77 – 15 – Party Formation – 2

After everyone agreed to her joining the party upon seeing Ji-hye’s magic demonstration, Gi-jun first brought her back inside to talk.

She said that, surprisingly, she was walking the path of a High Human, which was called the only orthodox evolution route that a human could reach by receiving the blessing of mana.

Currently at the Uncommon rank, Gi-jun had thought that one would immediately become a High Human once their race rank grew from human, but that was not the case, and she was currently an ‘Awakened Human’.

“I found out after coming to Leta that you have to be at least Unique rank to become a High Human.”

“So that wasn’t an easy path either…”

Gi-jun was relieved, thinking that was still good enough.

Of course, right after being summoned to Leta, quite a few among the Earthlings did seem to have Uncommon-rank status.

Still, he had once wondered what would happen if the Earthlings dropped onto the continent of Leta in the Common state, not even knowing how to increase their rank, so it was a relief that they entered Leta after completing their race growth up to the Uncommon rank during the tutorial.

‘There seemed to be many humans who had grown their status, but there were also very few humans whose race rank appeared to have grown.’

Furthermore, as Ji-hye was said to have grown her specialized status, Mana, to as high as Unique rank, the destructive power of the magic she displayed was at a level that made sense.

Since the average rank of the summonees summoned to Leta was Uncommon and their average status was also close to Uncommon, she could be considered to have definitely surpassed that average.

And from there, in the case of those specialized in the physical body like Orcs, their stats such as Strength or Endurance were set at Rare, one rank higher—

“Uncle Su is exactly at that level. An Uncommon-rank Deteriorated Barbarian, with Uncommon Dexterity, and Rare Strength and Endurance. Instead, he has a lot of good skills, so he can easily overwhelm the likes of Orcs.”

“Brother Su is a Barbarian… Hmmm, doesn’t that not suit him very well?”

The eldest of the party Gi-jun remembered, Mok-su, was a handsome man that anyone would have to acknowledge.

The only problem was that he behaved in a way that shattered his image and liked alcohol, but looking at his appearance alone, he was no different from a model.

Was that brother becoming a barbarian? Becoming the descendant of the great Conan instead of him?

…Since it suited his usual behavior, was it fine?

“It couldn’t be helped. While the rest of the party members had excellent mana sensitivity, Uncle Su was a bit lacking. In the end, choosing to completely let go of mana control and focus on his physical body resulted in that.”

“Is that so…”

“His build became a bit larger, but when he’s not in combat mode, he returns to how he originally was, so it’s fine. That… unexpected charm, sort of?”

“Right, I suppose so.”

Knowing that Ji-hye liked Mok-su, Gi-jun only nodded his head contentedly, even as he saw her voice grow slightly higher while she explained about Mok-su.

“So, how are you two doing now? Are you dating?”

“What?! N-No!”

“…No? Then are you dating Shin, by any chance?”

“Why is Shin’s name even coming up?”

Ji-hye shook her head in fluster when asked if she was dating Mok-su, but when asked if she was dating Eun-shin, she tilted her head as if she couldn’t understand why he would ask such a question.

Gi-jun made an indescribable face, realizing that even though a whole ten years had passed, the complicated love affairs inside the party still had not been resolved.

‘I suddenly don’t want to return to the party…’

—That’s right, Contractor. There’s a saying that you should put new wine in new wineskins. Let’s ignore them, ignore them.

Lucy, who did not like that Gi-jun had some connection he knew about but she didn’t, took this opportunity to whisper wickedly to him like the serpent of Eden, but of course, he ignored her.

“Ah, but both Shin and Min-i are at the Rare rank. We found a ruin after the tutorial ended, you see?”

“I know.”

Gi-jun nodded nonchalantly.

How could he not know? Wasn’t it Gi-jun who had rolled around inside the ruins bare-bodied for four years without any information or preparation, drawing a map of the ruins in his head?

“You know it? Gi-jun Oppa?”

“Of course. If I didn’t know that place, how would I have grown to Rare rank?”

“Come to think of it, you’re right.”

She was a bit deflated that Gi-jun already knew what she had brought up to brag about, but Gi-jun still smiled with satisfaction as he listened to her talk about how their party had cleared the ruins and how Ye-min and Eun-shin, who had been funneled the experience points, succeeded in dramatic rank growth.

“You really did well. I’m proud of you.”

“I only stepped back after calmly considering the party’s future and combat power, you know.”

Ji-hye, who was responding with a coy expression to Gi-jun’s sincere encouragement, suddenly realized one fact.

“Then, Oppa, you must have that, right? That one, the King of the Well.”

“Ah, was that a common reward?”

When Gi-jun pulled out the shield to show her, Ji-hye smiled bitterly, thinking, ‘Of course it’s a shield,’ but then paused—and rolled her brain.

“Gi-jun Oppa, you said you were using two shields lately, right?”

“That’s true, but.”

“Here. I hated it when they told me to take it in case something happened, but it turned out to be useful like this.”

