How a D-Class Alchemist Avoids Death

I wasn’t entirely sure what specifically had struck a chord in me. But one thing was clear: something in his words had deeply irritated me.

“Crazy. Okay, fine. Let’s say I go with you. If you’re planning on single-handedly conquering S-rank dungeons, then why would I even join in? Think before you speak. Am I just an accessory to you?”

“…Then let’s go to a B-rank dungeon.”

Upon hearing the somewhat crestfallen decision of Seo Taeju, the next to explode was Seo Moon-no-eul.

“Hey! Get a grip! Are you really going to drag a high-end SS-rank down to a B-rank dungeon?!”

Seo Moon-no-eul, who was taking deep breaths to lower his blood pressure, yelled out again and grabbed his throat.

I too hoped that this pointless debate would end sooner rather than later.

‘I just want to get out of here and return to my life. I’m tired, so tired.’

“Hunter, Seo Go-woon! Instead of making that pitiful face, deal with this guy!”

Why was I expected to resolve what she couldn’t? Anyone looking might think Seo Taeju always listens to me. He’s not listening anymore, as everyone saw just moments ago.

What should I say to convince him? The guy who wanted nothing to do with me just yesterday, is now restless because he can’t stick to me. I never foresaw this situation, so I never thought about how to respond to it.

“Taeju, let’s finally decide. Should I leave, or will you give up?”

“Hyung!”

My last resort was to persuade him to give up as gently as possible.

In response to my question, loaded with core implications and spoken in a calm tone as if everything was over, Seo Taeju’s expression hardened once again. Regardless of his expression, what was needed here was a decision.

“Pick one and call me that. Hyung, Seo Go-woon, or crazy bastard. I’m getting confused.”

“That’s my fault…”

“Right. It’s your fault, so make a choice. Should I leave, or will you give up?”

Seo Taeju bit his lip.

What on earth was he deliberating about? It wasn’t like I was heading off to die. I was just talking about leveling up.

“Hey, choose in 3 seconds. One. Two.”

“Okay. I give up on going together.”

“Good, then it’s settled—”

“But let’s join a party.”

“What?”

If nonsense had a limit, this was it. It’s always one problem after another. What kind of ridiculousness was this?

“…Are you joking? Did you not understand what I said?”

“I can’t give in anymore. It’s too dangerous to go alone.”

“That’s what I’ve been saying. You and I will go together…”

“No, not with you.”

“What?”

“If you can join a party with the members I approve of, then I’ll give up.”

“You’re really something else.”

Hearing such absurdity, my voice was surprisingly calm. The problem was that my emotions weren’t.

Unconsciously, my body moved.

‘I swear, today I will kill this bastard.’

Just as I grabbed Seo Taeju’s collar and was about to punch him,

“Do-hoon, stop him!”

Following Seo Moon-no-eul’s order, Kang Do-hoon hastily came and blocked my hand.

“Don’t hit him, hyung!”

Seeing the weak boy clinging onto me with both arms, my anger instantly cooled.

“You’re really something else.”

The strength drained from the hand gripping his collar and the fist that was ready to strike. After confirming that I had somewhat calmed down, Seo Moon-no-eul cautiously spoke to me.

“Seo Go-woon-ssi, calm down.”

“I’m already calm. I’m just astounded.”

“I understand why you’d be upset, but joining a party isn’t necessarily a bad thing. In fact, if we form a party, we might be able to assign you better dungeons than what you mentioned. And, originally, our guild rules state that dungeons aren’t meant to be tackled alone but in parties.”

Guild rules? I hadn’t heard of such rules before, so I asked Seo Moon-no-eul as I stared at her.

A counter to these so-called rules was standing right in front of us.

“But Seo Taeju is doing it alone, isn’t he?”

“Well, that’s because Taeju is SS-rank. You’re not SS-rank, are you? Plus, forming a party will even help you level up faster, which is what you want. Parties get experience bonuses in dungeons.”

‘Party EXP bonus? I don’t remember that in the novel.’

It was a system I’d never seen in the book. Perhaps it was because I seemed a little shaken.

Seo Taeju seized this opportunity to add, “It’s not a lie. If you party with people of similar ranks, there’s a 10% bonus,” and then looked at me, seemingly waiting for a reaction.

His smug face, acting triumphant as though he’d already won, made me want to punch him.

Doing my best to keep calm, I swallowed back my rising anger and contemplated what the guildmaster had said.

