WHOFA 9

“In that sense, please understand if I sometimes speak informally to you, Mr. Gam Yigeon. It is because I was originally your superior, so the habit remains. Even though it was a long time ago, the informal speech has stuck to my mouth.”

“……”

“And do not worry, I will absolutely not harbor any absurd desires to reclaim my position. All I want is to clear the Grade 6 dungeon that will appear in three years.”

Seo Hwa, having dried his hair until it was fluffy, gathered only the side hair that was falling and tied it up roughly with a black hair tie. Then he stood up from his seat and opened his gown. When his bare skin was revealed, Gam Yigeon turned his head without realizing it.

And even then, he did not understand why he had averted his gaze.

It was not as if he had no immunity to seeing someone’s naked body.

“The size is a perfect fit. I trusted your eye for measurements, Mr. Gam Yigeon.”

In the meantime, Seo Hwa had changed into the clothes prepared by the Awakened Safety Department. He put on a jacket over his shirt and adjusted his appearance in the mirror.

“But from now on, please give me a baggy jumper instead of a leather jacket. I also prefer comfortable styles like sweatshirts or hoodies. In the previous iterations, I used to dress up to try and regain people’s trust, even just a little. But it had no effect at all. This time, I am just going to live according to my original style.”

“……”

“Please create my identification under the name Seo Hwa, not a fake name. Give me cash, a card, and a detached house with a vegetable garden in a sparsely populated area. Oh, of course, it has to have internet installed. And you will take care of things like a laptop and a cell phone without me having to mention them, right? I do not care what kind of car I drive, but please make sure the heated seats are always on. Except in July and August.”

At the flood of demands, Gam Yigeon frowned. Seo Hwa approached with a small laugh. As the distance closed, Gam Yigeon tensed up and clenched his fists. It was an instinctive revulsion. He did not want to get close to that ominous and dangerous thing. He wanted to summon his flame sword right away and cut off his legs so he could not come any closer. In fact, he drew an imaginary line. He thought he would summon his sword immediately if he crossed the line.

Seo Hwa stopped right in front of that line, as if he could see it.

“Yigeon, this is the first list of Awakened we must recruit.”

Gam Yigeon received the tablet PC.

The names and simple personal details of twelve people were written on it.

Among them were names that Gam Yigeon was familiar with and had expected.

Nine of them were high-ranking hunters who anyone would surely put on the list if a Grade 6 dungeon were to appear in this world. The Danbaek Guild’s master, Shimjin’s name was also written in the middle.

The other three were names he did not know. It was natural that even Gam Yigeon, a former intelligence agent, would not know them.

[Kim Dduyen (Awakening: Scheduled for May 9th—Initially Class C, Ice Ability User)
Dam Yoonjin (Awakening: Scheduled for June 12th—Initially Class B, Exploration Ability User)
Katie Lowma (Awakening: Scheduled for July 19th—Initially Class C, Summoning Ability User)]

Today’s date was April 13th. There was no way to know the names of those who had not yet awakened in advance.

“The rest still have a long way to go before they awaken, so for now, this is it. I also need to prepare for training, so let us have the first summons three months from now. Let us gather then, after Katie has awakened.”

Gam Yigeon immediately sent the list to the chief.

“Does the word ‘initially’ mean that their grade will rise later?”

“Yes. In the timelines I was in, Dduyen became Class S, and Katie rose to Class A. If we train her well, she can definitely become Class S. I am planning to raise Yoonjin-ssi to Class A as well.”

“So the plan is to raise the hunters’ awakening grades to their maximum potential.”

“Exactly.”

“How many people do you expect for the total expedition force?”

“One hundred thirty people entered at first, and in the previous iteration, one hundred six people entered, but we failed. So this time, I am only planning to go in with fifty people.”

Gam Yigeon, who had been operating the tablet, looked up.

One hundred six people had failed, and this time he was going with fifty. The number was even smaller.

“We are going in with a small, elite group. Only Class A and Class S.”

“……”

“The Grade 6 dungeon is not that wide or large. If the space were wide and we could spread out a bit, a large number of people would be fine, but since it is a narrow place, we often get in each other’s way, and with no personal space, people get sensitive.”

“……”

“Besides, everyone has different abilities. The realm of combat has a limit of talent that cannot be overcome no matter how hard you try. Hunters with a low limit are honestly just a burden. I have witnessed countless times high-ranking hunters unable to fight properly against monsters because they were busy taking care of and protecting the lower-ranking hunters.”

