How to Survive in a Good Small Guild - Chapter 37
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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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How to Survive in a Small Guild
Chapter 37
4. A Crisis—A Person Trapped in the Company
“Take pride in your organization and work hard….”
“Pointless chatter among peers within the organization is forbidden….”
In the room where the Intern Priests were muttering and reciting the Scripture, I let my eyes drift slowly across the space, taking in my surroundings.
It had been quite some time now since I started commuting to the Temple on weekends, yet I had never once held a conversation with any of the other Intern Priests.
As the lowest-ranking Intern Priests, we were prohibited from speaking with our peers.
“Why does the organization forbid pointless chatter between those at the same level? Let me check the model answer. Ah, so humans degrade themselves through language. Right, the old saying goes that the best and worst part of the human body is the tongue. Unnecessary conversation plants seeds of mistrust, which can lead to the dissolution of the organization. In the end, we must understand the power that language holds.”
As I could tell from the Intern Priest next to me mumbling away, the Temple was grossly overinterpreting Park Geo-sung’s essay.
‘It just means they don’t like it when you all get friendly and start bad-mouthing the boss.’
I looked down at the commentary with a blank stare.
This was distributed to the Intern Priests, containing the doctrine we were supposed to memorize.
“Sigh….”
There was no one here to have a real conversation with, and the only places I could visit were the Intern Priest’s office and the Central Museum.
Which meant I had no special information worth reporting to the Crown Prince.
‘Maybe next time we meet, I could talk about the Scripture? But how would I explain this Scripture without seeming too knowledgeable about it?’
Was there any way to jump directly from Intern Priest to Low-level Priest? If I became a Low-level Priest, I could gather far more information.
But the examination to advance from Intern Priest to Low-level Priest was held every six months, and I’d unfortunately missed the last one, so I’d have to wait quite a while.
There was an exception—if I achieved some special merit—but naturally, I had no merit to speak of.
As I was lost in thought, Olson, the Mid-level Priest I’d seen before, entered the office.
“Odret, Intern Priest.”
“Good morning.”
“I come with a message from High Priest Aria.”
He leaned in and whispered to me.
“Among the Intern Priests and Low-level Priests, there are those aligned with other High Priests as well, so always keep an eye on them.”
“Understood.”
So he was telling me to participate in office politics. Hmm, office politics is a bit….
‘Now that’s right up my alley!’
My heart raced with excitement, and I broke into a bright smile.
“I will make sure to work faithfully for High Priest Aria.”
“Ha, that’s a wonderful attitude. Oh, and going forward, that contracted information guild will be under my purview now, so you can report any guild-related matters to me.”
“Yes. …Ah, there is one thing I’d like to ask.”
“Go ahead.”
“Did the Temple assign the guild’s name, by any chance?”
“No, a name doesn’t really matter. The former guild master—that irritating fellow—came up with it on his own.”
Just as I suspected. Something had always felt off about the name for a Temple-affiliated guild.
“Then would it be all right if I changed the guild’s name?”
“Do as you wish. Just submit a report on it later.”
***
“Everyone, we have an important meeting today.”
As I announced this right after arriving at work in the morning, all eyes turned toward me. I spoke to my three precious employees.
“It’s time we changed our guild’s name. If anyone has ideas, please share them.”
“But why change the name? Haven’t we already built considerable recognition with the current one?”
To Morian’s sharp question, I nodded.
“Exactly—which is why we need to change it now, before it becomes even more famous. If we keep going like this, we’ll be stuck with that… what was it… Global something Guild for life.”
“Everyone who comes here does seem to call us that Global-whatever Guild.”
“We need a more distinct and impressive guild name.”
Everyone agreed on the necessity of rebranding. If we let the guild languish under this shabby name forever, we’d be ashamed to introduce the company anywhere.
I’d already gotten permission from Olson, so now we could legitimately change the name.
“So I’m thinking of finding a new guild name that’s more memorable.”
Then Morian and Sedric each chimed in with their thoughts.
“I would prefer a name that still feels like an information guild.”
“I think we could add some topical words to make it easier to secure government funding.”
“So does anyone already have name ideas?”
“Well, among the existing information guilds, the Lion of Darkness Guild, the Silence Guild, and the Black Shadow Guild are the ones that stand out the most.”
Susanna spoke first.
“But all those guilds have similar dark images! I’d like us to have a different feel that differentiates us from them and doesn’t overlap with their image!”
“For instance?”
“By putting your name in it, Guild Master Odret….”
“Put it in like that?”
“Something like Odret-ish….”
“We’re not naming a social media handle or community pseudonym here, are we?”
I was appalled at Susanna’s ahead-of-her-time thinking. Social media names aside, there’s no way I could name a guild like that.
“Let me take a shot at the pitch this time.”
“Yes, Morian.”
“We’re going to revolutionize the information paradigm and reign as the guild’s supreme force.”
“And?”
“Information Paradigm Research Guild, so….”
“That’s not any shorter at all! We don’t need all that unnecessary packaging for a guild name!”
When I snapped at Morian, he sealed his lips shut. Hmm, this was the first time I’d shown anger in front of him, and he picked up on it fast. He’d realized that if he said more, my frustration would reach a breaking point.
Finally, my gaze—stirred by Susanna and Morian—turned toward Sedric. He swallowed and began to speak with an undaunted look in his eyes.
“We need to include keywords that the government favors. The previous guild leader was at least clever about that one thing.”
“What keywords do they favor?”
“They like words like global, meta, network, automation, science, and so forth.”
“That’s not stylish at all….”
All I’d wanted was to change the guild name to something that actually sounded good.
A guild that collects information—what decent word could relate to that?
I opened my eyes wide and turned to Morian.
“Morian, if we condensed an information guild into one word, what would you call it?”
“Hmm, information research, or… archive?”
Archive! That’s it.
“Sedric, among words related to an information guild, which would the government like?”
“I’d say smartization, system, data, light, vision—things along those lines.”
Sedric reeled off words like a machine, and I was often struck by wonder at those miscellaneous talents of his from I-don’t-know-where.
Among the words Sedric mentioned, light seemed decent enough….
“Susanna, what do you think of ‘Light Archive’ as a guild name?”
“Hmm, that’s good now, but if we tweak it a little, it might be even better? What about Arclight?”
“Arclight?”
“Yes, Arclight! I combined them.”
I rolled the word around in my mouth. Unlike other information guilds, it had neither a dark image nor a bright one alone!
“I like it. From now on, our guild name will be Arclight Guild. Thank you all for your work.”
“Wow, so my suggestion at the end got picked!”
“But I provided the archive concept, remember.”
“Since the government’s lately been pursuing a brighter image, using the word light could help us secure more government funding too.”
Watching my team members each make their points, I wore a satisfied expression.
“Then to commemorate changing from Global Information Network Guild to Arclight Guild, I think we should rebrand ourselves.”
“Yes, I agree. We should announce the name change and promote the guild to people who don’t know about us yet.”
“As expected of you, Sedric. You’re always enthusiastic about your work.”
“My… work?”
“Yes, you make the best posters, after all.”
Foreseeing what was coming, Sedric’s expression grew somewhat gloomy.
“So Sedric, could you make us a poster this time too?”
“Yes….”
As he drew out his colored pens with a downcast air, now accustomed to the task, I offered him encouragement. Truly, all our guild members are versatile.
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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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