The Villainous Me Turned the Losers into Blackened Bosses-Chapter 109 - The Missing Team Name

—

“So cool!”

The moment Eir stepped into the office, her tail wagged enthusiastically.

“Hmm… This office is so cool. Turns out it’s using semi-automatic cooling magic, the same thing that the neighboring research group spent years developing before dungeon tech overtook it.”

Leah, now cooled off, regained her ability to think clearly.

“Gulp gulp gulp… finally not thirsty anymore…”

Treya chugged water like her life depended on it.

Seeing his teammates revived, Will felt a wave of relief.

“I’m terribly sorry. We were informed by Carver that you’d be coming soon, but… well, as you can see, it’s been so busy that we completely forgot.”

The Adventurer’s Guild branch manager in front of them looked like he was barely in his twenties—if that. He kept bowing and apologizing profusely, even wiping sweat from his brow despite the comfortably cool office.

His overly cautious, almost newbie-like demeanor made Will feel a bit embarrassed.

“It’s fine. We were just too eager and didn’t expect such a crowd. We should’ve rested a day before lining up… Besides, I… um… didn’t really want to rely on my father’s connections.”

“Ah, I see. As expected, Young Master Will is just as capable and independent as the rumors say.”

“When did I get such a good reputation?”

The branch manager leaned in slightly, eyeing the three girls standing behind Will. He lowered his voice to a near whisper, making it hard for even Will to hear:

“Especially for recruiting three incredible teammates who seem to reflect… particular tastes.”

Will felt a pang of guilt. Sure, he’d unintentionally created situations that could be misunderstood, but this level of rumor-mongering? That was definitely fate’s fault!

“R-right…” Will forced a laugh. “Since you’re so busy today, let’s get straight to the process.”

“Of course, of course.”

“This is our proof of clearing the tenth floor of the Green Wild Maze.”

Will placed the unopened flower bud from the green lion’s tail on the desk. According to the Adventurer’s Guild’s requirements, this item served as proof of clearing the tenth floor.

It wasn’t particularly valuable—just a decorative trinket.

“Wow, in my six months as branch manager, this is the first time I’ve seen the tail in its bud form. You managed to kill it before it bloomed?”

The branch manager sounded as inexperienced as the rookie adventurers outside.

“Uh… its attacks were so weak that even Leah-sensei could break through my basic Elemental Ice Array.”

“What do you mean, ‘even’? Hmph, you’re underestimating a witch’s power. Something like that dies with a single blast.”

“Didn’t even feel like I used much effort to slice it…”

—See! Even my teammates agree.

Will puffed out his chest proudly.

“It’s no big deal.”

Though, in hindsight, he had just stood there watching the whole time.

“That’s incredible! Most people have to endure the green lion’s second phase, waiting for it to naturally wither and weaken before they can kill it—that’s the experience the guild wants rookies to have. Survive, and you’ll eventually deal damage!”

“So… we kind of took a shortcut?”

“Let’s not dwell on that. First, you need to decide on a team name. After that, we’ll handle affiliation and member registration details. The team name is the most important part.”

The branch manager pulled out a stack of forms.

“One more thing—the team name must be unique.”

He placed a thick registry of already-registered team names on the desk—a book that seemed to be updated monthly.

Three years ago, when dungeons weren’t as developed, this method of synchronizing records across branches worked. But with the rapid expansion of dungeons, this old-fashioned system was starting to show its limits.

“If you can’t think of a unique name, you can always add a number, like ‘Will’s Team 1234.’ Hehe, of course, if you want an exclusive name, we can negotiate with the other team to change theirs.”

—That’s just mean!

Updat𝒆d fr𝑜m freewebnøvel.com.

Clearly, naming a team was an art.

But…

Will already had a plan!

No, rather than a plan, it was a way to play along with fate.

“Morning Star—”

In the original story, the team name was “Morning Star.”

But it wasn’t a name Will had come up with himself.

It belonged to an adventurer team that had ceased activity about a year prior. The day Will formed his team in the original story coincided with the one-year anniversary of that team having no dungeon records.

“A four-character name like that is pretty common… Let me check…”

“No need. That team should’ve been dissolved today, so the name should be available.”

Will crossed his arms confidently.

According to the Adventurer’s Guild rules, inactive teams were dissolved, their achievements erased, and their names freed up for use.

In the original story, Will had gone through countless name ideas, all of which were taken. He refused to add numbers or rely on his father.

In the end…

The branch manager had suggested looking at recently dissolved team names. Newly freed names were unlikely to be reused immediately, so many people used this method.

Thus, the original team was named “Morning Star”—a name far too poetic for the original Will to have come up with.

It was also because of this name that Hugh chose to join a team where both the leader and members were completely dysfunctional.

Because…

It was the name of the team he had formed with his friends two years prior.

Hugh, someone with immense talent, tolerated the original team’s relentless oppression and inability to function for one simple reason…

The team name was “Morning Star.” That was it.

So—

No matter where you’re hiding, no matter how deep you’ve buried yourself, even if the royal family can’t find you…

As long as the team is called “Morning Star,” it’s the perfect bait. Even if you’re hiding in a trench five kilometers deep, you’ll take the hook!

Hehe, Will’s plan was flawless!

But…

Just as Will was brimming with confidence…

The branch manager dropped a bombshell—

“There’s no team with that name being dissolved today…”

The small office fell silent.

The only sound was the cooling magic system humming softly.

“…What?”

Will couldn’t believe his ears.

What… what was this?

A deviation from the original story?

Impossible. Such a critical plot point couldn’t have changed.

“But there’s no team with that name currently registered either! If you like it, you can use it. I’ll let Carver know it’s settled…”

The branch manager’s cheerful tone suggested he was eager to wrap things up and report back. He quickly filled out the form with the name.

“Alright, no problem…”

Will stared blankly at the form bearing the name “Morning Star,” lost in thought.

Was it a timing issue? No, the timing was correct. The original story had a clear timeline, and he had double-checked it.

Was it a location issue? Impossible… The original story also took place in Novice Town.

What else could it be? Surely it wasn’t his pronunciation—he considered himself fluent in Entark’s English-like language.

Then… where had “Morning Star” gone?