CH 268

His conversation with Byeok gave Chi-Woo a lot to think about, especially what he was going to do from now on. Being strong didn’t only involve physical strength. He also needed to consider others besides himself. There were plenty of people who were working for the same goal and purpose as him, and he needed to work with them. Though training independently was good, he needed to find companions and build connections before it was too late. And to do this, Chi-Woo needed to raise his tier first.

Chi-Woo already threw away his plan to save up his merits and use it all for later. After seeing that his physical ranks didn’t go up even after training so hard, Chi-Woo realized how inefficient and wasteful he had been with his time. Furthermore, he could no longer ignore the perks of having abilities in his user information. Tiers not only expressed how strong an ability or person was, but they were also equated to influence in the hero world.

Besides Ru Amuh, Chi-Woo needed to gather six more people for his group. He would probably have a hard time gaining the trust of other people by maintaining the lowest tier of Iron IV. Byeok agreed and said that he should reach at least gold tier to increase his influence. Chi-Woo was confident in terms of raising his tier since the number of merits he’d collected so far was enormous, and he had several exemptions for promotion tests. He decided to go to La Bella to raise his tier right away, but Byeok stopped him.

She said that would make things too boring and proceeded to say that while she acknowledged his exemptions for promotion tests, he shouldn’t touch his merits yet, and should instead try to amass new ones.

“Didn’t I tell you before? Your training isn’t over yet.”

Chi-Woo was a bit taken aback to hear this. It wasn’t easy to increase a tier. Though he earned a great number of merits thanks to the recent war, the number of heroes at gold tier was still very small. Chi-Woo worried about how long it would take him to reach that tier going forward, but Byeok simply responded with a carefree smile.

“Try it first and complain later,” Byeok said and even got a request for him to fulfill. No, anyone would be hard-pressed to call it a request since it wasn’t a personal one, nor one officially advertised by the guild association, but an inquiry for help for the natives. Instead of an official request, it was basically just an extra workload.

Nevertheless, the request was as followed: like how heroes had to make monthly payments, natives also had work quotas to meet every month. For example, farmers needed to pay a specific amount of crops during harvest time. And recently, a new work opportunity came up for the natives: it was to cultivate the land outside the city. Since Shalyh was densely populated, residents were turning to lands outside the city. This became possible since they were able to ensure more safety after the war. And thus, the Cassiubia League asked the humans to turn the areas in the city’s vicinity into usable lands.

The natives understood that it was difficult to get more help in the city, and that they needed to do the work on their own. However, the work was tough and difficult. They had quotas to meet and a considerable size of land to cultivate, which made them worry about all sorts of things.

“Go and help them to the best of your abilities,” Byeok told him.

Chi-Woo didn’t know why Byeok would hand him a task like this, but he followed the order since it came from his master. He staggered to the area and picked up a shovel. And while he did this, many people stared and whispered around him. Chi-Woo felt a bit embarrassed, but he didn’t concern himself with their attention. After the time he spent with Byeok, he now trusted his master. Doing what she told him to do was what allowed him to become one with his surroundings; Chi-Woo supposed that Byeok must have her reason for ordering him to do this.

Thinking this, Chi-Woo dug into the ground. He felt the rough and heavy soil through his shovel, but it wasn’t hard to dig through it.

But then Chi-Woo wondered, ‘What is the best way to dig this soil…?’ And he looked intently at his shovel.

First of all, he shouldn’t use his exorcism mana and only his physical abilities. Furthermore, he should figure out more efficient ways to do the same work rather than working mindlessly. Thus, Chi-Woo dug at the ground again with the new skills he learned; then the ground began to break apart like soft soil. He didn’t even need to exert much energy. Yes. Rather than overcomplicating things, it was best to think simply. Chi-Woo smiled and lost himself in his work.

Some time afterward.

“Huh, what?”

“What is it?”

The natives who had been glancing at Chi-Woo furtively murmured. It was because Chi-Woo was beginning to bulldoze through the field in a straight line while digging through the ground. There was no pause in his movements, and he moved like fish in water. All the natives stopped to stare at Chi-Woo.

