Capítulo 145: Chapter 145
HaYeon was giving JiHan a serious report within the Bloom Guild's office. "Mr. Sung, all Chinese players in our guild simultaneously announced the termination of their spot rentals."
"How many are there?" he asked.
"There were quite a few new people this time… so about six."
They were able to accept up to 30 people due to the Phoenix Flag, so six people leaving accounted for 20%.
"Huh, we had quite a few Chinese players."
"We auctioned off the new slots, so most were taken by players from the USA and China, who've been paying 10 million per person per month."
"So we're about to lose 60 million per month?" he asked.
"Mr. Lin joined for five million, so it's 55 million a month," she explained.
"Then just send them off and look for new people."
"We might earn less if we look for new players. Is that okay?" she cautiously asked.
JiHan nodded. "Yes, that's fine."
China must've thought that he would be unable to make do without their money.
'We don't need them.'
He wasn't the type to back down just because he would lose some potential profit. "Go ahead and tell them that we'll verify the termination of their contract."
"Yes, understood." HaYeon called and notified the People's Association before continuing to chat with JiHan. "The chat manager didn't have much to do before, but they're now overwhelmed by the sudden influx of malicious comments, and those guys are also harassing the guild channel."
"How annoying."
"Is figuring out the name of your martial arts that important to them?" she asked.
She tilted her cup back and took a sip of coffee before her eyes widened in surprise at a certain message that popped up on her tablet. "Oh? Wang Lin sent a message. He says he wants to talk with you."
"Really?"
"I can translate if you would like to talk to him right now."
"Do you speak Chinese…?"
"Yes. I studied a bit."
It looked like she was quite capable, so why had she spent so much time gambling in the world before his regression?
"Please do."
A middle-aged man with a long beard, Wang Lin, appeared with a look of concern.
[Mr. Sung… I didn't imagine you'd accept the contract termination request… Wouldn't it be better to amicably resolve things?]
"We're doing this because the People's Association wished for this."
[I actually wanted to stay in the Bloom Guild… but I had no choice but to follow the government's policy…]
[Being too rigid in life can lead to more losses than gains. Our government is infuriated by your unwillingness to give them any ground. If things go on like this, it'll only bring you harm. That being the case, I'd like to mediate and help bring this matter to a smooth resolution.]
"You want to mediate?"
[Yes. You don't have to mention your sect's name or origin. Instead, just tell me the name of your martial arts. With that, I can talk to the NSA and have them remove the pressure.]
He was using enticement and threats in what looked like a classic good-cop-bad-cop strategy.
'If he wants to know the name of the martial arts…'
JiHan smiled. It wouldn't change anything if they knew the name anyway.
"Alright. Since you're so curious, I'll show you."
[Oh… Good decision!]
"Check it out." JiHan changed his skill window to show only the name of the skill and displayed it to him.
"The name of it is 'Nameless Divine Arts'," he said.
[Nameless…?]
"Yes. This should stay between us, but I'm also curious about its true name. Could you ask the Chinese Intelligence to look into it?"
[A martial arts with no name…? What's this…?!]
"Also, I'll go ahead and terminate the People's Association's contract immediately. I'll need to find replacements right away, after all."
[W-wait! That—!]
"I'll talk to you later."
Beep-
JiHan ended the video call.
"Do we have any people on the waitlist?" he asked.
"Yes, there are some, but we won't get as much as we got from the People's Association."
"That's fine," he said. "I'd rather earn less than deal with this kind of chaos. Try to only rent to people who aren't from the East Asian League from now on."
"Understood." HaYeon nodded.
'It's certainly more comfortable to accept players from different Leagues than ones from the same League.'
The only immediate problem was the loss in revenue, but since JiHan wasn't worried, she also had nothing to worry about.
"Also, regarding the upcoming match against China, feel free to bet as you like. I don't know how it'll turn out."
He was 100% confident in the victory against Russia, but he couldn't guarantee anything against China. They were the world's 2nd-ranked nation, after all.
If China was planning to use the 108th Form, then he wasn't sure if Korea would even be able to win a single match.
"Betting…" HaYeon smirked and shook her head. "I'm not planning to participate anymore."
"Don't tell me you lost all your money in the game against Russia."
"No! I followed your advice and even paid off my debts!"
"Really? You made money?!" JiHan was genuinely surprised.
The personification of self-destruction, Zero, who would even bet the opposite of what was advised, won money?
"Why are you so surprised…?"
"Well… You made money…"
"Hmph! Were you thinking I'd always lose?" she asked.
"Honestly, yes. This is unexpected."
"Anyway…! I'm stopping. My family strictly forbade me from participating in it again."
"Your family finally found out, huh?"
"Yes… Well, it seemed like they already had an idea." She grimaced. "They told me to knock it off for a bit because I have to attend marriage interviews."
"Marriage interviews?"
"Yes."
"There's one scheduled next week, and two next month," GaYeong added from her position behind HaYeon. "One is a bald man who's 20 years older than her, one weighs 120kg, and one has two illegitimate children."
