ALL NOVEL Chapter 275
Chapter 275. Relationship (4)
Headquarters of Keroes Guild.
Today, the step of Lee Hyun-jae, the head of the management department heading to the guild, felt particularly light.
He even hummed a cheerful tune to the music he was fond of.
“Hmm-hmm.”
With steps that seemed like he would fly, he passed through the building’s automatic door and reached his office.
He sat down in his usual office chair and took out his laptop.
Tatatatatata!
The sound of him typing was a lively one.
Seeing him from a distance, the subordinate employees approached him.
However, unlike Lee Hyun-jae, whose face radiated ease, they looked tense and stiff.
“Um… Team Leader?”
“Yeah?”
“Is it true that you’re leaving the guild?”
“Of course, it’s true! Do you think I would lie to you?”
Lee Hyun-jae himself mentioned quitting.
After meeting Lee Mi-a and talking with Yoo Ji-han and Kim Si-hu, he had made up his mind.
As it became certain that he would leave Keroes, the subordinates looked at each other nervously.
“Why on earth is the team leader, who even has shares in the guild, leaving…?”
“C-could it be that the Guild Master is abandoning you?”
“Hold your speculations. I’m voluntarily leaving. I decided to settle all the shares I had in Keroes when I go.”
“We can’t possibly understand the team leader’s decision!”
From when Keroes was a hole-in-the-wall shop to becoming a mid-sized guild.
Lee Hyun-jae had invested countless efforts and time to grow the guild.
That’s why his subordinates couldn’t grasp his reasoning.
After years of hard work, Keroes had finally borne the sweet fruit called Kim Hyun-tae’s Party.
Now, the one who could fully enjoy the benefits of that fruit was leaving.
“How much do you know about Kim Hyun-tae’s Party?”
“Well, we know them well since they are our heroes.”
“Why are you asking that?”
As employees in the department managing heroes, how could they not know the core heroes of the guild?
After their expedition to another world, Kim Hyun-tae’s Party successfully contacted Lee Hyun-jae through the Dimension Phone.
There wouldn’t be any of Keroes’ staff who were not aware of them.
But Lee Hyun-jae shook his head at his subordinates’ responses.
“No. You don’t really know them.”
“Excuse me?”
“You’re not the only ones. I don’t know them either. Can you believe that the team leader managing the hero guild doesn’t even know his own heroes?”
“Hey, come on, that’s just…”
“If the team leader doesn’t know, then who does?”
His subordinates treated Lee Hyun-jae’s words as a joke.
Yet, he was not joking at all.
Before Kim Hyun-tae left for another world, Lee Hyun-jae had never had a heart-to-heart conversation with him, the core hero of Keroes.
‘After Ji-han became a major celebrity, that made it even harder.’
After Yoo Ji-han, who had been Kim Hyun-tae’s supporter, was expelled from the party and the guild.
After he settled into a new nest and made many achievements.
Hero Kim Hyun-tae started to distance himself from the management department more and more.
——I hear Hyun-jae helped Yoo Ji-han?
——Is it true that Hyun-jae is the one who got Mi-a involved in Sweet Fun?
Particularly after Kim Hyun-tae found out that Lee Hyun-jae had often supported Sweet Fun behind the scenes, things turned sour.
Ever since then, Kim Hyun-tae looked at Lee Hyun-jae with the wary eyes of someone watching a foe.
From that point on, direct communication with Kim Hyun-tae had become almost impossible.
He could only hear updates through his party members, the tanker Hwang Joon-ho, and the mage Lim Si-yeon.
‘What kind of management is this?’
A unique situation where a guild’s core hero refuses to be managed.
Yet, the Guild Master Park Joong-seob was in a position to support Kim Hyun-tae, saying there was no problem.
——Looks like your workload has decreased. Don’t work overtime anymore. Be a role model for your subordinates.
In fact, Park Joong-seob’s congratulatory attitude regarding the reduction of work was not the ideal image Lee Hyun-jae had hoped for in a Guild Master.
