The Association President, whose face had been filled with clear bewilderment, quickly regained his composure and looked at Seong-jun.
“Phew, that’s impressive. I’m sure Director Bak Se-jin didn’t tell you, so to deduce that much from just a few fragments of information… However, does that mean I can take it as you being willing to negotiate with the Association?”
If Seong-jun hadn’t intended to negotiate with the Association in the first place, he would have simply stood up and left without questioning the details.
The fact that he was asking what their bargaining chips were meant he was open to a deal.
“If the conditions allow for a win-win scenario, I have no reason to refuse.”
To Seong-jun, it didn’t particularly matter whether the Association President was an ordinary person or an Awakened.
The only thing that mattered was whether the man could be of use to him.
“Hahaha! I didn’t realize you were such an open-minded person. If there were more people like Hunter Kim Seong-jun, the Association would be able to operate with a bit more peace of mind. Anyway, very well. Let’s put our cards on the table first.”
Saying that, President Jeong Tae-hun held out a document toward Seong-jun.
“This is a list of A-rank artifacts currently in the Association’s possession. If you accept my proposal, I will provide the three of you with one A-rank artifact each on a permanent loan. In truth, I’d like to just give them to you, but there are issues of fairness to consider. We are using the format of a loan, but in reality, there’s no difference between this and giving them to you.”
A-rank artifacts.
Currently, among Seong-jun’s party, Yu-seon was the only one who possessed an A-rank artifact.
While they had learned skills equivalent to A-rank artifacts, skills and artifacts were fundamentally different in nature.
“A-rank artifacts. That’s certainly a tempting offer. But is this all?”
The permanent loan of A-rank artifacts was definitely an attractive condition.
It would undoubtedly be a massive help for their future hunts.
However, Seong-jun judged that this alone was not enough.
Thinking about what the Association stood to gain, he felt the scales were not yet balanced.
“Of course not. In addition to the permanent loan of A-rank artifacts, I will reduce the tax to 5% for the party Hunter Kim Seong-jun belongs to. Furthermore, if Hunter Kim Seong-jun desires it — for any reason at all — the Association will express unconditional support for you exactly once.”
Following the permanent loan of artifacts, there were tax benefits and the full, unconditional support of the Association.
It was certainly a massive amount of backing.
Especially the last part — the unconditional support — would surely become an incredible source of strength should something unreasonable happen to Seong-jun in the future.
After all, it was the full support of the Association that represented all Awakened in Korea.
Even if he accepted the proposal as it was, it was a fair enough offer, but Seong-jun had no intention of taking it at face value.
“Instead of that, let’s move the 5% tax reduction to a full exemption.”
Messing with the other parts would have placed a significant burden on the Association.
However, Seong-jun judged that they could be more flexible regarding the tax, so he pushed for that specifically.
“Hmm, a full tax exemption. Well, fine. Let’s do that. Then, let’s talk about what we want in return. Hunter Kim Seong-jun and his party re-awakened with the help of the Association, and your deployment to the site of this Dungeon Break was at the Association’s request. You will state this fact through a press conference and further confirm that you maintain a close relationship with the Association.”
In the end, all Seong-jun had to give were words.
Since he would receive such massive benefits for just a few sentences, one might think the scales were tipped too far in Seong-jun’s favor, but that wasn’t the case at all.
Currently, Seong-jun was the primary hero who had played the biggest role in stopping the Dungeon Break without casualties.
In particular, his near-miraculous ability to heal those who had lost limbs had given him a public image so positive that he was being called a saint.
The Association intended to ride on the coattails of that image.
By doing so, the negative image surrounding the Association would be greatly diluted.
This was by no means a losing trade for them.
“Hmm, there’s one thing I should clarify. If someone asks whether I’ll accept future requests from the Association because I intervened in this Dungeon Break at your request, what should I say? Surely I don’t have to accept every request the Association makes.”
Just as the President said, if it became known that he had intervened at their request, questions would naturally follow about whether he would do so again.
The problem was that, depending on his answer, it might look like Seong-jun was subordinate to the Association.
That was absolutely not what he wanted.
