The Choice Is Hers

"Ugh... now that we're actually about to meet her, I'm getting nervous."

"Are you?"

"Yes. Yeonwoo... if you—if the Guild Master hadn't been here, I don't think I would have found the courage even now."

"If it feels awkward, you're welcome to just use my name."

"I-is that really okay?"

"No reason it wouldn't be. I don't mind at all."

"Hehe..."

Choi Jian scratched the back of her head, smiling.

"Then I'll call you Yeonwoo. That feels a lot better."

I nodded instead of answering and looked toward the cafe door. When is she going to show up? I'd rather she got here sooner than later, honestly.

We waited a while longer. Then a middle-aged woman with a gaunt face—the kind of face that looked as though greed itself had taken up residence there—burst through the cafe door. She scanned the interior, spotted us, and bellowed in a voice thick with rage.

"...Choi Jian!"

"That's her?"

"...Yes."

Choi Jian nodded, her expression sour. In the meantime, her mother stormed over, huffing, and started jabbing a finger at me.

"This is the bastard?! The one who put those rotten ideas in your head?"

"They're not rotten ideas—"

"Shut up. Get up right now. Someone from Shinyeom Guild's legal team is outside. Review the contract and sign it. Now."

Choi Jian's face went blank with ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠disbelief.

"Mom, ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠I already told you I don't want to."

"What? You don't want to? You think an opportunity like this is going to come around again? Everything I'm doing is for your own good, and this is how you repay me—"

At Jian's words, she looked ready to throw a full-blown tantrum. More and more of the cafe's patrons were turning to stare.

"What's going on?"

"I don't know what it is, but it's loud as hell."

"What, does she think she rented the whole cafe?"

Needless to say, I found her just as insufferable.

"That's enough. You're bothering everyone else."

"And who the hell are you to—"

"Lee Yeonwoo, Guild Master of Apex Guild."

"...What?"

The woman froze at the words Apex Guild.

"A-Apex?"

"The Apex you're thinking of, yes."

"How...?"

"I don't think that's what matters right now."

For the moment, the name alone had been enough to pin her down. I gestured for her to sit, and she settled into the chair with a noticeably more subdued air than before.

"...Nice to meet you. I'm Kim Hyeonji, Jian's mother."

"As I said, Lee Yeonwoo, Guild Master of Apex."

"So, about my daughter's signing bonus...?"

"Mom!!"

Choi Jian's face went scarlet as she shouted. The look on her face said she never in her wildest dreams expected her mother to bring up the signing bonus the instant she sat down. Kim Hyeonji, however, didn't so much as flinch. Her expression remained shamelessly intact.

"Shinyeom Guild offered a signing bonus of thirty million won and an annual salary of sixty million. How much can Apex offer?"

"Why are you the one asking that?!"

Choi Jian started to protest again, but this time I beat her to it.

"There's no signing bonus, and we don't offer a separate salary either."

"...Excuse me?"

"Instead, we've agreed on a fifteen percent stake in the guild and a one-to-nine settlement split in her favor. I can't put a large sum in her hands right now, but over the long term, the terms are designed to be as favorable as possible for Hunter Choi Jian—"

"No. No?!"

Bang!

Kim Hyeonji slammed the table. Her face was flushed with heat.

"I want a place that can put a lot of money in our hands right now. I don't need some lousy equity stake. Right now—!"

"You seem to be under a misconception."

I looked Kim Hyeonji dead in the eye.

"You—!"

"He's right about that."

A stranger's voice cut in without warning. I glanced to the side and found a man in a suit, his hair combed back. Kim Hyeonji's face lit up the moment she saw him. She grabbed him and pulled him toward her, then glared at me.

"Taehwan, get over here. Can you believe this guy..."

"Hahaha. Ma'am, there's no need to worry."

He soothed Kim Hyeonji with a gentle smile, then looked down at me as if I were something amusing.

"Yoon Taehwan, ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠of Shinyeom Guild."

"Lee Yeonwoo, of Apex Guild."

"Curious. Last I heard, Apex Guild was on the verge of dissolution."

"On the verge, yes. Dissolved, no."

"Ah, is that so?"

Yoon Taehwan smiled a peculiar little smile. Then he drew a sheet of paper from his jacket and held it out to me and Choi Jian.

