The Third Job (9)
Even before all this happened, I could feel everyone’s gazes directed my way, almost as if asking for an explanation.
“Huh… Hyung…”
“This… How did you manage this?”
Even Kim Hyunsung was shocked.
“It’s a characteristic that comes with my new job.”
“Ah…”
Their anxious expressions signaled their need for a better explanation.
“To explain in more detail, I conducted a biological experiment and created this new type of genetic information using the same catalyst.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about…”
“Would you please explain it more simply?”
“Of course. Think about how a television reacts to a remote. What I have in my hand right now is the remote control, and the arm of a giant monster over there is the TV. You will have to have a catalyst that can trigger the right reaction, and the preparation in itself is a little difficult…”
“Even if it is…”
Surprised expressions scattered across my fellow party members’ faces.
When I had first managed this result, I was beyond surprised and embarrassed. Now, however, I felt proud. I couldn’t believe I had managed to produce this kind of result.
[Name – Kiyoung Lee]
[Title – The Red Mercenary Queen’s Gigolo]
[Age – 25]
[Propensity – Willing Strategist]
[Job – Bio-Alchemy Summoner – Unique Heroic Grade]
[It’s a new kind of job that has never been discovered. Even on a continent with a long history, this kind of system has not yet appeared. If any alchemist were to see your results, they would undoubtedly praise you. As a result of your amazing achievements, you will raise your class’s rank to a unique Heroic rank. Intelligence rises by 4. Magic power increases by 3. The result of the alchemy is a pet. This grants you weak control over the said pet.]
[Job Effect – Acquisition of Basic Magic Knowledge]
[Job Effect – Acquisition of Basic Alchemy Knowledge]
[Job Effect – Acquisition of Intermediate Alchemy Knowledge]
[Job Effect – Acquisition of Special Summoning Knowledge]
[Capacity]
[Strength – 20/Growth limit: Below normal]
[Agility – 21/Growth limit: Normal or less]
[Health – 25/Growth limit: Below normal]
[Intellect – 64/Growth limit: Heroic or higher]
[Durability – 20/Growth limit: Below normal]
[Luck – 45/Growth limit: Heroic or higher]
[Mana – 15/Growth limit: Below normal]
[Equipment]
[Ramus Tucker’s Introduction to Alchemy – Heroic Level – Alchemist Only]
[Magic Shield Ring – Rare Grade]
[Talent – Eye of the Mind]
[Overview – Your efforts to stray from being the worst are distinguishable. Don’t try too hard, however. Trash will always be trash. Apart from that, I applaud your efforts. Until you reach your limit, try to do what you can.]
In the meantime, my overall stats had increased a lot, and I gained special summoning knowledge as an additional job effect. It was strange to see I had gotten it.
It was the knowledge obtained from the theory I established. What stood out was the fact that it was graded as a unique heroic-grade job.
Everyone looked curious, so I smiled and spoke again.
“The job’s name is Bio-Alchemy Summoner, and it’s ranked as unique heroic-grade.”
“Ohh…”
“You mean it’s of the unique heroic-grade rank?”
“Yes.”
Park Deokgu’s expression seemed to drop. After checking his information, I understood why.
He only got a rare-grade job?
It turned out that everyone except him had gained a heroic-grade job.
Even as a kid, Kim Ye-ri’s growth was ridiculously fast, considering it was uncommon to get a heroic-grade job after only a second job change. Usually, a heroic-grade job would be obtained by the fourth or fifth job change.
At this point, I knew I had to take care of Park Deokgu’s mental state. Answering the questions of my fellow members took precedence, however.
“Unique heroic-grade… That’s great, Kiyoung.”
“It’s the first time I’ve heard of ranks other than rare, heroic, and legendary.”
“Kiyoung is probably the only one among us who can receive such a job. There are also a few adventurers within the city with unique ratings. Like Kiyoung, when they discovered something new, they received this class. It is said that latecomers are not given the same job even if they make the same actions or results.”
“Oh…”
“In simple terms, it means that this job group cannot be duplicated.”
I liked the sound of that. Being special had its advantages. I knew my worth had gone up. I knew I was right when I saw Kim Hyunsung’s excited expression.
I had already wandered around the city to observe, and not once had I seen anyone with a unique heroic-grade job.
If Kim Hyunsung was from the future, I daresay this could be an information breakthrough he was looking for.
“Since the job is specialized, there must be both advantages and disadvantages to it. It might hinder your progress towards potions or Homunculus…”
“Oh, I’ve already thought about studying Homunculus, but I couldn’t because I have low intelligence as of the moment. I also thought about controlling a chimera, but I can’t do that because I’m not of the Warlock class.”
“Ah…”
“Since I couldn’t control the whole chimera, I thought there should be some way to control part of it… Anyway, I’m going to stop the spell now.”
Upon the recasting of my spell, the monster arm began to shrink. This was a revised version of Jung Hayan’s spell, used for reversing magical effects.
