Round 85

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“Humm, humm!”

While humming a tune, Lee Seon-ah continued her editing work and soon smiled as she looked at the completed project.

“Finally, one done.”

Her first attempt at editing was more time-consuming and difficult than she had anticipated. However, working on the videos of Ara and Gomgom made the task enjoyable.

“Ah, I’m nervous.”

Seon-ah reviewed the video she had made once more to ensure there were no issues, then opened her YouTube account.

She didn’t expect that just uploading one video would attract attention in the oversaturated YouTube market. Nevertheless, she couldn’t hide her excitement.

“Uploading the video… Let’s upload the Shorts too.”

She uploaded both the main video and a promotional short. Both videos captured cute moments of Ara.

“No views yet.”

As soon as she uploaded them, Seon-ah refreshed the page to check the views. Smiling, she started on the next project.

The university semester was ending, and the vacation was approaching, with all exams finished. She had already secured good grades, so there was nothing to worry about.

Moreover…

‘My stingy brother gave me a lot of allowance for once.’

She knew that Kyu-seong was a promising awakened individual, contracted with Ara Hongryeon. He was even powerful enough to summon high-ranking guild officials for personal meetings.

But it still felt unreal that her brother, who had always scrimped and saved, suddenly threw a large sum of money into the household.

It was a change that had occurred in less than a year.

However, Seon-ah welcomed this change. Seeing her brother, who always had a worried look, now walking proudly with his shoulders back made her happy too.

“Hehehe.”

And to think he would bring such cute creatures. It seemed like her brother’s fortune had finally turned around.

With a sly smile, Seon-ah began working on the second video.

* * *

Director Choi looked up at the building.

He had had a few business meetings here before but had never visited in person.

‘The first guild in South Korea.’

Its symbolic value held significant influence in this industry.

Even among the so-called number one Terror Guild in South Korea.

Moreover, the data he received just before departing for Ara Hongryeon contained astonishing records.

Indicators from the past two months.

He had received some before, but this time they included more detailed numbers and categories.

‘…They surpassed our guild.’

In just two months.

A short period, but Director Choi couldn’t help but be surprised. If it had been the second-ranked Iron Blood or the third-ranked Gojoseon guild, he could have somewhat understood.

But Ara Hongryeon was barely hanging on to fifth place. Ever since the deputy guild leader, Level 8 awakened Kim Si-young, retired due to poisoning, the guild had been steadily declining.

“Whew.”

Director Choi exhaled and noticed the sweat on his palm.

Am I nervous?

But the opponent was an awakened individual who had rapidly grown a fifth-ranked guild. It was clear that they had top-tier abilities among production-type awakened individuals.

Even as an executive of the Terror Guild, he couldn’t help but be wary. Besides, he had witnessed the effectiveness of their potions firsthand.

‘It’s a wonder they even allowed the meeting.’

If it were him, he would have tried to conceal the fact that they had such an awakened individual.

But Ara Hongryeon showed no particular effort to hide it and seemed indifferent.

Despite the industry and media’s intense focus on Ara Hongryeon’s mysterious growth, the guild itself remained unfazed.

“Ah! Director Choi.”

As he entered the building, he was greeted by Team 1 Leader of Ara Hongryeon, who had been waiting for him.

Team 1 Leader, Jeong So-yeon.

Director Choi had his doubts about this young awakened individual as well.

Why did Ara Hongryeon give the title of Team 1 Leader to an unproven young awakened person?

Initially, he thought it was a desperate move to fill Kim Si-young’s void, but seeing her current performance, she was living up to the title.

Even so, Director Choi still felt that this young awakened person might be too early for the title of Team 1 Leader.

“It’s been a while. Nice to see you.”

“Nice to see you too, Director Choi. Please follow me inside.”

“Thank you.”

He was guided upstairs.

When they arrived at the meeting room where everyone was waiting, he recognized some familiar faces.

“Oh! You’ve come!”

And there were some unfamiliar faces as well.

‘A kid?’

Director Choi’s thoughts were interrupted by a bright voice as he entered the room, drawing his attention.

There, a little girl with animal ears attached like decorations was sitting on a chair, her feet swinging without touching the floor.

“You’ve arrived.”

“Director Choi is here! Haha!”

“You’ve come! Hehe!”

Hearing the sequential greetings, Director Choi bowed politely to greet them.

“Have you all been well?”

“Haha. Director Choi, you’re still the same.”

“Hehe, still the same.”

Kang Hanul smiled broadly.

Meanwhile, Guild Leader Han Seok-jun of Ara Hongryeon pointed to a man sitting next to him and introduced him.

“This is Mr. Lee Kyu-seong, an awakened individual of our guild. And this is Director Choi Sung-hyuk of the Terror Guild.”

“Nice to meet you. I’m Lee Kyu-seong.”

Kyu-seong greeted calmly.

Director Choi’s eyes glinted slightly at this sight.

‘So, this is the man….’

He had been awakened for three years but remained a perennial Level 1 awakened individual. That meant he hadn’t cleared any quests….

“Thank you for arranging this meeting and accommodating my unreasonable request. I’m Choi Sung-hyuk from the Terror Guild.”

His eyes sparkled behind his glasses.

