Chapter 859

EP.859 [Light Novel Side Story] The Death Dinus of the Sky 1 Volume 006

The contract proceeded smoothly without a hitch.

Huan was quite positive about foreigners coming to Korea and establishing a guild, and Xian also quickly signed the contract as the deposit Huan offered was reasonable. Even if the landlord wasn’t Huan, Xian had planned to move into the second floor of this building anyway. To avoid sounding too fawning, Xian simply told Huan that he wanted an office close to home.

“If I say I’m setting up a guild because the cake here is delicious, everyone would probably be shocked, right?”

“So why are you loitering around other people’s offices again?”

“I’m bored! Where else can you find something this entertaining? Right?”

Kim Nori was sitting on the sofa flipping through flyers while humming a tune. She was already planning to order takeout from a Chinese restaurant to celebrate their new office. While searching for furniture for interior decoration, Xian sighed deeply.

“Hey, Kim Nori.”

“…What?”

Xian’s unusually cold tone made Nori glance at him cautiously.

“I appreciate you introducing me to this place, and I admit I’ve made some mistakes, but it’s getting annoying how you keep bothering people. It’s only been a day since we met, and you’re acting too familiar. That’s not being friendly, that’s being rude.”

“…You’re such a buzzkill.”

Nori pouted in irritation just like when they first met. But this time, Xian didn’t back down.

“Buzzkill or not, it doesn’t matter. Do you even realize how dangerous your situation is right now? Frankly speaking…”

Xian strode over and stood in front of Nori. Towering against the fluorescent lights, his massive figure made Nori shrink back in fear. Xian placed his hand on the sofa behind Nori’s shoulder with a blank expression.

“If I did something terrible to you here, no one would ever know, would they?”

“…Uncle, you’re not that kind of person… right….”

Nori trembled so badly she started using honorifics despite herself. Xian forced himself to harden his heart and smirked cruelly.

“That kind of person? Do you even know who I am before saying that? Turns out I’m a murderer who kills people-”

Tch. Nori raised her wrist to display a screen filled with waiting videos greeting Xian. One particular title caught his eye.

[An ordinary citizen saves a future hero?!?!]

[Mr. H from America dives in to save an academy candidate.]

[Argentavis One-Hit KO! Someone still went to save people amidst the chaos ㄷㄷ]

“…What is this?”

Xian’s carefully low voice completely broke as he panicked. Nori hiccuped and began sobbing.

“Uncle, black! At the airport, hiccup! You saved someone, the righteous one, mom said, huuuuhhh!!”

Nori burst into tears. Shocked, Xian knelt down on one knee to calm her down. Huan even came upstairs, making the situation even more awkward. In the end, Xian had to spend his own money to placate Nori until lunch arrived for three people.

I intended to lecture her before things got dangerous, but how did it end up like this? Xian felt wronged.

After the meal, the two adults enjoyed tea time at Huan’s café downstairs while reflecting maturely.

“Sorry, uncle. I acted too immaturely.”

“No, I’m sorry for scaring you.”

“Do you both understand what you did wrong now?”

Nori sincerely apologized. Xian bowed his head. Huan gave them both a stern talking-to from a neutral standpoint as the elder, which Nori accepted humbly. Her eyes reddened as she held her warm café latte and bowed deeply.

“Sorry to bother you, Mr. Owner. I’ll go home now.”

“Take care going home.”

Nori opened the café door and stepped out. Xian scratched his head and bowed to Huan as well.

“Sorry for interrupting during business hours, especially with customers around…”

“Nah, it’s better than having an accident happen. You did the right thing. That student does need to learn some caution. New Seoul is too safe these days – safety blindness isn’t just a saying.”

“There are no villains here.”

A female customer sitting by the window interjected in their conversation. Wearing a black coat draped over her chair, she was dressed comfortably in jeans and a beige sweater. When Xian tilted his head in confusion, she pushed up her sunglasses to respond.

“S+ Rank Hero <Light Blade> guards this city. What villain would dare commit crimes in New Seoul? One wrong move and a blade of light will fall from the heavens.”

“Ah.”

Xian realized who the sunglasses-wearing woman was.

“You’re the person who bought a ton of coffee beans yesterday.”

“……No, that wasn’t me.”

“Really? Aren’t you wearing the same perfume as yesterday? It smells like coffee.”

Clang! The woman’s face turned red as she hastily gathered her things and left. Xian stared blankly at having accidentally chased away a customer, then bowed again to Huan.

“…Sorry about that?”

