Chapter 10: Transaction, Cooperation or Other(4)
“Thank you for the extra payment!”
“Ah…”
Scattered dust and the bodily fluids of the monster that soaked the ground.
In that midst, Kim Hanna stared at the young girl who was smiling brightly at her, her expression trembling.
She felt a chilling shiver, as if she had watched a horror movie on a midsummer night, spreading throughout her body.
‘Crazy.’
The first thought that crossed her mind.
She had heard from guild leader Lee Si-yeon that she would be a strong person, estimated to be Oxian, but she had never imagined that she would be so strong that she could destroy a land centipede with a single blow.
‘That’s real…’
The second thought that followed.
In fact, she had been suspicious from the beginning.
The pink hair and beautiful horns that slightly stood out.
And a petite body too. If her eyes weren’t mistaken, this wasn’t someone suspected to be Oxian. It was Oxian herself.
‘Ah…’
Only then did Kim Hanna realize that the chills she was feeling came not from the land centipede that had suddenly appeared, but from the girl in the gray hoodie.
“Ugh…”
A sudden urge to vomit.
The memory of the boss subjugation battle two years ago, when she was brutally killed by Oxian, with her body split into 17 pieces, came back vividly.
Even though it was in the game, the sensation of her body being torn apart was neither a good experience nor a good memory, so Kim Hanna closed her eyes and shook her head.
…It felt as if she had become Pavlov’s dog.
“Are you okay?”
“Ugh! Sh*t!”
Kim Hanna was startled by Oxian, who had come in front of her and asked after her, and fell on her butt.
When she was convinced that she was the person who had killed her several times, she couldn’t possibly be as relaxed as before.
How many people could be alright in front of a devil?
“…”
…However, even so, she had to remain calm. Because she had to carry out the guild leader’s order to get Oxian’s cooperation.
‘Lee Si-yeon, you f*cking b*tch…’
While inwardly cursing her superior who had given her a reckless mission, Kim Hanna got up from her seat with an expression that showed no sign of being disturbed at all.
Brushing off the dust on her clothes, she cautiously spoke to Oxian.
“Thank you. I’m alive thanks to you.”
Then, the girl wearing a baseball cap and sunglasses, as if she was awkward with praise, scratched her head and replied.
“Ah, no… It’s good that you’re safe.”
And, a bright smile on her face.
Kim Hanna’s mind began to shake with shock as she watched that.
‘She smiled at me?’
She communicates normally to trade magic stones,
She saved them from the land centipede.
These facts alone are worth appearing in the news, and moreover, right now, she has given them a ‘good’ smile.
The worst, the most terrifying, the unprecedented season boss.
‘…’
Swallowing her saliva at something that couldn’t happen according to her experience, Kim Hanna took out a business card from her uniform’s inner pocket and handed it to Oxian.
It was an action that had been done almost unconsciously.
“……What’s this?”
Oxian, receiving her business card, made a vague expression.
Kim Hanna looked around with a determined expression.
The guild members who had approached her by now had similar expressions.
“…”
Gaining strength from her subordinates who nodded their heads, Kim Hanna revealed to this pink-haired girl the original reason why she had come to find her.
If it was a matter of casting an ordinary user, it wouldn’t have been this tense, but she couldn’t help but be nervous since the opponent was Oxian.
Because at any moment that she offended her, her life would be the same as gone.
To preserve her life, She had to start the conversation from the position of ‘subordinate’ thoroughly.
“…Um, in fact, besides the magic stone trade, I have something more to say.”
The first words spoken with seriousness.
Oxian only tilted her head and looked at her.
“Something to say? What is it?”
“…”
Kim Hanna looked at her, took a deep breath for a moment.
Yes, it would be better to speak frankly, right?
“…Oxian-ssi.”
Then, she cautiously uttered the name she couldn’t even dare to say in the past.
“Eh?”
Oxian was currently covered in a gray hoodie, and she wore a baseball cap and sunglasses despite the evening approaching.
Looking at these things, it was presumed that she didn’t want her identity to be revealed.
But now, Kim Hanna had mentioned her name and was practically declaring that she knew her identity, so it was as if she had faced the greatest crisis of her life.
Maybe with the response, “You, you recognized me? Die,” she could be turned into ashes in an instant…
“Hup…!”
…She had closed her eyes, anticipating the attack that would soon come, but what she heard was a deep sigh as if the world was about to fall apart.
“Haa…”
Oxian shook her head, as if she had a headache. She didn’t take any other particular action, nor did any change appear.
“…So, at what point did you figure it out?”
…Except that her words had become a little arrogant.
To Oxian’s ordinary question, Kim Hanna began to explain in a confused manner, enduring for ten years in her mind.
“At f, first, we only guessed, but we, we got confirmation when we saw the pink hair and horns, and when you were fighting.”
“Haa…”
Another sigh came.
And then, a low mutter, “Should I dye it?” was heard.
“…”
“…”
After a little silence, Oxian stared at Kim Hanna, who was tense, and said.
“So, what do you want to say?”
To her words, Kim Hanna pointed to the business card held in Oxian’s hand and opened her mouth.
“That is, first of all, let me introduce myself, I’m Kim Han…”
“I already know. Skip it and get to the point.”
…Oxian waved her hand, as if it was even annoying to listen to a cliché introduction.
If it had been an ordinary user, she would have snapped back at that arrogant attitude, but now, it was a situation where it was fortunate just to be able to listen to her, so Kim Hanna hurriedly nodded her head to the girl’s stubbornness and immediately began to talk about the main point.
“Actually, the magic stone trade was just a pretext to meet Oxian-nim, and the main purpose was to request your cooperation with our Aria Guild.”
Oxian’s title had already changed to ‘-nim’.
It was Kim Hanna’s instinct to avoid offending her.
