ALL NOVEL Chapter 278
Chapter 278. Bad Connection (2)
Chilla flailed her short arms and shouted.
“Chirp! Oh my goodness!”
Thanks to the news of the terror attack on Kim Si-hu, the members of Yoo Ji-han’s party were also informed.
Lee Mi-a muttered with a very serious face.
“Did that really happen?”
“Was the magic strong enough that you couldn’t handle it?”
“It was a magic specifically designed to target me as a mage. This is not something possible with ordinary determination.”
Kim Si-hu gritted his teeth at Jung Young-wook, who had attacked him.
The explosion of the delivery box had a significant impact, so the Hero Department had contacted him first.
Feeling the betrayal from someone who was once a close friend enough to go on expeditions together…
Yoo Ji-han also felt he could understand a bit how Kim Hyun-tae felt when he was discarded from the party.
‘But this is way too sudden.’
In Yoo Ji-han’s memory, Jung Young-wook was quite the outstanding mage.
During the brief time they worked together for the promotion exam, they had achieved victory in sparring through cooperation.
Among mages of his rank, hardly anyone could catch up to him.
Not that he matched Kim Si-hu, of course.
“What do you want to do?”
“We either subdue him or kill him.”
“…”
At the fierce words about killing someone who was once a friend,
Yoo Ji-han nodded heavily.
If left unchecked, there could be other victims.
Knock knock.
Just then, someone knocked on the door of the guild office, drawing everyone’s attention.
The person entering was Fran Fager, the dwarf from the Sky Shelter.
“Uh… brothers? Did I do something wrong?”
He was already tense, and upon seeing the unusual atmosphere of Yoo Ji-han’s party, he stopped in his tracks.
Seeing him look around cautiously, Kim Si-hu smirked and laughed.
“That’s impossible. Come in quickly!”
“Yes! Then excuse me.”
Bowing at a 90-degree angle in greeting, Fran walked over to Kim Si-hu’s side.
“Do you know why you were called today?”
“Yes, yes! It is my honor that you would take me…!”
“This is your contract.”
Soon to graduate from Hero Academy, Fran looked at the electronic contract Kim Si-hu had prepared on his tablet.
Seeing a real hero’s contract for the first time, Fran’s eyes widened.
“Take your time reading it.”
The words of the instructors who had given him advice on contracts while at Hero Academy came rushing back to him.
Fran shook his head vigorously.
“I don’t need to read something like a contract! I’ve always been with you…!”
“You’re saying you won’t read the contract?”
“This guy is really asking for trouble.”
“Chirp! A sucker has come to our guild!”
—Uheehee! A sucker!
“A, a sucker?!”
“I’ll call you a sucker from now on! Chirp!”
Having quickly earned the nickname from Chilla and the Sylph, Fran was quite flustered.
When Yoo Ji-han encouraged him to read the contract again, Fran reluctantly began to read the sentences.
And when he reached the sections about salary and incentives, his eyes went wide.
“Huh? This is…”
The salary paid to new heroes by the large guilds in Korea, like Red Hole or Dice, was well-known among aspiring heroes.
It was quite common to negotiate based on comparisons when signing contracts with guilds that weren’t particularly large.
‘A base salary of 200 million, and the performance bonus conditions are outstanding.’
However, the amount written in this contract exceeded the average paid to Rank 5 Heroes.
Unless he was an exceptional talent who stood out significantly at Hero Academy.
Fran was just an average student with decent grades.
Even a large guild wouldn’t offer such conditions to a candidate with mediocre rankings.
“C-can I really sign a contract with such favorable conditions?”
“It means we don’t want you leaving for another guild later.”
“Tah-heuk! Si-hu brother…!”
With tears welling in his eyes, Fran signed the contract without looking back.
“Chirp! Welcome, sucker!”
“It’s an honor! Brother Chilla!”
—Will you do well from now on? Huh?
“Thank you! Brother Sylph!”
Fran bowed repeatedly in gratitude to the humans, chinchillas, and spirits without discrimination.
Yoo Ji-han, who had been quietly watching, said,
“Now it’s time to give you a welcome gift.”
“Pardon? A gift, you say?”
“Come sit here.”
As Yoo Ji-han seated Fran in a chair and rummaged in his pocket,
the item he pulled out was the Dimension Phone.
“What is that?”
“Just watch.”
Ding! Ding!
As he pressed the buttons on the Dimension Phone, a static-like noise came through.
And a moment later.
—C-can I talk now?
A heavy voice of a middle-aged man came through the phone.
“Yes. You may speak now.”
—…Fran. Are you there?
The gradually trembling voice called out to Fran.
A strange yet somehow nostalgic voice.
Noticing something, Fran replied with a shaky voice.
“Ji-han brother… What is going on?”
“Think of it as a communication tool linked to Kallem.”
“…!”
“What are you waiting for? You won’t say hello to your father after such a long time?”
Realizing that his father was on the other end of the line, Fran’s eyes widened.
“…Father?”
—…Yes.
“Is it really you, Father?”
—I’m the only one left after everyone else took off. Are you happy now?
Gadan Fager mentioned the incident when Fran had unceremoniously left home.
Realizing that the other party was indeed his father, Fran bowed his head deeply.
“I always asked to leave together, but you said you didn’t want to.”
—Then why did you leave without saying a word?
“I heard you refused to go to Earth with me again.”
—Things have improved in Kallem now. Thanks to everyone by your side.
“…”
—So, Fran, make sure you eat properly…
“Father, you are always eating hard bread…”
—I don’t eat that garbage anymore…
Gadan and Fran Fager conversed about the years that had piled up between them.
The Yoo Ji-han party listened happily to their exchange.
