A Guild Leader in the Family
After forming the second raid party, the next few days were nothing but raids. I had no choice. With less raid experience than everyone else, I was bound to make mistakes during tries. So I had to work twice as hard as the others. But there were people who didn’t appreciate my efforts.
It was the viewers, of course. Most streamers were happy when their broadcasts ran long, but not ours.
“No, guys, a new raid is coming out in a month. I need to train in seclusion.”
Even if I cleared the five bosses that had appeared so far about ten times a day for eight hours, it was still questionable whether I could catch up to the others. Yet they were already complaining. Their patience was lacking.
『How long do we have to keep doing this?』
When I turned my head, I saw a paladin whose dark circles reached all the way under his eyes. I’d had no choice but to ask for his help to fill the minimum raid members, but running raids for eight hours straight had clearly worn him out. Still, there was no way I was letting him off.
“Not enough. It’s the weekend, so we can go until dawn, right?”
『…….』
No answer. I took that as agreement.
So we ended up raiding for another ten hours before parting ways. After separating from the paladin, I logged off as well. I stretched my arms and legs.
“Ugh! Time for some PK.”
With my daily routine finished, it was time for my hobby. I PKed every player I saw. PKing had evolved. Instead of ambushes, the new trend was killing people right after they got good items, before they could store them in their warehouses. And I was at the forefront of that trend. Well, I did get hate mail claiming I was the reason PKing became popular, but that wasn’t my problem.
Yeah, this feeling. Every time someone raged because of me, I got more excited. After enjoying PK for about two hours, I turned off the game and lay down on my bed.
‘Time to sleep…’
“Oppa, Mom says to come out.”
‘……’
Someone had entered my room and interrupted my sleep. I wanted to get annoyed, but I couldn’t. Today was the day we were meeting our maternal family.
We entered a high-end Korean restaurant and looked around the private room.
“Wow… We’re eating here?”
“Yeah, it looks pretty expensive.”
Honestly, the moment the man in the black suit told us to get into the expensive limousine, I had a bad feeling.
‘But I never expected it to be this kind of place…’
“What does our maternal family even do?”
“No idea.”
“You don’t know either, Oppa?”
“I’ve been trying not to find out.”
Honestly, I’d considered looking it up out of curiosity, but meeting them directly seemed more fun, so I held back. Our family sat down first and waited for the maternal side to arrive. Soon, someone opened the door.
White hair, the symbol of old age, and a face full of wrinkles. Yet in contrast, he wore a bright Hawaiian shirt and had tanned skin. Was this our maternal grandfather?
“You’ve arrived, Father-in-law!”
“…….”
Manager Lee stood up and bowed ninety degrees, but was cleanly ignored. It was completely different from what I had imagined. Given that this was the family that raised the conservative Mrs. Kim, I’d expected a rigid, old-fashioned grandfather. But no.
Our maternal grandfather slowly looked us over, then summoned his secretary with a single finger.
“Didn’t you say they were a brother and sister? Why are they both girls?”
‘Ah.’
He was definitely talking about me. I had no idea how to explain this. The secretary kept fiddling with his tablet.
“Uh, you’re right. When we investigated before, it was clearly…”
“Enough. This is how you do your job.”
Once our maternal grandfather sat down, our maternal grandmother appeared right after.
“……!”
I was shocked. The reason was simple. She looked way too young. A woman in her sixties who looked like she was in her late forties? That had to be cheating. My gaze, which had been focused on her face, naturally drifted downward.
‘Her chest is really…’
It was the kind of chest that made it immediately obvious where mine and Mrs. Kim’s came from.
“Oh my, so you’re Su-im’s daughters. Nice to meet you.”
Our maternal grandmother greeted us with a friendly smile. She was clearly very different from our maternal grandfather.
“It’s been a while for you too, son-in-law.”
“Yes, Mother-in-law!”
I understood why Manager Lee was so nervous. She looked like she came from a chaebol family, and marrying into that kind of household meant his future was set.
“Why are you dressed like that today?”
“I came straight from Hawaii on the plane.”
“Where’s your sister?”
“She said she’d be late because of work.”
The two of them sat across from Mrs. Kim and Manager Lee. It was hard to believe Kim Mi-yeon had come from between those two. After that, an awkward meal began.
“…….”
“…….”
There was no conversation while we ate. I felt like I was going to choke. The expensive food I’d eaten earlier suddenly felt like a waste.
“Um…”
Unable to stand the silence, Ha-im carefully spoke up.
“This is a gift for the two of you! I picked it out with my o—, I mean, with my sister! Please accept it!”
Ha-im stood up, face flushed, and held out a shopping bag containing packaged scarves to the two of them. How would they react?
“Pfft, thank you, dear. I’ll accept it gratefully.”
Fortunately, our maternal grandmother seemed pleased. As for our maternal grandfather…
“Honey, say something too. Our granddaughter prepared this for us.”
“Ahem… Thank you.”
At least he didn’t look displeased. After that, the conversation flowed smoothly.
