Chapter 43: Crazy bitch (1)

This was a situation where I could no longer hide my humble smile.

Holding out her hand for a handshake in front of me was a red-haired woman.

I didn’t know if I was just caught off guard, or if it was because I was, after all, a man, but my eyes were automatically drawn to her bold outfit.

‘Ah…’

Instantly, I knew I had made a mistake.

It was because I could feel two heavy gazes locked onto me - those of Jung Hayan’s and the red-haired woman herself, who I now knew by the name of Cha Hee-ra.

I usually acted carefully about this part, but the woman’s choice of clothing was so surprisingly daring that I forgot how to act like myself.

‘That’s it…’

I didn’t know if it was the outfit that barely just covered her chest and stomach, or it was how confidently she carried herself, but the red hair and red lips give off a strangely erotic feeling.

All in all, she had a very attractive appearance.

I shook my head for a moment and appraised her with my eyes’ ability, and her whole profile showed itself to me in an instant.

[Check player Cha Hee-ra’s status window and potential.]

[Name-Hee-ra Cha]

[Title-Blood Mad Madame, Red Mercenary, Red Madame of the Holy Empire]

[Age-28]

[Propensity-Unpredictable Innovator]

[Occupation-Mercenary Queen-Legend Level]

[Occupational Effect-Acquisition of Basic Sword Skills]

[Job Effect-Acquisition of Intermediate Weapon Knowledge]

[Job Effect-Acquisition of Advanced Weapon Knowledge]

[Job Effect-Acquisition of Advanced Dual Weapon Knowledge]

[Occupational Effect-Acquisition of Advanced Magic Power Operation Knowledge]

[Capacity]

[Strength -97/Growth Limit: Legend or higher]

[Agility-82/Growth Limit: Hero or less]

[Health -85/Growth Limit: Hero or less]

[Intellect-67/Growth Limit: Rare or higher]

[Endurance-90/Growth Limit: Hero or higher]

[Luck-56/Growth Limit: Rare or higher]

[Magic power -82 /Growth Limit: Hero or less]

[Equipment-None]

[Talent-Blood Mad Madame-Hero Grade]

[Intellectual stats are temporarily reduced to increase attack power.]

[General comment-She looks a little dangerous to me. Be careful, or she might end up biting your head off.]

Her job was a hero-level mercenary queen, with her title being a ‘Blood Mad Madame’.

Of course, it didn’t feel like she was up to anything good, given how she approached us. The fact that she was also an unpredictable innovator added to my unease.

‘But these stats…’

Her strength at 90 and her endurance at 97 were highly impressive. She was even stronger than Lee Sang-hee!

However, if I were to compare her to the other female executives present, I could safely say that having such high stats and hero-graded jobs were the norm. I shouldn’t have to be so inclined towards her.

Honestly speaking, it was the attractive smile and the confident outstretched hand that drew me to her.

However, I knew that this simple scenario could undermine me.

Shifting slightly beside me, I could feel Jung Hayan’s discomfort. Of course, knowing her, she was trying her best not to show it.

She must be aware that not shaking her hand would be an outright disrespect for such a powerful person.

I thought Jung Hayan could find it in her to be a little more mature, but the way her hand had tightened around my arm meant she childishly did not want me to take the handshake.

‘Still…’

Cha Hee-ra was a VIP of another guild. I had to remember that fact.

‘I’m sorry, Jung Hayan…’

It was a little difficult to move my arm into position because of Jung Hayan trying her best to stop me from doing so, but after silently asking for understanding this once, I held Cha Hee-ra’s hand tightly.

“Nice to meet you. I’m Lee Kiyoung.”

“It’s really an honor to get to talk to the stars of this demonstration.”

“Ah, all the credit goes to Jung Hayan here…”

“Jung Hayan, that demo was really impressive.”

“Yes… thank you…” Jung Hayan’s voice had become dangerously low.

Once I dropped Cha Hee-ra’s hand, Jung Hayan’s grip thankfully loosened.

“The two of you are really close. Is there any chance that you’ve developed your relationship outside?”

“Ah. Not like that. The first time I met her was in the tutorial dungeon, and after that, we got closer to each other and made a good relationship.”

“I really envy you.”

It was really hard trying to read this woman’s gaze.

‘Aren’t you embarrassed?’

Of course, it seemed that the source of her self-confidence was not her appearance.

It might be her taste to go around with more than half of her breasts exposed, but the real reason behind her confidence was because she was called the Mercenary Queen Cha Hee-ra.

She was simply that strong—the strongest out of everyone I had seen so far, even. And I wasn’t just basing this off her stats.

I’ve also based this off of the fact that no one else dared to approach us in her presence.

“Ah… I think I should introduce myself one more time. I am the leader of the Red Mercenary Guild. My job is called Mercenary Queen Cha Hee-ra.”

‘Also…’

“You came in person.”

“Yeah. I am a little interested in talent. Especially this time, I heard a lot of talented people coming in, so I just had to see for myself.”

“Ah, I see. Thank you so much for giving us such importance.”

“No. It is natural.”

“But I don’t know if it’s okay to talk. As far as I hear, the Blue Guild has the right to bargain…”

“Oh… Negotiation. I’m just talking about it. Of course, we have to tell you about the recruitment, but our Red Mercenary Guild respects the bargaining rights of the Blue Guild. It would be right to think of it as an advisor to help you make reasonable choices.”

“Ah…”

In other words, it meant that I wasn’t part of their choices yet. I was not on their table for now.

