Chapter 20
Swwsh, swwsh. The sound of the pen brushing against the paper was clear and vivid. Everyone’s eyes remained fixed on the table.
“Personally, I think the Golden Scales shouldn’t cling so desperately to Monaplen. Instead, it would be better to secure priority rights for dungeons that need to be cleared immediately, or ones we’ve had our eye on for a while. Especially if we emphasize that we’re giving up the ‘First Clear Achievement’ of Monaplen in order to comply with the Dungeon Safety Department’s recommendations, I think we can 충분히 secure priority rights for other dungeons.”
And the Dungeon Safety Department, in all likelihood, would listen to the words of the Golden Scales.
The Golden Scales was one of the few guilds that still maintained a relatively close relationship with the Dungeon Safety Department.
Gyeong Seha’s finger pointed to a part circled in red.
“Also, if I remember correctly, the stockpiled Ravgios essence should be running out around now, shouldn’t it? Last time I checked, it looked like the essence was being consumed faster than usual because of the new material development using Mitak leather. Isn’t that right?”
“Y-Yes, that’s correct.”
Like a subject answering a king, the head of the development team nodded repeatedly.
Gyeong Seha lifted her pen and wrote something in the blank space.
Need to secure multiple priority clears for Ashen Grave Dungeon for Ravgios essence.
“Then let’s take the priority rights for the Ashen Grave dungeon. The competition has been getting fierce lately, so the clear frequency has gone down, right? It’d be good to secure a large batch this time.”
“The plan sounds good, but will the Dungeon Safety Department really accept it?”
“They won’t have a choice. It’s not like we’re insisting on a dungeon on par with Monaplen; we’re saying we’ll go to a dungeon with secured safety. Why would they object? In the first place, the ban was basically just an official way of saying, ‘The atmosphere is bad lately, so stop doing unnecessary things and just stay home and guard things.’ There’s almost no chance they’ll reject it.”
Furthermore, was the Golden Scales the only place in chaos because of the sudden dungeon suppression order?
By now, the Dungeon Safety Department was probably being carpet-bombed with complaints.
‘This won’t last long.’
She understood being afraid of a Global Gate, but controlling guild activity like this was bound to cause backlash.
Especially for small and mid-sized guilds that made their living selling mana stones and dungeon byproducts, this kind of order was completely unacceptable.
So before that happened, she decided to extract as much as possible while she still could.
“If we say we’re giving up Monaplen and taking Ashen Grave instead, they’ll welcome us with open arms. With the Global Gate situation, they’re already working overtime every day, so it’ll be one less thing for them to worry about.”
Now, everyone was just watching the tip of Gyeong Seha’s pen.
“Shall I summarize? Even though it’s classified as Grade 6, Monaplen’s Cursed Temple is still an uncleared, unexplored dungeon. If you judge only by risk level, it’s equivalent to Grade 7. If we emphasize that point and the fact that we’re ‘unavoidably’ giving up the First Clear achievement, I think we can secure four priority rights for the Ashen Grave Dungeon. Or, alternatively, two priority rights plus two other dungeon clear rights. Come to think of it, I remember seeing a slime-type monster similar to Ulato—the one the development team has been interested in lately—in a certain Grade 4 dungeon. If you’re interested, then… hmm?”
She rolled her eyes at the sudden silence.
‘Did I come off as too arrogant?’
Her proposal was the result of combining the data she had accumulated while working in sync with the Golden Scales, and information she had picked up through conversations with the guild members.
But maybe the Golden Scales side found it unpleasant.
The silence that unsettled her heart continued, and just as she steeled herself to apologize…
“This is such a clean and perfect summary… Ha. Why? I feel like I’m about to cry. Would you consider coming to our guild even now, Gyeong Seha-nim?”
“You should call her Master, not ‘-nim.’ She seems to know our guild’s situation better than even Jeong Jesin.”
