Five Days to Graduate

The deal with the Sword Princess had been a success.

I had coolly handed over a single piece of information I happened to know, and the moment its authenticity was verified, she honored her end of the bargain with impressive speed.

I have no idea how you could possibly know information like this…….

Fine. I'll admit it. It was worth far more than I expected.

That was all she sent—just those two lines—before leaving my reply on read……but starting the very next morning, a barrage of entirely unexpected articles came pouring in.

Well, she went beyond what I'd asked for and pulled off something almost too flashy……but seeing it all unfold, I couldn't help feeling, once again, just how much destructive power the name Sword Princess actually carried.

'Temporary or not, she got me an official Guild Token issued by Varga of all places…….'

What kind of organization was the Varga Guild? Setting aside the Silver Knights, it held the highest guild rank in the country. Without a hint of exaggeration, Varga was one of the three guild names every single person in South Korea could recite.

And yet the Sword Princess, with nothing more than a word, had that very organization issue her a 'Guild Token' proving membership. Of course, she hadn't actually registered me as a guild member—but still.

She wasn't even Varga's Guild Master, so I had no idea how something like this was possible. Or rather—was it possible precisely because she wasn't the Guild Master?

If the Sword Princess had been the master, she might have found it harder to bulldoze through things like this while minding the executives' reactions.

"……."

Anyway, things had gone extremely well. With this, there was no denying that the fact [Zerathus's Flag]—the item needed for the [Radiant Sword Saint]—had belonged to the Sword Princess was an enormous stroke of luck.

Frankly, having the Sword Princess and the Varga Guild at my back was worth more than I could ever convert into LP. Even if it could never be leveraged for anything beyond protection from PK threats.

So as stingy as I might be……what I wanted to say was that I no longer regretted selling Zerathus's Flag cheap even a little bit.

"As expected of you… Dave hyung-nim."

Could you please stop looking at me with those eyes? All I did was make a trade with the Varga Guild—no, with the Sword Princess. I didn't actually become a guild member.

"Come on, still—a deal like that would've been impossible if you weren't a top-tier expert, hyung-nim."

I've never once shown you any 'skill,' Leo.

"Masters at the Sword Princess's level can tell just by looking at someone."

"By… looking at what, exactly?"

"Anyway, the way I see it, hyung-nim's going to become an official Varga guild member soon. For real."

I appreciate the vote of confidence……but honestly, it's safe to say that's never going to happen. Varga was the most elite, small-scale of the three great guilds—there was no reason they'd ever want a newbie like me. And even if some miracle of that magnitude did occur, I'd probably be the one turning them down.

"Enough of that talk. Let's hurry and get to the aqueduct, kid."

"Yes, hyung-nim!"

"And…… the fact that I'm carrying a Varga token is a secret. You get that, right?"

"Of course!"

Turn down Varga? Was I insane?

No. My goals were never set that high in the first place. Once I'd pulled the family finances out of the gutter and done right by my parents ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠for a decent while……the whole point was to live as thin and as long as possible.

Guild memberships, dues, obligations, having my nose put to someone's grindstone—I hadn't given that a single thought from day one. The three great guilds? I'd sooner earn a few certifications and take a desk job at the Gate Management Bureau. That suited my lifestyle far better.

And at the scale of the big three, guild championship tournaments got held all the time.

Ugh, it made my skin crawl just thinking about it.

"It's over here, hyung-nim."

While I was busy thinking all that, Leo and I arrived at our destination. We hadn't gathered just to catch up on each other's lives, after all.

Our destination was… the dungeon within Lumis Territory known as the Ghost Aqueduct.

The Awakened Wiki described the Ghost Aqueduct as follows:

Hmm……the entry requirements are a bit of a hassle, but I suppose you could describe it as the single most efficient leveling course available to players in their twenties.

So why did I drag Leo—who was already past Level 30—all the way out here? Because without this guy (and his Self-Defense Corps Request Form), I couldn't even set foot inside.

Ahem, ahem. And well… after all his hard work lately, I figured he'd earned a chance to be the bus for once, while I hitched a ride as a bonus. In the past few days, I'd accumulated far too many reasons to level up as fast as humanly possible.

Ahem. Quiet, quiet! I do have a conscience—I'm letting Leo take all the Territory Contribution, aren't I?

Dammit. I have nothing to say in my defense.

The truth was, 'Territory Contribution' was something I didn't need at all right now. What's it used for? Climbing the ranks (so to speak) inside the Laika world. Think of it as a budget knockoff of the Fame stat.

