Chapter 209
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 209
Chapter Title: Lesson 41. Papers, Please - 4
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In the end, Oculus Ruber's operations hadn't changed much from before the meteor shower—which was really just an Orc Wave dressed up with a fancy name.
To level up the members' abilities, they had to dive into high-difficulty dungeons scattered across the globe...
But since they had to hunt anyway, getting paid for it was killing two birds with one stone.
At first, back in England, they'd gone through all the formalities—slow plane rides, welcome ceremonies, the whole song and dance. But after that, to save time, Ban Yu-won put his spatial teleportation skills to use, hopping between several countries in a single day.
And that wasn't all.
Between training sessions, Ban Yu-won met with the guild's regular members and gifted them weapons infused with concepts tailored to each individual's abilities and traits.
It was the perfect way to soothe the guild members who had been protesting that the guild master's little brother only hung out with the executives after finally joining up.
But Ban Yu-mi didn't like seeing the guild girls fawning over Ban Yu-won like that. So while she was on Earth, she decided she had to put them through the wringer too.
"You've got these great new weapons now, so you need to level up to match, right? No time to waste flirting with boys."
"Yu-mi's jealousy is off the charts—how has she gotten along with Lucelle this whole time?"
"Lucelle's tougher, sis."
"Ah ha... eek!"
While Lee Hyun-ji and Yu Ji-na got their comeuppance from Ban Yu-mi, Ban Yu-won grouped up the Oculus Ruber members appropriately and handed out one rainblade per group.
"Yu-won, what's this?"
The sword hovered rigidly in midair, a sight that would have seemed utterly mystical before the dimensional evolution.
Ban Yu-won flashed a bright smile at the guild members, their eyes sparkling as they inspected the powerful aura emanating from each rain-streak blade up close.
"Your bodyguards."
"Huh?"
One guild member, grinning ear to ear just from talking to Ban Yu-won, let out a dumb sound as her brain short-circuited on his words.
Speaking on behalf of his busy sister, Ban Yu-won declared to the guild members:
"Like sis said, you're all starting training now. I've got your levels pegged. You usually tackle C-rank dungeons, right?"
"Ah, yep!"
"And the occasional D-rank... but only with an executive tagging along."
The average level of Oculus Ruber members excluding executives was exactly 30—no more, no less.
Considering it had been less than half a year since Earth's dimensional evolution, that was impressively high...
But the max level of monsters in C-rank dungeons was 30, so with a safety margin, even those needed thorough prep.
Yet they regularly cleared C-ranks and even D-ranks (with executive backup), which meant Oculus Ruber members punched above their weight.
"You're going to E-rank dungeons."
"Wait, hold on!"
The guild members freaked out and jumped at the sudden hike in difficulty, but Ban Yu-won had no intention of backing down.
"If you use the gear I gave you right, you can take down monsters ten levels higher with ease. And now you've got bodyguards too. No reason you can't clear an E-rank."
"Bodyguards? It's just swords!"
"Level 80 swords."
"..."
Of course, the rainblades weren't this strong from the start.
They began around Life 80—level 8 equivalent.
But as Ban Yu-won grew stronger, so did his foes. And since the Life he couldn't fully absorb got evenly distributed to his retainers, each of the twenty-five rain-streak blades had reached Life 800 before he knew it.
'Absorption efficiency drops off sharply past a certain threshold anyway, so splitting it evenly among me and all my retainers is the most efficient.'
For reference, Eve was at 920, Levi at 930, Tike at 850, the fortified war machines like Frost Fortress averaged 850... and Lilith, who devoured the most unique concepts even outpacing her big sis Eve thanks to her innate traits, sat at a solo 1,250.
And now she was digesting the unique concept of Meteor Shower too—no telling how much higher she'd climb once it settled.
But she was the outlier; the other retainers were plenty strong.
"Level 80... still, swords."
"No matter how far away I am, they move by my will. No need to worry."
It had been a while since he could control all twenty-five rain-streaks at once, but scattering and maneuvering them independently still drained his mental energy considerably.
Still, to maximize their potential, each needed to move freely like a living thing, so it was good training for him too.
"How about a group spar then? One rainblade per group I assigned. Pick your own venues..."
"No, we're good! We trust you! E-rank dungeons it is!"
The guild girls, scheming to lure Ban Yu-won himself in under the pretense that the swords alone weren't enough, gave up the ghost when they spotted the adorable smile of their (former) guild master emerging quietly behind him.
Oculus Ruber's sword-accompanied group training yielded staggeringly good results.
First week alone, they averaged a full level per day. That said it all.
But word got around somehow, and after finishing training, they'd beg Ban Yu-won for a "daily date voucher," earning them an extra set of hellish sessions with Ban Yu-mi.
Lee Hyun-ji got dragged into that hell too—no need to explain why.
* * *
"Hoo."
