Minsu's Refusal
The area in front of the Ashen Canyon Dungeon was still a total mess.
Beyond the police barricades, camera flashes popped relentlessly, and guild scouts shoved each other to stake out their positions.
I rubbed the back of my hand, still smeared with nosebleed, and staggered out.
Fresh air rushed in, and the ringing in my ears faded a little.
But my breathing still wouldn't settle.
The man at the front stood out right away from his name tag.
Taesung Guild Scout Headquarters Director, Park Jinwoo.
Black-suited bodyguards flanked him, and the moment he spotted me, he bowed at an excessively polite angle.
Flashes from the reporters beyond the barricade exploded in sequence, and every time a heel ground gravel into the dirt, it made a faint crunch.
The sight made me instinctively hunch my shoulders.
Even though it was just a guy in a suit approaching, the memory of a monster choking me inside the dungeon hit first.
"Hunter Kang Minsu, this is Taesung Guild. We're not too late."
Why do these people always rush over so fast?
I reflexively took a step back.
My body had already collapsed once inside the dungeon.
Just standing now made my legs shake—if they started talking guilds and contracts again, I really might hit the ground.
"We saw it on the news. The boss stopped on its own, right? Incredible."
Park Jinwoo said with a smile.
His face said he'd already heard my answer—and decided it for himself.
"We'll match any conditions. You can name your price first."
My throat went bone-dry.
A blank check should feel like a win, but I couldn't muster any joy.
The second I took that huge sum, my true F-class self would be exposed.
It wasn't the money—it was that single digit strangling my lifeline.
All I had was nosebleed, exhaustion, and the urge to bolt right now, but this guy looked ready to package it all up for some premium price.
"U-um, excuse me."
I forced the words out, clenching my fists tight.
The dust and blood on my palms felt even stickier.
Every deep breath seemed to drag in the dungeon's damp stench and metallic tang, so I kept my inhales short and shallow.
"I really don't know how to fight. I'm not guild material."
Park Jinwoo blinked for a moment.
Not surprise—more like he was rephrasing my words into something else entirely.
Someone beyond the barricade lifted their head at my refusal; another already eyed me like they were picking their next headline.
'He's holding that stance to the end.'
'Money, justification, pressure—none of it works. That's not humility; that's him choosing his options.'
I had no clue about their inner thoughts.
I just felt my lips stiffen and my breath shorten.
Park Jinwoo didn't stare at my face long.
Instead, he scanned the dungeon entrance behind me, the reporters, and the reactions from the crowd farther out.
"I-I have to cover a shift at the convenience store too."
I tacked it on like someone in a hurry.
I knew it sounded weird, but it was the safest excuse my fried brain could muster.
Guilds and paychecks could wait—tonight's hourly wage was urgent.
"If I miss today, the store manager will chew me out. So no contracts, really."
"Haha."
Park Jinwoo let out a short laugh.
He took it not as refusal, but as me drawing a line.
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While the chat flooded, the air around me grew heavy again.
Tens of thousands of eyes converging made my breaths shallow and ears ring.
Even in that brief moment, my expression must've looked intimidating—reporters in the front row stepped back in unison.
Park Jinwoo's shoulders tensed slowly.
His bodyguards mirrored it.
A tense silence spread thin across the ground, like no one dared move first.
'This isn't just a refusal.'
'Pushing in that state could put us at risk.'
Park Jinwoo drew a careful breath.
He opened his mouth even more cautiously this time.
"We'll stop here for today. But could I at least ask for a handshake?"
My whole body froze at that.
My hands were a mess—cold sweat, nosebleed stains, grit from the rocks.
Gripping his pristine suit sleeve with that? Way too embarrassing.
'No way. It's filthy.'
I instinctively hid my hands behind my back.
And shook my head like crazy.
"N-no! No handshake. Please, just go!"
My voice came out almost a scream.
I shoved my hands harder behind me, then realized it looked too obvious and quickly dropped my shoulders.
I was terrified even a drop of blood might smear his suit cuff.
To anyone watching, it didn't look like I was dodging dirt—it looked like touching me would spell disaster.
Park Jinwoo's hand hung in midair.
Reporters and guild staff swallowed in sync.
Taesung Guild's top director had his handshake rejected flat-out in front of everyone.
Some gawked back and forth between us, mouths agape; others froze mid-note, just holding their breath.
But only Baek Sihyun looked elsewhere.
'Handshake refused.'
Baek Sihyun eyed the hand Minsu hid behind his back.
His body brimmed with unidentified pressure—prolonged contact might injure the other party, she judged.
Not fearful evasion, but control to avert danger.
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The chat raced off in the same direction again.
I didn't even have time to read it.
People twisted my refusal into praise so fast it made my stomach churn.
No matter what I said, the conclusion felt set in stone.
Park Jinwoo slowly withdrew his hand.
Sweat beaded on his forehead.
He exhaled shortly, fiddled with his tie knot.
His solid shoulders sagged just a fraction.
'I was too hasty.'
'Drawing that hard a line means something.'
He stepped back and bowed deeply.
"I understand your will, Hunter Kang. We'll withdraw for today."
"No, really, please just leave."
I screamed it in my head.
He headed to the car with his guards, ignoring my reply.
As the black sedan revved, flashes poured toward it.
Even the dull thud of the window sealing shut rang unnaturally loud.
Park Jinwoo pulled out his phone the second he sat, his hand trembling faintly.
I stood dazed, watching the car pull away.
I'd just dodged a handshake over dirty hands—why did he look like he'd been through hell?
And why were the reporters chasing the car, holding their breaths?
I hadn't yet grasped how much heavier my offhand escape quip had landed.
"Perfectly dominated."
Baek Sihyun's low voice dropped beside me.
I turned.
She alternated glances between my hand and the direction Park Jinwoo left, eyes narrowed in near-certainty.
"Allowing contact in that state would've escalated things further."
"Huh? I just..."
"No need to hide it anymore."
Baek Sihyun stepped closer.
Her gaze locked precisely on my hidden hand.
"You pushed him away on purpose—to prevent danger."
A few nearby reporters paused, staring our way.
Some nodded like they agreed with her.
I opened my mouth, then shut it.
My attempt to flee had twisted into yet another act of consideration in their eyes.
At the same time, inside Taesung Guild's black sedan.
Park Jinwoo loosened his tie and dialed.
The car was silent, but the guards' grips on the handles stayed rigid.
"Master, a blank check isn't enough."
His voice shook.
"I saw him myself. He doesn't move for money."
"We need to rework the terms. No—'terms' is the wrong word from the start."
A brief silence flowed from the receiver.
"Prepare it as the one and only in the world."
I had no idea he'd already reframed my refusal into something else.
All I felt was the black car fading ahead... and Baek Sihyun's gaze lingering behind me, growing heavier.
And the murmurs rippling through the reporters, swelling like I'd deliberately shaken the board.