Chapter 39: sucking out the marrow (1)

I underestimated Han Suhyeon.

No, it wasn’t underestimation.

Han Suhyeon’s martial prowess, as seen in the iTube video, could be rated higher than D-rank, but it wasn’t enough to deal with a B-rank hunter.

Moreover, in Yeon Do-hee’s common sense, it was close to impossible for a D-rank hunter to detect B-rank level stealth.

He must have been hiding another trick, or there must have been a group that was already supporting him.

The tailing results showed that he was maintaining a close relationship with the Flame of Upheaval, but it was difficult to see that the Flame of Upheaval helped Han Suhyeon capture the tailers in the current situation.

Naturally, the conclusion was that Han Suhyeon was not fully revealing his power.

It wasn’t for nothing that Yeom Haneul had marked that man.

Tap. Tap.

Yeon Do-hee dismissed Team Leader Seo and tapped the desk, organizing her thoughts.

The true nature of Han Suhyeon shown in the video was merciless and cruel.

A member of the Yeonseong Guild’s information team, who had been thoroughly trained, was trembling and confessing, covered in blood.

If that confession were to spread…

No. Absolutely not.

The world is already sensitive to gender issues.

If the fact that they did such a thing spreads, the image of Yeonseong, which has been built up until now, will be significantly damaged.

She thought about threatening him back by revealing Han Suhyeon’s true nature with the video he sent.

‘… No.’

If he were the type of person who would be affected by that kind of threat, he wouldn’t have sent the video so confidently.

Moreover, Han Suhyeon’s name value was currently rising explosively.

‘The martial prowess to easily deal with three B-rank hunters, a very unique and coveted skill called Inventory, and popularity due to his outstanding appearance.’

Despite having all of this, he was only 20 years old, still in his prime.

Sometimes, very rarely, there are times when it feels like the world is changing rapidly.

When people with unique talents and abilities that cannot be compared to others appear.

When someone with the talent to reach S-rank appears.

How shocked was she when she first saw Yeom Haneul?

Yeon Do-hee recalled the memories of that time as she looked at the current situation.

The first button was buttoned wrong from the beginning.

‘Recruitment? Kidnapping? Ha!’

The superior and inferior were determined from the beginning.

Without realizing that, she bared her fangs to the opponent she should have bowed her head to, no, prostrated herself to.

Having finished calculating, Yeon Do-hee picked up her smartphone and called Han Suhyeon.

“Yes. Are you Han Suhyeon-nim?”

Hoping that the offer she would make would be a card to reconcile with him.

After the call with Yeon Do-hee, I woke up a little earlier than sunrise.

When I got up from bed and looked around, I saw the floor stained and caked with blood and four women lying limp like corpses.

Their appearances were like corpses, but their eyes were wide open, which was a contrasting sight.

Their bodies couldn’t move because their tendons and muscles were all cut, but their minds were clear, so that’s how they ended up.

As for recovery… well, that’s their problem, not mine.

I’m just a frail male victim.

By the way, when will I clean all that…?

I tried to ignore the caked and splattered bloodstains and dragged the four people by their hair outside.

“Aaaagh!! M-My, my hair!”

I came down to the stairs, and Stealth Girl screamed.

Because I tied the hair of the four people together like a handle, their hair was tangled, and it must have been quite painful.

Looking at the faces of the others, they didn’t show it, but they seemed to be in considerable pain.

“Does it hurt a lot? Then there’s nothing I can do.”

I released only Stealth Girl, who screamed, from the braid.

“Th-Thank you.”

Stealth Girl’s smile of relief was short-lived.

She looked at me looking down at her blankly, and her complexion turned pale.

“If it hurts because your hair is being pulled… It wouldn’t matter if you didn’t have hair, right?”

“… What?”

I grabbed Stealth Girl’s hair and took out the sword I NTR’d from the swordsman.

“M-My sword…”

“N-No-“

Slice!

Stealth Girl’s neatly cut hair fell to the ground.

“M-My haiiir!!”

It was a scream similar to the one a little while ago, but the despair mixed in that voice was on a different level.

I ignored Stealth Girl, who was shedding tears of despair, and looked at the other watchers.

“What? Why are you making that face? Did someone threaten you with a knife? Does your hair hurt a little too?”

“……”

The watchers quietly shook their heads, perhaps having realized their place.

I grabbed their hair again and moved my steps.

The destination was Yeonseong Guild.

I wasn’t going to wreak havoc.

The reason I was going to Yeonseong Guild was because of the call I had with Yeonseong Guild’s representative, Yeon Do-hee, in the early morning.

Yeon-daepyo (representative) was much more submissive than I expected.

Usually, the representative of a group that commits such acts is arrogant, a piece of trash with no hope of rehabilitation, or the epitome of incompetence.

