You Will Be Blessed If You Do Good Deeds¿-Chapter 157

"Still, I’m a bit worried."

Shin Ji-eum, who had been laughing uncontrollably, stopped and spoke seriously.

"Lee Un-kyul... that guy, he’s pretty persistent."

That sounded ominous.

And indeed, Shin Ji-eum's concern turned out to be correct.

The dungeon scheduled for exploration today required us to deal with a D-rank slime swarm.

Why are slimes considered D-rank despite their lack of intelligence? It’s because, uniquely, they possess the ability to reflect magic.

Of course, any attack above a certain power level will destroy them, but their magical reflection ability itself is an unusual attribute.

Thus, the dungeon had a considerable number of people queuing up, all wanting to study how these slimes reflected attacks.

Just before the dungeon exploration began, Shin Ji-eum gave us instructions.

"Da-on, I’d prefer if you didn’t use magic for this dungeon. As you know, ⊛ Nоvеlιght ⊛ (Read the full story) it reflects magical attacks."

"So, what should I do?"

"Today, let’s focus on physical training. This is the order from Guild Leader Han Jae-young."

... Should I rip this fairy's wings off to bring her to her senses?

Shin Ji-eum noticed my expression and giggled.

"I heard you really beat up Hunter Yoo Han-ul?"

"...Did Han Jae-young say that?"

"Guild Leader Han Jae-young said that if you had trained him more, you could have beaten him up even more. He regrets it."

"..."

Well, that’s true.

For now, I’m not in an adversarial relationship with Yoo Han-ul, but who knows what might happen in the future... and there could be chances to strike him again.

Suddenly, my motivation began to surge.

"Even if you’re a wizard, a hunter should have stamina, so today, Da-on, you should also wield a sword."

"...Alright."

"And Ippyeonghwa, instead of practicing how to fight others, think about how much strength to use when tackling monsters on your own."

"Efficiency?"

"Yes, right now, you're using too much strength."

I could feel that too.

For Ippyeonghwa, he could take down a monster with just 1% of his strength, but he tends to use 10% out of nervousness.

Up until now, we’ve only been tackling lower-tier dungeons, but if we aim for higher-tier ones in the future, he’ll definitely need to master energy management.

Especially, as Shin Ji-eum said, alone.

‘So that’s why she brought me here—to train Ippyeonghwa without my involvement.’

Until now, whenever I felt that Ippyeonghwa might be in danger while fighting monsters, I would step in and deal with the monster.

I’d also cast enhancement magic on him, of course.

Not out of any ulterior motive, but simply because I didn’t want him to get hurt while we were moving together. It would just become a hassle...

‘But I can’t be with him forever.’

In truth, my interference might even hinder Ippyeonghwa’s growth as a real beginner.

While I was contemplating Shin Ji-eum’s approach...

"No, sorry, but... Ji-eum, I need to step in on this."

At that moment, Lee Un-kyul, who had been standing some distance away, suddenly interrupted the conversation.

Shin Ji-eum, who had been giving Ippyeonghwa some final instructions, frowned.

"What is it?"

"This doesn’t make sense. Why are you telling Da-on to avoid using magic?"

"Well, it's because of the dungeon's specific properties..."

"No, no. It's just a low-level slime. There's no way Da-on's magic wouldn't be able to handle it."

That wasn’t wrong.

Even though the slimes reflect magic, it’s only D-rank. If I really went all out, they’d melt away without any reflection.

"Besides, physical training? That’s absurd. If you’ve brought an S-rank mage along, you should treat them accordingly."

"And what do you mean by 'treat them accordingly'?"

"Either support their research or take them to a higher-level dungeon that will actually help! This low-level dungeon isn’t right for someone like Da-on."

Lee Un-kyul's voice was so loud that people around us started to pay attention.

"Don’t interfere with HP Guild's policies. This is an overstep."

Shin Ji-eum quickly shut it down, but Lee Un-kyul wasn’t backing down.

"Overstep? I’m speaking as a senior in the same industry. Even if it’s a different guild, Da-on should understand that this situation is unreasonable. What does a twenty-year-old know?"

"That’s something Da-on Hunter would ignore..."

"No, honestly, it’s true."

Lee Un-kyul smiled. It was a fresh smile, but it felt ominous.

"To be honest, if you look at it from the outside, it just looks like a waste of S-rank talent's time in a low-level dungeon."

"...What do you mean by that? Our Guild Leader is also an S-rank Hunter, so there’s nothing wrong with the training methods..."

"Yeah, but the fact that Guild Leader Jae-young is an S-rank is the bigger problem."

Lee Un-kyul immediately cut Shin Ji-eum off and spoke in a strong tone.

