Chapter 29: Screw It

The room grew silent.

Lein shrunk back, and Jin-kyung patted him in the back as a way to console him. Of course, that gesture was quickly removed. Lein's face flushed since he wasn't used to physical contact.

"Well.. All of us have been marked by the Association in one way or another. Security breach, illegal bargaining, misuse of power, blah blah blah.. all sorts of charges. If we wanted to get that golden spot, none of us would make it in there," Lein's eyes were fixed onto his device, which was a tablet.

"Golden spot? Don't joke around with me. You out of all people should've found out how dangerous that place is. Even if Blythe himself went in, he wouldn't get out unscratched. Athena is driving themselves into their deaths," Sung-ha jeered.

Lein had focused himself on researching the dungeon within the possible maximum limits. He found out that it was a peculiar A-rank.

It was very unstable. As if it could explode any time and release the swarm of monsters entrapped inside that membrane to the world.

The Association must've noticed the same thing. There was still no way to determine the number of monsters inside a dungeon. It was possible to predict some of the monster type, but even that wasn't accurate.

It was worrying.

That was when Lein discovered a new piece of information after executing his special 'research'.

"..About that, Blythe.. He will participate in the run too," Lein claimed.

Lein cleared his throat. He swiped on his screen, switching the display to a list of information on the A-ranked dungeon.

Sung-ha crossed his legs, knowing that the young man had more information with him. He waited to listen to what Lein had to say next.

"The list of people who got the five spots.. [Magnus]' big shot, [Jung Jae-hoon] is coming,"

"[Red Hyacinth]. The famous mage [Maya] is taking on the challenge,"

"From the [Clear Streams Group], Rivera Pharmaceuticals' daughter [Cielle] is personally going for 'battle experience',"

"Finally, [Evergarden]... I didn't get to find out who they sent. Maybe they haven't decided yet,"

Each and every single one of the groups mentioned were popular teams in South Korea. The representatives were understandable.

Some of them, [Jung Jae-hoon] and [Cielle] to be specific, were rookies who shared a similar fate with Han Seong-woo. Their brilliance overshadowed a major part of the Hunter community, and they thrived in every single second of their newly formed career.

The others, like [Maya] is an expert just a level below Blythe and his ranks. She was one of the first Korean Hunters who treaded into the realms of A-rank. She wielded explosive fire magic, burning all of her enemies down to ashes. She was known as the best area attacker, able to bring down hundreds of lower-leveled enemies with just one strike.

"It'll be funny if Savior-nim got in!" Jin-kyung giggled. "Ah, was I not supposed to say that? Hihi!"

Her voice broke the serious atmosphere. She was not taking the situation with care at all. Moreover, her innuendos were off.

Jin-kyung didn't really like fighting in the first place, so the people fighting for this chance to fight didn't make sense to her.

"Jin-kyung, can you recall what I said to you last month when you had a fight with Lein?" Arin flashed a smile that didn't reach her eyes at all.

It was the dead look of someone who was stressed out by a thousand different matters and was on the verge of giving up. In Arin's case, however, it was likely that she wouldn't 'give up' in a normal way.

Perhaps, violence would solve the case.

"Umm... You have an exceptional power to hurt others with kind words, use it wisely.." Jin-kyung mumbled, remembering what Arin had taught her a while back. "..Does that mean I hurt Savior-nim with my words? Oh no! I'm sorry, Savior-nim! I didn't think you would be hurt with just some simple, harmless words I harnessed!!"

"There you have it. Another light blow," Yoo Jin clapped, observing Jin-kyung like she was an exotic animal. The woman was simply too interesting.

"Eh? What?"

"Nothing. There was absolutely nothing wrong. Lein, continue reporting," Arin cracked her knuckles, creating a sound that somehow brought chills to the surrounding party.

"Even if I beat this child a thousand times, she still wouldn't get it.. She still wouldn't get it.. Calm down, Arin. Violence is useless in this case.." Such were her silent whispers.

Aria chuckled, taking a bite out of the cheesecake served on the table.

"Then.. the last spot. The fifth person, if we want to get in.. we're competing with the *cough* [Merciless Janitor] group, [We Don't Know Karate] group, [Butters Don't Fly] group..."

"Ha? What's with those shitty names?" Sung-ha frowned.

