NOVEL WEB Chapter 21
– What was that earlier…?
– This time, it definitely was’t magic.
– How can someone wield such power in reality?
– He used Ki back then, didn’t he?
– What kind of gift does he possess?
A player’s abilities are constrained in reality from as low as 50 percent to as high as 90 percent and thats why those who knew this, the power of ‘force’ displayed by Seong Jihan was shocking.
‘A power that can turn a business card into dust in just 10 seconds in reality..’
‘He might be able to destroy an opponent’s organs instantlyinside the game’
‘No, even without destroying anything, just piercing a hole somewhere vital could result in a fatal injury.’
The representatives of the teenage guild that participated in the auction were amazed by Seong Jihan’s displayed power.
Bronze League player Seong Jihan…
While he had achieved impressive results in the league so far, the risk of being the brother-in-law of the Sword King had made guilds hesitate to offer him a contract. However, his unique ability was attractive enough to outweigh this risk.
‘Even if he’s a Bronze who hasn’t revealed his status window so far…‘His track record is good, and he possesses special abilities. We must recruit him.’
The guild representatives had come to the auction to seek Seong Jihan rather than the auction items.
But among them, one person was particularly eager.
“That power… it’s real.”
It was Takeda, whose business card had been torn right in front of them.
– Ha..The 4th-ranked guild in the world has been rejected by a Bronze league player.
– The baldy is pissed.
Takeda was sweating with a flushed face as if it were raining.
From the view captured by the camera, it seemed like he was angry about the business card being torn by Seong Jihan, but in reality…
“Ah…!”
It wasn’t the case.
Watching Seong Jihan turn the business card into dust, he was celebrating internally.
‘To think he’d completely turn it into dust.’
He sensed something great in how he used that mysterious energy.
‘Mr. Seong… I’m definitely going to recruit you.’
Takeda’s eyes were shining with greed.
‘I’ll have a meeting with you. Then, I’ll be able to have you… Hehe.’
Takeda was sure that one meeting was all he needed.
To do that, he first needed to win his favor.
The chat flooded Seong Jihan’s channel after Takeda’s expression.
– Ugh, why does that guy’s facial expression look like that?
– He seems like a pervert…
– Someone get rid of him.
– All the disgusting ones are here…
As Takeda smirked and descended with a smug smile, the camera captured the moment. At that moment, everyone in the chatroom united in agreement.
However, the temporarily peaceful chatroom of Seong Jihan’s channel…
[★☆Take-chan☆★ has donated 10,000 GP.]
“Seong Ssang~~ It was nice meeting you today. ^ω^; Next time, let’s definitely meet face-to-face in a 1:1 chat. ★☆! If you unblock private messages, I’ll donate even more…! Your eternal fan, Take-chan♥”
When “Take-chan” sent a donation message, chaos erupted once again.
– Take-chan? Could it be…
– Is it the baldy from earlier?
– Wow, sending ten million won.
– The first donation message on this channel is from a Japanese person.”
– Why is this old man’s message so creepy…?
Upon receiving a donation, Seong Jihan paused for a moment.
Although he couldn’t see the messages from regular people in Seong Jihan’s chat due to the block, he could see the donation message. Thus, he could also read the message Takeda had written while sending 10,000 GP.
[Received a donation of 10,000 GP.]
[Cleared the regular achievement, ‘Steadfast Support (1).’ ]
[Obtained 1000 achievement points as a reward.]
He gained GP and even earned achievement points.
Looking at the results alone, it could be called a windfall. However…
‘My channel’s first donation is from Take-chan, or rather, Takeda…’
A slight furrow appeared on Seong Jihan’s forehead.
Such a first-time donation remains in the records for a long time.
Especially for a player like Seong Jihan who aims to become the world’s top-ranked player.
“I should have set a lower limit.”
On that day, Seong Jihan regretted his actions for the first time.
* * *
After the auction ended.
“Mr. Seong Jihan, I’m Kim Jin-hwan, a scout from the Turtle Guild. Could I have a moment to talk?”
“Mr. Seong Jihan.”
“I was deeply impressed by your earlier performance.”
Originally, the participants who had intended to purchase Yoon Sejin’s item had all gathered around him but impressed by the performance of turning the business card into dust a little while ago, they were people who wanted to recruit Seong Jihan.
Among them were scouts from the teenage guilds and even quite famous players.
If another Bronze player were in this situation, they would be inevitably excited. However…
‘I have no intention of joining a guild. It’s so annoying.’
Seong Jihan found it bothersome.
Still, he couldn’t be as adamantly dismissive as he had been to Takeda earlier.
“Thank you.”
“As you can see, I’m still a bit confused, so joining a guild is a bit…”
Seong Jihan struggled to decline the guild invitation gently.
“Huh.”
And when Yoon Seah received the camera from Park Yoon-sik, she saw his expression and couldn’t help but inwardly smile.
His expression,Though he had the face of a polite young man, it was clear that he was annoyed to death.
“I have to help him, it’s the only way.”
With a slightly despondent look, she approached Seong Jihan.
“Uncle…”
Her voice trailed off, her face slightly quivering.
Seeing her like this, Seong Jihan was surprised and quickly went over to her.
“Seah, What happened? What’s wrong?”
“Uncle, I… today has been really tough for me. Can we just go home now?” While saying this, Yoon Seah winked slightly.
Seeing her acting, Seong Jihan caught on and gave her a faint smile. He promptly responded to her acting.
“Really? I apologize, scouts. My niece seems to be in quite a bad condition today.”
“Oh, I see.”
