Chapter 87

Yeonhan Kim and Dongju Kim immediately took a combat stance. This was in preparation for any potential attack. But Zhixuan, for some reason, slowly inhaled and exhaled, then said,

“As the rumors say, you’re an interesting friend, aren’t you?”

“Interesting? I’m not interesting.”

Cho-i Hyeon said to him. Zhixuan tilted his head and then replied with a smile,

“It’s a shame you’re not interesting.”

Cho-i Hyeon scrunched up her face. He was the type she hated. Smooth-talking and pretending to care about others, but in reality, only looking out for himself. Exactly like her ex-boyfriend, in fact.

“This one seems much more cunning, though.”

She hadn’t really experienced him yet, but just by looking, she could tell he was that type. There’s such a thing as physiognomy, there really is. Cho-i grumbled and moved on. Then, a man in a black suit, who had followed Zhixuan, blocked her path. Cho-i let out a scoff. So. Bang!

“Ugh!”

She punched the man in the black suit, who was blocking her way, in the stomach. Cho-i Hyeon hit him with enough force to send his body flying, then brushed her hands off, looking at the man collapsed on the ground. Yeonhan Kim clutched his head. Tell her not to cause trouble, and she’ll cause it immediately; that’s Cho-i Hyeon. Cho-i Hyeon turned to Zhixuan and said,

“Your subordinate is rude, isn’t he?” “I don’t think you’re in a position to say that….” “Paehyeok has only one rule.” “What is that?” “You don’t stop Cho-i Hyeon when she’s passing by.”

Cho-i Hyeon stomped on the shoulder of the man lying on the ground. A scream erupted from beneath her foot. Cho-i Hyeon looked at the man with a cold, hardened face, then raised her head and smiled broadly. It was a lightning-fast change of expression. Zhixuan looked at her, maintaining a smiling face.

“We just came as guests.” “If a guest tries to throw their weight around in someone else’s front yard, shouldn’t the homeowner stop them?” “You’re not the homeowner, though.” “If you live together, you’re all family; there’s no ‘your house’ or ‘my house.'” “Come to think of it, didn’t the Guild Master here confess and get rejected?” “That spread all the way to China? That’s why the internet is great.”

Cho-i took her foot off the man in the black suit. Then she said to Zhixuan,

“What exactly is your reason for coming here and throwing your weight around? It’s better to know what’s coming than to be caught off guard. I really hate it when people act like they own the place in someone else’s yard.” “…One of our guild members disappeared.” “Why are you looking for your runaway guild member at our house?”

Zhixuan stared at Cho-i for a moment, as if deep in thought, then smiled sweetly and tilted his head.

“I was hoping Paehyeok could lend us some help.”

At his words, Yeonhan Kim and Dongju Kim exchanged glances. So, this is how he’s going to play it.

“Did you contact the Guild Master?” “I haven’t had a chance to contact them yet….” “Ah, then make an appointment in advance. Our Guild Master is busy.”

Meaning, he can’t just wander around anytime like you. At Cho-i’s words, which implied that, a faint vein pulsed on Zhixuan’s forehead, where a smile had been.

“It’s urgent, so some help would be….” “Urgent, my foot. You’re just looking for a runaway hunter. How badly did you treat them for them to run away? Go make an appointment, and in the meantime, do some sightseeing in Korea. Dongdaemun is great, Dongdaemun. Go visit there.”

Cho-i Hyeon waved her hands dismissively as if shooing away a fly. Zhixuan stood there with a face that was hard to tell if he was angry or amused, then soon pulled out his smartphone. He then called Paehyeok’s secretary’s office, whose number he had already found.

“This is Zhixuan from Jaheon. I’d like to schedule an appointment.”

He seemed intent on making an appointment right away. Dongju Kim and Yeonhan Kim frowned, but Cho-i Hyeon trusted Taehyeok Sa in this regard. Taehyeok Sa, that bastard, probably—

“Ah… tomorrow at two in the afternoon.” -Yes, the Guild Master has cleared the earliest available time slot. “…I see.”

As Zhixuan held his smartphone, looking as if he hadn’t expected this turn of events, the secretary of Taehyeok Sa spoke in a voice that seemed to be suppressing laughter.

“And I ask you to please tell the three individuals currently in front of you to come back up. That will be all, I’ll see you tomorrow.”

They certainly made good use of them. The three S-Ranks couldn’t possibly have not heard the phone conversation. Zhixuan hung up the call with a hardened expression, and the three of them subtly began to head back into Paehyeok’s building. Zhixuan quietly watched their backs and then said,

“I feel like my date invitation was rejected. Well, I’ll see you tomorrow.”

He surprisingly backed down without a fuss. The three of them glanced back at him once before heading straight for the elevator. And they said to Taehyeok Sa, who was waiting on the top floor,

“What do we do?!”

“What should we do, Guild Master?!”

“I did well, right!”

