Chapter 130
Chapter 130: Rank 3 (10)
Yoo Ji-han’s party arrived at the Hero Department Seoul Branch.
The atmosphere was not much different from what they had visited previously.
Guided by a staff member, they reached the same place where they had waited during the Rank 4 promotion exam.
Perhaps because they arrived earlier than the scheduled time, there were not many people in the waiting room.
“Yoo Ji-han?”
“James Kang… right?”
“That’s correct.”
Among the parties that had arrived earlier was James Kang’s party, who, like Yoo Ji-han, were alumni of Hero Academy and part of Red Hole.
They had passed the 3rd exam without much difficulty.
It was clear they were a well-regarded party in Red Hole.
“Oh, hello!”
“Thank you for yesterday.”
Kim Si-hu greeted a warrior from James Kang’s party warmly.
That warrior had partnered with Kim Si-hu for a brief moment during the 3rd exam held yesterday.
While watching their exchange, James Kang turned to Yoo Ji-han and said,
“I saw your sparring match yesterday. It was quite impressive seeing you move on that slippery ice surface.”
“Thank you.”
“I’m curious, though, was it because the two mages were out of mana that they engaged the tanker in hand-to-hand combat?”
“Yes.”
“Whose idea was it to fight that way?”
“I suggested it.”
Upon Yoo Ji-han’s reply, James Kang smiled subtly.
It was fascinating to learn that the most interesting moment from yesterday’s sparring had been orchestrated by the person in front of him.
James Kang knew the rumors circulating within Hero Academy, but he also believed that Yoo Ji-han’s party had not reached the promotion interview through mere luck.
“Ji-han, would you like a drink?”
“I’ll have cola.”
As Yoo Ji-han’s party sat and waited, more people gradually started entering the waiting room.
All of them were heroes from parties that passed the 3rd exam yesterday.
“We will now commence the promotion interviews.”
Soon, it was time for the interviews to begin.
The first party called moved to the interview room with the staff member.
Since they weren’t informed of the order of the interviews, Yoo Ji-han sat quietly, waiting for their turn.
A few minutes later, the first party finished and returned to the waiting room.
“Seems like it’s already over.”
“That was quick.”
The heroes who completed their interviews came back to the waiting room.
However…
“What the hell is with that person?!”
Among them, the supposed party leader was fuming with anger.
His party members all had grim expressions.
Even as a small commotion drew the attention of those nearby, the atmosphere around them didn’t improve.
‘What’s up with those people?’
‘What happened inside?’
‘Sounds like this interview was tough.’
What on earth had happened during the interview?
The heroes who didn’t know the details could only blink at them in confusion.
Next, the interviews of other parties continued.
The responses of those returning to the waiting room varied widely.
“Wow, that’s just ridiculous.”
Some wore expressions of utter disbelief.
“Ugh…!”
Others clenched their teeth in frustration.
The faces of those who finished the interviews all looked bad.
It was strange that parties belonging to large guilds didn’t show such reactions.
Watching those packing their things and leaving the waiting room, Kim Si-hu whispered.
“Seems like today’s interviews are no joke.”
“Yeah.”
While waiting for their turn, Yoo Ji-han licked his dry lips.
No matter how difficult it might be, it was a fight they couldn’t avoid anyway.
He resolved to stay calm and approach the interview with a clear mind.
“Yoo Ji-han’s party. You may enter.”
At last, when their turn came, Yoo Ji-han quickly got up from his seat.
As he and his party members moved with the staff, they arrived at a huge door.
Knock knock.
The staff knocked and opened the door.
Inside the interview room sat four interviewers, backs to the windows.
The first to enter, Yoo Ji-han, locked eyes with Yang Ji-cheol, who sat in the third seat.
“Cough.”
The largest man among the interviewers gave Yoo Ji-han a rotten smile.
Instantly, a strange feeling arose within Yoo Ji-han as he glanced at the nameplate on the desk in front of him.
[Knife – Ji Gang-seok]
“…!”
Seeing his affiliation on the nameplate made Yoo Ji-han flinch.
The fourth interviewer was none other than a hero from the Knife Guild!
If he was participating as an interviewer, he was likely a Rank 2 hero or higher.
‘Of all people, why the Knife Guild?’
Honey Fun, which was effectively in an adversarial relationship with the Knife Guild.
Even though Moon Kyung-jin was a classmate at Hero Academy, their relationship had not improved at all.
In fact, it could be said to have worsened through several incidents.
And now, a hero from the Knife Guild was here as an interviewer…
‘But that face… somehow looks familiar.’
As Yoo Ji-han walked toward the prepared chair, he sifted through his memories.
During his time with Kim Hyun-tae’s party, he frequently encountered heroes at least Rank 2 on site.
Perhaps he had met Ji Gang-seok in the past.
“Hello. We are Yoo Ji-han’s party from Honey Fun.”
“Nice to meet you. Please take your seats.”
The three members of Yoo Ji-han’s party sat down.
After Chilla took his place behind Min Yu-ri, Kim Si-hu noticed the Knife Guild nameplate and slightly frowned.
But in the position of an interviewee, he couldn’t voice his displeasure.
“Now, we will commence the interview for Yoo Ji-han’s party…”
Just as Yang Ji-cheol announced the start,
“ACHOO—!!”
Suddenly, Ji Gang-seok let out a loud cough.
The sound was so booming that Yang Ji-cheol, who was speaking, momentarily fell silent.
As Ji Gang-seok’s coughing continued, Yang Ji-cheol sighed and handed him a tissue from the desk.
“Ugh! Sorry about that.”
“Looks like you might have caught a cold.”
“No, it’s not that…”
Ji Gang-seok looked at Yoo Ji-han and said,
“I have an allergy to low-level heroes, so I cough when I see one.”