"In any case, Awakened Choi Jian's mother has already signed the contract. In her capacity as legal guardian."

"About that. I was wondering."

I took the paper as I spoke.

"Legal guardian? Jian is an adult. She doesn't need a proxy."

"...Ahem. It's not entirely impossible, either."

"That's an interesting story."

Still—what was on this paper that he'd handed it over with so much confidence? ...This.

The moment I skimmed the page, my brow furrowed on its own.

"A guild employment contract."

"Yes. If you'd be so kind as to read it through..."

I didn't need to hear another word. I scanned the rest of the document, then set it down with a sharp tap.

"Let me ask you one thing."

"Y-Yeonwoo?"

Choi Jian stared at me, startled—she clearly hadn't expected me to come out swinging like that.

"What exactly did you expect, bringing this garbage in here and calling it a contract?"

What was written on that page was so absurd it might as well have been a modern-day slave contract.

And those were far from the only clauses that defied common sense. Even I, who wasn't the one being bound by them, was angry enough to be speechless. No—it went beyond anger. I was genuinely baffled.

"You looked at terms like these and actually thought someone would just sign?"

"I'll say it again."

Yoon Taehwan's eyes narrowed. He let out a dark little laugh.

"Awakened Choi Jian's mother has already signed this as her proxy. And she's already collected the signing bonus."

"...And why, exactly, did you pocket the signing bonus?"

I stared at Kim Hyeonji in disbelief. Beside me, Choi Jian had gone speechless as well, her eyes locked on her mother.

"What, you little bitch."

Kim Hyeonji shot back, shameless as ever.

"After everything I've done to raise you, taking this much is the least I deserve, isn't it? I carried you in my belly. I raised you with my own two hands. A child ought to do at least this much for her mother!"

"Ha."

"Mom, I can't believe you..."

While Choi Jian sat there, too stunned to speak, Yoon Taehwan slid a pen across the table.

"Well then. All that's left is the signature. If not, we'll have no choice but to sue for the return of the signing bonus."

"Must be nice, handling things so conveniently."

"As Guild Master Lee Yeonwoo said a moment ago."

Yoon Taehwan's expression turned oily.

"The choice is Awakened Choi Jian's. Of course, the consequences of that choice are hers as well."

"I'm done."

Choi Jian shoved her chair back and stood, her face ice-cold.

"I'm not signing with you. Not even if it kills me. Thirty million won or whatever—go collect it from my mother here. As of today, I'm cutting ties with her."

"Can you actually handle that?"

"Excuse me?"

Yoon Taehwan's reply was ice.

"Apex Guild. The name looks good on a business card, I'll give you that. But it's a guild that was, for all intents and purposes, on the brink of dissolution. And the only guild member it has is Jian herself."

It wasn't exactly wrong. If it hadn't been for Choi Jian, I would have sold the guild off in a heartbeat. Whatever he read on my face, the sneer on Yoon Taehwan's lips only deepened.

"You couldn't even call that a small guild, or a struggling one. A hunter club would have more members than that."

"You—!"

Choi Jian bristled even harder than I did. I gently settled her, then looked at Yoon Taehwan, inviting him to continue.

"What I mean is, you're going to run into a lot of trouble going forward. Especially in this business, picking a fight with another guild is rarely a wise move. If I were Awakened Choi Jian, I would have made the smarter choice."

"Is that so."

A laughable threat. After all, look who was sitting next to me. Honestly, I don't think it'll take her long to hit S-Rank. An Awakened with SSS-Rank talent was sitting right here. Folding to a threat like that would have been the strange part.

"A guild that can't even recognize a gem when it's sitting in front of them, and instead shoves a contract like this in her face, doesn't strike me as a real guild either."

I let out a short laugh and pulled Choi Jian toward me.

"Ah—!"

"Who knows. Maybe if you slapped down, say, three billion won, Jian might change her mind a little. Personally, I'd still call that a bargain."

"Hah."

Yoon Taehwan snorted.

"Your jokes are getting a little rich."

"Whether it's a joke or not—"

I looked him straight in the eye.

"—you'll find out soon enough. So how about you get lost for today."

Right on cue, the status window flashed a welcome message.

In that instant, Yoon Taehwan's expression froze. He'd felt something.

"Wait. This is..."

"What's with the surprise all of a sudden."

I shrugged, looking completely unbothered.