The Returnee's Hidden Strategy Stream

Chapter: 37

Leaving the underground waterway, Hanbit headed straight for the guild. Lia, who headed for the slums, didn\'t say anything when they parted.

"But you\'re sure Lia can see me, right?" Hanbit asked Yeonwoo, who was filming, as they walked.

Understanding the intention behind the question, Yeonwoo nodded.

"She can see you, but you won\'t have a presence. The story progresses entirely from your perspective, as the party leader. But since I\'m not involved, my contribution is also close to zero."

"...Can the main quest be cleared in that state?"

"It can be cleared, even if there\'s almost no reward. But it\'s a method that people would normally never choose."

Yeonwoo wasn\'t very interested in the growth of his game character. His mind was already filled with thoughts of the company, Hanbit\'s stream, filming, and so on.

"Well, it\'s fine if you\'re okay with it."

"Of course I\'m okay with it. You wouldn\'t know how much fun it is to watch from the sidelines. If I edit this well, the number of views will be enormous..."

Yeonwoo chattered in an excited voice. It seemed like he was enjoying the current situation more than expected.

"Let\'s go in."

Arriving at the guild, Hanbit stepped inside. Miel at the reception desk was filing her nails as usual.

"Miel."

"Ah, just a moment."

After finishing her grooming, she turned her gaze towards him. Thanks to the Firefly Flower he had given her, her response was quick.

"You\'re here to change the request, right? This time, take the one I recommend."

Miel, without even asking why he had come, had already made up her mind. She thought he was giving up on the difficult request of the dungeon strategy.

"I finished the request. Check it."

Thud-

Hanbit placed the item he had obtained from the Elder Goblin on the table. It was the Goblin\'s Spirit Necklace, a Rank 3 Unique grade item.

"...?"

Miel, momentarily frozen, slowly lowered her gaze. She widened her eyes as she recognized the item at a glance.

"What\'s this? Why do you have the Elder Goblin\'s spoils of war?"

"The request was to clear the dungeon. The boss of the place I went to was the Elder Goblin."

"But that dungeon is a Rank 4 solo dungeon! I repeatedly emphasized that you should avoid dangerous places!" Miel shouted in a voice mixed with bewilderment and anger.

Even with skills unbefitting a novice adventurer, a Rank 4 solo dungeon was out of the question. This was because the brutal condition of having to enter alone made it extremely difficult to clear. It was a place where if you died inside, you couldn\'t even retrieve your body.

"But I cleared it without dying. Anyway, the request was a success, right?"

"Well, yes, but..."

There was no need to question the success of the request. The Goblin\'s Spirit Necklace, which could only be obtained by someone who had personally killed the Elder Goblin was proof enough. It couldn\'t be bought, and there was no other way to obtain it.

"Ah, and this."

Hanbit handed her the piece of white cloth he had obtained from the underground waterway.

"...And what\'s this? It has the Holy Kingdom\'s flag on it."

"Show it to the Guild Master. He\'s upstairs, right?"

"He is, but it\'s difficult for me if you speak as if you\'re telling me to show it to some neighborhood uncle. He\'s the Guild Master, for goodness sake."

Miel, unaware of the situation, reacted naturally.

The Guild Master, was someone who even the city\'s mayor couldn\'t easily sway. Even having a simple conversation with him wasn\'t easy.

Slide-

Hanbit took out another Firefly Flower from his inventory.

"It\'s difficult for you to assess my adventurer rank anyway. While you\'re reporting, just show him this. You don\'t have to say anything, just show it to him."

"...I guess I have no choice. This is the only time."

Snatching the flower, Miel let out a deep sigh. She got up, took the piece of cloth, and went up the stairs at the back. A moment later, she came down with a sturdy human male.

"Are you the one who brought this?" He asked, looking at Hanbit. His deep baritone brought back nostalgic memories.

\'It\'s been a while, Cowen.\'

Hanbit called the man\'s name in his mind.

Cowen, the Guild Master of Edlen. Hanbit had joined forces with him quite a few times during his 55 regressions.

The trials and tribulations he had gone through while solving the problems of Edlen were diverse, to say the least.

"Yes, I brought it."

"...Hmm."

Cowen, standing in front of him, focused his gaze as if trying to see through him. He was holding the piece of white cloth.

"I heard you picked this up from the underground waterway. Why did you go there?"

"A little girl\'s cat ran off there. You wouldn\'t know them even if I said their names were Flona and Lia. Anyway, it\'s a matter of the slums."

"..."

As he mentioned the names of the two children, Cowen tapped his finger on the reception desk. This was a small habit of his when he was troubled with complicated thoughts.

After a moment of silence, he took something out.

"Put your hand on this."

A silver card was placed on the reception desk. As Hanbit placed his hand on it, it emitted a soft light.

"From now on, you are an adventurer of the guild. Requests or achievements accomplished through the guild will be visible on this card at any guild in other lands. Your adventurer rank... will be D-rank."

-Starting with D-rank?

-Why am I F-rank?

-I was also F-rank;

-Newbies, jump right into the challenge.

-New despair section ON

Adventurer ranks started from F-rank. Hanbit knew from experience that clearing the challenge dungeon immediately promoted him to D-rank. It was a useful identification card to keep.

Ding-!

[Main Quest #2 completed.]

[500 gold received.]

[Experience increased by 200.]

[Progress increased.]

The main quest was finally completed. It felt like he had taken a long detour, but the results and settlement of the sub quest still remained.

"Follow me."

With a low voice, Cowen went up to the second floor. Hanbit followed behind him with Yeonwoo.

"Meeting the Guild Master this early... Is this right?"

