Chapter 897

EP.897 [Light Novel Side Story] The Death Dinners of Creation 2nd Volume 014

5:00 PM. The time when the sun is slowly dipping behind the mountains.

Upon returning to the base camp set up in Guro Digital Town, Xian was fuming upon seeing that their tent had already been occupied by others.

“Excuse me, but we were using this spot.”

“So what.”

A bulky man with muscles about to burst out sneered down at Xian as if he were worthless. Noticing the red pine tree emblem on his shirt collar, Yuna stepped in front of Xian to stop her.

“Xian-sama, please calm down…”

“Tsk. Did painting your hair gold make you think you’re better than everyone now?”

“……”

Without a word, Xian reached into her coat, prompting Yuna to quickly link arms with her to prevent any trouble.

“At least she’s far better than someone like you, so watch your mouth.”

“What? You little brat! Do you know who I am?”

“I do. Park Seong-tae of <Iron Pine>. Formerly of the ‘Pine Unit,’ now a member of the current <Red Pine> guild… An A-Rank special ability user who can turn his entire body’s skin into steel.”

“Hmph, I see you’re not scared even though you know who I am. What makes you think you’re anything special?”

Iron Pine laughed condescendingly at Xian and Yuna. His numerous Red Pine guildmates were no different, all of them mocking the two girls. Yuna’s hands trembled as she held onto Xian’s arm tightly.

“You think this is America or something just because some fancy person showed up?”

Yuna couldn’t tolerate anyone insulting Xian like that. Just as she was about to yell, Xian pulled out her magical gear and made a call.

“Tsk, calling mommy and daddy? Are you a baby? Let’s hear you try making that international call-”

[Seok Harang answering… Ah, is that you? What’s the matter?]

“Oh, nothing much.”

Xian smirked at Iron Pine, who had frozen in place, and continued.

“I have a small favor to ask. Would it be alright if I mention it now?”

* * *

A little later…

“To think you’d throw away an opportunity for something so trivial. Tsk…”

Seok Harang sighed from the passenger seat of the truck while pointing directions.

Due to sudden influx of hunters, many base camps near subway stations across Seoul had been forcibly taken over, causing numerous disputes over their usage. Building new base camps would’ve solved the problem, but the hunters deemed even that short time too precious and moved underground instead.

“Isn’t taking someone’s spot just because they stepped out for a moment a bit excessive?”

“Well, it was wrong on Red Pine’s part, but… Turn left here.”

Following Seok Harang’s instructions, Xian adjusted the wheel. With buildings collapsed here and there deviating from the navigation system’s route, they had to frequently detour.

“That was quite a good spot that’s become useless now.”

“But didn’t you already catch around ten of them? …I’ll cover that cost out of my own pocket later.”

With the monster Choonbom disappearing without a trace, naturally its accomplishments were credited to Seok Harang. Xian grumbled while pressing the accelerator.

“In that case, why did you specifically ask us to come to Yeouido from Guro? We could’ve just used our own camp.”

“…Hmph.”

Seok Harang let out an exasperated sigh.

Xian wanted to settle in at the base camp in Guro, but after mediating and advising to give way to Red Pine, Seok Harang invited Xian’s team to her own base camp.

“It’s all for your sake. Making enemies with Red Pine will only bring more trouble.”

“You’ve been getting stricter since earlier. Could it be you’re self-conscious about something?”

Xian giggled teasingly, causing cracks to appear on Seok Harang’s expression as she leaned against the window frame.

“……What exactly are you implying?”

“Your dialect? Accent? I’ve never heard it before. It was rather cute.”

“Damn brat… Cough!”

Seok Harang barely managed to hold back another outburst, cleared her throat, and opened the window. Xian mentally noted down one piece of information about Seok Harang.

Low boiling point. Needs to stimulate carefully.

“Just talk however you like as you did last time we met. If we must nitpick, it was my side that made the first mistake.”

“……?”

“Don’t play dumb. Weren’t you the one trying to recruit me into your guild?”

“Ah.”

Seok Harang turned her head away, her face slightly flushed as if caught in an embarrassing situation. While still pretending to be annoyed, she idly played with ice crystals forming at her fingertips.

“Let me ask you straight out. Why did you reject me?”

“You thought it was a prank call. If you had known, you would’ve bowed deeply to recruit me.”

“And now?”

“Now? …Do you have any idea how much trouble you’ve caused me?”

