[(Breaking News) Japan, Birth of the Second S-Rank Crafter! Inoue Haruna!]
“What the……!”
“Why?”
Jeon Jina, the daughter of Chairwoman Nam, checked the article and furrowed her brow.
“This makes no sense. An S-rank popping up with such perfect timing?”
“……They might have deliberately hidden her. They probably didn’t want two S-rank crafters in one country to be seen as competing.”
Chairwoman Nam crossed her arms.
They had likely been devising an appropriate concept befitting the new S-rank and calculating the reveal timing, keeping it at a level that wouldn’t threaten Kazuki.
Because if not, it would be too much of a coincidence for another S-rank crafter to awaken right after Kazuki left Japan.
Actually, it had long been standard practice for S-rank announcements to be timed and released by the respective country at an appropriate moment.
*It’s Korea that’s all twisted up because they’re all Hyunak people.*
Just then, Secretary Kim turned to the next article with a demeanor that suggested he was overstepping his bounds. At that, Chairwoman Nam immediately turned her gaze to the tablet.
[Inoue Haruna to Hold ‘Korea-Japan Simultaneous Special Master Exhibition’ Next Month]
“Ha!”
Chairwoman Nam scoffed upon reading the headline.
The date perfectly overlapped with the Jjapsso pop-up store opening.
And a simultaneous Korea-Japan exhibition?
It was all planned.
She scrolled through the article and stopped at the name of the Korean host’s representative.
It was a familiar name.
“Jeon Byeongho…….”
Chairwoman Nam gritted her teeth and spoke his name.
Her ex-husband seemed to be preparing a grand festival to spite her.
“……Is it Dad?”
At Jeon Jina’s question, Chairwoman Nam nodded and called someone.
As if the other party had been waiting, they answered immediately, and Chairwoman Nam switched the call to speakerphone.
“Representative Jeon, it’s me. So you’re in Korea?”
—Yeah, Jiwon. That’s right, I’m in Korea. I’m just leaving the airport after getting my luggage, and you call right away. But what is it? That high-and-mighty Nam Jiwon calling me first. Hahaha!
Ugh. Jeon Jina covered her mouth and dry-heaved.
Her father hadn’t changed one bit. That slimy way of speaking, that inferiority complex toward her mother.
He was the kind of man who made it clear why even Chairwoman Nam—old-fashioned in everything except her business sense—had gone so far as to get a divorce.
Chairwoman Nam raised her voice in a growl.
“Representative Jeon. You come back to Korea after so long, and this is what you do? Try to spite me?”
—Spite you? What vulgar language. I’m a businessman. I just have a good business item, so—
“You were approached from Japan first, right?”
—Haha! Maybe?
“I know everything, so don’t even think about playing dumb.”
—Jiwon, there’s no use prying. We’re not close enough for this kind of talk anymore, are we?
“You clearly know they’re doing this to keep Korea in check, and yet you agreed to it…… You really haven’t changed one bit. You’re still bottom of the barrel.”
—You’re the one who taught me that money makes anything permissible.
“Fine, try it. I’ll make sure you never set foot in Gangnam!”
Then a suppressed laugh flowed from the receiver.
—Even if you’re the Hwajin Group that knocks flying birds out of the sky, how are you going to block Gangnam?
“Watch me.”
Click—
As Jeon Byeongho tried to say more, Chairwoman Nam ended the call with a darkly settled expression.
Then, with a refreshed face as if she had finished everything she needed to do, she handed the phone to her secretary and spoke.
“Secretary Kim. Find out where Representative Jeon is trying to secure a venue for the special exhibition. He must have already booked a place, so make sure it’s canceled. Got it?”
“Yes.”
“Representative Jeon has a simplistic and crude side, so he won’t try to leave Gangnam. He’ll want to hold it on the bustling Gangnam-daero and show off to me openly. So contact places with that in mind, and steer him toward Yeongdong-daero.”
“Yes, understood, Chairwoman.”
Chairwoman Nam crossed her arms.
Saying she wouldn’t let him set foot in Gangnam had been deliberate provocation.
Jeon Byeongho, who harbored an inferiority complex toward her, would now be unable to leave Gangnam.
Chairwoman Nam’s daughter felt a chilling shiver run down her spine as she watched her mother manipulate her ex-husband without batting an eye.
“But Mom, why Yeongdong-daero?”
At that question, Chairwoman Nam crookedly raised the corner of her lips.
“Your father has swallowed too much foreign water and doesn’t know the lay of the land in Korea anymore.”
It would be the first public special exhibition of Japan’s new S-rank crafter; he would want to hold it with great fanfare to show off.
