Seong Yura's expression brightened at the sight of friends she hadn't seen in a long time.
"It's been a year. Have you all been well?"
"You seem to be doing great. Did you fare well in the Holy Kingdom?"
"So you've grown bigger, haven't you?"
In response to Seong Yura's question, a man named Park Jinhan chuckled, creating an atmosphere of camaraderie.
"I reached level 38. After acquiring the 'Admantite Warrior' profession, my muscles seem to grow every time my level increases. Isn't it amazing?"
Park Jinhan boasted a sturdy physique, filled with dense muscles, reminiscent of observing a wild horse.
"What about you? How's your magic coming along?"
Park Jinhan asked while looking at his friend, Kim Taejin, who had obtained the job of 'Flame Mage'.
"I'm also at level 38. Oh, I thought I would be higher…"
Kim Taejin seemed dissatisfied, furrowing his brows at being at the same level as Park Jinhan.
"Don't try to show off alone."
Since they were in the same grade and received similar support, there seemed to be no difference in their growth rates.
"Yura, hello!"
The person who greeted this time was a girl with the aptitude for the 'Dragon Tamer' profession.
"Taeeun! How have you been… huh? What's that on your shoulder?"
"Lim Taeeun! Is that, by any chance, a dragon?"
On Lim Taeeun's embarrassed shoulder sat a creature about the size of a palm.
At first, it seemed like a lizard, but upon closer inspection, it was not.
Since an ordinary lizard wouldn't have wings on its back.
"Yeah, yeah. I made a contract with this baby recently. Its name is Innocent. It's only 100 years old, so it sleeps all day."
It seemed like she was handling some kind of baby creature.
But dragons were among the highest-ranking species.
Even if it was a 100 years old Hatchling, it can defeat most of the Heroes present here.
On top of that, it was cute, Seong Yura looked at Lim Taeeun with envious eyes.
"What level are you?"
"Me? I'm level 35…"
Seong Yura looked slightly relieved after hearing her level.
Fortunately, her level was higher.
"I'm at an impressive level 40! Am I the highest?"
Seong Yura wore a proud expression, seemingly pleased to have the highest level among her friends.
"Hey, you're an SS-grade 'Saintess Candidate,' right? Of course, you must have leveled up faster than us!"
Unlike other friends, Seong Yura had an SS-grade occupational aptitude.
Moreover…
"I'm no longer a 'Saintess Candidate.'"
"Huh? Did you get a different job?"
"I heard it's not entirely impossible."
Friends asked, "What? What?" in curiosity.
To which Seong Yura, flipping her hair, replied nonchalantly.
"I removed the 'Candidate' badge a while ago. Now, you could call me 'Saintess'?"
She reached level 10, got a job, and became a 'Saint' rather than a 'Saint candidate'.
Naturally, chaos ensued in the Holy Kingdom of Aier.
The existence of a saint had not appeared for the past thousand years, but a Hero summoned from another world suddenly obtained that profession.
Naturally, support for Seong Yura was provided to the point where it would be insufficient to say that it was full-fledged.
"S-grade losers, stay in your 30s. I'll be having fun at level 40."
Taunting her friends, Seong Yura chuckled, then turned her attention to the last remaining friend, lost in thought.
"Baek Siwoo, what are you thinking about?"
Even after a long-awaited reunion, this handsome friend wore an expression of deep contemplation without uttering a word.
"Huh? Oh, I was thinking about skill utilization."
"…Even after a year, you still have that absent-minded vibe?"
"Haha, sorry, sorry. What were we talking about?"
Baek Siwoo apologized with a smile in response to Seong Yura's teasing.
"We were talking about levels. What's your level? Since you're SSS-grade, around 43? 44? Something like that, right?"
Considering the level difference with his S-grade friends, it was expected to be around that range.
However, that thought was wrong.
"I'm now 51. How about you guys?"
In response to Baek Siwoo's casual remark, his friends fell silent.
Level 51…
Although it is said that the higher the level, the faster the growth, isn't this too much?
In particular, Seong Yura looked quite shocked.
Baek Siwoo's excellence was known since childhood.
But the difference was so significant.
As someone who had always strived to stand by his side, Seong Yura's pride took a hit to the point where her self-esteem was shaken.
"…Impressive."
But just because she felt jealous, it didn;t mean she hated Baek Siwoo.
Instead, the fact that such an extraordinary person was her friend made her feel a bit proud.
"You lucky guy."
"Why is it always you who excels?"
Other friends also grumbled about his overwhelming talent.
Baek Siwoo, who had suddenly started getting cursed, was about to make an excuse with an embarrassed expression.
Bang!
With a sudden noise, a calm voice of someone echoed.
"Anyone else want to try?"
'Who is it?'
Baek Siwoo glanced at Seo Woo-jin.
It was someone he hadn't seen before.
Seemingly a Hero from the looks of it, but there was no memory of him.
"Ah, that guy, they said he's D-rank."
Seong Yura answered Baek Siwoo's curiosity.
She pointed at Seo Woo-jin with a curious expression.
"But did they just fight?"
In front of Seo Woojin, someone had lost consciousness and fallen.
'It was a single blow.'
The sound of the hit resonated only once.
That meant that the person had lost consciousness with a single punch.
"Hey, isn't that guy Lee Jinho?"
"Yeah, it is. Handsome guy. They said he's B-rank, so why is he lying there?"
The person lying down is B-rank.
And the one standing is D-rank.
Baek Siwoo couldn't understand the scene.
The ranks are absolute.
It was a story he had heard countless times from knights who aided in his growth in the Empire, and he himself was well aware of it.
It was almost impossible for a lower-ranked Hero to defeat a higher-ranked one.
The difference between ranks was so significant that it could not be easily overcome.
