CH.81 Taking Down A-grade With C-grade (1)
The weekend has arrived, and the eventful week has come to an end.
My first week as an intern at <Judgment of Fire>.
Honestly, it was too eventful to call it just the first week.
Right after joining, I got into a fight with Shin Yuna to earn the trust of the team leader. With the runes I obtained there, the new effect of [Rune Hunter] blossomed.
Moreover, just three days after joining, I participated in a dungeon raid that had never been discovered before, narrowly escaping death. All usage restrictions on ‘Ultimate Skills’ were lifted, allowing us to finally defeat the boss.
As a bonus, we discovered that one of our team members was a spy.
“This could make a whole book.”
Thanks to this, I achieved significant growth, but if someone were to ask me to do it all over again, I might hesitate, given how intense and speedy clan activities were.
“…It won’t always be like this.”
I muttered to myself, and Kang Juyeon, who was sitting across from me, replied.
A Korean restaurant in Sinsa Dong.
Kang Juyeon and I were having dinner on a Saturday evening.
It was a celebration for the successful dungeon raid, something we could only do on the weekends because weekdays were too hectic.
Of course, it couldn’t be called a company dinner since most of the team members, including the team leader Kwon Oh-jun, Shin Yuna, and Lee Soo-mi, were absent…
But with Kang Juyeon and me as the main actors, it became a dinner party.
“Weren’t you normally this busy?”
“Yeah. This raid had been planned for a long time…”
The ‘Forest Covered by Snakes’ raid had been a massive project that <Judgment of Fire> and the Hunting Team 5 had planned for a long time.
Kwon Oh-jun’s promotion to A-grade and the growth of Shin Yuna, a promising member within the clan, formed the basis for this officially planned raid by the Hunting Team 5, which had been in the works for six months.
Such spectacular opportunities for undiscovered dungeon raids didn’t come by easily, and I was fortunate to be a part of it.
…To think they included an intern like me in this project.
Kang Juyeon’s influence within the clan was becoming more apparent to me.
“Thank you for including me in something like this. I’ve just been receiving since I joined.”
“…No.”
Kang Juyeon shook her head as she looked at me.
“If you weren’t there, the dungeon raid would have been much harder.”
“I’ll admit to that.”
“…?”
My unexpected response made Kang Juyeon blink.
Normally, this would have been the point where I would humbly respond, but something about it felt strange.
I couldn’t help but burst into laughter at her reaction.
“Haha, just kidding. It’s not like I did it all by myself. Before that, the team members helped a lot, and especially at the end, you wrapped it up. Without Inferno, that boss would never have gone down.”
While my contributions were certainly significant, they were just one piece of the puzzle when it came to boss raids. It was a collective effort that led to our success.
“We came to eat on the weekend, and we’re talking about work again. Let’s eat quickly.”
We had been talking about work for a while now, and we both seemed addicted to it.
“…Yeah.”
Kang Juyeon replied with a subtle smile.
It was a smile that suited her well now.
I turned my gaze to the table where an abundance of Korean dishes of various kinds were laid out.
At a glance, there were more than ten types of side dishes and five kinds of kimchi.
There was acorn jelly and sweet pumpkin stir-fry, rolled omelet and mixed vegetables.
There was tofu stew and grilled croaker, shiitake mushrooms and small octopus salad.
In the center, there was bulgogi and soybean paste soup.
This Korean restaurant in Gangnam was indeed famous, and the variety of dishes was overwhelming.
They were mouth-watering dishes merely Looking at them.
‘I’ll try making them myself someday.’
Once again, my culinary aspirations were ignited.
I’m not a big fan of eating out, but dining at places like this with distinctive cuisine added to the diversity of my [Cooking] skills.
As I looked at the sumptuous dishes, I picked up my chopsticks.
“Did you receive all the rewards for the raid?”
Kang Juyeon, who had just taken a bite of shiitake mushrooms, asked.
The rewards for the ‘Forest Covered by Snakes’ raid were, without a doubt, perfect.
During the raid, they distributed the magic stones or rewards obtained from hunting the monsters, and based on our contributions, I received additional rewards and an Epic item called the [Penitent’s Sword]. Additionally, I obtained a separate reward for requesting it, which was a magic stone from the boss monster. Fortunately, none of our team members had applied for it, so I received the magic stone from the supply team yesterday, which was a Friday.
[The magic stone of the forgotten sub-dragon is filled. The stone slab is surrounded by an aura of strange power.]
The result was a bingo. The magic stone I inserted into the tablet took up a spot in the slot just as it was. Naturally, I felt like I was flying. I had some expectations, but I never thought it would turn out to be one of Sub-dragon’s magic stones.
Honestly, this single magic stone was a significant reason why I became an intern at <Judgment of Fire>. Now, there are only two magic stones left until the seal on the tablet is completely unlocked. It was progressing much faster than I had anticipated.
“Yeah. I had a brief meeting with the Clan Master the day before yesterday, and I received all the rewards as of yesterday. I got such great rewards that I wondered if it was okay for an intern to receive them.”