He felt that the rewarding and meaningful moments he shared during times when Keroes was getting pushed around by other guilds were far superior to the current scale of the guild.
“I don’t know who will be the team leader after me, but I can already tell they’ll have a rough time.”
“No, Team Leader…”
“The handover documents are mostly settled, so check them once I send them over.”
Lee Hyun-jae’s decision was unwavering.
Ultimately, the subordinates who followed him nodded their heads with sorrowful expressions.
“I’ll be back in a moment.”
Taking the elevator up to the president’s office, Lee Hyun-jae knocked on the closed door.
Upon being granted permission and stepping inside, he saw Guild Master Park Joong-seob, who was always sitting in his executive chair.
The unusual thing today was that he was glaring at Lee Hyun-jae.
“Are you serious?”
Smack!
Park Joong-seob slammed his laptop shut.
It was quite rare for him to act like this, given that he always focused solely on his work during business hours.
That was how emotionally charged Park Joong-seob was about the departure of Lee Hyun-jae, a founding member of the guild.
“A guy who was so dedicated to the guild’s development is just going to throw Keroes away?”
“Yes. I will be leaving.”
“How dare you do this to me!!”
Clenching his fist tightly, Park Joong-seob was furious.
Although they weren’t blood-related, they once considered each other like brothers.
While their relationship had gradually shaken due to various disagreements over Keroes’ management style, the idea of splitting completely in such a large guild was something they had never imagined.
“Let’s hear it. Where are you planning to go after leaving here?”
“To a place the Guild Master is familiar with.”
“A familiar place?”
“I’m going to Sweet Fun, where Yoo Ji-han is.”
“…!”
As soon as Lee Hyun-jae mentioned Yoo Ji-han’s name, Park Joong-seob clenched his teeth.
The hero who had successfully returned from Kallem and was currently enjoying a rising reputation.
A man whom Rank 1 heroes praised without reserve.
The situation he had assumed would never happen had now turned into reality, considering Lee Hyun-jae’s ties with Yoo Ji-han.
“You’re telling me you’re going to a place like that instead of sticking with Keroes?”
But for Park Joong-seob, who had underestimated Yoo Ji-han and expelled him from the guild.
He couldn’t acknowledge that Yoo Ji-han was rising in stock.
In Park Joong-seob’s mind, Yoo Ji-han was still one of the clumsy heroes.
Meanwhile, knowing who Yoo Ji-han had become, Lee Hyun-jae responded calmly.
“Sweet Fun will grow into a guild that surpasses Keroes.”
“You’re making quite the amusing joke.”
“No? I’m being serious.”
“…!”
“I will actively assist from the sidelines.”
Accumulated know-how gained from being involved in Keroes’ management, at Park Joong-seob’s request.
Connections, big and small, that he had built in the hero market up until now.
If one viewed the guild as a colossal machine, Lee Hyun-jae was one of its essential components that could not be removed.
Even Guild Master Park Joong-seob knew the important role he played in the guild.
“You betrayer!”
“That’s a bit excessive, don’t you think?”
“The shares of the guild…”
“As you know, I have investors who had stuck to me for a long time.”
Now that Keroes has stabilized, thanks to the contracts made during its establishment, Lee Hyun-jae was in a position to transfer shares to outsiders as he pleased.
When the precious shares of the guild came up, Park Joong-seob glared firmly at Lee Hyun-jae.
“If you want, Guild Master, you can take them all. I’ll sell them to you for a price lower than whatever outsiders are willing to pay.”
Having already set his heart on leaving Keroes, Lee Hyun-jae did not flinch under Park Joong-seob’s sharp gaze.
He already had a new nest prepared.
*
It was a few days after Yoon Do-ha’s contact that Lee Ji-han received a direct request for conversation from Yoo Ji-han at the Angels Garden guild in England.
Yoo Ji-han, leading the party members except for Min Yu-ri, who was resting, entered the meeting room of Dice for a video call with them.
—This is Clark Hill, the Guild Master of Angels Garden.
“This is Yoo Ji-han from Sweet Fun. Is the translator working well?”
—Yes. No problem.
