Yoo Yeonha diligently worked on her computer late at night. She analyzed the Guild Experience Program from earlier in the day and uploaded a job post on Violet Banquet. She had worked on this for a long time.

[Information Guild Falling Blossom – Now Hiring] [We are a new information guild looking for elite agents.]

She founded a new information guild. Of course, Essence of the Strait had its own information team, but that wasn’t enough. Yoo Yeonha wanted independent shadows who specialized in it. She worked to establish it for the past year, and now she only needed to find members.

“I’ll look into it myself rather than wait for that lazy bum.”

She suddenly thought about Yoo Jinhyuk and growled.

Meow—

Yoo Yeonha’s smartwatch meowed. She had personally set that ringtone and immediately checked the message from Chae Nayun.

[Hey, did you see the footage of our fight with the limestone golems?]

As expected, Chae Nayun asked about something completely random.

[Yeah, why?]

[Well, you see] [Um] [How do I say this] [Today…]

Chae Nayun bombarded her with messages.

Yoo Yeonha sighed. She knew what Chae Nayun wanted to ask.

[Are you talking about Kim Hajin saving you? The drones beautifully recorded it. He practically embraced you.]

[What… Why are you looking at that?]

[Because I have to write a report.]

Nowadays, drones arrived faster than heroes. They would be immediately deployed from the nearest hangar to verify incoming reports. Heroes only moved afterward. As such, drones had recorded the scene of Kim Hajin embracing Chae Nayun in high definition.

[Argh, don’t you dare spread it.]

[I won’t, hehe. So? Did you like it?]

[As if. Anyways, I’m going to a seminar next Tuesday with Kim Suho. Do you wanna come too?]

Chae Nayun quickly changed the subject. Yoo Yeonha briefly answered.

[No.]

[Shin Jonghak’s coming too.]

[Fine, I’ll go.]

Suddenly, a lion’s roar sounded from her smartwatch. A call came from Park Sangho. Yoo Yeonha casually picked it up.

“Yes, Park Sangho.”

— Um, Yeonha.

Park Sangho spoke in a hurry. Yoo Yeonha frowned as she listened to his explanation.

— Um, it looks like Jin-Ah messaged Hajin. Hajin said he’s quitting the Guild Experience Program because of it.

“What? Okay, I’m hanging up for now.”

Yoo Yeonha bit her lips and fumed.

That damned woman must've finally gone mad. We should be sweet-talking him to join us, but this is what she does?

Yoo Yeonha felt enraged for the first time in a while. Yi Jin-Ah always criticized her for every little thing, but Yoo Yeonha endured it because Yi Jin-Ah was competent. Yoo Yeonha didn’t act hostile since Yi Jin-Ah would eventually work under her. However, what she did today was unforgivable.

“I didn’t want to resort to this.”

Yoo Yeonha took a deep breath. She prepared her heart to maximize the effectiveness of this method. Just thinking about it made her blush, but she thickened her skin. Huuuu— Yoo Yeonha took three more breaths and made a call. The receiver picked up almost instantly. She twisted her tongue as much as she could.

“… Um, Daddy. Were you sleeping?”

***

The next morning, Yi Jin-Ah stood with a straight back in front of vice-leader Jung Chulsoo. She looked upset as she explained what happened.

“Well, no, you see, vice-leader, I did message him after he left, but…”

“So it’s true you privately messaged him. How did you even get his number?”

“Well, I have a friend who works in Cube as a vice-instructor.”

The vice-leader sighed.

“What a mess.”

“No, vice-leader, I swear I didn’t mean to threaten him.”

Yi Jin-Ah almost exploded from frustration.

“I didn’t explain in detail, so he might’ve misunderstood, but…”

— Um, cadet Hajin? This is Yi Jin-Ah, you saw me during the day. Can we talk? —Ah, right, you’re coming to the guild tomorrow anyways. Let’s talk then.

