Chapter 99
Chapter 99
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 99
Chapter Title: Benefits of Teaming Up
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"Benefits of teaming up with you?"
Hae-jin reacted to Park Bo-young's question.
She nodded in response.
"Yeah."
"There are plenty of benefits."
"So, what exactly are they?"
Park Bo-young was asking him to spell out the specific gains.
To her, Hae-jin first explained what could be considered the biggest advantage.
"Hmm, you can get information on the next Trials' Arena?"
"Information on the next Trials' Arena?"
"Yeah."
Park Bo-young's eyes went wide at Hae-jin's words.
It was only natural.
Information on the next Trials' Arena.
For players, nothing was more important.
Of course, once the Trials' Arena began, it would assign a goal, giving a rough idea of what needed to be done.
But sometimes, it wouldn't provide detailed explanations on truly crucial points within the trial.
Since Hae-jin was calling this an 'advantage,' it clearly wasn't the kind of info anyone could get just by entering the next Trials' Arena.
It meant he could provide precise details on exactly what needed to be done there.
But if that was true...
How on earth did Hae-jin know this?
Perplexed, Park Bo-young asked him.
"How do you know that?"
"I have no reason to tell even Ground Sage here unless we're teaming up."
"Well..."
Park Bo-young couldn't deny Hae-jin's point.
After all, he had said it was a benefit of teaming up with him.
He had no obligation to share it with her when she hadn't agreed to join yet.
Then Hae-jin brought up one more thing.
She might think he was lying about really knowing about the next Trials' Arena.
To build trust, Hae-jin spoke of something that would convince her.
"How about reverting to your original appearance?"
"What?!"
Park Bo-young jumped in shock at Hae-jin's suggestion to return to her true form.
It was understandable.
No one knew she could alter her appearance.
Her parents were overseas and took time to return, so she'd been living alone all year.
Naturally, she hadn't told anyone she could change her gender and looks with the Yin-Yang Rune.
Yet Hae-jin knew.
He spoke to the startled Park Bo-young.
"That's not your real appearance, is it, Park Bo-young?"
"How do you even know my name...?"
"If I can know about the next Trials' Arena, I should show I know this much too."
"...Since you already know everything, I'll change back."
No sooner had Park Bo-young said that than light emanated from her body.
Her body, wrapped in light, transformed.
Her height shrank, and her male frame shifted to a female one.
That was Park Bo-young's true form before using the Yin-Yang Rune.
Petite yet strikingly attractive, Park Bo-young.
Back in her original form, she said,
"Staying as a guy was getting uncomfortable anyway. Knowing you already know makes it easier."
"Conversations are better when everyone's comfortable."
"Right?"
Seeing her reveal her true self, Hae-jin figured Park Bo-young was mostly convinced.
He asked what she thought of his proposal to team up.
"So, what do you say?"
"Honestly, I don't think you'd have any reason to lie to me, Hae-jin."
"Of course not."
"Hmm, so if we team up... beyond the info on the next Trials' Arena, are there other benefits?"
Park Bo-young was asking if teaming up offered more gains beyond the Trials' Arena info.
Even if he told her, as long as he didn't reveal details, she couldn't extract info from him.
And even if she tried to betray him later, Hae-jin had nothing to fear from her.
He asked if she was fully committed to joining.
"You're all in now?"
She nodded at Hae-jin's question about teaming up.
"Yeah, I think I'll join."
"Good. Then..."
With Park Bo-young agreeing, Hae-jin explained what he'd do for her going forward and what she'd need to do.
He told her to come to his place before heading to the next Trials' Arena.
Or anytime in between, if she wanted.
With her recruitment confirmed...
Hae-jin returned home.
But it didn't end there. Having added Park Bo-young to Joo-hyuk's top roster, Hae-jin devised one more plan.
Namely,
'Saving as many Vigilante Squad members as possible.'
Since he'd added Park Bo-young beyond Joo-hyuk's roster anyway, he decided to help others if he could.
With that in mind, Hae-jin went home.
There, he saw her.
Ji Su-jeong, returning after clearing one school.
Ji Su-jeong greeted Hae-jin in the living room after landing on the terrace.