The ones wearing the translator nodded for smooth communication.
Then followed the introductions of those participating in the meeting.
Listening to the names of foreign individuals that were hard to remember, Yoo Ji-han thought.
‘Is it usual for them to go this far?’
The other party was a major guild in England.
Even in comparison to Korea’s Red Hole or Dice, they boasted a scale that was nothing to scoff at.
When it came to fame, there was hardly any Korean guild that could match Angels Garden.
Yet, they started off by bowing deeply or greeting him in Korean, displaying an attitude of deference from the very beginning.
‘That must mean they’re in a rush.’
The uncertainty regarding Sian Pierce’s whereabouts must have been a huge anxiety for Angels Garden.
Once the last participant’s introduction was complete, Yoo Ji-han spoke.
“I heard you sought us out first.”
—That’s correct. We’re also considering visiting Korea directly.
“May I ask the purpose?”
A question to clarify what he already knew.
It was a step to reconfirm the intentions of the other party.
Exchanging glances, Guild Master Clark Hill said.
—Are you aware that the Hero Department and Angels Garden’s hero, Sian Pierce, have lost contact with each other?
“I’m aware. I had a conversation with him before he left for another world, so it’s quite unfortunate.”
—We’d like to enlist your wisdom to help us find Sian.
Yoo Ji-han pretended to think while stroking his chin, examining Clark’s face.
Like a guild master of a major guild, he had a trustworthy demeanor.
However, the tension he felt resonated with Yoo Ji-han.
—Can you help us?
Yoo Ji-han exchanged glances with Kim Si-hu before speaking.
“I have a few methods in mind.”
—R-really?!
At the hopeful response, the faces of the Angels Garden members brightened momentarily.
—Any method will do, so please…
“However, there is a condition.”
—If it’s money, we can prepare whatever amount you need.
Angels Garden was willing to spend heavily to find Sian’s whereabouts.
But Yoo Ji-han shook his head.
“I don’t need money.”
—Then what do you need?
“I know the treasury of Angels Garden holds many valuable treasures.”
—Are you asking for treasure?
“Just two of them. If you hand them over, I’ll actively help you.”
Yoo Ji-han was requesting access to Angels Garden’s treasury.
Clark, asking for a moment, muted the microphone for the video call and discussed it with his guild members.
—Do you have any specific treasures in mind?
Soon after hearing the desired response from Angels Garden, Yoo Ji-han smiled inwardly.
“First, I would like an elixir that’s very effective for restoring health.”
—Restoring health, you say?
“Please consider a scenario where the user of the elixir is in a comatose state for several years, making their health severely weakened, and they shouldn’t suffer any side effects.”
Angels Garden, having received national approval, was a guild that raised monsters in a large garden, both producing and manufacturing elixirs like they were grazing cows.
Even with complex conditions, it shouldn’t be difficult to obtain usable elixirs.
It would be very suitable to give to Min Yu-ri’s younger brother, who couldn’t break the curse this time around.
—We can set that aside, and if time permits, we can surely procure it. What’s the second request?
“Please give me the special paper stored in Angels Garden’s treasury.”
—Huh? Paper, you say?
“I’m talking about the paper that can’t be torn even with the sharpest blade, and it doesn’t burn under the flames or Sian Pierce’s unique skill.”
—…Did Yoon Do-ha tell you about that information?
“I can’t disclose the source of my information.”
Clark was silent at Yoo Ji-han’s second request.
And understandably so, as the special paper being stored by Angels Garden was a treasure that Sian had instructed them not to dispose of or touch without his permission.
——One day, I will definitely burn that!
The paper that ignited Sian’s challenge.
Even with the Guild Master’s authority, some treasures like that paper stored in the treasury couldn’t be retrieved without Sian’s consent.
But practically, that paper offered no real use.
If he could discern Sian’s whereabouts from something so trivial…
That would be quite a reasonable trade.
—I will agree.
Ultimately, Angels Garden accepted both requests.
‘Now that’s what I’d like to hear.’
Yoo Ji-han clenched his invisible fists under the desk.