“Why is she doing that? I don’t know either. Don’t worry. There’s no way she’d stop coming here because of you.”

Huan glared sharply at Xian. Xian couldn’t bring himself to look up, wondering why he had to apologize so much since coming to Korea. Huan patted his shoulder and laughed heartily.

“It’s fine. Thanks to you, I now have a steady income. So what do you plan to do now? You need to gather the minimum number of members to register the guild, right?”

“The requirement was clearly a team of three or more D-Rank Special Ability users.”

“Yeah. Do you know any heroes? Sorry, but I don’t know anyone.”

“…We should go the orthodox route.”

Xian pointed at his Magical Gear and grinned confidently.

“I’ll post a recruitment notice.”

* * *

“Haa, haa.”

The woman adjusted her sunglasses inside the limousine and took deep breaths. The man driving in the front seat cautiously asked:

“Is everything alright?”

“No, it’s nothing.”

The woman pressed her wrist to her nose, trying to calm her racing heart. As expected, it wasn’t a mistake – she had worn a different perfume today.

“……Who is that guy?”

At first, embarrassed that she might have worn the same perfume as yesterday, she jumped up from her seat. But while rushing to the limousine, she recalled the memory and confirmed her suspicion by sniffing inside the car.

The woman closed her eyes briefly, pondering, then snapped her fingers.

“It’s a new kind of hunting game.”

She momentarily considered burying the flirtatious foreigner in New Seoul but shook her head smiling. Her reflection in the window glass still looked stunning as always.

“In any case, he knows how to pick handsome men. Let’s go home.”

“Yes ma’am.”

The golden limousine departed from the parking lot.

* * *

One week later. January 11th, 10:50 AM.

“Auntie, how about we give up and turn this into a studio?”

Nori sipped her frappe seriously. Unlike before, there was no teasing or joking – her question carried genuine concern. Xi’an anxiously muttered:

“No, it’s only been 50 minutes. They’ll come, all together. Yeah.”

His legs shaking, he kept opening and closing his screen, refreshing obsessively. Nori sighed while fiddling with the plastic cup on the table.

“It’s already cold. Ah, never mind.”

“Aah, I can wait as long as needed. We can definitely make it once we form a team…”

It’s hopeless. Nori clicked her tongue and slumped back into her chair.

“This is why I’m basically a wage slave. All I do here is dust and clean windows.”

“How important is that? If a customer comes in and says ‘Oh my, there’s so much dust. I can’t work in such an office. Goodbye,’ what would happen?”

“Who in the world would complain about a little dust?”

“They exist. There’s a hero who constantly raises Wind Attribute Magic Power around them because they hate fine dust.”

Nori tilted her head in confusion. Enjoying hero gossip but not knowing much about those outside Korea, she became curious about who this hero was.

“Well-”

Ding dong. The doorbell rang. Nori held her breath, and Xi’an straightened up as he answered the call. On the screen in front of Xi’an, a scruffy man smiled awkwardly.

“Hello, this is Choi Joo-hoon from <Worker B> we spoke with earlier.”

“Yes, I’ve been waiting. Manager of Team <Wise Bees>.”

“Uh…what can I do? I can’t join after all.”

“Huh?”

Xi’an’s expression stiffened. Choi Joo-hoon scratched his eyebrows covering his forehead as he continued.

“With no major investors and just an empty office, it feels irresponsible to entrust our future here. Sorry. Though the vision of growing together is very appealing, we’re struggling just to pay our Core bills. Sorry.”

“Wait a moment!”

Click. Xi’an reached out but the screen disappeared cruelly. Xi’an slammed his forehead onto the table in frustration while Nori alternated her gaze between the eight drinks on the table and Xi’an, fidgeting anxiously.

“…Should I clear these away?”

“…Put them in the fridge.”

Nori gathered the cups onto a tray and headed to the kitchenette.

“The announcement was perfect, so why?”

Xi’an turned his head to carefully review the recruitment notice he had posted. Despite putting in his best effort, it seemed the biggest obstacle was that the guild owner was a “foreigner.” Nori quietly approached and reviewed the notice again.

<Family-like Squad>

<Passionate Guild Leader>

<Future-Oriented Guild Growing Together>

Nori really wanted to point out many things but decided against it since she couldn’t think of any good ideas herself. Together, they read through each comment below the notice.

– Why is a foreigner setting up a guild in Korea? This is all part of their plan to extract Cores from Korea and take them back to their country! Get out!

– I went for an interview and the office was terrible. Just the guild leader and one receptionist. Bleh. Though the receptionist was pretty.