"He’s been going through high-level dungeons since awakening, but you’re telling Da-on to only go through low-level ones..."

He said it with a meaningful tone, and smiled brightly. The cheerfulness didn’t match the meaning of his words.

"Anyone would think... Guild Leader Han Jae-young is deliberately suppressing the growth of this new S-rank talent."

The people around us gasped.

"No... isn’t that a bit too sensitive?"

"Well, it does make sense, right?"

Someone muttered.

I raised an eyebrow in interest.

"Everyone knows Da-on Hunter is strong, but why does she keep running low-level dungeons?"

"True."

"It’s odd for an S-rank Hunter to be doing nothing but low-level dungeons."

"Come to think of it, there’ve been sightings of her in low-level dungeons every day lately..."

"...It seems like people are misunderstanding something."

Shin Ji-eum cut off the murmuring crowd.

"If Guild Leader Han Jae-young were suppressing Da-on Hunter, he wouldn’t take her on missions that could make headlines. Don’t you know they were the ones who solved the low-level Hunter cases?"

"That’s why they might be even more suppressive."

Lee Un-kyul added with a grin.

"They needed Da-on’s strength for the work, but now that she’s gaining recognition in the media, they’re anxious about it..."

"...Lee Un-kyul Hunter, can you take responsibility for that statement?"

"Oh, come on, what’s the big deal? I’m just saying this out of concern for my junior. Don’t be so sensitive, Ji-eum."

Shin Ji-eum noticed Lee Un-kyul stepping back and relaxed her hand from her sword hilt.

"Just saying this because I’m worried... but think about it, Da-on."

"..."

"If you’re facing difficulties, I said I’d help. Contact me."

Lee Un-kyul smiled and stepped back, turning to the NLE Guild’s hunters. The murmuring crowd, now focused on the approaching raid time, scattered to prepare.

But honestly...

‘Did Shin Ji-eum... lose?’

It seemed that Lee Un-kyul had achieved his goal.

His purpose was to plant the idea that I might be facing unjust suppression by Han Jae-young, whether in my mind or in the minds of others.

"...This guy’s really irritating."

Shin Ji-eum clicked her tongue quietly.

And I...

‘Not bad though...?’

I was honestly impressed by Lee Un-kyul’s skill.

He didn’t just give up after being completely defeated by Ippyeonghwa earlier. He kept at it and actually accomplished something.

‘It feels like people were already primed to believe him?’

The way he played along and withdrew seemed deliberate. He had clearly prepared thoroughly to approach me.

At that moment, Ippyeonghwa nudged me with his elbow and whispered.

"Why are you impressed by such nonsense?"

"When did I?"

"Your expression gives you away. You, seriously, believe that crap?"

"...And you don’t, huh? What’s your basis?"

"I told you. You can just tell when you see it."

Ippyeonghwa shook his head.

"It’s not much of a comparison, but... I was a national fencer. When the higher-ups in the association tried to stir things up, they did exactly what he’s doing."

Oh, Ippyeonghwa had that kind of past.

This was interesting in its own way.

"How did they try to stir things up?"

"Obviously. To make the national team, it wasn’t about skill, but about connections. They said your coach couldn’t properly lead you... They were just trying to pull you onto their own team. I’ve seen people like that a lot."

It seemed he had a good understanding of the situation, probably because he had experienced it himself.

"And if that guy really cared about you, he wouldn’t be saying things like that in front of everyone. He’d pull you aside and give you advice. Instead, he’s playing the ‘good guy’ in front of everyone."

"...You might really be a big deal."

He wasn’t a fake twenty-year-old like me, and yet, he had a pretty sharp eye for people.

‘Ah, but from how he treats me, maybe that’s not the case?’

If he really had an eye for people, he would have distanced himself from me by now.

No, maybe it's because I'm tricky myself.

Ippyeonghwa frowned even after I complimented him.

"What’s with the sudden praise?"

"So? How did you solve the situation back then?"

"Well, I reported a few people from the association who were taking bribes, it made a big stir, then we gathered signatures to lower the ratio of judges in the selection criteria for the national team."

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"Did that work?"

"Yeah. After that, I beat out one of the higher-ups’ picks in the national trials with skill."

True to his nature, Ippyeonghwa handled it in a very methodical way.

He gathered public opinion and changed the unjust system.

"So if that guy keeps bothering you, let’s gather evidence and report him."

"Report him, huh."

But I can bet that someone like Lee Un-kyul won’t be caught with those straightforward methods.

Unless his parents are major power players.

There isn’t even enough justification to report him.

I just half-heartedly shrugged it off to Ippyeonghwa.

"...I’ll think about it."

