Cyborg-tl
"Shit," Lee Jin-hyuk muttered harshly as he got into the car.
"Shall we go?" the driver asked cautiously.
"Go," he replied in a clipped tone.
As they drove, Lee Jin-hyuk's mind replayed the events of the guild masters' meeting.
'So they're saying I started this mess by making the first move?' The irritatingly smug voice of the Blue Guild Master echoed in his mind.
'I made the first strike by sneakily recruiting Cha Soo-hyun to crush Lee Soo-ah... Is that what they're saying?'
A deep scowl formed on his face. Since recruiting Cha Soo-hyun last week, nothing had gone according to plan.
He had thought that by bringing Cha Soo-hyun into the fold and marrying her, his position as the heir would be solidified.
But the reality was far from what he had envisioned. Things were slipping away from him, further than he had ever imagined.
He wanted to establish an image of his guild as the perfect number one. That’s why he had gone to great lengths and invested heavily in Cha Soo-hyun.
And then, suddenly, this wild card—Baek Ji-hoon—had appeared, stirring up the entire pond.
'Who the hell is Baek Ji-hoon? And Cha Soo-hyun... she’s pretending not to know him, but they seem too closely connected.'
His frustration grew.
Ring, ring.
"Yes, Father. Yes, things are progressing... Yes, understood..."
His expression hardened further. His father had just given him a scathing reprimand.
"You should never assume there's something I don't know."
Chairman Lee Pan-sik of the Taeyang Group stared at his son with a piercing gaze.
"I heard Blue Guild now has four S-rank Hunters?"
There was a weight to his words that carried multiple layers of meaning.
"How did you sit still while Blue Guild moved like that?"
"Well... it’s just that..."
"You useless fool. After all the money I’ve thrown at you, you can’t even control a single guild."
"But... it's not that simple..."
"Get out. I don’t want to see your face."
Lee Jin-hyuk gritted his teeth as he left, feeling a surge of anger towards Baek Ji-hoon.
'If it weren’t for that bastard. If only he hadn’t interfered, my plan would’ve been perfect once I married Cha Soo-hyun, the top S-rank. Even Father would’ve acknowledged me.'
He had never once received praise from his father. Only the constant push to do better, to be more. This situation was driving him to the brink.
"You, do something."
"Huh...?"
"How long are you going to sit around? What’s the point of being the number one S-rank if all you do is stay home?"
Lee Jin-hyuk’s voice was sharp as he berated Cha Soo-hyun.
"Uh... I just..."
"You heard, didn’t you? Blue Guild just recruited Cha I-seul."
"What????"
The news made Cha Soo-hyun collapse into her seat.
'What? Ji-hoon oppa? In just half a day?'
Everything was happening so fast that she couldn’t keep up. She had expected things to escalate, but not this quickly.
'What is going on...? What’s happening, Ji-hoon oppa...?'
It felt almost surreal, like Baek Ji-hoon was operating in a completely different dimension.
"Hey, Cha Soo-hyun, can’t you do something? Can’t you take down the Dark Balrog by yourself?"
Lee Jin-hyuk started making unreasonable demands.
"The Dark Balrog?"
"Yeah. If you can solo it, we can use it for publicity. How else are we going to compete with a guild that has four S-rank Hunters? No guild in the world has that. Damn it!" He spat on the ground in frustration.
"How could I possibly take down the Dark Balrog by myself...?"
The regular Balrog was already a formidable challenge. The Dark Balrog was on another level entirely, and no one had ever attempted it solo. After a few S-rank Hunters were incapacitated by its status effects, no one dared to try again.
Most Hunters had settled for A-rank dungeons at best.
"Well, you have to try. Just try. If you keep at it, something might work out, right?"
His expression was terrifying, as if he was genuinely considering forcing her into the dungeon.
"No... No, I can’t..."
‘Hah...’
Tears welled up in Cha Soo-hyun’s eyes. The events of the past few moments were weighing heavily on her heart.
‘I’ve been such a fool. Ji-hoon oppa... I’m sorry... I didn’t know other men were like this...’