“Ha!” It was then an old man exclaimed. The other natives bowed and backed away when they saw the old man. He had been in charge of managing the land cultivation and was acknowledged by the natives and even the Cassiubia League as a legendary farmer. But even such a man couldn’t hide his astonishment when seeing Chi-Woo’s work. The ditches were just the right width and depth, and as if they were copied and pasted from each other, they were all identical to one another.

“Ha…how could he move like that…?”

Chi-Woo looked as if he was one with the soil. Seeing that, a feeling that the old man had forgotten for a long time began to stir inside him again. The old man wasn’t a hero. He was nothing more than a country farmer who lived all his life tending the soil. Thus, he was more knowledgeable and experienced in dealing with the ground than anyone else. He was the expert among the experts who had lived as part of the earth all his life. Thus, unable to tamp down his competitive spirit, the old man shouted with great vigor.

“Bring me my shovel this instant!”

“B-But sir?”

“Quit fussing! How can I stay put when seeing moves like that!” The old man yelled and began to dig the ground next to Chi-Woo. Though the old man quickly caught up to Chi-Woo, he couldn’t hide his shock. He had honed his skills and techniques through many decades, yet Chi-Woo didn’t fall behind in any aspect compared to him. The first day ended in a tie. Though Chi-Woo had his abilities, the old man’s farming skills, refined over the years, were also formidable.

The problem was his stamina. The old man was able to endure through pure grit and passion in the first three days, but after four days, he started to feel the limit of his strength. The winner was decided on the fifth day, and the old man crumbled in the end.

“Kuh!”

“Are you all right, sir!?”

“Kuhhhh! If only I were 10 years younger… Time is so cruel…!”

As the natives carried him away, the old man lamented why the heavens had birthed him in the first place and created a man like the one currently digging the soil. There was a small commotion, but Chi-Woo was already far from the scene by then.

‘It’s helping me train better than I expected,’ Chi-Woo thought. Though he was repeating simple movements, the task was surprisingly hard to carry out. First of all, maintaining oneness with his surroundings consumed a huge amount of his concentration and skills. And continuing that for several days was even more of a strain. Chi-Woo wiped the sweat from his face and clutched his shovel again.

‘More…!’

‘A bit more…!’

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‘More, more, more!’

And progress usually came unexpectedly.

[User Choi Chi-Woo’s durability increases from rank C -> B]

Chi-Woo stopped moving. He stared at the message hovering in the air. He had felt that he was at the edge of rank C for his physical ability, but since it didn’t increase in rank no matter how much he tried, Chi-Woo simply thought it wasn’t an easy task to surpass human limits. Nevertheless, it turned out none of his efforts was a waste of time. After everything he had done, he finally succeeded in surpassing the critical point, rank C. All his hard work was finally coming to light now, and Chi-Woo was glad that he trained without missing a day. Still, he didn’t expect the change to suddenly come like this.

‘Wow…’ Chi-Woo felt astonished. He had surpassed rank C, which was one that ordinary humans barely managed to reach after training all their lives. It seemed he’d accomplished what should’ve taken him decades. Furthermore, Chi-Woo was especially happy that he was able to save extra merits that he would’ve needed to raise his physical abilities.

‘But it’s not over yet!’ Only his durability had gone up to rank B. He couldn’t be satisfied with that. With that thought, Chi-Woo raised his arm as he clutched the shovel.

***

Shalyh was a city that both humans and the Cassiubia League managed together. Chi-Hyun was in charge of administrative matters in the official residence, but the Cassiubia League also had jurisdiction over this area. And recently, there was something the Cassiubia League was stunned about. After the Demon Empire backed away, they were able to expand their territories and progressed with a plan to cultivate the lands there. Since it was quite a large project, they set the deadline to give it a long period.

Yet the speed at which this project progressed was insane—there was no other way to describe it. The administrators received reports every day and thought the reports were lying considering the number of people they assigned to the project. Unable to believe the numbers, the Cassiubia League administrators checked the site themselves and were shocked to see a vast field of cultivated land with Chi-Woo in the center. Not only were they shocked that a hero was working alongside the natives, but they were also able to confirm the truth of the reports and were impressed by Chi-Woo’s work.

