Chapter 11
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: penny
Chapter: 11
Chapter Title: A Very Small Sacrifice-2
-----------------------------------------------------------------
“Become my slave? Why?”
Baek Se-ra cautiously lowered her head.
“Let me say this upfront: it's not because I want to sleep with you.”
“Ah, yeah, figured.”
It was a bit disappointing, but he hadn't held out much hope anyway.
“No need to be disappointed. It's not that I don't like your looks or anything. I just don't have time to date a guy right now.”
“Makes sense.”
“Yeah. I'm not on Lee Ha-seon's level, but guild business keeps me swamped too.”
That tracked.
The Blizzard Guild was massive. Whenever a situation arose in Korea where a swarm of monsters needed to be swept away, their name inevitably came up. They were constantly busy.
Unlike Lee Ha-seon, who could fly through the skies, Baek Se-ra couldn't exactly carve out time just for him.
“So why become a slave, then?”
“First off, it's a loyalty pledge.”
“Pardon?”
“You might not know this, but Nafre's been acting really defensive lately.”
He'd never heard that before.
“Like a bear that's just given birth. She's trying to eliminate any possibility of you getting hurt.”
“Has the Blizzard Guild taken a hit?”
“Not yet. And it's unlikely. But since Humanity's Shield sees you as important, I figured making connections early wouldn't hurt.”
“I see.”
Humanity's Shield was fundamentally an organization geared toward averting global catastrophes, but they also worked closely with heroes and hunters.
When a villain hell-bent on destroying the planet or a monster rampaging to annihilate everything appeared, heroes and hunters were the first to confront them.
For the leader of the Blizzard Guild, cozying up to Humanity's Shield—an international outfit—could only be a good thing.
“Right. The only commands you can force on a slave are lewd ones, but if used cleverly, that could prevent anyone from harming you. Nafre would have to trust me then.”
“Won't you regret it?”
“What do you mean?”
“Even if you don't have a lover now, you might fall for someone someday.”
“No way. I've never had a boyfriend my whole life—what's going to change now? And even if some guy I like shows up, I won't date him.”
“Ah.”
That was it, then.
When given a choice like [1 Billion Won For Staying Single For A Year Vs. Just Living Life], people with lovers—or those who planned to date forever—would agonize over it.
Lifelong singles? No dilemma. They'd just think, [They're seriously offering me a billion won just like that?] and take the money.
“Of course, that's not the whole story. In a worst-case scenario, there's room to pick a penalty. This contract is my insurance.”
“Insurance?”
“Insurance so that if I'm facing death and need to pick a lewd penalty, I can do it without hesitation.”
“You okay with that?”
Baek Se-ra nodded.
“It's not that I hate men or anything. I just don't have time for them. Losing some time beats dying and letting the guild fall apart.”
“Got it.”
“Plus, with your ability, nothing happens unless you make a demand. No reason to hesitate.”
“True.”
There were tons of lewd penalties, varying wildly in intensity and scope—too many to count.
Lee Ha-seon had picked them all without discrimination. According to her, it stemmed from traits like [XX Addiction] or flaws like [High Libido].
Avoid those, and maybe daily life could go on more or less normally.
Most lewd penalties affected everyone around you, but his slaves? Not an issue. As long as they avoided him, life stayed the same.
“That should cover the explanation. Do we have a deal?”
“Obviously.”
He took a deep breath. Realizing the woman before him was about to become his slave made his cock twitch naturally.
[Gotta hold back.]
She was entrusting her body to him, trusting he wouldn't treat her roughly. He couldn't betray that.
“Hunter Baek Se-ra. Do you swear to become my slave and obediently accept all my sexual demands?”
“I swear.”
“You cannot feel sexual excitement from relations with anyone but me or those I permit. Do you agree?”
“Yes.”
“Then, you are my slave.”
A connection formed between them. Baek Se-ra gazed at him with cool eyes.
“Thanks. I might not be able to help you much, but if you ever need anything from the Blizzard Guild, just call.”
“Yes!”
With that, she left. No lewd vibes at all—just achieved her goal and bounced.
A little disappointing, but again, low expectations. He smacked his lips and returned to his game.
