Chapter 208
Chapter 208. Drinking Party (2)
Yoo Ji-han arrived at the reserved bar.
“Are you Yoo Ji-han?”
“That’s right.”
“This way, please.”
The female staff member guiding Yoo Ji-han glanced at him briefly as she walked.
Though he was hiding his face, she knew who he was just by his name.
Upon reaching the reserved room, she said,
“If you need anything, please press the bell.”
“Got it.”
“Um, and…”
“Yes?”
“If it’s not too much trouble, could I have an autograph?”
Yoo Ji-han took the paper and pen the staff member carefully handed over and wrote his name.
She received the signed paper back with great joy, bowing deeply.
As soon as it was known that Yoo Ji-han was on the reservation list, other staff members rushed to guide him personally.
They settled it through rock-paper-scissors, and she ended up being the chosen one.
‘All I did was write my name.’
Just a mere piece of paper with his name written on it.
Watching her clutch it as if it were a treasured item left Yoo Ji-han feeling quite peculiar.
He now had the sense that there were people who recognized him wherever he went.
After about five minutes of looking over the food menu, the closed door opened, and Lee Mi-a, dressed in a pale pink shirt, walked in.
“Hi.”
“You made it. Sit here.”
Lee Mi-a sat down in front of Yoo Ji-han.
Yoo Ji-han looked at the shirt she was wearing and said,
“That’s the one I gifted you?”
“It’s my first time wearing it.”
“Really? I guess you didn’t like it that much.”
“No, it’s just a cherished piece.”
Lee Mi-a brushed her palm over the sleeve.
While it wasn’t an extremely expensive shirt, from the moment she received it from Yoo Ji-han, it had been stored in the most visible spot in her closet.
“I never thought you would be the one to suggest a drinking party.”
“I’m not a person who asks others to drink, so this is also a first for me.”
Aside from her activities as a hero, Lee Mi-a spent most of her days at home.
She had never once asked anyone to drink or eat with her.
“What do you want to drink?”
“Anything.”
“That’s the hardest order in the world.”
Yoo Ji-han called for the staff and ordered some simple food and drinks.
“So, what’s up?”
“……”
“You must have called me for a reason.”
A person who normally didn’t enjoy alcohol calling for a drink had to mean there was another reason.
“I left Keroes.”
“……Really?”
“Yep.”
Yoo Ji-han was surprised to hear the information that hadn’t been made public yet.
Lee Mi-a had played a very crucial role in Kim Hyun-tae’s party.
For her to completely leave the party and guild that she had steadily built a reputation in…
If this news broke, many people would be taken aback.
“I had advised you to take a break because you seemed tired of Kim Hyun-tae’s ways, but I didn’t expect you to leave so suddenly.”
“Is it because of me?”
“No, I had been thinking about it for a while.”
“What did Park Joong-seob, the guild master, say?”
“He opposed it.”
A capable hero wanting to leave was not something Park Joong-seob would allow to happen easily.
He must have tried everything to prevent it.
“So, you decided to leave with conditions.”
“What kind of conditions?”
“Return half of the contract fee and agree not to join another guild for four years.”
“……!”
A condition that outright forbids her from being active in any guild other than Keroes for the remaining contract period.
It was his way of preventing Lee Mi-a from leaving Keroes altogether.
“You accepted that?”
“Yeah.”
Lee Mi-a accepted those unfavorable conditions.
That clearly demonstrated how strongly she wanted to leave Keroes.
Yoo Ji-han poured her a drink that arrived on the table and asked,
“Do you have any plans for the future?”
“……”
“You didn’t think about what comes next at all, did you?”
Once she decided, she clearly hadn’t thought of what would follow.
Her headstrong nature was showing through.
Feeling a bit embarrassed, Lee Mi-a downed the drink in her cup without a word.
“Sweet.”
“It’s fruit wine. You like sweet stuff.”
“Yep. I like it.”
Yoo Ji-han quietly watched Lee Mi-a sip her drink.
Since she already accepted those unfavorable conditions, it was unlikely she’d change her mind.
So, without a path to join another guild for four years, Lee Mi-a would have to create her own guild to continue operating.
But…
‘Can she manage a guild?’
There are more trivial tasks assigned to a guild master than one might think.
The excessive paperwork starting from creating a guild.
He wondered if Lee Mi-a could handle it alone.
“One more bottle.”
“Have you already finished?”
With the extra order, several bottles of alcohol were placed on the table.
Interestingly enough, Lee Mi-a seemed to be more focused on drinking than eating.
And about two hours into their casual chatter…
“I’m not drunk.”
“Sure.”
“I’m not drunk.”
“I got it.”
“I’m not drunk either.”
“……Why are you talking to the wall?”
With Lee Mi-a repeating the same words, Yoo Ji-han left the bar.
Just before they stepped out, he couldn’t shake off the suspicious glances from the staff members.
After all, it made sense for them to be curious about a well-known male hero accompanying an inebriated woman.
‘I just tried a drink that’s supposedly special.’
A drink that only heroes ranked 3 and above could order.
It was mixed with a small quantity of poison extracted from monsters, intended for heroes who usually don’t get drunk due to their magic.
Having consumed about seven bottles of it alone, Lee Mi-a was clearly feeling tipsy.
“Let’s head back.”
“I want to drink more.”
“Let’s save it for next time.”
“Will you meet me again next time?”
“If you want, sure.”
With that promise of a next time, she became a little quieter.
Yoo Ji-han helped her into a taxi.
He felt slightly uneasy about sending her off alone.
When they arrived near her home and got out of the taxi…
Thud!
Yoo Ji-han caught Lee Mi-a just before she fell to the ground, her legs giving way.
For an amazing hero like her, to be this weak…
It seemed the concentration of poison in the alcohol was rather high.
