Episode 21
“What you must do is simple.”
Chairman Lee hesitated again.
He had hesitated so frequently with Jonghyeon that Jonghyeon wondered if this was simply the old man’s nature.
Jonghyeon found it quite strange.
“What is it?”
This time, he asked without waiting.
“Protect Bori.”
“Pardon?”
That single, suggestive line seemed to carry many meanings.
“What do you mean, specifically?”
“Do you remember me bragging that the child got into the Hunter Department at Saul University?”
Saul University.
It was the nation’s finest university, where the most brilliant minds across every field gathered to study.
Among them, the Hunter Department was one that Chairman Lee himself had established, and as the hunter profession grew in popularity, its competition ratio had skyrocketed to roughly 1:1500.
“Yes. You told me that a few months ago.”
Chairman Lee took a deep breath and began to pour out his words with fiery passion.
“I cannot live these days because of that child! Do you know what she is saying? She stubbornly insists that she’ll become a hunter, to the point of leaving the house! As her father, is it wrong for me to tell my daughter not to become a hunter! Tell me!”
It was the first time Jonghyeon had seen such fury from Chairman Lee.
At the same time, the thought that crossed his mind was,
‘Why are you venting your anger at me.’
When Jonghyeon hid his blank stare and looked at him, Chairman Lee cleared his throat briefly and continued.
“Ahem. I got a bit worked up. My apologies. In any case, my daughter keeps joining in on department parties and says she wants to go out for hunter practical training. I’m asking if you could quietly watch her back.”
That was what Chairman Lee was saying.
Things had gone too far for him to dissuade her himself.
So he was asking Jonghyeon to essentially play the role of a bodyguard for her party hunts.
“Well, if you ask, of course I’ll do it. But won’t Lady Bori dislike that sort of thing?”
The Bori that Jonghyeon had seen appeared to be the proudest woman of all.
She hated discrimination between men and women most of all, and Jonghyeon had once hiccupped at Bori’s statement that women should go to the military too.
“That’s why I said to watch her quietly. As a fixer, someone like you should have no difficulty following secretly and rescuing her when there’s danger.”
Chairman Lee’s words were accurate.
Honestly, such a thing wasn’t difficult.
No, rather, it was strange to entrust such a task to a talent like Jonghyeon.
But Chairman Lee was a world-class titan.
Precisely because he had so few people he could trust, Chairman Lee had chosen Jonghyeon. Even for a world-class magnate, there weren’t many people worthy of entrusting with his daughter.
No matter what happened inside a dungeon, those outside couldn’t know.
‘Well, there are many women who have suffered terrible fates while inside dungeons.’
In reality, regardless of gender, if they looked like children of the wealthy, there were even new types of crimes where they were targeted and kidnapped inside dungeons.
Once a dungeon was cleared, its entrance closed after one hour. If one failed to escape within, they were trapped forever.
Since troops couldn’t be deployed either, many cases were simply resolved by paying a ransom within that hour.
The position of being Chairman Lee’s daughter was one of the most exposed to various crimes.
“Yes. I understand. But won’t she find out eventually?”
“Even if I am severely scolded, wouldn’t it be better to receive the rebuke of a living daughter? And aside from your schedule, you are free to do as you please.”
It was quite an unconventional condition.
To be a bodyguard for only a few scheduled events and have the rest of the day entirely free!
But Jonghyeon couldn’t stop there.
“Yes. I understand. And, um. About the annual salary…”
The main point.
Jonghyeon swallowed his words there.
He was trying to gauge how much Chairman Lee would offer.
The old habit of testing the waters remained. Jonghyeon suddenly worried that he might have made a mistake by speaking.
“Haha. Of course, we must talk about salary as well. Hmm, do you have a desired amount?”
Chairman Lee asked, watching Jonghyeon discreetly.
“I don’t have a specific amount in mind. I am already grateful that you look after the orphanage.”
Humility upon humility. It was the basic posture of negotiation.
“Hehe. Not at all. Did you not come under me on the condition of the orphanage? The salary must be treated as a separate matter. Hmm… let me see… how does five billion won sound?”