The auction price for the [Penitent’s Sword] was a whopping 29 billion won at the time. It was almost equivalent to receiving 30 billion in additional rewards alone. Add to that, the raid rewards, additional rewards based on our contributions, and the magic stone. Even though I had performed well and worked hard, I still had doubts about whether I should be receiving all of this.
But when I said this, Kang Juyeon furrowed her eyebrows slightly.
“Did you… meet with my father?”
“Huh? Oh, yeah, I did. All the team members did.”
“…Did my father say anything?”
Kang Juyeon’s eyes looked somewhat uneasy for some reason. Her expression reminded me of the meeting from the day before yesterday.
-What exactly is your relationship with my daughter?
-Is my daughter not attractive enough?
-I was about to kick you out of the clan right away.
I stopped thinking about it. Conversations with the doting Clan Master were always painful memories. Then I awkwardly smiled and replied to Kang Juyeon.
“Just that he was impressed by my performance, you know. Master values both work and personal character.”
Valuing both work and personal character? Even though I said it, it still pricked at my conscience. But there was nothing I could do. It was a well-intentioned lie for the sake of Kang Juyeon and me.
“…”
Kang Juyeon didn’t seem to agree with my response. I deliberately ignored her and reached for the bulgogi with my chopsticks.
Hmm. This place’s food is really good.
***
Ippotranslation
***
I had already showcased my multiple abilities to many people and clan members, but there were still some abilities I needed to keep to myself.Â
For example, runes related to enhancing the bodies of monsters, like [Sturdy Fangs], [Sharp Claws], and [Quadruped Combat], or entirely new runes acquired from this dungeon raid, such as [Penetrating Brain Strike] and [Gaze of Stiffness].
If I were to display monster runes or new runes one after another, even the trusted Hunting Team 5 would find it strange, no matter how much they trusted me. So, it was essential to practice these runes alone.
Thanks to that, I spent my golden weekends in the dungeon once again. This time, the location was the underground dungeon of the Academy, like a training ground for real combat.
[When dignity is established, presence remains unshaken. Your charisma becomes even more pronounced when confronting weaker opponents.]
[The level of the ‘Oppression’ rune has increased.]
[Acquired 1 point of Willpower through the rune’s affinity.”
After sweeping away the lizardmen in the early stages, the level of [Oppresssion] increased. [Oppression] was one of my runes that grew particularly slowly. It was only natural. [Oppression] was a rune that primarily exerted its power when facing opponents weaker than me, but most of the opponents I fought were higher-tier monsters with significantly higher stats. I had to cover the difference in stats with the versatile use of various runes and high proficiency. Therefore, the growth of [Oppression] was naturally slow.
But even so, it wasn’t just [Oppression] that was effective in this situation. When facing lower-tier C-grade lizardmen, I had no trouble at all. Moreover…
“Doesn’t this have an incredible taste?”
After wiping out all the lizardmen in the early stages, I looked at the sword in my hand with admiration.
The [Penitent’s Sword].
The epic item I received as a reward from the raid, in <Judgment of Fire>. It felt like it was trying to downplay itself. From the moment I held it in my hand at the start of battle, I could sense that it was different, and after cutting down the lizardmen, the feeling was incredible. Whether I used the [Water Sword Technique] to deflect the enemy’s attacks or the [Wave Sword Technique] to exploit their weaknesses, I could cleanly fend off opponents without any resistance, no matter the situation. The sensation was more pronounced in slashing rather than thrusting, providing a clean feeling akin to cutting food with a sharp kitchen knife. I couldn’t help but be amazed by the true value of this high-quality item that I was experiencing for the first time.
“So, this is why people use expensive items.”
Moreover, the [Penitent’s Sword] increased its power based on the recovery value. Currently, my recovery value is 15. While it was significantly lower than my main attributes, in terms of the increase rate, it was not to be ignored.
Combining the special effects of [Oppression] with the performance of the [Penitent’s Sword] and my existing combat capabilities, I could deal with lizardmen easily using just the sword.
Kya-!!Â
Kya, kya-!!Â
Just as the saying goes, when you mention a tiger, it comes running; the same seemed to apply to lizards. Once I passed the early stages and reached the middle portion of the dungeon, I encountered lizard monsters that were challenging to deal with using ‘only the sword’.
Sizzling Salamander and Poisonous Iguana, a total of ten surrounded me.
“Crap. Why are there so many?”
Perhaps the composition had changed abnormally, or maybe I had left the dungeon vacant for too long. The monsters that had come now had a different composition from what I had initially seen. I was sure there were only about six Poisonous Iguanas at first…
“Still, well. More is better.”
The rewards I obtained from conquering the ‘Forest Covered by Snakes’. The more monsters there were, the better I could test the effects. After all, that was why I came here today. It was to check their exact performance. I smiled and looked at the lizards.
“Let’s start by splitting the ground.”
I began with [Power Break], a derivative skill of the newly acquired [Fragmented Earth Garden].