Chapter 467: Continental Joint Training (2) |
‘We’re too important to wait like this.’
The fact that we were a strong guild within the Sacred Democratic Country was enough for us to cut the line. The Sacred Democratic Country possessed the strongest adventurers throughout the continent, and it was also the most powerful nation.
The only reason the Union of Kingdoms and the many other small and medium-sized nations decided to participate in the joint training was to keep the Republic and the Sacred Democratic Country in check.
Of course, it was already too obvious who was more powerful between the Sacred Democratic Country and the Republic. In addition, Rift Land also made the Blue Guild’s stock prices go to the moon.
The Blue Guild had become no different from a large company, considering the Blue Guild’s influence on external matters, funds, and the Blue Guild’s overall ability to run a business.
There were even some jokes about how the entire continent would be affected if the Blue Guild decided to exit the potion-making industry. There were even more ridiculous rumors, like how Lindel would fall if the Blue Guild were to fall.
Still, the fact that these jokes and rumors existed meant that the Blue Guild’s position in society could be easily deduced. The rumors and jokes were a bit exaggerated, but they weren’t wrong.
Of course, the rumor about how Lindel would fall if the Blue Guild were to fall was the part that was a bit exaggerated.
Actually, the reason why the continent had its attention on us was because of the power that the Blue Guild possessed as a lone entity. After all, power was the most important thing on the continent. There was a limit, but Kim Hyun-Sung, the Guild Master of the Blue Guild, had a mythic-ranked artifact.
I had heard that a group of gossipers had ranked Kim Hyun-Sung as an SSS-Ranked character, like the rank that they had given to Mercenary Queen Cha Hee-Ra. Actually, they gave him a better evaluation than Cha Hee-Ra because he could maintain his sanity despite his overwhelming process, unlike Cha Hee-Ra.
Of course, Cha Hee-Ra and Kim Hyun-Sung didn’t really care about the rumors, but I honestly thought that Kim Hyun-Sung was at least as strong as Cha Hee-Ra. Actually, he might be stronger than her.
The other guild members received high evaluations as well. Tanks were already pretty rare, so Park Deok-Gu was bound to have a high evaluation despite his weak attack power. Therefore, he was widely acclaimed to be the strongest tank.
The prices of Jo Hye-Jin and Kim Ye-Ri Coin were bullish as well.
Unfortunately, the prices of Jung Ha-Yan and Han Sora Coin were starting to drop because they hadn’t done much in the war against the Republic. However, their prices were relatively stable because they were known as one of the Heroes of Laios.
Meanwhile, Elena was evaluated as an SS-Ranked priest because she could cast and maintain buffs on an entire army.
As for Hwang Jung-Yeon, who was Park Deok-Gu’s girlfriend, and Ahn Ki-Mo, whom I had no choice but to trust. They were evaluated based on the fact that they were flexible figures that could fill many roles that the Blue Guild’s main party might lack.
‘Sun Hee-Young has become pretty famous as well…’
In addition, Lee Chang-Ryeol and Yoo Ah-Young had grown so much that they could no longer be ignored.
The actual size of the guild was no different compared to a small to mid-sized clan, but each and every member was strong enough to create a clan or guild of their own, so it wasn’t really strange that the members were famous.
From the gossipers’ point of view, I was sure that they preferred talking about our guild rather than talking about a large guild that was just an empty shell.
Therefore, everyone instantly recognized the Blue Guild’s emblem. We had long gotten used to people staring at us, so we didn’t really mind the attention.
Park Deok-Gu obediently raised our banner, but he looked like he was questioning if it was really okay for us to do this.
When the banner was raised, I led the horse toward Kim Hyun-Sung.
Jonobono[1], who wanted to tell the world about our nation’s kindness, and Kim Hyun-Sung, who wasn’t completely slow-witted, started forming a line.
Of course, Kim Hyun-Sung, our handsome guild master, was at the front of the line.
