Seat 1 occupied.

’I just stepped in.’

Seat 2.

Seat 3.

Seat 4.

All down to seat 11.

Yes, you heard that right.

We were being briefed.

All eight of us rookie hunters.

Our 2 captains and a figure covered by a hat.

"Ok, let’s begin."

"Why were you not present during the first call for the raid, Rean?" Shom asked.

"Well..."

He almost stammered.

He paused, gathered, and organized his words.

"Something came up," Rean said.

"Oh, is that so?" Shom followed.

The figure behind took note.

It wrote something down.

"I was only told you were assessed at the point I got that call. You all remember the moment I’m referencing."

Shom didn’t give them a chance to even respond. He just continued.

"At the time, all I was told was that you did well. That was it."

"Now, however, things are different."

"I got the full report detailing how the other captains deemed your performance."

"Three of the seven of you in particular were extremely lackluster."

"After the report came in on your second raid, the one conducted in my absence—"

"I can say with confidence that I can no longer support those three."

"I made no plea. The request came in and I wholeheartedly obliged."

"Rean, note you would have been a part of this too under different circumstances."

His heart skipped a bit.

Michael turned to look, but immediately turned back. 𝗳𝐫𝚎𝗲𝚠𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝘃𝚎𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝗺

"Miles."

"Lin."

"Rose."

"You are all off the team."

"The originally planned two-team division has proven ineffective before its official first raid as a two-team division."

"Please leave the room."

Tensions were high.

Porter could feel it.

Charles felt so bad, probably the worst.

Michael showed pretty much no emotion.

Rean as well.

Zeta tried to hide it, but it was apparent she felt sorry for them. She didn’t cry, but she was empathetic.

"Ok. With the sorry excuses out of the way, let’s have that briefing now, shall we?"

"On the note of dismissing those 3, their licenses have been revoked."

"A plea will be made to the association to get rid of them entirely."

"They’ll have to take the exams again, get evaluated, and join a guild."

"Who knows, maybe they’ll pick the same one. You might just see them in the future."

Shom teased.

However, it was in bad faith.

None of them laughed.

At first, at least.

Then Rean just smiled.

It was disgusting.

At least that’s what Charles thought.

"After splitting the division into two, the second team would have consisted of Charles, Miles, Rose, and Lin."

"As we have come to see, those three had no chance of keeping up," Shom continued.

"This was something you five brought on."

"Feel no empathy, but rather responsibility."

"The main reason they got cut out could even be traced to Charles."

"His improvement was rather rapid. His growth could not be limited by those three, and so collectively the board decided to lay them off."

"A fine salary followed."

The other figure coughed.

It wasn’t natural.

He was probably signaling something.

"This division has already begun serving its purpose."

"At the beginning of the the setup, however many months ago, you all pretty much awakened."

"A few on high ranks, but not developed and certainly not capable of performing on such ranks."

"Zeta and Michael are getting close to actually being reputable A-ranks."

"It’s still just a title, but their progress shan’t be understated."

"Charles awakened as a B-rank, and unlike the other two, he’s already competently performing as such."

"In about no time, he’ll be ready to join the next ranks."

"I can pretty much say the same for Porter."

"Now Rean, your improvement is most important."

"You started out as C-rank."

"You surpassed that."

"And now, dare I say, you’re even more worthy of the title A-rank than the two whom custom dictated were."

"Ridlus, pass them the new IDs."

"These are your new licenses, updated with ranks and all."

"We won’t just maintain this team as we’re now down to just 5 of you guys and 2 of us veterans."

"We’ll host an in-guild competition for one more member. After all, we need eight to raid a dungeon," Shom ended.

"Ok, Shom wasn’t around, so I’ve been asked to provide the assessment report."

"Rean, your assessment is based only on your feats in the A-rank dungeon."

"Nothing after, so none of the floors you cleared in the tower will be put into account."

"This assessment will result in salary upgrades and a bunch of other benefits."

’Damn, Ridlus. I thought I told you not to let them or anyone know the kid cleared floors on his own,’ Shom thought.

’Did I hear correctly? Did Rean actually clear a floor all by himself? That’s impossible,’ Michael thought.

