No Confidence, No Self-Esteem
Returning from the management office.
Me, Seo-rin, and Elysia walked side by side, chatting.
"Oppa. What did you talk about with the chief?"
Seo-rin already had a face flushed with curiosity.
Elysia was also showing interest from the side.
There had been numerous gates in the sea off the South Sea, and monsters were approaching the Songdo area.
And the management office was preparing operations to deal with that.
I shared various stories I had heard from the chief.
"When I asked if our guild would participate, I said we would."
Seo-rin showed a worried look upon hearing my words.
"Will it be okay? The management office preparing so seriously... that could be dangerous."
Following Seo-rin's remark, the atmosphere the chief had shown seemed to indicate that the monsters were no joke.
Moreover, judging from the red dots on the map, their numbers were considerable.
But.
I felt no sense of crisis.
Or rather, I should say I was excited.
The dopamine that had surged during the decade of fighting on the battlefield.
"Honestly, it doesn't seem too dangerous."
After I casually spoke up, Elysia continued.
"I will always stay by Master's side, so there won't be any danger."
Then Elysia subtly glanced toward Seo-rin.
"Besides, Seo-rin seems to rely mainly on fire magic, but isn't that disadvantageous against sea monsters?"
"Hic."
Seo-rin made a strange sound, looking as if she had been stabbed right in the heart.
But she immediately straightened her face.
"What? Well, it's true that fire magic is my main, but I can do a lot of other things too, right?"
True. According to the power analysis articles in the Awakened community, Seo-rin was among the top in the A-rank.
She was evaluated as someone closest to S-rank.
And since she had been active alone until now, she must know many useful skills across various fields.
"You're just too strong. I'm not like that either. Hee? I'm a high-rank Awakened from Korea!"
"I see. I understand. But I will only protect Master. Please take care of yourself."
Seo-rin, who had been underestimated by Elysia, countered with a brusque expression.
"You. Aren't you specialized in close combat? Can you fight alone against a bunch of monsters that specialize in ranged attacks?"
"Don't worry about me. I've fought sea monsters until my bones ached."
Elysia showed a serious expression while mentioning "sea monsters."
Of course. Elysia had a bad history with that kind of monster.
Her fighting spirit seemed even more sharpened.
"Then me and Elysia will go. It's a meeting tomorrow, so let's see the management office at the right time."
While returning, we parted ways with Seo-rin and exchanged greetings.
Seo-rin hesitated as if thinking about it for a moment, then grabbed my arm.
"Then how about staying over at my house tonight?"
It seemed she didn't like the idea of me going back with Elysia alone.
Elysia looked slightly displeased by the words, but Seo-rin ignored her and kept pushing.
"Our house is closer, and your studio is too small, right? Sleeping with a girl like that."
True.
When I had lived with Elysia in the other world for countless days, I hadn't thought much of it.
But in an eight-pyung studio on Earth, it somehow felt tense.
If we spent the night alone in that narrow room, Elysia might change her mind.
My perverted imagination started to run wild.
'If Elysia were to pin me down in my current body... I couldn't push her away...'
Of course, the Elysia I knew wasn't that type.
I wanted to scold myself for pointless worry, but.
Thinking of the look on Elysia's face when she showed me that day after being summoned to this world—
when she had cried and spilled out everything, the overflowing emotions—it didn't seem like pointless worry after all.
"Then let's do that. It's fine, Elysia?"
"...Yes, of course."
Keeping my tension, I asked Elysia with a subtle glance.
Elysia always gave me sharp answers to my suggestions,
but this time the reply came after a slight pause.
After answering, in that fleeting moment,
I caught the cold aura rising on her face.
'Haha... even when I talked with the chief, I didn't break into a cold sweat like this.'
For the first time, the atmosphere of Elysia sent a chill down my spine.
***
Next day morning, Incheon branch of the management office.
Me, Elysia, and Seo-rin headed to the conference room for the operation meeting.
"Wow..."
The moment we opened the conference room door, Seo-rin let out a small exclamation.
There were far more people than I thought.
Including Mir Guild, Korea's top guild, and famous guilds that one only had to hear the name to know were present in large numbers.
"There's also the Mir Guild master."
Seo-rin whispered in my ear in a small voice.
It was clearly a large-scale operation.
As we entered, all eyes in the conference room focused on us.
"There, isn't that Cha Seo-rin?"
"Yeah. But who are the people next to her?"
"Isn't it the guild that Cha Seo-rin established? 'Terda' or something?"
"Is the guild leader that man over there?"
Whispers filled the air.
It was obvious that our side was attracting attention.
Thanks to the S-rank title, Elysia was drawing curious glances.
And Seo-rin, who had been active alone until now, was now said to have started a guild and passed the leadership to me—everyone looked amazed.
"A brand-new guild joining a big operation like this?"
"The guild leader is F-rank, right?"
Among the murmurs, voices of disbelief were mixed in.
The combination of an F-rank guild leader and S-rank guild members seemed surprisingly strange.