As someone who had an important mission to promote my close relationship with our Hyun-Sung, I stood on his right while Jo Hye-Jin stood on his left.
Park Deok-Gu stood behind us while holding up the banner of the Blue Guild, and the guild members lined up behind us.
Kim Hyun-Sung’s griffon started walking, and the people on the path moved aside.
‘Nice…’
I felt a shiver down my spine as goosebumps broke out all over me.
The people started moving aside, and the others up ahead did the same. The people in front still had no idea what was going on, but they noticed that there was something strange, so they started looking around.
At first, the people only moved to follow the herd, but everyone eventually moved aside as if the Red Sea was being parted. They watched as the Blue Guild started walking in the middle of the Red Sea.
“The Blue…”
“Is that Kim Hyun-Sung?”
“The person riding the unicorn has to be Jo Hye-Jin…”
“That elf is… Elena. So the rumors about her joining the Blue Guild were true…”
“Look! It’s Sun Hee-Young!”
The people muttered among themselves.
‘I’m sure they’re curious since this is their first time seeing our faces in the flesh.’
“Lee Ki-Young!”
“The Alchemist of Light and the Hero of the continent!”
“The Blue Guild’s second-in-command. He actually doesn’t look like someone who would work for another person… Interesting.”
I wasn’t sure what part of it was interesting, but there were people who were playing the role of extras. There were cheesy lines, and I felt a sense of relief that I couldn’t quite describe. The best way to describe it would be that it felt like I was getting rewarded for all the hard work that I had been doing all this while.
A few of the party membersr[2] who liked the comments had to have thought that they had to look serious right now because they looked ahead with a thousand-yard stare. The ordinary guild members following the party members looked proud. It was kind of funny to see Park Deok-Gu looking all serious, but I knew my current expression didn’t fit me as well, so I wasn’t in any position to make fun of others.
‘It feels great to pretend like a big shot or someone amazing, but…’
It was difficult…
It felt great to see the people moving aside as if they were the waters of the Red Sea and looking at us with various expressions. Some of them stared at us with respect, while some looked envious among many others.
“Kim Hyun-Sung… he’s a bigger monster than I thought…”
‘Oh, someone has a good eye for talent…’
“He has become even stronger, right?”
“This is ridiculous. And he hasn’t been here for even five years?”
“The rumors and the magic holograms weren’t exaggerated. Shit…!”
I continued using Mind’s Eye because I had to figure out the strength of the foreign nations’ powerful figures.
‘They’re not that strong, but they’re not that weak either.’
If anything, they were average. They weren’t strong enough to be compared to the Eight Seats, but they were on Ahn Ki-Mo’s level, and they seemed to be playing an important role within their own clan or guild.
‘Maybe they’re a bit weaker than him...’
The reason we recruited Ahn Ki-Mo was because of his prowess, combat sense, and the fact that he was a close-quarters combatant despite being a priest. We didn’t recruit him for his talent or stats.
All of a sudden, I heard someone talking.
“It’s nice to meet you, Guild Master of the Blue Guild.”
“...”
“I’m Kylie Yale, the Guild Master of the Manhattan Guild. It’s truly an honor to meet you,” she said.
“...”
‘She looks familiar.’
She was a tall woman. She was petite with blonde hair, blue eyes, and a face that could be considered beautiful. My overall impression of her was that she really knew how to dress herself up and that she was full of confidence. It became obvious why she was confident when I saw her overall status using Mind’s Eye.
She was strong enough to back her confidence up.
Kylie was a mage and was just as strong as the members of the Eight Seats. Her nature was Achiever Overflowing With Passion, and her attribute was useful as well. Overall, she had developed really well.
Based on just her stats, she was more useful than the Mist Summoner, but because of Cheon Kwan-Wi’s special ability, she couldn’t really be compared to him.
‘Interesting. I feel like she had a huge role in her past life.’
I glanced at Kim Hyun-Sung, but he didn’t take any special action. It was difficult to tell whether Kylie was an ally or an enemy, but he looked as if he had heard her name before.
