BXBX NOVEL Chapter 78
Kang Hyeon headed to the guild office early in the morning.
Sitting in his exclusive chairman’s chair, Kang Hyeon stared blankly out the window.
“The end, huh…”
The day he first met Han Se-yeon.
She had said something similar to Shin Tae-gil.
-How long do you think the current peace will last, Mr. Kang Hyeon?
-I’m not talking about 5 years from now. At most 3 years. Within that time, countries will start facing crises of existence.
Actually, at that time, he didn’t think much of it. It was right after the Bait Guild incident had ended, and in a situation where he didn’t know what would happen, he thought the only answer was his own growth.
“Well, that hasn’t changed even now.”
Get stronger.
It’s just that now, in addition to his own growth, the guild’s growth has been added.
“That’s right… If I get stronger, everything will be resolved.”
Kang Hyeon emptied a can of beer in one gulp. And he threw the empty can without even looking at it.
-Ting, tak!
The can that hit the wall once went straight into the trash can.
“Jae-moon.”
“Yes…?”
Han Jae-moon, who was working in the corner, flinched at Kang Hyeon’s sudden call.
“Post a guild member recruitment notice.”
“Pardon…?”
“I said, recruit guild members.”
“All of a sudden…?”
“Yeah.”
“If you do this suddenly… There are budget issues… And also which areas we need people for, so…”
“I’ll take care of it, so just post the notice for now! When I tell you to do something, just do it. Why are you talking so much? Huh?”
“Yes…”
Han Jae-moon started typing on the keyboard with a tearful expression.
“I’ll hire a lot of administrative staff too. Don’t worry about the money.”
“Um… How many people…”
“We’ll recruit about 100 combat personnel, so accept as many applicants as possible.”
“Yes.”
Han Jae-moon, who was quietly typing on the keyboard, turned his head again.
“Guild Leader…”
“What now?”
“The qualifications…”
“No restrictions on age, gender, level. Just make sure to announce in advance that we’ll only accept tough ones.”
“Yes.”
“If you have anything else to ask, ask now.”
“I don’t have anything else…”
“Okay. Sorry for getting annoyed.”
Kang Hyeon, who ran his hand through his hair once out of frustration, approached the refrigerator.
When the door opened with a thud, dozens of cans of beer were visible. Kang Hyeon looked at them fondly and took out another can.
“Good. This is the taste of life.”
“Guild Leader.”
Someone approached Kang Hyeon while he was emptying another can refreshingly.
“What?”
“Um… Someone is here to see you.”
“Who?”
The answer came from right behind.
“It’s me.”
“Oh. Loli otaku. What’s up? Your outfit is even more shocking today.”
Yoon Na-rae. She had come to visit the Badass Guild office.
“Hmph. How would a pervert who sells obscene figurines understand my art?”
Yoon Na-rae was wearing an outfit that looked like an anime character seen somewhere before.
“That’s quite a refined art.”
“What?!”
“Anyway, why are you here?”
“I want to join this guild too.”
“Puhuhuk!”
Kang Hyeon spat out the beer he was drinking at Yoon Na-rae’s sudden declaration.
“Kyaaak! What are you doing, that’s disgusting?”
“Are you crazy? Why would you join here?”
“Why? When someone as precious as me comes to such a humble place, you should say thank you. Someone like me is a very high-quality personnel, you know?”
She had an expression that pretended to be angry. But Kang Hyeon noticed that her eyes were glancing at An Yu-seong, who was playing games far away.
“Tsk, how obvious.”
“W-what?!”
“Anyway. I don’t just accept anyone as a guild member.”
“..?”
“If you want to join the guild, of course you have to take a test.”
“Me?!”
“Yeah. You. Who else would do it?”
“You. Do you know how many guilds are begging to recruit me right now?!”
“That’s none of my business.”
At Kang Hyeon’s cold words, Yoon Na-rae fell into thought for a moment.
“Hmm… Alright. I’ll do it. It’s just passing a test, right?”
“Good.”
“So what’s the test?”
Kang Hyeon, who had been staring at Yoon Na-rae intently, suddenly grinned.
“It’s a one-on-one duel with me.”
***
Ippotranslation
***
“Why don’t you put on your equipment while I’m still asking nicely?”
“I don’t need it.”
Yoon Na-rae was fully prepared for battle with all her equipment on. In contrast, Kang Hyeon was bare-bodied as if he was in the office as usual.
