130. My Buff is a Drug
Heh. So you crossed the line, did you.
Let's hear it, then. Exactly how far did you cross it, and how exactly do you plan to deal with it?
From this point on, buffs were essential.
Hye-yong created Persuasion and Acting buffs and applied them to himself.
Since what mattered right now was adding weight to his words, he cranked the Persuasion level high.
Acting, he set just high enough to support it.
The Acting buff tended to cause disastrous levels of over-immersion anyway—better to keep the level low if he wanted to avoid a later catastrophe of cringe-induced self-kicking.
A brief silence.
Within that silence, Hye-yong crafted the buffs, applied them, steeled his heart, and opened his mouth.
"Crossed the line?"
With that single sentence, Ahn Se-rin could feel it.
'The atmosphere... just changed?'
Even his voice sounded different somehow.
As if everything he'd said up until now had been a joke, an atmosphere far colder and more indifferent than before coiled around Hye-yong.
But the change in atmosphere didn't change a thing.
Because Choi Hye-yong had crossed the line, she had crossed it too.
Ahn Se-rin replied, matching his coldness.
"That's right. You should have held yourself back while I was bowing my head. You got carried away and slipped up."
"A slip-up, is it. In what way did I slip up, and what exactly is going to happen because of it?"
Putting on the most nonchalant act in the world....
Curious, are you?
Ahn Se-rin inwardly sneered at Hye-yong.
"You know perfectly well what you just said was blatant sexual harassment, don't you? Want me to come along? Then sell your body to me. That's what you said, isn't it?"
"Well...... I said that assuming you would obviously refuse. Didn't I say it? I don't like you either."
Believing she'd seized the upper hand from Hye-yong's passive, flinching attitude, Se-rin pressed him hard.
"Don't try to weasel out of it. I heard it clearly with my own ears. This is the kind of thing you can pick apart and blow up as much as you like."
"And how exactly would you pick it apart and blow it up?"
"This time, I was the one in the wrong, so I bowed my head and backed off quietly. But no matter what, I'm a direct bodyguard who's been with the young lady for several years. Insulting me is the same as insulting her. Do you think the young lady would sit still if she found out you made that proposal, and that I was treated this way?"
"If the young lady doesn't sit still, then what...... does the world end or something?"
He's worried.
Ahn Se-rin was sure of it.
She could push hard here.
'How dare he... who does he think I am.'
Time to pay back everything she'd endured so far.
That insolent attitude. She'd crush it with all her might.
"Retribution will follow. Inside the facility, outside. Not just you, but your friends, your family. You'd better prepare to pay the price for looking down on the Yoon Jun family."
Heh, well then.
Coming on strong, aren't we.
Didn't know she'd go as far as threats like this.
'Dragging my friends and family into this? That's pretty damn low.......'
He had no idea who his family even was or what they looked like, but now was the time to act furious.
Hye-yong momentarily pushed the Acting buff to full cost.
"The moment I show an opening, you threaten me by dragging my friends and family into it? Pathetic doesn't begin to cover it. So that's how you people operate, is it? Glad I got a taste of it...... I'd have been in serious trouble if I'd joined the Eun-ha Group or whatever the hell it is."
Thanks to the Acting buff, Hye-yong could appear like a man brimming with quiet fury.
Ahn Se-rin flinched inwardly, though she didn't let it show.
Would have been in serious trouble?
So he's saying serious trouble hasn't happened yet?
'Bluffing.......'
Not wanting to lose this battle of nerves, Ahn Se-rin stared Hye-yong straight in the eye.
"Hey, bodyguard."
Hye-yong heavily cranked up the weight of the Persuasion buff again.
"Does the Yoon Jun family grant a mere bodyguard the authority to make threats like this?"
"What are you talking about?"
"I'm asking. Is this your unilateral action, or did that precious young lady of yours put you up to it?"
Ahn Se-rin deliberated.
This man is trying to dig into who bears responsibility.
'I need to think carefully.'
Feigning ignorance seemed her best play here.
She should hide her emotions too, just in case it brought trouble to the young lady.
"Judge for yourself. I'm under no obligation to tell you."
Ahn Se-rin's way of speaking shifted.
Hye-yong once again focused on criticizing Yoon Eun-ha.
"Right, a lowly bodyguard couldn't do that on her own. Didn't have that young lady pegged for that kind of person, but...... how underhanded. Low-class."
This would definitely get a reaction.
'Who's calling who underhanded and low-class right now?'
From Ahn Se-rin's perspective, the mere fact that Hye-yong spoke about the young lady that way was utterly outrageous.
"Don't you dare put the young lady's name in that filthy mouth of yours."
"Filthy mouth? Which side has the filthy mouth? Does the side threatening to kill friends and family get to say that?"
"You're the one who crossed the line first. And I never said anything about killing them."
"Yeah, well you crossed it after me. But you crossed it way harder."
Ahn Se-rin threw his own words right back at him.
"So, just how hard did I cross the line, and what exactly is going to happen because of it?"
