Chapter 61
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 61
Chapter Title: Clubs Are Something You Fight for with Your Life on the Line
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"Kim Si-woo!!!"
Seeing Baek A-rin rushing over while calling my name, Yoon Sirius looked shocked.
"I can spot her even from a distance. That presence. Isn't that Baek A-rin?!"
"That's right. And as the condition for this turf war, if you lose, you'll hand her over to our club."
Just having someone of Baek A-rin's caliber in a club raises its entire prestige. That's why clubs go all out to recruit heirs from major clans like her or Kang Hwa-yeon.
It must be a tempting offer from Yoon Sirius's perspective.
Yoon Sirius looked aghast at my words.
"What?! How could a punk like you possibly..."
"Choose. She's already agreed to this."
At that moment, Baek A-rin came up from behind and covered my mouth.
"Who agreed to this?! A club? What's all this about, Kim Si-woo? And Hwa-yeon knew, but how come I didn't?!"
Because I figured you wouldn't agree easily. And there's no way you'd believe me about the tutorial either.
We're trying to live together here. Please forgive me.
I prayed silently in my heart.
"I got you to join the club I founded."
"Says who."
"Hah, now my head's starting to hurt."
Baek A-rin clutched her head like it was pounding.
"Fine, whatever on that. But what's this?"
"Just as you heard. I put you up as the stake in exchange for accepting our club room turf war, Baek A-rin."
"That makes zero sense."
Then Yoon Sirius turned to Baek A-rin and spoke up.
"Baek A-rin! Get away from that guy! From filth like him...!"
Baek A-rin let out a sigh at his words.
"Hah, why do you always end up tangled with these headaches?"
"Baek A-rin! That guy's lying to trick me, saying you're in his club!"
At his words, Baek A-rin glanced at me and whispered.
"He's right, I did trick him. What now, Kim Si-woo?"
"I'm sorry. Please. I'll do anything you want."
"Sigh. You did save me last time. Call it even."
"That's not even close to paying for your life..."
Baek A-rin turned to Yoon Sirius.
"It wasn't a lie. I am indeed under this guy—er, Kim Si-woo's protection."
"W-What?! Does he have some dirt on you?!"
At Yoon Sirius's shocked outburst, Baek A-rin glanced at me briefly, sighed, and muttered.
"Dirt, huh. If he's got it, then yeah, he's got it."
"A-rin! I'm coming to save you right now!"
"No, please don't."
"I can't just stand by! A-rin, you're of noble blood like us, not trash like him! There must be circumstances if you're with a guy like that."
Yoon Sirius really holds a grudge against me.
Trash is a bit much, though.
At his words, Baek A-rin's eyes changed.
She fixed him with a cold, icy stare.
"Kim Si-woo's a bit of a mess, sure, but he's not someone a nobody like you gets to talk down to."
"Miss A-rin! Weren't you trying to join my club?!"
"Even I would get socially crucified for setting foot in trash like the one you made. Why would I?"
"Back then, you clearly said...! You'd join!"
"'I'll think about it' was polite code for 'buzz off.' And that look in your eyes from the first time we met? Creepy. Plus, you keep lifting your head when you talk, like you think your face is hot stuff. It's nauseating. So just leave me alone already. Your constant greetings despite me ignoring you? Annoying."
Looks like they've met before.
But more than that, Baek A-rin's already frosty demeanor turns downright savage with the venom. I was holding my breath without realizing it.
If Erina's barbs are like fluffy punches, this is a knife to the gut.
Look at that—Yoon Sirius is trembling.
"W-Why say such things? It must be that Kim Si-woo blackmailing you...!"
"And don't lump me in with you. You're a nobody without your grandpa's big clan chairman title, but even without my Snow Mountain Clan heiress status, I've been busting my ass in all sorts of ways."
"T-That's..."
Yoon Sirius stammered in panic.
Baek A-rin must have a lot pent up to unload like that.
"What are you two, anyway?"
"Nothing. He's just one of those persistent pests who keeps hitting on me despite rejections. And the way he talks, like he's all superior? Hate it. Good timing, though. I was planning to corner him over his clinginess anyway."
