Trapped as an NPC in a Dating Sim-Chapter 84: Guild and Their Ranking!

'A good artifact, but this condition about lust energy is quite troublesome.'

Soren thought while controlling the silver chains wrapped around his arm with his mind.

At first, there was some desync, but in no time at all, Soren easily controlled it, making it slither like a snake while the silver chains rattled lightly around his wrist.

To be honest, it looked quite cool.

'What is this pointy end for? Isn't this a defensive artifact?'

Soren controlled the whip and looked at its sharp tail, which resembled a scorpion's stinger, glowing faintly with crimson energy.

'Welp, maybe if I upgrade it further, it will become functional?'

The artifact he bought from the system was really something else, as it could be upgraded.

Although there were such artifacts in this world, they were not that easy to come by.

Soren suddenly became curious about what the upgrading conditions were and focused on the 'Upgradable' text right beside its rank, only to see a few lines of text.

---

[Condition to upgrade to C-rank: Succubus Blood Essence (C-rank)]

---

'Just as I thought.'

Soren wasn't too surprised.

In the case of 'Eye of Insight' too, the condition for upgrade was the Illusion Stone of C-rank.

Too bad, he didn't find one inside the Academy treasury, or rather, he mightn't have had enough permission.

After all, the Illusion Stone came from the core of Illusion Beasts like Dreame Butterfly and was an extremely rare commodity.

And this Succubus Blood Essence seemed just as rare, too.

'Maybe I can ask Professor Lyra for help?'

He was thinking when, suddenly, someone shouted from the outside,

"Soren, it is time to go. Hunter Club Recruitment has already started."

The voice belonged to Sylvia, who seemed quite anxious.

When Soren came out of his tent, he saw that besides her, Aria, Aurelia, and Evan were already there, all ready.

"Let's go then."

...

Unlike previous years, this time the Hunter Club Recruitment was taking place in a Hunting Field.

To be honest, considering it had only been a week since the new batch had been admitted to the Elite Hunter Academy, it seemed a bit early.

That did not mean, however, that the seniors were being neglectful.

The moment Soren stepped into the designated recruitment area, he saw row after row of tents, each adorned with simple banners and modest decorations.

Crimson Blades, Silent Arrows, Eagle's Crest, Sanctum of Light, Arcane Assembly…

Though they were just clubs, the names carried a weight far beyond ordinary.

And the students, hurrying from tent to tent with bright, eager eyes, made the whole place feel alive, almost like a bustling marketplace.

"So… let's split up?"

Soren spoke suddenly, noticing how chaotic the scene was. Since their classes were different, it made little sense to go together.

Besides, Soren also had a few clubs he wanted to join.

Not for the knowledge, but for the connections.

'If I remember correctly, there was one very low-key club associated with the guild Golden Ledger.'

It was a merchant guild that later became a major sponsor and partner of Evan in the game.

He suddenly remembered it because of the rare upgradeable item he had needed for his artifact, purchased from their shop.

If he could make a connection, maybe he would have a channel outside the Academy.

'What was its name again? Trade Circle?'

Soren was thinking when Evan spoke lightly from the side,

"Yeah, let's split up. We can meet later at our camps."

He proposed.

"Umm... I want to join the Sanctum of Light club owned by Professor Lysandra. I already got the invitation."

Sylvia quickly nodded with beautiful, eager eyes as if she could not wait to leave and learn from the Professor.

And not only her, Evan, Aria, and even Aurelia got invitations from various clubs to visit yesterday.

Their team was quite popular in this batch after all. Of course, everyone wanted to recruit them.

Surprisingly, though, despite being a captain, Soren was the only one left behind.

He did not get any invitation like them, not even one.

'So much for being a so-called captain.'

Soren thought bitterly, feeling that his status as 'Side-Character' was beginning to show.

Fortunately, he still had the invitation from Professor Lyra, giving him solace.

"Okay, then. But remember, today is the first day, and there is no need to rush."

This Hunter Club Recruitment would operate for the whole duration of their practical training. So there was no need to rush over anything.

Students could take their time experiencing various clubs they desired while learning with their seniors.

As Soren looked at Sylvia, Aria, and Evan walking in a certain direction after saying goodbye, he saw that Aurelia, on the other hand, did not leave immediately.

Rather, she stood behind him silently as if waiting for them to be alone.

