Chapter 28
Chapter 28
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 28
Chapter Title: Scout (4)
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After her meeting with Jeong Do-jin, Iyan returned home.
"Welcome back, Miss Iyan. The Guild Master asked you to join him for dinner."
"Step aside. I'll change and head right over."
Iyan changed in the dressing room before heading to the dining hall.
A standard course meal had been laid out at Iyan's seat. In front of her father, who had arrived early, luxurious Korean dishes were neatly arranged, steam rising invitingly.
"Sorry. I must have taken too long changing."
"Doesn't matter. Sit."
Clink, clink.
The faint scrape of utensils against bowls echoed softly.
For a father and daughter sharing a meal, it was unusually quiet.
"How was America?"
The S-Rank Hunter, over fifty years old, asked.
It was a rare dinner with his daughter after her long absence, but his face remained as steadfast as rock, devoid of any hint of a smile.
"It was good. The land's vast, so the gates were plentiful."
"I see."
A question laced with chill, met with an equally clipped response.
Their unfatherly exchanges had long become routine.
"Heard there was some commotion during your return."
The Ilryun Guild Master shifted topics impassively.
It was a point Iyan had anticipated.
For them, mealtimes were precisely for such discussions.
"Word is you turned down nearly every invitation from those high-ranking officials eager to meet you."
"Yes."
She offered no rebuttal, simply acquiescing.
Iyan's weeks-long trip to America.
It had been solely for her S-Rank promotion exam.
Ilryun Guild's first team's conquest of an S-Rank gate!
The crowning achievement to cap Hunter Iyan's record.
On another note, this raid was also the culmination of a long-term plan Ilryun had been pursuing.
Lee Doo-sik, S-Rank Hunter and Ilryun's Guild Master.
The first team's S-Rank gate conquest without him.
It was proof directed at hunters worldwide.
Proof that Ilryun deserved its status as an S-Rank guild, even without its Guild Master!
'Now Ilryun has two S-Rank Hunters under its banner.'
Iyan's eyes glimmered with quiet anticipation.
This overseas expedition was a monumental feat, not inferior to Natu Guild's preparations for challenging one of the Ten Great Gates.
And that was just the start.
No other guild in the country boasted two S-Ranks on its roster.
Yet after the successful raid, during her return home, Iyan had effectively discarded the connections she'd built locally.
That was the point Lee Doo-sik was raising.
"Those were bonds forged over months. Severing them was reckless."
"No bonds were formed, so there was nothing to sever."
Iyan sliced her food without so much as a clink from her fork.
"Now that I'm S-Rank, trivial connections are nothing but baggage. This is the perfect time to trim the unnecessary branches."
Far too many people sought ties with an S-Rank.
Entertaining them all would only hold her back.
So Iyan sorted them into three categories.
Connections not worth her time.
Those warranting only minimal courtesy.
And those she absolutely had to maintain.
Iyan recalled the meeting from just dozens of minutes ago.
'Minimal courtesy is plenty for Do-jin.'
It wasn't disdain.
Ninety percent fell into the first category, after all.
If anything, it was high praise.
For an F-Rank Hunter like him to be deemed worthy of "must-maintain" status by S-Rank Hunter Iyan.
Iyan herself was unaware, but if Jeong Do-jin had known, it would have been evaluation enough to require antacids.
The self-proclaimed VIPs in America were a different story.
There was no value in accepting their invitations.
'Even they wouldn't have expected me to attend every one.'
So rejecting them raised no issues.
That was her prepared "external" excuse.
"An excuse."
And the Ilryun Guild Master saw right through his daughter's lie.
"That's reason enough to decline, but not reason to have to decline. Why the rush to return home?"
Iyan's knife halted abruptly.
She set down the food she'd been about to eat.
"Jeong So-won returned home and built her iron fortress from scratch, bare-handed. She didn't cling to the fame she'd built in America."
Her icy expression turned to her own father.
"Is there any reason I can't do the same?"
"It's your future. What do you expect me to do about it?"
"No issues. None at all."
"Then we're done."
The father-daughter meal concluded in forty minutes.
Iyan walked the long corridors of the sprawling mansion.
"Is my room unchanged?"
"Yes, miss. We clean it periodically."
"No need to show me. Go rest."
Her eyes gritty, Iyan removed her contacts.
A minor injury from the gate conquest.
Even with magic and potions, healing would take time.
"Don't let anyone in until I call."
"Understood. Good night, miss."
"You too."
She saw the housekeeper off before returning to her room.
The simple, tidy space felt a touch welcoming.
But the nostalgia was fleeting.
