“Is this really okay?”
“Sure. I don’t know when we’ll be able to gather like this again. When I start getting busy in earnest, I’ll have less and less time to hang out with you all. Things will get crazy once the new recruits arrive. Hyunsung-ssi also understands that, so I think that’s why he allowed me to go to the dungeon this time.”
“But…”
“I also need some time to relax, and it’s been so long since we’ve done this. Some people also need a break, you know.”
“Hyung-nim…”
Park Deokgu looked grateful for some reason. Perhaps he thought that the reason for this dungeon trip was because of him.
In his position, it would be natural for him to think so. Going to the dungeon at such a sudden time might seem suspicious to anyone who was to chance upon it.
It was only a few days ago that he had a dispute with me.
Naturally, he’d think that the reason why I started planning a dungeon expedition was that it would be my form of reconciliation to him.
In fact, Jung Hayan still felt uncomfortable with Park Deokgu, and I didn’t dare talk to him until this expedition arrived.
Thus, it would be natural for him to feel this way.
He wouldn’t even be able to imagine that I had planned all of this in a completely different direction from his line of thinking.
After all, this was the first Park Deokgu Awakening and Enhancement Plan, directed by Lee Kiyoung, written by Lee Kiyoung, and supported by Lee Jihye.
It was a real gift prepared for him, who had felt dejected after Kim Ye-ri had beaten him. This way, he would have a real shot at achieving what he wanted to achieve.
He lacked many things, but one of the biggest problems Park Deokgu currently had turned out to be…
‘The fourth class change.’
Among the Blue party members, he was the only one who hadn’t gotten a 4th class change yet and was still maintaining his rare-grade class. I didn’t know why he hadn’t gotten around to changing his class after experiencing an entire monster wave, but my guess lay on the possibility that his barrier was a psychological one.
This made me curious about one thing.
If a crisis would hit us, how would Park Deokgu react?
It wasn’t a big deal, but it was something worth thinking about. This was something he had never experienced before since Kim Hyunsung’s party was full of geniuses. Thus, every possible problem ended up getting solved by Hyunsung before it could scale into trouble.
It wasn’t just Kim Hyunsung. Jung Hayan’s protective magic blocked the backup before Park Deokgu could get hurt.
That being said, in every party battle, our party members always ended up outshining Deokgu in terms of performance. Though he was able to experience the battles alongside them, it made me think if his constant behind-the-scene performance was the reason why the system wasn’t able to judge what kind of class to give him.
This was only my hypothesis. However, I had to think that it was worth experimenting with. It didn’t matter if he didn’t develop his class or attribute this time. If he felt that he lacked in this expedition, it would be a little easier for him to accept the serum, and if he couldn’t get through this, I could push through with assigning him to a new party.
However…
‘There is no chance of that happening.’
I knew Park Deokgu would never give up, hence why I had proposed this expedition.
Having cleared up my thoughts, I smiled and spoke to him once more.
“Even so, you shouldn’t be too distracted. It doesn’t matter that the dungeon is rare-grade. Always keep in mind the possibility of an accident.”
“Yes. Uncle Kiyoung is right.”
“I know that. This time, Hyunsung-ssi will not be here, so we should stay alert.”
“Of course, I’m not telling you to feel too pressured. I bought a dungeon with low difficulty on purpose. You can get nervous, just don’t move in a rush.”
“Hm… You didn’t have to buy a dungeon…”
“The other guilds are now busy preparing for work after the opening of the tutorial dungeon. I got it for cheap, so you don’t have to feel so burdened.”
“If so, that’s a relief.”
The smile he currently showed was one I hadn’t seen in a while. Though Deokgu usually laughed when he was with other people, this was the first time that his expression felt sincere.
I didn’t know what exactly Deokgu was thinking, but I was sure he was feeling better now.
‘His condition’s not that bad.’
I also felt like he desperately wanted to restore his relationship with Hayan, considering how badly things had gone last time. However, it wasn’t him who needed to apologize. It was her.
‘Tsk. This foolish guy.’
However, it was cute seeing Deokgu fretting about this, so I let him be.
When I took my gaze away from him, I saw our five other party members approaching. Five of us would be going—me, Park Deokgu, Jung Hayan, Kim Ye-ri, and one priest, who would serve as our backup should anything happen.
Originally, I wanted to bring Sun Hee-young, but I couldn’t because of the busy time.
Hwang Jeong-yeon, who had maintained a fairly close relationship with Park Deokgu, was also unavailable because she was currently in charge of Blue’s administration.
In fact, I thought Hwang Jeong-yeon could be used as the centerpiece of this plan, but considering her poor acting ability, I decided it would be better for her to stay still.
Of course, the rest of my members were the same. Both Jung Hayan and Kim Ye-ri were unaware of the basics of socializing and were far from my first choices when it came to plans.
