A Three-Hundred-Fold Reward
Naturally, Renge hadn't felt entirely at ease leaving a sister nine years her junior to her own devices. But knowing Akemi possessed such incredible innate talent—and had already amassed billions of won to live comfortably on her own—she likely saw no need to drag her back by force.
"Anyway, this is a family matter." Since she made it clear she didn't wish to discuss the topic any further, Yunjae found himself at a loss for words.
"Then I'll try talking to Akemi! It's never good for family members to fight, after all!" As Yunjae stepped forward to look for Akemi, who was likely hiding somewhere alone, Renge couldn't help but wear a warm, pleased expression.
"You really are so kind and cute, Yunjae!" At her display of pure fan-girl devotion, Mari shrugged.
"He is. Though he does have a goddess behind him who exerts a terrible influence." If not for her, Yunjae would have been the absolute definition of pure.
"What did I do?!"
"Goddess Lupinus! Please stop groping my butt!"
"But my hands get restless when they're idle."
"That sounds like a symptom of gambling withdrawal."
"No way! I quit gambling a long time ago!"
Why, of all things, did the Goddess of Greed have to be his last hope?
"Honestly, I think it's only because it's Yunjae that he's turned out this normal despite being influenced by such a perverted goddess." Seeing Mari's resigned state, Renge, despite meeting them for the first time, felt a pang of sympathy and nodded in silent agreement.
"By the way, who is...?" She pointed toward Mia, who was exceptionally quiet and dressed in unique attire. Thanks to Lupinus's power, her elf ears were currently disguised as normal human ears, making her look like nothing more than a beautiful woman in unusual clothing. Though Mia looked slightly anxious when their eyes met, Renge remarked, "Judging by her clothes, she must be a friend of Akemi's." Mentally unstable ability users were common enough, so Mia didn't seem particularly out of the ordinary to Renge. She likely assumed they were friends simply because Mia's outfit resembled the Gothic Lolita style Akemi wore.
"...Yes, something like that." Just as Taejun had warned, if Mia's true identity were revealed to the world, it would cause another uproar and put pressure on Yunjae. Thus, everyone had agreed to keep her identity a secret. As Mari nodded in relief, Renge announced her intention to return home. "Anyway, I should get going. I'd love to join you guys here, but I still have an active contract with the government." Having already helped Yunjae, spoken with him, and cleared up any misunderstandings, she seemed to decide it was time to head back to Japan.
"Yes, I heard Tokyo is short on manpower."
"Manpower is always short. Anywhere Yunjae isn't."
"I suppose so. But if he's truly needed, Yunjae won't hesitate to go."
"He might come even before then." Renge chuckled, leaving behind those meaningful words. Now that it was clear he had nothing to do with Trumpkin's death, the recruitment war for him might become even more intense.
"Well, I'll be off then. Please take good care of Akemi. She's an attention-starved dummy, so she'll probably do a lot of weird things."
"Akemi is actually quite cute. Really."
Renge smirked at that. "See you next time, then." With that, she departed, the sharp click-clack of her heels echoing behind her.
As she walked away, she cast one last sidelong glance at Mia. "Ah..." Flustered, Mia stared back with her dark eyes, looking awkward. Renge simply smiled and stepped out of the Support Part office. *There's no one like her on file. Who on earth is she?* Renge had already memorized the profiles of every single employee and ability user in the Blast Guild. Why was there a new face she couldn't find on any list? *Is there something else going on?*
"Akemi." Having easily located Akemi, who had fled to her office, Yunjae knocked on the door.
"I'm inside."
"May I come in?"
"Yeah..."
When Yunjae opened the door and entered, he saw Akemi sitting alone in her office—which looked more like her personal bedroom—holding a controller. Looking at the game's opening screen displayed on the massive 80-inch wide monitor in front of her, it seemed she had just turned it on and sat there by herself.
"Akemi, are you okay?" Yunjae asked gently as he approached her side. Akemi let out a deep sigh.
"It's just... Ren-chon and I have always had a bad relationship."
"Wait, Ren-chon?"
"Yeah, it's a nickname."
"Ah! No way!" He had wondered why Akemi kept using that strange word, but it turned out to be an affectionate nickname!
"..." Experiencing a bit of a culture shock, Yunjae looked at the unusually quiet Akemi and spoke softly. "But still, it's been a while since you last saw each other..."
"Ren-chon always looked down on me, so I hate her. I didn't even want to see her." Yunjae nodded understandingly. "I think I know how you feel. Just looking at her brings back bad memories, right? Rather than having active malice toward her right now."
"...Yeah." Soon, Akemi leaned her body against Yunjae.