*
After finishing the call, Fran Fager knelt and bowed to Yoo Ji-han.
“Thank you, brother! You are my benefactor!”
“Don’t overdo it. Just ask if you want to talk to your father again.”
“Yes!”
Looking up at Yoo Ji-han, Fran’s eyes sparkled.
He looked like he was staring at his idol.
“What about Fran’s party members?”
“Yoo Ri-noona, I’m fine doing this alone!”
Fran had been active alone until the party members were officially added.
Guild Master Kim Si-hu promised to help him secure more members.
“Your equipment will be made by Nam Ho-yeol from our workshop.”
“Ooh…!”
“I’ll introduce you to the guild members, so be sure to greet them properly.”
“Yes!”
Knock knock.
Just then, the sound of knocking returned to the office door.
This time, the person who entered was none other than Lee Hyun-jae, who had just left Keroes.
He brought a drink as a gift and was grinning.
“Come on in.”
“Hehe, I have nowhere else to go now. Ji-han…”
“Have you completely cut ties with Keroes?”
“I’ve finished the things regarding the shares as well.”
“Then let’s get right to signing the contract.”
The contract with Lee Hyun-jae, after discussing the terms over the phone, was signed in no time.
Yoo Ji-han handed Fran to him.
“This is our fresh new recruit.”
“Ah, nice to meet you! I’m Fran Fager!”
“Oh? A dwarf, huh?”
“That’s right!”
With a look of interest, Lee Hyun-jae thoroughly inspected Fran.
As he touched Fran’s solid shins, he remarked.
“Your physical condition is good! A bit short, but you look sturdy with good strong bones.”
“Thank you!”
“I’d like you to take charge of training along with scouting for new guild members moving forward.”
Even with considerable capabilities in hero management and training,
Lee Hyun-jae had less opportunity for hands-on work while in a managerial position at Keroes.
Yoo Ji-han tasked him with duties that would satisfy that desire.
“Training! The training of a fresh recruit…! Ji-han, did you know?”
“About what?”
“Training is a word I really like.”
Slurp!
Feeling that he could finally fulfill the pent-up desire from his previous job,
Lee Hyun-jae licked his lips like a predator staring at its prey.
Before long, Fran, who had his shoulder grabbed by Lee Hyun-jae, stiffened up with tension.
‘It seems Fran will be left in the capable hands of Hyun-jae for the time being.’
He had expected Hyun-jae to act like that.
Fran would soon realize how reassuring it was to have someone trustworthy nearby.
“And Ji-han, earlier the expedition accounting money and rewards from Kallem came into the guild account.”
“Really? How much is it all together?”
“About 17 billion? This includes the movie compensation and all the monster corpses that Saim disposed of.”
The guild’s account saw an influx of over 17 billion in cash alone.
If you combined that with various raw materials stored in the guild and items brought from the other world,
the amount would be incredibly hard to measure.
“Are we rich now?”
“Seems so. We’ve become wealthy all of a sudden.”
It felt just like yesterday when they were amazed at seeing 1.6 billion.
Now, ten times that amount sat in the guild’s account.
Achieved without any outside investments or doing any business!
You’d be hard-pressed to find a guild with such growth worldwide.
“It’s a good opportunity to give out gifts to those around us.”
“I’ll prepare that.”
“How’s the investigation on Grudia going?”
“Oh, soon Miley noona will come and help us.”
Miley, the elf from Grudia,
had promised to help locate Sian Pierce at Kim Si-hu’s request.
Since she was a person who actually moved from Grudia to Earth, they could acquire essential clues.
*
“Hyun-jae! Which guild was the first one to write you a letter of recommendation for us?”
“Sharpshooter Guild. I’ll take the gifts there myself.”
“I’ll send one to each guild that participated in the expedition…”
Joy should be shared with others.
The first thing they did with their abundant guild funds was purchase gifts.
Gifts were sent out even to guilds overseas via airplane.
Yoo Ji-han picked a few of them to visit the Hero Department.
“Oh my, what’s all this…?”
Yang Ji-cheol was overjoyed upon receiving the gifts.
More than the value of the relatively expensive gifts, he felt happy that the guild he had painstakingly dug out at the Giant Monster hunting grounds had grown enough to afford such generosity.
Next, Yoo Ji-han visited the lab where Jerry and Adem stayed.
“Wow! Honey!”
“Don’t cling to me.”
“Eee! It’s been a while!”
Yoo Ji-han roughly pushed away Jerry, who was throwing herself at him.
After shoving her off again, he handed a gift to Adem first.
“Thanks to you, the dimension transfer went smoothly.”
“I’m glad I could help.”
Adem received the gift with a smile.
Among the reasons why Kim Si-hu’s dimensional magic was superior was the close collaboration of the two from Ajesia.
“Me too! Give me a gift!”
“Here you go.”
“Not this! Just give me a kiss once!”
—Perverted girl! Stay away from Ji-han!
“Shut up! Spirit!”
As the Sylph and Jerry squabbled with each other,
Yoo Ji-han said, “Do you remember Jung Young-wook?”
“The guy who was held hostage by Rius?”
“An incompetent guy who got into trouble because he acted out without skills! He suddenly disappeared last time, right?”
“That guy set an explosive magic in a delivery box to try to kill Kim Si-hu.”
When the conversation suddenly turned heavy,
the expression of Jerry, who had been scolding Yoo Ji-han, subtly changed.
“Is there no magic in Ajesia that can find missing people…?”
“None of that kind.”
“Just as I expected.”
Yoo Ji-han promptly dismissed his hope, having expected the answer.
But just then, Jerry muttered with a pained expression.
“Oh, could it be… that he changed back then?”