“Your arrogance is through the roof.”
Yoon Na-rae frowned as if she didn’t like it.
‘I’m going to flatten your nose completely.’
Of course, Kang Hyeon wasn’t doing this without reason either.
‘I’ll show you what an overwhelming difference is.’
He had already heard about Yoon Na-rae’s combat style from An Yu-seong.
Kang Hyeon was confident he could win easily even without any equipment.
“No rules. I’ll pass you if you just show decent sense through the duel.”
“Hmph.”
“Well, it won’t happen, but if by any chance you manage to make me surrender, you’ll definitely pass and I’ll give you the vice guild master position.”
“Don’t go back on your word later.”
“With this many witnesses here, do you think I’d lie about that? Just come at me.”
“Here I go!”
Yoon Na-rae psyched herself up.
‘I can do this.’
She had heard rumors about Kang Hyeon’s combat power. But some of them must have been exaggerated.
‘I didn’t think I’d win originally… But if he’s not wearing equipment, that’s a different story.’
If he just doesn’t have equipment,
She can definitely win.
-Swoosh
Yoon Na-rae shot a magic arrow, intending to test him lightly.
‘Once I figure out his overall physical abilities and combat style, you’re finished.’
-Bang!
“Huh?”
Kang Hyeon was supposedly a close-combat dealer. So as expected, Kang Hyeon should have dodged the magic arrow and rushed towards her.
“What are you doing?”
But Kang Hyeon stood in place and swatted away her skill with his hand.
“Stop fooling around and come at me seriously. Or I’ll go first.”
“Hmph!”
Yoon Na-rae, hiding her confusion with a snort, started to get impatient.
‘What’s going on? Does he have high magic resistance? Or is it a shield spell? Does he have hidden equipment? Or accessories?’
She shook her head at the endless worries.
‘No. I just shot that as a test anyway. Let’s properly use skills again.’
She possessed a wide variety of magic.
From basic elemental magic to auxiliary magic useful in combat.
Originally, she planned to properly combine them to slowly torment Kang Hyeon, but none of them managed to deal proper damage to Kang Hyeon.
Yoon Na-rae’s eyes shook as if there was an earthquake in this unbelievable situation.
“You, you, you!”
“What.”
“What kind of trick is this?!”
“What nonsense are you spouting?”
Kang Hyeon frowned as Yoon Na-rae shouted in excitement.
“Why! Why doesn’t my magic work?! Is it equipment? Or a hidden skill?!”
“Are you going to keep talking nonsense?”
“It doesn’t make sense otherwise!”
“You seem a bit flustered, but I’m the one who’s really confused, you know?”
“What…?”
Yoon Na-rae’s eyes widened at the incomprehensible words.
“I heard from An Yu-seong that you were pretty good, but this is disappointing. Was his standard this low?”
“…”
“Who in this day and age would get hit by such slow and weak attacks?”
Kang Hyeon looked down at the skill binding his body.
“This skill too. It’s some kind of magic binding, right? But the intensity is too weak. At best, it’s E-grade.”
“How did you…?”
“This doesn’t even need a release skill.”
-Crack, snap
The magic binding broke pathetically at Kang Hyeon’s movement.
“I can break it with pure strength? Does this even work on monsters?”
Yoon Na-rae couldn’t come to her senses at all.
‘What the hell is this…? What’s going on here?!’
At first, it was half a joke, but later she poured out magic in all seriousness.
Yet Kang Hyeon was fine.
If Kang Hyeon had dodged the magic, she could have understood, but Kang Hyeon hadn’t moved a single step from the beginning until now.
‘More than half of my magic is gone… What on earth is this monster?’
Kang Hyeon, who had taken all those spells, only had slight scratches at best.
‘No, even those are gone…’
Even the small wounds that had appeared were long gone.
“Are you really human? Are you actually a monster wearing a disguise or something?!”
“What the hell. You’re talking nonsense like a shaman in a trance. If this is all you’ve got, you fail.”
“Ugh… Wait! This is just the beginning!”
Yoon Na-rae decided to switch to close combat.
‘If he has high resistance to magic, I can solve it with a sword.’
She was an all-rounder.
She possessed above-average abilities in close combat, ranged combat, and support.
Even if she fought Kang Hyeon in close quarters, she was confident she wouldn’t be overwhelmed one-sidedly.
-Thud!
Yoon Na-rae, who had planted her feet, approached Kang Hyeon as if flying.