“…”
“…”
“…”
At his blunt statement, the expressions of Yang Ji-cheol and the other interviewers stiffened.
Currently in this interview room, except for Ji Gang-seok, the only heroes present were the interviewees.
So, saying “low-level heroes” had to be a reference to someone from Yoo Ji-han’s party.
“Hahaha! Just kidding, just kidding.”
But just then…
“ACHOO!!”
Yoo Ji-han let out a cough that was almost as loud as Ji Gang-seok’s.
As everyone’s gaze turned to him, Yoo Ji-han cleared his throat and said,
“Ahem, I think that allergy has transferred to me.”
Saying this, Yoo Ji-han stared fixedly at Ji Gang-seok.
Regardless of the interview’s outcome, he wouldn’t just sit back and take it!
This was Yoo Ji-han’s determination, having learned a lesson from his previous interview with Lee Dong-ho.
‘Is this guy out of his mind?’
Ji Gang-seok was left speechless at his calm demeanor.
Yang Ji-cheol felt a sense of déjà vu from the nervous tension between Knife and Honey Fun, which made him a bit dizzy.
He quickly grabbed the remote control on the desk and said,
“Ahem! Let’s check the video first, shall we?”
Beep!
As he pressed the remote, the screen on the wall lit up.
Because there were several exams prepared by the Hero Department for this 3rd rank promotion,
They were set to view the processes of those exams during the interview.
“First up, the 1st exam.”
The 1st exam involved crossing an improved barrier.
The image of Yoo Ji-han’s party in front of the barrier appeared on the monitor.
Thanks to hidden cameras capturing the heroes on-site.
“Ooh…”
“Very stable entry.”
Kim Si-hu was the first to enter the barrier, stepping inside effortlessly, waving with a cheerful expression.
The interviewers nodded approvingly at that sight.
“Were you feeling dizzy at all?”
“No.”
Following him in were Min Yu-ri and Chilla, with responses that were not much different.
Just before them, there was footage of another party vomiting on the floor after entering.
Thus, the previous party looked comparatively worse.
—Zzt.
And finally, when Yoo Ji-han entered…
The resistance of the barrier was visibly small.
The eyes of the interviewers, watching the monitor, widened in surprise.
“No way, what’s that?!”
“How did that happen?”
“Did he really cross the barrier just now?”
The video paused immediately, and all interviewers, including Yang Ji-cheol, looked at Yoo Ji-han.
“Did you use magic during the 1st exam?”
“No.”
“Then how did you…?”
At that moment, Ji Gang-seok remarked,
“Yoo Ji-han! You used an artifact to protect your body, didn’t you?”
There had been instances in the past where heroes used artifacts for protection during interviews.
Ji Gang-seok suspected he might have done the same.
“I don’t have any artifacts.”
“Then how did you reduce the barrier’s repulsion?”
“I protected my body with mana.”
“With just mana? A normal warrior’s mana couldn’t possibly do that.”
“It seemed to work just fine.”
“…”
Ji Gang-seok fell silent at the succinct reply.
He wanted to cling to Yoo Ji-han somehow, but the visible footage showed far more than passing marks.
Perhaps for the 1st exam, Yoo Ji-han could be considered among the top-ranked heroes overall.
“Next up is the 2nd exam.”
The 2nd exam involved breaking through a dungeon created by space distortion.
The entry of Yoo Ji-han’s party into the dungeon appeared on the monitor.
At the bottom of the screen were displayed their trajectory and the shortest route to escape.
That was a feature being checked by Yang Ji-cheol from the monitoring room.
Zzt—
The video played at high speed.
Sticky traps, nets, and pitfalls emerged as traps hidden in the dungeon.
Yoo Ji-han’s party dodged all those traps successfully as they moved forward.
“They avoided all of that?”
“Wow.”
“They even took a photo.”
“Hahaha…”
In the scene showing them taking a group photo, Kim Si-hu smiled awkwardly.
But Ji Gang-seok narrowed his eyes and said,
“Wait! That white line below was supposed to represent the shortest path to escape, right?”
“That’s indeed the shortest path.”
“Then why does Yoo Ji-han’s party’s moving path look almost identical to the shortest path?”
“That means Yoo Ji-han’s party made good choices for the path.”
Ji Gang-seok glared at Yoo Ji-han.
“Did Yoo Ji-han’s party receive the entire dungeon map in advance?”
The speculation that Yoo Ji-han’s party had prior information about the dungeon raised suspicions of collusion with insiders in the Hero Department.
Yang Ji-cheol shook his head at that.
“Such a thing is absolutely impossible.”
“Hm…”
“Mr. Ji Gang-seok, please refrain from making such speculative comments.”
It was truly a comical sight to see an interviewer being reprimanded by another interviewer.
Yoo Ji-han thought as he faced the glaring Ji Gang-seok.
‘He’s an open book.’
It seemed likely that he had received some request from Moon Kyung-jin…
No matter what kind of sabotage he might pull, the fact that Yoo Ji-han’s party had scored highly in the promotion exam wouldn’t change.
——Prepare for shock!
Soon, the scene where Yoo Ji-han’s party faced a massive boulder in the dungeon appeared on the screen.
Yoo Ji-han, on screen, appeared to take a slight step back.
But then, with a sword imbued with aura, he bisected the massive stone in one swing.
At that, Ji Gang-seok’s eyes twitched.
‘A Rank 4 using aura?’
Like most heroes, Ji Gang-seok had only managed to manifest aura after rising to Rank 3.
But seeing a mere Rank 4 hero skillfully using aura?
He glared at Yoo Ji-han with a deeply unsettled expression.
