บท 21: Seize the Day
It didn't take long to find the building. The sole white building in the entire neighborhood, slightly old but still well-maintained.
The entrance was on the second floor, on top of a flight of stairs. And, as expected, the door was shimmering gold.
Without hesitation, I marched up and knocked.
"Who's there?"
A muffled female voice came from inside.
Before I could answer, the voice called out again. "Actually, just come in. The door's open."
Since that was the case, I did so.
The moment I did, I was met with the face of a woman staring back at me.
Pure-white skin, as if carved from white jade. Long black hair that reached the floor. Clean, pure and elegant eyes, paired with pink lips... and a cigarette hanging between those.
I blinked.
She did as well and then frowned. "Who're you? I've never seen your face before."
I paused, trying to decide how to answer.
Before I could, the woman stood up and crossed her arms. Paired with her outfit of a white t-shirt and loose pants, it was clear that she meant business. "I said, who the hell are you, you dumb shit?"
"I'm-"
"Who is it?"
Heavy footsteps echoed from around the corner and then a familiar face showed up.
Hugo blinked and pointed at me. "Seol!"
"Hugo?" I glanced at the woman and then back at him. "Is this your team's building?"
"You... Ah, first come on in!" He walked over and grabbed my arm, pulling me inside. After that, he sat me down on the couch.
The woman looked at me and then took a puff from her cigarette. After that, she looked at Hugo and said, "What, so you two know each other?"
"Yeah! I told you yesterday, didn't I? There was this incredible newbie Warrior that I met on the way here."
"Hm?" The woman paused to think and then nodded. "Right, right. That ridiculous story."
Hugo shook his head and then said, "Don't mind her, Seol. Anyway, what brings you here? I'm really surprised to see you here, you know?"
I nodded. "I'm surprised to see you too. I knew you were strong, but to think that you were in this really strong Carpe Diem group..."
"Heh." Hugo patted his chest and said, "Told you I was hot stuff! Though..." He paused and said, "What made you look for Carpe Diem first thing after arriving in Haramark? Were you going to challenge every member or something like in those martial arts movies?"
"Pft!" The woman shook her head and averted her gaze.
"...Ignore her." Hugo shook his head and then said, "So? What gives?"
"I actually saw a job posting on the notice board, so I thought I'd check this place out."
Hugo paused. "A job posting?" He looked at the woman and said, "Did we ever place a job posting before?"
The woman shrugged. "Beats me. But I did hear that, what with the old man retiring and all, we would search for a substitute."
"Who told you that?"
"Don't be an idiot. Who else? Dylan, obviously." The woman put out her cigarette on an ashtray and then said, "Anyway, you ask him to leave, okay Hugo?"
Hugo blinked and said, "You want him to leave?"
"Obviously." The woman looked at me and said, "How can he enter our team? We ain't gonna humor a newbie, right?"
I frowned. "...I can tell when I'm not welcome." I stood up and turned to Hugo. "It was nice seeing you again, Hugo. Let's grab some drinks sometime, alright?"
His eyes widened and he quickly grabbed my arm. "Wait, wait, wait. You came here after checking out the job posting, right? Then wait for a little while longer, okay?"
"What?!" The woman stood up as well and said, "Hey! You want to admit a Level 1 to our team?"
"Keep quiet, will you?" Hugo glared at her and then turned back to look at me. "Hey, Seol. Our leader should be here any second, so just wait a bit. I'll put in some good words for you."
"Hah!" The woman scoffed and shook her head.
My frown deepened and I shook my head. "It's fine, Hugo. I'll-"
"Mm? A customer?"
Suddenly, a deep, husky, and dignified voice echoed from the entrance.
Glancing over, I saw a tall man with dark skin walk in. Whereas Hugo looked built like an NFL player, this person was built like an NBA player, taller than Hugo by another head and lankier. Of course, that wasn't to say he lacked muscles. Carrying a brown envelope in his hand, he walked in and turned to look at me.
"Oh! Good timing, Dylan!" Hugo turned towards him and waved.
Dylan frowned and said, "Who is he? A client?"
Hugo shook his head. "No. He's-"
The woman cut him off and said, "A Level 1 Warrior saw one of our job postings and came to pay us a visit~."
"A level 1?" Dylan tilted his head. "Job postings... Hmm. I must have posted those a while ago." That said, he focused his gaze on me again.
I had the sense that I was being scoped out, a tangible pressure emerging from his gaze.
On reflex, I let loose a bit of my killing intent.
"Hoh?" The man's eyes widened.