Smug and triumphant.
Until Hye-yong spoke his next words.
"If you come at me like that, then I can't help but take action. Did you think I got scouted by the Eun-ha Group alone? I got scouted by the Eun-ha Group 'as well'."
Ahn Se-rin considered the meaning of those words.
'Got scouted by the Eun-ha Group... "as well"?'
Ahn Se-rin still hadn't properly grasped the value of the individual named Choi Hye-yong.
The performance Hye-yong had shown in the initial exam had not been particularly outstanding.
A level that piqued the young lady's interest just a little.......
Inside the mind of Ahn Se-rin, who suffered from misandry, an underlying mindset of looking down on Hye-yong had naturally taken root.
But what about the current Choi Hye-yong?
It had been revealed he'd been hiding his true skill; his shield alone was good enough to be called top-class.
— Have you ever shown your true skill anywhere else besides here?
— Hmm... I believe this is the first time.
Choi Hye-yong had only ever revealed his skill within the Eun-ha Group.......
— Very good, Choi Hye-yong. Our Eun-ha Group would like to offer you the position of direct bodyguard to myself, Yoon Eun-ha, the head of the group.
— However, there is a condition. Unless I give a command, you must continue to hide your skill as you have up until now.......
To fulfill the condition Yoon Eun-ha had set forth, he had to hide his skill as he'd done so far.
The context generated from that conversation clouded Ahn Se-rin's judgment.
In Ahn Se-rin's head, the underlying assumption was, naturally, that Hye-yong coveted the young lady's direct bodyguard position, but was simply throwing a tantrum to undermine her authority as the originally trusted bodyguard and drive up his own value.
Along with that, a fury that shot to the crown of her head and a sense of crisis took hold.
She couldn't let what she'd built be taken away.
The sense of crisis, that she had to protect her position somehow.
Within her mind, that restricted Hye-yong's actions to the assumption that he would naturally join the Eun-ha Group's side, bizarrely excluding the possibility of other groups.
Hye-yong had no way of knowing, but to Ahn Se-rin, the position of 「Direct Bodyguard trusted by Yoon Eun-ha」 was everything she had.
Feeling the crisis that everything might be taken from her, rational judgment was impossible.
'If that man genuinely intends to make an enemy of the Eun-ha Group.......'
Ahn Se-rin glanced at Hye-yong.
From the eyes glaring at her, a deep fury seemed to radiate.
Her thoughts wouldn't turn properly, unlike earlier.
A light dizziness settled in.
Ahn Se-rin quietly lowered her gaze and fell into contemplation.
Bang!
At that moment, Hye-yong slammed the table.
"......!"
Ahn Se-rin flinched in surprise and looked at Hye-yong's face.
"You. Do you know who I am?"
"As if I'd get scared by some line a third-rate thug would—."
Her words were brutally cut off.
"I'm asking if you properly investigated what kind of guy I was, how I lived my life, and how I came to this facility before you made threats like this."
"......."
"Do you think what I've shown you people is all there is to me? Do you genuinely think that?"
What kind of confidence was he basing this forceful attitude on?
How could he brim with such confidence while the name of the Yoon Jun family was being invoked?
'Even that skill... was he hiding even more power?'
Could he have a backer she didn't know about.......
'No.'
It's a bluff....
It has to be a bluff.
There's no way a low-class, underhanded man like that could have something like that.......
Her conclusion was reached without much thought.
It was proof that her judgment, already clouded by hostility toward Hye-yong, was rapidly deteriorating.
"So what are you going to do about it?"
"Since your side says you're going to take measures, I'll have to utilize means to protect my friends and family, won't I?"
Means, what means?
Ahn Se-rin didn't notice the anxiety creeping into her own voice.
"Do you even have something like that?"
"Why do you think I don't?"
"Let's hear it then. What method do you plan to use?"
Hye-yong threw her own words right back at her.
"Did you really think I'd obediently confess everything to you? Guess and figure it out yourself. I'm under no obligation to tell you."
Just as Hye-yong said, Ahn Se-rin had no choice but to guess and figure it out on her own.
'He brought up other groups, so... by siding with another group?'
She didn't know about the Seongmin Group, but the Yeonseong Group held considerable hostility toward the Eun-ha Group.
It was due to the background of the families backing them.
The Yoon Jun family and the Hanseong family.
If you asked which of the two families had more power, it was obviously the Yoon Jun family.
However, being stronger didn't mean you could unilaterally crush the other.
Not only that, but right now, the students from the Hanseong side actually in the facility were stronger and more numerous.
Above all, there was the problem of the Hanseong family's third son, an S-rank who was still in his first year.
He wasn't directly part of any faction, but blood was thicker than water.
— Do you think what I've shown you people is all there is to me? Do you genuinely think that?
She reconsidered those words.
Just with what he'd shown so far, if Choi Hye-yong entered the Yeonseong Group, it could be called a tremendous loss for them.
But if what he'd shown wasn't everything?
If he possessed even more abilities that would make other groups drool?