Yeonwoo was surprised by the early appearance of the Guild Master. It was a natural reaction, as in the original main story, you had to accumulate quite a few requests before meeting him.

Click-

Cowen entered the innermost room of the hallway. Hanbit also stepped inside.

"Sit down."

At Cowen\'s gesture, he sat down on the chair in front of him. It always had the atmosphere of an interrogation room.

"Are you curious why we moved locations?"

"It\'s obvious, isn\'t it? It\'s because of a conversation that\'s not suitable for others to hear."

"An unsuitable conversation... Indeed."

He lowered his gaze slightly and fell silent for a moment. Then, he met Hanbit\'s eyes again.

"You know this is an item from the Holy Kingdom, right?"

"I know. It\'s the cloth used to make the uniforms of their soldiers. The problem is that it\'s not something that should be found within Edlen."

"Hmm."

Cowen pondered, stroking his chin, as Hanbit gave a more detailed answer. However, it wasn\'t enough to reveal the main point he was hiding.

"Why did you ask for it to be shown to me? Was there something you wanted?"

"Because you\'re one of the people most sensitive to danger in Edlen. I want to protect the people I\'ve come to know here, at the very least."

"People you\'ve come to know?"

"The younger ones like Lia and Flona from the slums that I mentioned earlier. Friends like Artsvel, the general store owner. We\'ve become close because I had the chance to help them a few times."

"..."

He listed the names of the people with sincerity. Cowen remained silent with an expressionless face, but he couldn\'t fool Hanbit\'s eyes. His eyes wavered the most when Lia\'s name came up.

"How about it? It seems too suspicious to just leave it alone."

"...Of course, if the Holy Kingdom\'s combat personnel have infiltrated, it\'s difficult to gauge the level of danger. So we need to confirm further."

Cowen\'s demeanor changed as he continued speaking. He closed his eyes for a moment, then opened them and said, looking into Hanbit’s eyes, "Adventurer Black Dragon, I\'m issuing you a request. The objective is to infiltrate the underground waterway and find any suspicious evidence. This will only be given verbally."

Ding-!

[Sub Quest #3 completed.]

[Sub quest settlement complete.]

[Received 250,000 gold.]

[8 stat points awarded.]

[Experience increased by 20,000.]

[Level increased by 1.]

[1 stat point awarded.]

[Main quest branch point reset.]

[Overall main quest reward adjusted to the maximum.]

[Progress adjusted to the maximum.]

[Main Quest #3: Trust]

You have discovered the possibility of infiltration by Holy Kingdom combatants.

You must carry out the request to gain Cowen\'s trust.

Objective: Search the interior of the underground waterway and collect evidence.

Reward: 80,000 gold, 40,000 experience points, 4 stat points

*Current progress: 28 percent

-Whoa;

-28 percent on the third main quest?

-Are those rewards for real?

-What\'s a branch reset?

-A new route really appeared;

-The existing strategies are now completely useless.

-Damn, I\'m losing my mind.

The viewers were in chaos along with the flurry of messages. Hanbit, who had planned for rapid progress, inwardly nodded in satisfaction.

\'It\'s important from here on out too.\'

Many things were contained within Cowen\'s request. Beyond simply finding evidence well, he had to instill in Cowen the trust that they were on the same side.

Getting up from his seat, Hanbit said to Cowen, "Okay. I\'ll leave right away."

* * *

Leaving the guild, Hanbit stopped on a deserted street. This was because Yeonwoo had urgently gone to the bathroom.

\'The weapon is a bit of a problem.\'

The standard-issue sword he had obtained when he learned swordsmanship had been fine so far, but its lack of performance couldn\'t be helped. Perhaps he could buy equipment from players when he received the gold on Monday. Of course, the estimate would change depending on the accumulated entrance fees.

\'Should I check the situation?\'

Curious about the number of challengers in the challenge dungeon, Hanbit tried to access the community. Just as he moved his fingers with anticipation.

Slide-

A large shadow suddenly appeared on the ground. Reacting instinctively, Hanbit drew his sword and took a defensive stance.

Clang-

A sharp metallic sound. Behind him stood a giant of a man with a greatsword.

-?

-Holy shit, that scared me.

-Who is that?

-What the...

"Hmph!"

The man grabbed Hanbit\'s arm and began to push him with all his might.

Screech-

His attempt to resist was easily thwarted. He could feel the clear difference in stats.

Whoosh-

Gradually increasing his speed, the man pushed Hanbit into a corner alleyway. While minimizing damage and enduring the attack, Hanbit reached out his hand towards the giant\'s face.

"Fire Burst!"

Boom-

"Ugh!"

The man instinctively let go of Hanbit\'s arm as flames engulfed his vision.

Hanbit immediately jumped towards the roof.

Whoosh-

A sharp metal object flew towards him mid-air. Twisting his body, he narrowly dodged it.

Clang-

It was an arrow that crashed into the wall with a crisp sound. Looking at the tip, it was coated with a blue liquid.

"Whoa, holy shit, he dodged that?"

A human male with short hair stood on the roof of another house. His nickname, floating above his head, read \'Trigger.\'

"What is that?"

Looking closely, there were 2 small red lines drawn next to his nickname. The same was true for the man wielding the greatsword. It definitely didn\'t feel like anything good.

-Those guys are from the Nesto Guild;

-Why is a PK guild here?

-Information) If you keep PK-ing, red lines accumulate.

-2 lines mean they\'re not named, but they\'re all crazy.

The viewers\' chat messages poured in immediately. At the absurd content, Hanbit\'s voice came out involuntarily.

"PK guild?"