‘They, too, have terrible acting.’
With this, I had chosen Ahn Ki-mo, a priest from the Red Mercenaries. This was because I needed talented people who could somehow relieve the awkward atmosphere created by Kim Ye-ri and Jung Hayan.
At this point, Deokgu began to speak.
“Oh, it looks like I didn’t greet the priest… If it’s okay, please introduce me, Hyung-nim.”
“Is this your first time meeting him?”
“Well, yes.”
“It’s to meet you, Deokgu-ssi. I’m Ahn Ki-mo.”
“Ahhh. I’ll call you Ki-mo Hyung-nim.”
“Haha. Yes. As a member of the Red Mercenary Guild, I came across fate and was able to join this expedition.”
“Since Hee-young was very busy, I had to use a network.”
“Ah… I see.”
Ahn Ki-mo’s appearance seemed to help, seeing as Deokgu seemed to like meeting new people. Plus, Ki-mo had a friendly, likable face.
“Thank you for coming, Ki-mo-ssi.”
“No, no, Kiyoung-ssi. Blue is also a friend of the Red Mercenary, and I was feeling very bored. You don’t know how honorable it is to be with the party that has made Lindel upbeat these days.”
“I was just lucky. When it comes to clearing dungeons, one dungeon with a heroic-grade and one dungeon with a rare-grade is all I’ve got to show for it.”
“Why does it matter how many dungeons you have cleared?”
“Hahahaha…”
‘This guy is a natural…’
It was worth it. I heard that he majored in theater, and though he wasn’t famous, I heard that he was able to do some roles in Daehakro.
I could remember that he was not an ordinary priest, but a kind of combat priest. However, no matter where I looked, there was no evidence of his experience in the area.
Whoever sees him would see him as a common priest. The appearance alone made him deserving of joining us.
The party members began to head to the dungeon while talking loudly. Though it would be possible to move quickly with a wagon, I thought it would be better to talk while walking, creating a picnic-like atmosphere.
There was no problem at all, except that Jung Hayan had strangely been avoiding Park Deokgu because of the pressure for acting, and he felt uncomfortable by it.
I did not intervene, simply because this might be better than her destroying my plans.
Kim Ye-ri was all about being quiet, throwing a few words out every now and then, but fortunately, it was unlikely that she had been influenced by her Red Mercenary friend very much.
Deokgu, who was naturally friendly, got closer to Ahn Ki-mo in no time. We spent a lot of time sitting and resting while walking, and I put a lot of effort to sleep overnight by building a camp.
Although I didn’t drink too much, I enjoyed the atmosphere as much as I could. So far, almost everything was going perfectly. I also had a lot to worry about, so this proved to be a good chance for me to enjoy and take a breather.
What was interesting, however, was that Kim Ye-ri was surprisingly good at cooking.
“Bride class.”
Her answer, which briefly explained why she was so good, revealed that Kim Hyunsung had been garbage at this particular skill.
Once I knew we were getting nearer, I snuck a glance at Ahn Ki-mo. The peaceful break ended here.
Seeing my signal, Ki-mo upped the acting.
“I think we’re almost there now.”
“Yes, Ki-mo-ssi. We will be able to enter the dungeon by tomorrow morning.”
“You said it was a rare-grade dungeon, right?”
“Yes.”
“Looking at the composition of the party, I don’t think there will be any big problems. Those of you who are here must be able to attack easily.”
“Of course. We have Hyung-nim and Hayan with us…”
“But if you are to enter this area, you will have to be a little alert.”
“Ahhh… You’re talking about that.”
“Yes, Lee Kiyoung-nim knows about it.”
At this, Park Deokgu looked between the two of us curiously. He evidently didn’t know what we were talking about. Upon seeing this, Ahn Ki-mo continued to speak.
“Ah, Deokgu-ssi doesn’t seem to know about it.”
“What are you talking about?”
“A few years ago, a clan was completely annihilated in this area. It is not officially known, but if you are a member of a large guild, you would have heard of it at least once.”
This was a lie.
“It happened around here?”
“Yes. At the time, Lindel did not make an official announcement on this case. I know everyone else knows about it, though.”
“What do you mean?”
“They call it the Murder Brigade.”
As the atmosphere changed, I could see Park Deokgu swallowing. By this point, Ahn Ki-mo had taken on a nervous expression.
‘This bastard.’
I had brought him along because I heard he was good at acting, and it was more than worth it. Even I began to feel nervous with the sudden change in atmosphere. Both his facial expressions and actions seemed so perfectly natural.
‘This bastard… makes me want to recruit him.’
“It’s a murderer clan created by psychopath killers who have passed down to the Holy Empire.”
To be precise, this was the future clan that would be created by Jung Jinho, the now-deceased psychopath killer.
‘I owe you one today too, Jinho!’