Chapter 38: New Environment (1)
“Congratulations on your performance in the tutorial. I’m Lee Sang-hee, and I’m in charge of this tutorial dungeon,” Lee Sang-hee’s tone was quite polite.
Upon looking at her quietly bowing her head and smiling slightly in our direction, I at least could see that Lee Sang-hee and the other people with her did not harbor hostile feelings toward us.
On the contrary, the atmosphere felt a little friendly.
“What do you mean by being in charge of the tutorial dungeon?”
“Take it by its literal meaning. As a sub-guild master of the Free Guild of the Benigoa Empire, Blue, I am managing the tutorial dungeon for this episode.”
“Do you mean you have called us here?”
“No. We are also in the same position as you. One day, I was suddenly summoned to a tutorial dungeon and went through the same test. We just came here a little earlier than you. I don’t know why this happened, or why the summoning ceremony began.”
“Well…”
“Our mission is to take you after this tutorial dungeon is over and rescue the survivors who are still inside. Moreover, it is important not only to adapt and educate you, who have to live in a new environment, but also to guarantee a basic living right.”
“You mean the basic living space?”
“Yeah. This is a basic living area.”
“I see. Does this mean that you can only enter this place after the attack is over?”
“That’s right. The tutorial dungeon door is open for about 3 days right after the attack. After exactly 3 days, the dungeon door will close again. We still haven’t figured out why, but… Anyway, you’re here. Let’s go inside before we divulge a more detailed story.”
Simply put, I felt dumbstruck. I had never imagined that I would be able to experience this kind of a world. Moreover, there was something about Lee Sang-hee’s attitude that I couldn’t fathom.
[Check player Lee Sang-hee’s status window and talent level.]
[Name-Lee Sang-hee]
[Title-Iron Blood]
[Age-33]
[ALIGNMENT-Ideal Mediator]
[Occupation-Sacred Knight]
[Occupational Effect-Acquisition of Basic Sword Skills]
[Occupational Effect-Acquisition of Basic Shield Knowledge]
[Occupational Effect-Intermediate Swordsmanship Knowledge Acquisition]
[Occupational Effect-Acquisition of Advanced Sword Skills]
[Occupational Effect-Acquisition of Basic Divine Knowledge]
[Occupational Effects-Intermediate Divine Knowledge Acquisition]
[Capacity]
[Strength -82/Growth Limit: Hero or higher]
[Dexterity-52Growth Limit: Rare or higher]
[Health-90/Growth Limit: Hero or less]
[Intellect -30/Growth Limit: Normal or less]
[Endurance-91/Growth Limit: Hero or higher]
[Good Luck -33/Growth Limit: Rare or less]
[Magic -77/Growth Limit: Rare or higher]
[Equipment]
[Saint Caliber-Hero class]
[Iron-Blooded Shield-Hero Grade-Knight Only]
[Strength Band-Rare Grade]
[Talent-Iron Blood]
[Overall review-The stats themselves are very good. It seems that she has already grown to some extent and has established herself. There is room for growth in the durability and strength stats, but other stats may be difficult to grow any further. It is by no means bad, but something is a bit disappointing. However, I don’t want you to ignore her. It is impossible to compare her with player Lee Ki-young.]
‘Ignore?’
Of course, I couldn’t just ignore her.
‘Monster.’
Even if we all tackled her now, we wouldn’t be able to do anything to her. The same went for the other people with her.
Judging from the stats, there was a difference between us that could not even be compared. If they wanted to, they could kill us in the blink of an eye.
Nevertheless…
‘Act friendly.’
I felt like I was acting too amicably. No, it felt like I was trying to lower my pride for the sake of pleasing them.
“Hwayeon?”
“Yeah.”
“Let me start searching for the survivors inside. It’ll take some time to find them.”
“Yes. Okay.”
Seeing the soldiers entering the dungeon, I thought it would only be a matter of time before all the other people, including Lee Ji-hye in the shelter, would be rescued.
Here, I could see people of all ethnicities, not just Koreans.
When I compared what we were wearing to theirs, it felt like it was us who had adapted to an outdated style, while they were the modernized people. They probably thought of themselves as the locals of this world.
While walking on the street and looking around warily, Lee Sang-hee opened her mouth to speak.
Kim Hyun-sung replied to her, and from my distance, it was hard to hear what they were talking about. I thought that it would be better to listen to their conversations and gather information rather than participate in the conversation in person, so I drew nearer and quietly listened to their voices.
“You seem to have completed the attack very quickly.”
“Isn’t it usually like this?”
“Yes. Usually, the attack ends in about six months. It is certainly unusual to complete a dungeon attack within three months. Perhaps the dungeons here were attacked much faster than the dungeons elsewhere.”
“Does that mean there are other dungeons?”
“Yes. Several tutorial dungeons are also managed by the Republic or Kingdom Alliance. In the Holy Empire of Benigore, where we belong, we manage a total of three tutorial dungeons. It’s not just Koreans. Races of various nationalities are usually summoned at their designated locations and take the tutorials.”
“I see. This is the fastest way for us to attack the dungeon.”
“For an easier explanation, then yes. It’s usually taboo to ask what happened inside, but I’m really curious about how you were able to break through it so quickly. That too… A small group of only four people.”
“There were many circumstances. It’s hard to tell everyone, but… There wasn’t a big crowd. It was a possible strategy because the people that’re with me - that is, Lee Kiyoung, Jung Hayan, and Park Deokgu - played their roles very efficiently. Oh, and there’s also a makeshift camp on the ground floor. Please rescue the personnel there as well.”
“Yeah?”
