CH 73

Cheon Sa-yeon turned his gaze to Ha Tae-heon, who was standing behind Lee Joo-ha.

“I’m late to congratulate you. Did you become a deputy master?”

“Thank you.”

Ha Tae-heon looked at me while answering with a dry tone. When I met those cold black eyes, somehow my body stiffened.

‘I feel… he doesn’t look so happy.’

Is it because of meeting Cheon Sa-yeon? After leaving only the inconvenience of greeting, we were seated at the table.

“……”

Since the Jayna Guild and Blun Guild did not come, in the Seoul area, where only four were seated, there was no conversation compared to other tables, and only a suffocating silence continued.

‘Uncomfortable…’

For no reason, I broke out in a cold sweat, staring only at the vase in the centre of the table. Please someone say something. I slowly glanced at Cheon Sa-yeon.

“Um?”

Cheon Sa-yeon, who was sitting leisurely spinning a glass of champagne, noticed my gaze and tilted his head slightly.

What are you pretending not to know? Are you not uncomfortable? Do something about this atmosphere. At the hot gaze filled with will, Cheon Sa-yeon opened his mouth with a slight smile as if he knew it.

“Now that I think about it.”

Ha Tae-heon and Lee Joo-ha, who were sitting with dreary faces, looked at Cheon Sa-yeon. Okay. Let’s talk about the weather. There’s something called a small talk. I breathed a sigh of relief and picked up the glass of champagne on the table.

“I didn’t introduce you my partner. This is Talented Han Yi-gyeol. Say hello.”

“Cough…!”

At an unexpected topic of conversation, I choked on the champagne I was drinking and I coughed harshly. Ha Tae-heon and Lee Joo-ha, who were looking at Cheon Sa-yeon, turned to me at the same time.

‘This bastard Cheon Sa-yeon…’

With a sharp pain in the throat, I kept coughing. Cheon Sa-yeon lightly patted my croaking back and asked with a smiley voice.

“Oh, no. Are you okay?”

“Cough, it’s okay…”

I barely answered and glared at Cheon Sa-yeon with all my might. It was obvious that he was having fun with this situation as he was covering his mouth with his clenched fist.

“Yeah, I know. Han Yi-gyeol-ssi. Because you came as a mercenary.”

Lee Joo-ha answered in a shaky voice.

“Besides that.”

“……”

“I heard, you and our Yi-gyeol are acquaintances.”

At Cheon Sa-yeon’s words towards him, Ha Tae-heon’s eyebrows twitched. I hurriedly intervened.

“Th, that. We met by chance before.”

“By chance?”

“Yes. By chance.”

I forced a smile and nodded my head.

That’s why Ha Tae-heon shouldn’t have said that he knew me. Cheon Sa-yeon might know that I and Ha Tae-heon had only seen each other in the face of Cha Soo-yeon’s kidnapping case, so it was difficult because there was no excuse to bring them other than this poor excuse.

“Is that right? Ha Tae-heon-ssi.”

“……”

Despite my desperate request for help, Ha Tae-heon just kept his mouth shut. Is it like this? For whom am I suffering this? The ship was heavier and cooler than before.

“Are we the last ones to come?”

At that moment, a lively voice broke the silence. A gorgeous blonde woman wearing a white blouse was walking towards us with the sound of her heels.

“If I had been a little late, I probably wouldn’t have been able to come in. Hi, everyone!”

A woman with a bright smile waved her hand to Cheon Sa-yeon and Lee Joo-ha to greet them.

“Master Hong Si-ah.”

“Long time no see. Master Lee Joo-ha~”

Hong Si-ah shook hands with Lee Joo-ha, pushing her blonde hair shining in the light behind her shoulder. I swallowed my dry saliva and looked at her carefully.

‘This is the Jayna Guild Master Hong Si-ah.’

She was one of the S-class talented people who were 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 her wavy short brown hair, slightly oversized glasses, and a beige shirt.

If my prediction is correct, it would be 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.

“Ha, Ha Tae-heon, the Deputy Master is also here.”

“Yes.”

Despite Ha Tae-heon’s short answer, Kim Na-yul was blushing her cheeks and bowing her head.

Kim Na-yul has been in love with Ha Tae-heon since she happened to meet him by chance shortly after he woke up. She appeared more frequently than Min Ah-rin or Lee Joo-ha, at least as a character that stood out in the original work by showing a steady liking.

“Deputy Master Kim Na-yul, how have you been?”

“Hehe, yes. Master Lee Joo-ha, how have you been?”

“I’m always the same, huh.”

Perhaps they knew each other, Kim Na-yul and Lee Joo-ha started chattering. I sighed in relief as I watched the peaceful atmosphere continue just like the other tables.

“By the way, why did Master Cheon Sa-yeon come here? Besides, are you bringing your partner with you?”

Cheon Sa-yeon responded with a sad expression to Hong Si-ah’s words that she was surprised.

“It’s not a situation worth passing over, is it?”

“It must be, but the domestic gates weren’t the only thing you were interested in because you were looking abroad?”

“Because I’m not irresponsible enough to care about leaving the gate alone.”

“Indeed. Come to think of it, Requiem also took the new SS-grade gate that appeared a few months ago.”