Valuing his ability to work highly, the Cassiubia League administrators asked Chi-Woo if he had any desire to do a new line of work. The speed and quality of his work were so outstanding that they wanted to make more job offers for him. Chi-Woo had no reason to turn them down given the good payments the Cassiubia League promised him out of consideration of him being a hero.

That day, Chi-Woo went to the construction site of a gateway connecting Shalyh city to a crossroad. The same thing that happened in the field occurred there.

“W-What? They already ran out of materials?” Mangil, the buhguhbu craftsman, felt like he was going crazy from the workload these days. Since his tribe was called the blacksmiths of the Cassiubia League, he also did work such as providing materials for buildings and construction sites. Several days ago, he had been getting constant requests that they were out of materials and needed more. Just today, he got five requests for more materials. What was this change all of a sudden? He was making the same amount of materials as usual, and he knew the number of people working at the construction site was the same as before. Mangil couldn’t understand what was going on.

“It’s only yesterday that I replenished the materials. You bastards, are you secretly taking the materials and selling them somewhere?” Mangil finally burst out in annoyance after the constant pressure to meet demand and decided to check out the scene for himself.

“…”

Then he became at a loss for words when he saw some crazy bastard carry a dozen of boulder-sized bricks in each hand and hop around like a cricket.

“This is…mad…”

The bricks in Chi-Woo’s hands didn’t shake in the slightest even when he moved around wildly. It didn’t seem to make sense. Thus, when Mangil returned to his workshop, he gathered everyone there and shouted, “What are you guys all doing!”

Buhguhbus were both warriors and blacksmiths, and they also had very strong pride as craftsmen. Failing to meet demands was something that hurt their pride.

“Are you all going to lose to these bastards? Quickly move!!” Mangil rolled up his sleeves and heaved. He would see this competition to the end. And like that, the workshop began to light up with passion and fury. Of course, the person who had caused all this, Chi-Woo, had no idea what was going on. He simply smiled at the new message that popped up in front of him.

[User Choi Chi-Woo’s stamina increases from rank C -> B]

***

Not long after that, Chi-Woo became jobless. He was chased away from the construction site he was working at. Chi-Woo thought he worked quite hard and had no clue about the cause of his unemployment. Even when he went to the administrators, he simply got a vague response like, ‘A crow-tit tried to walk like a stork and broke his legs. Because of that, the supply side got cut off, and the construction time ended up prolonged.’

Chi-Woo got a hefty sum that surpassed the amount they promised him as severance pay, and for some reason, the Cassiubia League begged him to not provoke the buhguhbus any more than this. Thus, Chi-Woo quietly backed away.

‘What should I do now…?’ he wondered when a group of heroes approached him.

“Are you the hero named Chi-Woo?”

Chi-Woo asked how they knew him, and they replied that they heard the rumors. The name Chi-Woo was circulating around the Cassiubia League, so it naturally reached the heroes who were sensitive to information. Most of the heroes paid no more attention outside of wondering why in the world a hero would be farming, but there were others who were more curious. A hero who revealed his name to be Piripara told Chi-Woo his purpose for coming to see him.

“We are planning to patrol the borders around the Demon Empire.”

Hearing this, Chi-Woo was surprised.

“The Demon Empire’s borders?”

“Yes. Though the Demon Empire backed away, nobody knows what’s happening there. So, we’re going to survey their movements, and if there’s anything off going on, we are going to deal with it.”

“You would have to go pretty deep into the area in that case. You must know the Demon Empire retreated quite far away after the war.”

“…Of course. But it can’t be helped.” Piripara responded with a bitter smile.

“But aren’t you in the same situation as us? It sounds like you also have good abilities. Rather than earning little bits of merits at a time doing menial work, it would be better for you to work with us.”

