Chapter 74. Hero, Fight Me
Chapter 74. Hero, Fight Me
After the fan meeting and interview were over, related posts kept popping up on the community boards for days.
Seeing an S-rank up close and personal was rare, so the buzz had been especially intense.
[ Author: Anonymous ]
[ Title: So what was it like seeing him in person? ]
[ Content: Is he actually scary as hell? ]
└ Anonymous Scary as hell
└ Seemed like he could snap an average adult in half at the waist lol
└ Ah fuck, I wanted to go too...
I saw a lot of posts asking and answering what he looked like, what his personality was like.
And naturally, the post that got the most upvotes was the fan meeting review.
[ Author: Anonymous ]
[ Title: Long Post) A country mouse's review of going all the way to Seoul for a fan meeting ]
[ Content: (Picture of the prizes), (Picture of the platform), (Pictures of Song Hoon and Laila) I actually went.
First off, visually, as everyone says, he's scary as fuck.
But even so, he was apparently worried his fans would go home empty-handed, so he personally prepared prizes matching the number of attendees.
(Picture of the prize list)
As you could see, I did some rough math and it looked like he spent tens of millions of won...
+ Fuck, I thought only socially awkward losers like me would be there, but everyone was so damn cool and pretty that I felt insanely betrayed... ]
└ Tens of millions of won for his fans? A true Hero...
└ I was so fucking jealous...
└ Fuck, Hero, let's just rent out Gocheok Dome!!!
└ But the person who got the graphics card this time was fucking adorable
└ For real, seriously so cute lmao
└ Just reselling that card alone would be how much;;
└ You absolute moron
Of course, there was talk about the 'Saintess's Foot Wiper' who had given everyone a huge laugh this time.
Everyone had been curious about that viewer's identity.
[ Author: Anonymous ]
[ Title: So who is Saintess's Foot Wiper? ]
[ Content: lmao If that bastard gets caught, he's dead ]
└ But it was funny as hell lmao
└ Yeah, if he'd pulled that shit with just a thousand or ten thousand won, he would've gotten slapped, but since it was a huge sum, it was just funny
└ Yeah, it was too cheerful to call it trolling lol The people who were there liked it too
In the flaming hot community, the user with the nickname 'Saintess's Foot Wiper' personally wrote a post.
[ Author: Saintess's Foot Wiper ]
[ Title: Fan meeting review ]
[ Content: (Picture of the facility) First off, I really did go.
This was an original photo I took myself that doesn't pop up when you search it on Google.
I was worried verifying what prize I got would out me, so I hid it lol
I went and...(omitted) ]
└ Lmfao actually showing up yourself was so fucking funny
└ Didn't your balls tremble when you were messing with Hero?
└ Author: I don't have balls lol
└ What? Are you a dickgirl?
└ Author: Yeah, I'm a woman
└ You bitch, if you're the stream manager, spread the wealth
└ Author: You got it on deposit?
└ I was a woman (dangles) lmao
└ Author: Nope, I'm a college girl in her twenties with good looks
└ Bullshit lmfao. The fact you said that means you're a guy, case closed
─ Tap tap tap...
She sat in a chair, her gaze fixed on the monitor.
Her multiple monitors displayed screens showing internet streams, community forums, and stock graphs.
"Seeing her in person, she really is so pretty..."
─ Ding!
[Web Message]
Hello, Ms. Lee Chae-hyun.
We were pleased to inform you of your final acceptance...
She read the message that arrived on her phone quietly.
"I got it...!"
She had already earned enough money to last her until death, but her daily life had become unbearably boring.
So she had applied.
If she was going to work, she had wanted to be with someone she liked.
"Ugh... I want to post a verification post..."
Though she didn't want to reveal she was 'Saintess's Foot Wiper', the attention-seeking DNA inside her made it impossible to resist.
[ Author: Saintess's Foot Wiper ]
[ Title: See you soon, Hero you bastard lmao ]
[ Content: (Picture of acceptance verification) How's this? ]
└ Whoa fuck, I was so jealous lmao
└ The new hire salary smacks most mid-sized companies around and the benefits were insane too
└ But they got into a company like that with zero specs lmao
└ Fuck... Hire me too!!!!!!!
She got up immediately from her seat, roughly opened her door, and went outside.
She wanted to brag about this news to her family.
"Mom! I'm an office worker from now on!"
The view of her room after she left looked similar to any other girl's room.
Except for one thing: a poster of a woman with blue hair and golden eyes stuck to the wall...
---
"Wow, even your mom's never been on a plane like this before."
"Max lent this to us."
My family and a few employees headed to the United States on a private jet Max had lent us.