Yi Jin-Ah thought back to her message. It seemed the cadet misunderstood her intention.

“Then why were you trying to talk to him in private?”

Yi Jin-Ah hesitantly muttered.

“… I wanted to talk about a scholarship.”

“Shut it. The guild leader is going to meet with you in private.”

Yi Jin-Ah’s face distorted at a private meeting with the guild leader. An outsider would think that was a lighter punishment than a demotion or a reduced salary. However, no punishment was more fearsome than Essence of the Strait’s guild leader. Yi Jin-Ah swallowed hard.

“S-Spare me just this once.”

“I’d love to, but I have no choice. It’s an order from the guild leader.”

“No, please…”

Yi Jin-Ah desperately begged. She was only 25. The last thing she wanted was to meet the guild leader, which supposedly made one age by five years.

“It’s already decided. Go back.”

However, the decision was final. Yi Jin-Ah made a last-ditch effort.

“B-But come on! That kid isn’t up to our standards! He’s rank 934 for god’s sake! Even if he’s rank 1 in theory, he wouldn’t be here without his connection to Yoo Yeonha. A mere cadet shouldn’t be allowed to interfere with a guild’s administration!”

On the surface, everything she said sounded correct. Honestly, even the vice-leader doubted why they selected a rank 934 cadet.

“… Huuu.”

However, Yoo Jinwoong had cleared his doubts yesterday.

“You’ve heard of the mountain tyrant, correct?”

“Of course, do I look like a rookie?”

“Then you should know that we have the mountain tyrant’s vital point in our database.”

“Yes, although you wouldn’t tell me even if I asked.”

They kept data on high rank monsters like the mountain tyrant top-secret. Even within Essence of the Strait, no more than ten people had access to this information. Furthermore, those who knew were bounded by a magic contract.

“Come here.”

The vice-leader gestured with his hand as Yi Jin-Ah stiffly walked up to him. He whispered into her ear and she appeared dumbstruck.

“… Is that true?”

“Yes. Kim Hajin was the one who provided that information.”

“H-How?”

“This isn’t the first time we’ve seen an oddball among Cube cadets. I’m sure he analyzed it himself. It’s not like there aren’t videos of mountain tyrants. Didn’t you say so yourself? He’s rank 1 in theory.”

Yi Jin-Ah shut her mouth. It wouldn’t be impossible for someone so outstanding in problem-solving to find a few monsters’ vital points.

“Listen, this is why I always tell you not to judge people by their ranks. Ranks can’t fully encapsulate a cadet's abilities.”

“…”

Last hiring season, you told us to reject anyone below rank 100. Yi Jin-Ah pouted, but didn’t dare voice her thoughts.

“Just accept your punishment.”

“Ah…”

A private meeting with the guild leader meant a hellish, week-long training. This meeting didn’t violate the law under the pretense of training. Anyone would be happy to train under an expert like Yoo Jinwoong, so you couldn’t complain about it either. Yi Jin-Ah wouldn’t be against it if she could become stronger. However, she would only serve as a punching bag because of their wide gap in skills.

“… uck.”

“What uck?”

“… Nothing. I’ll be on my way.”

Yi Jin-Ah bowed and turned around.

“I hope to see a new you in a week.”

“…”

“I’m only doing this because I care. You might be afraid now, but it’s better than having it on your record.”

The vice-leader admonished her.

“Also, don’t even think about contacting him again.”

“I won’t.”

“Good. You can leave now.”

“Yeah, yeah.”

The vice-leader spoke one last time as she grabbed the doorknob.

“Ah, make sure you apologize to him before you leave for training.”

***

[You have obtained 89 SP!] [A lucky bonus has been applied! You have obtained 12 additional SP!]

“What now?”

I nervously looked at my laptop when an alert popped up. I didn’t know what happened, but I always welcomed more SP. However, I didn’t have time to celebrate.

“Huu.”

