Chapter 167
Translator: penny
Chapter: 167
Chapter Title: A Firm Rejection
"No."
"Then from now on, let's get along well... Huh? No...?"
Pang Dokjo looked utterly flustered, as if he'd assumed Baek Iryeong would naturally accept.
In fact, I was pretty shocked myself.
'Did I hear that wrong?'
Whether I'd misheard or Baek Iryeong had misunderstood Pang Dokjo's words, her response was completely out of left field.
But she drove the nail in firmly.
"I'm not interested, so go find someone else. Is that all?"
Baek Iryeong wore an annoyed expression, looking ready to stand up any second.
Pang Dokjo glanced my way.
Originally, my plan was to stay quiet for a while.
Pang Dokjo would keep pestering her annoyingly, and I'd play the anti-example to win some favor.
So I hadn't planned to butt in this time either... but...
'This won't do.'
If it ended like this, we'd get nothing out of it.
So I had to hurriedly stop Baek Iryeong.
"Senior, hold on a moment."
Baek Iryeong tilted her head.
"Senior? Aren't you out of the White Tiger Unit now?"
"Hm, then what should I call you? Little Miss Baek?"
She shuddered at the word "little miss," as if it felt unfamiliar.
Like she had chills.
"...Just call me senior."
"Yes, senior. If I may ask, could you tell me why you don't want to join the Harmony Unit?"
"Why?"
Baek Iryeong stared straight into my eyes.
I met her gaze without flinching.
A moment later, she let out a small sigh and answered.
"Actually, I want to ask you the same thing. Why should I join the Harmony Unit?"
"Pardon?"
Why? Well, obviously...
'Yeah, why?'
Moyong Hui and Namgung Sua were my women, so joining the Harmony Unit made sense for them.
Cheon Woojin had no choice in the matter anyway.
And Pang Dokjo's goal was to woo Namgung Sua.
'Though that's impossible.'
Anyway, everyone in the Harmony Unit had their own reasons.
Baek Iryeong, on the other hand, had none.
'...No, that's not right. The Harmony Unit itself should be valuable enough, right?'
I decided to persuade her step by step.
"As Brother Pang said, given the current murim situation—meaning this fight with the unorthodox sects—it's highly likely to be the scheme of a third force."
"And?"
"Shouldn't we figure out who they are and who the traitor siding with them is?"
"Why me?"
I was at a loss for words.
As I hesitated, Baek Iryeong let out a huge sigh.
"I get what you're saying. I understand the Alliance Leader and Chief Strategist's concerns too. But I don't see why I have to be the one to do it. Is there some reason it has to be me?"
Of course there was.
Because I needed to win her over.
But I couldn't say that out loud, so I pulled out the other reasons I'd prepared.
"Wouldn't it be best if we could get the Five Dragons and Five Phoenixes together?"
"From what I heard earlier, Sword Dragon isn't in it? Sure, after what happened with you, we can't include him, but that means I don't need to join either, right?"
"Besides that, we don't have anyone from the Nine Great Sects in our group, so if you from Mount Hua Sect could help..."
"Just add someone else from the Nine Great Sects instead of me. I heard you've already added someone outside the Five Dragons and Five Phoenixes. Cheon Woojin?"
"..."
She was spot on with everything.
Moyong Hui had gone along with my insistence, but Baek Iryeong clearly had no intention of doing so.
'Tch... what now.'
I'd expected it wouldn't be easy to win over Baek Iryeong from the start.
She'd stayed single her whole previous life, so I never saw her as easy pickings.
'That's why I convinced Pang Dokjo and prepared all sorts of plans to boost the odds a bit...'
It was supposed to be a group effort to woo her, but I never imagined we'd hit a wall right at the first step.
I looked to Pang Dokjo for help.
He finally chimed in late.
"Ahem! Crimson Phoenix, think it over carefully. This is about setting things right."
"Set what right?"
Baek Iryeong shot back, sounding baffled.
Pang Dokjo continued as if it were obvious.
"Fighting the unorthodox sects. We have no reason to fight them."
"What's wrong with fighting those unorthodox scum?"
Baek Iryeong's retort came with a chill in her voice.
Her tone had grown a bit sharper too.
But Pang Dokjo, oblivious, pressed on.
"I told you. There's suspicion of another force behind this."
