Chapter 203: Attention
Chapter 203: Attention
“I’ve heard much about the reputation of Istantel Low, the representative clan of the southern city of Monica. It is an honor to meet you. I am Kim Soohyun, Lord of the Mercenary Clan.”
“Thank you. It’s a pleasure to meet you as well. My name is Han Soyoung, Lord of the Istantel Low Clan. It’s late, but congratulations on the founding of the Mercenary Clan.”
After responding, Han Soyoung rose from her seat. I followed her lead and stood up as well. Then, we extended our hands and shared a light handshake. The brief touch of her hand, which I hadn’t felt in so long, sent a thrilling sensation coursing through my body. But just as quickly, the feeling slipped away and vanished.
Han Soyoung’s hand was still cold. And in her eyes, as she looked at me, there was an unidentifiable, chilly light. The moment her gaze met mine, a shiver ran down my spine.
“…”
Come to think of it, this was the first time she and I had met in this second playthrough. In other words, we were strangers. While I held a deep affection for her, enough to have returned from the first playthrough just to save her, it was a one-way street. The moment I realized that, my chaotic heart sank.
A wave of sorrow washed over me. I had felt a profound sense of relief seeing her safe, but facing the fact that she didn’t remember me brought an unfamiliar ache that gripped my entire body.
It was an obvious, inevitable reality. I was the only one who had turned back time. But it was incredibly difficult for me to simply accept the disconnect between the way she looked at me in the first playthrough and her cold gaze now.
However, I had no choice but to accept it. Even if our relationship had been reset to a blank slate, my feelings for her hadn’t changed. I managed to put on a calm expression, schooling my features as I steadied my racing thoughts.
From now on, I needed to focus on my original goal: 〈Save her, and return.〉 If I couldn’t control my personal feelings, as I had just now, I was likely to ruin everything. Therefore, under that premise, I needed to redefine my relationship with her. And this new relationship would be different from the one in the first playthrough.
Han Soyoung knew nothing about me. Fortunately, she was a User with a great desire for talented people. As long as I didn’t make any major mistakes and showed my goodwill, we could build a good relationship. With that in mind, I concluded that the right approach wasn’t to just tell her to “trust me and follow me” from the get-go, but to build trust step by step, starting from this first meeting.
I activated my Third Eye and turned it toward Han Soyoung. First, I needed to get a detailed grasp of her Player Status. As a User who would eventually become one of the Ten Strong, she was bound to have extraordinary abilities.
Player Status
1. Name: Han Soyoung (Year 4 User)
2. Class: Battlefield Maestro (Secret, Field Maestro, Master)
3. Nation: Barbara
4. Clan: Istantel Low
5. True Name · Nationality: Iron-Blooded Queen · Republic of Korea
6. Sex: Female (27)
7. Height · Weight: 174.8cm · 55.8kg
8. Alignment: Belief · Blood and Iron
[Strength 78] [Durability 84] [Agility 94(+2)] [Stamina 86] [Magic Power 98(+2)] [Luck 88]
Achievements (3▼)
Unique Ability (1/1)
1. Charisma (Rank: A Plus)
Special Ability (1/1)
1. Cocked Pistol: Queen’s Army (Rank: S Plus)
Potential (4/4)
1. Extrasensory Perception (Rank: EX)
2. Battlefield Command (Rank: S Plus)
3. Grand Magic (Rank: A Plus Plus Plus)
4. Magic Resistance (Rank: B Plus)
Stat Comparison
1. Kim Soohyun: 542 / 600~
[Strength 96(+2)] [Durability 92] [Agility 98] [Stamina 72] [Magic Power 96] [Luck 90(+2)]
(12 stat points remaining.)
2. Han Soyoung: 528 / 600~
[Strength 78] [Durability 84] [Agility 94(+2)] [Stamina 86] [Magic Power 98(+2)] [Luck 88]
(No stat points remaining.)
Her stats did not disappoint. I already knew some of it, but seeing it in person still drew my admiration. With stats like these, it was safe to say she was already at the level of the Ten Strong. However, her official entry into their ranks would come a little later.
This meant that, like me in the past, she was lying low and waiting for the right time. If she ever needed to make a move, she would likely push Yeon Hyerim, another Secret Class User known as the “Princess of Execution,” to the forefront to build her reputation.
She was endlessly bold when she needed to be, but fundamentally, she was an extremely thorough and cautious person. Although I couldn’t guess her exact thoughts right now, she surely had her reasons.
Only after reading Han Soyoung’s Player Status could I finally compose myself. I felt as if I had found a small thread to begin unraveling a tangled mess. That’s right. I didn’t come back to be coddled by her; I had a single objective that I absolutely had to achieve. With that thought, my surroundings slowly came back into focus.
Just then, Han Soyoung, who had been silent, spoke to me again.
“Mercenary Lord. I’d like to speak with you for a moment, if you don’t mind.”
“Of course.”
“Good. Then I’ll get straight to the point. I read your promotional records, and it stated that the Mercenary Clan is a free mercenary-type clan. Why did you decide on that structure?”
“I considered the meaning of being a free mercenary and concluded that it was better in many ways than the conventional clan format. Of course, that is just my personal judgment.”