"Is there anything you want to say to me?"

Soren was quite puzzled and asked, his eyes focusing on her amber eyes.

"Umm... I wanted to give this to you."

Aurelia seemed a bit flustered by his gaze as her cheek turned slightly red unconsciously, as if remembering their last talk.

So she quickly dodged his eyes before taking out a token from her inventory and giving it to Soren.

"Hmm? What is this?"

Soren asked, taking the red token and examining the text engraved on its surface.

*Flareborn!*

The token looked beautiful yet ordinary, with nothing on it except one word surrounded by five beautiful stars.

But the moment Soren saw it, his heart skipped slightly as a look of surprise appeared on his face.

"It's a club invitation,"

Aurelia did not see his shock and lightly explained as if it were just an ordinary thing.

"Our Flareborn guild also has a club called Crimson Flame in the Elite Hunter Academy."

She paused briefly.

"So, if you want to join, you can go there with this token."

She said, her eyes imperceptibly focusing on Soren.

"I hope you can join. It will be incredibly helpful as it is a very influential club."

She stressed at last in a soft voice, unlike her usual self.

Although she was saying it as an invitation, Soren could clearly see that she wanted him to join her.

Just as he thought that nobody wanted to invite him to a club, Aurelia suddenly gave him a surprise.

For a moment, Soren could not help but look at Aurelia intently, making her blush slightly.

To be honest, she looked kind of cute.

Too bad they were in public.

In the end, Soren just sighed before suddenly extending his hand, intending to return the token to Aurelia.

"W-What? D-don't you want to?"

But his action only made Aurelia totally surprised as her eyes went wide.

She never thought that Soren would return the token to her like this.

'Is he rejecting me?'

For the first time in her life, she dared to invite someone, and she was ruthlessly rejected.

Although it was just an invitation and nothing big, for a moment, Aurelia felt a very strange feeling arise in her chest, one she had never experienced before.

Was it a mix of disappointment and maybe a faint heartbreak?

Fortunately, before she felt further, Soren shook his head.

"No, I didn't mean that. Of course, I will join your club if I can."

In fact, even if Aurelia did not invite him, he was planning to join one way or the other.

Otherwise, how was he going to get close to her and add her to his harem?

He just was not expecting an invitation directly from her like this.

"Then… w-why?"

Aurelia asked, confused, to which Soren rolled his eyes and flicked her glabella to her surprise, eliciting a sharp moan, just as he had done with Sylvia before.

"Ouch!"

"Silly girl, that token is no club recruitment token. That clearly belongs to your guild, Flareborn. And do you not know it is forbidden to recruit students to a guild before graduation?"

Soren rolled his eyes as he found that Aurelia did not seem as smart as she looked.

She might be even sillier than Sylvia.

There was a reason why he was so shocked after seeing that token just now, as it belonged to the Five-Star Guild, Flareborn.

In this world, the guilds were basically divided into 1 to 7 stars.

A guild that had conquered at least one D-rank dungeon was a 1-star guild, at least one C-rank dungeon was a 2-star guild, and so on.

It meant Flareborn was a guild that had conquered at least one S-rank dungeon.

And in this world, there was no 7-star guild yet.

So that token engraved with the guild name was a very precious treasure that countless people dream of obtaining, and yet Aurelia gave it to him so easily.

Her reason?

Join a puny club inside the academy?

Did he need such a precious token for that?

For a moment, he did not know whether Aurelia was acting or if she was really foolish.

"Hey, I didn't mean to recruit you to the guild. Did you not hear me say 'club'?"

Well, looking at her oblivious expression, it seemed she was the latter.

"You are really silly. Do you not know how much power that token represents? If you really give it away like today, you might get scolded by your mother."

Soren admonished and explained what it entailed to this girl who had never seen the world.

"So now you understand? Do not give such a precious thing randomly next time. As for that club of yours, I will join it later, do not worry."

He said, and was about to ask her to leave for now, but suddenly he thought of something else, his eyes shining brightly.

"Hey, Aurelia, in fact, you do not go to that club today either. Instead, come with me. I also have a club that I would like you to join with me."

He was thinking about how he could join that club, 'Trade Circle,' as the conditions to join were quite stringent after all.

But if he could take Aurelia with him together…

For a moment, his eyes shone brighter as they focused on Aurelia's tender body, making her squirm uncomfortably.