[Trait: Tanned One]
What is that? For a moment, Yoon Seo got confused. Who comes up with traits like that?
[(Protected by the God of Tanning)]
There really is a guardian god for everything.
Kwon Jihan chuckled, seeing Yoon Seo's expression. When Jihan shook his head, the staff member escorted her out. The Awakened individual left with a frustrated and indignant look, seemingly genuinely believing she was a Chosen One.
"Next person, please."
This time, an American man entered.
[Trait: Selected One]
Next was an East Asian woman.
[Trait: Contacted One]
An African man followed.
[Trait: One at the Crossroads of Choice]
Then an Arab woman…
[Trait: Adopted One]
…
[Trait: Elected One]
[Trait: Led One]
[Trait: Blessed One]
[Trait: Homeless One]
It was all a mess. Yoon Seo couldn't help but think that the one labeled 'Homeless One' just applied to take a tour of Seokyoung HQ.
The Seokyoung staff categorized those with confusing traits separately from those who had faked traits using skills and items.
It took just over an hour to screen all 116 people.
In the end, they didn't find any true Chosen Ones, but they did learn that there are far more diverse guardian gods and traits in the world than they had imagined.
"That ended sooner than I thought. We still have some time before dungeon entry—should we watch episode 39?"
Kwon Jihan, with Riceball perched atop his head, smiled as he stood up. The two of them planned to clear three low-level dungeons today—just the two of them.
"This isn't the time to be watching dramas. I'm feeling uneasy since we couldn't find a single Gaia skill holder. If they went into hiding of their own accord, I have no intention of tracking them down, but if they don't even exist…"
"Don't worry too much. None of those three skills are really combat-oriented anyway."
"We don't know what
"Even if it copies
"
"Hyung… while you've been busy fishing and mountain climbing for the last ten years, the world came up with something called 'Guild Chat.' It's a guild skill with zero magic consumption and no cooldown."
"…"
"In my opinion, the most useful skill in combat is
Jihan sometimes asked in this roundabout way when Yoon Seo hadn't answered before.
"It's a secret."
"Yeah, just keep hiding it. As expected, my overpowered hyung. You've got to let me see it firsthand one day."
"What about
"Nope. Guess I'll just have to wait for an update. So, are we watching the drama or not?"
"We are."
Despite being the main force of the Great Dungeon, they never skipped leisure activities even while undergoing rigorous training.
***
A week after screening the 'Selected Ones,' Yoon Seo and Kwon Jihan were balancing on one hand, deciding which dungeon to visit that evening when Yoo Juncheol contacted them.
After verifying each candidate using an interrogation skill and running the results through computer simulations, they finally came up with a finalized and backup list of new Revengers. The World Hunter Federation wanted Kwon Jihan and Seo Chaeyoon to finalize the list personally.
Initially, Yoon Seo wondered, "Why do Jihan and I need to finalize the list?" But he reasoned, "It makes more sense for those active in the field to decide rather than the federation or association executives."
Just like Soo Jaehee and Park Soobin had said earlier, whether someone became a new Revenger or not now depended more on Seo Chaeyoon's word than even the World Hunter Federation leader's.
When Yoon Seo replied to Yoo Juncheol saying he'd head over immediately, Jihan also ended his stance. Both of them, wearing sleeveless training clothes, were drenched in sweat.
"With all this training, why do we need to do this stuff too? Couldn't they just sort it out themselves?"
"I want to double-check it at least once. There might be names that shouldn't be there."
"Names that shouldn't be there?"
"Yes, people who would die for sure if they went in."
"You can tell just by looking at their names? Did you study philosophy or something?"
"I don't need to. I just know."
"What about my name? Kwon Jihan… what do you think?"
"You seem destined to live a long, tiresome life."
"Same goes for your name—both Yoon Seo and Seo Chaeyoon seem set for an absurdly long life. Let's live nicely and peacefully together until Earth takes spaceships to travel beyond space."
Kwon Jihan smiled. Considering he'd just done 100 one-arm push-ups, he was quite at ease.
"Sounds good. Maybe we could take a day trip to see the misaligned beings in the zoo beyond space."
Kwon Jihan laughed loudly at Yoon Seo's comment.
As they exchanged light-hearted banter, they kept glancing at each other's sweat-drenched arms and collarbones. Yoon Seo seemed more tired, but Jihan was the one looking more exhilarated.
After showering, Yoon Seo took Riceball, who had been sleeping, and headed to Yoo Juncheol's office. This time, only Yoo Juncheol was there, with no sign of Do Deungsoo. Yoo Juncheol greeted him with a tense expression and opened a hologram window on the table.