"...Sorry about that." I quickly withdrew my killing intent.
"It's all good. But... Hm." He glanced at me again with a normal gaze and said, "You aren't half bad."
The woman looked like she was gut punched and turned to face Dylan. "You being serious?"
Dylan nodded while still looking at me. "Yeah. I am. It's true that we're looking for a new team member, and I haven't placed any restrictions on who may join us."
The woman narrowed her eyes. "Hey. I know that you're the leader and all, but aren't you supposed to listen to our opinions too?"
Dylan glanced at her and said, "We just have to 'look' at the person, Chohong. That's what the old man personally said."
The woman- Chohong looked unhappy, but she nodded and slumped back in her chair. "Whatever. Anyway, what happened to that job?"
"I can't even call it a job, actually," Dylan said. "I just popped into the Triads for a bit to check out their new executive." He nodded approvingly and said, "Hao Win. He's a pretty friendly character."
Hao Win? Right, he was part of the Triads... but to think that he was here as well.
I stuck my hand on my chin to think. If he was here and Cinzia was as well... Maybe I should just go join up with them?
"Ah, but where are my manners?" Dylan looked to me and said, "Make yourself comfortable. I'll be right back."
xxx
The atmosphere had relaxed a bit now that Dylan was here.
The four of us were seated in the main area again, all on different chairs. Dylan had also made tea, passing me a cup as well.
Looking at me, the man said, "So you're Seol, right? Hugo couldn't stop raving about you when he got back the other day. First time in Haramark, right?"
I nodded. "That's right."
"Summoned March this year, yeah?"
"Yep."
Dylan nodded. "You might know Hao Win then. He graduated from the March class, apparently."
"A bit. We're decently acquainted with each other."
Dylan gave a polite smile.
Off in the corner though, I saw Chohong hide a scoff.
"Alright, Seol." Dylan looked at me and said, "Do you know what kind of a team ours is?"
I paused to consider it. "I heard from asking around that you guys are a tight knit and elite group. Apparently really skilled too." I focused my gaze on Dylan and said, "I wanted to take a look with my own eyes though."
"Is that so?"
This time, Chohong did scoff.
Dylan frowned, but smoothed it away and looked at me with that polite smile again. "Well, did we meet your expectations?"
I glanced over at Hugo and said, "I don't know about you two, but if Hugo's here, it can't be all that bad."
The axe warrior grinned and gave me a thumb up.
"Heh." Dylan smiled and then said, "Alright then. Well... How were your records in the Tutorial and then Neutral Zone?"
"Records?"
Dylan nodded. "The amount of survival points you got at the end of the Tutorial, how far you went with the mission's difficulty in the Neutral Zone... that sort of thing." That done, he raised his teacup to take a sip.
I thought for a moment and said, "Survival Points... At the end of the Tutorial I think it was around 28000?"
Dylan froze.
Hugo's nervously jittery legs stopped shaking as well.
"As for the missions in the Neutral Zone, I could comfortably clear up to the Very Hard missions by myself and then barely completed the Impossible difficulty."
That time, even Chohong reacted, the woman staring at me with a harsh glare.
In an instant, the atmosphere changed. Looks of disbelief, to suspicion, then to glares.
Sensing that, I frowned.
Even the cheery Hugo was quiet, lost in thought as he looked at me.
But Chohong-
"Oi." She slowly corrected her posture, uncrossing her legs and then leaning forward, straightening her back. "Showing up here out of the blue, that's not a problem. Job posting... Yeah, you could have seen that and came to talk to us. Like Dylan said, there aren't any restrictions after all. That's fine. But..." She narrowed her eyes, her gaze becoming cold. "The thing is. If you showed up here, the office of Carpe Diem, just to throw around these dumbass jokes... Then as a person who has to listen to you, my position will have to change a bit. Catch my drift?"
Hugo's eyes widened and he stood up. "Chohong!"
"Shut up, Hugo." Chohong gave a sharp reply and tossed aside her cigarette. That done, she leveled her gaze at me and said, "I'll give you another chance. Right now, I'm willing to overlook this matter as a rookie who wants to join us cracking a cute little lie and nothing more."
Hugo let out a sigh of relief.
"So. This time, don't utter bullshit and speak the truth."
I stared at her, quiet.
There wasn't killing intent, but I could sense anger- No, rage in those words. Barely concealed.
"...Like I said, I ended the Tutorial with around 28000 Survival Points."
Hugo's complexion paled.