Five billion won.
Usually, when one reached C-Rank, they received a high salary in Korea, as such talents were rare.
Of course, it was around one billion won.
He had rarely seen B-Rankers exceed three billion won.
But five billion won. Jonghyeon looked at Chairman Lee as if he couldn’t imagine such a figure.
“Is it too little?”
Chairman Lee smiled softly and asked playfully, even though he had already grasped Jonghyeon’s thoughts.
“Ah… no. Thank you.”
Jonghyeon quickly accepted before Chairman Lee could change his mind.
It wasn’t even a job that endangered his life. At most, Bori would be looking at E-Rank dungeons.
They were low enough in level that Jonghyeon could clear them even while blindfolded.
“Excellent. That gentleman over there is my household’s butler. He will guide you to your room. And do you know roughly what it means to be brought into my house?”
Of course, Jonghyeon didn’t know.
“What does it mean?”
Chairman Lee said with a smile.
“The butler shall tell you that as well.”
Jonghyeon followed the butler and toured the interior of the house, his mouth agape the entire time.
Jonghyeon had realized Chairman Lee was wealthy and had been quite busy squeezing him dry, but this was the first time he had actually seen the interior of the house.
And seeing the interior, he couldn’t help but be astonished.
First, the most eye-catching thing was a garden roughly the size of a soccer field. The beautifully decorated garden was a sight to behold at a glance.
They had to cross the garden by car before Jonghyeon’s lodgings appeared. The butler, who introduced himself as Kim Jihwan, began to explain.
“You may consider the place we passed as the Chairman’s private annex. The Chairman and Lady Bori reside in that annex. The place where we stay. This is the main house.”
The main house was of tremendous size, even larger than the annex.
‘No, if the house is this scale…’
By size alone, it was slightly larger than the annex.
But its grandeur was different.
“This was originally built by the previous owner before the Chairman purchased the house. After buying it, the Chairman acquired a great deal of land in front of it, built the garden, constructed the annex, and so on.”
As if there were nothing surprising about it, Butler Kim Suhwan spoke with a consistently composed expression.
“In this main house live Chief Bodyguard Yoo Jinseong, three disciples under his command, and the remaining mansion guards. The room on the far right of the third floor is your room, Jonghyeon-nim.”
In a certain sense, the butler was remarkable.
He showed no hesitation in treating Jonghyeon with the respect and honorifics due to a distinguished guest of the house.
Jonghyeon found this rather admirable, because the butler appeared to be much older than him.
“By the way, what did the Chairman mean earlier about the significance of entering this house?”
Jonghyeon brought up what he had been curious about but couldn’t find the right moment to ask.
As if he had expected this, the butler began his explanation with the same unchanging expression.
“This mansion has various facilities. From a library to a massage room, a gym, and almost everything needed for daily life. You may enjoy all those benefits. Actually, that is not what is important.”
The butler continued after taking a moment.
“Living in this mansion itself means having Chairman Lee’s name at your back. That alone will be of great benefit. Though you may not yet realize it, Jonghyeon-nim.”
Jonghyeon made an expression of half-understanding.
However, the butler stated that the tour ended here, finished explaining that he should press the room bell if he needed anything, and left.
Entering the room, Jonghyeon was impressed once more. For starters, this single room was larger than his officetel studio.
And inside the room, there was nothing missing—a bathroom, refrigerator, TV, computer, kitchen, sofa, and more.
‘There’s even a massager.’
Thinking that even a five-star hotel might not be at this level, Jonghyeon started by testing the softness of the bed.
Plop—
The bed was unbelievably soft.
“Hahahat.”
A strange, inexplicable laugh escaped Jonghyeon.
But at the same time, Jonghyeon felt burdened. It was because he still wasn’t confident whether he was someone deserving of this level of treatment.
‘Come to think of it, it’s almost lunchtime.’
He wondered if he would eat with Chairman Lee, but then remembered what Butler Kim had said in the car earlier.
“Chairman Lee is a very busy man. So he said he would not be at the mansion for the time being. Therefore, I believe I will be conveying your work orders.”
