If you have a really important and difficult exam coming up and someone were to wave the exact answer sheet right in front of you.
Who wouldn’t want that?
And in a dungeon, a strategy guide is like the answer sheet.
The value of a strategy guide skyrocketed as the dungeon’s difficulty increased.
The biggest reason was that higher-level dungeons required the involvement of more skilled individuals.
For example, an F-ranked dungeon might be easily completed by a couple of first-year students, while a B-ranked dungeon might require a swarm of third-year students to fight their way through it just to get out in one piece.
The resources you need to enter aren’t light either.
Potions and scrolls for healing or buffs, repairs on various equipment. These material resources were just the basics.
Clubs had to gather people amidst various conflicting interests, secure a spot in the dungeon, devise a strategy, and put in tremendous time and effort to achieve a successful run.
And in all of this, the strategy guide played a crucial role.
It boosts efficiency.
A dungeon that would normally require an investment of 100 resources could be cleared with just 70 using a guide.
From the perspective of the one tackling the dungeon, saving resources meant earning that difference, so it wouldn’t be wrong to value the guide at 30.
In addition, Pang Mi-ryeong was the one leading her party. So there was even more value to it.
A stable clear of a high-difficulty dungeon would boost her reputation and standing within the club.
For these reasons, she was staring at me with burning eyes.
“There’s no room for choice here. Name your terms. I’ll meet them as best I can.”
“That dungeon, its capacity was twenty people, right?”
“Yes.”
Dungeons had a maximum number of participants allowed to enter.
The [Feathered Serpent Altar] that I had cleared with Go Hyeon-woo was a four-person dungeon.
Meanwhile, the [Gathering of Villains] that Pang Mi-ryeong was about to conquer was a huge dungeon that allowed up to twenty participants.
“Still, I doubt you’ll fill the full capacity”.
“……”
“Considering the distribution of rewards… wouldn’t about fifteen people be ideal?”
“…You’re spot on.”
Pang Mi-ryeong clearly didn’t want to reveal her plans, but when my guess hit the mark, she had no choice but to acknowledge it.
Even in a 20-person dungeon, it was rare to fill all twenty slots.
Increasing the number of participants meant that the rewards each person received would diminish accordingly.
If ten people shared the rewards meant for twenty, each person would get double.
So, it was natural for everyone to want to minimize the headcount as much as possible.
Even I had only entered the four-person dungeon with Go Hyeon-woo, just the two of us.
However, if you reduce the number of participants too much, clearing the dungeon might become impossible.
Failure would lead to big losses and potentially severe injuries for someone involved.
Therefore, as a party leader, one needed to strike a balance between stability and rewards.
In this case, the optimal number was fifteen.
Pang Mi-ryeong’s expression hardened. She seemed to realize why I was asking these questions.
“Wait, you don’t mean….”
“Yes, it’s exactly what you’re thinking, Senior-nim.”
I smiled slightly before continuing.
“I’d like you to give me some spots.”
“How many?”
“All five remaining spots.”
“…Ha.”
Pang Mi-ryeong opened and closed her mouth. She touched the back of her neck and then her forehead.
She looked as if she was moments away from shouting, “What? Five spots? You brazen bastard!”
“……”
Meanwhile, Jegal So-so who didn’t seem directly involved in the raid stepped back and watched the situation unfold.
She hid her face behind her fan, so her lips were hidden, but her eyes curved softly as if she was thoroughly amused.
Eventually, Pang Mi-ryeong took a deep breath. She was trying hard to suppress her anger before she spoke.
“Hoo… Sorry, but that’s difficult. It’s not something I can decide on my own, and even if I could, I’d oppose it.”
With fifteen participants, the interests of various factions were already intertwined, so the party leader couldn’t just add five more people at will.
If among those five, a first-year student like me who couldn’t even access the depth floors was included, it would be even more troublesome.
Even if they could be added, she wouldn’t want to increase the carefully reduced number of fifteen back to twenty.
It was understandable why Pang Mi-ryeong would oppose it.
Of course, I had anticipated this response.
I calmly sipped my dragon well tea and then spoke.
“I think there’s a misunderstanding, senior-nim. I’m asking to be allowed into the dungeon, not to get involved in the raid or demand a share of the rewards.”
“You’re not going to take part in the distribution? What about the treasure map?”
“Of course, I have no intention of touching the treasure either.”
Pang Mi-ryeong looked a bit intrigued at that.
If raid and dungeon rewards were unaffected, it was like placing five seats on one side of the scale and the strategy guide on the other.
The five empty spots weren’t needed anyway.
If the price was the strategy guide, she could easily give them up.
If the strategy guide was secured, opposing opinions would be easily quelled.
However, Pang Mi-ryeong seemed to have another question in mind.
“Then why go in if you have nothing to gain?”
“It’s not that there’s nothing to gain. I have a different objective.”
“Is there another hidden piece?”
“There are plenty. That place is vast, isn’t it?”
It was a huge dungeon, so large that even twenty people would be busy moving around.
Naturally, the hidden pieces scattered throughout weren’t just one or two.
Pang Mi-ryeong pointed at the strategy guide in my hand and asked.
“Is it in there?”
“Not all of it is written down.”
“Did you leave it out on purpose?”
“That’s right.”
Pang Mi-ryeong’s eyes narrowed.
“What if I say we don’t need the strategy guide and that we’ll find the hidden pieces on our own?”