‘A party bonus, huh.’

Rather than struggling alone in a lower-level dungeon, it’d be better to go through several higher-level ones. There’s a reason for the saying ‘the more, the merrier.’ Especially if there’s a 10% experience bonus.

“…Okay.”

I let go of Seo Taeju’s collar, which I had been clutching rather weakly, and shrugged off Kang Do-hoon, who was clinging to my arm.

I thought that if it didn’t work out, I could always negotiate with the guildmaster behind Seo Taeju’s back. For now, I decided to go along with their suggestion.

“As for the party members…”

At this, Seo Taeju, whose face had brightened at my words, quickly spit out his response, “I’ve already figured it out. Hanjae, Jeongwoo, Min-hee, Ga-eul, and Emily as the healer.”

“Hey!”

The one who raised their voice at Seo Taeju’s words was Seo Moon-no-eul.

I wondered why Seo Moon-no-eul was upset, but her following words quickly made it clear.

“With that lineup, we could even take on S-rank, not just A-rank dungeons! Our guild isn’t that big, so why are you cramming so many members into one party?”

Despite her objections, Seo Taeju just laughed. “Even if we could tackle S-rank, aside from Hanjae and Emily, everyone else is a newbie. I wasn’t planning on assigning them to a fixed party, anyway.”

“Even so, it’s a waste of resources…”

“If we stick them in the existing fixed parties, they won’t be able to learn properly. You know that too, right, guildmaster?”

Apparently, even a well-organized guild like ours had its share of cliques.

Our police department also had officers who threw their weight around. I remembered the troubles caused by the hotshots who got in through special hiring. A memory of the hardship I endured to keep their arrogance in check surfaced.

Meanwhile, as I was reminiscing, Seo Taeju and Seo Moon-no-eul fell into another silent staring contest.

After what felt like an eternity,

“You’re really annoying.”

“Thanks.”

This round of the unyielding staring contest went to Seo Taeju.

“Do you think I joined the guild to party with a nutcase?!”

“Hey, hey, Jeongwoo.”

‘This party is off to a great start.’

I clicked my tongue as I watched a guy named Jeongwoo stubbornly standing in front of the gate.

Jeongwoo and two people who seemed to be his peers looked at me and Jeongwoo alternately, unsure of what to do, and Emily, the healer, hadn’t even shown up yet.

What was Seo Taeju thinking when he put me in this party? At this rate, rather than gaining more, we’ll struggle to clear even a single dungeon in a day.

“He doesn’t plan to make a fool out of me, does he?”

Looking at the current situation, it seemed plausible.

‘But considering what that jerk has been up to these past few days, it doesn’t seem like it.’

Since the Crystal Dungeon incident, Seo Taeju had been regularly coming home without causing trouble. In fact, he’d taken care of many things for me to the point where I wondered if his previous behaviors were all a dream.

Even though I was suspicious, I didn’t refuse what he gave me.

“I won’t go, I won’t! I’m not joking, I really won’t go!”

‘Alright. Let’s deal with this first.’

I wasn’t sure what Seo Taeju wanted, but what mattered now was that I needed to start clearing dungeons soon. I approached Jeongwoo who was losing his temper in front of the gate.

“What, what do you want?!”

“You, go home.”

“What?”

“Go home.”

What would be the point in forcing someone who doesn’t want to go with me into the dungeon? If anything, it would just be a hindrance.

“You’re telling me to go? To go home?”

“You said you don’t want to go to the dungeon with me, right? So, go home, I’m letting you go.”

“Do you really think the guildmaster will let me go?”

When he was fussing about not wanting to go, he seemed so adamant. Now that I told him to go, is he suddenly afraid of Seo Moon-no-eul?

“It’s not like there’s CCTV in the dungeon. How would the guildmaster know whether or not you entered the dungeon? Besides, I’ll tell her we don’t work well together and you need to be transferred to another party, okay?”

“What will the guildmaster think of me!”

“What she’ll think? She’ll probably just see you as another guild member. Even if we don’t get along, would she blame you, a newcomer, or me, who was given a ridiculous position from the start?”

At my words, he looked at me with suspicious eyes. Under his scrutiny, as if checking for hidden motives, I waved my hands dismissively.

“If you’re going to quit, then quit already. I don’t have time to deal with your whining.”

“Hey, Go-woon-hyung.”

Hanjae tried to stop me, it seemed.

I ignored him and spoke to the other two remaining hunters.

