Chapter 72
When Kang Hye-rim agreed to accept the duel, the spectators gasped in astonishment.
Finally, the situation they had been eagerly hoping for had been realized.
Ju Kyungsoo clenched his fist and rejoiced inwardly.
‘Hehe. I was worried that she might refuse, even a little bit, but everything is going as I expected.’
Ju Kyungsoo was already confident of his victory.
He didn’t think he would lose, logically speaking.
Kang Hye-rim had only been officially active as a collector for a month.
No matter how talented she was, she lacked experience.
On the other hand, Ju Kyungsoo, although he didn’t fight hard, had his own know-how as an intermediate collector.
‘Stupid girl! I’ll strip you naked and eat you up.’
As Ju Kyungsoo was having such a wicked thought, Kang Hye-rim added something else.
“However.”
“Hmm?”
“I can’t do it right now. I’ll do it in three days.”
‘In three days?’
Ju Kyungsoo wanted to settle it right away, but after thinking about it, he decided that it would be better to take some time.
First of all, he had to spread the rumor and increase the number of eyes watching. Wouldn’t his achievement be greater when he won?
She seemed to have some idea and asked for time, but Ju Kyungsoo felt that it was a meaningless resistance.
‘How cute. She thinks she can do something about it. Is that it? Well, fine. Do whatever you can.’
He was sorry that he had to wait for three days, but Ju Kyungsoo knew that the more he delayed the delicious prey, the greater the sense of accomplishment when he got it. So he agreed to the proposal.
“Fine. Let’s have a duel in three days.”
“Where?”
“We can use the place that the association will announce. For now, the witnesses for this duel will be the other people who are gathered here.”
“I understand.”
Kang Hye-rim answered like that, but in fact it was nothing more than a method that Yu-hyun had told her.
Above all, Yu-hyun had whispered in her ear to buy some time, so she made this suggestion.
‘What is he thinking?’
Kang Hye-rim didn’t know exactly what kind of person Yu-hyun was.
But she didn’t think he would do anything meaningless.
There had already been several times when even trivial things were all calculated and predicted by him.
“What’s going on here?”
Was it because she heard the commotion downstairs and came to check?
Shin Gareung looked at the crowd and asked Yu-hyun in confusion.
“Oh, Gareung-ssi.”
“Yu-hyun-ssi. What happened? It was so noisy downstairs, so I came down and saw this…”
“Ju Kyungsoo, a collector, came looking for us.”
“Ju Kyungsoo? The artist?”
Her expression soured as if she heard a name she didn’t want to hear.
“Do you know him?”
“Not really, but I’ve seen him before. I didn’t like him very much though. I interviewed him once before.”
“Oh.”
Yu-hyun could easily guess how the situation went.
As he expected, Shin Gareung crossed her arms and clicked her tongue.
“I thought he was nice and good at talking because of his mask, but he threw too much flattery at me. Especially his eyes. They gave me goosebumps. And there was a subtle sense of alienation in every move he made.”
“I see.”
“More than anything, he’s rumored to have done bad things with a clan on his back. I’m collecting various information about collectors in the first place, so I know everything about him. He may be popular with the public, but not with me.”
“Gareung-ssi has surprisingly high standards.”
“Well, maybe it’s just a matter of taste? I don’t like people who are flashy on the outside like him. Especially if they have bad rumors. There’s usually a reason for those rumors. If I had to pick my type, maybe someone like Yu-hyun-ssi?”
“I’m sorry, but I’m a teller. I’ll just take your heart.”
“Hehe. That’s also charming. So what did that artist do?”
Shin Gareung, who hadn’t heard anything about the situation yet, seemed quite puzzled by the sudden turn of events. Yu-hyun answered casually.
“He just challenged Hyerim-ssi to a duel.”
“I see. A duel… Wait a minute! Isn’t that a big deal?”
“It is a big deal, if you put it that way.”
“You can’t do that. He may be an artist, but he’s an intermediate collector. Hyerim-ssi may be a rising star, but there’s a gap between them.”
Shin Gareung was shocked by the fact that this problem had occurred in the magazine company she belonged to, and pointed out the irrationality of the situation.
“But she accepted the duel. Isn’t that too hasty…”
“Of course, it may seem that way. But we’re not fools. We have something to trust, so we acted like this.”
“But still…”
“Besides, Gareung-ssi doesn’t have to worry. Rather, this incident will be a bigger issue for you.”
“Huh?”
“Think about it. A rookie who had an exclusive interview with your magazine, defeats an intermediate collector who is an artist in a duel. Wouldn’t that be very interesting?”
“Oh my, Yu-hyun-ssi. Are you trying to make this situation your own?”
Shin Gareung looked at Yu-hyun incredulously with her mouth open.
It was just a while ago that I was shocked by the sudden incident, but Yu-hyun’s attitude towards this situation was even more astonishing.
Yu-hyun smiled at Shin Gareung and winked one eye.
“You’ll see. Rather, I hope Gareung-ssi will fan the flames of this duel even more. You have connections to the media, right? I would appreciate it if you could do some publicity for me.”
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“Ha, ha. So you’re not going to avoid it, but rather make it bigger?”
“That’s how I get more out of it when I win.”
“Really. I thought you were not ordinary, but you’re more crazy than I thought. Oh, I don’t mean to insult you. It’s actually a compliment. Crazy means something like… what should I say…”
“Very outstanding, right?”
“Yes! Exactly that. You know it well.”
“Of course. I like crazy things too.”
Yu-hyun and Shin Gareung exchanged conversations while Baek Seoryeon, who was watching them from the side, intervened.
“Unni. When did you become so close with Yu-hyun-ssi?”
“Huh? Oh. Seoryeon-ah.”
“What? You didn’t even notice I was here?”
