My Skill Book 019
Chapter 19
Inside the guild leader’s room was an old man wearing glasses.
Because of his long white beard and the gray robe draped over his body, I fell under the illusion that I was looking at a wizard.
“Welcome. It’s good to see you.”
The guild leader rose from his seat and approached us.
*A hunter is a hunter, after all.*
I thought as I watched the guild leader walk.
Though his face was full of wrinkles, he walked with quick steps, his back ramrod straight.
It was something only possible for a hunter who had been granted stats.
“Guild Leader. This is Mister Kim Gangil, and this is Mister Lee Hwajin.”
Hyeri pointed to the uncle and me in turn and spoke, and the guild leader took our hands and shook them.
“I’ve heard you’ve come to see our guild. Now, let me show you around, so come with me.”
The guild leader took the uncle and me around the guild, explaining this and that.
A cafeteria providing free meals.
A break room stocked with the latest capsule-style massage chairs.
There was also a spacious training hall where they could practice teamwork with one another.
“Our guild collects a membership fee of 3 million won once per quarter. If it’s a quest taken through the guild, we take a 3% fee. We cover the operating costs with that.”
“Is that true?”
The uncle asked back in a surprised voice.
“Compared to other guilds whose annual fees usually exceed 100 million won and which take fees close to 10%, it’s very cheap.”
Hyeri added that to me.
*3 million won…*
At my current level, that was an amount I could earn in two days.
“But do you make a profit with that?”
I asked, looking at the guild leader. Then the guild leader smiled.
“This guild is not a place for making a profit. It is merely a place for hunters to gather. Just as when the guild was first founded. If we can be of help to one another, we couldn’t ask for more.”
After looking around the guild’s facilities, we returned to the guild leader’s room.
“It’s located a little ways from the guild, so it’s a bit difficult to visit now, but we have a workshop,”
the guild leader spoke after sitting in front of his desk.
“Even the master artisans of workshops contracted by renowned large-scale guilds bow before our workshop’s artisan. For our guild members, if you bring only the materials, he will craft equipment for just the cost of fuel.”
Hyeri had said something similar when she invited me to the guild the day before.
Considering the prices of monster-material equipment sold on the market, this guild’s workshop was certainly attractive.
“What do you think? Our guild?”
At the guild leader’s question, the uncle looked at me. His face seemed to ask what we should do.
I nodded.
“If it’s alright, I’d like to join this guild.”
“I feel the same as Hwajin.”
The guild leader smiled.
“Thank you for joining. Welcome once again. Hyeri.”
“Yes, Guild Leader.”
“Could you help these two with the guild joining procedures?”
“Of course.”
Just as the uncle and I were about to follow Hyeri out,
“Ah, just a moment.”
The guild leader called us to a stop.
“Please come back here together after you finish joining. I have something to tell you.”
I wondered what he wanted to talk about, but we answered that we understood for now and left the guild leader’s room.
Hyeri guided the uncle and me to a guild clerk.
While filling out the admission documents, I stopped at the section labeled “Role Classification.”
*Close-range dealer, long-range dealer, tanker, healer, buffer, debuffer, all-rounder…*
“Ah, you just decide that based on your main skill.”
Hyeri explained, as she had been watching me.
“This role is important when forming parties between guild members. You don’t have to choose just one; just pick whatever you think suits you.”
Hyeri said that in her case, her first was buffer and her second was debuffer.
“The uncle’s two skills are both close-range attacks, so close-range dealer. And Hwajin, you’re without a doubt an all-rounder.”
Hyeri let out a laugh that seemed to say she was dumbfounded.
“Close-range and long-range attack skills, defense skills, and even healing and support skills. A perfect all-rounder.”
I checked “All-rounder” in the role classification section just as Hyeri said.
“Installation complete. Your ID is your real name, and you can set your own password.”
The clerk returned the phones to the uncle and me. On the home screen was an icon labeled “Atlas Guild App.”
“The app has functions like a messenger between guild members, party recruitment, quest acceptance and reports, so please check it,”
the clerk explained.
“And you can also check information on dungeons, monsters, and materials collected by our guild through the app.”
“Oh, that’s convenient.”
The uncle said while operating his phone.
*Beep!*
Sounds rang simultaneously from the uncle’s, Hyeri’s, and my phones.
A message had come from the guild leader.
[You’ve finished installing the guild app. Now please come back to the room.]
“A quest?”
The uncle asked back, looking at the guild leader.
“Yes. It’s a quest given by a government-affiliated research institute. They asked us to procure materials needed for research on monster materials.”
The guild leader smiled.
“I’m sorry to put you to work as soon as you’ve joined the guild. Today, everyone except Hyeri is unavailable.”
No wonder there had seemed to be only two people who looked like hunters in this large guild.
“Please go to the 4-star dungeon in Guro and collect materials that drop from the boss. The deadline is 6 PM today, and the reward is 2,000. I’ll send the exact quest details and location to the app now.”
There was something oddly incongruous about the wizard-like guild leader operating the tablet atop his desk.
“Guild Leader? This is…”
Hyeri checked her phone and frowned.
“Hyeri, please guide these two since you’ve been there once before. And this is a quest I’m personally giving you…”
“You’re giving us a quest, Guild Leader?”
I tilted my head.
“Yes. The monsters in this dungeon drop sand-type materials. Please collect as much as possible. About 30 kg.”
