Who Says I’m Not a Legitimate Adventurer?

Legacy?

Lance sharply caught onto that keyword.

He firmly engraved the title of that book into his memory.

Then, gripping the heavy bronze badge tightly in his hand, he stood up and gave the old man before him a deep bow.

“Thank you, Guild Master.”

This gratitude came sincerely from Lance’s heart.

He knew the old Guild Master was using this opportunity to grant him that permission.

In this world, knowledge was something truly monopolized by various organizations.

Because knowledge often equated to power.

Some knowledge itself even possessed tremendous might. Merely knowing it could influence people.

What ordinary Adventurers could usually buy on the market were merely travelogues and common public knowledge.

Anything more profound required enormous fees and years of savings for ordinary Adventurers to obtain.

As for the truly core knowledge involving the secrets of the Professional ranks, Spell Models, and even information regarding various high-level magical beasts—

All of it was tightly controlled by major noble factions and top-tier mage organizations, never allowing even the slightest leakage.

This was precisely the greatest weakness currently lacking in a bottom-tier Adventurer like Lance, who came from a self-taught background.

Now, with the special permission granted by the old Guild Master—

All of the practical combat doubts he had accumulated during his pre-Professional Rank stage, as well as the taboos he might encounter during class advancement—

Could all receive perfect answers within that library.

“Alright, enough with the fake politeness.”

“You only obtained this opportunity because your performance in this commission was exceptional.”

Although Necros impatiently waved his hand dismissively, the slight upward curve at the corner of his mouth clearly showed that he was actually quite pleased by the thanks.

“If you brat really want to thank this old man.”

The old Guild Master deliberately straightened his face and spoke in a provoking tone.

“Then after you successfully advance into a true Professional—”

“At the upcoming ‘Summer Crown’ this year, perform well and bring back another impressive exclusive title for our guild.”

Summer Crown again.

Lance’s ears immediately perked up sharply.

This was already the second time he had heard this somewhat strange term.

The previous time had been outside White Oak Manor from Valeria’s mouth.

Back then, he had not had time to ask about it.

Unexpectedly, he heard the term once more today from the old Guild Master inside this office.

“Guild Master.”

Unable to suppress his curiosity, Lance finally asked the question directly.

“What exactly is the Summer Crown?”

“You should know that this world has countless Underground Dungeons, right?”

Necros did not answer directly and instead asked a question in return.

Lance immediately nodded. This was basic common knowledge in this world.

“Every summer is the special period when Aether Energy inside all Underground Dungeons across the continent becomes the most active.”

Necros began explaining in detail.

“During this period, the consciousness of the Underground Dungeons becomes unprecedentedly active.”

“And during this period, that consciousness becomes extremely bored.”

“In order to entertain itself—”

“During the hottest month of summer, it opens a thirty-day-long insane grand festival to Adventurers throughout the world.”

“This is the carnival known as the ‘Summer Crown.’”

“This is a fanatical grand event shared by all Adventurers across the entire continent.”

Necros began carefully explaining the rules involved.

“Every year, the carnival rules descended by the unified will of the Underground Dungeons are completely different.”

“Sometimes it imposes bizarre restriction rules upon the dungeons. Other times, it throws out a goal crazy enough to drive people mad.”

“And throughout that entire month—”

“All Adventurers who step into the Underground Dungeons to participate in this carnival, every battle, death, adventure, and cooperation they experience within them—”

“Will all be clearly recorded by the will of the Underground Dungeons and synchronously settled and ranked across the entire continent.”

Hearing this, Lance completely understood what the Summer Crown really was.

Wasn’t this basically the limited-time seasonal ranking tournament from the online games in his previous life, created by developers to boost player activity?

It even thoughtfully included completely random battlefield modifiers every season.

And all of this happened simply because the will of the Underground Dungeons got bored.

So it casually tossed out some scraps, letting Adventurers all over the world slaughter one another like gladiators within its game rules just to entertain itself.

What an utterly malicious existence.

As Necros spoke this far, a nostalgic expression appeared on his face.

It seemed he had recalled the days when he himself had still been an Adventurer.

And the most widely discussed aspect of the Summer Crown was its one-of-a-kind reward.

“For those Adventurers who perform exceptionally well within the rules and successfully climb to the top ranks—”

“They will personally receive a blessing from the will of the Underground Dungeons.”

“That blessing is a unique exclusive title forcibly branded onto their souls.”

“Titles?”

Back when Lance worked at the Adventurers’ Guild, he had heard of Title Adventurers before, but he had assumed it was merely some kind of nickname given by others.

He had not expected that they were actually granted by the Underground Dungeons.

Then the only Title Adventurer he had encountered before seemed to be “Gale Chaser” Gareth.

“That’s right.” Necros nodded heavily.

“Adventurers possessing exclusive titles, during future real combat—”

“As long as they activate the Source Essence Energy within their bodies, a faint phantom symbolizing that title will automatically appear around them.”

“This not only represents glory, but also grants genuine attribute enhancements in certain specialized directions.”

Hearing this explanation—

Lance secretly exclaimed in his heart.

Cool.

Wasn’t this basically an alternative exclusive visual effect skin? And one that even came with attribute bonuses.

He suddenly felt that the will of the Underground Dungeons actually had the mindset of a shameless game developer.

No wonder the Adventurers of this world were so fanatical about this event.

Not only could they show off, but they could also genuinely become stronger. Who could resist that?

However, Lance’s mind quickly calmed down again. He immediately noticed a somewhat unreasonable flaw in this system.

“Guild Master, since this Summer Crown involves Adventurers from the entire continent competing together—”

Lance frowned and raised his doubt.

“Then how are low-level Adventurers like us, who have only just stepped into the Professional threshold, supposed to compete against famous high-level Professionals?”

“You can relax about that.”

Necros smiled and waved his hand after hearing the question.

“Although the will of the Underground Dungeons has terrible tastes, it isn’t stupid.”

The old Guild Master quickly explained Lance’s confusion with facts.

It turned out that the Summer Crown rankings were strictly divided according to the major ranks of Professionals.