Choi Hye-yong had certainly blocked her finishing move with ease.
It wasn't something she could just write off as a simple bluff.
If she had no emotions, perhaps it would be different, but with his hatred for the Eun-ha Group having flared up this much.......
The possibility of Choi Hye-yong entering the Eun-ha Group could now be said to have completely vanished.
Originally, she'd planned to threaten him, then persuade him to pipe down on his own in exchange for pretending it never happened, but the moment the topic of other groups came up, she was immediately put in an awkward position.
Choi Hye-yong had said he needed no money, no strength, no status.
She naturally thought it was a lie, but at the very least, it could be seen that he wasn't in a desperately urgent situation.
But now, he had become desperate.
Thanks to the threat that dragged in his friends and family.
If so, Choi Hye-yong might present conditions to other groups such as 「Protecting his friends and family from the Yoon Jun family」 or 「Revenge against the Eun-ha Group」.
If that happened, there would be nothing she could do.
A family like the Hanseong family wasn't someone the Yoon Jun family could just silence completely and crush.
Rather, it might become a pretext for them to apply pressure.
If Choi Hye-yong truly possessed skills beyond what he'd shown the Eun-ha Group, and joined the Yeonseong Group, Jeon Yeon-seong would surely begin pressuring the Eun-ha Group.
Then, the young lady she served would undoubtedly come interrogating her.
Why, exactly, was Choi Hye-yong so hostile toward the Eun-ha Group?
'Why, why did I... only think that man would enter the Eun-ha Group.'
She had thought all along that Hye-yong was just getting cocky.
She'd thought she was simply letting him win this time.
So, the moment he crossed the line she'd drawn in her mind, it seemed her judgment had been completely clouded.
'Why did I... immediately make threats like that.'
Her head went cold.
It was as if her former self and her current self had become entirely different beings.
As it turned out, the one who'd gotten cocky was Ahn Se-rin herself.
[ I have no desire whatsoever to eat with you. As I told you last time, I'm the type that can't stay long in a room with someone who dislikes me. I'd rather not ruin an enjoyable meal by spending it unpleasantly. ]
— That damn bastard.......
Her insides had boiled.
— Having you in front of me just kills my appetite.
She'd thought he was a low-quality man who enjoyed playing cheap mind games.
Because she'd deemed him someone never to be respected, she'd apparently still been looking down on him even after seeing Hye-yong's skill.
The misandry born from her past trauma, where she'd been surrounded by men, sexually assaulted, and nearly killed as a child.
The anxiety that a low-quality man like Choi Hye-yong might just propose she offer up her body.
The sense of crisis that her entire life—everything she'd built through long years of effort—might be entirely snatched away by a worthless, low-class man of unknown origins.
Those things had mixed and mingled, creating a kind of defense mechanism.
A psychological defense mechanism of hypersensitivity.
— Well...... I said that thinking you would obviously refuse. Didn't I say it? I don't like you either.
The moment Choi Hye-yong showed a submissive posture, she'd gotten immediately cocky and thought she'd gained the complete upper hand.
Sneering at Hye-yong, certain she'd seized victory, thinking Hye-yong was scared, alone, unilaterally, invoking the young lady and the Yoon Jun family, holding his friends and family hostage and threatening.......
— Does the Yoon Jun family grant a mere bodyguard the authority to make threats like this?
No.
Unless she had ridden all the way up the line of real power—and she hadn't, with the young lady still a student in the facility—there was no way she had such authority.
Choi Hye-yong seemed to know that fact well.
Now that her head had cooled, Ahn Se-rin realized what she had done.
Insulting me is the same as insulting the young lady.
The fact that she'd said that herself suddenly came back to her.
Intoxicated by a petty sense of power, she had brazenly used the names of the Yoon Jun family and the young lady to threaten Choi Hye-yong.
Even though she had no such power herself, she'd invoked harming someone's family based purely on the expectation that the young lady would naturally back her up.
The dizziness intensified.
She'd come to apologize after being scolded, come to try and regain even a shred of the young lady's trust she'd lost.
But not only had she failed even that, she'd made an outright enemy of him.......
'If the young lady, Eun-ha, were to find out about this.'
This had crossed the line.
It might not end at simply losing the trust she'd built up.
She had to cut the tail off right now.
The tail being, herself.
"......It's not true."
"What's not true."
"The words I said, the actions I took. They were not done under orders. They are unrelated to the young lady, Eun-ha, and the Yoon Jun family. They were actions I took, judging unilaterally on my own."
Saying that all of a sudden?
Hye-yong, who had been quietly observing Ahn Se-rin's reactions, smiled so faintly it wouldn't be visible on the surface.
'I thought she seemed uneasy somewhere, and out of the blue she says that. Looks like the bluff worked?'
The timing was now.
Having reclaimed his cost, Hye-yong applied a buff with the hiding function to Ahn Se-rin.
[ Growing Anxiety ]
Then he answered.
"What do you want me to do about it. You think I'd believe a painfully transparent line like that? I'm not a fucking idiot......."