“Haha, of course not. Let’s do this. Even though Hunter Kim Seong-jun and the Association maintain a close relationship, we’ll set it up as a horizontal relationship, not a hierarchical one. When the Association makes a request, Hunter Kim Seong-jun will judge and decide whether to accept it. However, out of consideration for the relationship, you’ll state that you’ll try to consider it in the most positive direction possible. Would that be appropriate?”
That certainly didn’t seem like a bad setup.
“That’s fine. Let’s go with that. When are you thinking of holding the press conference?”
“The sooner, the better, but we need to establish the general setting of our relationship, and there are things to prepare on our end, so let’s do it four days from now.”
Though he wanted to hold the press conference as early as tomorrow, they had to draft a script that fit the narrative and handle various preparations.
Therefore, four days later seemed like the most appropriate time for the formal conference.
“Very well. Please let me know once the schedule is finalized. Also, send me the detailed settings and the script once they’re ready. I need to check if anything needs modification, and more than anything, I need to know the narrative so I can respond if any unexpected situations arise.”
Seong-jun planned to leave the narrative and script to the Association for now.
However, once the work was finished, he intended to review it in advance to see if any parts needed editing.
“I’ll do that. Ah! Also, while you’re taking the re-awakening test, how about we put you up for the Irregular Audit?”
The primary judgment for an Irregular Audit is made by each country’s Awakened Association, but the secondary judgment is made by the International Awakened Association.
In other words, one must pass both the first and second rounds to be officially registered as an Irregular.
The President intended to put Seong-jun up for the audit now.
Even if he failed to become an Irregular in the second round, the mere fact that he was a candidate would increase the level of interest focused on him.
This would likely act as a plus for the Association that was backing him.
“Do as you please. As long as it doesn’t disadvantage me, I’ll try to accommodate the Association’s position as much as possible.”
Since being registered as an Irregular wasn’t a bad thing for Seong-jun either, he readily agreed.
“Haha, then we’ll do that. Shall we go take the re-awakening test now?”
“Yes. And I can take this list with me, right? I’ll discuss it with my party members and choose the artifacts to borrow permanently.”
It was too much to choose the artifacts right here on the spot.
He needed time to think about what would be best, and above all, Gwang-taek — one of the parties involved — wasn’t present.
Thus, he planned to take the list and choose carefully.
“Go ahead.”
Having finished his negotiations with the Association President, Seong-jun immediately moved to the testing area for his re-awakening test.
***
The re-awakening test was carried out quickly.
An awakening test was simply a matter of measuring ranks and ability values through a specific device, so it didn’t take long.
However, there was a bit of a commotion during the process, caused by Seong-jun’s absurdly high stats.
His Strength and Agility were well over 100,000, his Stamina was 400,000, and above all, his Divine Power was a staggering 1,500,000.
Of course, the additional 5,000,000 Divine Power didn’t show up on the machine, but even the pure Divine Power of 1,500,000 was an incredible figure.
Regardless, Seong-jun’s overall combat power was equivalent to an S-rank, so it was natural for an uproar to occur.
The re-awakening test ended with that slight disturbance, and Seong-jun finally held an A-rank Awakened registration card in his hand.
“Oh! So this is an A-rank registration card? Wow! The color really is different from the B-rank card.”
Now outside the Association, Seong-jun and Yu-seon had called Gwang-taek to discuss what had happened.
“It’s just a registration card. Anyway, that’s the situation. So, Brother Gwang-taek, keep that in mind. Oh! And this is the list I got from the Association. You can pick one artifact you want from here.”
As Seong-jun placed the list in the center of the table, Gwang-taek’s eyes sparkled as he checked it.
“Ugh, A-rank artifacts. I’m finally getting an A-rank artifact! By the way, what should I choose? A shield? Armor? Or a weapon?”
Seeing Gwang-taek agonizing over the choice, Seong-jun gave him a bit of advice.
“As you know, we have to enter an A-rank dungeon with the Blue Sky Guild tomorrow. So, it would be better to pick something that will be helpful there.”
They were supposed to meet at the Blue Sky Guild at 10:00 AM tomorrow, so they planned to stop by the Association to pick up the artifacts before then.