I matched Chohong's gaze and said, "The first mission I attempted and completed in the Neutral Zone was to survive against a horde of Orcs until daybreak or to defeat them all. A Very Hard mission awarding 10000 points. I cleared it by myself. As for the highest difficulty I finished, it was Impossible. A mission I barely cleared after nearly burning my entire life away."
"Oh?" Chohong's brows began to quiver. "So you're saying that you really did have 28000 points and cleared the Impossible mission, is that it?" A strange smile formed on her face and she lifted herself off her seat just so slightly.
I nodded. "That's right."
"Ahh... Really now?"
A blur.
Chohong shot off the chair, a fist aimed at my face. At the same time, Dylan moved, his hand going to block the attack. But as for me-
*shing*
-I stood beside Chohong, my sword drawn and placed beside her neck, pulsing with violent emerald light.
The room fell silent.
Chohong's eyes were wide and she froze, her clear eyes staring at me in shock.
"Seol!" Hugo stood up and called out to me.
I looked at him and took a deep breath. Then, I carefully withdrew my killing intent and sheathed my sword. "...Sorry, Hugo." I shook my head and then stared at Chohong. After taking another deep breath, I lowered my head and said, "I'm sorry to you as well, Miss Chohong."
She coughed and said, "That's... That's fine."
I raised my head and frowned. "...It seems like I need to do some more mental training. That could have ended poorly."
The point of coming here was to join the team, not pick a fight. If I had really gone through with that attack...
My frown deepened and I glanced at my sword.
"Seol." Dylan's voice echoed.
I turned to look at him, wondering if he was calling out to me. But it wasn't.
Dylan seemed lost in thought and kept repeating it. "Seol. Seol... Ah." He looked to me and said, "By any chance, is your full name Seol Jihu?"
I nodded. "That's right. Seol's preferable though. I only really let friends and family call me Jihu."
Dylan nodded. "Right... I was wondering why it sounded familiar. Hao Win mentioned you."
Hugo frowned. "What are you talking about?"
Dylan looked at me and said, "Hao Win was talking about a certain guy. Apparently, among those summoned for this year's March selection, there was a crazy guy among the group who could solo clear all the missions and was skilled enough to give pointers to the top six of the Neutral Zone. Not only that, but he cleared the Impossible mission by himself and even figured out how Sung Shihyun cleared it last time."
"Wha-What?" Chohong turned to look at Dylan and let out a nervous laugh. "D-Dylan. You're kidding, right? If you come out like that, it sounds like this whole thing..."
Dylan chuckled. "I understand. I thought it was a bunch of baloney too... But since we have the apparent man in person, why don't we confirm it?"
He walked off somewhere and then returned with a large, clear crystal ball. That done, he placed it on the coffee table and placed his hand on top, making it emit light.
I narrowed my eyes and stared at it.
[Communication Crystal]
Calling Cinzia.
Converts mana into waves, resonating with matching frequencies to transmit sound waves.
Pure quartz.
Hm...
While I was staring at it, a voice called out. A haughty, mezzo-soprano tone that was unforgettable after the Neutral Zone.
Dylan kept an eye on me and said, "I heard that you returned to Haramark recently. I'm congratulating you on successfully concluding the Neutral Zone."
Cinzia's voice echoed and said, "Congratulating me, huh? Indeed, that's a nice notion. You have any idea how much I missed the air of Paradise?"
"I was pretty shocked to hear that you were being put in charge of the Neutral Zone too, Cinzia."
"Mm. It wasn't too bad. Other than being bored out of my mind... Well, there were a few interesting things happening, so that kept me pretty entertained."
"Interesting things, you say?"
"Oh? Did you call me because you were wondering about that too?"
"Yeah, I wanted to-"
"Hey, Miss Cinzia. Is Claire- I mean, Miss Agnes doing well?"
The room froze, the members of Carpe Diem looking at me in shock.
A hearty chuckle sounded from the other side and said, "Well if it isn't the bastard himself. 'Mister Jihu', right? Didn't think you were in Haramark of all places. I'd have thought you'd be back in Scheherazade with that Foxy woman."
I shrugged, but then remembered that the crystal didn't transmit video and said, "Thought it'd be a good idea to cut it out for my own for a while first."
"Ha! Bet that pissed off the old bastard something royal. Ah, but you were asking about Agnes, right? She's fine. A bit antsy and annoying asking me about you every other day, but fine."
I nodded. "That's good to hear- Ah, right." I paused, suddenly remembering the other three in the room. I bowed my head and said, "Sorry. Didn't mean to cut in."
"No." Dylan shook his head. "That's... That's more than alright, Seol."