Zeta, on the other hand, was out of it.

She even got called by Ridlus, talking about her strengths and weaknesses.

"Hey Zeta, are you there?" Ridlus asked.

Charles gave her a nudge, bringing her back to the room.

"Michael, the majority was most impressed with you, with the exception of Captain Tylan."

"You can go meet him after this briefing if you’d want to talk."

"Charles and Porter, we got interchangeable and mixed readings on you two."

"You’re probably the rivals of the bunch."

"Use that as drive. Well done."

’Rivals, us two? Have you seen Rean and Michael on a normal day?’ Porter thought.

"Thanks for the report."

"Back to taking the session, let’s get to Rean."

"All of you, starting with Michael, let’s talk about Rean’s contribution to the raid," Shom said.

’Michael, huh. I wonder what he’s going to say,’ Rean said, intrigued.

"He beat out a bunch of ice orcs and then the dungeon boss alone."

"For reference, I bested just two while he pretty much took on the rest," Michael ended.

"Is that all?" Shom asked.

Michael nodded positively in response.

"Zeta?"

"Well, he disappeared for a bit."

"I’m guessing a technique to scan the area."

"We didn’t fight any of the weaker-tiered monsters, so I’d assume he was the one who took them out, as I had a read on pretty much everyone else."

"As Michael stated, I wasn’t able to take one on my own and win."

"Sorry, not stated. Implied."

"I don’t want to sound like that girl, but it should be noted that every other member of the team went in weakened."

"Mana depleted from the last raid."

"Thank you."

And so Zeta had concluded her report.

’I’m surprised Michael wasn’t the one trying to discredit me by pulling the mana and stamina angle,’ Rean thought.

’I knew she’d go all smart-ass. That’s why I gave a clean report,’ Michael thought.

"Charles?"

"Rean saved myself and Porter."

"We were kinda really struggling."

"I have to emphasize, like those two said, he did pretty much everything."

"It’s not far-fetched to say...."

"Ok maybe it is...."

"Well, in essence, he was amazing."

Charles ended.

"Porter?"

"All I’ll say is that it’s not far-fetched to say that Rean soloed the dungeon."

Michael clenched his fist in visible anger.

Composure lost.

Zeta just looked away.

"Ok, and Rean?"

"How would you assess yourself?"

"Zeta was right. I did go in fresher than everyone."

"However, I did also come equipped."

"It’s not like I knew it would be an ice-based dungeon, but I’ve faced one before."

"A little bit of experience, a little bit of this, that, mana, and boom. The dungeon went down."

"Is that all?" Shom asked.

"What? Is that not satisfactory?"

’Satisfactory? He’s hiding something,’ Shom thought.

Rean did in fact lie, not just hide or withhold information.

The ice dungeon excuse was in fact true.

The lie, however, came in with the justification of the others.

It was true for them, but also true for him, as Rean had just come from clearing a B-rank gate all on his own.

It was unauthorized.

He made it in with his main technique—not main technique, the invisibility function.

"Michael, you’re no longer vice-captain," Shom said.

Everyone was shocked, even Rean.

"Rean is—"

*************

"I can’t believe we got cut out". Rose crying on Lin and leaning on her. It’s usually the opposite between these two.

Miles made no comment.

He was always so smiley and cheery but it seemed even he had no time for that anymore.

Now I give you montage.

2 months later.

Miles , Rose and Lin take a reevaluation together.

Miles gets reevaluated as C rank .

( Previously D)

Rose maintains B

Lin maintains D

One week later.

All three join a D rank raid hosted by the association.

A scout reaches out to only one after the raid.

This one is Miles.

The scout doesn’t know the history.

Lin and Rose expected him to decline. He did not.

Miles joins the black Cranes.

No.

Miles rejoins the black Cranes guild.

The scout rushes in and reports to the board saying he’s won over an A rank hunter.

The board reviews the hunter’s information.

"Oh, it’s Miles. Are you sure he’s A rank"

"What did he do in so little a time?"

After two months, having been out of the black Cranes and really this realm as a whole. Miles returned with rank and talent currently parallel to that of an A rank hunter.