“……”

“To put it bluntly, it means that bringing lower-ranking hunters along is just a hindrance. So we are going in with a small, elite group, with only talented hunters.”

“And who decides whether they are talented or not.”

Seo Hwa shrugged lightly.

“Who do you think? I do.”

Gam Yigeon’s purple eyes glowed as if they were on fire. A deep contempt filled his pupils.

“You have no right to judge the talent of others.”

Seo Hwa smiled bitterly, as if he had expected him to say such a thing.

“I know. I know how much you hate expressions like the limits of talent, Mr. Gam Yigeon. You believe that there is nothing that cannot be achieved with will and effort, Mr. Gam Yigeon. As the first person in the world to rise from Class F to Class S, it is understandable that you would think so.”

Gam Yigeon had awakened at the age of seventeen, and his initial awakening grade was Class F.

While awakening itself was something to be envied by non-Awakened ordinary people, Class F was a different story. Among the Awakened, it was a grade that was neither here nor there, only slightly better than a non-Awakened athlete, and even with bone-crushing effort to raise the grade, Class C was the maximum. It was impossible to rise above Class B.

That was the established theory.

Gam Yigeon threw down the gauntlet to the world and the System that defined his limits. He rose to Class C quickly and threw himself into high-grade dungeons, smashing them, and accumulated experience by doing every hidden mission he came across.

‘Stop it, Yigeon. I am telling you, you cannot go above Class B. The System has set it that way.’

‘Class C is a respectable enough grade for a hunter. Stop clinging to the impossible and give up now.’

Even while hearing such things, he did not give up and continued to throw himself into the fray, and finally became Class B. It had been three years. After that, he grew rapidly and it took less than a year to reach Class S. It was the first time in history, so he received attention from all over the world, and Gam Yigeon became an idol for lower-ranking Awakened. Hunters who had given up on leveling up were inspired by Gam Yigeon and began to strive again.

However.

“I respect your endless efforts, Mr. Gam Yigeon, and I also greatly admire your will that eventually overcame your limits. But look at reality. You are the only one, Mr. Gam Yigeon. Five years have passed since then, and not a single Class F has risen above Class B.”

This was the problem. The only one who had broken through the limit was Gam Yigeon. It would have been better if everyone else had given up on leveling up because it was too hard, but there were those who had not given up and were still accumulating experience somewhere even now. Despite their constant efforts, a second success story did not emerge, so the world once again came to accept the sentence ‘The maximum level-up for Class F is Class C. The System has set it that way’ as the established theory.

“Was I the only one in the previous iterations you experienced as well?”

“Unfortunately, yes. In my opinion, you have a special hidden attribute besides Mentalist and Pyromancer, Mr. Gam Yigeon. I think you might have some kind of attribute related to overcoming limits that you yourself are not aware of.”

Seo Hwa added soothingly to the still frowning Gam Yigeon.

“I know it feels like I am looking down on or ignoring lower-ranking Awakened, but please do not misunderstand. It is rather to protect them. Bringing more of them along will only get them all killed. It would be no different from bringing them just to be killed.”

“……”

“This is the experience of someone who has entered countless times and failed miserably. Please believe me.”

These words were not just to calm Gam Yigeon down, but Seo Hwa’s sincere feelings.

In the second iteration, Seo Hwa had led a group three times larger than the first. It was because everyone had agreed that the failure of the first was due to a lack of manpower.

As a result, the lower-ranking hunters, far from being helpful, were swept away and died without anyone being able to do anything, like seashells being washed away by the waves. Watching the lower-ranking hunters die in droves before their eyes, the high-ranking hunters’ will to raid dwindled.

‘We must not succeed in this iteration after causing so many sacrifices. Turn back time once more, and at that time, succeed without any sacrifices.’

A foreign hunter named Wolf had suggested it, and from then on, they proceeded with failure as the intended outcome. Even without that suggestion, they would have failed in the end anyway…

“Pack your things. We are going to the temporary lodging.”

“Does that mean you understand?”

“……”

“Yes. I will not ask again.”

Seo Hwa packed the laptop, notebook, and pens he had received while in the interrogation room into a box, and then put the entire box into his inventory.

Gam Yigeon recorded in his mind how Seo Hwa put a non-item object into a box and itemized it. There was no such type among the ten natural abilities of a magician, so it must be a skill.