JiHan tilted his head. "Why would you accept marriage interviews with such people? HaYeon, I'm sure you can do better than that."
She was the daughter of the wealthy Twin Star family. Moreover, she was as pretty as any celebrity; her personality was quite good as well. Aside from the gambling, she should've been the top marriage prospect for any wealthy family.
'Is her gambling addiction really that fatal for a wealthy family?'
No. Even if he considered that, it didn't make sense that she'd consented.
GaYeong sighed. "There are some family circumstances."
"Hmm, is that so?"
JiHan hadn't thought much about it, but…
"Mr. Sung… What should we do with the guild if I go through an arranged marriage?"
"Why would being married affect anything…?"
"I'd likely marry into a wealthy family that runs their own guild… I'm not sure I could do both."
'Where could I get someone with a Gift comparable to HaYeon's?'
The A rank of her Nurture Gift couldn't be found anywhere else, and she'd been doing a great job as the guild master.
"Don't go to the arranged marriage interviews," JiHan said.
"What…?"
"You don't want to, right?"
"That's true, but my family…"
"What's the point of a family that wants to introduce you to men like that? Just bring all your belongings to the Sword Palace."
She gave him a look of disbelief. He'd been nodding as if watching someone else's house burn down a few moments ago, but that attitude took a complete 180 after she mentioned stepping down as guild master.
"Ahh… That's almost like turning against my family. Do you think it's that easy?"
GaYeong piped up and said, "It's possible with Mr. Sung's help."
"Hey, wait! That's…!"
"How could I help her?" JiHan asked.
"Well, you can…"
Four days before the match against China, Coach YeongJun stood in the strategy room and frowned as he thought about the game.
'They're too strong…'
If Russia's Warriors were the strongest, then China had the world's best in every class except the Warriors. Since they had Mages and Supports with SSS-rank Gifts, South Korea hadn't ever exceeded a 40% win rate against them, even when they had the Sword King.
'I had to call these guys back…'
YeongJun looked at their lineup against China. All of the starting Warriors had returned other than the one who'd assaulted Yuri.
Rather than having given in to the pressure from the guilds they belonged to, he'd accepted them because he wanted to counter China through any means possible. If they could create some synergy with JiHan, then their chances of winning could be higher than 0%.
The netizen's reactions weren't far from what he'd expected.
- I can't believe those automatic door bastards would immediately rejoin the team.
- ???: I'm sure this has nothing to do with the recent issue, right? I hope you work hard~ ^0^
- Wasn't their punishment too lenient?
- Well, at least they didn't call back the guy who assaulted Yuri. Maybe we stand a chance against China with these guys.
- Watching the backup team during the game against Russia was depressing, hahaha.
- Rather than an automatic door, it was more like there was no door at all.
They received less criticism than they thought they would due to China's recent provocations stinging Korean pride.
- We have to beat China, even if it means calling those guys back.
- For real. Did you see how they bothered JiHan? They put up a show to learn about his sect or whatever, hahaha.
- They think they have a right because 'all martial arts come from China', hahaha.
- But why do they want to know that? Does anything change if they do?
- Even the Chinese weren't sure of that, but that didn't stop them from trash-talking JiHan, hahaha. Anyway, even if it's with the help of the automatic door guys, let's try to beat China!
"Hmm. It's nice to be back." Dong-woo, the leader of the starting Warriors, had arrived at the Battle Net Strategy room.
"The smell of the center is the best!" YunGi, who always followed him, smiled and stepped up to his side.
"This is only possible due to the public's hate for China," the coach said. "Don't mess things up again!"
"Haha, understood. Coach, where is he anyway?"
"Why…?"
"I want to apologize."
Coach YeongJun blinked. What was he talking about? Wasn't he kicked out? Was he really trying to apologize?
"Ah, of course we should. I mean, he should have told us if he had a girlfriend."
"A girlfriend…?"
"Yes, Coach. Ah, don't tell me you didn't know. It's been all over today's news." Dong-woo took out his phone and showed him the article.
- JiHan's girlfriend caught on camera!
The article featured a huge photo of a man and a woman sitting on a bench at Han River Park. They were hugging and were clearly about to kiss.
"Isn't she… the Bloom Guild's guild master?"
Everyone in the industry knew about her, so of course the coach immediately recognized her, and he heard two Warriors gossiping about her nearby.
"Not even JiHan could resist."
"I've been suspicious since she became the guild master despite not being a player."
"She's very pretty. No wonder he didn't appear after we mentioned the beautiful celebrities showing up."
"I'm from the Twin Star Guild. She was super popular, even when she was in the guild, but everyone just looked from a distance due to her status."
"Hmm… I wonder if he's going to be okay," the coach mumbled, worried about the article he'd seen. First was the issue with the Chinese, then the romance scandal. Would JiHan be mentally prepared for the game? The coach called him over to check in.
"Ah, I was the one who spread that news," JiHan calmly explained.
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