"Hae-jin oppa! I'm back!"
Hae-jin greeted her in return.
"Good work. Calling it a day?"
The sun was already dipping low.
Hae-jin told her she didn't need to work after dark.
But Ji Su-jeong always insisted on clearing one more school unless it was fully night, so he asked if the job was properly done.
She answered his question.
"Yeah! This should do it! I'll handle more schools tomorrow."
Seeming unsure, she decided to stop here for today.
Hae-jin nodded at her words.
"Got it. Head out then, and come back around lunchtime tomorrow."
"Lunchtime?"
"Yeah."
Ji Su-jeong looked puzzled at Hae-jin's sudden instruction to arrive at lunchtime.
Plenty of schools remained across the nation's eight provinces.
With self-proclaimed players swaggering everywhere, it was practically unlimited overtime.
She'd been working from the southern regions northward, clearing every school of delinquents.
She started early in the morning for that reason, but now Hae-jin was saying lunchtime.
To the puzzled Ji Su-jeong, Hae-jin explained why tomorrow was lunchtime.
"Well, tomorrow we're gathering all the Vigilante Squad members to talk."
"Talk?"
"Yeah, I plan to help you and the others with the next Trials' Arena."
"Whoa! Really?!"
"Yeah."
Ji Su-jeong was a player too.
Knowing he was the world's strongest player who cleared hidden trials and his roster, his words piqued her interest.
For players, nothing mattered more than surviving the Trials' Arena.
Why?
Because failing to survive meant death.
Yet Hae-jin was offering advice on the next one.
As a player, Ji Su-jeong had no reason to refuse.
She agreed to leave early today and return at lunchtime tomorrow as he said.
"Then I'll head out early today and come around lunchtime tomorrow like you said, Hae-jin oppa!"
"Yeah, good work."
"Yep!"
Ji Su-jeong went home to prepare for tomorrow.
The day passed.
The night before, Hae-jin had already told all Vigilante Squad members to meet at lunchtime.
He'd asked Park Jong-pal to gather them in one place.
Arriving at the restaurant Park Jong-pal had booked, Hae-jin saw dozens of Vigilante Squad members.
Just under thirty.
Hae-jin spoke to Park Jong-pal upon seeing them.
"Fewer than I expected."
Hae-jin commented on the squad's numbers.
Much reduced.
Once Hae-jin stopped managing the Vigilante Squad, he'd handed full control to Park Jong-pal.
Previously, there had been nearly a hundred members.
Now, less than half remained.
Even accounting for recruits, it was barely a quarter.
Park Jong-pal gave an awkward smile at Hae-jin's remark.
"Haha, not everyone can survive the Trials' Arena."
Deaths during missions weren't unusual in national service.
Player deaths were even less so.
Park Jong-pal didn't take it too seriously.
It was natural.
What could one do about unavoidable disasters?
Fretting over the unsolvable only hurt oneself.
In that context, Hae-jin looked at the dwindled squad and said,
"Still, we got everyone through the last Trials' Arena alive."
True.
The tenth Trials' Arena, where a massive number of players should have died.
Hae-jin had swept the Merman Kingdom to ensure zero casualties.
Yet seeing the squad now at less than half, Hae-jin felt a strange pang.
'Did I neglect them too much?'
"No need to apologize."
"Hm? For what?"
"Even as leader, if I'd paid more attention, more might have survived."
Deep down, Hae-jin felt some guilt despite Park Jong-pal's nonchalance.
That's why he said it, but Park Jong-pal countered.
"Haha, constant survival might've been hell instead."
Survival could be its own hell.
Hae-jin understood.
"Fair point. If you don't survive to the end, it means nothing... Better to escape the Trials' Arena early for some freedom."
"Exactly."
If you couldn't last till the end in the Trials' Arena, death was inevitable.
That was a player's fate.
Dying quickly there wasn't so bad.
In a way, it meant freedom.
Finishing his talk with Park Jong-pal, Hae-jin stood.
He greeted those who had worked hard as Vigilante Squad members.
"Thanks for surviving this far and working hard as our squad."
It was the first time Hae-jin had politely addressed the Vigilante Squad members.