"Each group's leader has a special attraction to the items.. One's a janitor, the other likes to wear Karate clothes, and one likes puns.." Lein whispered. He was embarrassed just by saying the group names.

Another moment of silence enveloped them.

"B-but their probable representatives are at least high B-rank. This fifth spot will be the weakest out of all, I presume," he continued.

"It's not like there's no solution to this problem, but.. Someone needs to be the bait.. a sacrificial lamb," Arin rolled her eyes, clearly sick and tired over this miniscule dungeon matter. "Aria is our one and only ticket to the gate," she added.

Indeed, the other active members were out of the question. Golden Insignia hasn't been recognized by the Association, all members had bad records, but Aria was different.

Being a new member of unknown origins, she had no dirt to her name.

It would be hard to attain the needed qualifications, but the world itself hadn't progressed as much as she thought.

At least, nobody had reached the pinnacle. The power levels were still in the normal realms, nothing too far fetched. They might be stronger than her now, but she could catch up.

She was now Level 27 after harsh grinding in the scarce dungeons. She had to clear nine dungeons just for that progress, which vexed her.

The only comforting thing was that no other <Player> approached neither her or Yoo Jin. Two months had passed, so the alarms and sensors stopped ringing.

If you took it into perspective, it made sense. Two new <Players> emerged from South Korea. In a similar area, too.

That's two out of seven.

If another <Player> was readily inside the scope of South Korea, it would be strange.

From here, it could be deduced that the other <Players> were out of the country. Either they were too lazy to go to South Korea just to escort the newbies to their 'fates', or that they weren't hostile. Or maybe, there was another reason.

No matter what, their progress were going smoothly without any hinders no.

Adapting to the world and merging with the modern life. Aria now even had a proper room, device, and a whole wardrobe full of suitable clothes.

She had money too, although she still didn't possess legal documents. Apparently, Lein could forge them for her. He only needed time because other pressing matters were there.

"But didn't you say that only teams that has relations with the Association could get the spot?" Aria asked.

"I... No, it's more like -we- have connections. If you're able to best the other candidates, I can get you in," Lein replied. "You'll become some random team's temporary member. It can be faked,"

Lein was a pro at these things.

"..I see. Can you tell me who the strongest candidate I'm supposed to battle with is?" Aria nodded, contemplating hard.

The offer was enticing.

This dungeon was related to a Quest. Aria wanted to participate, but at the same time, she wondered if it was too high of a level for the current her.

'Am I dumb for trying to put myself in a life and death situation again and again?' Aria laughed at herself internally.

Perhaps she was indeed stupid. Even so, her self-confidence was too high. It might kill her one day, though.

"To be frank, you are sufficiently strong the way you are right now. A little bit more and maybe you'll be able to step into the realms of A-rank, albeit the low tiers. I would rate yourself as mid tier B-rank right now, honestly." Arin commented.

"That's.. pretty high, right?" Aria was surprised. She hadn't learned much about the Hunter classes because she had a completely different judging system based on her past common sense.

She didn't imagine that she would already be B-ranked. To her, the current power she wielded was only slightly better than the average human. Only because she possessed the skills necessary to harness a power was she able to compete with people of higher tiers.

"Yes it is. To be frank, the <Players> can't be judged with our normal standards. You and Yoo Jin started with low stats, but you're able to grow exponentially once you gain these 'status points'. You can do it," Arin added to her statement.

Aria acknowledged her privilege and benefits as a <Player>. The System was convenient, and she was indeed progressing at a ridiculous pace.

"If I can qualify, I'd like to try," Aria proclaimed.

Her competitors were a bit above her, but that difference can be overtaken with ease.

"...Really," Sung-ha gave her the side eye. His overall mood seemed to say that he thought Aria was an eccentric creature. With low intelligence, too.

The dangers were told to her from the very start, but she still wanted to try.

Perhaps the <Player> quest affected Aria's decision, but she genuinely wanted to do the task.

"It's like that phrase you like to say... Screw it. Screw everything," Aria snickered.

Sung-ha may have anger issues, but he did care about the team. Even to Aria.

In a dungeon, Aria once placed herself in danger. Sung-ha, who didn't know that Aria had a certain cheat called the [Armor Break] skill panicked and rushed frantically, shouting her name in madness.

Through that experience, at least Aria learned that the man did have true compassion.

"Trust me, Leader," Aria said.