"People might say I'm just throwing a tantrum, but I was really lonely and had a hard time. That's why I ran away. But she treats me like a runaway! I'm living so well on my own, so why on earth am I a runaway?!" Having achieved this much success by standing on her own feet since childhood without ever leaning on anyone, she seemed deeply hurt that she was still being looked down upon.
"Exactly. You're completely self-made, Akemi. You could even become a building owner!" The ultimate dream job was, of course, a landlord! Hearing Yunjae seriously advocate for her success, Akemi seemed to find some comfort. She smiled softly and snuggled her face deeper into his chest.
"But Ren-chon is a genius. So I was always compared to her. That's why I didn't want to learn ninjutsu. Even if I did, I'd just get compared to her..." She must have wanted to talk about this more than anyone. Having had no one to confide in, she had kept it bottled up inside. Her previous attempts to seek advice from him hadn't just been to get closer to him; they had been genuine cries for help.
"So even now, I feel like I'm inferior to Ren-chon, and I don't want to be around her." Having been compared to her older sister Renge since childhood and growing up starved of affection, she naturally wanted to avoid her.
"I think I understand. You just wanted to be praised and told you did a good job."
"Yeah! That was really all!" Akemi looked up at Yunjae, her face instantly brightening.
"...I've never been praised at home. Not even once."
"But look how well you've done on your own. You became a multi-billionaire by yourself, and you're one of the top ability users in the entire world. That's truly amazing. You're wonderful, Akemi." As Yunjae stroked her hair and offered his praise, a bright smile bloomed on Akemi's face.
"This is why I love you, Oppa!" Akemi clung to him again. For some reason, she had liked him from the moment they met, and being with him now made all her emotional burdens feel lighter. Though she usually acted playful on the surface, her true feelings were deep; she hugged him tightly, soaking in his warmth. Yunjae, perhaps feeling a protective instinct toward her, gently patted her small back.
"But Akemi, please don't draw such a hard line and fight with your family." When he gently brought it up, Akemi looked up at him with a wronged expression.
"But I wasn't the one who drew the line! They did! There's no such thing as family... Ah!" Akemi suddenly stopped, remembering Yunjae's situation.
"...I'm sorry for saying that." Realizing that complaining about her family to someone who had lost his might seem like a spoiled luxury, she quickly apologized.
"No, it's fine. I'm okay."
"Really?"
"Yes!" Yunjae chuckled softly and patted her back once more.
"Uuu..." Feeling a bit embarrassed, Akemi blushed and leaned against him again. Becoming more accustomed to this level of physical contact, Yunjae spoke with a relaxed expression. "Anyway, it's still sad for family members to fight. Since your family has a long tradition, they're probably a bit conservative, right?"
"...Yeah. I don't want to fight either, but they keep forcing things on me." Seeing that Akemi still felt a bit apologetic regarding his own family, Yunjae chuckled and said, "But you can always talk things out and resolve them. You're not a child anymore, Akemi, so I'm sure your family will understand. They're probably very proud of you."
At those words, Akemi looked up at him hesitantly. "Don't you think I'm just being spoiled? When you, Oppa..." *...were forcibly separated from your family.* Unable to bring herself to say those words, she hesitated. Seeing her struggle, Yunjae spoke.
"I think it's very foolish to dismiss someone else's suffering as trivial just because I've suffered myself. Pain is subjective, after all."
"Yeah, exactly!"
"And it's not a tantrum; it's something that genuinely hurt you. So it's not being spoiled. But living the rest of your lives without seeing each other would be such a shame."
Akemi took a deep breath and nodded. "But I'm scared. Ren-chon treats me like I don't exist, and I'm sure everyone else does too... I'm scared they'll just treat me like an idiot." Seeing the raw vulnerability of a nineteen-year-old girl that she had never shown to anyone else, Yunjae fell silent, lost in thought for a moment.
"I'm sure that's not true. They might just be awkward and express themselves harshly. It could lead to more misunderstandings, but deep down, they don't feel that way."
"Yeah..."
"If you don't have the courage to go alone, I'll go with you!"
At those words, Akemi's face lit up instantly. He wasn't just telling her to go; he was offering to go with her! "Eee, really?!"
"Yes! I've never been to Japan, so we can make a trip out of it!"
"Ahhh!" Unable to contain her joy, Akemi threw herself into Yunjae's arms once more.
"I love you so much because you're so sweet, Oppa!"
"Ah! I'm really just going as a tourist..." Despite his embarrassed protest, Akemi smiled brightly and looked up at him.
"But you're the only one who's ever said things like this to me. And the only one who offered to go with me!" Seeing Akemi so genuinely happy, Yunjae couldn't hide his own sense of pride.
*Smooch.*
"Ah!" Overcome with joy, Akemi lightly kissed him on the cheek, her face flushing red. Yunjae's eyes widened in surprise.
"Since