“If both of you feel the same, then go with him. I have no intention of dragging along anyone who’s unwilling.”

Had it been an A-rank dungeon, perhaps I would have thought differently, but today’s dungeon was B-rank.

Although a B-rank dungeon might be a bit challenging, it would be manageable for me alone, especially considering the gear I brought.

In my already exhausted state from dealing with Seo Taeju, I had no patience for this whimpering.

From the start, I never intended to form a party with Seo Moon-no-eul when I proposed the deal. If they decided to leave, it would actually be more beneficial from my standpoint.

“Hanjae, if you want to go, then go.”

The same went for Hanjae, whose previously bald head had sprouted a decent amount of unruly hair.

I initially thought Hanjae would be older because he was bald when we first met, but he turned out to be just 23.

I don’t know how he ended up bald at such a young age, but now with his hair grown out, he looked his age.

“Of course I’m going with you, hyung!”

Was it my words that hurt his pride? Hanjae bellowed at me.

He had treated me like a benefactor ever since the day I helped him regrow his hair, so moved by the act. Now, nodding my head at Hanjae who was looking at me with bright eyes, I turned to the two others.

“What about you two?”

“Hey, let’s go. It’s better to join another party than—”

“No. I’ll stay.”

“Ga-eul?”

Ga-eul, cutting off Jeongwoo’s words, stood in front of me.

“I want to go.”

“Then stay.”

I didn’t know the exact reason, but I had no intention of stopping him if he wanted to go.

With a chin gesture, I indicated a spot next to me, and Ga-eul stood next to Hanjae.

Now, only two people were left.

“So, are you two leaving?”

“No, I, I want to go to the dungeon too.”

This time, it was Min-hee, one of the two remaining people, who stood next to Ga-eul.

Now, only Jeongwoo remained.

As I stared him down, the once-brave boy eventually turned away.

“Hmph! What good is a dungeon run with such a ridiculous party…”

‘What’s with the hmph. Goodbye, pest.’

I flipped him off in my mind, looking at his retreating back, then turned my attention to the remaining hunters.

‘Hanjae, Min-hee, Ga-eul… I still don’t know.’

The three of them weren’t mentioned in the novel, so I had no information about them.

All I knew from Taeju’s profile was that Hanjae had a water attribute, Ga-eul a plant attribute, and Min-hee a lightning attribute.

Their ranks were all higher than mine, but the difference wasn’t substantial.

Hanjae was C-rank, Ga-eul was B-rank, and Min-hee was C-rank.

“Let’s form a party first. I’ve heard that the healer usually takes on the role of the party leader.” I shrugged my shoulders. “Since we don’t have a healer right now, I’ll be the party leader.”

“What about the orders?”

“I’ll handle the orders as well.”

While it doesn’t matter when I’m soloing a dungeon, when running it as a party, individual combat can lead to death.

In parties, there is a role of a leader who decides the overall direction, and an orderer who commands the finer details during battle. The role of the orderer is often taken by healers.

They can view the entire situation from the back, and because they are not directly involved in combat.

In the event that there’s unavoidably no healer, the order is usually taken up by the most experienced member of the team. But in this current party…

‘Experience? There isn’t even anyone who has properly ventured through a dungeon.’

Even Hanjae, who has the longest tenure among us, has never been able to properly fight a monster due to the constant pressure from his seniors. Even after two years in the guild, that’s the situation.

In the end, all that’s left is me.

‘Well, I do enjoy the freedom of doing things my way.’

Of course, I was also a beginner just like them. But at least I’ve been through a few dungeons, fought monsters, so I couldn’t be considered exactly the same as them.

Despite what I felt internally, the anxious gazes from the three of them looking at me spoke volumes.

Not knowing my abilities, it wasn’t unreasonable for them to look at me that way.

“…Order, are you really sure it’s okay?”

Finally, Hanjae asked as if he was worried. I appreciated his concern, but… “Do you want to take over then?”

“No, I don’t.”

There was no real alternative plan either.

‘These guys, pretending to be worried when they can’t even do it.’

Instead of painstakingly convincing them about my orders, I pulled out a party scroll from the Infinite Pouch I’d purchased, one that Taeju had prepared for me.

I’d brought them along, after all the nagging Taeju had given me, saying ‘just in case, take these’.

I didn’t anticipate I’d have to use it right from the start.

“Everyone, gather around.”

Whether it turns out good or bad, it was time to officially start the preparations for survival.