TRPM 402

chapter 402

The day after the talent show.

After having breakfast at the training center, the retreat concluded with a closing ceremony.

It felt like the organizers hurriedly finished the ceremony to prepare for new participants arriving at the retreat.

“Does anyone have any snacks left?”
“Me!”
“I’ve got a little left too.”

On the bus home, the kids began passing around and eating the leftover snacks. These were snacks they had planned to eat on the second night of the retreat, but since they had eaten chicken together the previous evening, a lot of snacks remained.

We tore open the snack bags and shared them on the bus. Interestingly, it wasn’t just the students who shared the snacks—teachers and the bus driver also joined in. Our class kids had thoughtfully shared with the adults as well.

‘Yeah, it’s better to share with everyone rather than just among ourselves.’

As we ate snacks together, the bus ahead suddenly slowed down. Naturally, our bus also began slowing, and soon all buses carrying our school’s students stopped in the middle of the road.

“What’s going on? Huh? Oh… okay. Then, we have no choice.”

The teachers contacted the teachers on the front bus, and shortly afterward, we learned the reason for the stop.

“There’s an erosion-type dungeon in the middle of the road?”
“Yeah. They’re currently tackling it, but the road is damaged due to the dungeon, and for safety, we’ve been asked to wait a bit before passing.”

Hearing that, I leaned back in my seat, thinking it wasn’t a big deal. But the other kids seemed different.

“Isn’t a blocked road a serious issue? Shouldn’t we help too?”
“Geon-woo, do you have any weapons in your pocket dimension?”

The kids seemed uneasy, and those without weapons asked me to lend them temporary ones.

“No need. These kinds of things happen more often than you think.”

In the city, dungeons don’t occur due to low-frequency generators, but outside their range, dungeons continue to appear. Even so, the association has technology to detect dungeons as soon as they spawn, so monsters rarely emerge from dungeons.

‘Plus, recently, technology has spread that detects where a dungeon will appear before it even spawns.’

I’ve been using this technology even before my regression thanks to my psychic perception, but for ordinary Awakened, this is difficult. If Awakened can’t do it, special equipment would be required, so it might take time for this technology to be applied system-wide by the association.

Anyway. The key point is that roads being damaged by dungeons is not uncommon.

“Once the dungeon is cleared, someone from the association will repair the road. If it takes too long, they’ll make a temporary road beside it.”

Creating a temporary road on the spot is inefficient, but safety comes first. Whether the dungeon is cleared quickly or a temporary road is set up, passing through won’t take long.

“Look. There’s a truck carrying equipment to build a temporary road passing by our bus right now.”

At my words, our classmates looked out the window. Apparently, the dungeon clearing was taking too long, so they had decided to build a temporary road. Once it was set up, all buses slowly passed through the section.

‘Hmm?’

As the bus entered the temporary road, I saw a van beyond the barricades preventing entry to the eroded dungeon. I also noticed a familiar emblem on the van.

‘Legiones Guild? Is the guild tackling that erosion-type dungeon the Legiones Guild?’

Of course, the Legiones Guild has branches nationwide and often cooperates with the association to clear dungeons.

‘I wonder if the resort we saw from Legiones Guild in spring has been completed yet.’

The guildmaster, Yoo Won-hoon, had said he would invite me and Ha-eun once it was finished.

[Please invite me once the resort is completed.]
[Of course. Come anytime.]

We may have forgotten since it was said casually.

With no further obstacles on the road, the bus drove straight to our school. Naturally, we headed home immediately after arriving since the environment wasn’t suitable for classes.

“Everyone, go home safely. See you next week.”
“Yes!”
“Take care!”
“Shh…! The seniors are at school, so be quiet…!”

…The third-year students were preparing for college entrance exams, so entering the school in a chaotic state wouldn’t be good.

“Geon-woo, let’s go quickly too.”
“Huh? Oh, okay.”
“Let’s go together.”

I decided to go home with Ha-eun, who lives in the same apartment as me, and Elena and Elliot, who live in the apartment next door. As we left the school…

Brrr….

My smartphone vibrated. It was a call from the team in the Cheolhyeol Guild managing my image.

‘…Could there be a problem?’

Recently, their tasks included filing a lawsuit against a game company that used me as a villain in their game, reviewing how to utilize the guild system provided by the Awakened system exclusively to me, and adjusting schedules with my disciples right before the retreat.