They were Dongju Kim, Yeonhan Kim, and Cho-i Hyeon, in order. Cho-i Hyeon grinned and flew onto the sofa, while Yeonhan and Dongju sighed and sat down next to Cho-i. Taehyeok Sa clucked his tongue at the three of them, then folded his arms and leaned against the desk.

“I wondered how they would approach us, but to think they would contact us under the guise of asking for help.”

Cho-i Hyeon asked,

“Then isn’t that better? We can just refuse them.”

“It’s not that easy.”

“Really?”

“Really.”

Cho-i Hyeon looked at Yeonhan Kim as if she needed more explanation. Yeonhan Kim met Cho-i Hyeon’s gaze and raised an index finger.

“It’s like diplomacy.”

“Is that so?”

“If we specifically reject a request from one Korean guild, it can easily mean we’ll be at odds with that guild in the future.”

“Can’t we just be at odds with them?”

“Well, Korean guilds aren’t generally on very good terms with Chinese guilds, but it’s not as bad as with Japan, for instance.”

“Is that so? That’s surprising.”

“It’s because of Asia’s largest auction held annually in China. Guilds of considerable size in China take turns hosting it every year, and items come in from all sorts of nations, so there’s a lot to gain.”

“Why do they take turns hosting it? Are they the Olympics or something?”

“Anyway, that’s how it is. So the Guild Master couldn’t easily refuse and just sent them away for today.”

“Hmm~”

Cho-i Hyeon nodded, looking as if she understood for now. Once Yeonhan Kim finished his explanation, Taehyeok Sa asked,

“So what are you going to do?”

“Weren’t you supposed to plan the strategy from now on?”

“…I thought you wouldn’t have any ideas, but still.”

“Ideas? Why would I do that? That’s for people who aren’t feeling well.”

Taehyeok Sa made a gesture for them to be quiet for a moment because his head hurt, and Dongju Kim and Yeonhan Kim covered Cho-i Hyeon’s mouth. Cho-i Hyeon bit down hard on Dongju Kim’s hand that was covering her mouth.

“Ow!”

“Phew….”

While Yeonhan Kim sighed in relief, Cho-i Hyeon said,

“Even if it’s just a pretense, can’t we just pretend not to know? Anyway, are they going to find a corpse or what? They have nothing. The nation only has suspicions.”

Taehyeok Sa shook his head.

“What if they have physical evidence that you went to the Taean Dungeon?”

“How would they know that?”

“Cho-i Hyeon, I told you to be careful of S-grade and NS-grade.”

Taehyeok Sa went into Huntred and showed a post.

[OMG, I saw HCY in real life]

Clicking on the post’s title, a photo of Cho-i Hyeon taken from a distance appeared. Cho-i Hyeon frowned, wrinkling her nose, and pointed.

“Sue them for infringing on my portrait rights.”

Taehyeok Sa sighed, for what felt like the hundredth time.

“Anyway, there’s probably more than just this. Whether on Ansta or other anonymous boards. There’s evidence on the internet that you were in Taean on the same day. So, playing dumb probably won’t work.”

Cho-i thought for a moment, then tilted her head.

“So, you’re saying I should admit I went to Taean? And also admit that we went on a raid together?”

“Right.”

“Then we have to decide if he died inside the dungeon or outside the dungeon?”

“It would be smarter to say he died inside the dungeon, wouldn’t it?”

Dongju Kim interjected, asking,

“Will they believe that?”

“What if they don’t believe it? Are you going to go pick up the guy who was thrown into the sea?”

“Same goes for the Entity.”

Cho-i Hyeon dusted her hands as if the problem was solved, then crossed her arms.

“Then that’s the end of the discussion! When you come tomorrow, let’s just say he died inside the dungeon.”

At that moment, Yeonhan Kim said,

“But didn’t you just ask why I was looking for the runaway hunter at our house?”

“Ah.”

Cho-i Hyeon blinked, then lightly tapped her head.

“I’ll just say I forgot.”

“Do you think that will work?”

Dongju Kim gently pulled Cho-i Hyeon’s hair, and Cho-i Hyeon kicked him. While Yeonhan Kim quietly made Cho-i Hyeon sit back down, Taehyeok Sa began to seriously ponder.

“It might be better to exclude Cho-i Hyeon.”

“I don’t think they’d welcome that.”

Taehyeok Sa must have thought the same, as he reluctantly nodded.

“Don’t make any slip-ups.”

“What slip-ups would I make?”

Cho-i Hyeon scratched his head, then clapped his hands together.

“They said they were looking for a hunter, not Zhu Rui. So let’s just gloss over it.”

“Sigh….”

There wasn’t a day without sighs in Taehyeok Sa’s office. Only Cho-i was smiling brightly, muttering, “Yes, yes. Case solved.” And the next day at two in the afternoon, Zhixuan arrived on time, carrying a rather large hard-case briefcase.

“Now, shall we talk?”

Zhixuan, sitting opposite Taehyeok Sa, smiled brightly and placed the hard-case briefcase next to the sofa. Cho-i Hyeon narrowed his eyes at the bag, feeling a strange sense of unease. There had been a foul smell for a while now.