Bab 73: Chapter 073
Cheon Sa-yeon turned his gaze to Ha Tae-heon, who was standing behind Lee Joo-ha.
"I'm a bit late in congratulating you. I heard you're the deputy master now?"
"Yes, thank you."
Ha Tae-heon stared at me as he answered flatly. When I met those cold black eyes, my body stiffened.
'It seems like… he's really unhappy.'
Was it because of Cheon Sa-yeon? After we were done with the inconvenience of greeting each other, we sat down at the table.
"..."
Since the Jayna Guild and Blun Guild did not come, there was a suffocating silence at the Seoul table where only four of us were seated, in contrast to the other tables around us.
'This is uncomfortable…'
For no reason, I broke out in a cold sweat, staring only at the vase in the centre of the table. Someone, please say something. I slowly glanced at Cheon Sa-yeon.
"Hm?"
Cheon Sa-yeon, who was sitting leisurely as he swirled the champagne in his glass, noticed my gaze and tilted his head slightly.
What were you pretending to be ignorant for? Were you not uncomfortable? Do something about this atmosphere.
At my meaningful gaze, Cheon Sa-yeon slightly smiled as if he understood, and said, "Now that I think about it…"
Ha Tae-heon and Lee Joo-ha, who were sitting there with gloomy faces, looked at Cheon Sa-yeon. Yeah, even the weather is a fine topic. Small talk exists, you know. I breathed a sigh of relief and picked up the glass of champagne on the table.
"I didn't introduce my partner. This is Ability User Han Yi-gyeol. Say hello."
"Cough…!"
I choked on my champagne at the unexpected topic and coughed harshly. Ha Tae-heon and Lee Joo-ha, who were looking at Cheon Sa-yeon, turned to me at the same time.
'Cheon Sa-yeon, you bastard…'
With a sharp pain in my throat, I kept coughing. Cheon Sa-yeon lightly patted my back and asked, smiling, "Oh my. Are you okay?"
"Cough, I'm okay…"
I barely managed to answer and glared at Cheon Sa-yeon with all my might. It was obvious that he thought it was funny—he was covering his mouth with his fist.
"Yes, I know. Han Yi-gyeol-ssi. You came as a mercenary," Lee Joo-ha answered in a shaky voice.
"Anyway."
"..."
"I've heard that you and ourYi-gyeol are acquaintances."
At Cheon Sa-yeon's words, Ha Tae-heon's eyebrows twitched. I hurriedly intervened.
"W-we met by chance before."
"By chance?"
"Yes. By chance." I forced a smile and nodded.
This was why Ha Tae-heon shouldn't have said that he knew me. Cheon Sa-yeon only knew that Ha Tae-heon and I saw each other's faces from Cha Soo-yeon's kidnapping case, so it was difficult to explain why we were acquaintances—I could only give this poor excuse.
"Is that right? Ha Tae-heon-ssi."
"..."
Despite my desperate request for help, Ha Tae-heon just kept his mouth shut. Were you really going to be like this? Just whose fault was it that I was suffering like this? The silence that fell upon us was heavier and colder than before.
"Are we the last ones to arrive?"
At that moment, a lively voice broke the silence. A gorgeous blonde woman in a white blouse walked towards us, heels clicking.
"If I had been a little later, I probably wouldn't have been able to come in. Hi, everyone!"
The woman, with a bright smile, waved her hand at Cheon Sa-yeon and Lee Joo-ha in greeting.
"Master Hong Si-ah."
"Long time no see, Master Lee Joo-ha~"
Hong Si-ah shook hands with Lee Joo-ha, pushing her shining blonde hair behind her shoulder. I dryly swallowed back my saliva and looked at her carefully.
'This is the Jayna Guild Master Hong Si-ah.'
She was one of the S-class ability users who was well-received for her outstanding ability and sense.
"Hello!"
The person following Hong Si-ah gave a strong greeting. It was a cute-looking woman with short, wavy brown hair, slightly oversized glasses, and a beige shirt.
If my guess was right, she was Kim Na-yul, the deputy master of the Jayna Guild since she came in with Hong Si-ah. Kim Na-yul was a character who appeared several times in the original story.
"I-I see that Deputy Master Ha Tae-heon is also here."
"Hello."
Despite Ha Tae-heon's short answer, Kim Na-yul blushed and bowed her head.
Kim Na-yul had been in love with Ha Tae-heon since she happened to meet him by chance shortly after his awakening. She appeared more frequently than Min Ah-rin or Lee Joo-ha—she was a character that stood out in the original work since she had always liked him.
"Deputy Master Kim Na-yul, how have you been?"
"Hehe, fine. Master Lee Joo-ha, how have you been?"
"Well, about the same as always."
Perhaps because they knew each other, Kim Na-yul and Lee Joo-ha started chattering. I sighed in relief as I watched a peaceful atmosphere settle at our table.
"By the way, why did Master Cheon Sa-yeon come here? Even bringing along a partner?"
Looking as if he was sad that Hong Si-ah looked so surprised, Cheon Sa-yeon responded, "This kind of situation can't really be dismissed, can it?"
"Sure, but weren't you looking overseas rather than domestic gates?"
"I just couldn't be so irresponsible as to not care about what was going on with the gates."
"Indeed. Come to think of it, Requiem also took the new SS-grade gate that appeared a few months ago."
