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Chapter 85
“When we first formed the [Red Lotus] guild, we started at the A- rank without quest certification.” Jung Garam said.
“What is a quest certification…?” I raised my hand; I hadn’t heard of any of this before. I’ve never been in a guild before, so I had no idea how they earned their ratings.
Fortunately, Seo Dawon didn’t criticize me and answered patiently, “You know how the government decides a guild’s competence, from AAA to C rank, through an annual screening, right?”
“Ah. Okay.” That was something I had heard vaguely here and there, so I nodded.
I think the government usually reviewed the nation’s guilds in March. Didn’t the larger guilds hire new members in January and February to prepare for the March screening?
“So, aside from the usual annual screening, there’s also a screening for first-time guilds. They’re rated based on the guild’s capital and the rank of the guildmaster and their members.”
“At this point, if you receive a shit rating, it’s a slippery slope to utter ruin.” Jung Garam, who had been silently listening, bluntly added.
Well, Users have eyes, after all… Most guild-hunting Users would choose a guild based on their size and rating.
So if you were to earn the lowest guild rating in the first assessment, you couldn’t hope for an influx of new guild members. The easiest road to raising their rating (recruitment of new guild members) at the screening next year will naturally have been blocked.
Taking that into consideration, Jung Garam’s insistence that a guild’s initial rating could mean the difference between life or death was not an exaggeration. 1
“Then…is that ‘quest certification’ something that’s needed to get a high rating?”
“Yeah. It’s actually optional, but a proper validation will drastically increase your rating. You can’t pass A rank without going through this process.” Seo Dawon said, frowning. “However, these quests are, in reality, unpaid busy work from the government.”
“Really?”
“To give an example, ‘Find a thousand needles on a sandy beach’? Things like that? That’s why I applied for a ‘special exam’ for the Red Lotus guild.”
So, instead of suffering through boring and time-consuming quests, Seo Dawon gambled with the condition that all guild members would get a perfect score on the battle competency screening review. The Red Lotus had passed this screening.
“I guess Jaemin wanted to copy this.” Seo Dawon said.
“How damn funny. I guess he really loves the Red Lotus more than anyone else.” Jung Garam laughed at Bae Jaemin and his attempt to copy the Red Lotus’s path to verification.  However, he soon continued with a self-satisfied–schadenfreude-laden–expression. “Ah, Dawon-hyung. I laughed my head off watching those two talk.”
“Who? Moon Issak and Bae Jaemin?”
“Yeah.”
Apparently, despite Bae Jaemin’s saccharine brown-nosing, Moon Issak would not budge.
“Bae Jaemin kept going on and on about HaHae guild’s capital, and Moon Issak cut him straight off. He said, ‘As a guild master, isn’t it your responsibility to manage quest certification?’ In other words, he refuses to help, and if Bae Jaemin doesn’t feel like following through, then he just won’t receive those extra points.” Jung Garam lounged on the sofa and giggled, “You should have seen the tension in that bastard’s jaw when Moon Issak finished speaking.”
“Hmm…” However, Seo Dawon did not follow his fellow guild member in laughing but, instead, adopted a thoughtful expression. “I heard that the special screening was abolished after Red Lotus took that path.”
“That’s why Bae Jaemin is so pissed off! The guild that passed the special screening–that sounds so fucking cool, right? So, he tried to retread that path; too bad he ran into Moon Issak. Someone hard-headed like that wouldn’t cooperate with him.”
He continued to laugh, elated that Bae Jaemin wouldn’t be able to make the spectacular debut with the special screening as the priest had wanted.
However, Seo Dawon thought differently, “The request for the special screening is highly likely to be granted–there’s precedence since it’s been allowed for Red Lotus before. Moon Issak, that rude scum, is just trying to raise the ransom costs in the negotiations. He’s just barely the lowest rung on the organizational ladder, anyway.”
“Really? Then, hyung, are you just going to sit there and watch that happen?” Jung Garam asked with a frown.
Seo Dawon smiled, “Of course not. They’re going to fail the special screening.”
