Chapter 48

Chapter 48

<Persona> has entered, <Rotjaejook> has entered, <Hanhamanghaera> has entered. [Participants: 112]

Echoing : What the hell;;;;;;

Tylenol : Juyeong + relationship = master-servant relationship, no?

Rekong : What the hell, the rest of that was normal though

C.Q : It’s not a master-servant relationship

I Love Ruya : Common sense says it’s not a master-servant relationship lolllllllllll

Millipede : Then what is it

Geum Silsusil : Something…something’s going on

Elidurib : “I wish to make it absolutely clear in this place that my relationship with that person is one that is in no way tainted by personal feelings. Furthermore, as that person has suffered considerable harm due to their association with me, I earnestly request that you cease all acts of digging into and investigating the private life of a C-Rank hunter solely because they are linked to an S-Rank hunter.”

Tylenol : Lolllll what the hell, the rest of that was way too normal… Guess it was just a slip of the tongue or a mic issue, right?

C.Q : I think it’s a mic issue. Looking at it, the mic seems to be in bad shape

Persona : From what I can see, the mic doesn’t seem to have any particular problem though

C.Q : It’s a mic issue…… That cannot be anything other than a mic issue….

Echoing : What, that’s it? That’s all?

<Tarral> has entered, <Mental> has entered. [Participants: 114]

<Tong Jangjango> has entered. [Participants: 115]

En Tikroyeol : Nothing about that C-Rank hunter? So they’re really nothing to each other?

Millipede : There’s probably something, it’s just not a romantic relationship

Taeng Keocheonha : Honestly, isn’t it actually a master-servant relationship? Heh… you know, that… that kind of relationship heh

C.Q : There’s no way it’s that kind of relationship. I know Hunter Yoon Juyeong used to conduct himself well. I know because I worked at the same place as him once.

Persona : Whoa, we’ve got a witness here~

Ru Iakgae : Hey hey what, that’s it? He’s leaving?

Elerdurib : Looks like that’s it. But apparently there’s a Q&A segment prepared by Heewon Guild after this.

Echoing : Ahh, spill some stories. What kind of person was Hunter Yoon Juyeong?

Your Face Is Squid : Any flaws? Like messy relationships with women, or actually being a cocky personality?

Tylenol : I am curious though, what was he like back when he was a B-Rank hunter?

Torbian : Oh, I used to work with Hunter Yoon Juyeong back in the day

En Tikroyeol : And the second witness appears~~~

<Mental> has exited. [Participants: 114]

<Tong Jangjango> has exited. [Participants: 113]

Torbian : Wasn’t different from now… Overall, he was polite and friendly

Echoing : That’s it?

Tarantula : That’s it?

Taoist Magician : Quite the pretender, this one.

Your Face Is Squid : No info like he was uglier back when he was a C-Rank hunter?

Taeng Keocheonha : He was a B-Rank hunter. And isn’t your desire way too obvious?

Ru Iakgae : Really that’s it?

Torbian : Yeah…. Personally, I thought he was kind of a boring person… He absolutely refused to join after-parties or drinking sessions… Said he didn’t enjoy alcohol. And he never had private meetings with colleagues

I Love Miju : Ah… I know that type… Capable and polite… but the way they act lol you can tell it’s not genuine

S-Rank Visual Love : Since he’s S-Rank… S-Ranks naturally have that S-Rank quality even when they’re young… Specifically in terms of personality

I Love Miju Unnie : Our Miju unnie^[1] isn’t like that

Tarantula : Kang Mujin isn’t like that either

<Tong Jangjango> has entered. [Participants: 114]

<Tong Jangjango> has exited. [Participants: 113]

Geum Silsusil : Well still, for an S-Rank, his personality is decent… Honestly, Kim Miju, Kang Mujin, Geomje… S-Ranks lol… um… It’s not that their personalities are ruined… They just have a crazy strong “my way” streak

Geomje Please Debut : A prime example is our Sword Emperor… Sigh… Sword Emperor… You, this Hamheung… what was it… anyway, the 38th descendant of Hamheung something-or-other, I couldn’t even get a “Sword Emperor, please debut” out of you….

Echoing : Geomje probably doesn’t want to debut anyway

C.Q : Huh…. Hunter Yoon Juyeong was really like that? I don’t remember that

Geomje Please Debut : Our Geomje ignores all the reporters following him around and brushes off government requests, but his visuals are killer!

Do You Know Kimchi : What the hell, looks like the two witnesses have different stories

Torbian: ㅇ? I don’t know who you are, but the Hunter Yoon Juyeong I saw was like that… Well, he’s good-looking too, so honestly, I tried to hit on him a few times, but……… well, it didn’t work out.

C.Q: Wasn’t he… just a kind person? I remember he’d respond well if you talked to him.

Torbian: He responded well, sure… It’s just that you could tell it was all politeness, all fake.

C.Q: Shocking.

Do You Know Kimchi: Lolololol you tried to hit on him and failed.

Torbian: Hoo… Yoon Juyeong… I loved you… Even though we couldn’t be together because you’re not gay…

Echoing: ㄱ(ㅇㅁㅇ)ㄴ

Tarantula: ㄱ(ㅇㅁㅇ)ㄴ

Ru Iakgae: ㄱ(ㅇㅁㅇ)ㄴ?!