Watching Baek A-rin's tirade today, I realized: if she'd unleashed that on me, I'd be done for. Gotta stay on her good side.
More than that, he's been courting her?
Meaning Yoon Sirius has been pursuing Baek A-rin. Even so, staking her against a guy like that in a duel feels off.
"Sorry, let's scrap the condition."
"What nonsense is that?! Backing out now?!"
"On second thought, putting one of our members up against a shady club like yours doesn't sit right."
"You know it."
"A shady club?!"
Baek A-rin sighed in agreement, while Yoon Sirius fumed.
"You punk! I was an idiot for ever believing trash like you!"
"Hear me out. I'll put up a different condition instead."
He was the one who'd been desperately against me—a mere skillbook owner—getting into the National Seoul Hunter Academy like him.
Probably the guy who posted all those negative threads about me, like "SAC's got a first-year newbie now—."
My withdrawal would be more than enough condition for him.
He wouldn't even dream of losing in the first place.
Then Baek A-rin stepped in front of me.
"If it wasn't this, you'd just throw out some other ridiculous demand. Might as well stick to the original. I approve."
"No, still..."
"Still what? You staked me without even asking."
"I'm sorry."
"And you can win anyway, right? You wouldn't dive in without a plan. You must be confident to suggest this. Not that I'd expect Hwa-yeon or me to lose to losers like them anyway."
Thanks for the vote of confidence.
Just her and Hwa-yeon alone could crush them. Though they clearly didn't expect Hwa-yeon to be with us.
Of course, I wasn't charging in blindly on them alone. I've got a 100% win strategy.
Hell, it's basically already won.
Having overheard our talk, Yoon Sirius looked at Baek A-rin and said,
"See! You were hoping I'd save you."
Baek A-rin shot back at him with visible disgust.
"So please, just shut him up."
"Promise."
Yoon Sirius smirked at us.
"You must think holding her weakness gives you the edge, but that's as far as you go."
I reacted with exaggerated surprise.
"No way! There's something I didn't predict?!"
"Obviously. Did you think we'd accept a loser like you's proposal without thinking?"
"No... the fourth member...!"
"Sharp enough to get there, huh. Brace yourself. Our newest recruit joined of her own accord, inspired by our club's ideals."
Even Baek A-rin seemed a bit surprised by that.
"Someone that stupid exists...?"
At his gesture, out from the club room came...
"You can come out now. Miss Erina Esnatia!"
"YES. It's me!"
"Erina Esnatia?! W-Why are you there?!"
Baek A-rin gaped in shock.
"If I step in, they're all done for!"
Baek A-rin whispered to me.
"This is your doing, right?"
"I just told her a place would take her with the mask on, and she jumped at it."
From the 'Praise' Club's perspective—eager to spread their ideals—there's no reason to turn away a famous house's lady like Erina.
Plus, she has a unique skill, and a rare 'Holy Knight' class at that.
They'd be pandering to her every whim, not turning away someone volunteering to join.
'Without someone like Erina, they might not have accepted just for Baek A-rin.'
And above all, Erina's set to throw the fight for me.
Meaning it's a fixed match from the start.
Erina even looks thrilled.
For real.
The Praise Club's support funds are probably drained by now, all spent spoiling her these past few days.
And once this is over, Erina just comes back to my club. Done.
"Win-win for everyone, right?"
Nope.
The Praise side's just getting royally screwed.
Whatever. They're discriminators anyway.
To sell the act naturally, I pointed at Erina.
"Typical discriminator, going for Erina! You racist!!"
"W-Why are you coming at me?!"
Yoon Sirius laughed and mocked me.
"Cornered, so all you can do is hurl slurs, Kim Si-woo! The duel can't be undone now. Don't think you can back out!"
I clutched my head at his words.
"Damn it! A public duel will humiliate me! And if I throw in personal assets too, I'll lose everything!"
"Public duel? Assets? Exactly! Stake your fortune in this duel, Kim Si-woo! I'll match it twenty times over! And it's a public duel!"
"Damn it!! I'm done for!!"
The situation was total chaos.
And Yoon Sirius was leaping into the abyss without realizing it.
Baek A-rin looked at me and sighed.
"Your acting sucks, Kim Si-woo."