30 kg of sand?
“No, Guild Leader. What kind of sand is it that you’re asking us to bring 30 kg of it?”
The uncle also asked the guild leader, seemingly curious.
“You’ll naturally find out once you collect it. Oh my, it’s already that time.”
The guild leader excused himself, saying he had another appointment.
“Hyeri, what kind of place is the dungeon we’re going to?”
I asked Hyeri, who still wore a dark expression.
“…It’s an annoying dungeon.”
Hyeri said so and sighed.
***
[You have entered Seoul Guro Dungeon No. 7.]
[This dungeon is a 4-star dungeon.]
[Overflow: 4720/10000]
[Monsters have been generated.]
I tilted my head far back.
The peak of a high tower soaring toward the sky came into view.
A 51-floor dungeon in total. Its nickname was “The Magic Tower.”
“Wow.”
Looking beside me, Seono was staring at the tower with his mouth open.
When I asked if it was okay to bring Seono, who was not a guild member, as a porter, both the uncle and Hyeri nodded.
On Seono’s back was a brown bag as big as his own body. It was a mid-grade inventory that he had purchased after selling the Forest Dokkaebi’s inventory, which had been large in size but lacking in capacity.
It was still big, but its capacity had increased to a degree incomparable to the previous one.
“The quest deadline is 6 PM today. Isn’t that too urgent?”
The uncle said.
I checked the time on my phone. Since there had been travel time to Guro, it was currently 2 PM.
“Sometimes these urgent quests come into the guild like this.”
Hyeri gave a bitter smile.
“True to its nickname the Magic Tower, there are magic-using monsters inside. Four to six monsters appear per floor, but since there are 51 floors, you have to fight roughly 250 monsters to clear it.”
Hyeri said the magic the monsters used changed in tiers every ten floors.
“From the 1st to the 10th floor, there are monsters that use simple Magic Missiles. The monsters’ vitality is also weak, so it’s not difficult up to the 10th floor.”
“Seono, wait on the lower floors or the stairs, and come collect materials when we call you.”
“Got it.”
Seono had no means to protect himself. It would be very dangerous if he got caught up in the fight for no reason.
“Now then, let’s go in!”
The uncle shouted in a spirited voice.
After having Seono wait behind the door, we entered the tower.
The monsters inside were dwarves about waist-high to me.
The fellows with glowing red eyes held staves with beads on them and wore hooded capes.
“Harhar.”
Speaking unintelligible words, the monsters pointed their staves at us.
“It takes the monsters about 3 seconds to cast magic. We have to mess them up before that!”
Hyeri shouted. The uncle and I took our weapons and charged at the monsters.
*Invisibility!*
Hiding my appearance, I cut down the monsters.
*Smash!*
Along with the uncle’s shout came the sound of the ground cracking.
The monsters were slow in movement and seemingly couldn’t attack in any other way besides magic, so they fell helplessly.
[You have acquired a total of 45 EXP.]
In less than ten seconds, we had wiped out all the monsters.
*Crack.*
Hearing a breaking sound, I saw that the beads attached to the monsters’ staves were shattered.
Though untouched, the beads transformed into even smaller pieces on their own and soon turned to powder.
“Is this the sand that becomes equipment material?”
The uncle said while looking at the powder.
“It seems so. Seono!”
“Yes, Hwajin hyung!”
Seono came inside.
Seono took out sacks he had prepared in advance from his inventory and collected the powder.
Up to the 10th floor was a repetition of the battle on the 1st floor. The monsters couldn’t detect me while invisible, so I cut them down without any worry.
After the battle on the 10th floor, Hyeri gathered us in front of the stairs leading up.
“From the 11th to the 20th floor, monsters that use fire-related magic appear.”
Hyeri frowned.
“Their power is still weak, but their casting speed becomes incredibly fast, so we have to deal with them more quickly. And since it’s area magic, even if you’re invisible, Hwajin, you could get caught up in it. I wish we had one more long-range dealer to keep the monsters in check, but there’s no use talking about that now.”
“Hyeri, you said it’s fire-related magic, right?”
“Ah, yes.”
A laugh came out of me.
“No need to worry. Everyone, please wait a moment.”
I summoned the book.
***
“…Haha.”
A hollow laugh escaped Hyeri.
“Hardeur! Keudeur!”
The monsters swung their staves madly and spewed flames.
“Hahaha! It tickles, it tickles!”
Gangil took the flames with his bare body as if nothing were wrong and swung his axe.
*Splat!*
The monster split in half and breathed its last.
Hwajin didn’t intentionally go around taking flames like Gangil. However, he too moved nonchalantly through the flames of the monsters’ magic and swung his spear.
*This is similar to the [Lightning Resistance] skill I used before. It’s a skill that reduces damage from flames.*
Hyeri recalled the words Hwajin had spoken while applying the [Flame Resistance] skill to her and Gangil.
The monsters were unable to stand against the hunters charging at them while ignoring their flame magic.
*Back then, I came with five A-rank hunters and climbed floor by floor carefully, resting frequently in between to recover HP and MP.*
Back then, it had taken about two hours to climb to the 20th floor.
In contrast, Hwajin’s group spent just over two minutes per floor. They spent one minute killing monsters and the remaining one minute collecting materials.
*Just how many skills does Hwajin have? And they fit the situation perfectly.*
She even wondered if Hwajin was truly a hunter like herself.