“It’s a shelter that we made. I took the survivors who I knew could fight, and I left people who couldn’t hunt. We ran a separate raid team. We’ve built and operated a bunch of walls in a safe place, so they’re probably still alive. We also made sure there was enough food.”
“Ah…” Lee Sang-hee once again sported an unreadable expression upon hearing Kim Hyunsung’s explanation.
‘Mm-hm,’ now, some things began to make sense to me. I was beginning to comprehend what exactly the circumstances surrounding us are.
“That… I see.”
Lee Sang-hee’s expression showed that she was struggling to keep up with the poker-faced façade.
‘Kim Hyun-sung, you fox.’
Perhaps the ace and protagonist of our party had been trying to hide his true power by disguising it with verbal humility and commendable acting.
As I swung back and looked at the tutorial dungeon, I saw people back from the dungeon appearing one by one.
They seemed to be the types of people who chose to hide by themselves, not with the group we had left.
Of course, that didn’t mean that they could maintain their bravado. Some people were crying, and others were anxiously asking where this place was. It was normal to feel this way, after all.
Even the attitudes of those who were armed compared to others who weren’t, were strangely different from this debacle.
They all looked a little coercive, and were looking down.
“Where is this? I thought… why…?”
“Mom… Mom… Uh huh…”
“This will allow us to regroup later right away. I’ll give you a valid explanation later. First, we must go outside together. Hey! Hey there! Can you not quiet down?!”
“Hey! Where are we?! Where is this place?!”
“Hey! Let us out now! ”
“Let us go!”
“Wow… Where is this?”
“I told you that I can give explanations once we have all been settled down. Please control yourselves. First of all, you must all calm down! You are safe. There is no more danger. Please calm down.”
‘Good.’
How they treated the other survivors were totally different from how they had treated us. After all, theirs were the general reactions.
It would be common to cry, blow, and panic asking for help. However, our party was a little different.
Kim Hyunsung, who seemed too calm, as well as Jung Hayan, were just sticking to my side and were not responding to the new and noisier environment.
The same could be said for Park Deokgu, which was a surprise considering his stressful tendency to relentlessly ask questions.
From Lee Sang-hee’s point of view, it might be a little embarrassing to show our true, weird personalities at this point in time.
After all, this was the party that had cleared the tutorial dungeons spread all over the world in the shortest time, and with only four people!
That wasn’t even all.
In addition to being visibly calm, we had also used our wits enough to form a makeshift shelter for the rest of our fellow survivors.
I understand how Lee Sang-hee could also feel embarrassed upon her initial treatment of us.
The way they regarded us differed from how they treated those who chose to ‘survive’ without fighting, hiding, and running away.
Just by participating as a target team in the first place meant that you could adapt well to this environment.
If this was a system that centered on a republic and on guilds, then the locals here must have been looking for people who could conform to their society. I didn’t know if this was an appropriate example, but it was like we were rookie sports players whose worth had all risen, and people like Lee Sang-hee were the clubs that were trying to scout us.
Assuming that there weren’t many players like us, there was one thing you can expect if the number of clubs was high.
‘We are the best.’
Right now, we were the rare players they needed on the team. This would also explain why Kim Hyunsung was trying his best to hide his true talent until now.
Like a cunning fox, it seemed that he wanted to raise our worth even higher by explaining what we had done in a manner that seemed as if doing all these was natural to us.
If you were going to sell, you might as well bring up the price to the highest attainable range.
Of course, there was no way for us to know what Kim Hyunsung’s plan was right now, but I knew it had something to do with how we were going to be regarded in this world.
I couldn’t help but smile.
‘Feel so good. I knew I made the right choice.’
“Come in.”
The room where Lee Sang-hee guided us to had a luxurious interior. Its design was so colorful and vibrant that it was hard to believe something like this could be situated so near a dull dungeon.
“The drink… Oh, if necessary, we will serve you meals as well.”
“Do you have anything we can eat?”
“Yeah. It’s a little different from what you eat on Earth, but it’s probably much better than what you eat in the dungeon.”
“Then please.”
The blue flag and props in the room seemed to try their best to show the status of the blue guild managing this dungeon as much as they possibly could.
I felt like I’d been too observant today.
I also didn’t know what my next plan would be. Do I try to make myself seem as elusive as possible to increase my own worth? But then again, what about Kim Hyunsung’s plan?
“Ah. Come to think of it, I didn’t catch your names. If it isn’t too much of a bother, may I ask for your names?”
“I am Kim Hyunsung. I am a prosecutor.”
It was quite surprising to hear Hyunsung state his job so casually.
Park Deokgu and Jung Hayan both took this as encouragement to introduce themselves right away.
“Shield soldier, Park Deokgu.”
“I am called Jung, Jung Hayan. My job is a wizard…”
Naturally, Lee Sang-hee’s gaze fell upon me.
I wondered if it would be good to hide my job, but I decided that it was not necessary for the moment.
Thinking that it would be better to join this rank of ransom raising, I nodded before speaking.
“Lee Ki-young. I am an alchemist.”
Only
Unlike the other three, I was already on my second job.
While I thought this would prove to be satisfactory to hear, Lee Sang-hee’s regretful expression seemed to tell me otherwise.
‘Huh?’
Her expression was a dead giveaway. It disappeared as quickly as it had come, but thanks to my observing skills, it was impossible for me not to catch it.
“Ah, that sounds sweet. You’re already on your 2nd job change…” her tone of voice was different from the awe-inspiring one I was hoping for.
Naturally, I looked towards Kim Hyunsung.
‘You said being an alchemist would be good, you bad guy…’