Chapter 12

Chapter 2: Crisis is an Opportunity (3)

***

“Ugh, Uuuuugh!”

The next morning, the first thing the professor did after getting out of bed was to vomit out all the alcohol left in his stomach.

“Ugh... My head.

Those damn mercenaries, how can they drink so much.

The joy of tasting clean alcohol after a long time was short-lived, as each one of them came over and kept offering drinks, making me drink not out of choice but by force.

“Ugh... I remember toasting, but...”

Damn Gedroits. Even hangovers are simulated. In reality, if you black out, you can only ask the people around you, but in GG, there’s a way to check.

“Status window. Check player log.”

Ding-!

The professor scrolled through the log of his actions, stopping at the part after the last thing he remembered.

+Player Professor's log:

7:00 PM - Entered the tavern 'Silver Roar'

7:00 PM - Drank a Pale Ale / Minor HP recovery for 15 seconds, 5% mental recovery / 2% increase in drunkenness.

7:00 PM - Successfully persuaded the master of Silver Roar, Waldorf Tofrik. Combat phase canceled.

7:00 PM - Drank a Dragon Blood / 15% HP recovery, 35% increase in maximum mental for 35 minutes, minor fire resistance for 35 minutes, [Boosted Courage] for 15 minutes / 40% increase in drunkenness.

7:00 PM - Status effect: Slightly Drunk (80 minutes) / 1st-degree burn (tongue, throat)

8:00 PM - Drank a Pale Ale +

8:00 PM - Drank a Pale Ale +

8:00 PM - Ate a special pork steak +

8:00 PM - Drank a Pale Ale +

8:00 PM - Formed a friendly relationship with the mercenary party 'Mitch Edval'

8:00 PM - Drank a bottle of Ascent Mountain Lager +

9:00 PM - Drank a Pale Ale +

...Drank

...Drank

11:00 PM - ...Drank

12:00 AM - ...Drank

“Did you want to kill me?”

I thought I drank a lot, but I didn’t expect this much. No wonder I kept throwing up this morning.

“Let’s see... Drank, drank, drank, ate, drank, drank, fell over, drank, drank, drank... Any other special events... Oh!”

While checking if there was anything special that happened during the blackout, a noticeable record caught his eye.

+Player Professor's log:

Received an F-class mercenary badge from the Turan branch chief of the mercenary guild, Waldorf Tofrik.

[Item: F-class Mercenary Badge (Turan / Trapper) - A seal used to verify the identity and rank of mercenaries. The back has the Rodrik Mercenary Guild seal engraved.]

“I thought it was a dream because my memory was all jumbled, but I really did get it.”

I don’t remember the moment I received the badge, but I vaguely remember Waldorf laughing heartily, saying, “A trapper like you!” Well done, Professor Park! You were alert even in that hellish situation!

Looking at the job field in the status window, it had changed from “Unemployed” to “Trapper.” When registering as a mercenary, you can choose your main position, and since I was unemployed, it seems I registered as a trapper.

“It’s not a job to stick with, but right now, there’s no better job than a trapper.”

Strictly speaking, trappers are almost extinct among players. Due to the nature of the job, which relies heavily on materials, it requires a lot of investment, and even with a lot of investment, you can only move defensively. Moreover, the growth potential isn’t that high. I didn’t even receive the [30% bonus to related skill proficiency] effect from a job change because I didn’t receive specialized training from a professional trapper or guild.

However, proficiency and growth potential are only relevant when looking at the future.

In the early stages, if you can use things you can get for free around you, the story is different.

“Anyway, since I changed jobs, I have the trap-making skill. If I make traps with materials I can find around, the materials are free, and with many processing steps, I can aim to gain dexterity stats. The biggest advantage is that I don’t have to take direct hits. I can use much stronger things like ‘broken branches,’ ‘solid wood,’ and ‘small metal pieces’ as I please!”

- Soyjanggeiba: ... Doesn’t this guy seem a bit pathetic?