As he faced what Ji-hye casually took out of her inventory and handed over, Gi-jun’s eyes went wide.

Of course, since Ji-hye was holding it, it was in the shape of a staff right now, but it was definitely the King of the Well he knew!

“This is great. Min-i was anxious to do something for you, Oppa, and to think you can use this.”

Gi-jun accepted the staff being pushed toward him to take quickly in spite of himself, but he blinked his eyes in disbelief.

“Wait, really? Are you sure I can have this?”

“As you can probably guess, Oppa, our equipment is super solid. Honestly, we don’t need it.”

To be sure, the King of the Well was lacking in many ways to be considered the strongest for its rank, but since it possessed both attack power and defense options at the same time, it was as good as the strongest equipment for Gi-jun to use!

Giving it away this easily? Really?

[King of the Well (Unique)]

[Durability — 2,500/2,500]

[Attack Power (U) / Defense (U) — 50]

[Option 1 — Strength, Mana increased by 5]

[Option 2 — Possesses the power of wind, allowing it to be sprayed in all directions, or fired in a sharp trajectory by swinging the weapon. Consumes mana to cast, and the power is proportional to the product of Mana and Strength. Requires a certain period of recharging after casting.]

[Equip Restriction — Possession of ‘Conqueror of the Behind Dungeon’ title]

[Congratulations. You are the most outstanding frog in this narrow well!]

[King of the Well (Unique)]

[Durability — 2,500/2,500]

[Attack Power (U) / Defense (U) — 50]

[Option 1 — Strength, Mana increased by 5]

[Option 2 — Possesses the power of wind, allowing it to be sprayed in all directions, or fired in a sharp trajectory by swinging the weapon. Consumes mana to cast, and the power is proportional to the product of Mana and Strength. Requires a certain period of recharging after casting.]

[Equip Restriction — Possession of ‘Conqueror of the Behind Dungeon’ title]

[Congratulations. You are the most outstanding frog in this narrow well!]

Down to the item description that turned one’s stomach, there was no mistake.

It was the very King of the Well that Gi-jun knew.

Watching the weapon immediately transform into the shape of a heater shield as it was held in his hand, Ji-hye also clapped.

She probably did not know herself how much she had just increased Gi-jun’s combat power.

‘Come to think of it, the King of the Well had a status increase effect, and wearing two of the same item applied the effect… additionally. Huh.’

Originally, Gi-jun had only received a stat boost of 5 for his Unique-rank Strength and 2—which was less than half—for his Legendary-rank Light Mana from the King of the Well, but once he equipped one more King of the Well, he received the full stat boost of 10 for Strength and 5 instead of 4 for Light Mana.

Even raising a single level brought a dramatic change, so it meant his stats had risen by a whopping 8 in an instant!

‘At this rate, isn’t there no need to make a shield?’

―There is no way that’s true, Contractor. The shield that dwarf makes will definitely be superior to this.

That was true as well.

At any rate, he no longer needed to carry around a Rare-rank shield that was relatively inferior compared to the King of the Well.

Holding a King of the Well in each of his hands, Gi-jun quietly watched them tremble as if they were resonating, feeling deeply moved.

“Thank you, I’ll make good use of it.”

“To be honest, I don’t really get how you fight with two shields, though.”

“You will be surprised when you see it.”

―Of course she would be surprised, since those shields aren’t actually shields.

He ignored Lucy’s whisper this time as well.

“Ahem, Jun. I also have some good equipment that would suit a Flame Human.”

“No, you use that.”

Gi-jun, who responded firmly to Scintilla’s words, which she had thrown out to somehow wedge herself between the two friendly people, withdrew the shield and declared.

“Then, nobody has any objections to the five of us forming a party like this, right? Let’s consider it done, and to celebrate the formation of the party—”

―Party!

Lucy shouted excitedly.

Gi-jun did not ignore it this time.

“Yeah, let’s have a party.”

What was indispensable for a party celebrating the formation of a party?

First and foremost, the most important thing was meat. Since hundreds of kilograms of Hati’s ribs were still left, and Ji-hye and Scintilla had also become members of the party, he decided to make Hati’s ribs the main dish to help increase their strength as well.

Furthermore, a party meant eating rice from the same pot, which meant today’s menu was naturally…!

“Thank you for waiting. It is galbi pot rice and radish soup, assorted jeon, and fresh geotjeori kimchi tossed today.”

“Wow.”

“It smells so savory, m-my mouth keeps watering.”

The jeon made with all kinds of ingredients from fish, vegetables, and meat was mouthwatering, and the soup made with beef and radish, seasoned with soy sauce and boiled thoroughly, was also great, but.

The galbi pot rice, filled with nutrition and care—made by cooking rice in dashi broth with mushrooms, ginkgo nuts, chestnuts, and more, topping it with seasoned and grilled ribs, and then steaming it slightly once more—was indeed today’s main dish.