"Quite a lot of attention is being paid."
"Of course. I don't fall short in popularity wherever I go, and recently you're not a small topic either."
Elysia seemed surprised that she was receiving such excessive attention from other people.
It was Seo-rin who answered her.
We found empty seats and sat down.
While there was still time before the meeting started, a man approached our side.
"Seo-rin?"
Seo-rin turned her head.
"Huh? Gi-seok."
"Nice to see you. Long time no see."
"I didn't think I'd run into you here. So Seo-rin is also participating in this operation."
"Yes, that's how it turned out."
The man who greeted Seo-rin introduced himself as Byun Gi-seok and handed me his business card.
It read Team Leader of Mir Guild Metropolitan Branch.
"Nice to meet you. I saw you on the news. An F-rank Awakened who gathered media figures as guild members."
"Haha. It seems I've become famous with that strange title."
Feeling annoyed?
Somehow, Gi-seok spoke in a slightly unpleasant tone.
When I responded indifferently, Gi-seok quickly turned back to Seo-rin.
"By the way, Seo-rin is a bit unexpected. When I made that scout offer, you stubbornly refused saying you liked being alone."
"I just have a reserved personality. With this oppa, it's comfortable."
With that answer, Seo-rin leaned toward me.
Gi-seok's face hardened at the sight.
'Looks like Seo-rin likes him.'
Clearly visible.
Reacting sensitively to just one of Seo-rin's actions, even though he looked like a grown adult, it seemed like a high school boy to me.
Gi-seok couldn't speak for a moment, then looked back at Seo-rin.
"Seo-rin, would you have time to talk privately sometime?"
"What about?"
"Just... some personal talk."
Seo-rin glanced at me for a second, then nodded.
"If I have time later."
Gi-seok returned to his seat with a satisfied expression.
Even as he went, he kept glancing our way.
It was quite sad to me.
'Doesn't this guy have any sense?'
Of course, Gi-seok didn't realize that when a woman ends a conversation with "I'll see you later," she means "You won't get the chance to see me."
***
Soon after, the chief entered the conference room.
"Everyone is here. Then, without delay, let's begin the meeting."
As the chief prepared to start the proper meeting from the podium, Gi-seok raised his hand.
"Chief, before we start, there is a question."
"Yes, please speak."
With the chief granting the floor, Gi-seok stood up.
"It's about the Terda Guild."
Gi-seok's gaze turned toward us.
"Even if there are S-rank and A-rank guild members, it's a brand-new guild, and most of all, the guild leader is F-rank. Participating in a large-scale operation like this is too risky, isn't it?"
The conference room instantly fell silent.
All eyes were on us.
"Hmm... please explain more specifically what you mean."
"An F-rank Awakened is basically no different from ordinary people. For the safety of Kang Si-ho, I think it's better to exclude him from this operation."
Whispers rose from the conference room at Gi-seok's words.
Most of all, Elysia and Seo-rin sitting next to me were the most irritated by his words.
"Why is this guy suddenly saying that?"
"It's an incredibly rude remark. How dare he insult Master...!"
Recalling the man's words that had seemed strangely annoying earlier.
Probably because he didn't like that Seo-rin was in my guild.
That must be why he was acting petty.
"That part is fine. He said he would participate by taking on the risk himself."
The chief answered, but Gi-seok didn't back down.
"But what if an operation goes wrong because of Kang Si-ho? There could be harm to other participants as well."
Gi-seok took one step closer from his seat.
And then turned his body to look straight at me.
"To prove otherwise, how about proving it through a duel with me?"
The conference room was instantly in an uproar.
Everyone wore surprised expressions at the sudden proposal for a duel by Mir Guild team leader Gi-seok.
"What the hell is this... Oppa, I'll handle it. I'll go and blast a Flame Spear right into his mouth!"
"I'll do it. Master. I'll cut out the tongue of the guy who dared to challenge you."
From the side, Seo-rin and Elysia were unable to hold back their anger and poured out their emotions.
But I felt no irritation from Gi-seok's provocative words.
Just a slight curiosity.
"Okay. Since you want to see my skill, I'll show you."
Being flustered by such provocation was cowardly.
I knew well that a straightforward approach would be better.
'I also wanted to test how much I could fight with F-rank mana anyway.'
Besides trusting only Elysia and Seo-rin, who were being deployed in a large operation,
it would be good for me to clearly understand my own current power.
That's why Gi-seok's request for a duel was a pretty good suggestion.
Patting the two on either side lightly, I stood up.
"Good. Shall we?"
The chief nodded.
So suddenly, the duel was agreed upon.
All the people in the conference room moved to the training room.
Everyone had inner expectations for the training that was not planned in advance.
"A fight between F-rank and A-rank? Sounds fun."
"No matter what, Gi-seok is too much."
"Who knows. Maybe F-rank will hold up."
From the surroundings, they were already predicting Gi-seok's victory and murmuring about how long I would last.
Of course, I had no confidence in myself.
No self-esteem.