Round 230

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After everyone in the guild finished their meal, Ara got to feast thanks to the restaurant’s request to handle leftover food. Her belly bulged comically. 

“Ara, are you trying to turn into a pig?”  

“Pigs are delicious.”  

“So, you want to be a delicious pig?”  

“A delicious pig! Are we going to eat now?!”  

I couldn’t help but laugh at Ara, who was already eager for another meal. 

“Mr. Kyu-seong! Miss Ara! Over here, please.”  

An employee, who had waited for us, guided us. Without much time to digest, we were ushered into a conference room. 

“You’re here. How was your meal?”  

“It was delicious.”  

“My belly is full. Look at this.”  

Ara lifted her shirt and patted her stomach, making everyone laugh. I gently covered her belly and ruffled her hair.  

“Ara, that’s embarrassing.”  

“Is it embarrassing?”  

“Yeah.”  

Ara quickly covered her belly again, then glanced up at me with a hopeful, expectant gaze, as if waiting for praise.  

“Ah, I apologize for the disturbance during the meeting.”  

“No problem. Please, have a seat.”  

I sat down, holding Ara in my arms. At that moment, I could finally observe the people who had been watching us closely from the beginning.  

‘Wow, Iron Sight.’  

Even I had heard of this guild—it was famous enough that even ordinary people would have come across its name at least once. To think they came to recruit me felt somewhat overwhelming.  

‘Just yesterday, I was making 100,000 won a day from potion synthesis.’  

But, to be honest, it wasn’t really 100,000 won; after factoring in expenses for completing quests, I was barely making that. It was more accurate to call it 100,000 won in sales rather than profit. 

Who would have imagined that I’d now be the target of a contract worth $1.2 billion, or roughly 1.6 trillion won? 

Not that I had any intention of accepting the offer.  

“Hello, I’m Hailey Woodborn, the representative from the Iron Sight Guild.”  

“Hello, I’m Lee Kyu-seong. This is my familiar, Ara.”  

“Ara is here!”  

Fortunately, the other party was using a translation artifact, though it looked slightly different from the one Ryu Wang-jin used. 

The translator Iron Sight brought was amazing, allowing everyone in the room to understand one another.  

“Your familiar is adorable.”  

“Haha, she’s my most precious treasure.”  

“Is she a spirit?”  

“Well, you could say she’s similar.”  

I started to feel a bit guilty. 

I had never intended to sign a contract with them in the first place. Even if I became a free agent after my contract with Ara Hongryeon ended, I would only consider contracts with Korean guilds—I had no plans to go overseas.  

It was better to state it outright than to lead them on unnecessarily. 

‘It’s their fault for barging in to meet me, so I have nothing to apologize for.’  

With that in mind, I decided to speak up sooner rather than later.  

“Did Iron Sight Guild come all this way to recruit me?”  

“Yes, we are a guild with a 21-year history, collaborating with top guilds worldwide, not just within our country…”

“Excuse me, Hailey. I’m sorry to interrupt.”  

“Oh, no problem. Please, go ahead.”  

“I’m sorry to say this, but I have no intention of moving overseas.”

At my sudden words, the atmosphere in the room grew cold. 

The once friendly atmosphere had completely frozen over. 

Not only were Iron Sight’s guild members shocked, having assumed the contract would proceed, but even my guild members were staring at me in disbelief. 

My guildmates seemed to wonder how I could reject such an offer so quickly, while Iron Sight’s members clearly hadn’t expected a refusal at all. 

Although their reactions varied slightly, everyone was looking at me with astonishment. 

The abrupt shift in the mood made Ara twitch her ears and look around. 

“It suddenly got quiet…” 

At that moment, Hailey barely managed to collect herself and spoke to me.  

“Have you received information about the contract amount?”  

“Yes, I have. I’m simply grateful that Iron Sight holds me in such high regard.”  

“12… billion dollars? Of course, not all of that would go directly to you, but…”  

“Yes, I’m aware.” 

I nodded firmly, and this time my brother, Young-seong, chimed in.  

“That’s over 1.65 trillion won. Of that, several hundred billion would be your share, Kyu-seong.”  

“Wow, I really appreciate that. I never thought my value was that high.”  

“Wait, you…” 

As I faced the bewildered gazes of the people in the room, I couldn’t quite understand their reaction. 

Sure, money is good. 

But there must be people like me too.  

“I’ve already earned more than enough to live comfortably, even excessively. Earning more than this would just become a distraction.”  

“Mr. Kyu-seong! Don’t you have any desire for a luxurious life, or perhaps using that wealth to pursue a higher quality of life? With the amount we’ve offered, you could even start your own company. You could lead a more ambitious life…” 

Hailey’s voice grew urgent. 

Her first impression had been cool and composed, but now her face was visibly flustered. 

I gave her a wry smile.  

“I’m sorry.”  

“Oh… ah…”  

Hailey was clearly disappointed, and so were the other guild members from Iron Sight, all looking utterly dejected. 

I felt like I was disappointing them too much, so I decided to throw them a small bait.  

“However, I’m open to negotiating the contract in a different way.”  

“In a different way?”  

“Yes, by supplying my items instead.” 

Currently, my dungeon’s yield was more than enough to cover all deliveries. 

Most of the food came from crops grown in Gnoll Village, and the fields in Slime Village were expanding as the slime population increased, ensuring stable harvests. 