I deliberately gave a roundabout answer. I could have explained in detail why I created such a clan, but from now on, I had to consider my position. I was no longer a clan member under her command but the lord of my own respectable clan.
As I said before, I planned to redefine my relationship with Han Soyoung. To do that, my words and actions needed to match my new status. This was a preparatory step, a way to lay the foundation for two-way communication, not a one-sided conversation.
Hearing my clear response, Han Soyoung seemed to understand the meaning behind it and nodded once or twice.
“True, each User places weight on different values. It’s not my place to comment. But as free mercenaries, you’ll have to give up many benefits. Do you not regret that?”
“Of course, I do. But I believe it’s unavoidable. If you can’t choose both, you must give one up for the other.”
“I see. But if you look, it’s not as if there are no options.”
“Pardon?”
I felt my eyes sharpen. For a fleeting moment, I saw Han Soyoung’s gaze shift toward the tightly closed door. I had a feeling she was moving the conversation along quickly. It seemed she wanted to propose something to me before other clans answered the call to arms.
“What I mean is, even if the Mercenary Clan is a free mercenary-type clan, there’s still a way for you to receive benefits similar to those of conventional Users.”
“Hm. I’m not familiar with that. Could you perhaps tell me how?”
“It’s simple. The representative clan that manages a city can provide conveniences directly to your clan.”
“…”
“For your reference, I am in charge of the representative clan of the southern city of Monica.”
Han Soyoung spoke in a quiet voice. Hearing her words, I let out a wry smile. After she’d said that much, anyone who wasn’t completely dense would have caught on. She was inviting me to the southern city of Monica.
In the past, I would have immediately agreed, but now I hesitated. She hadn’t made a direct recruitment offer. It seemed her plan was to first call us to Monica and then help us settle in. In this short time, she had clearly grasped the nature of our clan.
The bait she offered was extremely tempting for a typical small-scale clan. The promise of various conveniences from the representative clan just for moving to the city was certainly an appealing offer.
For now, I decided to play hard to get.
To reiterate, the Mercenary Clan was a free mercenary clan. Its greatest value was freedom, unbound by anything. If I had gone to Monica in my previous state of mind, I would have likely been tied to her city. Because back then, I was the only one who was desperate.
I couldn’t be the only one who was desperate. She had to be desperate too. In the end, we both had to need each other. Only then could we achieve a balanced, two-way relationship, not one that was lopsided. That was the kind of relationship I wanted to build with her. I wanted to stand on equal footing, moving forward side by side.
I tilted my head for a moment, then put on a slightly reluctant expression. Looking at her, who was staring intently at me, I slowly opened my mouth.
“Well, for now, I plan to hear what the Golden Lion Clan has to say in their summons. It would be better to adjust our course of action after that.”
“You said ‘adjust,’ which sounds like you already had a plan.”
“Yes. That is…”
Despite my deferral, Han Soyoung showed no sign of displeasure. She simply continued in a curious tone. I was just about to answer her question when the soft sound of a door opening made me instinctively shut my mouth.
Turning my head, I saw a group of Users flooding in. Behind them, I caught a glimpse of Sung Yubin with a troubled expression on her face. I stared blankly at the sudden influx of Users.
*
The moment the other Users entered the conference room, Han Soyoung and I stopped talking as if by silent agreement. It wasn’t just one or two people. Nearly ten Users had entered at once. Considering that each clan brought a minimum of two and a maximum of four members, it meant that two or three clans had arrived together. While it was possible, it was a difficult thing to simply accept, given the importance of the summons.
Following their lead, other Users began to trickle in one by one. As the once-empty conference room filled up, an uneasy current began to rise. The atmosphere was as chilly as an operating room before surgery. Of course, some Users offered simple greetings and glanced at Ko Yeonju and me, but that was all. It seemed everyone was tense, as this was a major event where all the representative clans were gathering in one place.
I discreetly observed the group that had entered all at once. Among them were faces I recognized, as well as Users whose names I had heard even if I hadn’t seen their faces. One interesting fact was that the Users who entered together were all members of the eastern representative clans. By examining the emblems on their equipment, I could tell they were from the Goryeo Clan, Moonlit Night Clan, and Han Clan.
The door opened once more. This time, the newcomers wore the emblem of a waning moon on their right shoulders. The Waning Moon Clan, one of the Golden Lion’s allied clans. They, too, looked startled when they saw the non-participating clans occupying the tables on the right. Right now, the number of clans that had answered the summons was overwhelmingly dominated by non-participating clans.
As time passed, more Users arrived, and soon the empty tables were completely filled. The more people there were, the more their whispers blended into a single, humming noise. One thing was certain: the animosity between the participating and non-participating clans was palpable. I had to hold back a small laugh when I saw that they weren’t even acknowledging each other.
It was then.
“Tsk, tsk. What’s all this noise?”
A very hoarse voice struck the entire conference room. It was filled with magic power, ensuring that every User in the room heard it clearly. Soon, the User who had spoken appeared, and the noise from the crowd died down instantly.
On the right breast of the slightly plump, pale-faced female User, a golden lion emblem gleamed. With a swaggering gait, she sat at the head of the table as if it were her right, while Park Hyunwoo and Sung Yubin, who followed her, stood at attention behind her seat.
The representative from the Golden Lion Clan, the host of this meeting, had finally arrived.