Therefore, he judged it better to pick something that would help them clear the A-rank dungeon.
“Hmm, then I should probably exclude weapons for now. How much damage can I really do against an A-rank monster? It’s better to focus on defense. In that case, should I choose between a shield and armor?”
Yu-seon spoke up as she watched Gwang-taek.
“Since you’re a defensive tanker rather than an evasion-type, you use your shield to block attacks a lot anyway, right? Just go with a shield. I’ve already spotted a bow I like, so I’m going with that.”
For a damage dealer like Yu-seon, the weapon was the most important thing.
Thus, she had only looked for bows from the moment she saw the list and had already made her choice.
“Should I? Then… Oh! This one looks good! I was really sad when I had to put my B-rank shield up for auction last time, but this has the same option. I’ll go with this shield equipped with Shield Stun.”
Stun skills were one of the most important tools for a tanker.
Therefore, he chose an A-rank shield that came with Shield Stun.
“That’s good. Then Brother Gwang-taek will take this shield, and what about you, Brother Seong-jun?”
At Yu-seon’s question, Seong-jun pulled out the reward box he had obtained after defeating the boss yesterday.
“I’m going to decide after opening this. I don’t know what might come out of here.”
Since it was a reward box from a B-rank boss, it was certain to contain a reward at the A-rank level, one tier higher.
However, it was impossible to know if it would be an artifact, a skill, or something else of equal value.
Thus, he planned to decide after opening the box.
“Ah! That’s right! There was a reward box! Hmph, I’m jealous. Since it’s from a B-rank boss, it’s guaranteed to be A-rank, right?”
Seong-jun smiled as he saw Yu-seon’s envy.
“Envy is a losing game. Haha. Anyway, I’m going to pick something that doesn’t overlap if an artifact comes out of here.”
Gwang-taek laughed at Seong-jun’s words.
“I hope something useful comes out. If you get stronger, it’s the same as the whole party getting stronger. Anyway, if we keep smoothly replacing our artifacts and level up a bit, won’t we be able to aim for B-rank dungeons soon?”
Since there was a limit to skill usage, one needed to be able to deal enough damage with basic attacks to clear a dungeon.
In that regard, they felt they were still somewhat lacking for B-rank dungeons.
They could hunt, of course, but it was a matter of efficiency.
While they could clear C-rank dungeons quickly, their hunting speed in a B-rank dungeon would be very slow.
It was also awkward to use ultimate-level skills, which had long cooldowns, on a pack of just three or four monsters.
However, they judged that if they continued to replace their equipment alongside their level increases, they would have enough power to clear B-rank dungeons in the near future.
“Most likely. Then let’s meet at the Association at 9:00 AM tomorrow. By the way, we’re going to be busy. We have to enter the A-rank dungeon as soon as we pick up the artifacts, and then do the press conference right after we come out.”
“Wow! Our Seong-jun is even doing press conferences now. You’ve become quite the celebrity. Then again, everywhere I go since the Dungeon Break, all anyone talks about is you.”
Though stories about Gwang-taek and Yu-seon popped up occasionally, the talk about Seong-jun was overwhelmingly more frequent.
That was how dominant his performance had been.
“It’s just a flash of interest. It’s noisy now, but people’s interest will fade before long. Anyway, let’s eat. If we want to be out early tomorrow, we should head home and sleep.”
Even though the image of Seong-jun was burned into people’s minds and the interest wouldn’t cool down that quickly, it was certain that the explosive attention would subside over time.
Meanwhile, Seong-jun had a lot to do starting early in the morning, so he suggested they eat and head home.
***
After finishing the meal and returning home, Seong-jun immediately went into the bathroom to shower.
Once finished, he came out, took a can of beer from the refrigerator, and sat at the dining table.
“Ha, another busy day passes. No matter what anyone says, a cold beer is the only way to end the day.”
*Pshh!*
Seong-jun popped the beer and took a refreshing gulp.
*Gulp! Gulp!*
“Ahh, that’s cold.”
After that sip, Seong-jun pulled the boss reward box out of his subspace.
“By the way, I’m finally opening this.”
