Chapter 148.

The introductory cinematic trailer was conceptually simple .

With imposing music in the background, a desolate wasteland appeared on screen .

Tap, tap .

Soon, clear footsteps rang out, and a man stood on top of a desert hill . Although his face was covered, his jet-black armor and cigarette left a powerful impression .

Next, the man spat out his cigarette and held up an assault rifle .

The camera angle then changed, showing several hundred monsters of all ranks and types rushing towards him .

Click—

A magazine clicked into the assault rifle, and the man aimed his gun forward .

From the horizon, hundreds of monsters were running towards him like a tidal wave .

However, the man faced them with a single gun .

Tudududu—

Light flashed from the assault rifle .

The bullets he fired took a mysterious course . Almost as if they were alive, they curved in all directions despite being fired in a straight line .

The man fired mercilessly . Metallic sound rang out from all the bullet casings hitting the ground, yet the man took not even a second to empty a clip and reload . The thunderous gunshot sounds never ceased .

Tudududu—

Leaving behind white trails of light, hundreds of bullets shot forward like shooting stars . This barrage of bullets completely decimated the fierce tidal wave of roaring monsters .

…Soon, the desert turned silent .

The video ended with the man sighing and looking at the camera . Shown behind him were corpses of monsters stacked up like a mountain .

“… . ”

Seeing the powerful ending of the video, Yoo Yeonha got goosebumps on her skin . As expected of the world’s greatest mercenary group, their marketing tactic was just as spectacular .

…Of course, she had to admit that it was cringy .

But when it came to PR videos, being cringy was better than lacking .

[I just saw the cinematic trailer . My fingers and toes are curled in . ]

Although the man’s face was completely covered, Yoo Yeonha could tell that he was Kim Hajin .

Kim Hajin quickly replied to the message she sent .

[ ㅋㅋI just did what I was told . By the way, that’s not scripted . We actually went to Africa to take it . ]

[Africa?]

[Yep . ]

More than half of Africa was dominated by monsters .

Although Northern Saharan countries like Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Libya, and Egypt were still under humanity’s control, Southern and sub-Saharan Africa were ‘human extinction zones’ .

The lands there belonged to monsters with only the law of the jungle prevailing .

[Was it Northern or Southern Sahara Desert?]

[Northern, obviously . Monsters in the South are all strong . ]

[I guess you’re right . Ah, have you met the Monster Lord?]

Yoo Yeonha asked jokingly .

All sorts of monstrous tales came from Southern and sub-Saharan Africa . The most famous tale was the existence of a [Monster Lord] .

According to this tale, there existed a Monster Lord with an intelligence rivaling that of a humans’ with subordinates of equally capable intelligence . Supposedly, they would gather up Africa’s monsters and attack humanity .

[No, but you’ll be able to see the Monster Lord yourself in ten years . ]

[But how did you know about the Monster Lord?]

“Pft . ”

Yoo Yeonha laughed . Kim Hajin sounded serious, but he had to be kidding, right?

She changed the subject without much thought .

[Oh right, thank you for the ginseng you sent recently . ]

[Sent? You mean sold . ]

[It’s the same thing . Thanks to you, we’re almost ready to announce our new potion . It’ll be Essential Pharmacy’s official debut item . I’m sure it will turn the field upside down . ]

[Congrats, that means the stocks I have will go up . Oh right, call me when you’re doing testing for that potion . I’ll do it for free . ]

[Hm? No, it’s fine…]

When Yoo Yeonha was texting excitedly to the point that other apprentices were starting to get suspicious, Yi Jin-Ah came back .

“Ah, sorry, I got distracted for a moment . ”

With that, she made a bitter smile .

Yoo Yeonha wrapped up her conversation with Kim Hajin and turned her smartwatch off .

“So uh… where were we? Oh yeah, guys! Say hi to our new apprentices . ”

Yi Jin-Ah turned around and yelled at the Heroes staring at the computer .

“Oh~? They’re pretty cute . Good luck, kids . ”

“Hit us up if you need any help . ”

“You know that we’re rank 1, right? You have to work hard if you want to survive here~”

They each sent encouraging words to the apprentices .

Of course, they didn’t forget to bow secretly when they met Yoo Yeonha’s eyes .

“Alright, let’s leave . It looks like the lounge is going to be packed today . Let’s see… ah, let’s go to my office . ”

Yi Jin-Ah led the apprentices out .

**

On the other hand, Kim Suho and Yi Yeonghan were standing in front of Creator’s Sacred Grace’s entrance .

Whish—

Cold wind sent dry leaves blowing across the entrance .

“You should really treat me well . ”

Yi Yeonghan spoke as he nudged Kim Suho .

Justifiably, Kim Suho and Yi Yeonghan were the only cadets who chose Creator’s Sacred Grace . If it wasn’t for Kim Suho persuading him, Yi Yeonghan would have chosen Essence of the Strait too .

“When did I ever not treat you well? You got rank 8 all thanks to me . Because I helped you train . ”

“Oh please, you ran away to Baekdu Mountain for summer break . ”

“…Still . ”

At one point, Creator’s Sacred Grace had fallen all the way down to rank 20 . Now, with the new leader Yun Seung-Ah’s reformations and successful Dungeon campaigns, they had climbed back up to rank 13 .