And since I was already steadily building Fame through the Constellations' missions, it was a reward I needed even less than most.

By the way, it was about time for one of the Constellations to slither out of the woodwork.

Savoring the Constellations' nonsense, I confirmed the dungeon entry, and moments later—accompanied by the familiar vertigo—we were sucked inside.

Alright, then. Shall we get to work?

"Leo."

"Yes, hyung-nim."

"Our target is five days."

"Sorry? Five days for wha……"

What else? Graduation. This place doesn't make me a single won, so I have zero intention of running it for more than five days.

"What level is graduation here, hyung-nim?"

"Level 30, obviously."

"I'm… sorry? You want to hit 30 in five days?"

With you along, kid, that's more than enough.

"But I'm already 32, so I've kind of graduat——"

Shut it.

Your hyung-nim has a plan for everything, Leo. You trust me, don't you?

In the aftermath of the shocking guild raid, the Aegis Guild had been effectively closed for a week. Officially, the decision was framed as a matter of member management, but the truth was that no other option had existed at all.

Nearly half of the guild's core personnel had suffered serious injuries. Even the week-long recovery period was the bare minimum they could get away with.

"I honestly thought I was going to die this time. For real."

"Well, you made it through. Good work, bro."

For those reasons, Gyeongjun—after sleeping off a full day—had finally recovered enough of his spirits to meet up with an old friend for the first time in ages.

His oldest friend, and one of his favorites: Jungmin.

"Anyway, you doing all right? Nothing crazy happening with you?"

"Eh, what could possibly happen to me? It's not like I'm going into Gates like you guys."

Meeting friends was when Gyeongjun's mind felt most at ease. That applied only to his oldest circle of friends—the people he could open up to in ways he never could with family—but it applied all the same.

"You guys? Ahaha. So Gunyul's going into Gates now too, huh?"

"Yeah."

Which was exactly why it would have been perfect if that other guy had shown up today as well. Gyeongjun couldn't help thinking it.

"I need to see that bastard's face soon. It's been too long."

"Lee Gunyul is seriously playing hard to get these days."

"Hard to get?"

"Yeah, ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠apparently he says it's hard to meet on weekdays and insists weekends only."

Even within their tight-knit group of four closest friends, Gunyul and Gyeongjun were, if you pressed the point, the closest pair. Part of it was sheer proximity—living near each other—but the two had always clicked in a dozen different ways.

Which meant Gyeongjun had a mountain of things he wanted to say the moment he saw Gunyul again. 'I'll see him soon enough anyway, no point missing him too much.'

So naturally, most of the conversation drifted toward Gunyul.

"Honestly? I'm more worried about him than about you."

"Why? He's still on the Beginner's Island, isn't he?"

"No, actually."

"Huh?"

And here was the funny part: the more Gyeongjun heard about Gunyul's current situation, the more his fond longing for his friend kept morphing—into astonishment, and then into curiosity.

No, scratch that. What Gyeongjun actually felt as he listened to the updates wasn't just surprise. It was something closer to outright shock.

"That bastard hit Level 20 in barely two weeks."

"He… what?"

‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠

Even accounting for some exaggeration or distortion in the retelling.

"A solo run of Dallneuk? He found a hidden dungeon too?"

"Yeah. That's what he says, anyway. The absolute lunatic, I swear."

"……."

"What the hell has he even been doing out there? If I see him this weekend, I'm really going to have to shake the truth out of him."

In fact, when Gyeongjun had first heard that Gunyul was starting work as a hunter, he'd racked his brain wondering whether there was anything he could do to help. But listening to Jungmin now, all those worries had been rendered completely meaningless.

Everything Gyeongjun had fretted over had been framed around a brand-new hunter taking his first steps into a Gate. None of it applied to a player who'd already graduated from the Beginner's Island.

'How long did it take me to graduate from the island again? More than a hundred days, I think? Probably a lot more.'

It was a long time ago now, but thinking back on his own rookie hunter days, the gap was so vast it was almost embarrassing to compare. Granted, the era when Gyeongjun had first adapted to the Gates had been brutally, incomparably harder than things were now.

'Back then, from basic Gate information onward, almost none of the infrastructure existed yet. Nothing had been built up at all.'

But even with all that taken into account, one thing was beyond dispute.

Gunyul's talent as a player… was on a level that couldn't even be compared to his own—his own, the guy who'd been told constantly that he had real talent for it.

So ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Gyeongjun found himself looking forward to the meeting even more.

The truth was, Gyeongjun was a man who took the hunter life more seriously than anyone.