"So what."
Her voice turned even icier.
Her words grew shorter.
"Wouldn't it be worth considering who benefits if we fight the unorthodox sects?"
"Why should I?"
Now it bordered on sarcasm.
Pang Dokjo frowned and raised his voice.
"Crimson Phoenix!"
The light atmosphere soured in an instant.
Baek Iryeong's glare at Pang Dokjo even held hostility.
This was bad.
I had no choice but to hurriedly intervene between them.
"Hold on! Both of you, calm down! Why are you getting heated all of a sudden?"
Me jumping in averted the worst.
But Baek Iryeong stood up.
"I'm not interested in your Harmony Unit or whatever. Do as you like. I'll stay with the White Tiger Unit and keep fighting the unorthodox scum. See you."
"..."
I couldn't bring myself to stop her as she walked out.
Now only two of us remained in the makeshift building, and Pang Dokjo let out a small sigh.
"Jimyeong, sorry about that."
"...No, how is this Brother Pang's fault."
I accepted his apology outwardly while cursing inwardly.
'Damn. He's an idiot.'
But that curse wasn't for Pang Dokjo.
Nor for Baek Iryeong, obviously.
It was directed at myself.
I'd been too complacent.
After the string of successes since my regression, I'd thought it would be easy.
Especially after Namgung Sua came to me on her own so effortlessly lately. My preparations for this had been half-hearted.
'I don't even know why Baek Iryeong got mad...'
When I'd wooed Moyong Hui in the past, I'd checked every detail about her.
Her personality, hobbies, upbringing—everything.
But I hadn't put in that effort for Baek Iryeong.
How had I won over Moyong Hui?
The help from her father was big, but reading her inner desires had been key.
'Moyong Hui had a strong sense of justice and wanted to escape her clan.'
So what did Baek Iryeong want?
I had no idea.
'I could've found out easily if I'd tried...'
Exactly. Too complacent.
Even planning this, I'd only worried about convincing Moyong Hui, not giving a thought to Baek Iryeong.
"Hoo..."
"Hoo..."
Pang Dokjo and I sighed in unison.
The moment struck me as ridiculous, and I let out a chuckle.
Pang Dokjo gave an awkward look and apologized again.
"Uh, sorry. Feels like I ruined the plan."
"No. More importantly, Brother Pang, what will you do now?"
Pang Dokjo had joined the Harmony Unit to stir Namgung Sua's jealousy by hitting on Baek Iryeong.
But in this situation, getting Baek Iryeong to join seemed impossible.
So I'd planned to let him leave if he wanted... but...
"Why ask me? You should decide what we do next."
He didn't seem inclined to quit the Harmony Unit.
I thought for a moment before speaking.
"For now, let's head to the Southern Command Post as originally planned."
I hadn't given up on Baek Iryeong.
I just needed to dig deeper through the Shadow Gate Sect.
'And have Cheon Woojin look into it too.'
With intel from both the Murim Alliance and Shadow Gate Sect, I could uncover even the secrets she desperately hid.
Wooing her would come after.
We left the makeshift building.
Baek Iryeong was nowhere in sight.
I'd thought about saying goodbye before leaving, but oh well.
'No big deal.'
I'd see her again soon anyway.
Because I'd come back for her.
Before departing for the Southern Command Post, we met up with Hyeok Jongdae again.
We needed to let him know we were leaving, but there was something more important.
"How long do you and Third Squad plan to stay here?"
"Hm, I'm joining up with my main squad now. Third Squad will stick around here for a bit."
Hyeok Jongdae's role was White Tiger Unit leader, so no need to stay glued to Third Squad.
I didn't get why he'd been with Third Squad instead of First anyway.
'Maybe because Third Squad is the weakest?'
Whatever. I didn't really care.
I wasn't in the White Tiger Unit anymore anyway.
This question had been for Baek Iryeong's sake in the first place.
'Good, Third Squad is staying put.'
If they'd moved, tracking them down would've been a hassle. Lucky break.
We chatted with Hyeok Jongdae about this and that.
Nothing useful to me.
I wanted to ask about Baek Iryeong, but it would've been too obvious, so I held back.
After a brief talk, we set off from Mount Tai.
'Baek Iryeong, I'll be back soon to win you over.'
It was one step back for two steps forward.