Chapter 75
“Then I’ll head in. If you change your mind, contact me.”
“Alright.”
After dropping her off by car, Juhyeok headed toward the training center.
The negotiation had fallen through.
What she wanted was someone to use in her revenge.
But Juhyeok didn’t want to get involved in someone else’s vendetta and invite unnecessary trouble.
There’s no need to create problems right before forming a guild.
Turning the steering wheel, he muttered in lingering regret inside the now-empty car.
“I guess I’ll have to live a bit hungrier from now on.”
[My master is incompetent.]
“It’s just that you’re too expensive.”
It brazenly devoured mana stones that cost far more than his monthly food budget, yet it had the nerve to call him incompetent.
He wanted to snap back, but it was simply following its instincts.
Besides, it was an artifact that helped him that much, so he could let this level of whining go in one ear and out the other.
“From now on, make do with D-rank ones.”
[Ugh… those don’t really fill me up.]
“Once I make the guild, I’ll let you eat to your heart’s content later… got it?”
[Then you really have to give me a ton, okay?]
“Alright. I promise.”
Once the guild was established, he’d let it eat as many mana stones as it wanted.
That promise finally calmed the training room.
Having something to look forward to, the voice that had been noisily ringing in his ears quieted down, and even when he went to train, it behaved itself.
[Ah, I want to eat mana stones~]
For exactly one hour.
[Ah~ I want mana stones! I’m hungry!]
Even as he focused hard in the training hall, the voice echoed inside his head.
No matter how hard he tried to ignore it, he couldn’t pretend he didn’t hear it.
As he trained with a frown, Sui, who was training alongside him, quietly asked,
“Juhyeok, you don’t look so good.”
“…Do I? I guess my condition’s just off today.”
In truth, it was because the constant whining voice in his head was irritating him.
But he couldn’t say that, so he brushed it off with a convenient excuse.
“I heard you went somewhere earlier today. Did something happen?”
“Nothing much. Let’s keep going with the sets.”
The conversation was smoothly deflected.
Juhyeok continued training with a less-than-great expression, and once time was up, he quickly left.
“See you all tomorrow.”
“See you.”
Juhyeok left first.
Once he was gone, only Hyunsu and Sui remained in the training hall.
As Hyunsu was about to leave as well, dragging his tired body, Sui stopped him and said,
“Juhyeok was strange today.”
“Huh? Yeah, you’re right.”
Even to Hyunsu, Juhyeok seemed off today.
That faintly furrowed expression.
He’d heard Juhyeok went somewhere in the morning—could it be because of that?
Without knowing what had happened, it was hard to guess.
“Maybe he’s stressed because of the guild founding.”
“That could be it.”
At the very least, one thing was clear: Juhyeok was extremely busy preparing to establish a guild.
Hyunsu was handling all the legal matters, but since Juhyeok would be the guild master, there were still plenty of things only he could take care of.
“He probably missed morning training because of that.”
“……”
Was his bad expression today due to his condition being thrown off by guild-related stress?
Sui asked again,
“Is the guild founding not going well?”
“No, it’s going very well.”
There were no issues.
Thanks to Juhyeok’s reputation, forming the guild itself wasn’t a problem.
All other legal matters were being handled smoothly by Hyunsu.
Time had passed, and the long preparations were nearing completion.
“The only thing left is money. Once that’s covered, it’ll be perfect.”
“Money….”
Just one thing.
Funding for the guild’s establishment.
“Founding a guild costs a lot, so maybe that’s why he’s so stressed.”
“Really?”
Sui fell into thought.
After a few seconds, she lifted her head and said in an expressionless voice,
“So if there’s money, Juhyeok will be fine?”
“Yeah. Give it about half a year, and we’ll have it all.”
Factoring in rest periods and the occasional appearance of S-rank gates, half a year was a generous estimate.
After that, Juhyeok’s worries would disappear.
Normally, it would cost far more, but the guild Juhyeok planned to make was a small one—even smaller than a typical mid-sized guild—so the costs were lower than expected.
Thanks to that, they believed the guild could be established in just half a year, and everyone viewed the situation optimistically.
“Half a year…?”
But to Sui, half a year felt like a very long time.
“So that means Juhyeok has to walk around with that expression for half a year.”
“Well… I can’t exactly say no to that.”
Founding a guild wasn’t child’s play; there were countless details to handle.
Juhyeok would be quite busy for the next six months.
Hyunsu answered honestly, without sugarcoating it.
“But if you endure just a little, everything will work out, so don’t worry.”