“Ey. How could that be? I was just too surprised.”
“Hmm.”
Baek Seoryeon looked at Shin Gareung suspiciously and Shin Gareung quickly changed the topic.
“I got it. For now, I’ll try to put some pressure on as Yu-hyun-ssi wants.”
“That’s enough for me.”
“Well, I don’t care much either. Besides, thanks to this issue, the next issue seems to sell quite a lot.”
“Maybe, it will sell even more explosively.”
“Hoo. I’ll look forward to that. You won’t disappoint me, right?”
“I can’t guarantee that.”
“Huh?”
“But, it will definitely be fun.”
Yu-hyun’s words were filled with confidence and Shin Gareung nodded her head half-doubtfully and half-expectantly.
Meanwhile, Kang Hye-rim, who had settled all the date and time of the duel, came back to this side.
Ju Kyungsu did not leave yet and glanced at this side for a moment, then snorted and went outside.
[Look at him. He looks like he’s sure he’s going to win.]
‘He probably is. He’s never lost before. He’s the kind of guy who only fights when he wins.’
[He’s kind of similar to you, isn’t he?]
‘I’m not trying to fight only when I win.’
Yu-hyun looked at Ju Kyungsu’s back with a cold glint in his eyes.
‘But, right now, I’m sure I’m going to win.’
There were three days left until the duel.
It was enough time for me to prepare as well.
***
The confrontation between the artist and the sword master attracted people’s hot interest.
‘The artist and the sword master are fighting!’
‘So who is the sword master?’
It was natural that people’s eyes turned to her as they did not know about Kang Hye-rim yet, and at the same time, her achievements were revealed one by one.
‘I told you so! She’ll be famous soon!’
‘The sword master coin is skyrocketing.’
‘Please win, sword master-nim!’
I looked at the reactions of the comments on the internet articles and was satisfied with the situation going as planned.
Kang Hye-rim gained popularity and the name of Baekhwa Management also spread out.
Thanks to or because of that, people’s interest also started to focus on this side.
There were no people coming and going in Baekhwa Management usually, but a few times, reporters knocked on the door.
Seoryeon-ssi told them not to come for this kind of thing and scared them away, so there were no people coming directly, but they could not stop them from waiting outside and watching this side.
“Haa. Really. What is this all about?”
Seoryeon-ssi looked tired as she was busy with work already, and now she had to deal with reporters too.
“Well, what can we do? That’s how things happen in unexpected situations.”
“But not to this extent!”𝚗𝗼𝘷𝙚𝒍𝚋𝓲𝖓.𝑛ℯｔ
She tried to make excuses somehow and Seoryeon-ssi turned around and gave me a fierce look.
I reacted with ‘ouch hot’ and shrank my body.
“Hoo. And unni, how did you manage to make her do this kind of work?”
“Shin Gareung-ssi?”
“She’s not usually one to sit still, you know? She’s quite picky about people, so even if she smiles on the outside, she won’t budge if she doesn’t really like them.”
“Oh. Is that so? I’m glad she liked me then.”
“Not so glad, okay? She’s really good at her work, so if she moved as Yu-hyun-ssi asked, the rumor must have spread like crazy.”
“That’s what I hoped for.”
I didn’t ask her for publicity on purpose.
I did this because I had my own plans too.
I don’t like fighting as that Casanova Ju Kyung-soo wants, but I can just crush him in the duel and show him who’s boss.
‘No, rather, this fight is what I wanted.’
Ju Kyung-soo was barely a second-rate collector in terms of skill, but his popularity was close to first-rate.
The moment he declared a duel, it was natural that many people would be interested in it.
And he seemed to be promoting it himself without me having to do anything.
‘Hyelim has gained some recognition among the spirits, but her name hasn’t spread well among the people yet.’
I requested an interview with a collecting magazine that focused on collectors as a way to gain popularity.
But that wasn’t enough, and Ju Kyung-soo appeared and threw me an opportunity.
‘He probably thought he could use his reputation to somehow press me down.’
But that would soon backfire on him.
He didn’t know that fact.
‘The Hesiodos Clan.’
The Hesiodos Clan that Ju Kyung-soo belonged to was one of the giant clans.
As the name suggests, this place was based on Greek mythology and was famous for receiving a lot of support from the spirits of the Great Army Olympus.
The clan’s name was taken from Hesiod, the author of Theogony, for that reason.
‘I wondered why they kept such a lecherous guy like Ju Kyung-soo in the clan, but it makes sense if he’s related to Olympus.’
As anyone who knows mythology would know, they are not exactly chaste when it comes to sex, are they?
Casanova’s stories are nothing but childish jokes compared to the ones who sit on the divine throne of the Pantheon, who have the origin of Olympus mythology.
‘Anyway, a giant clan is a giant clan. They must have some plan to crush Hyelim somehow, so they will try to attract as many spectators as possible. Teller is the same.’
I’m grateful that they gave me a stage, but they also made it bigger.
I gave them a three-day grace period because I wanted the stage to grow as big as possible.
The Hesiodos Clan must have had their own reasons for doing this, but for me, it was almost like giving me a one-plus-one event.
I glanced at Hyelim, who was sitting in the corner of the office and adjusting her energy.
She was sitting on the floor with her eyes closed, and around her body, faint blue currents were sparking.
‘She’s fully prepared too.’
The sword master of the previous life.
No, Hyelim now would be an even better collector than she was then.
The [Thunder Sword] that I gave her would make her so.
‘It’s not enough to chase the shadows of the past.’
She can’t stop at just catching up with what’s gone.
She has to desperately surpass and go ahead of it, transcending even herself who was once the best.
The duel that was about to happen was the first step of a great journey for that.
‘This is a fight for that purpose.’
