Chapter 17
Chapter 17
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 17
Chapter Title: Labyrinth Pioneering (2)
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Kim Hyunwoo's first order of business was to hire a hero to pioneer the labyrinth.
The labyrinth belonging to the territory could only be tackled by heroes employed by the lord.
'If I had some of the heroes I raised before, this would be a lot easier.'
Kim Hyunwoo wore a faintly regretful expression at the thought, but he quickly shook it off.
Sure, if he had those heroes he'd cultivated in the past, the labyrinth development would proceed in a flash—but those heroes weren't here now anyway.
'Chatting with Merrillda and having her deal some damage while pioneering the labyrinth would be convenient.'
Of course, there was Merrillda, who still seemed to have some affinity as far as he could tell, but regrettably, Kim Hyunwoo had no intention of asking her for help.
'That would be like burning down the whole house trying to squash a bedbug.'
Striking some kind of deal with Merrillda right away to clear the reset labyrinth would certainly be convenient.
He'd already witnessed her strength firsthand, after all.
The problem was that hiring Merrillda could cause the steeply growing labyrinth city to collapse outright.
No, in fact, hiring her would almost inevitably lead to the labyrinth city's downfall.
The relationship penalties that came with recruiting her were severe enough to make that a real possibility.
'...If only her relationship values were intact.'
Kim Hyunwoo broke out in a cold sweat as he involuntarily recalled the endless stream of relationship penalties he'd seen when her recruitment window popped up.
Penalties that casually exceeded -70—enough to spark wars—along with the near -1200% territory population influx rate upon recruitment.
...In any case, given the situation, it seemed better to find new heroes and pioneer the labyrinth that way. That was why he'd come to the tavern, though he wasn't harboring high hopes.
Fundamentally, unless the building's level was high, the odds of high-level heroes showing up weren't great.
Or more precisely, the gacha rates weren't favorable.
This was Arteil, a gacha territory game at its core, so heroes appearing was pure gacha luck. If fortune favored you, even a level 1 tavern could pull a 5-star hero.
But Kim Hyunwoo wasn't banking on that kind of luck.
He'd already tasted the bitterness of this world back in middle school, blowing 500,000 won—a jaw-dropping sum at the time—and still not landing a 5-star.
...And that was with 10-pulls costing just 9,900 won, a steal. He'd slammed 500 pulls into it and still came up empty, tears streaming as he brainwashed himself: 'Raising 1-stars to 5-stars is way more fun.' With memories like that, he headed to the tavern without much expectation.
But then he spotted her.
"Um, if... if I'm okay with you, then... p-please take care of me."
A jackpot.
For some reason, she was shyly greeting him. Kim Hyunwoo stared at her, then at the hero window floating in front of him.
Unlike Kim Hyunwoo, who was grinning ear to ear, her info window looked like a textbook 1-star profile—nothing particularly standout.
Yet he was thrilled because...
'Hard Worker, Insight, and Heavenly Talent...!'
Elena's traits and talent formed an incredible synergy.
In Arteil, a hero's performance was fundamentally defined by their traits and talents.
Of course, born 5-stars had overwhelming base stats regardless, but for others, traits and talents were crucial.
How crucial? The harmony between them determined the maximum star rating achievable after full growth.
In that sense, Elena's window was so perfectly synergistic that Kim Hyunwoo couldn't help but applaud.
'How does it fit together so flawlessly?'
Sure, he'd seen heroes with individually better traits and talents than Elena's.
A quick scan of the seven or so heroes here revealed some with superior stats or upper-compatible traits and talents.
But the key in this game was synergy between traits and talents.
For instance, the hero sitting to Elena's right had the trait "Eyes that See Truth."
As its extraordinary name suggested, it was overpowered: when a talent had the prefix "Absurd," all attacks from that talent ignored defense.
Unfortunately, that hero had no such "Absurd" talent—just decent swordsmanship.
No matter how great the trait, without matching talent, it was just a flashy dud.
And Arteil was full of such mismatches, making Elena's combo exceptionally brilliant.
'Of course, grown as-is, she'd cap at 4-stars.'
Kim Hyunwoo, with his record of turning 1-stars into 5-stars, had vast expertise in hero growth.
He was confident he could push past her innate limits to 5-stars, smiling assuredly.
Recruit ★Hero 'Elena'?
[Y/N]
"P-please take care of me."
"Y-Yeah... N-no, the pleasure's mine."
He touched the recruitment window without hesitation, flashing a smile.
"Alright, shall we get right to work?"
The Altas Mercenary Corps consisted of about ten members—not top-tier, but well-known in the region after years of activity.
Among them, leader Colum stared ahead with a sullen expression.
Before them lay a goblin village in the forest, not far from Lartania territory.
"Are we really just gonna sit here like this?"
Colum responded to his subordinate's voice as he eyed the overgrown village, clearly long neglected.
"What?"
"I mean, is standing around watching really it?"
"That's what we were told, so yeah."
His subordinate looked utterly baffled at Colum's grumpy reply.
"Weird. What the hell was that lord thinking, hiring us?"
"No idea."
The reason Colum and his mercenaries were here: Lartania's lord, Kim Hyunwoo, had hired them since the new territory had no gigs lined up.
Yet they weren't advancing on the goblin village because they hadn't been hired to exterminate goblins.
'...Watch the hero fight, and if things go south, rescue and escape.'
Colum recalled the orders and glanced at the mission target ahead.
A woman with long blue hair, standing timidly before the goblin village, small hand axes in both hands.
Pfft.
Seeing Elena shrink before the village, Colum couldn't help but chuckle.
'...They said he was the lord who built Lartania ten years ago, but no eye for talent.'
Colum knew of Elena.
He'd have to; she was infamous around here as the "Failed Hero"—a clear derogatory nickname.
Despite being a hero, her skills were so meager it was baffling how she'd qualified. Mercenaries who'd worked with her once mocked her relentlessly.
Even if it stemmed from jealousy of those who failed to become heroes, her weakness was undeniable.
Thus, the mercenaries, including Colum...
"Never thought I'd see a hero bite it up close outside of war."
"Shut up. If she dies, no pay."
"Oh, right. Anyway, even without the 'failed' label, a titlerless hero soloing a goblin horde of 200+? No shot."
Their chatter rang true: a nameless hero clearing that alone was practically impossible.
"Bet she doesn't even get one."
"Last I heard, she squeezed out 3-4 by hiding in gaps."
"Wanna wager?"
The mercenaries started betting on her goblin kill count.
As if on cue, goblins burst from the village, rusty weapons raised, charging Elena. The mercs settled in to watch the failed hero's show.
About ten minutes later...
"......"
Silence fell over the snickering mercenaries.
The smirking ones.
The slouching ones.
Even Colum, who'd scoffed at the lord's judgment.
All quiet.
The reason: the pile of goblin corpses around Elena.
"Wh-what the—?"
"This... makes no sense?"
She was covered in wounds and goblin blood, gripping her hand axes.
"????"
The mercenaries gaped at her in shock and confusion.
Meanwhile, Elena—who'd soloed the village with two unremarkable hand axes—
"????"
Panted heavily, standing dazed with a baffled look.
"Huh? Wh-what...?"
She could only mutter in bewilderment.