Round 325

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Ashu’s apron, discovered in an unexpected place.  

Looking at the stained and tattered piece of cloth, I couldn’t help but let out a hollow laugh.  

“This is supposed to be a holy relic?”  

Compared to Ara’s holy relic, it looked utterly unimpressive. Moreover, its rank was marked with a question mark.  

Still, it seemed to be connected to the Relic of Lust, one of the Seven Deadly Sins, and just then, Nayef provided an explanation.  

“The exact rank is unknown, but it bears the name of one of the Seven Deadly Sins. Additionally, after analyzing the fabric’s composition and the substances stained on it, we hypothesized that it might be a cooking apron. Of course, no other guild would believe this, but that’s our conclusion.”  

“A cooking apron…”  

“Since you’re also connected to cooking, I thought it would be fitting to include it. You can consider it more of a showpiece than a practical item.”  

A mere showpiece…  

However, since I already knew the true nature of this item, I no longer needed to choose anything else.  

Not wanting to make it obvious, I proceeded to examine the other items one by one.  

The remaining two boxes contained a legendary ring and legendary gloves.  

Both were incredibly valuable items.  

The ring, in particular, was quite tempting.  

Everyone around me naturally assumed I would choose the ring.  

However, Ara and I had already decided on our choice.  

“Gulp. Such a waste…”  

Ara swallowed her saliva while staring at the remaining legendary items.  

But the Relic of the Seven Deadly Sins was far more important than those legendary items.  

A mythical-grade item.  

Although it was currently marked with a question mark, it was undoubtedly of mythic grade.  

“I’ve made my decision.”  

“Already? You can take a few more days to think about it.”  

Nayef asked as if making sure I was certain.  

Hassan, standing nearby, also offered his thoughts carefully.  

“You could seek help from the Ara Hongryeon Guild or even the Korean government.”  

“Thank you for the advice, but my decision is final.”  

“Hmm, well, it’s your judgment in the end. To be honest, the best item here is obvious.”  

“That’s right.”  

Everyone’s gaze turned toward the ring.  

Meanwhile, I walked toward the apron.  

“??”  

Everyone’s face was filled with question marks.  

As I picked up the apron, their expressions gradually turned pale.  

“I choose this.”  

“The apron?!”  

“Kyu-seong! Are you seriously choosing that?!”  

“Th-Think again! From what I see, that ring—or at the very least, the Great Elixir—would be a much better choice!”  

They were practically desperate to push better items onto me.  

Abdullah, Nayef’s secretary, shook his head in disbelief.  

“Why is he so eager to take a loss?”  

Despite the protests, I firmly chose Ashu’s apron.  

“This is enough for me.”  

“This is… utterly incomprehensible…”  

Nayef tilted his head, unable to understand.  

However, Hassan seemed to be deep in thought before suddenly nodding as if he’d figured something out.  

“Ah, so that’s why.”  

Hassan had seen Ashu in our dungeon before.  

He also knew Ashu was associated with Lust.  

At first, he had tried to stop me, but then he must have remembered that Ashu lived in my house.  

“Actually, I was the one who brought that item here.”  

“Huh?”  

“The United States once requested help from Isthart. It was during an exploration of the Dungeon of Lust. At that time, I secretly took this item.”  

This old man…  

As expected, he was incredible.  

He actually managed to steal Ashu’s relic.  

If Hassan had been around for Emily’s relic retrieval quest, maybe he could have handled it without my help.  

“Are you really sure about choosing that item? You don’t even know what it’s used for.”  

“I’m sure.”  

“It has no apparent effects and is only notable for having the name of one of the Seven Deadly Sins attached to it.”  

Nayef continued to express his concern, but I simply gave an awkward smile and refused to let go of the apron.  

“Sigh, if that’s what you want, I suppose there’s no stopping you. But… I still can’t accept this. This isn’t enough.”  

Saying that, Nayef gestured toward me.  

“You should take the Great Elixir as well. Take both.”  

“Huh? Really?”  

I was touched.  

Even receiving one legendary item was already more than enough, and now he was offering me another?  