I had wondered how he was so certain, but Seo Dawon did not elaborate anymore after that. Jung Garam also fell into quiet contemplation. Looking between the two, I suddenly remembered something; I asked Jung Garam, “By the way, what happened with the [Black Market]? Moon Issak didn’t ask Sangyoon-ssi anything about it?”
“The invitation was delivered to him before the meal, so there was barely a chance to talk. All they did was to exchange cordial courtesies as they sat down at the table.”
While listening to Jung Garam, I recalled Kim Sangyoon’s state as he came back to the room.
He sprawled onto the bed without changing his clothes… Well, I guess even if he didn’t do much, it was tiring enough to witness Bae Jaemin and Moon Issak fighting.
“Is that so? If nothing happened, then that’s good… Since he’s sprawled out all by himself over there, I was worried something had happened,” I said.
“Ah, I put him to sleep.”
“What? Why?”
“He kept on pacing around–a distracted mess.” Jung Garam said, grumpily.
Looking at his annoyed expression, my head throbbed. “…You didn’t hit him, did you?”
“Who the hell do you think I am?” Jung Garam stuck out his lower lip petulantly. “I used my skills to neatly put him to sleep. And, if you’re so worried about him, take Kim Sangyoon with you from now on. He’s fiercely uneasy without you there.”
“A-are you sure? That can’t be true…Rather, he seems more uncomfortable with me there…”
“Hmph. It’s none of my business.”
What is he saying?
I looked at Jung Garam oddly, but Jung Garam only turned away, nose upturned in the air. I tried to press him further with more questions, but Seo Dawon suddenly jumped up from his seat and approached the shuttered window in the living room.
“She’s here.” He beckoned to me, as if calling me to his side.
‘Huh?’ So I looked down, following Seo Dawon’s gaze; A middle-aged woman, who just stepped out of a luxury sedan, was being escorted by Ahn hospital’s staff. Although it was a bit difficult to guess her age due to her jet black hair done in an updo, I guessed she was a 60-year-old madame due to her wrinkled hands and the stubborn set of her mouth.
“Who’s that?” I asked.
“Koo Hui-seo’s biological mother.”
I gasped.
She came because the curse placed upon her son lifted? As my eyes chased her until she disappeared through the front doors of the hospital ward, I thought I could never know a person’s true colors through their outward appearance.
At first glance, she looked like a gracious hostess of a rich family; she did not look like the type of person to hex her son for years.
As I watched her walk away with complicated emotions squirming about inside, my train of thought was interrupted. “Where’s her familiar?” Seo Dawon muttered.
“Familiar?”
“The Witch’s cat. I don’t see it.” Seo Dawon stared at the scenery with more focus than me, searching for the cat that was known to be a Witch’s travel companion.
After listening to him, I carefully examined the scene. Just in front of the main gate, I glimpsed something white in her arms. “I think she’s holding it in her arms? If the cat is white, I mean.”
“Good. Then, I’m sure she’s here for Koo Hui-seo.” Seo Dawon smiled, satisfied.
Not long after she entered the hospital, a patient stretcher came out; the Witch followed shortly behind. Additionally, next to her, a man that appeared to be in charge of the hospital’s ward bowed his head. He seemed to be saying something to her. I could perceive that he was incredibly embarrassed.
I looked at the stretcher–Koo Hui-seo was most likely lying there. I couldn’t confirm that, however, because his face was covered with cloth as if he were a corpse.
The white cat, which I could not see easily earlier, was seated at the head of the stretcher.
“…Will he be alright?”
“He’ll do fine. After all, he wouldn’t want to be locked again like earlier.”
No, but, I was worried about Koo Hui-seo’s safety, not ours…
It was then.
Suddenly, the white cat that had been looking at Koo Hui-seo swerved its head towards me; I involuntarily flinched and fell back from the window.
Don’t tell me, did I get caught gawking at them?
“It’s fine. After all, familiars only follow the Witch’s judgment.” Seo Dawon closed the blinds, laughing. 2
TL: More information on the structure of guilds. As always~ the beaurocracy is strong.
Footnotes
The original idiom, literally translated, would be something like ‘Divide the fate/ Divide life from death.’ A bit of a weird choice by the author, but I believe he’s saying that the cat will only follow a witch’s direct orders and won’t act on its own.