“Get on my back.”
Yoo Ji-han crouched down and offered his back to Lee Mi-a.
She climbed onto his back obediently.
As they walked through the sparsely populated night streets lit by small lights…
Yoo Ji-han followed the direction Lee Mi-a indicated.
It was then…
“Yoo Ji-han.”
Lee Mi-a murmured softly next to his ear.
“I don’t know what I should do now.”
Having spent over seven years charging forward as a hero.
Yet still not even thirty years old, she was just a young adult.
Having burst out of the guild, Lee Mi-a was unsure of her future direction.
Yoo Ji-han had anticipated this.
“If you want to keep active, you’ll need to create a guild.”
“……”
“If you’re going to create a guild, hire someone to take care of the paperwork. It’ll become a hassle otherwise.”
He shared various pieces of advice with a pondering Lee Mi-a based on his own experiences.
Just then…
“I want to go to Sweet Fun too.”
“Are you serious?”
“Yeah. If needed, I’d lower my price for it.”
“……!”
Hearing her express a desire to join the same guild made Yoo Ji-han stop in his tracks.
If she was willing to lower her price, it wasn’t just a joke.
This could be a chance to bring a talent into the fold.
Having heard about the conditions for her contract release at the drinking party, Yoo Ji-han quickly started brainstorming.
“First, create a one-person guild.”
“But…”
“Then we can approach Sweet Fun to gradually buy shares in your guild…”
*
Bang!
Returning home and closing the front door, Lee Mi-a tossed her shoes off lightly.
As she moved to the living room, she showed no signs of wobbliness at all.
It was hard to imagine she had almost fallen just moments ago.
No wonder, she never really lost her strength in her legs at all.
“……Did he catch on?”
She had only been drunk until just before they left the bar.
If it were Yoo Ji-han, he might have picked up on her amateur acting.
Once she thought of that, embarrassment washed over her.
No matter how much she wanted to talk to him, she had acted like a performer.
Though she might have borrowed the power of alcohol, it was a bold move for an impulsive act.
‘I’m unemployed now.’
She had suddenly become jobless after several years.
She had given up her position for Yoo Ji-han.
But after he left Kim Hyun-tae’s party, the organization had stagnated while making unprecedented mistakes.
She had decided to accept somewhat unreasonable conditions to break free.
‘There’s no going back.’
Even if things went well and she became Yoo Ji-han’s ally…
Nothing could return to how it used to be.
A lot had changed compared to then.
‘Doesn’t matter.’
But Lee Mi-a didn’t care at all.
The fact that Yoo Ji-han was near her.
That alone was enough.
Everything else didn’t matter to her.
*
The next day.
News of Lee Mi-a leaving Kim Hyun-tae’s party spread, and she established her own one-person guild.
It was rare for a well-known party to have a member leave, so significant interest gathered around her reason for departing…
[At Keroes, we wish for the boundless development of Hero Lee Mi-a.]
Keroes released articles emphasizing that Lee Mi-a’s departure was a “beautiful farewell.”
Lee Mi-a did not respond with any particular statement.
‘Looks like I have made an ally.’
An alliance is an agreement to promise close exchanges between guilds.
Kim Si-hu’s Sweet Fun and Lee Mi-a’s guild “Mi-a” decided to enter into an alliance contract.
Thus, it wouldn’t cause any issues for the two guilds to act together.
‘Keroes can’t stop this alliance.’
Keroes had little chance of intervening in the alliance between the two guilds.
After all, there was no breach of contract terms, and knowing Park Joong-seob, who valued the guild’s image highly…
He wouldn’t want to create the image of oppressing a departing guild member.
“Thank you for the introduction to a good person.”
—Oh, it’s nothing special.
Lee Mi-a easily found someone to take care of her paperwork thanks to an introduction from the Monster Disposal Company, Mongdang.
“How’s work going?”
—Phew, I’m hiring even part-timers and getting it all sorted out.
Jang Sa-im from Mongdang was involved in the aftermath of the expedition that Yoo Ji-han’s party had participated in.
Due to the high number of monsters and newly appearing creatures, handling them wasn’t easy.
Thanks to Yoo Ji-han’s party visiting so many regions…
Their representative, Jang Sa-im, was constantly busy with work.
—Once I let them know I’m Sweet Fun’s representative, everything has become so convenient! They only give me the good stuff.
Her sharply heightened recognition was significantly impacting monster disposal as well.
Even for the same monster carcasses, the surroundings were now considerate enough to ensure she only received those in good condition.
“I’ll need your help for a while.”
—You can count on me.
Cutting off contact with Jang Sa-im, Yoo Ji-han leaned back in his chair.
Then he recalled the conversation he’d had with Yang Ji-cheol from the Hero Department.
‘It seems like I might level up.’
There are rewards given to parties that participated in the expedition.
Among them, some parties were preparing for exceptional leveling up.
Considering Yang Ji-cheol had directly shared such news, it implied that Yoo Ji-han’s party was likely in that candidate group.
‘The impact of the expedition is quite significant.’
The party’s recognition has drastically increased, and on top of that, they gained Drimium.
Joining an alliance with Lee Mi-a who left Kim Hyun-tae’s party…
Changes were happening around him following the completion of this expedition.
“Huh?”
Just then, a message arrived on Yoo Ji-han’s mobile phone.
He had set it to reject numbers that weren’t saved in his contacts, so it had to be from someone he usually knew.
“Ah, it’s the reporter.”
It was a message from Lee Wan, a reporter he had occasionally interacted with for interviews.
But when he checked the content of the message…
[Can we meet sometime today or tomorrow?]
[Yoo Ji-han, who was in Kim Hyun-tae’s party.]
Yoo Ji-han could only freeze like a statue.