Kim Hyun-Sung didn’t show the same reaction as when he first met Jung Jin-Ho, so I assumed that she hadn’t done something similar to the masked scum and his subordinates. The chances were low, but…
‘He could be hiding his feelings…’
Our Hyun-Sung had grown quite a bit as well, but it honestly didn’t matter which side she was on because it wasn’t inevitable that an enemy of the past would become an enemy once again…
More importantly, we were currently trying to end the war completely on the continent, so even if Kylie was a villain in her past life, we couldn’t treat her like one in this life. I was sure that Kim Hyun-Sung understood that better than anyone.
Anyway, it was more important to know why this woman suddenly approached Kim Hyun-Sung and started acting friendly. I thought maybe I was overthinking it when all she did was greet him, but every action had a reason, and obviously, it bothered me that she approached him at a time like this.
I actually wanted to applaud her for her effort because suddenly talking to someone like that in the current situation had to have been difficult for her.
“So you’re Kylie Yale,” Kim Hyun-Sung commented.
“Have you heard of me?” she asked.
“I’m not that knowledgeable about the other nations, so I haven’t heard much about you, but I have heard that there’s a famous mage in the West. I also heard that she was very famous on Earth,” he replied.
“I didn’t think you knew that much… It’s an honor, Guild Master of Blue,” she said.
“No, the honor is mine,” he told her.
‘Ah.’
No wonder she looked familiar.
‘She’s an actress.’
I didn’t know her name, but I realized that I had to have seen her a few times in movies and dramas. It took me longer to realize it because I didn’t have any interest in celebrities, but a few members of the guild looked surprised after seeing her.
There were celebrities in Lindel as well, but they didn’t react the same way when they saw those celebrities.
Therefore, they had to have been surprised to see Kylie because she was a real celebrity.
“And… you must be Honorary Cardinal Lee Ki-Young. It’s a real pleasure to meet you,” Kylie greeted.
“Yes, nice to meet you as well. I’ve heard a lot about you. You look more beautiful in person,” I complimented her.
“It’s an honor, Father Lee Ki-Young.”
When I indirectly expressed that I didn’t want to talk to her right now, Kylie stepped back. She targeted Kim Hyun-Sung again because she discreetly stood next to him and started walking beside him.
I couldn’t help but think that she was someone who knew how to think outside of the box.
‘She’s smart.’
Kylie was bold. She knew how to seize an opportunity and was decently greedy as well.
‘Makes sense… That must have been how she managed to survive up until now.’
I couldn’t generalize, but famous figures usually wouldn’t have a good ending here, especially famous women. The majority would have had bad experiences in the tutorial dungeon, so I couldn’t help but be surprised by Kylie’s success.
Right now, she was probably using the same driving force that drove her to success in the tutorial dungeon. She used her fame appropriately, blended with the group, and she also knew how and when to gamble.
She was the type who would volunteer to do things whenever no one wanted to step up.
I focused on Kylie a bit. She seized the opportunity to get closer to Kim Hyun-Sung while talking to him, and even though it wasn’t that big of a deal, the fact that she was exposing her relationship with him meant…
‘She definitely has her own reason for doing this...’
I could already deduce what the other influential figures were thinking as they watched her walk with us.
‘It’s not like they’re ballsy enough to greet and intercept us like what she had done…’
The famous actress herself definitely didn’t expect that she would blend with us well because she started smiling brightly.
The ass in the lion’s skin—those were the perfect words to describe her.
‘How amusing…’
This place was fun because there were many different types of people here.
“O-Oppa. D-Do you know that woman?” Jung Ha-Yan asked.
However, it wasn’t fun to hear Jung Ha-Yan’s voice behind me.
1. Bonobono + Jo Hye-Jin. It’s a joke from the Jo Hye-Jin Instruction Manual Chapters xD ☜
2. Party members here means the member of Blue Guild’s First Party consisting ☜