Cinzia laughed. "I see what's going on now. Dylan's probably wondering about your record, right?"
Dylan nodded. "That's right. We... Well, it's a bit of an incredible story."
"Tell me about it. If I didn't see it with my own eyes and get it confirmed by Agnes, I wouldn't believe it either. But let's see... Took first place with a points tally of 28000. Solo cleared the Neutral Zone's mission up to Impossible. Formed a team with five others and cleared all of the Very Hard missions. One of the only two Gold Marks in history... And that ballsy bastard who killed off ten invitees just out the gate of the Neutral Zone. By the way, kid. You owe me a drink for that mess."
I laughed and said, "I'll send a bottle your way when I save up enough cash."
"Heh." Cinzia chuckled and said, "That satisfy you, Dylan?"
"...Yes. Thanks for your time, Cinzia. I'll return the favor soon."
"It's fine. Between the paperwork and everything else, this was a fun diversion. Oh, and we might be seeing each other pretty soon. I'll be sending someone over there not too long from now."
"Alright. Thanks Cinzia."
"Ciao."
With that, the crystal ball stopped glowing.
The manager of the Neutral Zone for the March selection confirmed the story. Not only that, but from the interaction and banter, as well as the additional facts, it seemed like the story was even more incredible than what was told.
"Son of a..." Chohong took a breath she didn't know she was holding and then sat on the couch, staring at me with the look of someone seeing a true monster.
Meanwhile, Hugo looked at me with awe, only muttering, "Whoa, whoa," under his breath.
As for Dylan... He sipped on his tea, organizing his thoughts for a while, before slowly opening his mouth. "Looks like I'll have to change how we go about things."
I nodded.
Dylan put his cup down and then said, "Seol. I have a good sense of the kind of person you are now. There are many things we're curious about, and what with this being such an unbelievable story to begin with, please do try to understand where we're coming from, okay?"
A calm and smooth voice. Although he was rattled by the conversation with Cinzia, it seemed that Dylan was still composed. Not only that, he seemed to be trying to pacify the situation and was still being cordial.
Seeing that, I said, "It's fine. I kind of figured something like this would happen at some point anyway."
Dylan nodded. "Thank. Mm, right. About the job posting..." He stopped there and looked at me before saying, "I'd like to hear your honest answer to my question."
"Of course."
"Alright. Then... What was your reason for choosing us?"
A typical question. Even so, from the heavy gaze Dylan gave me, it wasn't one to take lightly.
"With that kind of record, you could have chosen any of the powerful organizations in Paradise and they would have welcomed you with open arms." He leaned forward and said, "Even if you made enemies, with your achievements there wouldn't be a single organization that would refuse if you honestly applied. So then... Why did you choose to come to Haramark and knock on Carpe Diem's doors instead of someone else's like Cinzia's?"
I stared back at him and said, "Would you believe me if I told you that my intuition brought me here?"
xxx
The 'Eat, Drink And Enjoy' pub. After being soundly rejected by Dylan, I walked over there to get myself some food.
The bartender was a bit skeptical of me, but after passing him a single silver coin and earnestly eating his food, the guy became friendlier, even handing me a warm mug of low alcohol cider.
I took a sip from the cider and frowned.
Carpe Diem... That guy went there in the story, but... So far I wasn't thrilled about it.
In fact, I wondered why he even bothered with them to begin with. The golden commandment definitely played a role, but that guy relied too much on his eyes and not enough on his own beliefs.
"Still, this is a problem." I muttered and frowned.
Since I was still a Level 1, it'd be hard to find work to do. And porting... I wasn't about to stoop to something like that. It was both a waste of time and energy, not worth the rewards.
"Maybe I should just go smack those bastards in the head?" I took a sip from my drink and muttered.
Contribution points were similar to experience points. If I killed enough things, maybe it'd be enough to level up...?
But I doubted it'd be that easy. So then-
*slam*
A loud noise, the sound of someone smashing a table. Following that, "Everyone! Your attention, please!"
A man's shout, bringing silence to the once-noisy establishment.
I frowned and looked up to see a man with his hand raised in the air. Lean, long hair extended down to his waist... He seemed fairly competent.
The man looked around the room and said, "Is there a skilled Warrior or a Priest among you? Ah, I'm also searching for a porter as well, so it does not matter if your level is low."
I shook my head, ignoring the guy- At least, that was the plan. But then he mentioned something about the Forest of Denial.
It'd be a bit annoying acting as a porter... but remembering that vision and the person waiting there, I decided to try it out.
