TRPM 385

chapter 385

Guild System.

That was the phrase, and my first thought was:

“… At this point?”

Just from the words guild system, I could more or less guess what kind of system it was.
The problem was why it was appearing now.

Of course, it could have been something the Awakener System had prepared long ago.
If it simply took a long time to implement and only got completed today, then that’s not strange.

But…

“Then why does it say the Guild System has been updated just for me?”

Not a system for all Awakeners around the world, but one exclusively for me.
It was already obvious the Awakener System was trying to give me special treatment, but a guild system like this would make much more sense if it were available to everyone.

So why create a version only for me?
Too many questions.

“At least one thing is clear… the brooches Elena and Chloe got with those engraved emblems must be tied to this Guild System somehow.”

I glanced at Elena and Chloe, who were both watching me.
Would it be better to explain about the Guild System?

“Gunwoo?”
“…Later. I don’t know the details myself yet.”

I shook my head.
Recklessly talking when even I didn’t know what the Guild System was—that wouldn’t be wise.

So for now, we decided to disperse for the day.

When I got home, I investigated the Guild System together with Yeon Mirae, who had just come back from work at the Iron-Blood Guild.

I had intended to check it out alone, but most of the functions required more than just me—they needed guild members. So I had no choice.

After going through the system’s many functions, Yeon Mirae gave her verdict:

“It’s convenient.”

“Really? I don’t see it.”

“Well, that’s because Master isn’t actually running a guild.”

Yeon Mirae, acting as a member of the temporary guild I had just created, was testing out the system firsthand.

“First of all, guild members don’t spend points when messaging each other. That’s a really good feature. Ever since you upgraded the Awakener System, the number of ways to spend points has increased, and now almost no one has spare points. So unless it’s urgent, most people avoid sending Awakener messages. But the Guild System makes messaging free between members…”

“…That’s irrelevant to me.”

Because I had points in excess.
Even though I was currently burning through a lot of them by injecting ether into my body to increase my internal energy, I still wasn’t anywhere close to running short.

And besides—

“If you’re not inside a dungeon, you can just use a phone anyway. No need to rely on the Awakener messaging system.”

“Well, for you, maybe free messaging isn’t such a big perk. But how about this? Guild member management. You can see where members are in real time, and if someone is in danger, the others get an alert.”

“Oh, that’s not bad.”

That would mean if I added my mother as a guild member, I’d get an alert whenever she was in danger.

Though honestly, that wasn’t much different from the protective barrier I’d already set up over our apartment and my mother’s body.

“And, you probably don’t care, but it also manages guild finances. The system handles all the calculations itself, so there’s no room for corruption.”

“…Sounds good in theory, but doesn’t that put accountants out of work?”

“Uh…”

Yeon Mirae blinked, clearly not having thought of that.

Anyway.

“So, the system is designed more for guild organizations than for personal use.”

“Yes. It seems focused on convenience above all.”

Hearing her words, I muttered without realizing it:

“…Then why is it tailored just for me?”

No matter how I looked at it, this wasn’t my personal system—it was meant for guilds.

“Maybe it’s telling you to start a guild?”

“I don’t want to.”

“Why not?”

I gave her a look, as if to say are you serious?

“Let me ask you the reverse. Do you want to be a guild master?”

“No.”

“See?”

Being a guild master might sound impressive, but in reality it meant endless headaches.

Just look at Shin Chaegun, head of Night Eagle—the most powerful guild in Korea.

Sure, he got called the top guild master in the country, but the downsides heavily outweighed the title.

“The workload is insane.”

Not just the daily responsibilities, though those were plenty. More importantly, the guild master was the guild’s public face.

“If the guild caused any trouble, Shin Chaegun would be the one cleaning it up.”

No wonder he was constantly looking for excuses to step down.

And even Iron-Blood Guild’s Ji Hyungman was trying to hand his position to one of his officers, given his age.

…But that wasn’t the point.

“Anyway, being a guild master sounds like a nightmare. I’ll pass.”

Which meant I had no intention of creating my own guild.
The Guild System was basically useless to me.