It was then Chi-Woo realized the heroes’ situation. Though most heroes rose a rank after the war, not everyone’s situation had changed dramatically. Almost everyone ranking up meant the standards were raised altogether. Thus, while heroes at bronze tier were treated fairly well before the mass migration to Shalyh city, they now lagged behind in the competition. And this difference was increasing over time since humanity’s progress was centered around the Celestial Lights, who came to Liber after receiving backups from their families. And requests that gave the best rewards such as merits and money were being given to them as priorities. Thus, many people aimed to join the Celestial Lights, and those who did were given good opportunities to grow, while those who weren’t chosen were doomed to fall behind just like the heroes in front of Chi-Woo.

Knowing that they had to do something, such heroes were struggling to go up. They even accepted missions that didn’t guarantee money or merits and risked great dangers. And realizing the situation they were in, Chi-Woo accepted their request without much contemplation. The greatest thing Chi-Woo gained from Byeok’s teachings was to think for himself, and Chi-Woo knew he was different from these heroes. Although these heroes had to risk their lives for this mission, that wasn’t the case for him. Even if a great demon appeared, he would be fine.

His master said it was fine to lift the seals on his user information if his life was in danger. Furthermore, Chi-Woo was confident that he could easily defeat dozens of demonic creatures or an army of demons with one hand even in his current state. Yet Chi-Woo didn’t do that. He knew fighting demonic creatures wouldn’t help him much, while the heroes with him were very desperate for merits. Thus, when they happened to run into any wandering enemy, Chi-Woo didn’t step forward to defeat them, but watched the situation from afar. Like when his teacher manipulated his environment whenever she taught him, Chi-Woo also ran around and swayed the battle so the heroes wouldn’t fall into serious danger. Thanks to that, the heroes were able to focus on the battle without losing their lives. And as such incidents repeated, progress naturally followed.

“Thank you. Thanks to you, I am able to try for silver tier.”

Now there were heroes who were given promotion tests, contracts with a god, succeeded in rising in tier, and so on. Each one of them jumped up and down in joy and expressed deep gratitude to Chi-Woo. Then, they said they would look for an activity more fitting of their current tiers and left the group. Some insulted them for being opportunistic, but Chi-Woo didn’t blame them. He thought it was only natural and actually good for them to act in this manner. Besides, there were many heroes who fell behind the rest, and it was easy for Chi-Woo to find them and fill up the team. As rumors of his deed spread, there were many who came to seek him.

Chi-Woo worked restlessly to help these heroes grow. And the heroes were no fools. Whether they were traditional or modern heroes, they were all given the title ‘hero’ in the end. They possessed skills and experience more outstanding than Chi-Woo expected, and they quickly caught on that Chi-Woo was doing his best to help them when he had no reason to. Thus, eventually, Chi-Woo gained a nickname; all the heroes Chi-Woo had helped began to feel beyond goodwill but plain admiration for Chi-Woo.

Of course, there was the fact that they were saved thanks to him, but Chi-Woo also had an earnest, polite personality. Even when he was on the side granting them a favor, he didn’t exploit their weaknesses, never strayed away from hard work, and led by example. Above all, Chi-Woo respected them as a fellow hero. As Chi-Woo treated them with kindness and respect, others did the same for him. And soon, among the heroes who fell behind, Chi-Woo began to be called the ‘godfather’.

Time passed, and Chi-Woo’s name began to spread from the natives to the Cassiubia League, and finally to the humans.

***

Rumors spread inside Shalyh city like wildfire. It was about a hero who used to be in the lowest tier Iron IV, but in just two weeks, he managed to reach silver tier. Those who heard the rumors had a hard time believing it. Even if this was the truth, most said that the hero must’ve saved up a considerable amount of merits beforehand; the speed at which he rose in tiers was way too great. Even Ru Amuh, who was called the Hope among ordinary heroes, wasn’t at such a level.

And heroes who succeeded in establishing their factions quickly moved to confirm these rumors. They thought it couldn’t be, but the news would be huge if true. This hero was possibly a bigger star that surpassed Ru Amuh, and they planned to recruit him at all costs.

And the center of these rumors, Chi-Woo, currently had one knee on the ground with his head lowered.

—I declare in the name of La Bella.

A smooth voice rang in the white space.

—I acknowledge user Choi Chi-Woo’s passing of his promotion test and expect him to perform according to his current tier, gold.