NOVEL WEB Chapter 16
“Ugh, what the hell!! Seriously!! Baek Jihoon!! Are you really not going to contact me? When will you contact me?!!!”
Chae Suhyeon returned home, shouting at her smartphone.
She was quite frustrated about not hearing from him even after spending about three hours shopping.
“What the hell? This guy? He used to pick up right away when I called? Why? No, how come…??”
She was biting her lip as if she were about to smash the smartphone resting in her palm.
“Ah, I see. Baek Jihoon. So this is how you want to play it?”
“Yeah, right. If that’s the case, I’ll make your life hell too.”
“I was just going to end it with a blacklist, but you’re making it impossible.”
Chae Suhyeon initially intended to merely obstruct Baek Jihoon’s path. At least, she didn’t want him to become a hindrance in her own life.
However, after discovering about the point recovery, her thoughts had become complicated.
“You’re doing this on purpose, aren’t you?”
“You’re trying to mess with me, right? Ha. Baek Jihoon, what good are those points? Seriously, a guy acting so pathetic?”
She was getting angry while looking at the saved photo of Baek Jihoon on her smartphone.
“Seriously. Ha… I’m going to lose my mind.”
“Are you trying to shake me by grabbing my lifeline or something?”
“Are you seriously a crazy bastard?”
A plethora of diverse thoughts raced through her mind.
Just when she thought her plan was perfectly flawless, a significant hole had opened up.
[Point Retrieval]
She never even thought it would be possible.
“Oppa. Is it possible to take them back?”
“Oh, that’s not allowed? Really? Are you sure it can’t be done?”
“But what if we break up later? What if you just take them all?”
“Uhm… There’s no way that would happen? Definitely not? You can’t take them at all?”
“Really? Okay. I’ll make sure to enjoy it.”
Past conversations flashed through her mind.
“Seriously. You can’t trust guys’ words.”
“They just make all kinds of promises when they’re in a good mood.”
“What? You can’t retrieve it? What do you mean you can’t? That’s such bullshit!!! You bastard!!!”
She expressed her anger with fervor.
“Hey. Baek Jihoon. I’m really giving you 6 hours. If I don’t hear from you before the end of today, I swear!!! I’ll bust into your house!!!”
She muttered to herself, shaking with frustration.
*
“Hey, Senior. Have you finished everything?”
“Yeah.”
On my way home, I ran into Hyungseok.
“How was your day? It was your first day, right? Afterall, you didn’t come to the office yesterday.”
He had a very curious expression about how it went. After all, he had previously pushed me into this role, so it was only natural that he would be concerned.
“Um, well. In the morning, I just looked around the building and the organization… In the afternoon, I listened to my mentor talk about various things…”
“So, nothing too special then.”
“Yeah. But about Hunter Lee Sooah…”
“Yes?”
“Why does she keep calling me over?”
“Huh?”
Hyungseok looked confused. “What do you mean?”
“I just have this feeling she keeps calling me over. But when I get there, she doesn’t really say much. I don’t get it. Did I do something wrong?”
Honestly, I felt a bit pricked by that. I had removed a status ailment without receiving consent from the other party.
Some people might not think it was wrong, but to me, it felt rude.
Like saying, “Oh, you look sick. Here, take this cold medicine,” and then forcing it on someone. It doesn’t make sense, no matter how good the intentions are.
“Ha. Did I do something unnecessary? She wouldn’t blame me later, would she?”
“Mr. Baek Jihoon, I understand you meant well. But isn’t it a bit too much to do it without even asking?”
“And besides, is it okay to peek at someone else’s status window like that? It’s personal information, isn’t it? Just because it’s a feature doesn’t mean you can use it freely.”
“Ha.. I’m really disappointed. Do you know how I feel right now? I feel like I’ve just been molested.”
“From now on, don’t ever do that again. I’ll handle my own pain, thank you very much.”
“Ugh, seriously.”
A vision of Lee Sooah pouting in annoyance came to mind. She would definitely be the type to scold me while dressed in her office attire.
According to what the team members explained to me, that’s exactly how she would speak.
She was completely professional, placing great importance on established rules. Plus, she genuinely loved her team.
“I should have just asked first. Things would have been better that way.”
It was definitely the influence of alcohol. The atmosphere at the drinking party was very pleasant too. And… I think I was a little intoxicated with the hero complex.
After all, having saved the entire team from the brink of death probably made me a bit elated…
“Lee Sooah Hunter called you out? My senior? Several times?” Hyungseok looked completely bewildered and shook his head.