That’s mean, so mean. Hong Si-ah, who said playfully, looked at me sitting next to Cheon Sa-yeon. There was interest in her amber eyes.

“Oho. Are you Mercenary Han Yi-gyeol?”

As expected, you know, too. I smiled as harmless as possible and bowed my head slightly.

“I thought you look familiar. Nice to meet you. My name is Hong Si-ah.”

“Nice to meet you. I’m Han Yi-gyeol.”

“I wanted to meet you once because rumours spread that you have SS-ranks in both hands. Come to think of it, there are all SS-ranks here, right?”

“……”

I reflexively looked into Ha Tae-heon’s eyes. Cheon Sa-yeon, I’m sure you must already know those words…

“My partner is very popular.”

However, contrary to my expectations, unlike Ha Tae-heon, who did not raise an eyebrow, Cheon Sa-yeon opened his mouth.

“I asked you to come to the party with me for today so many times. I almost would have come alone.”

Cheon Sa-yeon lowered the corners of his eyes and I was taken aback by what he said with a sad expression on his face.

“No… wait a minute.”

What are you asking me to do? That’s what we dealt with.

“What. Are you two really that close? It’s the first time I’ve ever seen Master Cheon Sa-yeon doing this.”

“He’s such a special person.”

…you really planned it today, didn’t you?

“Ha. Ha…”

I laughed in vain and drank champagne for nothing. 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 as a solution and come up with a new countermeasure for it.”

A huge beam screen descended behind Choi Mi-jin and a map appeared. It was an image showing the location of the gate by region.

“Due to the original regulations, there was a limit to the gate information that each region could share. But now we are trying to push that limit a little more.”

“Are you telling me to reveal gate characteristics or clear tips that haven’t been revealed between regions?”

A guild master in the Gyeonggi-do region asked with a frown. The reaction of others was not very good either.

“I understand the discomfort. However, in cases such as the United States, China, and Russia, they have already started managing all regional gates in this way.”

“I know that, but those guys didn’t get such good results too, right?”

This time, a participant from Daegu intervened. As if Choi Mi-jin expected this situation, she calmly answered without any change in expression.

“As long as the situation has changed, the future will be different if you try anything. Just because you don’t like the change, you can’t go back to sticking with the past method.”

“No, I know that. Shouldn’t it be applied differently for each region? No matter how you look, our island, Jeju-do, is at a disadvantage. Where is it, places like Busan or Seoul are more relaxed.”

“No. Seoul is the same, but why is Busan stuck there? Even Daejeon or Incheon.”

“What? Busan ​​bastards have no conscience. I know for sure that there are dozens of newly discovered marine monsters at the gate in Gwangalli.”

“If you want, come to Busan. Who are these gangsters who collect items from other gates?”

At the poignant remarks of the Busan participants, the Incheon participants jumped up from their seats with a reddened face. At that scene, Kwon Ji-hoon, who was at the same table, put on a puzzled expression.

“Shit. Gangsters? Are you done talking?”

“I’m done, you bastard. Fuck you, jump on me.”

Instead of being embarrassed by the sudden fight, they all cheered with excitement.

“Right. Fight, fight!”

“Now it’s kind of fun.”

“As those teenagers in Incheon and Busan say, they are sitting on a fictitious day. Can you show me your skills?”

As if Choi Mi-jin knew this was going to happen, she sighed while touching her forehead. Participants in Busan and Incheon, who had a dispute, took out their weapons together. The heat that rose before the battle drifted inside the splendidly decorated party hall.

“Are you okay with that?”

“Well, there are people who are looking forward to it.”

Hong Si-ah started watching with her chin pinched. Kwarurung! When the sword wrapped in grey smoke and the long rifle collided, the ground and the inside shook. From that point on, several participants used their abilities and swung their weapons, and broken tables and vases bounced 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 know why I have to leave my seat.”

“You don’t know… Do you say those words when you see this mess?”

Everyone sitting at the table, including Cheon Sa-yeon, looked at me blankly with expressions they did not understand. These people really.

“I don’t want to be in such a dangerous place anymore.”

“Oh, no. So fussy.” (저런. 까탈스럽기도 하지, someone tell me how to make a pun please)

Is it time for a pun?

“Gasp…!”

A chair filled with the energy of the talented flew 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.

“If you’re going to stay here, I will go out alone.”

I’m going to see real blood at this rate. As I spoke while looking at the broken piece of chair, Cheon Sa-yeon raised an eyebrow and smiled.

“You can’t do that.”

“Then anything… Wait, why are you taking out the sword?”

Cheon Sa-yeon, who tapped the watch, pulled out a sword from his inventory. It was an S-class sword, not Lilith’s sword, but what are you going to do with it?

“Why did you take it out?”

Cheon Sa-yeon naturally placed his palm on the blade.

“Can’t we just sort this out?”

“What? No, wait! Don’t do that!”

I was terrified and hung on Cheon Sa-yeon’s arm, who was about to cut off his palm at any moment.

Hung on Cheon Sa-yeon’s arm… Aw~ So cute~ XD *slapped

How dense you are, Yi-gyeol… Tae-heon was jealous of Sa-yeon because you came as his partner… XD on other side, one of Tae-heon’s harems appeared wwwww