“You’ve raised your children well. I’m a little touched.”
“Then there’s no need for help.”
Surprisingly, our maternal grandmother had a playful and sly personality. Our maternal grandfather was the complete opposite.
“Is there anything you need?”
“Ah, no.”
“If it’s for college tuition or moving out, just say so. I’ll help as much as you need.”
“Thank you.”
Despite his gruff appearance, he was quietly looking out for us.
“That said, you shouldn’t just play around.”
How should I put it… Was this what they called a tsundere in manga? His words were blunt, but I could feel his concern for us. While we were talking, someone opened the door again.
“……!”
The person who opened the door was none other than Kim Mi-yeon, the guild leader of Haeyeon Guild. Why was she here…?
“What? Why are you all here?”
The guild leader also looked confused about why we were here. Our maternal grandmother sighed.
“Why else? Because they’re your nieces.”
“Nieces? These kids?”
“Watch your tone and sit down already.”
Our aunt, looking unsure what to do, sat down across from Ha-im. Ha-im didn’t show it on her face, but her right hand holding the chopsticks was trembling. I didn’t show it either, but I was a little surprised inside.
‘I never imagined our maternal family would be Haeyeon Enterprise…’
I’d thought they were just some chaebol family, but this was on another level entirely. Suddenly, I wondered how Manager Lee had managed to marry Mrs. Kim, who was part of Haeyeon Enterprise. The meal continued, and our aunt kept staring at Mrs. Kim.
“Hmm… Hey.”
“What?”
“Your chest looks bigger.”
“……!”
Mrs. Kim’s face instantly turned red at the mention of her chest.
“W-Why would you say something like that here?!”
“Hmm, I didn’t know what else to talk about.”
Our aunt was quite the character too. First, I needed to check the reactions of the two people across from us. They were just eating their food as if nothing had happened. They looked used to this kind of conversation.
“You must be happy, brother-in-law, marrying our little sister.”
“Haha, I suppose so…?”
Well, from Manager Lee’s perspective, today must have been hell. When the meal ended, everyone except our maternal grandfather and Manager Lee stood up.
“You go ahead first. I’ll talk with my son-in-law before leaving.”
“Hmm… Alright. Don’t be too hard on him.”
All the women, including Seong-a, left the room, leaving only Manager Lee and his father-in-law behind. Gulp! Manager Lee was nervous. What would his father-in-law say now that they were alone?
“First, let’s talk man to man, not as son-in-law and father-in-law.”
“Yes!”
“I don’t like you as a son-in-law.”
“…….”
I’d expected as much. What parent would like a son-in-law who got their daughter pregnant in high school, especially one who was a complete orphan? But there was an unfair side to it. Back then, she was the one who jumped me first…
“But raising two daughters without any help deserves applause.”
“Thank you!”
At least he didn’t completely hate him. I hoped things would stay this way.
“I have one question for you. Depending on your answer, my opinion of you might change.”
“Yes!”
“Has your answer to that question changed at all?”
Manager Lee fell into thought. What answer was he talking about…?
“It’s the first question I asked you when we first met, back when you were a student.”
Manager Lee remembered. The first question from back then…
-“Who jumped who first?”
Manager Lee answered with the exact same truth as before.
“Of course it was Su-im who—”
Bang! Before he could finish, his father-in-law slammed the table.
“Lying again! How do you think I raised Su-im? There’s no way she’d do that!”
‘I really want to go home.’
After returning from the room, Mrs. Kim and our maternal grandmother headed to the restroom. While Seong-a went to the convenience store, Mi-yeon and Ha-im talked.
“I never dreamed you two were my nieces.”
“Same here. I never thought you were our aunt…”
“Calling me ‘auntie’ is a little disappointing. We’re family now, aren’t we?”
“Haha, I’ll call you Aunt from now on.”
The two of them chatted about trivial things. Since they already knew each other’s faces thanks to Rona, there was no difficulty in talking. Mi-yeon hesitated for a moment before getting to the point with Ha-im.
“Um… There’s something I’d like to personally ask you…”
“A request?”
Mi-yeon gave Ha-im a task. A rather troublesome one, at that.
“So, will you do it?”
“Uh, well…”
It was tempting, but she hesitated a little. Just then, Seong-a returned, eating ice cream. Mi-yeon spotted Seong-a and waved her arm.
“Hey, long time no see.”
“Ah, hello.”
“Sorry, I’m busy with work so I have to go. We didn’t get to talk much.”
“It’s fine.”
She looked busy cleaning up after that Roun bastard’s mess, but that much was understandable. Our aunt left the restaurant, and I carefully studied Ha-im’s face.
“What? Did something happen?”
“Uh… You caught me.”
“Your expression looked a bit off.”
Ha-im avoided my gaze and scratched her cheek. This kid had never been good at hiding her emotions in the first place.
“What is it?”
“Uh, well, you see…”
Ha-im hesitated for a moment, but soon opened her mouth.
“They want me to go to Japan…”