Beep, beep.
Riceball became completely captivated by the hologram, as usual. Yoon Seo let the squirrel play around comfortably within it.
"The total number of participants we are considering for the Great Dungeon entry is 450. We've already finalized 188 members: 10 S-rank, 102 A-rank, 60 B-rank, and 16 C-rank."
No matter how he thought about it, Yoon Seo felt that 450 people was too many.
"Now, we need to select 262 out of these 500 candidates. Ideally, I'd like to finalize it by today, as there are only two weeks left, starting tomorrow. Each individual also needs time to prepare for the Great Dungeon, but the ideological verification process has taken longer than expected, delaying the selection of the list. Don't worry, we've verified that none of these candidates are from Galaxaia."
Yoon Seo reviewed the list as Yoo Juncheol explained.
Kwon Jihan, Yoon Seo, Soo Jaehee, Alec Switch, Lawrence Mille, Rio Deli, Yelena Ivanov, Jo Mani, Chris Kyle, Furka Futuru…
The S-rank list was just as expected.
Although the Federation hadn't officially announced the list, the whole world already knew these individuals were entering the Great Dungeon.
More than half of the S-rank hunters were members of Seokyoung, underscoring the guild's impressive strength. Moreover, aside from the last two on the list, all were from Korean guilds, leading many Koreans to feel resentment and frustration.
'I don't like the idea of Jo Mani finding out about me.'
It wouldn't be easy to keep his identity hidden in that place. Eventually, he'd have to reveal himself to these people, and he wasn't thrilled about encountering the vice guild master of Rainbow with his bothersome demeanor…
'Well, it can't be helped…'
Yoon Seo didn't dwell too much on this. Revealing his face to comrades with whom he'd fight side by side wasn't such a big deal…
As photos, names, major skills, and descriptions of the S-ranks flashed by, it transitioned to the A-rank and lower candidates.
Perfect team members were at the top of the list, followed by Do Deungsoo and several other famous raid awakeners.
At one point, Yoon Seo raised an eyebrow.
"The temporary team members are all here?"
"Yes… They all applied, so that's how it turned out."
Yoo Juncheol nodded with a gloomy expression, adding:
"By the way, I was met with strong opposition, so I won't be able to go."
He spoke rather sheepishly.
"Yeah, I understand. It's right for the Seokyoung guild master not to go."
Originally, Yoo Juncheol intended to enter the Great Dungeon. However, with only three S-rank combat hunters remaining on Earth, there was significant resistance when the Seokyoung guild master, the Seokyoung vice guild master, the Rainbow vice guild master, and the Mir guild master all planned to join. Koreans, in particular, expressed a lot of dissatisfaction. A petition demanding that guild masters stay on Earth quickly gained 100,000 signatures in a few hours, and there was even a petition demanding that the unpopular Rainbow vice guild master not enter the Great Dungeon. People questioned why none of the foreign guild masters were entering the dungeon, leaving only Korean leaders to go, calling them foolish for it. Ultimately, Yoo Juncheol and Jo Mir were barred from entering.
Yoon Seo understood the decision completely, but that wasn't what he had questions about.
"I just want to ask why all the temporary team members are included here. I understand about Hong Euiyoon, but what about the others?"
"They have all shown outstanding abilities within their respective ranks, which is why they were chosen as candidates by Seo Chaeyoon. They are fully qualified and capable of becoming the new Revengers."
"So, if they have the qualifications and abilities, you're planning to send all of them into the Great Dungeon?"
"If they meet the requirements and are willing… then yes."
Yoo Juncheol replied cautiously, worried about another clash in values with Yoon Seo.
"Guild Master Yoo Juncheol. These two here are brothers."
Yoon Seo pointed at Namgung Simhae and Kim Jinhae.
"Their eldest brother was a brave Revenger named Kim Seohae. He survived until the third terrain but died from monster's poison. He used to talk a lot about his younger brothers. One was quiet, and the other was still immature. He also spoke about how their mother struggled to raise the three of them alone. That mother has already lost her eldest son to the Great Dungeon, so how do you think she would feel if she had to send her other two sons in as well?"
At that moment, Kwon Jihan raised his hand.
"It turns out that mother registered before her sons did."
"What?"
"Look here."
Kwon Jihan scrolled down on the hologram.
A photo of a middle-aged woman with a determined look appeared, along with her name. Next to it was a description that read "Guild Master of the Destroyers." The registration date showed that she had indeed applied before her sons. Unlike her sons, she was still a candidate rather than a confirmed participant.