“Jeon, soup, pot rice, and even kimchi… Just how long has it been since I last saw Korean food… No, wait a minute.”

Ji-hye, who had been blankly inhaling the ecstatic aroma rising from the galbi pot rice in front of her just like the others, came to her senses at some point and shouted.

“Did you have rice here?!”

“There was. We had it during the tutorial too, didn’t we?”

“No matter how much I searched in Ars, there wasn’t any…!”

Realizing once again that Turis was a city of active trade, she took a large spoonful of rice and soon began to shovel it in without a word, and the same was true for the others sitting around the table.

In the middle of that, Ji-hye raised her head with grains of rice stuck to her lips and shouted.

“Stew… Oppa, what about doenjang stew…?!”

“I haven’t seen any doenjang yet. As for soy sauce, it wasn’t soybean soy sauce, and I barely managed to obtain some fish soy sauce instead. I made a clean radish soup, so just eat that.”

In a world as vast as Leta, there was bound to be a place making doenjang and soy sauce on their own, and since he had asked Viv to look into it, news would surely arrive soon.

Soon, Ji-hye, who had completely cleared her portion, flinched.

She was likely experiencing a status increase.

“Gi-jun Oppa, what on earth did you feed me…?”

“A divine beast. The one I caught this time.”

“…”

“Oh my goodness…”

Meanwhile, Scintilla, who was eating the meat of a divine beast for the first time, also underwent a status increase.

After checking the system message, she conjured flames over her hand a few times with an expression of disbelief, and then hugged Gi-jun without hesitation.

“Thank you, Jun!”

“?!”

It was not just Gi-jun who was surprised; most of the people sitting around the table were startled.

However, Scintilla completely ignored the gazes pouring in from all directions, smiling brightly as she looked only at Gi-jun.

“I had been stagnant for a very long time… but perhaps thanks to you, I might be able to catch a glimpse of the next stage!”

“I… get it, so could you let go of me?”

Rodim, the fire fox who was a Red Flame Beast, also ate the pot rice and radish soup together just like Lucy and Ur did; it was very cute how he emptied his soup bowl in an instant and blinked his large eyes with a surprised expression.

Then, he approached Ur and whispered in an unintelligible voice, and upon hearing it, Ur nodded and whispered something to Lucy in turn.

―Contractor, they say that if she eats this warm soup consistently, that woman’s mind might be healed?

‘That is good news.’

Indeed, everything in the world could be resolved in some way as long as there was delicious food.

Gi-jun was ready to make chicken soup for the soul every day if it was for Scintilla.

“Now, shall we discuss the future schedule?”

After everyone finished eating, Gi-jun briefly declared.

Laura and Gin stiffened their backs, needlessly nervous, while Scintilla and Ji-hye also shone their eyes sharply.

Unica was focusing on him, looking ready to take notes.

“Of course, even if I call it a schedule, I don’t plan on doing anything grand. Especially for Laura and Gin, since it hasn’t been long since your race variation occurred, and this is a period where you can raise your stats as much as you want through training, you should train hard for at least a few months according to the schedule I draw up.”

“As I thought, is it so…?”

“I will do my best!”

Laura hung her head, looking somewhat disheartened, while Gin responded energetically.

Even just this morning, Laura had seemed to be in a similar state to Gin, but perhaps seeing new companions join had made her want to play an active role quickly as well.

Gi-jun quietly looked at Laura and comforted her in a low voice.

“Don’t be too impatient, Laura. You have to lay down a solid foundation now so that you can bloom all of your potential.”

“Y-Yes. I was just… it’s nothing.”

Glancing at Scintilla and Ji-hye, Laura closed her eyes tightly and shook her head.

Gi-jun chuckled and turned his gaze toward Scintilla and Ji-hye.

“The problem is, it’s not like the three of us can do something on our own either. Even if we want to coordinate in a dungeon, it’s meaningless unless we have five people.”

“Whatever you do, I will match you, Jun.”

“Aren’t we supposed to trace the vampires’ footprints?”

“The Lord is already discussing that matter with several cooperators. Once a tail is spotted, a request for cooperation will likely come to us as well.”

Unica chimed in to respond to Ji-hye’s question.

Gi-jun nodded heavily and said.

“So I thought about it… Ji-hye, you said your Mana stat was Unique, right?”

“Heh, that’s right.”

Ji-hye spoke proudly.

Gi-jun also let out a chuckle and said.

“And the rest of your stats are all Common.”

“Though my Dexterity is Uncommon… Oppa?”

“Then, first of all, you should train too. I was already concerned because your state seemed unbalanced.”

“…What?”

“Ah…!”

Ji-hye’s face rotting away, and Laura’s face brightening up for some unknown reason.

On the other hand, since Scintilla only had to stay by his side no matter what Gi-jun did, she merely nodded in silence.

And so, starting the next day, Ji-hye joined Gin and Laura’s training.

No objections were accepted.

“No, Oppa, I’m a mage, why would I train my body—kwek!”

No objections were accepted.