“Haaah!”
The sword swung quickly horizontally. The bare-bodied Kang Hyeon would have no choice but to dodge backward.
-Clang.
“Tsk. I knew this would happen.”
“What…?”
But once again, her expectations crumbled miserably. Her sword was pathetically caught in Kang Hyeon’s bare hand.
“Clench your molars tightly.”
“W-wait…”
A large and solid fist.
That threatening weapon approaching quickly was Yoon Na-rae’s last memory.
-Thwack!
***
Ippotranslation
***
“The effect is better than I thought.”
Kang Hyeon smiled as he looked at the fallen Yoon Na-rae.
“I’ll need to keep developing Entria’s Outer Shell steadily from now on.”
Kang Hyeon’s strength stat is 31. Activating Wayne’s secret technique brings it to 50. Finally, adding the title and accessories, it becomes 61.
With that formidable strength stat and the B-grade Entria’s Outer Shell on top, most attacks didn’t even hurt.
The minor wounds that did occur healed instantly thanks to Advanced Bodily Regeneration (A).
The occasional dangerous magic could be easily nullified by arbitrarily releasing magical power.
“Honestly, it was a good match-up.”
Yoon Na-rae is excellent in every aspect. But in the end, she didn’t reach the highest level in any field.
Especially in terms of attack power, she seemed to fall behind others with similar abilities.
“When attacks don’t work in the first place, there’s no need for sense or anything else.”
The best sense and powerful destructive force.
An Yu-seong had perfectly grasped those two things, but Yoon Na-rae couldn’t.
“Tsk. Anyway, I should nurture her.”
But while she might have a bad match-up against him, it wouldn’t be the same against other enemies. Moreover, there were plenty of ways to compensate for weak attack power.
“Hey.”
Kang Hyeon, finished with his thoughts, called out to Yoon Na-rae.
-Slap, slap
“…”
There was no response even when he patted her cheeks.
“Shin Seong-a.”
“Yes.”
“Bring me a bucket of water.”
“Understood.”
Shin Seong-a, looking somewhat excited, quickly fetched the water, and Kang Hyeon, taking it, unhesitatingly poured it on Yoon Na-rae’s face.
“Puaagh!”
“Wake up.”
“Haa, haa. What…?”
“What do you mean, what? You got beat up.”
“Ah…”
Yoon Na-rae, who had been dazed for a moment, slowly began to remember. The sharp pain in her jaw was an added bonus.
“Sniff… Sob…”
“Are you crying?”
“Hic! Waaah!”
Yoon Na-rae felt wronged.
It felt like all her efforts over the past year, teetering between life and death, had been for nothing.
“I! I worked so hard! Sob, who are you to…!”
“Enough, you’re out. No matter how I think about it, you’re too weak to join our guild.”
“What?! How can you say that! How can you talk like that?!”
Yoon Na-rae cried miserably, tears and snot flowing freely.
Her thick makeup smeared instantly.
“Let me join too! I want to join!”
“Do you really want to join?”
“Yes!”
“Then fix your attitude first.”
“What..?”
“From now on, speak politely to me, call me Guild Master, and follow my orders without question.”
“Th-that’s…!”
“If you don’t like it, don’t join. But if you do join, you can fight me again anytime. If you win, I don’t care if you become the Guild Master or whatever.”
Yoon Na-rae was conflicted by Kang Hyeon’s words.
‘Not only do I have to call this pervert Guild Master, but I also have to speak politely and do everything he says..?’
In her mind, she was already imagining figurines modeled after her being sold naked on the internet.
“That’s not happening, you pervert!”
“Are you crazy?! If you don’t like it, just leave quietly!”
“I’m going! I’m leaving!”
Holding her swollen face, Yoon Na-rae quickly left the training arena.
“Mr. Kang Hyeon.”
“Yes?”
“Weren’t you planning to recruit that woman?”
“That’s right.”
“Are you just letting her go like this?”
“She’ll come back soon. Well, if she doesn’t, that can’t be helped…”
“I see.”
And the next day.
As if by magic, Yoon Na-rae came looking for Kang Hyeon and stamped the guild application form.
“I look forward to working with you.”
“Yes…”
“Who am I?”
“G-Guild Master…”
“That’s right! I’m your Guild Master! Kuhahaha-!”
Kang Hyeon’s laughter, filling the office, was a scene that could only make one suspect he might really be a pervert.