WHOFA 26

Seo Hwa spent his time busily while waiting for the day of his first dungeon raid as Lee Yuje.

First, he visited a neuropsychiatrist.

He greeted the doctor with a bright smile, and they exchanged names and introduced themselves. As the conversation continued, he soon learned that the doctor’s childhood hobby had been ballet.

“Somehow, I thought the way you were sitting was so neat and proper.”

“Is that so? I only did it for just three years in middle school. It’s already been 20 years.”

“To have done ballet for three whole years during the turbulent times when hobbies change every hour, that’s truly incredible perseverance. Why did you quit?”

“It was because I had no talent. I was pretty good in my own way, but seeing friends who were born with truly genius-level talent made me lose the will to continue. There’s that saying, you know, that it’s better not to have mediocre talent at all.”

Seo Hwa gave a gentle smile.

“Doctor, it seems you still like ballet very much.”

“…Not really. It’s been so long now.”

“The music playing in the waiting room is all ballet music, isn’t it? Swan Lake, The Nutcracker, The Rite of Spring…. Seeing that you put so much thought into creating the list, it seems you still like it.”

The doctor’s face turned bright red.

“How about starting again? You like it this much. Even if you don’t become a ballerina, it would be nice to have an enjoyable hobby in your monotonous life.”

“Oh, come on, I’m too old to do ballet now.”

“First of all, in an era where the life expectancy for non-awakened people is two hundred years, you are just like a newborn baby, Doctor.”

“A newborn baby….”

“What does age have to do with doing what you love?”

“……”

“Even if your hair turns white, you should do it if you like it. Does anyone get hurt if a grandfather does ballet as a hobby? Does someone die or get injured somewhere? On the contrary, the ballet instructor will earn that much more money, and with that money, they will enjoy their own hobbies, whether it’s piano or violin, and then the piano and violin instructors will earn an income in turn. And they too will engage in hobbies with that money…. It would only create a virtuous cycle that benefits the world.”

“……But I don’t have the talent….”

“If you’re not going to make money from ballet, isn’t talent an even more irrelevant issue than age? So what if you feel impatient and inferior while doing ballet? You have the powerful excuse that it’s just a hobby, not your Yigeon livelihood. If you like it, just do it. And every time you fall, use that excuse. It’s just a hobby, so it’s okay if I’m not good at it. Then, if you succeed someday, praise yourself to your heart’s content, saying you’re this good even though it’s not your livelihood, just a hobby. Because that is the greatest value of a hobby.”

“……”

The doctor was silent for a long while. Then, with a look of realization, he clenched his fist and shot up from his seat.

“Mr. Yuje. Thank you for giving me courage. I’ll start ballet again.”

“I’ll be cheering for you, Doctor.”

“Right now!”

“Pardon?”

“We will conclude today’s consultation. I must go and reclaim my forgotten hobby right now!”

“Wa, wait a minute. I just need a prescription for my medication…!”

He managed to grab the doctor who was about to dash out and get a prescription for an anti-anxiety medication. And he resolved to obtain his anti-anxiety medication through underground channels from now on.

Next, he focused on practicing how to deal with people.

He had spent too long without natural conversations with people, so he needed practice to interact with them without being awkward.

He sat in the middle of a café in a bustling area, studying what topics people talked about, and practiced at home with Little Snakey as his partner.

One time, a person with a peculiar smile approached him as he sat alone.

“Your energy is so clear…. I was just passing by, and I felt a good aura flowing from you. You must have the blessings of your ancestors.”

In this day and age, cults were no different from terrorist organizations, so he was momentarily on guard, but it was just a traditional cult that had existed on the Korean peninsula since the old days.

Thinking it was a good opportunity, Seo Hwa had the cult member sit down and talked with him for five hours, even ordering him an additional drink.

“My goodness. How could your own blood-related family do such a thing? Mr. Boyeon, you’ve lived such a painful life….”

“Sob. But the funny thing is, my mom took that bastard’s side too. Hic. She said he’s the eldest son, that the eldest son needs to have his own business card, that businesses require a lot of capital, so I should take out a loan for the sake of our family’s eldest son. Sob.”

“That’s too much. If it’s his own business, he should be the one taking out the loan. If that’s impossible because he has bad credit, he should give up and work diligently to save up capital. How could she ask you, a student, to make that sacrifice, Mr. Boyeon?”

Waaah, the cult member burst into tears.

“That’s why I left home. I thought, from now on, I’ll spend all the money I earn on myself. But I had nowhere to sleep right away, so I was wandering around and ended up in a stupid cult like this….”

“So you were aware that it’s a cult, Mr. Boyeon.”