Even so, cadets didn’t choose Creator’s Sacred Grace . Although Creator’s Sacred Grace threw away their pride and selected cadets under rank 100, none of the cadets chose them .

In a way, cadets couldn’t be blamed . There was simply no reason for them to choose Creator’s Sacred Grace, which was still under the scrutiny of the public, while there were fancier, more stable choices .

“Let’s go in . ”

“Ah~ my future is going to be ruined because of you . ”

“Oh please, what matters is what kind of a Hero you become . Is it really important what guild you’re in?”

“Of course it is, you bastard…”

While Kim Suho and Yi Yeonghan were arguing…

“Kim Suho-ssi, Yi Yeonghan-ssi . ”

A soft voice shook their ears .

They immediately stopped arguing and turned around .

There, they saw the guild leader Yun Seung-Ah .

“Thank you for choosing Creator’s Sacred Grace . ”

Even with her status as the guild leader, she had come out to greet apprentice heroes .

Ssss—

At that moment, a gentle breeze softly blew . Yun Seung-Ah’s long hair fluttered in the air, a sweet scent spread out, and a blooming smile emerged on her face .

The two men found themselves frozen by her blinding beauty .

“…To think the guild leader would come out to greet us . This is quite nice . ”

After murmuring quietly, Yi Yeonghan ran up to Yun Seung-Ah .

“Guild leader Yun Seung-Ah~! I’m a big fan of yours—!”

**

…2027, August 10th .

Chameleon Troupe’s hideout remodeling was 30% done .

After finishing today’s workload, I came out to the lobby, wiping my sweat .

“Oh, Newbie, what did you make today?”

This friendly voice belonged to the Seat of Turquoise, Setryn .

Seeing her smiling at me, I retorted with a smile .

“Who knows?”

After more than a year of remodeling, the hideout became fancier and fancier, and after hearing the news, Chameleon Troupe’s members often came by to hang out .

“Anything interesting?”

“No, I wouldn’t say interesting . ”

Currently, only Boss, Khalifa, Jain, and Setryn’s rooms were finished . But other than individual rooms, I also made a workshop, a training room (work in progress), a gaming room, and a bathroom .

For the individual rooms, I received sufficient payment from each member . Khalifa gave me a blue rockstone, Jain gave me a bracelet for improving energy circulation, and Setryn gave me a medicine that improved… stamina, let’s say .

“I’m working on a hot spring . ”

“Hot spring?”

Setryn shot up with an excited smile .

“How did you know I love hot springs?”

Although I didn’t plan on making one, I found an underground water reservoir, so I changed my plan .

“Um, it’s not ready yet . It won’t be finished for at least a week . ”

“Is it mixed bathing?”

She licked her lips, which was a rather seductive habit of hers .

I shook my head .

“No, it’s separated . ”

“…But we can still go in the same bath, right?”

Kiik—

Suddenly, the door to the biggest room in the cave opened and Boss came out . She seemed to have just woken up as she looked drowsy .

“Boss is up . I’ll leave then . Tell me when the hot spring is done~”

Setryn smiled and returned to the room .

“Haam . ”

Boss rubbed her eyes and trudged up to the couch before lying down with disheveled hair . For the record, she was wearing black, silk pajamas .

No one asked her to wear pajamas, and no one gifted them to her either .

But perhaps about two months ago, Boss came back with those pajamas in her hands . When I asked about them, she called them ‘precious items for wonderful sleep’ with a pleased face .

“What happened to only needing 5 hours of sleep per week?”

“… . ”

Boss suddenly raised her head and looked at me .

“Was that directed at me?”

“No . ”

“I see… huaam . ”

Then, she yawned and buried herself in the couch .

As demonstrated, Boss was obsessed with my furniture . I couldn’t blame her as the furniture I made were far better than I initially anticipated .

===

[Boss’ Bed] [Superior grade] [Contains 3% magic power]

—Allure of Magic Power

*While resting in this bed, both mental and physical exhaustion will be washed away .

*Waking up in the morning on this bed will increase your perseverance by 0 . 3 point .

—Artistic Design

*This bed’s beauty will make you want to lie down .

「Creator: Kim Hajin」

===

With Dexterity growing by the day, I was now able to make furniture containing magic power .

In a way, it was to be expected .

Since I transformed Stigma’s magic power into tools and refined magic power itself into furniture, it was only natural that they contain magic power .

The result was that the furniture I made were masterpieces .

Look at those brilliant effects!

Sleeping in that bed for just a day would wash a week’s worth of exhaustion clean!

But what was more important was the final line, [Creator: Kim Hajin] .

This meant that the world had acknowledged my furniture making skills . If I continued to make good items, my name itself would get items to receive beneficial effects .

Though of course, there was the caveat that I would have to work hard for at least three years .

“Newbie . ”

Boss called me with her eyes still closed .

“Yes?”

“My hair is itchy . ”

She was clearly expressing her desire to have her hair combed .

“…You should wait until you wash your hair first—”

“It’s itchy . ”

Boss bobbed her head up and down .