They were still trying to see how important I was and how I was going to fit in.

It wasn’t just us. Park Deokgu was also talking to a man who suddenly approached him, and Kim Hyunsung was openly surrounded by people.

I knew the Blue Guild could feel their potential loss if they let us get taken away. This was exactly how they knew they were a guild without power.

If they had the power to control the VIPs, this would not have happened in the first place.

Of course, I was not sympathetic.

It was a story that had nothing to do with me as an independent person, and making strings here was a more reasonable - and safer - option.

“You probably don’t know a lot about this kind of thing. Guilds that usually have primary bargaining rights have a strong tendency to control information regarding the other guilds… About the red mercenaries I run…”

“Yeah. I didn’t hear it.”

“Oh, then I guess I have to explain a little bit. Our Red Mercenary is a guild made by melee workers. As the name suggests, it is easy to understand that it is a guild that moves through various quests, as well as dungeons, monster hunting, and even small battles or war quests.”

“Ah, melee…”

“Yeah. To be precise, it was a mercenary guild made up of melee soldiers.”

“You mean you are pursuing change.”

“Yeah. It is difficult to tell in detail, but there is a movement within the guild to train wizards and priests and invest in auxiliary occupations. It’s a bit different, but it’s a situation where a lot of the budget is being spent. It’s a bit late compared to other guilds, so why are the executives urging you to invest more? Actually, the reason why I’ve come this far is because of our investors…”

“I see…”

I think I know what she was talking about.

“I’m curious as to how much you plan to invest.”

“Would you be comfortable speaking in Hanwha?”

“Yeah. Still on the side…”

Cha Hee-ra laughed and spoke again.

“2 billion.”

‘What…’

“Yeah?”

“2 billion per person. We are also preparing an additional budget in case you don’t know. Of course, we will continue to invest in the future. At least 500 million won a year, even. Does that sound fine?”

Roughly interpreted, it was a down payment of more than 2 billion and an annual salary of 500 million.

Based on this, the down payment would be 20,000 gold and an annual salary of 5,000 gold.

I felt so embarrassed, I couldn’t even speak.

‘2 billion?’

Compared to the amount presented by the Blue Guild at first, the gap was too large to even be considered.

I expected the price to jump by a bit, not by twenty more times! In the case of annual salary, I’d say it jumped by 5 times.

At this point, I began to wonder just how the Blue Guild saw us and began to understand why so many of the other guilds wanted to get us.

If the amount is this much, it was unreasonable to refuse them outright.

It was a whopping 2 billion!

An amount that the average person cannot collect even after working a lifetime.

Even at this point, I was already calculating which one would be the better option to take!

“But… It may be a little difficult to invest in close-knit workers. We are new to this sort of thing, after all.”

“Ah.”

“There are really many talented people in our guild. Of course, it’s not as if we haven’t considered Kim Hyunsung or the others… it’s just that we want to focus on only one place.”

This did not sound good.

“I see.”

“Both Mr. Kiyoung and Ms. Hayan seems to be interested in this project of our guild… I want to ask what you think.”

This was basically a question of whether or not we were willing to abandon Park Deokgu and Kim Hyunsung.

Probably, as it was a guild that had already been strengthened as a melee force, the prosecutors and tankers were already seasoned members.

Therefore, I could understand why they did not choose to invest in Park Deokgu and Kim Hyunsung. They already had people in place that could act as the perfect shield and sword.

Even if I was in her position, my focus would literally just stay on the magical side.

“The project itself is really interesting, but I’m a little worried if we can help. I was intimate with my friends whom I attacked the tutorial dungeon together with. To focus on one place is…”

“Hmm… That’s surprising.”

She looked even more intrigued at this point. It almost felt like a game of cat and mouse to me.

“It would have been really nice if I had the opportunity to invest in only the two of you… Our guild is also difficult to handle these days. We want to make this guild a better place, see, and to compensate for our past losses. It’ll be such a shame not to get you or Jung Hayan.”

“What…”

“This is a gift.”

I could feel Cha Hee-ra pulling an item out, and I immediately stiffened.

‘Was this a bribe?’

Probably not. It actually felt like a gift.

However, my unease did not go away entirely.

On the other hand, since this was a gift from a leader of such a large guild, I knew it was a valuable item.

“If you change your mind, you can talk to me anytime. If not, I still want to keep in touch. Since you belong to the same empire as us, wouldn’t there be a lot of time to go into dungeons or stand on the front line together? And… Well… Jung Hayan?”

“…”

𝙧𝙚𝙚𝔀𝒆𝓫𝓷𝙤𝓿𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝙤𝓶

“The young miss must also learn how to kill a little bit of life.”

“Ah…”

Cha Hee-ra suddenly came to this direction in an instant. I could feel the moisture on my lips from when she had kissed me without warning.

‘This crazy…’

I couldn’t get my mind to react fast enough to the sudden action.

I tried pushing Cha Hee-ra away, but there was no way I could rival her strength stats with my own weak body. I could hardly even make a single noise.

Only

I struggled to look at Jung Hayan, but could no longer feel any trace of her magic or presence beside me.

‘Sh*t…’

I was not expecting this at all!

“This is also a gift. Then see you next time.”

‘Sh*t!’

I noticed everyone had begun to look this way with stunned faces. Even Park Deokgu had a startled expression.

No one had to tell me what just happened. The only thing I was worried about was losing Jung Hayan.

‘Fuck, I’m screwed.’