Xian glanced at Seok Harang before letting out a deep sigh.

“That was Yuna’s designated seat. Seriously.”

“……Oh ho.”

Seok Harang grinned mischievously, having seemed to realize something.

“So you do like her, huh? That’s why? But judging by the situation, it seems to be unrequited love?”

“That’s exactly why S-Rank heroes are annoying.”

Xian scratched her head vigorously, clearly showing her irritation. However, Seok Harang noticed that this irritation was intentional and chuckled.

“While talking like this, I realized that you don’t dislike me as much as I thought you did?”

“I don’t have a reason to dislike you. If we must say… ”

Xian tapped the steering wheel briefly, gathered her thoughts, then looked directly at Seok Harang.

“…It feels like meeting an old classmate from elementary school? Though, that particular classmate happened to be extremely bossy and fought with me constantly.”

“Hey! I felt the same way!”

It was the first moment the two truly understood each other.

Though they were meeting for the first time, and despite the initial trouble caused by Xian’s mistake, for some reason both felt a sense of déjà vu as if they had met somewhere before.

“Ah, this isn’t good. We shouldn’t know each other.”

“What?”

Already, they had grown comfortable enough to speak freely with each other. Xian pointed towards the trailer while scratching her head.

“If you and I knew each other, Nuri would consider herself enslaved for life.”

“……Then that probably won’t happen. In my entire life, I’ve only met a handful of foreigners, and none of them were you.”

“Then perhaps we have some kind of connection? Maybe we knew each other in a past life?”

“Fufu. Are you pulling my leg?”

Seok Harang asked jokingly with a light tone, and Xian focused on driving while half-heartedly wondering if it might actually be true.

[We will arrive shortly.]

As the navigation voice from the magical gear announced their arrival, Xian parked the truck on the side of the road. Seok Harang also loosened her seatbelt and changed her expression.

“Let’s discuss the rest with the rest of your team upstairs.”

“……Understood.”

Turning off the engine, Xian hesitated before stepping out of the driver’s seat. Her team members had already exited the trailer and were waiting for her.

“Ah, Uncle.”

“…….”

“What did you talk about?”

Yuna approached Xian with a cheerful smile. Clenching her fists inside her pockets and glaring at Seok Harang before turning to Yuna, Xian replied.

“……About our compensation.”

“Is that all?”

“Not exactly. She suggested we continue the discussion upstairs with you and the other team members.”

Xian pointed towards the building behind them, which looked like it might collapse at any moment. Parts above the fifth floor had vanished as if erased, replaced by patches of pure white ice.

The former five-star hotel located in the heart of Yeouido.

Seok Harang had established her base camp there.

* * *

<5:30 PM. Lobby of Hotel C, Yeouido>

“I’ll pay 10 billion upfront, calculating 10 per person.”

“Uncle, we should recruit this sister immediately.”

“Nuri…”

Xian massaged her aching temples as she tried to calm Nuri down. Even accommodating latent S-Ranks was proving difficult, and adding an active S-Rank would undoubtedly lead to predictable chaos.

“Xian-sama, what exactly did you discuss earlier that earned such goodwill from Princess Seolhwa?”

Yuna innocently questioned the intent behind Seok Harang’s generosity. Despite her earning no bounty from handing over monsters to the Round Table, Seok Harang insisted on paying the amount out of her own pocket.

“How much do you have in your account, Sister?”

“…I stopped counting once it hit the trillion mark.”

Seok Harang sheepishly fidgeted with her fingers, avoiding the admiring gaze Nuri was giving her. Nuri had already started conversing casually with Seok Harang as if they were old friends.

“I’m not particularly wealthy among S-Ranks either. It’s just that I’ve been a hero for a long time.”

“S-Rank heroes reportedly earn an average of 100 billion annually… Truly admirable.”

To Raon, who had recently resorted to homelessness due to lacking even 20,000 won, Seok Harang appeared almost divine.

“…Don’t we have plenty too?”

Xian pouted, boasting about her financial power. Though most of it was borrowed capital from Oracle, it wasn’t to the extent where she’d admit to being short on funds anywhere.

“We may look like it, but we possess funds comparable to a mid-sized guild.”

“Then why don’t we use that money to recruit new talents and have their suits custom-made by Yuseong?”

Ha Yujun suddenly interjected with a sales pitch. From the moment they purchased the truck, Ha Yujun hadn’t hidden his identity as ‘Yuseongman,’ and Xian subtly avoided eye contact while turning to Seok Harang.