Even though he had obtained the reward yesterday, he was only just now taking it out.
“I wonder what’ll come out. I hope it’s something useful. Should I open it?”
Seong-jun opened the reward box immediately.
*Click!*
A bright light burst out the moment the box opened.
*Whooooosh!*
And before he knew it, a dagger emitting a faint glow was in his hand.
“Huh? What is this? A dagger? Why a dagger of all things?”
If a weapon was going to come out, he would have preferred a blunt weapon.
Why did it have to be a dagger?
“Tsk, I should check it anyway.”
Though a dagger was useless to him, it was a reward from the box, so he had to verify it.
**[A-rank] Castiel’s Versatility**
– Weapon Attack: +150,000
– Can store the forms of specific weapons through Shape Storage.
– Can call upon stored forms according to the user’s purpose.
– Special Skills: **[Shape Storage] [Shape Transformation]** available.
– Currently Stored Forms: [1/8] [Dagger] [Unregistered] [Unregistered] [Unregistered] [Unregistered] [Unregistered] [Unregistered] [Unregistered]
Seong-jun’s eyes widened as he checked the item.
“Heh! Wh-what is this! I can transform the weapon’s shape?”
He had been disappointed that it was a dagger, but it turned out the artifact only looked like a dagger because that was its initial registered form.
He could change its appearance to any stored form at any time.
“L-let’s see…!”
To test if it actually worked, Seong-jun pulled out his mace.
“Shape Storage!”
Then, a notification rang in his ear.
**[Would you like to store the form of this weapon? Yes/No]**
“Yes. Store.”
**[Registration window: [Mace] has been stored.]**
Along with the notification that the mace had been stored, the number 1/8 changed to 2/8, and the mace was registered in the second slot that had been marked as unregistered.
Of course, it was only registered; the artifact still retained the shape of a dagger.
“Shape Transformation. Mace.”
As soon as he cast Shape Transformation…
*Vrrrrrrr!*
The artifact that had looked like a dagger transformed into a mace in an instant.
“Ohh! It works! It works! Hahaha! With this, I can even use Gwang-taek and Yu-seon’s skills that I couldn’t use before!”
He had gained the ability to use one of an opponent’s skills by reaching 100% trust, but there had been limits to its actual use.
Most skills could only be used when a specific weapon, like a shield or a bow, was equipped.
Other than those, there weren’t many skills he actually needed to use.
The most useful one among them had been Gwang-taek’s Stun Charge, so he had only used that.
But now, he could use every skill Yu-seon and Gwang-taek possessed.
He could transform the weapon into a bow or a shield depending on the situation, cast the skill, and then transform it back into a mace.
“This changes things. I wanted to keep the party to ourselves if possible, but it might not be a bad idea to take in new party members.”
To take someone’s skill, reaching 100% trust was a prerequisite.
However, reaching 100% trust was no easy feat.
Ultimately, it meant he had to build trust by seeing them every day, and the best way to do that was to recruit additional party members.
“We talked about adding party members before, so I should bring it up when the time is right. Anyway, now that the weapon issue is resolved, what artifact should I choose from the Association?”
Since the probability of a mace coming out of the reward box had been very low, he had originally planned to select a weapon as the artifact to rent from the Association.
But since a shapeshifting weapon had appeared, there was no longer a need to choose a weapon.
Because of this, Seong-jun began to scan the list once more.
“Hmm… Right. This looks good.”
As he scanned the list, one particular artifact caught his eye.
**[Healer-exclusive A-rank Armor: Robe of Dawn]**
**[Primary Options: Increased Divine Power recovery speed / Increased Divine Power recovery amount / Decreased Divine Power consumption]**
**[Special Skill: Passive—Healing Amplification]**
It was a robe, armor exclusively for healers.
Its primary options were recovery speed, recovery amount, and consumption reduction of Divine Power.
It also featured a passive skill called Healing Amplification.
It seemed to have the effect of boosting the amount of recovery when casting healing skills.
For Seong-jun, who had already solved his weapon problem, this was the best possible choice.
Having selected the artifact he would borrow from the Association, Seong-jun stood up with a relieved expression.