After all, he just had to wait a bit longer to embrace Lee Ha-seon. Hold out until then.
Just a little more.
“Pulling successful!”
“Good, front line—hold positions, shields up. Starting soon.”
“Yes!”
Guilds were fundamentally organizations for hunting monsters, so their structures varied wildly.
The classic setup—tanks up front holding the line, archers or mages providing rear support, healers patching up the rest—was ideal on paper, but few guilds stuck to it rigidly.
Filling gaps wasn't easy. If you lucked into a powerhouse hunter above your guild's level, you might tweak tactics around them. Frequent reorganizations happened due to injuries, retirements, or poaching.
Running a [Safe And By-the-book] guild was a pipe dream, existing only in theory.
Even so, the Blizzard Guild's hunter lineup was exceptionally extreme.
For starters, they lacked damage dealers.
Hunting monsters in gates was like hunting beasts or mining ore—repetitive, high-stakes work where no one could die or get hurt.
Thus, hiring multiple reliable damage dealers beat overloading on tanks who held the front.
Ammo like arrows or mana bullets could be restocked endlessly, but even top tanks crumpled after one or two mistakes.
They had too many tanks. A fair number of healers. A handful of snipers or melee fighters for picking off high-threat singles. Plenty of supporters to boost allied mages' mana or reinforce spells. That was it.
Anyone reading their roster on paper might think, [Is this even a hunter guild? How do they hunt like this?]
Clearing a gate wasn't just about slaying the boss.
You had to wade in and cut down countless <minor> monsters. That was the bulk of it. Guilds needed cash to operate, and boss drops weren't easy to offload in bulk.
But in the Blizzard Guild, only one hunter could unleash area-of-effect attacks.
Baek Se-ra.
“Chant starting. Time your cold resistance spells to my signal. No toe frostbite screw-ups like last time.”
“Yes!”
The massive Blizzard Guild functioned as little more than support for her alone.
They gathered enough monsters for her to wipe swarms in one go, backed by tanks sturdy enough to hold. Healers protected those tanks en masse.
Supporters extended her chants even slightly, amplifying spells or refilling mana.
A few specialized single-target hunters mopped up the rare monsters that survived her spells for a few extra seconds.
These hunters were top-tier in Korea, but without Baek Se-ra, they were nothing.
Without her spells that could sweep away any number of monsters in sight.
“Begin.”
“Yes!”
The chant ended. Baek Se-ra raised her hands high to the sky. Winds churned at her fingertips. Cold froze the air's moisture solid.
The winds intensified. Blizzard Guild hunters, veterans of this storm dozens of times over, held firm. The monsters encircling them? Not so much.
“Hah.”
With a short exhale, the sky warped. An ice-shard storm filled their vision.
A natural disaster unfolded. A colossal tempest no living being—human or monster—could defy.
Cold blanketed the ground. Blade-like ice shards pierced monster flesh.
“Ngh...”
Baek Se-ra's power didn't discriminate between friend or foe. Frontline tanks had to weather it bodily.
They'd downed cold resistance potions beforehand, specced into the skill, and layered protective spells right before. Even then, holding wasn't easy.
But the instant they felt that [Hard To Endure] strain, their enemies were freezing solid—too dead to even feel pain.
The battle ended. Blizzard Guild hunters piled the frozen monster corpses. Support crews would enter the gate soon to harvest byproducts.
“Alright. That's it for today—time to rest...”
Baek Se-ra stared into the distance.
Footsteps echoed. A massive monster wave was incoming.
She bit her lip hard.
It happened sometimes. Monsters acting unpredictably.
Rare—maybe once every few years—but it happened.
She couldn't cast again. Her mana was depleted.
Engaging was impossible. Without her spells, the Blizzard Guild couldn't fight. A prolonged battle meant total wipeout.
They had a manual for this: small guerrilla squads to lure and divert, main force evacuates.
No guarantee the guerrillas survived. A miracle might save them all, but likely half would die.
“No helping it.”
Baek Se-ra closed her eyes.
A status window appeared.
There it was—a penalty she'd never once considered her whole life. One she'd sworn she'd never touch.
But now, Baek Se-ra didn't fear it.
She'd already bought insurance.