I Am Ruya’s Mom: ㄱ(ㅇㅁㅇ)ㄴ?!?!?!?!?

C.Q: .

Millipede: ㄱ(ㅇㅁㅇ)ㄴ

Taoist Magician: ㄱ(ㅇㅁㅇ)ㄴ !!

The Heewon Guild’s guild master’s office looked exactly the same as when I’d visited last time, unchanged in any way.

I watched Guild Master Kang Mujin, who was receiving the sunlight streaming in through the large window in the office with a serious expression, with a feeling of anxious concern.

“…I’ll say this in advance, Hunter Yoon Seohee. If you don’t want to answer, you don’t have to.”

“…Guild Master……”

“Are you… perhaps in some… inappropriate, no, I mean… an extremely personal relationship with Hunter Yoon Juyeong……”

“No, no, sir. That’s absolutely not the case!”

—How dare you misunderstand the relationship between a master and her servants in such a way! The personal relationship with the Master is my portion!

“Avan, you shut your mouth, no, that’s not it. It’s really not like that, Guild Master Kang Mujin?”

Judging by the look of things, I could clearly tell what kind of misunderstanding Guild Master Kang Mujin was having. No, it was impossible not to know.

And that made sense, considering that just thirty minutes ago, the man standing beside me now, smiling as if nothing had happened, had dropped a bombshell during a spot meant to clarify a dating rumor.

‘What on earth were you thinking when you did that, Mr. Yoon Juyeong…! …No, actually, thinking about it, it’s obvious……. He probably just said what he thought. This guy genuinely serves me as his ‘Master’…….’

I figured that when I’d been pestering Mr. Yoon Juyeong to somehow clarify that damn dating rumor, it must have sounded to him like, ‘We have a master-servant relationship, not a romantic one. Please correct that part.’

Otherwise, there’s no way he would have casually mentioned a master-servant relationship in such an official setting.

“Well, I think I roughly understand what kind of misunderstanding you’re having, Guild Master. But it’s really not that kind of relationship. Yes, absolutely not.”

“How about you just say that’s what it is? Kang Mujin’s not the type to go around spreading rumors.”

“Don’t interrupt the Master’s words, Mr. Jeong Seojin.”

—That’s right. Interrupting the Master’s words is not a virtue for a servant.

As if to make my desperate denials to the Guild Master look ridiculous, Jeong Seojin, who was comfortably sipping instant coffee on a sofa in one corner of the office, calmly revealed our relationship.

For a moment, I felt like a chairman grabbing the back of my neck and collapsing, and I stared at Jeong Seojin with a shocked expression.

“Wh-what… no, really, what are you saying, Mr. Jeong Seojin? As you know, Mr. Yoon Juyeong and I don’t have that kind of inappropriate relationship……”

“It might not be an inappropriate relationship, but it is a master-servant relationship, right? And with me too.”

“Wh-what, what……”

Anyway, it seemed like every time Jeong Seojin opened his mouth, he dropped a bomb. At his words, which casually stamped our relationship as a ‘master-servant relationship,’ I hurriedly checked on Guild Master Kang Mujin’s condition.

“Um, Guild Master. So, this is, I can explain—”

“…So that’s how it was.”

And before I could deny anything, I witnessed Guild Master Kang Mujin smiling benevolently, as if he had already accepted the entire situation.

“…Um, Guild Master? I don’t know what you’re thinking……. But I really need to, explain this situation……”

“You don’t have to hide it, Hunter Yoon Seohee. I was wondering what had become the control mechanism for Hunter Yoon Juyeong, who seemed to have quite a personality… so that’s how it was.”

“What exactly is ‘how it was’? Um, Guild Master Kang Mujin. I think you might be… well, distorting the situation a bit?”

“No, you don’t have to deny it, Hunter Yoon Seohee. After all, among hunters… there are quite a few people with… well, dominant tendencies.”

Now I was sure of it.

“This guy is completely twisting our relationship in the wrong direction…!”

How on earth could anyone tack the phrase “dominant tendencies” onto me?

In my entire life up to my late twenties, I had lived with absolutely no connection to dominating or restraining anyone.

No, to be blunt, I might have been shackled by my job or constrained by my financial situation, but I had almost never dominated, changed, or done whatever I wanted with anything by my own hand.

“What kind of misunderstanding is he having about a person like me…!”

“G-Guild Master Kang Mujin. It really isn’t like that, okay? I’m a person with absolutely no connection to that kind of tendency.”

“It’s all right, Hunter Yoon Seohee. After all, in a situation where there’s mutual consent… well, as a somewhat conservative person myself, it’s hard for me to accept, but I suppose such relationships do exist.”

“Pfft, puhah, puhahah…!”

“Jeong Seojin, this is not the time to be laughing?! Guild Master. It really isn’t like that. Huh? It’s true that these two call me… Master. Yes, it’s true, but it’s not for that reason…”

In the end, it was a good ten-plus minutes later that I managed to grab Guild Master Kang Mujin and desperately explain our relationship properly — and why I had come to be addressed by that title.