Even if I added deliveries to Iron Sight, it wouldn’t be a strain. 

“Hmm…”  

“If you’re interested, it might be worth discussing with your guild.”  

“May I ask for a bit of time?”  

“Of course.” 

Hailey excused herself and left the room with her guild members. 

Soon, only my guildmates and I were left in the meeting room.  

“Well, I expected this, but still, haha!”  

“I never thought you’d actually turn them down like that.”  

“Considering Mr. Kyu-seong’s usual approach, it was entirely possible.” 

I scratched my head awkwardly as they commented.  

“What’s happening?”  

Meanwhile, Ara was spinning in circles, clutching her head in confusion. 

Jeong So-yeon offered her some candy.  

“Here, Ara.”  

“Ooh, candy.”  

“It’s not just any candy. It’s made from Kyu-seong’s crops.”  

“Ooh!”  

Wait, when did they make that without me knowing? 

I glanced over at Young-seong, who subtly turned away to avoid my gaze. 

I mean, with all the monster byproducts I provided recently, he’s had plenty on his plate… 

If you made something like this, you should have told me too, brother! 

While Hailey and the Iron Sight members discussed among themselves, we sat together, happily sucking on candy. 

From an outsider’s perspective, it might have looked more like a picnic than a serious meeting. 

As time dragged on, Young-seong even brought out a bundle of snacks. 

It seemed he hadn’t just made candy but had tried a variety of things.  

“If you have these, why not share some with Ara too?”  

“Oh, I forgot.”  

“Is that something you should forget? To me, this is more important than the contract!”

As we bickered and continued eating our snacks, Iron Sight returned.

Seeing us indulging in snacks, they appeared bewildered, but they soon nodded along when we invited them to join us.

“Ahem. As for the supply contract, we’ve decided to return to our country and think it over a bit more.”

“Oh, I see.”

“Yes. Handling item supplies involves complex issues, such as customs procedures, so it’s quite different from having Mr. Kyu-seong directly come to the U.S. to produce them.”

We nodded in understanding.

“But it’s not a rejection. Could you give us a bit more time for a definite answer?”

“Sure, take your time.”

I wasn’t particularly eager to sign a supply contract anyway. Earning more money could improve our guild’s financial situation, but I was already making more than enough to be satisfied. In fact, not signing the contract would mean less hassle for me.

“Well, we’ll take our leave now.”

Iron Sight came and went like the wind. 

We saw them off and reminisced about the hectic few days we’d had.

“Mr. Kyu-seong, don’t you feel any regret?”

“Huh? No, not at all.”

People laughed at my nonchalant response. I, on the other hand, couldn’t understand their reaction and simply patted Ara, who was happily munching on snacks.

“Mr. Kyu-seong is truly different.”

“Oh, uh, is that a compliment?”

“Of course.”

After chatting a bit more, I also stood up to leave. 

I thought about how exhausting it had been, even though it hadn’t been a week since the last team dinner. As I headed out, someone came running toward me.

“Guild Master!”

“Yes, Hee-suk?”

“There’s news from the U.S.…”

“The U.S.?”

“Well, it’s chaotic. Apparently, it’s due to Iron Sight’s recent visit to Korea…”

“Let’s go inside and discuss it in detail.”

Hmm, is everything alright? Could this be another problem caused by me?

“Kyu-seong, if anything happens, I’ll contact you. You are free to go.”

“Hmm, okay.”

Watching my guild members suddenly become busy, I felt lucky. 

It felt like I was enjoying all the rights while leaving the hard work to my guildmates.

‘Oh well, whatever.’ 

Things will sort themselves out! 

I just want to get home, name the new Pururuk babies, and play with the slimes!

***

In the U.S., at the Guild Association, a group of people gathered in what seemed to be a meeting room. The atmosphere was a bit calmer now.

“This is the awakened one targeted by Iron Sight.”

“Recently, even the European Union has been using the items he produced to tackle the Dungeon of Wrath.”

“The guild he belongs to has seen over 500% growth in just one year. It’s not a small guild either—it’s among the top five in Korea, which is quite remarkable growth.”

The topic of conversation was, as expected, about Lee Kyu-seong. The signal flare fired by Iron Sight had spread across the U.S.

“Coincidentally, we have a troublesome dungeon in our country too. Should we try using his help to clear it bit by bit?”

“Hm, are you referring to Rabbit Hole?”

Rabbit Hole was slang, but it wasn’t inaccurate. The dungeon’s bosses were actual rabbit monsters.

“Even with that item, do you really think Rabbit Hole can be conquered? It’ll just lead to more pointless sacrifices.”

“If we do nothing, a break will occur sooner or later, like in China’s case. We have to try something.”

“How about we observe a bit longer? Let’s wait and see the EU’s results.”

The conversation concluded, and people began to leave. The last man to leave made a call.

“How did it go?”

– Iron Sight is returning home, but the contract status is uncertain.

“Tsk. Judging by their immediate return, it seems the contract succeeded.”

Now, what should we do?

Venom’s Guild Master, Michael, pondered.

If I can’t have him…

Wouldn’t it be better to eliminate him?

After all, he’s just a Rank 1 Awakened One, and he doesn’t seem to have any means of self-defense. 

He supposedly has a familiar, but how strong could a Rank 1 Awakened One’s familiar really be?

“Hm…”

Michael’s concerns continued to deepen.

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