“So, we’ll take that 100 billion as an investment in our guild… And Brother Yujun, you should join as well.”

Xian cleared her throat and lowered her voice. Seok Harang and Ha Yujun attentively listened to the change in Xian’s demeanor.

“To be honest…”

Xian briefly explained her intention to form a hunter guild, the process of recruiting various talents, and eventually decided to create a guild with Yuna as the leader. Naturally, she omitted mentioning Yuna’s true capabilities.

“Heheh, So that’s what this is about?”

“…….That’s not what I meant.”

Ignoring Seok Harang’s lewd gaze that seemed to understand everything, Xian revealed her true colors.

“To be honest, our guild actively seeks to recruit all of you. Not a studio, but a guild and team called <Death Dinners>.”

“……Let me think about it for a moment.”

“Hmm.”

Ha Yujun raised his hand to ponder, while Seok Harang took her time considering. Xian scratched the back of her neck and added.

“You don’t have to answer right away. You can judge after we build up our track record, or you can join temporarily to help us register the guild.”

“Can I add one condition?”

Ha Yujun raised his hand to ask. Xian reluctantly nodded, already guessing what the request might be.

“If you’re asking for priority purchase of Yuseong products, I’ll have to consider…”

“That’s a secondary issue I’ll persuade you on later. If I find this place satisfactory, I’ll recommend someone I know. Please accept them into the guild without question or hesitation. Can we agree on that?”

“Are you seriously bringing up a recommendation here?!”

Xian glared at Ha Yujun with a troubled expression. As someone who was picky about talent recruitment and selective about incoming members, she couldn’t simply agree to accepting a ‘parachute’ candidate.

However, Ha Yujun was undeniably an appealing recruit. Despite jokingly claiming he was hired for his well-built physique suitable for water dispensers, his ‘instinct’ strongly urged that Ha Yujun must be recruited at all costs.

“…Under those conditions, I’ll add one of my own. It depends on Brother Yujun’s performance. Is that acceptable?”

“That’s only natural. This way, there won’t be any unnecessary complaints later. Hehehe.”

Ha Yujun confidently declared, leaving Xian impressed despite herself.

“Who exactly is this person you’re speaking so highly of?”

“Someone capable of handling seven times my workload. Quite extraordinary indeed. Hehe.”

“What exactly are you doing at my base camp?”

Seok Harang sharply interrupted the conversation. The original three team members, excluded from the rapid-fire dialogue, struggled to interject.

“Hmph. Sorry about that. How about you?”

As Xian’s gaze shifted to Seok Harang, she cleared her throat and began.

“I-”

[Emergency, urgent recall. Emergency, urgent recall.]

At the sound of the frantic emergency call, Seok Harang furrowed her brows. Apologizing to the gathered group, she answered the call, only to hear Hero Seo Ye-seong urgently shouting.

“This is Guro! The ‘Monster Detention Prison’ currently guarded by Red Pine is under attack by unknown forces! The opponent is estimated to be E-]

Crackle. The transmission cut off abruptly. Xian immediately stood up, grabbing her coat.

“I had a feeling something would go wrong.”

“Eh, wait, what’s going on?”

The team members, led by Seok Harang, were thrown into confusion and panic. Xian sternly barked orders.

“What are you all standing around for?! Let’s head to Guro immediately!”

* * *

Wooosh!

A cutting wind swept through. The guards from the Red Pine guild stationed at the container were ripped apart along with their suits by the gale, tumbling across the ground.

“Hmph, hah~”

The green-haired maiden skipped into the container as if on a picnic, humming a tune. Inside, Seo Ye-seong lay collapsed, bleeding heavily from a large slash wound starting from his shoulder.

“Wh, who are y-”

“This body!”

She gave a brief reply and lightly waved her hand. The barely breathing Seo Ye-seong choked, his airway sealed shut, and his consciousness began fading.

“I’m in a good mood today, so I won’t kill you. Hmph.”

As his final breath carried the scent of mint, Seo Ye-seong lost consciousness.

“Well then, let’s see… Oh my, such a collection!”

Inside the pitch-black container, the mysterious girl picked up one of hundreds of sealed capsules protected by magical measures and crushed it effortlessly with her grip.

Poof.

“Starting with a jackpot, huh? Not mine, but definitely A-Rank level. Hehehe.”

The core in the girl’s hand shimmered with shades of purple and gray.