But a D-rank won against a B-rank?
Unconsciously, Baek Siwoo approached Seo Woojin.
"Hey, you! Where are you going?"
He heard his friends trying to stop him, but he didn't stop.
Curiosity.
Once he became curious about something, he had to resolve it to satisfy his curiosity.
Soon, Baek Siwoo stood in front of Seo Woojin.
Then he asked, "What happened?"
* * *
Seo Woojin was slightly taken aback.
'Why is this guy suddenly here?'
Baek Siwoo is a well-known figure.
At least among the Heroes, there was no one who didn't know his rank and face.
But such an impressive guy approached out of the blue.
'It doesn't seem like he wants to fight…'
At first, that's what he thought.
As soon as I said, 'Anyone else want to try?' he approached me, so it wasn't unreasonable to think that way.
However, judging by his expression, it was more curiosity than aggression.
And then came the questions.
The problem was that I couldn't figure out his intention.
'Are you telling me to understand the examiner's intention?'
Since Seo Woojin didn't have a knack for studying, he just asked straightforwardly.
"What do you mean?"
"How did you win?"
Seo Woojin grinned.
"What's this? Are you picking a fight?"
But rather than considering it as ignoring, Baek Siwoo had a pure expression of curiosity.
So Seo Woojin answered honestly.
"I raised my fist and hit him in the face."
That was it.
In reality, Seo Woojin did nothing more than that act.
He didn't use any skills.
He simply hit the nose with his fist.
Of course, he used a bit of magic…
If he hadn't used magic, it would have been difficult to knock out Lee Jinho, who had a level difference of more than double, with just one blow.
In response to Seo Woojin's indifferent answer, Baek Siwoo silently nodded his head.
"Can I see it once?"
His tone was polite.
But the content was not at all like that.
"Do you mean you want me to hit you once?"
"Yes."
Seo Woojin thought seriously.
Is he really not trying to pick a fight?
"There's nothing I can't do."
Baek Si-woo is different from Lee Jin-ho.
'Can I win?'
It's impossible.
At least, it was impossible to knock out Baek Siwoo with just one punch.
'If I use a sword…?'
Still, I can't be sure of victory.
Unless they were in a state where magic and skills were restricted, but the level difference between the two was too significant to go all out.
Besides, wasn't the opponent in front of you 'Sword God'?
In a somehow perplexing situation, someone came to help Seo Woojin.
"Hey, Baek Siwoo. This uncle seems to be in trouble. Just leave it at that."
It was Seong Yura.
She soon approached with her friends and tried to dissuade Baek Siwoo.
"Ugh, that idiot. Once he is curious he can't stop asking questions."
"Uncle, I'm sorry. He's not trying to pick a fight, he's just a crazy guy."
Apologizing to Seo Woojin, they pulled the struggling Baek Siwoo back.
"It's okay."
Seo Woojin shook his head.
He didn't feel particularly upset.
He wasn't ignored by Baek Siwoo, nor did he receive any insults.
He just thought that since such a guy existed, things might get a little more difficult in the future.
'Level 51. He might even make Van Slaine cry.'
Of course, if they really fought, it wouldn't be easy for him to defeat Baek Siwoo easily, but given a little more time…
Even Van Slaine would find it difficult to handle Baek Siwoo.
'I need to get stronger quickly.'
Seo Woojin's current skills were on a different level than ordinary Heroes.
Although his level was low, his swordsmanship and magic handling skills were superior to anyone.
And if you add the skills of a 'Demon Lord' to that?
He could easily defeat most A-rank Heroes.
However, Baek Siwoo and his friends were a bit different.
It was evident that they did not rely solely on support and buses.
Although not as much as Seo Woojin, they must have put in their own efforts.
Especially Baek Siwoo.
He was so different from the others that it was hard to believe that he was a Hero who was summoned together.
'You mean I have to survive among those guys?'
Leaving Sion, he felt a bit confident.
With this level of skill, he believed he could survive among the Heroes.
That confidence did not waver until he defeated Lee Jinho.
But after seeing Baek Siwoo and his friends, he became cautious again.
'This won't do.'
At least he had to raise his level to that of his peers.
Only then could he guarantee survival.
'Damn it, how do I level up?'
The Empire must have prepared various things for the growth of Heroes.
However, Seo Woojin was not satisfied with just that.
Faster and stronger than others.
To achieve that, he had to find a way.
"Sir, please don't be too bold."
"Huh?"
While pondering for a moment, he heard some nonsense.
It was Seong Yura.
For some reason, she seemed displeased, she crossed her arms and looked Seo Woojin up and down.
"You used to understand the situation well, and now you're suddenly trying to stand out. If you don't have the ability, just stay quiet."
What kind of situation is this again?
When Baek Si-woo was dragged away by his friends, she suddenly started speaking rudely.
"Just like when you first came. Got it? Just stay in the corner and mind your own business. Don't cause a fuss for no reason. After all, you're just a troublemaker."
In other words, it was a warning not to stand out more than herself.
He was dumbfounded and couldn't utter a word.
However, Seong Yura seemed to interpret it as Seo Woojin being frightened.
"See? How nice it is when it's quiet? Let's continue like this. So I won't have to pay attention."
With that, she turned away.
'Should I attack her?'
I don't know about Baek Siwoo, but I think I can at least handle her?
He seriously contemplated, then shook his head.
Most of Seong Yura's words were bullshit, but one thing was correct.
'Let's keep it quiet.'
Don't make a scene for no reason and attract attention.
Since he had knocked down Lee Jinho plainly, there would be no one openly picking a fight now.
So, let's keep it quiet from now on.
Like adding fuel to the fire, like pouring alcohol into alcohol, like pouring water into water.