I sighed and refocused my attention. Currently, I planned on spending around 1500 SP to create a new gift. It wasn’t a gift related to physical abilities or magic power. I realized from my fight with the golems that my physical stats would always fall behind. I would rather invest in equipment than my body.

I wrote the following gift.

[Random Consolidation System] [Low rank] [Spirit attribute] — Scanning: Will scan the designated equipment. — Random Consolidation: Will enhance the scanned equipment by 1-100%. The consolidation will last for 24 hours, after which the boost percentage will be randomized once again. — Growth: You may spend SP to strengthen the gift, Random Consolidation System.

The gift would fully utilize my incredible luck stat. Enhancing a gun would strengthen its accuracy, recoil, rpm, firepower, and stability. Consolidating a vehicle would strengthen its sturdiness, speed, fuel consumption rate, and maneuverability among other things. It might seem completely reliant on luck, but my luck stat surpassed the human threshold. This gift would be extremely efficient.

“Let’s go.”

I felt more nervous than when I enhanced my equipment in games.

“May Lady Luck shine on me…”

Tap. I hit [save]. A message popped up.

[You do not have enough SP. The gift will be modified accordingly.] [An incredible luck has been applied! A portion of the gift has been restored.]

[Random Consolidation System] [Low rank] [Spirit attribute] — Scanning: Will scan up to five designated equipment at once. — Random Consolidation: Will enhance the scanned equipment by 1-44%. The consolidation will last for 24 hours, after which the boost percentage will be randomized once again. You may cancel an equipment consolidation, and it will return to normal in one hour. — Growth: You may spend SP to strengthen the gift, Random Consolidation System.

I wasn’t too happy, but my luck had already preserved some of its original effects. That meant the original was too strong, and I should be content with this.

“Hmm.”

I had racked my brains to come up with a new gift because of the message on my smartwatch.

[The Traveling Club will be heading to England next Friday.]

The next main story event had arrived. I picked up the magic sword from my drawer.

***

Rachel enjoyed the summer break in her room at the English Royal Court. She spent the entire day sleeping without studying, training, or facing any dangers.

“Uuun.”

The morning sunlight felt pleasant after 14 hours of sleep. Every day seemed brighter after seeing her future.

Tok tok—

Someone knocked on her door.

“Come in.”

Henry, the old butler of the English Royal Court, walked in. His hair had turned grey, but Rachel still felt more comfortable around him than her father.

“How was your time at Cube?”

“It was fine.”

Rachel replied with a smile. However, Henry knew the fears she suppressed in her heart.

“You don’t need to worry from now on. We made an agreement with Cube and will be sending a trustworthy agent.”

Rachel felt relieved and praised him with a gentle smile.

“Ah, about the cadet that saved Princess…”

He brought up the request she had personally made as soon as the final exam ended. Rachel’s ears perked up.

“The Royal Court will contact him soon.”

“Good.”

Rachel nodded in satisfaction. Of course, the English Royal Court wasn’t worth much compared to Korea. However, it was still competitive and had fairly distinguished heroes. It wasn’t a particularly enticing choice for the top 100 cadets, but Kim Hajin wasn’t in the top 100. He ranked strangely low at 934. However, his true strength was beyond that. Rachel recalled what happened that day. A single bullet blew away the assassin she struggled with.

Kim Hajin hid his true strength for some reason. Rachel felt happy since that meant fewer guilds would approach him. The English Royal Court held a special privilege that allowed them to recruit cadets before graduation. They could make recruitment offers without breaking the law.

“Thank you, Henry.”

“You're welcome. Please rest Princess.”

The butler left Rachel’s huge room. She didn’t have many fun things to do. The many Welsh Corgis in the garden seemed to hate her. Rachel went back to rolling around on her bed. Suddenly, she rubbed her belly. Her stomach felt flat with well-defined abs, nowhere big enough to carry a life. However, one day… one day… A shy smile bloomed on her face.