“It’s itchy, it’s itchy . ”

Seeing me still hesitating, she began to throw a tantrum, bouncing up and down on the couch .

“It’s itchy~”

“…Alright . ”

I walked up and began to comb her hair .

Boss’ hair was cleaner than I expected . If it wasn’t for the fact that I just saw her, I wouldn’t believe that she just woke up .

“Hm? You’re combing her hair again?”

At that moment, Jain walked out of the room . It seemed that she was just reading, as she was wearing a pair of round Harry Potter glasses .

“Ah, yes, she was asking for it . ”

“Pft, look at Boss slumped on the couch . So cute~ Oh yeah, Newbie, have you read Violet Times?”

“Violet Times? The newspaper?”

“Yep, you’re on it as part of their top 10 rookies to watch out for . It doesn’t matter whether you’re a Djinn or a Hero, but you have to have debuted within the past 3 years to be on it . ”

Jain opened a copy of Violet Times and showed it to me .

===

[Top 10 Rookies to Watch]

TOP1 – Pandemonium Arena’s Rising Star, ‘Red Death’

TOP2 – Korea’s Hero, ‘Kim Suho’

TOP3 – Jeronimo Mercenary’s Black Wolf, ‘Fenrir’

TOP4 – Descendant of the Past Era’s Savior, ‘Shin Jonghak’

…

…

…

===

“Congrats, you’re third place . ”

“Oh, this is the newspaper Violet Banquet puts out . ”

“Yep . Wait, don’t tell me… you still don’t have a Violet Banquet ID?”

“No, I do . It’s just that you have to be above a certain rank to receive these . It’s expensive too . ”

Violet Times, the newspaper published every week by Violet Banquet .

You had to be at least at the ‘Red Ruby’ rank to subscribe, and I also heard it cost 3 million points per month .

“Still, take a look . It’s fun . Lots of countries have been asking for you recently, especially America and China . ”

“Mm… those two countries are big, so they naturally have more monsters to worry about . ”

My specialty was slaughtering monsters . Given that the condition was right, I could decimate over a thousand monsters under intermediate-rank grade-1 without any help . There wouldn’t be any friendly fire either with my extreme accuracy .

In fact, just a month ago, I went to China’s Guangdong Province and slaughtered hundreds of invading monsters in a single day . I don’t mean to brag, but I was treated as a hero afterwards .

The most important aspect here was ‘time’ .

The source of my fame came from the fact that I cleaned up the region in just a ‘single’ day, without any civilian casualty .

“I’m going to rest this month . I’ve been out too much this last month . ”

“Sure, just make sure you accept at least one mission a month . ”

As she said that, Jain put down a stack of documents on the couch .

“Pick one from here and tell me . ”

“Got it . ”

“Okay, I have something to do, so I’m leaving . Take care of Boss~ byebye~”

Jain disappeared into the Portal .

I picked up the documents with one hand and continued to comb Boss’ hair .

“Mmm~”

Ignoring Boss who was humming in joy, I turned the page with Stigma’s magic power .

“Eh?”

As I was glancing through them, one document caught my attention . I stopped combing Boss’ hair and focused on the document’s content .

“…Newbie?”

“… . ”

“Newbie?”

Kong, kong, kong .

But because I stopped for too long, Boss began to unhappily bounce up and down .

Kong, kong, kong .

“Alright, alright, stop bouncing . Your hair is going to get disheveled . ”

I put the documents down and began combing Boss’ hair again .

“But like always, I’ll only do it for 15 minutes a day . ”

I spoke firmly .

“…Just 5 minutes more . ”

“No . ”

“…Hmph . ”

**

…2027, August 14th .

On a blazingly hot summer afternoon, Essence of the Strait’s apprentice heroes were out on a dispatch mission . Dispatch missions came from local governments, but they were one of the duties guilds had to perform by the central government’s directive .

“Dispatch missions are rare . Guilds are only required to perform six of them a year, so it’s easier to think of them as a once-every-other-month thing . ”

A total of eight guild members were taking part in today’s dispatch mission . Of the eight, three were apprentices and five were active Heroes .

“Today’s mission is a bit easy too . ”

The mission given to them by the local government was to destroy a goblin settlement .

But because goblins weren’t necessarily the easiest targets and because apprentices were participating in the mission, a high-intermediate rank grade-6 Hero was present as the leader .

“Don’t underestimate them just because they’re goblins . ”

The team leader, Im Joongjin, spoke .

The three apprentices, Rachel, Yohei, and Rose, nodded with serious faces .

“But don’t be too tense either . ”

“Also, the most important thing in urban battles is to prevent civilian casualties . Be careful so that your magic power doesn’t fly off somewhere . ”

The vice-leader, Jeon Yohwa, added . The goblins they were subjugating today built their base in a run-down building in Incheon’s outskirt . As far as she was concerned, it was quite daring for mere goblins to come so close to a human habitat .

“Alright, let’s wait for 30 minutes for the police to finish blocking the roads . Then, us active Heroes will go in first . You apprentices can follow us slowly . ”

“Yes!”

“Understood!”

Rachel replied firmly with her back straight .

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