- takealook: Yeah. The guys who make money in domes while logging also throw away the leftover branches, but he’s talking about them like they’re precious materials...

“Can’t compare me to other normal characters. Compare me to my own body. Which is more reliable, a brittle arm that breaks with a snap or a sturdy wooden club that can be swung from a trap? It’s not about the value of the item but its usefulness in the current situation.”

I experimented with various things while moving before, and this body, fitting its ‘glass body’ characteristic, is quite resistant to tensile and compressive forces but extremely vulnerable to shock. It means that without a shock absorption option on my armor, it won’t help me at all.

‘The same goes for weapons. The force I apply will cause the same shock to my arm and wrist.’

After much deliberation, I chose the trapper job. With this weak body, the best option is to solve problems without direct confrontation.

“Ugh... My stomach hurts. I need to go downstairs and eat something.”

I wanted to lie in bed and rest, but in GG, time is the most important resource. If I waste time now, I’ll have to face a surge of mutation blood later. I can’t afford to waste a single second, especially since my growth is already lagging.

After roughly tidying up and descending the stairs, I saw a slightly less crowded floor and Waldorf, who was frowning while wiping glasses.

Hearing my footsteps, Waldorf paused his work and waved at me.

“...Good morning, Waldorf.”

“I was about to call the undertaker if you didn’t wake up by lunch, but you managed to get up, old man.”

“...Old man?”

“Yeah, man. You were babbling a lot last night. Don’t worry about it. It’s not the first time I’ve seen newbies trying to act tough. You seemed a bit more mature, but now you’re just a mess. So, don’t put on airs and come eat some soup.”

“Yes, sir.”

It seems he asked me various things while I was drunk.

‘Hmm... There was a reason he made me drink so much.’

Of course. As the head of the local mercenaries, he couldn’t be a fool. Seeing a capable-looking guy come in, he probably wondered what he was up to and made him drink a lot. Thinking about it, the humble attitude he showed me and the lively atmosphere were probably intentional, which gave me a slight chill.

Shiver-

“Cough, cough, cough!”

“Feeling better?”

“Ah, my stomach feels much better. It was flipping around, and my intestines were almost in my throat.”

“Damn, you talk well.”

“Shiver... Where are the others? Ah, did they already go on a mission?”

Looking at the clock in the status window, it showed [10:00 AM]. It wasn’t too early, so they must have gone to do their jobs.

“...Yeah, they went to work.”

“Why do you look so grim? Did you not have a hangover cure?”

At first, I thought the master was just hungover, but his expression only worsened as time passed.

Sigh-

Crack!

“Ugh!”

As the hangover wore off and my head cleared, the mental fatigue started to kick in.

‘Messy table, uneaten snacks, empty bottles. Burn marks and some ash on the bar table. Mud-stained footprints on the floor. The city center is all paved, so it must be someone from the outskirts or outside the city...’

I couldn’t just brush it off; each piece of information from the mental fatigue was significant.

‘Yesterday, the Turan Mercenary Guild seemed to have good cohesion. The relationship with the master also seemed good. They wouldn’t leave the place in such a mess unless there was an urgent matter...’

Thinking about it, the master’s frown looked different.

“...Is something wrong?”

“Old man, you have a good eye.”

Waldorf packed his pipe with tobacco, lit it, took a big puff, and slowly spoke.

“...A knight came from the lord’s castle this morning.”

The professor started to feel uneasy as the atmosphere grew tense.

“...Why did he come?”

“...Sigh.”

Waldorf, unable to speak, puffed on his pipe and finally said with a look of disbelief.

“There’s a war. It seems the Mutes have pushed into the vicinity of Turan.”

“Whaaat???!!!!”

For the professor, who was just about to start farming with branches and metal scraps, this was a devastating blow.

***

“Sigh.”

Waldorf, feeling anxious, had already emptied and refilled his pipe several times.

“The situation is serious. The training hall in the ‘Street of Training’ inside the city has