– I didn’t want to support a new guild but honestly, there’s absolutely no vision. Once you join a guild, it sticks with you forever. Who will be responsible if it collapses?

– Everyone, there’s a new guild forming in Yu-Sung! Come check it out!

“It’s not just the fact that he’s a foreigner.”

Xi’an mulled over it repeatedly. What to do? Should he use connections? Or recruit mercenaries first to build some track record? While contemplating led to more contemplation, Nori finished putting the now-cold coffee in the fridge and grabbed her coat.

“Well, uncle, I’ll go to the hospital.”

“Mm. Give them my regards.”

“My dad should be thanking you instead. Thanks to you, I’ve managed to cover hospital fees and potion costs.”

Nori bowed her head shyly at the doorway. Xi’an straightened up and waved, and Nori quickly closed the office door behind her and left.

Alone in the office. The clock already pointed to 11 o’clock. Xi’an took a coffee from the fridge and chugged it like liquor.

“Kuh, bitter.”

It was actually coffee but tasted like alcohol. No, life was bitter. He knew it would be tough from the start and anticipated receiving no response, but he never imagined no one would come to this extent without realizing he was the cause.

Snap. Xi’an slapped his cheek and glared at the calendar.

January 11th. It hadn’t even been a month since he rented the office and posted the notice.

“Alright, let’s give it another try.”

Men have pride, don’t they? Xi’an clenched his teeth and vowed. There’s no way he would resort to asking Oracle for help. Even if rookies come, as long as they have passion and determination, they can grow together.

‘If we build the team with verified individuals and aim for full strength, who knows? Someone might discover the gem lying around.’

Xi’an strengthened his resolve. An unbreakable resolve.

Two days passed.

One applicant visited but was immediately disqualified when he showed suspicious intentions upon seeing Nori. Sure enough, a magical bracelet was found on his ankle as he stormed out angrily.

Five days passed.

A man called saying he wanted to join the team, but hearing that he was alone caused him to back out due to the burden. After persuading him tirelessly, Xi’an met him at a nearby café only to watch him leave upon seeing his face.

Ten days passed.

Some members of <Wise Bees>, who initially rejected Xi’an, revisited his office requesting to join the guild. However, it turned out they were just upset due to internal conflicts within their team. Ultimately, Xi’an returned alone from the dungeon entrance, coffee in hand.

Half a month passed. A crazy woman claiming to be an S-Rank Hero called for an interview, but Xi’an hung up irritably, telling her to prank elsewhere. Xi’an was gradually losing hope.

Before they knew it, it was January 29th, 2025 – Lunar New Year’s Day.

On TV, entertainers and heroes in hanboks laughed heartily showcasing their talents. Of course, Xi’an’s face was clouded with gloom.

“I wish I could laugh like that too.”

Maybe he should just go back to America. Although it was a joke, if he sought Oracle’s support, he wouldn’t even get a B-Rank certification, let alone an A-Rank without great effort. Xi’an sighed deeply, scratching his head.

“Alright, let’s give up. What can I possibly achieve in Korea…”

Xi’an stood up. Though the rent and deposit for the office weighed on his mind, he couldn’t keep pouring water into a bottomless bucket. Building his dream guild and making it the best must have been an illusory daydream as someone had said.

“Let’s just throw it all-”

At that moment, the doorbell rang.

Ding dong.

“…Who is it?”

Xi’an swallowed nervously, slipping his hands into his coat pockets. The Kim Nori family had gone on a trip to Busan, and Huan mentioned visiting his hometown due to homesickness. Therefore, there shouldn’t be anyone visiting the office on Lunar New Year’s Day.

‘Could it be that guy?’

Impossible. No matter how insane, no one would fly all the way from America to New Seoul just because Xi’an made a mistake. Xi’an tightly gripped the cold handle of his pistol and slowly approached the door.

“Who’s there?”

“Ah, hello! I came because I saw the team recruitment notice.”

A familiar voice. Xi’an instantly opened the door to reveal a young woman with chestnut brown hair styled in C-curls reaching her shoulders. The woman immediately recognized the stubbly Xi’an.

“Ah, you’re that person from the airport-”

Xi’an hastily pulled the woman inside the office before anyone could see. Startled by the sudden grip on her shoulder, the woman looked terrified as Xi’an’s lips quivered.

“Heavenly messenger.”

“Huh?”

“You are the heavenly messenger who has come to save this guild.”

Yuinah, a second-year candidate for promotion at Hero Academy, briefly regretted coming to this office.