Director Choi was very curious about the production abilities of the man in front of him.

“Director Choi. I can see from your eyes that you’re already itching. Haha!”

“Itching indeed! Hehe!”

“I won’t deny it. I actually thought you would naturally refuse my request, so meeting like this feels a bit surreal.”

“Haha.”

“Hehe.”

They must have their own motives for accepting the proposal so readily. Of course, Director Choi was thinking positively as well.

If he could somehow secure the potion he saw in the last dungeon, he could handle most matters on his end.

“The reason I wanted to meet the awakened individual Kyu-seong is that I saw an interesting item in the recent dungeon raid.”

“Oh, straight to the point?”

“To the point indeed!”

But what’s with that kid mimicking Kang Hanul’s words?

Director Choi’s gaze naturally turned to Ara.

Ara seemed delighted to have drawn attention, proudly puffing out her chest.

“I apologize. She’s my child.”

“Child? Oh, Mr. Lee Kyu-seong’s daughter.”

“My name is Ara! Nice to meet you!”

“Nice to meet you. Your daughter is very cute.”

Bringing his daughter to such a meeting?

And from what Director Choi knew, Lee Kyu-seong was 27 years old, yet he already had a child that age….

‘Huh?’

Something felt off.

According to his investigation, Lee Kyu-seong was still unmarried. Naturally, there was no information about him having a child.

So the plausible assumption would be….

‘A familiar.’

Director Choi’s eyes glinted again.

Now, the tiger ears that looked like decorations seemed real.

A familiar capable of such accurate human mimicry. Director Choi’s curiosity was ignited once more.

‘So that’s why she’s here at the meeting. That makes sense.’

His preliminary investigation wasn’t enough.

But it was also thanks to the investigation that he could gather this information.

“The recent dungeon raid must be the 7th-grade dungeon in Goseong, Gangwon-do.”

“Oh! Bare Fist Guild?!”

Kyu-seong nodded, understanding what he meant.

Then he immediately pulled something out of a bag placed to the side.

“Is this what you saw?”

“Ah! Yes, it is.”

The potion with the peculiar name of Strawberry Potion.

Upon confirming it, Director Choi was once again astonished.

‘Isn’t this a rare item?’

Taking out such a potion from a bag so casually? Shouldn’t it be kept safely in the guild’s treasury?

“Guild Master Kim Dong-gil also contacted me, saying it was quite effective.”

“…Yes, it was.”

Quite effective? That’s all he had to say?

Director Choi began to feel dizzy.

The efficacy of the Strawberry Potion was at least equivalent to a mid-level healing potion. While the effect alone wasn’t something to get overly excited about, the important thing was that it was ‘produced’.

No awakened individual in the world had ever mass-produced potions above the lowest grade. Occasionally, high-quality ingredients led to lucky successes, but intentional mass production had never been achieved.

The current limit for mass production by production-type awakened individuals was the lowest-grade potion.

“May I take a closer look?”

“Of course.”

As he received and inspected the potion, it was indeed the same one used by the Bare Fist Guild Master.

When he glanced at the executives of Ara Hongryeon, their expressions were peculiar. It was as if they were saying, “How about it? Impressed by our new guild member’s abilities?”

They seemed to be eagerly anticipating Director Choi’s reaction.

“…Is it true that Awakened Individual Kyu-seong made this?”

“Yes, that’s correct.”

“That’s impressive.”

“But I can’t make many.”

Director Choi nodded.

Surely, producing such a potion at will wouldn’t be possible. If it were, he’d be hailed as the god of production.

Even if he could make just one per month, it would be considered extraordinary quality.

“Perhaps… if I push myself, I can make one a day? So, the number supplied to the guild isn’t that high yet.”

“…What?”

“Actually, even one a day is pushing it. Practically, it’s more like one every two days. With the sudden increase in demand, I’ve been making one a day, but that’s only until the end of this month.”

That… can’t be.

One per day?

No, even one every two days sounded unbelievable.

Is that possible?

“What about the materials?!”

“Pardon?”

“Oh, I’m sorry! That slipped out…”

He had intended to think it, but the words escaped his lips. However, Director Choi didn’t feel embarrassed at all.

There was no time for that.

“There are plenty of materials. It’s my lack of ability.”

“P-Plenty of materials?”

“Yes. As the potion states, the main ingredient is strawberries.”

“Strawberries?”

‘Am I dreaming?’

The conversation kept veering away from common sense, and Director Choi wanted to pinch himself. Instead, he glanced at everyone’s reactions again…

“Hahaha.”

“Hehehe.”

Kang Hanul’s sly grin, the little girl mimicking the same expression, Guild Master Han Seok-jun’s kind smile, and Jeong So-yeon’s troubled yet amused look.

‘This isn’t a dream?’

Then Kyu-seong delivered the final blow.

“Our guild is researching a mass production method. Although the efficiency will be slightly lower than the ones I make, it should be possible to mass-produce them. If successful, we could potentially produce about 10 per day.”

“Gasp.”

Director Choi, renowned for his calm demeanor.

His rational and composed judgment had saved countless lives in dungeons.

But now.

His eyes widened, and his jaw dropped in utter shock.

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