“I’d have no choice but to back out. But… if you could figure it out on your own, would you really need the treasure map?”
Even with the treasure map, they had waited for me to gather the pieces and hand them over, so how did they expect to find the other hidden pieces on their own?
Since it made sense, Pang Mi-ryeong fell silent for a moment.
I added a comment to that.
“And even if I told you, you wouldn’t be able to get everything anyway. There isn’t enough time.”
“Hmm…”
“You need to set clear priorities.”
Pang Mi-ryeong’s top priority was clearing the dungeon itself.
Next was investigating the secrets through the treasure map.
And lastly, there were the other minor hidden pieces.
But if they wasted time trying to collect every little thing, the first two goals would likely end in failure.
That’s why I left them out of the strategy guide so that she wouldn’t have to worry about them.
Only then did Pang Mi-ryeong seem to grasp my intention.
“You mean, we should just pretend the minor stuff doesn’t exist, right? Leave it all to you?”
“Wouldn’t that be simpler?”
Pang Mi-ryeong glanced down at the dragon well tea in her hand, then lifted the cup and downed it in one go.
Seeing her down a high-quality tea in one shot, Jegal So-so momentarily looked at her as if she were watching a beggar. However, Pang Mi-ryeong’s focus remained solely on me.
“Let’s just make one thing clear. We don’t interfere with each other?”
Pang Mi-ryeong would focus on the main goals of the dungeon and treasure map, while I would concentrate on collecting the hidden pieces scattered everywhere.
And we would never encroach on each other’s territory.
Since that was exactly what I wanted, I nodded readily.
“No worries.”
“Good.”
Pang Mi-ryeong nodded her head in agreement as well.
She extended her hand and I placed the strategy guide in it.
The deal was sealed.
“We’ll start by securing the bid rights and begin preparations. We’ll discuss the details again during the next strategy battle week.”
“Yes, senior-nim.”
***
After Kim Ho left the office.
For a while, there was silence between Pang Mi-ryeong and Jegal So-so.
“……”
“……”
Jegal So-so stared at the closed door as if she could see what was beyond it, while Pang Mi-ryeong was busy verifying the authenticity of the strategy guide.
Although there was no reason for Kim Ho to tell a lie that would be caught quickly, it wouldn’t hurt to be thorough.
So she checked the replays and strategy guides of previous Dragon Slayer Academy students and cross-checked them.
After staring at the crystal orb for a long time, Pang Mi-ryeong spoke as if talking to herself.
“He’s something else, that guy.”
“He sure is.”
“Think we can’t pull him over to our side?”
Each strategy guide for a high-level dungeon holds immense value.
Then, how valuable would a walking strategy guide be? How valuable would someone who had all those guides memorized in his head be?
If other factions found out about this, they’d be desperate to recruit Kim Ho with their eyes burning with determination.
Securing the strategy guides alone would have been immensely profitable.
Even Pang Mi-ryeong had been dragged around during negotiations with Kim Ho.
So Pang Mi-ryeong asked the question, thinking they might as well try to recruit him, but Jegal So-so shook her head with a bitter smile.
“That would be difficult. He doesn’t use a sword.”
The first requirement for joining the swordsmanship club was to use a blade as your main weapon.
Unfortunately, Kim Ho’s class was a mage and a support mage at that.
He seemed to carry a weapon resembling a short spear, but that alone wasn’t enough to make a compromise.
And even if Kim Ho switched to a bladed weapon,
“He’s not the type to work under anyone.”
“Yeah, he does seem that way.”
Pang Mi-ryeong clicked her tongue and acknowledged the truth in her words.
From what she had heard, Kim Ho had already received offers from both the Magic Engineering Club and the Thieves’ Club.
These were established, mid-to-high-ranking clubs with solid footing inside Dragon Slayer Academy, but Kim Ho had rejected both offers outright.
It seemed he intended to remain unaffiliated for the time being.
“That’s not necessarily bad for us.”
Jegal So-so snapped her fan shut.
A soft smile appeared on her lips.
Even if they couldn’t recruit him, the current relationship between Kim Ho and the Swordsmanship Club was quite good.
The first contact between them was a bit off, but that was because Kim Ho ignored the priority bidding rights, and even that had been smoothly resolved by now.
As long as they maintained this relationship and continued to exchange what they each wanted, they could stay far ahead of other clubs.
“And besides, we’re the Swordsmanship Club.”
“The Swordsmanship Club, indeed.”
The Swordsmanship Club was undoubtedly the most powerful faction inside Dragon Slayer Academy.
They would always offer Kim Ho the best possible conditions.
The two of them smiled at each other.
Their smiles revealed the pride they felt in their affiliation.
Pang Mi-ryeong maintained her smile and began to examine the replay crystal orb again.
Likewise, Jegal So-so fell into deep thought while gazing at the office door just as she had moments before.
A minor hidden piece, huh…
When Kim Ho handed over the treasure map and immediately pulled out a strategy guide, Jegal So-so was convinced.
It was clear that securing the five open slots in the party had also been part of his plan.
He had probably been planning it ever since he ignored the priority bidding rights and entered the Black Death dungeon.
Even from their first meeting, when he brought two pieces of the treasure map.
If that were the case, was the hidden piece he was so meticulously planning to obtain really something “minor”?
Jegal Soso’s eyes sparkled.
“I’ll have to subtly ask Qyu about it.”
Somehow, she had a feeling Dang Gyu-young might know something.
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