One night, about twenty days before school started.
Ban Yu-won stepped out onto the balcony after a shower and spotted a guy pitching a tent in the yard outside the mansion.
It was Selden, the "newbie" Aneri had dragged to Earth on her own whim.
"Oh."
Their eyes met as Selden looked up.
Or more likely, he'd sensed him with his aura detection.
Aneri ragged on him daily, but that was her perspective. To Ban Yu-won, he seemed about as strong as himself—maybe stronger.
...Before vacation, he'd have been outmatched for sure.
"What're you doing out there?"
"Can't you see? Pitching a tent."
"I'm asking whose permission you got to camp in our yard."
"Lady Seira... your mom."
Ah, right.
That changed things.
Seira Dion Prominence was her real name, for the record.
Diluted bloodline or not, Mom had Prominence blood, so in the big picture, Ban Yu-won was Prominence kin too.
"Where've you been sleeping till now?"
"On the streets."
"...Broke?"
"This godforsaken backwater dimension doesn't take Ronica! Everything else got confiscated by Lady! And she won't let me work or wander off! Won't even let me inside the mansion!"
"Uh... sorry. We've been kinda thoughtless..."
Ban Yu-won couldn't help pitying Selden as he suddenly blew up.
He hopped the balcony railing and landed lightly in the yard.
As he approached, Selden tensed, raising his hands in some weird guard pose.
"What? Wanna go? Think I'm easy just 'cause I didn't kill Kettra?"
"What clan of battle junkies are you from? Nobody said kill. More importantly, you..."
Selden looked strikingly handsome up close, but something felt artificial about him.
Ban Yu-won tilted his head.
"Where'd you get that nose job?"
"Nose? Oh, right. Kettra. Said I'd get revenge on my old face, so he changed it."
"Senior Kettra? Changelings have infinite potential."
Ban Yu-won was reminded anew just how peerlessly skilled Kettra was with changelings, even raised among humans.
Makes sense—that's how he hid his fairy identity at Union Academy.
And that same Kettra's parting gift, a changeling crystal with Concept Conversion at depth 100, lay dormant in Ban Yu-won's Code Core.
He'd meant to give it to Mira, but she'd shot it down flat. Still no real use for it.
Like Death, he had no clue how to wield something so inscrutable. As he pondered, he felt eyes on him.
Selden was staring hard.
"..."
A few seconds of silent staring at Selden's indescribable expression, then Selden sighed.
"Sorry. I know it's not your fault."
"You two were close, huh."
"He... yeah, we joined around the same time. I'd be lying if I said there was no bond."
Selden asked Ban Yu-won's permission and lit a cigarette.
Funny how polite he could be in weird ways. Ban Yu-won idly conjured a scent-blocking barrier around them.
Selden noticed, exhaled smoke with a "hoo," and whistled in admiration.
"Anyone'd think you were a barrier master. Versatile as Kettra, you are."
"This is nothing."
"Words I can say now that it's all over."
"Hm?"
"Kettra... overthought everything, tried to do too much."
Selden blew another plume of smoke, turning back to his tent.
"He knew it deep down. Greed beyond your station brings ruin. Common sense for dimension pirates."
"Yeah."
"But petty shit like inferiority and stubbornness wrecked it all. That asshole fucked over friends and foes alike, then offed himself."
Whatever the direction, Selden's feelings for Kettra ran deep.
Already down in the yard, Ban Yu-won figured he'd humor the pointless rant. But as he mulled a response, it veered unexpectedly.
"He was my friend anyway. Kettra changed my face for a fresh start... but pretending none of it happened doesn't sit right."
"That's why you're helping Aneri?"
"Didn't expect her to be this deep in it, but yeah. By the time she asked about Prominence, I'd already decided."
Selden took a final deep drag, exhaled in a rush, and flicked the butt away.
Ban Yu-won sniped it with a photon laser, vaporizing it cleanly.
"Right before dying, Kettra finally owned up to being a fairy. And Crimson Spear attacks fairies on Prominence orders. That's enough."
Selden's voice hardened.
"I'll help Lady crush Crimson Spear and Prominence, protect the fairies. Last loyalty I owe Kettra."
"Manly."
"Now I even think... meeting Prominence's exiled princess like this—was it all Kettra's plan? Nah, obviously not. Bastard wasn't a god."
Selden scratched his head with a wry chuckle, dismissing his own silly notion.
Should've stopped there.
"And honestly? Lady Aneri's my type. Can't say no to a girl you like..."
"...So from the start, it wasn't just senior Kettra that made you glare at me."
"Exactly. You're my rival. Sleep light, or you'll wake up with a hole in your head."
Ban Yu-won concluded they needed to sort the pecking order. He drew the Executioner's Longsword as instinct demanded.
For the record, its core concept, Demon Sword, sat at depth 990.