“Hic. I didn’t want to do this kind of work either. Every time I approached someone saying, ‘Your energy is clear,’ I’d get these piercing glares. Hic. To stay at the dormitory, I have to get an incentive somehow… otherwise the sunbaes give me the stink eye… Waaah.”

“Oh, dear.”

He handed a tissue to the cult member, who was a mess with tears and snot. The man wiped his tears and, sniffle, blew his nose.

“You can just look for a proper job that provides housing.”

“But… I don’t have the confidence. I didn’t even finish school properly, and this is the only thing I’ve ever done….”

“You can do it. After all, Mr. Boyeon, you have the courage to approach complete strangers with a smile.”

“……”

“Feeling timid, being self-conscious, and having no one to lean on. Being able to put on a smiling face even in that situation is an incredible talent. With this talent, Mr. Boye-on, you will surely be able to do a better job, the right kind of job. I will be cheering for you.”

“Mr. Yuje…. Hic…!”

And so, the cult member left, saying that thanks to him, he had gained the courage to start a new life.

Seo Hwa swept a hand down his chest.

Dealing with people really is hard…. It’s a relief that I don’t think I showed much sign of being anxious.

His energy drained, he rested for a long while before swallowing an anti-anxiety pill. He could not do anything about the trembling in his hands.

And so, three days passed.

06:08 AM. Seo Hwa arrived at the Grade 2 gate on the upper Nakdong River, well ahead of the

6:30 AM entry time.

Under the ❮Danbaek Grade 2 Party❯ banner, there were only Danbaek personnel.

For Grade 3 and above, the term ‘expedition’ is used, while for anything lower, the term ‘party’ is used. This was not decided by people, but by the system.

Expedition dungeons and party dungeons are quite different, not just in difficulty but in their entire structure.

The biggest feature is whether or not escape is possible. In the case of an expedition dungeon, once you enter, you cannot leave until you clear it. In contrast, in a party dungeon, you acquire a single-use item called an ‘Escape Stone’ immediately upon entry.

Once a raid fails, you cannot get out even with an Escape Stone, but if you use it before the raid failure message appears, you can safely escape outside the dungeon.

The Escape Stone can only be used in that specific dungeon, and once you exit the dungeon using an Escape Stone, you cannot re-enter the same dungeon.

Besides this systematic difference, there is another major distinction.

Party dungeon entries are usually quiet.

In the case of an expedition, reporters come to cover it, and citizens line up to watch the entry scene, whereas for a party, none of that happens.

Seo Hwa felt much more at ease with the very modest scene of only personnel at the gate. The anti-anxiety medication he took beforehand seemed to be working as well.

“Mercenary Lee Yuje?”

“Yes. Hello.”

“A pleasure to meet you. I am Kim Biyul, the leader of this party. Please greet the other party members and warm up. Two of the mercenaries haven’t arrived yet.”

“Okay.”

After greeting the party members, Seo Hwa stretched and looked for a familiar face.

Kim Biyul, a fellow with a calm and gentle personality unbecoming of his age. In previous regressions, and in this current one, he was only remembered as a rookie, but he had grown steadily and was now in charge of leading a party.

[Kim Biyul

Grade: B

Spirit Power: 7474

Intellect: 7550

Protection: 7111

Traits: Alchemist, Herbalist

Skills: ❮Can I Eat That?❯, ❮Green Malice❯]

This was the profile Seo Hwa remembered, but since three years had passed, he might have acquired more skills. He could have viewed Kim Biyul’s status window, but he deliberately did not. If Kim Biyul had acquired a skill that could detect being viewed, he might get caught and unnecessarily arouse suspicion.

The other party members were faces Seo Hwa did not know.

The current party composition was 7 people, including Seo Hwa. Among them, 4 were Danbaek guild members and 3 were mercenaries. Kim Biyul was the only B-rank; the guild members were all F-rank, and the other mercenaries were C-rank and D-rank.

‘Looks like they came to fill their mandatory mission quota for the 2nd quarter.’

The Soul-God System assigns various missions to the awakened, such as main missions, sub-missions, and hidden missions. Sub-missions can be refused by one’s own free will, but main and hidden missions are often mandatory missions that cannot be refused.

In particular, among the main missions, there is one that every awakened person must complete.

[Main Mission ˛ε♡з¸

‘The Crown is Heavy.’

With great power comes great responsibility.

You, who became an awakened being by beating the astronomical odds, also have a responsibility to bear.

Please protect the Earth from the terrifying monsters of the dungeons.

• Raid a dungeon at least once every 2,190 hours.
• In cases where the system determines you are unable to raid, the mission will be temporarily paused.
• Failure Penalty: Grade demotion → For F-rank: Awakening abilities withdrawn]

It meant that all awakened beings must clear a dungeon at least once every three months.