Jonghyeon wondered if he should cook for himself, but the refrigerator contained only water and various alcohols.
So Jonghyeon decided to press the bell that Butler Kim had explained earlier.
Ding-dong!
“What may I do for you?”
A pretty voice was heard.
“It’s nothing else; I’m hungry.”
“Is there a menu you would like to eat?”
Flustered by the woman’s question, Jonghyeon continued.
Placing an order? This wasn’t a restaurant, and Jonghyeon had thought that just rice and three or four side dishes would be enough. He couldn’t help but be bewildered.
“No. Anything is fine.”
“Ah, yes. I understand. We will bring your meal shortly. Please wait a moment.”
“Ah, yes. Thank you.”
The response was as courteous as that of a first-class hotel.
Before a few minutes had passed, two chefs entered through Jonghyeon’s room door and began cooking in his kitchen.
Fluffy, well-cooked rice and over ten kinds of rare delicacies from mountain and sea. Even compared to the table of a Joseon Dynasty king, Jonghyeon thought his own meal was far superior.
“Um, do you always eat like this normally?”
Even at Jonghyeon’s foolish-sounding question, the maid answered with a smile.
“If there is a menu you desire, please tell us; if not, we serve meals according to the weekly menu.”
“Ah, I see. I will eat well.”
Jonghyeon found the atmosphere quite unfamiliar and ended up greeting them in a daze.
Moreover, this feast had a taste that he couldn’t imitate even though he thought he had decent cooking skills.
Once they finished even the cleanup after waiting for Jonghyeon to finish eating, they left, and Jonghyeon could finally breathe freely.
‘Being rich is hard too.’
If he had to eat under others’ gazes like this every day, would the food even go down his throat?
Thinking all sorts of thoughts, Jonghyeon prepared for the cultivation that had now become a habit.
Since Bori was just in the process of forming her party, there would be about a week left before he had to work.
How much time had passed since he began cultivating in the room?
The mansion was far quieter than he had expected.
Having sat in a cross-legged position accumulating ki, Jonghyeon felt stiffness in his body and decided to take a brief walk outside.
His car was parked in front of the main house before he knew it.
Come to think of it, he didn’t necessarily have to drive out; the mansion grounds were incredibly vast.
Just walking a loop around the mansion would be enough for an hour’s stroll.
‘Shall I visit the garden?’
He suddenly thought of the garden from when he had first obtained the watch.
Chairman Lee’s garden was no less beautiful. As Jonghyeon went deeper inside, something caught his eye.
‘A tree stump?’
It was a piece of wood that Bori had chopped down without her father’s knowledge.
Of course, Jonghyeon, who had no way of knowing the circumstances,
simply walked on with the question of whether there had been a tree they didn’t like in mind.
Going deeper into the garden, there was a pond with several benches around it.
‘Shall I rest here?’
Sitting on a bench and lighting a cigarette, Jonghyeon began to think of many things.
From his childhood until now.
Even though many things had happened, he had never imagined enjoying such luxury.
Furthermore, he sometimes questioned whether he would enjoy even greater luxury when he grew stronger.
‘Can I really become stronger?’
There was certainly a way to become stronger.
His attribute, Darkness.
And the secret manual of the Cheonwon Simje that he had obtained by chance could assure him of that.
‘Then what about after revenge?’
Jonghyeon had not been able to think about what came after.
He would become strong, reach his goal, and use that strength to destroy the Red Rose Guild.
And then?
No one could answer.
But even so, Jonghyeon could vaguely sense it.
If he reached that level of position, no one would be able to treat him carelessly.
Just getting that far would be enough.
He seriously pondered what he would do once he held power and wealth that no one could touch.
But he couldn’t find the answer, and with that final thought, he rose from his seat.
★ ★ ★
A week passed, and he received contact from Butler Kim.
The word was that Bori was finally entering her first dungeon.
Having finished his cultivation, Jonghyeon washed his body and put on a neat black suit he had bought yesterday.
It fit his body better than he had expected.
‘Work is work, after all. Sigh.’
Jonghyeon slowly started the car engine.