“I shouldn’t have stopped that guy earlier. From now on, may I call you Master?”
Quiet nonsense and fanboying broke out here and there. It seemed like everyone had been waiting for someone to open their mouth first.
Gyeong Seha burst out laughing without realizing it.
“You guys are too much. Did you think I told you to do whatever you want for no reason?”
Jeong Jesin acted smug, as if he’d known this would happen from the start.
“Thank you for your hard work~.”
“Then let’s completely wrap things up at the next meeting.”
“Hunter Gyeong Seha, I look forward to seeing you again.”
The meeting, which had been dragging on, gained momentum after Gyeong Seha suggested her solution.
In other words, they decided to refine her proposal a bit more and deliver it to the Dungeon Safety Department.
In a rare refreshingly good mood, Gyeong Seha stood up from her seat. Jeong Jesin handed her a coat.
“Here you go, noona.”
“Ah, thanks.”
“Want me to put it on for you?”
“No thanks?”
Now only the two of them were left in the conference room.
Jeong Jesin, who had been staring blankly at her as she put on her coat, asked:
“By the way, are you really not going to eat with me?”
What was wrong with him today?
“The one who seems hungry isn’t me, it’s you, Guild Master. What’s with you since earlier?”
Clink.
A chime rang above her head. It was the small bell attached to the top of the conference room door. After signaling thanks to Jeong Jesin, who opened the door for her instead, Gyeong Seha started walking.
“Hmm, it’s not that I’m hungry, I just want to eat with you, noona.”
“So why are you suddenly doing this now?”
As they walked down the hallway toward the elevator, Jeong Jesin followed closely behind her, talking nonstop.
“Actually, I succeeded in booking the restaurant you talked about last time.”
“The restaurant I mentioned? Was there such a thing?”
“The one in Seongsu-dong, ‘Siktak.’”
“Ah.”
That famous restaurant.
Come to think of it, she vaguely remembered saying something like that during their last raid. She must have rambled about how doing all that hard work deserved a reward, and that only ‘Siktak’ in Seongsu-dong would be good enough.
“You really booked that place? To eat with me?”
Without even asking about her schedule?
He was the type to just throw things out there without considering other people’s situations, but he wasn’t the type to ignore schedules completely.
When Gyeong Seha looked back at him suspiciously, Jeong Jesin smiled with his usual clean, innocent face.
“Of course I can change the reservation date to match your schedule. I’ve gotten close with the owner there.”
“You’ve got a lot of nerve.”
For someone who looked like he’d walk a lonely path alone and ignore every human he made eye contact with, he was surprisingly sociable.
“So, are you really not going to eat with me? Really? Even when I’m begging you like this?”
Jeong Jesin bent his waist slightly as he asked. His fluorescent-tinged green eyes sparkled right in front of her nose.
Gyeong Seha made a stern face and pushed him away.
“Nope. Not for a while.”
“Why?”
“I’m planning to eat at home as much as possible. My family has been making a big fuss.”
Jeong Jesin pouted.
“That’s so unfair. Shouldn’t you take better care of me than people you only saw a few days ago? We’ve been through thick and thin together for three years if you count it by years.”
“…Guild Master.”
“Yes?”
“Are you, by any chance, out of your mind?”
Her last words were almost a whisper, but there was no way Jeong Jesin didn’t hear them. But instead of getting angry, he broke into a wide grin.
“Why are you smiling after getting cursed at?”
“Because your color just glowed really pretty, noona. I want to see it again. Could you curse at me one more time? Just once.”
…This lunatic.
Gyeong Seha clicked her tongue.
“You’re really leaving? Just like that, leaving me behind?”
“Then should I go fake-leaving? Just hurry up and hand over the item you talked about last time.”
Jeong Jesin walked her out to the lobby. For someone who hated showing his face, it made her wonder if that was really okay—but even members of the Golden Scales couldn’t recognize him, so he seemed to have done something about it.