After a long flight, we landed at Washington Dulles International Airport.
"Excuse me, sir!"
As soon as we finished the screening and stepped outside, an association staff member was already waiting there to greet us.
We received his escort and boarded a limousine that was waiting outside.
"Mother, so what do you actually do at those kinds of events?"
"Hmm... Previously, they've held light friendly matches with a sense of exchange."
I remembered what Colton had told me before.
That if I wanted to participate, I could show off some strength in the style of an event match.
"They call it a gathering... but immense amounts of money move inside it."
"Money?"
"The world's most prominent corporations participate to try to make connections by any means possible."
I heard that even sending someone with a middling position from the company was considered an insult, and sometimes the company chairman would even come in person.
"But... you two don't really seem to have that kind of ambition?"
"Well, having just enough not to want is plenty."
"Yes! I only need enough money to raise Hero and our babies! Hehe..."
Mother looked at us with slightly cold eyes.
"You two... even after all your kids are married off, you'll still probably be newlyweds..."
Mother, what on earth did you mean by that?
If we were still newlyweds by then, I'd be withered and dead...
'Guess a natural death was out the window.'
"Ahem... If I had my preference, Dad would like a granddaughter."
"Oh my, really? I would prefer a grandson."
Laila smiled brightly at my parents' conversation and spoke.
"Hehe... Mother, Father, I'll make sure to have plenty so you won't be bored."
I was glad Laila seemed so close with my parents.
I'd heard there were a lot of conflicts between mothers-in-law and daughters-in-law these days...
From the limousine's driver's seat came word that we would arrive soon.
"Whoa, this is the World Hunter Association?"
"Even Mom and Dad were surprised when they first came here."
It was a building that boasted an enormous size.
The grounds were also incredibly vast.
"Before entering, please put on your in-ears."
The staff members by the door handed out an in-ear to each of us.
It was an in-ear provided to Hunters coming from all over the world to facilitate smooth communication.
"Of course, when having a sensitive conversation, you can press the button on the side to turn it off."
When we went inside, the interior of the building was vast as well.
"Hey, Hoon!"
Upon hearing we had arrived, Max and Emilia came out to greet us.
"Oh, Max! Good to see... you?"
Max, who was always loud and booming, looked just a little tired.
And conversely, a glowing Emilia stood beside Max, closer than before.
"...?"
"What's wrong?"
"Are you two dating?"
"Huh? You didn't know?"
I did not know.
Because there hadn't been that kind of vibe the last time I saw them.
"Oh my, oh my, Ms. Emilia! You're finally going out!?"
But Laila looked more excited than anyone, as if she had expected it, and tapped Emilia on the forearm.
"Yeees... I followed Lady Laila's advice..."
"Heehee... I told you, you have to yank hard when you're pulling them in!"
Emilia, seeming embarrassed, bobbed her head slightly.
"Max, so how did you two end up dating?"
"Hmm? It's nothing special! The two of us were having drinks over dinner and Emilia told me she wanted to be with me, not as a guild master but as a lifelong companion...!"
"Boss! How can you say that here!!!"
Oho...
Emilia must have been flustered; she let out a squeal in the building lobby.
"Kehehe... Anyway, like you, I've also had my life held as collateral."
'Like me, huh...'
Even as he said that, I could feel the affection in Max's gruff hand gestures.
I glanced at Laila, then looked back at Emilia.
'A fox and a cat, huh...?'
"Anyway, let's go inside! Most of the Hunters have been waiting only for you."
We followed Max into the association's auditorium.
It was several times larger than the one we had rented for the fan meeting earlier.
Reporters, corporate officials, guild officials, and Hunters were all gathered there.
"With our sponsorship this round..."
"Thanks to you, it was easy to persuade them..."
"The materials you provided..."
Business deals were happening all over the place.
And from one side, a sticky gaze was fixed on me.
"What the...?"
A man.
A man was staring at me with a sticky gaze.
When our eyes met, he walked over to me.
"N-Nice to meet you. Hero Song Hoon."
It wasn't a translation I heard through the in-ear.
He was speaking directly to me, a Korean, in clumsy Korean.
"I respect you. A strong man."
I quietly focused on his words and listened as intently as I could.
'It felt like when a foreigner asks for directions in clumsy Korean here in Korea, and you end up politely telling them all kinds of stuff.'
He smiled brightly and gave me a thumbs-up.
"You are the strongest Hunter. The best on Earth."
He closed his eyes and sank into thought, as if he couldn't remember his memorized lines.
Then his eyes snapped open, he met my gaze, and grinned.
"Hero, fight me."
This bastard...
Where the hell had he learned Korean?