She envisioned suitable buildings for hosting the exhibition in her mind.
Jeon Byeongho didn’t have many options. It would have to be a venue owned by an individual or corporation that didn’t have to mind the Korean government’s temper.
“What? What does that mean?”
“Hm? You don’t know either?”
“Know what?”
At Jeon Jina’s echoed question, Chairwoman Nam burst into laughter.
*
And at that moment, the guild master’s office at Hyunak burst open.
Jurim and Kazuki, who had been sitting facing each other on the sofa, turned their gazes toward the door.
The one who entered opening the door in a bizarre posture was Gidan, with Gru tucked under his arm and Serhi in tow.
“Hyung, hyung, hyung!”
“Yeah.”
“Not Jurim-hyung, Zuki-hyung!”
Kazuki, who had been holding documents, opened his eyes wide.
“Hm? Me?”
“Do you know that person? Ino…… what?”
“Inoue Haruna!”
Gru supplied the name loudly in Gidan’s place, and Serhi muttered quietly, “What an idiot.”
“Ah, Inoue Haruna-san? I heard she awakened as an S-rank?”
“Yes! That person!”
“Yeah. I saw her once a long time ago. She’s probably around Dan-chan’s age?”
Kazuki smiled as if it was no big deal, but Gidan and Gru trembled their shoulders in frustration.
“Is she really S-rank? I heard she can’t even make S+.”
The article merely said she was a “promising candidate to create S+-rank items following Amakusa.”
It said the special exhibition would mainly showcase S-rank items as well.
“How can she be S-rank if she can’t even make S+?”
Serhi chimed in from the side.
Now it was Gru’s turn.
“Right……!”
Gru, who had been about to agree with her oppas, opened her eyes wide and rolled her pupils around.
*Gru is S-rank too but can’t make S+ either! What should I do?!*
At this, Kazuki smiled gently and spoke as if consoling her.
“I’m not sure if she’s really S-rank…… Even I took a long time to make S+. So don’t worry too much, Gru-chan.”
Phew, I see. Gru let out a sigh of relief.
*Gru’s S-rank was almost stolen.*
But Gidan spoke as if he couldn’t accept it.
“Ss can make things that even A-rank crafters can make too.”
“Exactly. So in the end, someone who can only make S-rank stuff is basically just a hardworking A-rank, right?”
Gidan and Serhi launched another fierce attack.
Stab!
And Gru once again opened her eyes wide and rolled her pupils around.
*Gru…… Can I only make items that even A-rank crafters can make? Am I just a hardworking A-rank?*
We definitely ran here chanting “Down with Inoue Haruna” with my oppas. Why does Gru’s chest sting?
Kazuki lowered his eyes and smiled awkwardly as he looked at Gru, who was pouting.
“I really don’t know if she’s truly S-rank. When I met Haruna-san, she hadn’t even awakened yet.”
“How did you meet her if she hadn’t awakened?”
“Ah—Haruna-san is the granddaughter of the Inoue family.”
“The Inoue family?”
“Yeah. They’re a family famous for ceramics in Japan, and many of their people are A-rank crafters. Since they helped me when I had just awakened and was training, I had the chance to meet her.”
“Whoa, then it might really be an S-rank awakening?”
“……!”
At Gidan’s words, Gru flinched in surprise and opened her eyes wide.
She hadn’t even defeated her master yet; did this really mean a new rival was born?
“Then shouldn’t we also prepare like, right away?”
“Righ’!”
Gru, wedged under Gidan’s arm, flapped like a fish in agreement.
At this, Jurim, who had been listening quietly, pressed his temple hard and replied half-heartedly.
“What are we preparing for?”
“You know. Countermeasures.”
“What do we have to counter?”
Gidan supported Gru’s armpits and lifted her up like in *The Lion King*.
“They’re trying to ruin our Gru pop-up store in Japan. Look at the date of Ino-whatever’s special exhibition. Right?”
“Mmhmm!”
Gru nodded her head vigorously.
“So. What exactly are you proposing we do?”
“If you’re asking, it’s only right to answer.”
Gidan tucked Gru under his arm again. Then, with a serious face, he tilted his head and drew a line across his neck with his thumb.
“We should strike first. The best defense is a good offense.”
Serhi, who had been blowing bubble gum, raised a hand.
“Aye.”
“Gru agrees too!”
“Wait. What are we striking……?”
Surely they didn’t mean attacking the Inoue family?
At the flustered Kazuki’s question, the minors looked at him and answered firmly.
“Japan.”
In that moment, Jurim covered his face with both hands in utter despair.
They were truly embarrassing wherever they went.