fuck, say that again! What did you say?!"
This guy needed an "Anger Management Issues" title to match Ju Seung-hwan. I wondered why his status didn't have one.
We'd all stopped on the stairs, and things got noisy.
Lee Jae-hyo saw Kim Myung-jun gripping my collar and spoke up.
"What the... hell are you doing?!"
Park Da-rim jumped in to mediate.
"H-hold on! Let me talk to our clan member... Myung-jun, why are you doing this all of a sudden?"
"This fucker...! He mentioned Senior Seung-hwan...!"
The name Ju Seung-hwan dropped, and our party's mood turned icy.
I immediately started protesting.
"Wh-what? What do you..."
"You just mentioned Senior Seung-hwan...!"
'Yeah~ no. Sorry, but I didn't mention that bastard.'
And even if I had brought him up first, he should've stayed quiet. Defending a continent law-breaker like Ju Seung-hwan was outright defiance of the law.
Hell, he was the one bringing up the attempted murderer's perpetrator to the victim.
"Wh-what are you talking about...? I was talking about what Instructor Kang Sung-jun taught me..."
"...What?"
It wasn't a lie—I'd asked Kang Sung-jun about mana a few times. He must realize his mistake now.
'Because I never named him directly.'
I only said "someone from Incarnation Clan"—never Ju Seung-hwan once.
'I'm the victim here, asshole.'
Kang I-seo couldn't hold back her rage at the name and spat curses at him.
"You fuck! Ju Seung-hwan?! What the hell is this? Why's that piece of shit's name coming up here?!"
"Hyung-nim! You okay?!"
Seo Yu-ju fixed him with a terrifying glare—scary even to me—and demanded an apology.
"...Apologize."
"What..."
Kim Myung-jun seemed brain-frozen by the sudden turn. His bewildered expression caught my eye.
"I said apologize."