I stood up and walked over. "You said you're looking for a porter?"
Samuel's face lit up when he saw me. "Oho! Our first lucky person arrives!" He nodded and said, "Indeed, we're looking for porters. Do you have any prior experience?"
I shook my head. "This will be my first time."
"First time?" Samuel looked a bit trouble. But just as soon as that guy's face fell-
"I agree!"
A familiar amiable voice.
I looked over to see Alex waving at me. "Hm? Alex?"
"Glad to see you again, Seol! Was the inn alright?"
I nodded. "It's a decent location. Nice and quiet like you said."
"Great!"
Samuel turned around and said, "You know this guy, Alex?"
The blonde priest nodded. "Yup. And I'm completely on board with this idea. I guarantee you, you won't regret it."
Samuel nodded and turned back to me. "If Alex guarantees it, then I guess it's not so bad. Alright!" Clapping his hands, he pulled out a chair and said, "Come on! Join us here!"
I nodded and sat down. The moment I did, Alex called out to me.
"I didn't think we'd run into each other so quickly, Seol."
"I didn't either." I glanced at Samuel and said, "You a member of his team?"
"Yep! Though I'm surprised. I thought you were against this type of place, but I see you're a man at the end of the day too." He finished with a wink.
I sighed.
"Whoa, whoa." Samuel waved his hand between us and said, "Why don't you give us a chance to say hello too?" He held out his hand and said, "Name's Samuel. I'm the leader of this team, a Level 4 Pathfinder."
I shook his hand and said, "Seol. Level 1 Warrior."
Samuel laughed and then pointed to his left. There, a woman with curly brown hair and a woman with short platinum-blonde hair sat.
"You already know Alex," Samuel said, "So I'll exclude him. This lady here's Clara, a Level 2 Hunter. Next to her is Grace, a Level 3 Shield Swordswoman. In a way, you could say that she's your senior."
I doubted that. Just from a casual look, I could tell that I was more capable than everyone at the table... But I didn't let that show and let out a small smile. "A pleasure to be working with you two ladies."
They giggled and then leaned together to have a conversation, occasionally stealing glances my way.
"Oh yeah." Samuel turned to me and said, "It'll be your first time as a porter, right?"
"Mmhm."
He nodded and smiled. "It's not going to be a tough job, actually. We'll be asking you every now and then to take care of some small things, but on a whole just think of your job as carrying our luggage around for the duration of the expedition."
After that, Samuel went over the rough details about the mission and then made a point of moving to continue the conversation elsewhere in private.
As for where that place was, it was the inn Alex recommended. But when we went to the third floor to go meet with some other team members-
"Seol?!"
"Hm?" I blinked and said, "Hugo?" I glanced over and saw Chohong and Dylan standing there. "You guys too... What brings you here?"
Dylan crossed his arms and let out a wry chuckle. "I didn't think we'd meet each other again less than an hour later."
I shrugged. "They were searching for a porter when I was in the pub and it seemed fairly interesting so I decided to tag along."
Samuel blinked. "What's this? You already know the folks from Carpe Diem?"
"Mm... You can say we're fairly acquainted."
Dylan raised up his hands and shook his head. "Nothing we can do but take it as a trick of fate, I guess. Anyway," he lowered them and looked at Samuel. "Time is gold, so let's cut to the chase."
The group gathered around the table for a discussion.
Seeing that, I leaned against the wall, waiting for them to finish. But before I could even have a few minutes respite, Chohong walked over and said, "Hey you. What are you doing?"
"Hm?"
She pointed at the table with her chin and said, "Hurry up. The meeting's about to get started." With that, she purposefully took a step to the side, opening up a spot.
Since she put in that much effort, I couldn't just refuse, so I walked over as well.
When I did, Hugo laughed, a low rumbling sound. He shook his head and then said, "Whenever she owes an apology to someone she suddenly becomes considerate to that person. It would be simpler to say sorry once, to be honest."
I blinked and looked over at Chohong.
Her nose reddened, but she kept her mouth shut.
And then Samuel began his explanation.
To put it simple: it was killing three birds with one stone. The plan was to go to the Forest Denial under pretense of the Sicilia's scouting mission, completing the Royal Family's mission, delving deep inside to go get a tomb that was supposed to be there, and then reaping all the rewards.
Of course, there was the caveat of the place being incredibly dangerous with only a single party successfully returning from it, but apparently Samuel had it all sorted out.
It was arrogant. Prideful.
The reason why I could say that?
Samuel and his entire party was painted in crimson.
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