“That can’t be right. Hmm? That’s never happened…”
“Well, it’s not that it’s bad. It’s just that since it’s my first time in a guild, I was wondering if this is normal,” Baek Jihoon said.
“There might be places like that, but not in our Team A. Plus, Hunter Lee Sooah is usually really intimidating. People can die in dungeons, you know? And she’s very thorough with her work,” Hyungseok replied, still looking puzzled.
“You didn’t tell me everything, right? You didn’t mess up at the dinner last night or anything, did you?”
“Huh…?”
When he mentioned a mistake, I hesitated, wondering if removing the status ailment was a mistake.
“Did you, by any chance, get carried away because you were smitten with Hunter Lee Sooah?”
“Hey, how can you say ‘smitten’ about your senior? And absolutely not! Do you think I’m some teenager who gets turned on that easily?”
As I said that, I felt a little guilty.
“Then why would anything happen if you didn’t mess up at the party?”
“Well, I don’t know…”
“What did she say when she got angry? She must have scolded you for something, right?”
“Huh? What do you mean scolded? It felt like she was just asking pointless questions and going in circles.”
“W-what…???”
He seemed more surprised that Lee Sooah didn’t scold me than by the fact that she had called me out multiple times.
Hyungseok always assumed that when Lee Sooah called someone, it was for something bad.
“No, I’m not saying she called me to scold me! What the hell are you talking about?”
Suddenly, he seemed intrigued and stopped in his tracks.
“No, we’re talking about Hunter Lee Sooah here. There’s a saying that if she calls you, you should be cautious. If you’re called three times, you might end up with your neck on the line…”
He looked horrified and gestured across his neck.
“So, Team A is nicknamed ‘Life 3.’ If you get called three times, you’re done for.”
“Hmm…? I think I’ve been called at least five times today…”
Roughly counting, that seemed correct. He had been called a few more times while being trained in various things by Assistant Manager Park.
It seemed that the odd reactions from my team members were related to that. He felt that every time he was called, all team members were looking in his direction.
‘At this rate, I should have died twice today alone.’
‘Could it be that she noticed I resolved the status ailments…? So she’s testing me…?’
“Senior, could it be that Hunter Lee Sooah likes you? It kind of seems like she has a crush on you…?”
“Huh? Heh, what are you talking about?”
His reaction made me laugh out loud.
It was such an absurd idea.
It had only been about 24 hours since we first met. Plus, we hadn’t done anything noteworthy.
We had only met at the guild—or rather, the company.
‘No way.’
If anything, Lee Sooah seemed a bit upset that I removed her status ailments without her consent.
“Hmm… It’s clear that…”
“No, come on. Does that make sense? I just met her yesterday. We haven’t done anything. And besides, is Hunter Lee Sooah really that type of person?”
He clearly set boundaries.
“That might be true.”
Lee Sooah was well-known for having emotional walls as strong as a fortress.
Even when she was a media sensation from the start, she didn’t react much to attention or show much response to others.
Her image was that of a professional, stubborn workaholic.
“It’s strange. This is the first time I’ve seen Hunter Lee Sooah act like this since I joined this guild. She always screams loudly in the office, encouraging her team members.”
If you only heard about it, you could say she’s a very Spartan leader. Of course, I’ve never felt that way even once until now.
“That’s not it. Today, she was clearly just keeping quiet, right?”
“Hmm… Is that so? What could have caused such a change in her mood…?”
The two of us continued to wear puzzled expressions.
“Hey. There’s no point in us worrying about it anyway. Let’s just go grab some food.”
“Sure, Senior.”
“I’ll treat you today. Thanks to you, I got to join this nice guild.”
“Hehe. That’s no big deal… Just tell me more about Hunter Chae Suhyeon. That’s what I’m most curious about. I wanted to ask about it yesterday but was waiting.”
I casually brought up the topic.
‘Ha… This damn girl…’
Park Hyungseok’s words suddenly came to mind.
Without realizing it, my expression couldn’t help but sour.
“Oh, I’m sorry.”
“No, it’s fine.”
I recalled the commotion earlier when the call had come in.
‘What the hell was she trying to do?’
I pressed the power button on my smartphone and waited for it to turn on.
‘I need to hear what she was babbling about.’
“Jihoon!”
A familiar voice reached me as I waited for my smartphone to boot up.
“Hmm? Lee Sooah…?”
Looking up, I saw Hunter Lee Sooah.