“I know it doesn’t look like a pet. It wasn’t a living thing at first, and it doesn’t have its own will, but the system judged it as a pet after my job change.”
“I see.”
It looked great, but it didn’t mean it didn’t have its drawbacks.
First, the quality of the material was very important. It had to be of decent quality to inject the magic circle with different types of magic. That meant only catalysts of at least rare grade could be used.
The second was that its duration was not that long.
Unlike most pets who eternally stood by their owners’ side, mine could only be summoned for a short time.
Another problem was that I could not build the whole body. I didn’t know what could happen in the future, but I was only limited to creating a few body parts for now.
Though the conjuring was done in the magical sense, its attack came in physical form. If I could find other unique monster catalysts, I could find a way around this. But for now…
What was more important than my judgment was Kim Hyunsung’s opinion about the matter. It all depended on whether my skill could help his plans in the future.
As if on cue, Kim Hyunsung nodded when I looked at him for guidance.
“Thank you.”
“Ah!”
“I thought you could achieve something, but I hadn’t expected you to accomplish so much,” Hyunsung remarked.
“Thank you,” I replied, but quickly added, “I still need to learn more about it, though…”
Just knowing he was satisfied already made me feel better, and it wasn’t just his reaction that sparked this satisfaction. My other party members also looked very surprised. Words of praise soon fell out of everyone’s mouths, prompting a smile on my face.
“I always knew my Hyung was amazing… This is great,” Deokgu commented.
“Thank you, Deokgu,” I replied.
“Congratulations…” Kim Ye-ri greeted. It was the first time I ever heard her speak properly.
I smiled and tried to reach out to stroke her hair, but she quickly hid behind Kim Hyunsung.
It was then that I noticed Jung Hayan’s expression.
She sported an anxious look, and I knew it wasn’t because I had reached out for Kim Ye-ri.
You’re worried because I might have found out about your magic, aren’t you?
Since Jung Hayan had noticed that the alchemy method I had used was very similar to her magic application, she trembled. I knew she feared my discovery of her doings.
I knew I had to inform her and set a boundary between us, but now was hardly the time.
“Hayan,” I called out.
“Ah… Yes, Oppa…” she replied.
I reached out to take her hand upon seeing her guilty expression.
I have no choice but to let her drown in her guilt.
It was best to make her realize that her choice was wrong.
However, it would be best if I didn’t discuss it with her directly. I would find a more appropriate timing to talk to her about it.
“Shall we go for breakfast? Kiyoung also needs to know what jobs we’ve obtained.”
You don’t have to tell me, but…
I felt it would be more appropriate to hear them explain than find out with my ability.
“I think the expedition went decently?” I asked, trying to look naïve.
“Oh, it didn’t. In fact, it was so hard at first that I thought we would have to retreat…” Hyunsung replied glumly, making everyone quiet.
“…”
“I want to hear more details,” I remarked.
I didn’t know how bad it was, but the quiet atmosphere made me think it was worse than I had initially imagined.
“We first entered a rare-grade dungeon. However, it took us three days to leave,” Hyunsung narrated.
“What? Why?” I asked.
“It was because of Jung Hayan’s physical condition,” Hyunsung replied.
“Ah…”
I glanced over at Jung Hayan, who had hung her head in shame. I understood how this came to be.
Until the moment they left, Hayan had stubbornly refrained from eating or sleeping properly and spent most of her time exerting her energy into needless actions.
So that’s why you all came back late.
The three extra days Kim Hyunsung had talked about was probably to refine Jung Hayan’s messed up mentality.
“Deokgu also took a very long time to adjust. I also found more things they should work on. It was the same with Ye-ri. Aside from being inexperienced, she tends to move unexpectedly. It would have been even more difficult if Hee-young wasn’t there,” Hyunsung recounted.
The room stayed silent as she spoke.
Go on. I’m listening…
“Their formation also proved to be a mess. Had I not intervened, they would have been annihilated right off the bat. There were a lot of times when the rear was in danger because they had not fortified it, and times when the front felt too scared to stay in place because of the wayward trajectory of arrows,” Hyunsung continued.
“Ah…” I muttered and nodded.
“It felt like the party would be wiped out at any time,” she added.
The way Kim Hyunsung explained to me was similar to how a parent would tell their spouse about their children’s bad behavior.
Not surprisingly, Park Deokgu and Jung Hayan’s heads dropped even lower.
“But the more times we went in, the more they improved. The results were not bad overall,” Hyunsung remarked, changing her mood from glum to hopeful.
“I’m glad to hear that,” I replied.
“We also achieved stats of 60, and all of us succeeded in getting heroic-grade jobs,” Hyunsung added.
Wait, all of you got heroic class jobs? But Park Deokgu’s status window…
“Let’s head back inside so I can explain it all in more detail.”
It didn’t take me long to understand why Kim Hyunsung had chosen to speak that way. Upon turning and seeing Park Deokgu’s ashamed expression, I realized what he had done to mask what kind of job he had gotten.
This pig…