“……”
Just endure a little, and things would be fine.
If that “little” were truly little, it’d be one thing—but half a year changed the meaning.
“I’ll head home.”
“Alright. See you tomorrow.”
She returned home lost in thought.
After finishing training, showering off the sweat, she lay on her bed and stared at her phone.
Even watching cute animal videos she liked didn’t really lift her mood.
The expression Juhyeok had worn today kept bothering her.
“Juhyeok’s gotten really strong lately.”
He’d grown so strong that neither she nor Hyunsu could even be compared anymore.
Honestly, even though training together helped them improve, it felt like he should be training at an even higher level.
She felt a little uneasy, as if she were holding him back.
And seeing him unable to fully focus on training because of another problem made her worry even more.
Money is the problem.
They said everything would be fine if they just gathered money for half a year, but Sui didn’t want to watch him train with that unhappy expression until then.
She began to wonder if there was any way she could help.
If I just give him money, he won’t accept it.
Part of her wanted to ask her grandfather to pour everything into Juhyeok under the name of investment, but she wasn’t sure he’d agree—and even if he did, Juhyeok would obviously feel burdened.
He said he wanted to make a guild on his own because he didn’t want anyone interfering.
A guild created to operate without anyone’s interference.
If sponsorship got involved, it would only make Juhyeok uncomfortable.
She needed another method—something other than funding.
How can I help Juhyeok…?
Lying alone on her bed, staring at the ceiling.
She swung her legs back and forth as she thought.
After a few minutes of contemplation, she realized something.
I don’t know.
She didn’t know what would help him.
Her parents were wealthy, but she herself wasn’t, so she didn’t really know what would help in terms of money.
Still, that was okay.
Sui knew that she didn’t know.
She quickly got up, ending the pointless worrying.
“So, you came all the way to see this old man for that?”
“Yeah. I thought you’d know how to help, Grandpa.”
Late at night, she visited her grandfather’s workshop.
The apprentices had all gone home, and the old man was alone when his granddaughter suddenly appeared.
When he welcomed her, she told him she wanted to help a friend.
She wanted to help him but didn’t know how, so she came to her grandfather.
“Ho ho, our Sui is so kind. How did you grow up to be so considerate…?”
“Juhyeok is more considerate. He trains with me every single day.”
“Alright, alright. So you want to be helpful to that boy?”
“Yeah, I do.”
Wanting to help Juhyeok—that was her desire.
Sui expressed it plainly, and seeing his granddaughter’s selfless heart, the old craftsman didn’t know whether to feel proud of how well she’d grown, or jealous that her concern wasn’t directed at him.
“But if he didn’t ask for help, maybe it’s best to just watch from the side.”
“But his expression was really bad.”
Recalling Juhyeok’s face.
From the moment they met, she’d seen him flustered, smiling, wearing many expressions—but she’d never seen him look as unhappy as he did today.
He always regained his composure within seconds, yet today his expression stayed dark, which made it feel even more serious.
“He might even say he can’t train with us anymore because of the guild founding, so we have to help him.”
“Ho ho, so that was the real issue after all.”
Smiling at her final words, which sounded like her true feelings, the master craftsman Hansanguk stood up from the small chair in his workshop.
“Alright. Then this old man will help.”
“Really?”
“Of course~ It’s for my granddaughter.”
If it was related to his granddaughter, Hansanguk wanted to help with anything.
There was no way he’d refuse when she came late at night to ask so earnestly.
“You can’t just shove money at him.”
“I wouldn’t do that either. If something comes, something must be given in return.”
He already had a plan forming in his mind from the moment he heard her story.
The old man smiled confidently.
“I’ve got it all figured out, so just give me that boy’s contact info. It’s late—stay over at Grandpa’s place tonight.”
By the time she arrived, it was already close to midnight.
It would take over an hour to go back home, so he couldn’t send her off again.
At her grandfather’s affectionate tone, Sui nodded lightly.
“Okay.”
She stood up.
Approaching her grandfather, who was tidying up the workshop, Sui gave him a light hug.
“Thank you, Grandpa.”
“……”
Since entering school, his granddaughter had rarely acted spoiled.
Now she’d come in person to ask for help—and even hugged him to say thanks.
Hansanguk couldn’t help but break into a smile.
“Haha~ I should be the one thanking that kid!”
Truthfully, he hadn’t been too fond of the boy who caused his granddaughter such worry.
But at this moment, he felt a small sense of gratitude toward Juhyeok for creating this situation.
“Don’t you worry—Grandpa will take care of everything!”