“Hmm…”

Yeon Mirae, however, kept looking at it with reluctant admiration.
Even if she wasn’t the master, as a high-ranking officer of Iron-Blood, she clearly wanted to make use of it somehow.

Then suddenly,

“Ah!”

She looked at me with an idea.

“The system’s guild master doesn’t have to match the real-world guild master, right?”

“…True.”

I had a pretty good guess where she was going.
In other words, I would register as the Guild Master in the Awakener System, but hand over control to Ji Hyungman.

That way, Iron-Blood could freely use the system.

“In the end, it benefits Iron-Blood Guild.”

And I’d still be able to use a few of the useful features for myself.

“Master, why don’t we go to Iron-Blood tomorrow and talk it over with Ji Hyungman properly?”

“Tomorrow’s Sunday. He deserves a day off.”

“No, he’ll be on duty at the guild tomorrow.”

…The guild master pulls duty shifts?

“Ji Hyungman insists he can’t skip shifts just because he’s guild master. Though honestly, I think it’s more that he doesn’t want to babysit his energetic kids all weekend… or get nagged by his wife, so he hides out at the guild instead.”

“…I see.”

I’d never been married, but her reasoning sounded about right.

The next day.

As soon as I woke up, I added my mother as a guild member to activate the danger alert feature. Then I got dressed, ready to head to Iron-Blood Guild.

But…

“Oh my, really? Gunwoo was so mean then.”

“Exactly! He left me behind with no thought at all. Ah—hi Gunwoo, good morning!”

“…What’s going on here?”

In the living room, Woo Jimin was chatting with my mother.

I had already noticed she’d come over—I’d felt her presence.
But…

“…Mom? Why are you looking at me like that?”

“Son, how could you just abandon a woman and leave her behind like that?”

“…What?”

What was she talking about?

“Yesterday, you just left me behind.”

“Huh? I did?”

I thought back to yesterday’s events.

Right…

After collecting the dungeon payout at the Hunter Association, I transferred half to Instructor Woo Jimin… then outside, I met Elena and Chloe waiting for me…

Ah.

Now that I thought about it, Jimin wasn’t with us at that point.

“Because you didn’t carry me out of the dungeon, I had to walk forever to get out on my own!”

“Ah…”

That dungeon’s ground had been too soft for running.
So she had been on my back the whole time.

But after the clear and the payout discussion, I’d flown off with Elena and Chloe, forgetting her entirely.

“Not just me—they forgot her too.”

Wait.

“If you saw me leaving, you could’ve just shouted. I would’ve come back and carried you out. Why didn’t you?”

“…I was looking.”

“What?”

“I was too busy looking at my phone, okay!”

Uh. Sure.

“Anyway!”

She suddenly held out her hand.

“Give me a brooch too.”

“…What?”

“The brooches Elena and Chloe got. Last night Chloe told me the emblem was definitely connected to you. Didn’t you make those?”

“No.”

“…Then can’t you make me one?”

“Well…”

I actually could.
The Guild System had a function to engrave artifacts with my emblem.

“If you’re fine with a plain brooch without any special effect, then sure.”

“That’s fine.”

“Here.”

I pulled a brooch from my subspace, engraved yesterday’s emblem on it, and handed it to her.

Why did I have a plain brooch in there? Don’t think too hard about it.
I hadn’t bought it for anyone in particular, just on impulse, and then tossed it in storage.

“Phew. Now that I’ve got one too, I can finally sleep in peace.”

“…What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Well, yesterday Chloe and… whoever else, anyway, some other instructors our age—we went out drinking. And Chloe kept bragging about her brooch. The others were jealous, and even when she lay down to sleep she kept mumbling about it in her dreams. I couldn’t get any rest!”

…Wait. Are Jimin and Chloe living together?

Never mind that—

“You don’t need sleep.”

After all, Woo Jimin wasn’t human anymore, but a spirit bound to a doll’s body.

“I can still enjoy the feeling of sleep.”

Anyway.

“If she tries bragging again today, I’ll just wave this around. That’ll shut her up, right?”

“……”

Didn’t she used to be cheering Chloe on?
If she flaunted my gift instead, wouldn’t Chloe feel betrayed?

“…Not my problem. Jimin can deal with it.”

If she got resented for it, that would be on her.