Yeon-daepyo (representative) quickly revealed her position, admitted that Stealth Girl’s confession was her order, apologized, and promised to compensate for the damage.

She didn’t deny her fault, she didn’t remain silent, and she didn’t insult the victim under the pretext of compensation.

I was rather embarrassed because she admitted her fault and apologized so readily that I wondered if there was another hidden agenda.

• Wh-Why are you admitting your fault so readily? And you’re even saying you’ll properly compensate…? Why aren’t you insulting me by saying you’ll give me 57 million won…?

• …? But… If you did something wrong, it’s ‘common sense’ to apologize…?

The specific content was different, but we had a conversation with a similar nuance.

Common sense, defeated again and again.

Anyway, I was now on my way to Yeonseong Guild to receive ‘compensation for apology’.

Yeonseong Guild was about a two-hour round trip from my house, and since I had to take these conspicuous people with me, I left at a time when there were relatively few people.

It drew some attention because a normal-looking man was dragging four limp women by their hair, but I arrived at the Yeonseong Guild building without any problems.

At the bottom of the building, which was so high that it reached the clouds, a woman greeted me.

A woman in her 40s, wearing a luxurious suit, bowed her head to me.

“Hello, Han Suhyeon-nim. I’m Yeon Do-hee.”

Recently, the only middle-aged women I met were cuckold managers and cuckold administrators who exuded a strong scent of dish soap.

Yeon-daepyo’s appearance was that of a middle-aged woman who had aged normally.

By the way…

‘The representative came out herself and bowed her head.’

I could see how seriously Yeon Do-hee was taking the current situation.

And I could reaffirm how important I was to a large guild.

The person who bowed her head in front of me was not someone to be taken lightly.

The representative of the world’s 6th-ranked, Korea’s 1st-ranked guild.

To such a person, I looked like a treasure chest full of treasures.

It’s understandable, because if you have Inventory, the harvest from the gate is copied. Money rolls in automatically.

Double the existing harvest, and another double with the Inventory’s quality upgrade function.

Money is really copied.

“Yes. As you probably already know, I’m Han Suhyeon.”

“It seems like an inappropriate place to have a conversation, so let’s go inside and talk.”

I followed Yeon-daepyo’s guidance and moved my steps.

While looking around the splendid and luxurious interior and heading to the elevator, another middle-aged woman approached.

“T-Team Leader…”

“Leave those corpses… I mean, people to that person.”

This middle-aged woman seemed to be Team Leader Seo.

This person also looked moderately normal, but her expression was on the verge of death.

A mere team leader’s mistake caused the representative to come out and bow her head?

At the very least, she’ll be beaten to a pulp and sent to a rural branch.

I tapped Team Leader Seo’s shoulder as I handed over the four watchers.

With a little bit of killing intent.

“You said last time, ‘Do you think you’ll be safe after doing this?’, right?”

“……”

Every time I tapped her shoulder, Team Leader Seo’s complexion turned pale and then white.

Seeing that, Yeon-daepyo also flinched at the subtly leaking killing intent.

“But since the representative bowed her head herself… I’ll let it slide once. Okay?”

“……”

“If you don’t answer, I feel like I’ll really crack your head open.”

“… I’m really, really sorry…”

“Yeah. Let’s do well.”

I tapped Team Leader Seo’s shoulder and withdrew my killing intent.

I turned back to Yeon-daepyo, leaving Team Leader Seo behind.

“… P-Please come this way.”

Yeon-daepyo’s expression and behavior became much more polite than before.

As expected, people need to be beaten to come to their senses.

The top floor of Yeonseong Guild, Yeon-daepyo’s office, reached by a luxurious elevator.

Before I sat down at the simple yet luxurious table, Yeon-daepyo pulled out a chair for me.

As soon as Yeon-daepyo sat down, she apologized again.

“First of all, I sincerely apologize for what we did this time.”

I replied with a nuance that I was a little upset, but I would accept the apology, and Yeon-daepyo’s expression relaxed very slightly.

“I was worried that no matter what flowery words I used, our sincerity wouldn’t reach you… so I prepared a small reward.”

Yeon-daepyo smiled slightly and clapped her hands.

Then, the surrounding scenery began to change in an instant.

The antique-feeling office turned into an incredibly spacious luxury shop.

The displayed items were not luxury goods, but jewels, various equipment, and weapons that emitted a brilliant light.

“This is the treasure vault of our Yeonseong Guild. It’s a place full of treasures and artifacts that you can’t buy even with billions of won, from at least B-rank to S-rank…”

Yeon-daepyo looked back at me and bowed her head.

“Please choose one item you like from here. That’s the first reward we can give you.”