“Since she had a lot going on today…”
“Yes, then we’ll hear your words another time. Sorry.”
After a hurried farewell, Seong Jihan quickly took Yoon Seah and left the event hall.
“Uncle, I did well, didn’t I? I put on a special act because you looked so annoyed.”
“…Yeah, you did well.”
He remembered Yoon Seah’s slightly trembling face. Though it was more like an understated sobbing rather than acting. Until just before Yoon Seah winked, he had really wondered what had happened.
“Great acting… I guess.”
Seong Jihan gently stroked Yoon Seah’s head.
“Still, I was worried.”
“Really? Uncle,You worry too much. Even though I look like this, I’m the student council president at school.”
Yoon Seah looked up at his hand as if she didn’t quite like it, but she didn’t tell him to remove it.
“Uncle, be careful. It seems you’ll fall for any girl that tears up a bit.”
“Don’t worry. Your uncle has mastered understanding women’s emotions.”
“Hmph, you only watched Battle Net at home… What you’ve learned through video games doesn’t count.”
As they walked side by side in the elevator, they shared a friendly moment.
Ding-dong.
Two women who had been standing in front of the elevator approached them.
“You two have a really good relationship.”
“…?”
A dazzlingly beautiful woman and a tall female bodyguard following her.
Seong Jihan’s eyebrows twitched because he recognized one of them.
‘So Lim Gayeong is working as a bodyguard these days.’
Yoon Seah asked with a bewildered expression.
“…Who are they?”
“Hello! Miss Yoon Seah and Mr. Seong Jihan. I’m Lee Hayeon, the third department head at Divergent Guild.”
“Head..?”
“Doesn’t ‘head’ seem too young for me?”
“Yes…”
“Hehe, that’s because I was parachuted in.”
In response to Yoon Seah’s question, she casually referred to herself as a “parachute.”
If she entered the Divergent Guild as a “parachute,” then there might be some connection between her and the parent company, The Divergent Corporation.
From her family name, it could be inferred that Lee Hayeon had some connection with the The Divergent Corporation, even though it wasn’t clear how much.
“But…”
Seong Jihan stared at Lee Hayeon’s face.
A face more beautiful than most celebrities on TV. She, who held both looks and wealth, exuded confidence in her demeanor. However, what caught Seong Jihan’s attention wasn’t just her confident beauty
“This person… Where have I seen her before?”
Lee Hayeon…The name was not in his memory, but the appearance, the self-assured attitude, and the voice.For some reason, it seemed familiar.
With such an impression, it might be someone he had met during his time in the United States…
‘Who is she?’
Meanwhile, as Seong Jihan stared at her intensely, a smile deepened on Lee Hayeon’s lips.
She slowly parted her lips and spoke softly.
“Mr. Seong Jihan, I was truly impressed by your recent performance. Especially because I was a subscriber to your previous channel, the experience was novel for me.”
“I was a subscriber to my previous channel?”
“Yes, I’ve been a longtime fan since you started making predictions on Battle Net matches. I’ve been astonished by your keen judgment more than once… I could never have imagined that you would become such an exceptional player.”
Guesser of the victory, Mr. Seong.
This channel had been the one that sustained Seong Jihan during his previous life’s extreme situation.
Seong Jihan, with a record-breaking success rate of 62 percent in match predictions.
People flocked to see his match predictions, and through this, Seong Jihan was able to make a comeback.
‘However, at this time, there are very few people who would know about this channel.’
Unless someone is a fan of match predictions to a fanatic degree, they might not even know of this channel’s existence.
To subscribe to this…
Suddenly, someone came to mind for Seong Jihan.
A woman who loved gambling more than anyone else but always ended up failing. A woman who possessed one of the world’s rarest ‘gifts.’
“No way…”
Seong Jihan stared intensely at Lee Hayeon.
“Ah, Uncle!”
Yoon Seah nudged his waist with her elbow and gave him a meaningful look.
Just a while ago, he was boasting about mastering women’s hearts, so why was he suddenly at a loss for words?
‘Hehe, it’s okay.’
Lee Hayeon smiled leisurely and gently stroked her own face.
That gesture was exactly the same as ‘her.’
‘I might need to test this out once.’
Seong Jihan slowly opened his mouth.
“While the world is full of possibilities, it is difficult to ignore that.”
“…Yes?”
A famous quote by Dostoevsky, a great writer, better known for his gambling addiction.
When Seong Jihan suddenly mentioned this, Lee Hayeon’s smile momentarily stiffened.
“This is your motto, right, Ms. Lee Hayeon?”
“Oh my… Hoho. You’re being a bit much for a first meeting. I’m not even a gambling addict or anything.”
Lee Hayeon tried to smile despite hearing that, but…
“…How did you know?”
Lim Gayeong, who had been standing behind her guarding her, now stood in front of her.
“How did you know something she says all the time?”
“Gayoung, no. I didn’t do anything like that.”
“Could you be… a stalker?”
“Ga…Young. Ah… I didn’t do anything.”
Although the young woman’s words didn’t reach his ears, Lim Gayeong glared at Seong Jihan with a stern look.
Seeing that, Seong Jihan could feel his speculations falling into place.
Although it was still early to be certain, if Lee Hayeon was indeed ‘her’…
Seong Jihan’s eyes sharpened.
‘She’s someone I must recruit on my side.’
Manager Zero.
A woman who, despite being an immigrant, became the leader of the American First Guild’s 2nd Division due to her unique gift.
The Lee Hayeon that Seong Jihan knew was none other than Zero, a woman with an outstanding ability.