She was struck by how much Lee Jin-hyuk seemed to see her as nothing more than a tool.
She couldn’t help but feel a deep sense of shock.
‘Ji-hoon oppa... I’m sorry... I was such an idiot...’
Her resolve was starting to crumble.
‘Please... Just give me one more chance...’
Cha Soo-hyun was beginning to feel completely drained.
On the way home.
"Wow, hyung! Today was absolutely insane."
Hyung-seok was practically bouncing with excitement, acting like a child despite being a full-grown adult who had even completed his military service.
Could he really be that happy?
Hyung-seok looked like he was about to burst with glee.
"Man, Blue Guild is shaping up exactly how I imagined it—absolute power! I bet we could clear every dungeon now."
"Every dungeon?"
"Yep~ Until now, the world has been divided, but there are still so many unexplored dungeons out there. I think we’ll be the first to clear them all. Hahaha."
His satisfaction with today’s events was clear on his face.
"Hey!!! Ji-hoon!"
Lee Soo-ah and Yoo Hana suddenly appeared, practically clinging to me.
"Are you guys heading to a bar?"
They both looked like they wanted to tag along.
"Doesn’t Yoo Hana have a shoot today?"
"Nope, nothing today."
Her response was firm.
'Sigh. I’m sure I saw a van in the guild parking lot earlier...'
"Hyung, hyung, let’s grab some beers. It’s a day to celebrate, after all."
"Hmm. Sure, why not."
"To A-Team!"
We shouted the toast enthusiastically.
I could feel the eyes of the other patrons on us, probably because Lee Soo-ah and Yoo Hana were with us, and because I had been in the news a lot lately.
"Ahhh~ This beer tastes amazing. I guess it’s because today was such a good day."
Hyung-seok said as he slammed his glass down on the table.
Bang!
"Well, this beer tastes bitter to me. What’s wrong with it?"
Lee Soo-ah also slammed her glass down, almost breaking it.
"Phew... I’ll pass. I have a shoot tomorrow..."
Yoo Hana’s voice was soft and somber.
"Hey, Soo-ah, aren’t you happy? We just recruited Cha I-seul! Can you imagine the chaos this is causing in the Hunter industry? Do you know how many texts I got today?"
Hyung-seok waved his smartphone, beaming.
"Hyung-seok, can you read the room for once?"
Lee Soo-ah shot him a glare.
"Ji-hoon... But... You’re not planning to recruit more... are you?"
Her voice was laced with pleading, her eyes wide like a kitten’s.
"I am. This is just the beginning."
I replied firmly.
"Oh..."
She let out a sigh that seemed to drain the life from her.
"So... will you stop once you’ve filled the position of Division 6 Head...? Right...?"
There was a hint of hope in her voice, a desperate need for reassurance.
"Nope. I’m going to gather them all."
"Ah."
A deep, despairing groan escaped from her.
"Why? Ji-hoon, can’t it just be the two of us in the guild? Yoo Hana can go back to being an actress."
"Excuse me? Are you attacking me right now, Soo-ah? How ridiculous."
Yoo Hana glared back at her.
"Hah. Yoo Hana, why did you quit being an actress to come here, anyway?"
"I didn’t quit. I’m still going to be on TV tomorrow, and I’ve got a new drama coming up."
"Why didn’t you just stick with that, then?"
Soo-ah grumbled.
"Soo-ah, whether I’m here or not, I don’t think things would’ve gone the way you wanted, so stop trying to blame me for everything."
Yoo Hana’s voice was cold.
"Hey, look at that."
On the large TV mounted on the wall, Yoo Hana’s face appeared. It was a scene from a drama she had filmed last week, airing this week.
"Wow. Isn’t that show doing pretty well in the ratings, Yoo Hana?"
Hyung-seok asked with a wide grin.
"Yes, it is. And it’s only going to get better from here."
We all turned to watch the TV.
"Jin-seok..."
The scene where Yoo Hana’s character expressed deep regret began to play. Instantly, the entire pub’s attention was glued to the screen. The atmosphere was so tense that no one even dared to breathe, just like the crew on set had been when filming it.