"Yeah, well, I guess it’ll be fine for now. He got embarrassed today, so he won’t dare to push for a while."

If you are reading this translation anywhere other than Novelight.net or SilkRoadTL, it has been stolen.

But Ippyeonghwa’s optimistic view was mistaken.

The ‘coincidence’ that was supposed to end that day continued for a full month.

For nearly a month, every dungeon we went to clear, Lee Un-kyul and the NLE Guild members were there.

After being thoroughly beaten by Lee Un-kyul, Shin Ji-eum had kept ignoring him, but on the thirtieth day, she could no longer hold it in and got angry.

"If this keeps happening, I’ll report you."

"What are you going to report? It’s all a coincidence. It’s the same low-level hunters training at the same place."

"This is ridiculous!"

"Ah, of course, Ji-eum’s side doesn’t need to train low-level hunters, but still wastes time here."

Lee Un-kyul kept smiling, looking like he was turning the crowd upside down.

Later that evening, I went to Guild Leader Han Jae-young’s office to report the situation after work.

"Shin Ji-eum is pitiful."

"Such a thing..."

Han Jae-young frowned.

"It’s a shame for Hunter Shin Ji-eum. She’s been suffering from things she shouldn’t have heard."

"They say she’ll get beef from you."

"Ah, Hunter Shin Ji-eum eats a lot."

"Let her have that much. Ah, get Ippyeonghwa something too."

"Would Ippyeonghwa refuse to eat with me?"

"Who’s asking for dinner? Just give him the card."

After some pointless bickering, Han Jae-young sighed with a subtle expression.

"I thought it would blow over, but it seems like Lee Un-kyul is really persistent."

"From our side, that’s a good thing."

That’s the unvarnished truth.

"We’ve gained quite a lot from this."

"True."

The reason I hadn’t intervened in Lee Un-kyul’s actions was, of course, because of the system’s quest limitations...

But I had been planning with Han Jae-young to see how they would play things for a while.

"Are you sure the leak of information is confirmed?"

Han Jae-young smiled slyly.

A smile that looked very unpleasant.

"Yes, the Deputy Director of the Hunter Management Agency was the one who moved."

It made sense.

The reason Lee Un-kyul had been following us around wasn’t a coincidence.

The HP Guild had submitted dungeon raid plans to the government, and that information was leaked to Lee Un-kyul’s side.

And Han Jae-young had been digging to find out who in the government was leaking the information.

But the leaker was none other than the Deputy Director of the Hunter Management Agency.

I hadn’t expected someone so high up to be involved.

"He’s probably promised a director position at NLE Guild after retiring from public office. It’s a common occurrence. When the company you’ve aligned with grows, there’s more to gain."

"This is what you call a country that’s really going well."

I thought to myself, the system should be fixing the human society’s structure, not going after me.

Although, human nature has always been rotten.

In the end, no matter the world or era, creatures act based on their own desires.

"Right. Still, with this amount of information, we’ve caught their weakness..."

Han Jae-young glanced at me.

"Seems like Da-on has another plan? You look pretty pissed."

"Yeah."

For Han Jae-young, it’s enough to block the government's moves against the HP Guild and deal with Lee Un-kyul. But for me, there’s still something I need to investigate.

Is there any influence from Orbis in this plan?

"How are you going to find that out?"

"I’ve agreed to have dinner with Lee Un-kyul this weekend."

"Wow."

Han Jae-young was impressed.

"Knowing him, he’ll probably be excited to come running. Where are you meeting?"

"He said he reserved a Michelin restaurant."

"At least a 3-hour course, huh?"

"I’m going to make sure it’s more expensive than what Ippyeonghwa got."

"The wine selection there should be at least 5 million won, so it’s a good choice."

It’s going to be an unpleasant time, but thinking back on my past life, it’s not unusual to have dinner for a few hours with someone I don’t like.

"Hmm."

Han Jae-young’s eyes narrowed.

"You really seem pissed."

"Don’t jump to conclusions."

"Don’t worry, after the weekend, if Lee Un-kyul goes missing, I’ll pretend I don’t know."

Han Jae-young said it jokingly, but I furrowed my brows.

...Could it be that fairies really have prophetic powers?

At a restaurant in Cheongdam-dong, Lee Un-kyul said he would pick me up at my house, but I declined.

"This chef is really great. I hope you like it, Da-on."

Given the prices, I could see why he was so excited.

Lee Un-kyul asked with a very eager face.

"...By coming here, you must be considering my advice, right?"

"Well, yes."

I smiled gently at him.

Then I saw Lee Un-kyul gulping nervously.

Shut up, you stupid collective intelligence. I’m trying to clean up your mess.