“…”
With her face contorted, looking at her, the guild member of Aria Guild, in such a miserable situation, slowly continued her words.
“Currently, Seoul, as well as the entire Republic of Korea, is facing an unprecedented crisis. In the meantime, no matter how much our guild struggles, there is a limit to eliminating all the monsters across the country.”
It seemed there were no more Changers, but the monsters were increasing their numbers little by little through reproduction, and the number of users was constantly decreasing.
Moreover, half of those users were at a low level where they couldn’t fight monsters of B-rank or higher, so the number of users who could actually fight was absolutely insufficient.
“…Then, we saw Oxian-nim’s battle video, and if Oxian-nim, who has the power to annihilate the Orc army in one blow, would cooperate with us, we could get out of the crisis faster.”
Was it because of the sincerity, Kim Hanna couldn’t hide her surprise at herself, who was speaking calmly, and waited for Oxian’s reaction.
“…”
But Oxian, without changing her expression, only stared at her.
Kim Hanna, embarrassed by the awkward silence, cleared her throat and opened her mouth again.
“Since our guild is also in a cooperative relationship with the government, if you cooperate, you will be able to get a salary of about 3 billion won per month and various benefits.”
This time, it was the contract money.
It was an exceptional condition that even Kim Young-joon, ranked 11th, who protects Incheon, and the Aria Guild weren’t receiving, and it was the trump card that Kim Hanna could offer in her negotiation with her.
‘Huhu…’
There is no way around money, Kim Hanna couldn’t help but hide the corners of her mouth, which were twitching, at the positive answer that seemed to come.
…But,
“Haa…”
What was actually heard was a sigh as if she was annoyed, and,
“I’m not interested.”
A firm refusal.
The pink-haired girl standing in front of her shook her head, not being moved at all.
“I’ll just take the magic stone trading money and leave. Thank you for the good offer, but I’m going to decline.”
The 18/19 season boss of Arising, speaking arrogantly while twisting her hair.
She then turned her back towards the side where the iron case containing the magic stone trading money was rolling around, as if there was no more attachment.
“Huh?”
And Kim Hanna, who could only watch the girl who was walking away blankly. She wanted to run and grab her right away, but she couldn’t take a step.
Only the thought, ‘Huh? This isn’t it?’, was going around in her mind. She thought that even Oxian would accept without hesitation if it was that amount of money, 3 billion won.
But at the extremely firm refusal, Kim Hanna could only make a bewildered expression.
‘I, this can’t be happening?’
If she were to miss Oxian, it wasn’t just a matter of mission failure.
It was a huge loss for the country.
Soon, the guild members and soldiers would be slaughtered again by high-difficulty monsters, and Kim Hanna would continue to lose her precious people.
And in the end, someday, Kim Hanna herself would lose her life.
No, hadn’t she almost died from that huge centipede just 15 minutes ago?
But Oxian, this season boss, was the reason why she was able to survive.
In this way, the young girl could definitely save tens, hundreds, or even the lives of the entire Republic of Korea.
She had that ability, she was that kind of girl.
So, in a word,
She absolutely must not let her go.
“Wait! Wait a minute!”
Her mouth opened faster than she thought.
It wasn’t about being full of force, nor was it about mixing the ‘leadership’ skill, but her desperate cry was enough to make Oxian, who was walking, to pause.
“…”
Oxian, with a question mark on her face, turned her head.
Kim Hanna, carrying only the word ‘last chance’ in her heart, began to shout at her with all her might.
“O, today!”
To attract Oxian’s attention, to make her listen to her words, she continued to speak using all kinds of gestures.
Sentences filled with resentment, sadness, anger, or other things began to fill the evening sky.
“Dozens of guild members died to S-rank season boss Lekkachya, who we haven’t yet defeated!”
“…”
“Hundreds of civilians, who are not users, are dying every day!”
“…”
Had she ever spoken so desperately and sincerely in her life?
Kim Hanna poured all her strength into conveying her feelings to Oxian, shouting until her voice was about to burst.
“My family tooooo!”
“…”
“They died horribly at the beginning of the situation.”
Every day, countless people died.
There were Kim Hanna’s family too, and no one was an exception if they were weak.
Those who couldn’t become users couldn’t survive in this harsh world, and they were just victims who were vanishing into the emptiness of time.
But if she could stop it, If she could save at least one life, Wouldn’t it be right to try at least to make an effort?
“If Oxian-nim helps,”
More users would be able to live for one more day.
One family would be able to eat dinner together one more time.
The Republic of Korea would be able to regain stability sooner.
“There’s no need to travel all over the country and become a hero.”
Kneeling down on the rough ground, She bowed her head, touching the ground.
“But please, save even the lives that can be saved!”
…Finally, she shouted with all her heart.
“Please, help us!”
“…”
Only the sound of the wind swept through the area near the subway station, and a long silence followed.
“Haa…”
But soon, another sigh was heard, and the petite voice echoed in the air.
“……Hey, you got any cigarettes?”
As the season boss, Oxian, asked one of the Aria Guild members, the man in the white uniform quickly took out cigarettes and a lighter from his pocket and handed them to Oxian.
“…”
As if she had been an old man before becoming Oxian, the girl lit the cigarette with a very familiar hand.
“Hoo…”
Exhaling after taking a puff, a wisp of smoke appeared from her mouth.
The lonely cigarette smoke was reflected in the evening sunset, and it burned with a sense of bitterness.
The girl’s eyes, who were staring blankly at the gas, also began to be tinged with emptiness.
“…”
…After 5 minutes, in which only a bitter and lingering smell had filled the time, the season boss, known as the ‘worst’, finally opened her mouth quietly, tapping off the cigarette ash.
“Well, I’ll listen to what you have to say.