“This feels a bit unfair…”  

Ashu’s apron was most likely a mythic-grade item.  

And now I was about to take another legendary item on top of that?  

I reached out to accept the Great Elixir from Nayef but then pulled my hand back.  

“…Thinking about it, I feel too guilty. This is more than enough for me.”  

“But, Lee Kyu-seong, I’m giving it to you willingly.  

There’s no need to feel burdened.”  

“To be honest, even receiving this alone is an immense reward for me. Everyone makes mistakes, and it just so happens that due to one of those mistakes, I’m getting a legendary item. Taking another on top of that is just…”  

Not just legendary—mythic.  

Some might argue that since Isthart failed to recognize its true value, there was no reason for me to feel guilty.  

But that’s just not the kind of person I was.  

Besides, excessive greed often leads to downfall.  

Right now, Nayef might feel that giving me the Great Elixir is only fair.  

But when he later realizes that the item he gave away was actually mythic-grade, he’ll feel deeply betrayed.  

Logically, it was Isthart’s fault for failing to appraise the item properly.  

But emotions don’t work in such simple black-and-white terms.  

It was entirely possible for them to feel wronged.  

So I decided not to be greedy.  

“I’m glad I invited you.”  

At that moment, Nayef, with an indifferent expression, put the Great Elixir back.  

“To be honest, Lee Kyu-seong, I invited you here purely out of curiosity. A contract would have been a nice bonus, but it wasn’t my main goal.”  

Now that he mentioned it, his attitude toward the contract negotiation had been pretty casual.  

It never felt like he was truly desperate to recruit me.  

“But after meeting you in person and getting to know you, I’m very satisfied. So, let me ask again.”  

The usual lighthearted Nayef had disappeared.  

Gone was his ever-present smile, replaced by the cold and commanding presence of a Level 9 Awakener and the leader of the world’s top guild.  

“Will you join us? We are not content with merely being the number one guild in the world. We aim even higher.”  

“Even higher…?”  

There was something beyond that?  

What was he talking about?  

“Our goal is to become the first in history to single-handedly clear a Seven Deadly Sins dungeon.”  

“…What?!”  

Clearing a Seven Deadly Sins dungeon?!  

Nayef’s unexpected ambition left me speechless.  

At the same time, alarm bells rang in my head.  

“A… A Seven Deadly Sins dungeon? Which ones are left?”  

Gluttony, Greed, Wrath, Lust.  

These four were already with me.  

That left Envy, Sloth, and Pride.  

I knew that Kyler was aware of Sloth’s location, but the whereabouts of the other two remained a mystery…  

“Wait… Is it in the European Union or the United States?”

“No, conquering those dungeons is their responsibility.”  

“T-Then, have you discovered a new Seven Deadly Sins dungeon?!”  

Could it be that Isthart also found Sloth, which Kyler knew about?  

A tense moment.  

Nayef shook his head regretfully.  

“Our goal is to hunt down the Seven Deadly Sins. But we haven’t found a new dungeon yet. However, our guild members are actively searching as we speak. I believe we’ll discover one soon.”  

Phew. That’s a relief.  

Of course, there was still a chance that Nayef had already found one and was hiding it from me.  

But judging by his demeanor, it didn’t seem like he was lying.  

‘Considering Isthart’s power, they’ll probably find a new Seven Deadly Sins dungeon soon enough.’  

Ugh. If possible, I wanted to take them all with me.  

I was quite greedy myself.  

And since all the Seven Deadly Sins were Ara’s friends, I wanted to find them first before others fought over them.  

“The remaining Seven Deadly Sins are Gluttony, Sloth, Envy, and Pride. Our goal is to locate at least one of them within the year. As for subjugation, we estimate it will take five years.”  

“Ah…”  

“If you join our guild, we could cut that time significantly—perhaps to three years.”  

Nayef spoke seriously.  

But of course, I couldn’t help him with his goal of subjugating the Seven Deadly Sins.  

Well, I could technically join the guild and use them to my advantage, but that would be too underhanded.  

“Hmm, rather than hunting something down, I prefer enjoying small moments of happiness with my family and friends.”  

