'Crimson Rampart Guild?!'
Eren was shocked to hear that name from Garrick.
Crimson Rampart was a well-known local guild owned by his classmate Cassian's father.
He immediately hid behind the wall of the Healing Hall, his heart pounding.
'My father… wasn't attacked by a monster, but by members of a local guild? Why?!'
Eren perked up his ears and continued listening.
"What can we even do about it? We went to file a complaint, but the security officials didn't even accept it. They clearly sided with the guild," Selene, the team's archer, said bitterly.
"Calm down, you two… We must focus on what we can do for Alan right now," Bram, the cleric, said in a serious tone.
The three of them fell silent for a moment before Selene cursed again.
"Dammit! this is why I told Alan to give up on that wild boss… If he had listened to me, he wouldn't have ended up like this…"
Garrick shook his head.
"I can't blame Alan at all. If my daughter had awakened a rare combat-grade profession of the Divine faction, I would have gone after that boss monster too. It drops the [Oathband of the First Light]. That's the best artifact for Divine faction profession holders Level 10 or below."
Bram nodded in agreement.
"Yeah. The ones who should be ashamed are those bastards. We were the first to discover that boss monster. Not only did they steal the boss, they left Alan like this… Damn it, 50 million! We pooled all our savings together, and it only came to 10 million, which we already paid…"
"The only way to gather that much money now is to sell our gear…"
Selene immediately snapped at Garrick.
"Don't be stupid! If we sell our gear, how will we hunt tomorrow? How will we feed our families? I won't sell my gear."
A collective sigh escaped the other two.
Everyone had a family to support.
They had their own hardships as well.
The 10 million they had already paid was incredibly generous, they had poured months of savings together without hesitation to help their teammate.
"Let's try asking our acquaintances for loans…"
Garrick said before leading the other two away.
After they were gone, Eren stepped out, clenching his fists tightly.
'Is it all because of me?' he asked himself.
'Is it because I leveled up so fast that Father went to get me equipment with faction effects?'
'And the people from Crimson Rampart Guild were aiming for the same boss monster?'
"Did they try to kill my father just for a single piece of equipment that was supposed to be presented to Cassian?!"
The more he thought about it, the more enraged he became.
He wanted nothing more than to hunt down everyone responsible and kill them.
But he clearly knew that his current self couldn't do anything against them.
According to the healer, the one who attacked his father had cast a Tier 3 deadly curse.
That meant they were at least Tier 3 professionals.
In Tidewatch City, Tier 4 combat professionals were at the top of the hierarchy.
Tier 3 stood just below them.
Even the security officials had done nothing, as Garrick and the others had said.
Eren took a deep breath to calm himself.
"First… I need to prepare the money for Father's treatment."
He booked a taxi and instructed the driver to take him to the Awakener Association.
As he sat in the back seat, Eren didn't waste a single second.
He chose to increase his level to 5 instantly.
'Level up.'
'Level up.'
'Level up.'
"…!"
Three flashes of light covered his body as he leveled up, one after another, before fading completely.
The poor driver was shocked beyond belief, staring at Eren's reflection in the front mirror the entire ride.
Soon, the taxi stopped in front of the massive building of the Awakener Association.
The Awakener Association branch of Tidewatch City looked massive and majestic.
It was constructed from glass, steel, and reinforced white alloy. It was easily the tallest building Eren had ever seen.
Rows of vehicles were parked neatly in the outer parking area.
As he stepped closer, he could see that the building had more than forty floors.
When he entered the ground floor, he saw countless people moving around nonstop. The place was bustling without a moment of rest.
Eren headed directly toward the registration booth, which had noticeably fewer people lining up compared to the other counters.
When it was his turn, the girl responsible for registration flinched slightly at his appearance before returning to a professional smile.
"How may I help you?"
"I want to register myself. I've reached Level 5," Eren said directly as he displayed his level above his head.
The girl looked at him without blinking for a moment before taking out an appraisal stone.
"Please place your hand on this stone."
Eren did as she instructed.
His status appeared in midair, clearly visible to her.
[Name: Eren Morrow
Job: Shapeshifter
Tier: I
Level: 5 (0.00%)
Type: Combat Profession]
The details shown in the stats were very limited, and there was no information about his skills at all.
That further solidified Eren's decision to max out his skills whenever possible.
The girl on the opposite side suddenly exclaimed in shock,
"Another student who reached Level 5 in two days?!"
'Another student?'
That immediately caught Eren's attention.
But his mind was currently in turmoil, so he didn't dwell on it.
Instead, he began providing all the information the girl requested.
His name, address, age, bank account details, even family information were carefully verified.
"May I check your student ID?"
Since Eren had gone straight from the Beginner Dungeon to the Healing Hall, his student ID was still inside his inventory.
He took it out and handed it to her.
"Ah! You're from the same high school!"
Another surprised exclamation.
This time, Eren didn't miss it.
"Do you mean there's another person from my school who came here to register before me?" he asked directly.
She nodded innocently.
"Yes… He came to register this afternoon. How did you guys level up so fast?"
Eren flinched slightly under her curious gaze.
"I—I had some help… May I know the student's name?"
The girl thought for a moment before recalling it.
"His name is… Adrian, I think…"
"…!"
Eren stood petrified for a moment.
His mind flooded with questions.
'How did he level up this fast?!'
'Is he another transmigrator like me?!'
'Adrian… is he really the protagonist?!'
Eren clearly knew that Adrian hadn't entered the Beginner Dungeon for the past two days at all.
'Did he get some kind of dungeon-traveling talent or something?'
But he immediately shook his head.
Even if Adrian had such a talent, reaching Level 5 this quickly shouldn't have been possible.
He forced himself to stop thinking about it and focused on the urgent matter at hand.
"I've sent a request to bind your bank account to your Awakener account. It should only take a few minutes to receive confirmation," the girl explained.
"Please wait over there and inform me once you receive the message."
Eren nodded and sat on one of the chairs placed in the center of the hall for waiting applicants.
He felt increasingly anxious as he waited for his Awakener account to be activated.
Within half an hour, he received a congratulatory message welcoming him as a registered member of the Awakener Association.
He immediately returned to the counter and informed the girl.
She took his photo, scanned his fingerprint, and printed a card.
"Here. This is your Awakener ID. You can use it to access your account and store or retrieve items from your allocated space whenever you want. But remember to renew it every year."