Iyan glanced around before opening the walk-in closet.
She retrieved a box sealed with runes from the back.
The runes were the pattern of her "Seal Summon" skill.
A skill she'd acquired from some gate.
If anyone forced it open, an unleashed high-grade spirit would incinerate the entire box.
And Iyan would track down the culprit who burned her treasures, making them pay dearly.
-Click.
Iyan undid the seal and pulled out a photo.
She glanced around, confirming the soundproof booth was secure.
Once assured all was well...
"...Ehehehe."
The face cold as ice melted away into softness.
Rustle, rustle.
Iyan carefully unpacked the box's contents.
Jeong So-won's keychain, calendar, photobook, magazine features.
Newspaper clippings, accessories, even signed cards.
Everything inside was Jeong So-won merchandise.
"Ehehehe, ehehehehe... So-won sis~♡"
Iyan hugged her treasures tight, grinning ear to ear.
To anyone watching, she was the picture of a diehard fan finding life's purpose in supporting her idol.
'I endured by treating sis's active sites as pilgrimage spots, but man, America was way too big...'
The real reason Iyan had rushed home.
To hurl herself into this pile of treasures at the earliest moment and heal her body and soul.
She hadn't been able to bring them on the guild team's promotion exam trip.
Iyan clutched the doll Jeong So-won had endorsed, burying her weary face in the bed.
"Huaa... So tired... Today was brutally tough..."
Natu Guild and Ilryun Guild.
The country's top three S-Rank guilds.
Outward rivals, through and through.
Because of that, Iyan hadn't managed a proper meeting with Jeong So-won even once until today. She'd even won fan meeting tickets but tearfully skipped out.
But not from today onward.
Today, Iyan was S-Rank too.
Guild Master's daughter or not, that status hadn't matched Jeong So-won's league.
But now, as an S-Rank, it was different.
Of course, no friendly selfies or anything.
But with this standing, she could get closer to her than any fan ever could.
'...I wonder if sis has noticed me?'
That would make her truly happy.
Hugging the doll, Iyan's eyes sparkled with hope.
Even an unarrived future was fine.
As long as she had this mundane, heart-filling joy.
Iyan could endure another grueling day.
"...Y-Yeah. I'll do my best tomorrow too, sis."
Being pursued over pursuing.
Having fans over being one.
She believed that was the far happier life.
Iyan.
Summoner-type Awakener. S-Rank Hunter.
Age 24.
Prime age to be utterly serious about idols.
...Rub rub.
Late at night, Jeong So-won idly fiddled with her earlobe.
'Someone must be cursing me.'
A flicker of curiosity arose, but she soon dismissed it.
Fame came hand-in-hand with proportional backlash.
When had there not been someone badmouthing her?
Besides, Jeong So-won was preoccupied with something else right now.
'...Is Yeoto planning to post the notice tomorrow?'
Tap tap. She poked at her phone with her pinky.
Yeoto's channel refreshed on screen.
A ritual she'd repeated endlessly all day.
"Ah."
But as she applied skincare before bed, her eyes widened round.
A notice had gone up on Yeoto's channel.
"...Hehe."
Not a shred of seriousness anywhere you looked.
Yet somehow, it left a profound impression.
Gazing at the notice, she opened her messenger app.
An impulsive move, no deep deliberation.
[Seung-ah sis.]
[Seung-ah sis.]
[Yes, Guild Master.]
[Every time you call me that,]
[I get goosebumps all over.]
[No joking around.]
[Important talk.]
[?]
[No need to—]
[Hey? Jeong So-won?]
[You're the Guild Master, right? Forgot?]
[Night night. See you Monday.]
[ ᕕ( ⁰ ▽ ⁰ )ᕗ ]
[Guild Master taking personal day???]
[It's the weekend, guild's off anyway tho]
[Thought it'd be Ilryun's new S-Rank news for sure]
[Guild Master? Guma?]
[Reading and ghosting fr]
Snap!
Jeong So-won powered off her phone to avoid any calls.
Now she could sleep soundly.
An unplanned day off... well, personal day, technically.
Without any particular reason, even.
Jeong So-won stroked her cheek, as if reassuring herself.
'Just... yeah, tomorrow's Friday after all.'
She just wanted to tack a day off onto the weekend.
Lately, prepping for the Ten Great Gates conquest and dealing with the live broadcast ban had left her with no breathing room.
A few days' rest wouldn't bring divine punishment.
"Can't wait."
Gripping her smartphone in both hands, Jeong So-won grinned.
A smile as uniquely eccentric and otherworldly as ever.