How enviable, just detestable*. Hong Si-ah, who spoke playfully, looked at me sitting next to Cheon Sa-yeon. There was interest in her amber eyes.
"Oho. Is that Mercenary Han Yi-gyeol over there?"
As expected, you knew as well. I smiled as harmlessly as possible and bowed my head slightly.
"I thought you looked familiar. Nice to meet you. My name is Hong Si-ah."
"Nice to meet you. I'm Han Yi-gyeol."
"I've been wanting to meet you because rumours spread that you have SS-ranks in both hands. Come to think of it, the SS-ranks that are supposedly in your hands are here, aren't they?"
"..."
I reflexively looked into Ha Tae-heon's eyes. As for Cheon Sa-yeon, I was sure he already knew of the rumours…
"My partner is very popular."
However, contrary to my expectations, unlike Ha Tae-heon, who did not raise an eyebrow, Cheon Sa-yeon was the one who spoke. "I asked you several times to come to the party with me. I almost would have come alone."
Cheon Sa-yeon lowered his eyes, and I was taken back by the expression on his face.
"No… wait a minute."
What were you asking me to do? That was what we agreed on.
"What? Are you two really that close? It's the first time I've seen Master Cheon Sa-yeon doing something like this."
"He's a very special person."
…you were really laying it on thick today, weren't you?
"Ha. Ha…"
I laughed weakly and drank some champagne. Let's just ignore it. I think that would be good for my mental health.
"Hello, attendees. I am Choi Mi-jin, the Head of the Gate Management Centre at the Management Headquarters." Choi Mi-jin, who came up on the podium, held a microphone. "As the gate anomaly continues, the management headquarters has prepared this event to disclose some of the previously private information to find a countermeasure to the anomaly."
A huge screen descended behind Choi Mi-jin and a map appeared. It was an image showing the location of gates by region.
"Due to regulations, there was a limit to how much information that each region could share, but now we are trying to push that limit a little more."
"Are you telling us to reveal more gate characteristics or clearing tips to other regions?" a guild master from the Gyeonggi province asked, frowning. The others' reactions were not very good either.
"I understand the discomfort. However, the United States, China, and Russia have already started managing regional gates in this way."
"I know that, but those guys didn't get good results, did they?"
This time, a participant from Daegu intervened. As if Choi Mi-jin expected this situation, she calmly answered them without any change in expression.
"As long as the situation has changed, the future will be different regardless of what we do. Even if you don't like the change, we cannot go back to how things were even if we stick to the same old methods."
"No, I know that. Shouldn't it be applied differently for each region? No matter how you look at it, Jeju Island is at a disadvantage. What about, let's say, places like Busan and Seoul release more information."
"Wait, I understand Seoul, but why include Busan? You should talk about Daejeon or Incheon."
"What the…? Busan bastards have no conscience. I know for sure that there are dozens of newly discovered marine monsters at the Gwangalli gate."
"If you're so unhappy, come down to Busan. On what grounds are you thugs arguing, collecting items from other regions' gates**?"
At the poignant remarks of the Busan participants, the Incheon participants jumped up from their seats with reddened faces. At that scene, Kwon Ji-hoon, who was at the same table, looked as if he was speechless.
"Fuck, thugs? Are you done talking?"
"I'm all done, you bastard. What? Have a problem?"
Instead of being embarrassed by the sudden fight, the others all cheered with excitement.
"Yeah, fight, fight!"
"Now things are getting interesting."
"Those Incheon fuckers, you Busan bastards, always sitting on your asses as you extort others' money. You gonna show your skills?"
It was as if Choi Mi-jin knew this was going to happen—she sighed as she touched her forehead. Those from Busan and Incheon, who were disputing, all took out their weapons. A tension that usually rose before a battle filled the splendidly decorated party hall.
"Is this really okay?"
"Well, there are people who are looking forward to it."
Hong Si-ah watched with a tense jaw. Kwarurung! When a sword wrapped in grey smoke and a long rifle collided, everything in the room shook. From that point on, several participants used their abilities and swung their weapons, and broken tables and vases smashed here and there.
"Are you all going to sit still?" I asked, wrapping the wind around us like a shield. Crash! Thud! Pieces of wood and glass flew away with all kinds of noise, but the wind blocked them all.
"I don't see why I have to leave my seat."
"You don't see why… Can you really say that when we're in this mess?"
Everyone sitting at the table, including Cheon Sa-yeon, looked at me blankly with expressions that said they did not understand. These people really…
"I don't want to be in such a dangerous place anymore."
"Oh my. How prickly^."
Was it really the time to make a pun?
"Gasp…!"
A chair filled with energy blasted through the wind. I hurriedly bowed my head to avoid it. The chair was shattered in the hands of Ha Tae-heon, who was sitting opposite of me.
"If you're going to stay here, then I will go out alone," I said, looking at the broken pieces of the chair.
At this rate, blood really was going to spill. Cheon Sa-yeon raised an eyebrow and smiled.
"You can't do that."
"Well, anything will d… Wait, why are you taking out the sword?"
Cheon Sa-yeon, who tapped on his watch, pulled out a sword from his inventory. It wasn't Lillith's sword, but it was still S-class—what were you going to do with it?
"Why do you think I took it out?" Cheon Sa-yeon naturally placed his palm on the blade. "I can just resolve the situation like this, can't I?"
"What? No, wait! Don't do that!"
I was terrified and hung onto Cheon Sa-yeon's arm, who was about to cut off his palm at any moment.
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