“Hmm…”  

“Having a goal in life is great. But I am already content with my current life.”  

As soon as I finished speaking, Nayef let out a sigh of disappointment.  

“It would have been nice to have someone like you in our guild.”  

It felt like he was letting go of the idea completely.  

His usual cheerful demeanor returned.  

He seemed to realize that our goals simply didn’t align.  

For me, I was just grateful that he wasn’t being pushy about it.  

After obtaining Ashu’s apron, I spent two more days in Isthart, exploring the place before returning to Korea.  

“That was fun!”  

Ara threw her hands up in excitement while sitting in the passenger seat, looking at me.  

Seeing how adorable she was, I chuckled and nodded.  

“Next time, let’s bring Cheong along too.”  

“Yes!”  

Hassan was scheduled to visit again in a few days.  

He needed to measure the World Tree, but before that, he had some pending work to take care of.  

“Chuseok is almost over.”  

Once Chuseok ended, I would go to Skyscraper to pick up Seon-ah.  

It seemed like Hassan’s schedule would overlap with mine, so I had to coordinate things properly.  

I also needed to build a house and check out the Sloth dungeon.  

There was so much to do.  

Nothing was particularly urgent, but after visiting Isthart, I started feeling a little anxious about Sloth.  

If Isthart discovered its location before I got there, it would be quite troublesome.  

‘I should at least check on Sloth first.’  

Even if I didn’t bring it back immediately, I needed to confirm its location.  

With those thoughts in mind, I continued driving and finally arrived home.  

“I’m back!”  

“I’m back too!”  

We shouted into the empty space and entered the dungeon.  

As soon as we did, Jae-seong and the restaurant staff welcomed us.  

“Brother, you’re back?”  

“Yeah.”  

Since Ara and I weren’t around, no one could enter the Gluttony dungeon.  

So they had to prepare food supplies in advance and keep commuting back and forth.  

The restaurant had to operate daily, after all.  

“Shall we go inside? You must’ve waited a long time.”  

“Not at all, boss!”  

Hearing Jeong-yul’s disciplined response, we returned to the Gluttony dungeon.  

Upon arriving at Slime Village, I saw my mother watching the children play and my father lounging in a hammock.  

“Did you have a good trip?”  

“Yes. Nothing happened, right?”  

“Everyone’s been well. Cheong missed you a lot.”  

The moment she finished speaking, I saw Cheong sprinting toward us from the fields.  

Seeing that, Ara ran forward and embraced him.  

“I missed you!”  

“I missed you too!”  

Watching the two hugging each other brought a warm smile to our faces.  

Since we had been away for a few days, Cheong must have missed us dearly.  

I lifted him up while checking the state of the fields.  

“I took good care of it!”  

“Wow, really? You’re amazing, Cheong!”  

“Ehehe~ I’m so happy!”  

Just as he said, the fields were in perfect condition.  

After surveying everything, I finally headed toward the kitchen.  

The open kitchen was as busy as ever.  

And there, I saw Ashu.  

“Ashu!”  

-Ashu heard her name? Oh! You’re back!  

Ashu bounced toward me with a bright smile.  

As I patted her head, Ara, who was brimming with excitement, suddenly exclaimed.  

“Ashu! We brought you a present!”  

-A present for Ashu? What is it? What is it?  

She perked up her ears and tilted her head in curiosity.  

She looked so adorable.  

“Tada!”  

I pulled out Ashu’s apron from my coat.  

Her eyes widened in surprise.  

-Oh! This is Ashu’s!!  

“I found the apron you lost!”  

-Wowww! Ashu has been looking for this everywhere! Where did you find it? How did you find it? Thank you so much!!  

Holding the apron, Ashu looked at us with sparkling eyes, on the verge of tears.  

Seeing that made my heart ache a little, and Ara seemed to feel the same, as she suddenly pulled Ashu into a tight hug.  

In the end, I couldn’t resist either and hugged them both.  

-Ashu is so happy! Thank you so, so much!  

“We’re grateful too, Ashu. Let’s continue to be happy together.”

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