…Even if I’m unaware, they probably have more work and are busy. So receiving a call from them made me uneasy.

“…Hello?”

Hoping it wasn’t anything serious, I answered.

[Artist? Excuse me, but you’ve just returned from the retreat, correct?]
“Yes, that’s right.”

…Apparently, they didn’t want to disturb me while I was enjoying the retreat. That meant it wasn’t urgent. I felt a slight relief and asked the purpose of the call.

[It’s regarding the guild system, which you partially granted to Cheolhyeol Guild last time. You intended to grant access to other guilds as well, and some have inquired about it.]

Ah, that’s it. Fortunately, it wasn’t an emergency.

“Which groups are you giving access to?”
[Legiones Guild, Seoul Awakened Academy, and the World Awakened Association.]
“…What?”
[Yoo Won-hoon of Legiones Guild, Shin Han-ji of Seoul Awakened Academy, and Richard, the chairman of the World Awakened Association, all expressed a desire to use the guild system.]

I wasn’t mishearing, but what caught my attention was how such big names even knew about the guild system.

‘…Ah, right. They definitely know.’

When I informed Ji Hyung-man about the guild system, Sophia and Woo Ji-min were with me. Sophia told Richard, and Woo Ji-min told Shin Han-ji. Yoo Won-hoon of Legiones Guild likely got it from Ji Hyung-man. Probably, other top guilds like Knight Eagle and Cleaner Guild also know. The latter two haven’t requested to use it yet, probably because the decision hasn’t been made internally.

[It seems we need to meet in person to grant guild system access. Should we arrange schedules?]
“Oh, yes. Please.”

The call ended there.

“…So, what exactly is this guild system?”

Elena, sitting beside me, asked. The three of them had stayed quiet during my important call, but now they seemed curious.

‘Might as well explain, no need to hide it.’

I explained the guild system, created by the Awakened system exclusively for me. Of course, I withheld anything sensitive. Not actively hiding, just leaving it out.

“…I see.”

Elena took a brooch from her lap. The brooch had an emblem of swords flying through the sky. Come to think of it, the guild system update happened shortly after Elena passed the wall and got that brooch.

“So this is proof that I’m your guild member, Geon-woo?”
“What?! Give me one too!”

Ha-eun demanded one, so I engraved the emblem on a brooch in my pocket dimension and gave it to her, just as I had done with Woo Ji-min.

“Geon-woo.”
“Huh?”

Elliot, unusually serious and worried, spoke to me.

“…I knew a royal who behaved ambiguously toward someone showing interest in them. Do you know what happened to them?”
“……”

At this timing, he’s implying the royal didn’t end well.

“If you like Ha-eun, say so. If not, say no clearly. Otherwise, you might regret it.”
“…You’ve learned Korean quite well.”

Where did he even pick up ‘regret it’?

“I’m serious.”
“…Thanks for worrying.”

But this is unsolvable. I cannot view Ha-eun or the surrounding women as romantic partners, so I cannot choose anyone.

“…Not listening, huh? Anyway, that was advice from a friend.”

Now, speaking as a member of British royalty:

“Are you only giving guild system access to Koreans? If possible, I hope England gets it too.”
“……”

Elliot sounded like a seasoned merchant speaking. He doesn’t care about grades, but as royalty, he received elite training for official duties.

“We’ll also have official duties as adults. Even a fool like Elliot received minimal training to not be underestimated in official tasks.”
“What do you mean?”

Elliot protested, but Elena silenced him with a gentle flow of spirit energy. If it were before, Elliot might have confronted her, but now it’s impossible for him to deal with Elena.

“…Tch.”

Anyway. I told them I don’t plan to monopolize the guild system in Korea, and for details, they should contact Cheolhyeol Guild. Then, we resumed heading home.

Thud thud thud….
“Huh?”
“Eh?”
“Hmm?”

A high-speed noise approached. We all turned toward it.

Screeeech…!

The approaching figure stopped, leaving skid marks. But it wasn’t a vehicle.

“Hahaha! Artist! What a coincidence!”
“No, there’s no coincidence—you literally ran in front of me.”

The skid marks were from the soles of Yoo Won-hoon’s shoes, guildmaster of Legiones Guild, not tires.