Regressor Instruction Manual
chapter-45

“If I die, do you think my Hee-Ra noona will just sit by and do nothing?!” I yelled.

I saw the old man close his mouth.

Of course, he wouldn’t believe in my lie and if Cha Hee-Ra was here, she would have already burst into laughter since it was only yesterday when we first met and we didn’t really talk that much.

It was bullshit, but I was certain that it was going to work.

The old man’s mind was probably thinking of a particular scene by now.

‘There is. I’m sure there is.’

Whether it was intentional or not, Cha Hee-Ra and I had a connection.

I guess it was a provocative scene for an old man to watch because he lowered his head.

“That’s…bullshit…” he said.

“I’m sure you’ll find out whether it’s really bullshit or not. You have eyes don’t you?” I said.

“...”

He became very calm.

Despite me just shouting out nonsense, it was quite effective, so I guess the leader of the Red Mercenary Guild’s name carried a lot of weight.

I just shouted her name out, Under the condition that Cha Hee-Ra and the Blue Guild didn’t have any connection in the first place, but I guess my assumption was right. Obviously, no one would want to get on the bad side of the monster whose strength was 97 points and it wasn’t simply because of her stats either.

The Red Mercenary Guild was one of the biggest guilds within the Holy Empire and out of all the people that I have seen so far, she possessed the highest stats and combat ability. Assuming that Cha Hee-Ra acted based on her nature, they wouldn't bother figuring out whether what I said was true or a lie; they simply wouldn't act hastily after hearing her name.

Right now, the Blue Guild looked like a candle that was waiting for its light to be blown out by the wind.

‘Naturally.’

A scared dog usually barked the loudest and it applied to both the old man and me.

“How do you know Cha Hee-Ra…”

“That’s none of your business. Whether we knew each other since living on Earth or if we used to be lovers, that’s not what’s important. The important thing is that the Blue Guild, who has the negotiation rights, has intimidated the new recruits using force and that the people outside shouldn’t know about this. I guess even the glorious Blue Guild will flinch after hearing Hee-Ra noona’s name,” I said.

“...”

“I don’t know what’s going on around here, but I’m sure you have enemies outside this room…and I’m sure you don’t want to hand over the negotiation rights to another guild, so I don’t understand why you’re acting like this. I came here to negotiate, not to fight. Even if your head is filled with your days of glory, don't you think it's a problem if you're ignoring your superior and acting this way? Or are you so bad at judging the situation that you’re unable to recognize the problem?” I asked.

“You bastard…”

Almost as if it was a habit, I couldn’t stop grinning because the moment Cha Hee-Ra’s name was mentioned, the magic that filled this place thinned out. However, I spoke while maintaining my serious expression.

It was important to calm down because in a meaningless argument, the side that showed an excessive amount of rage was the losing side.

“Whew…if your plan was to show that the Blue Guild has a liberal and shitty environment that's almost like a family atmosphere, then it was a big success, actually no.... I want to tell you that it was a great success…I wanted to tell you that it was a great success,” I explained. “...”

“It’s people like you that ruin a group,” I commented.

“What?” the old man asked.

“Stagnant water,” I said.

“Stop talking bullshit when you don’t even know anything…” he said.

“I don’t have to see it to know what’s going on. Mr. Lee Seol-Ho. It doesn’t really matter how you evaluate me and I know very well that Kim Hyun-Sung and Jung ha-Yan are the valuable members here. Yes, of course, I fully understand,” I explained.

“...”

“But you shouldn’t have overreacted. Even if this continent is run based on the logic of power, your actions were very rude. I’m not your subordinate yet,” I told him.

“You bastard!”

The moment the old man tried to get up.

Boom!

The sound caused me to turn my head and Lee Seol-Ho, who was filled with anger, also looked towards the source of the sound.

It was obvious what had happened. Lee Sang-Hee slammed her fist on the desk because she didn’t want to hear her subordinate’s bullshit anymore.

“Lee Seol-Ho,” she called out.

“Miss Lee-Lee Sang-Hee…” he answered.

“Do you have any idea how you’re acting right now?” she asked.

“That’s…”

“You’re on probation,” she said.

“Excuse me?”

“I said you’re on probation as of this moment. You can leave and return to the guild after you apologize to Mr. Ki-Young,” she ordered.

I somewhat knew that this was going to happen.

As the person that was the central figure of the guild, there was only one thing she needed to do for the condescending people that were still stuck during their days of glory.

“It was…for the guild…” the old man said.

“I told you to apologize. I won’t repeat myself, Mr. Lee Seol-Ho,” Lee Sang-Hee said.

He would probably lower his head because people like him were usually weak against strong people.

As expected, I saw a frown on the old man’s face. As if he felt betrayed and didn't understand what happened, he had a complicated look on his face, but whether he understood the situation or not was none of my concern.

I noticed Lee Seol-Ho slowly looking towards me and of course, I saw him bowing as well. “I apologize…for…my…rude speech,” he said.

“I accept and I also overreacted. My apologies,” I said.

“Thank you for your understanding,” he said.

Lee Seol-Ho didn’t seem apologetic and the way he ran outside was a sight to see.

His slightly complicated expression made me feel a bit anxious, but I couldn’t show it, so when I looked at Lee Sang-He with a bright smile, I saw her bow as well.

“I’m really sorry. It was because of my carelessness that I wasn’t able to control the guild members properly. I’m…really sorry,” she said.

“...”

‘She’s virtuous.’

Lee Sang-Hee was a virtuous person. She wasn’t acting this way just to look good.

It was to the point that I lowered my head out of embarrassment and obviously, there was no reason for me to become enemies with the Blue Guild.

Nothing was going to come out of it even if I pressured her more, so even though it was unfortunate, I believed that it was a reasonable decision to stop here.

“It’s fine, I’m actually sorry about what happened,” I told her.

“Even if you criticize us, I have nothing to say, but…please…” she said.

“If it’s regarding the contract issue, you don’t have to worry.”

“Sorry?” she asked.

“I was disrespectful,” I answered.

“Oh…”

“I don’t think he really thought about the guild members' pride and blabbed on. He said it was for the negotiation, but he shouldn’t say things that will hurt the guild’s image. I can’t justify Mr. Lee Seol-Ho’s actions, but I can’t say that I was right either,” I explained.

“Oh…do you know Miss Cha Hee-Ra…”

“I was lucky enough to make a small connection with her. I think it’ll help the Blue Guild if I maintain a good relationship with her,” I said.

“Does that mean…I can consider that as you agreeing to the contract?” Lee Sang-Hee asked.

“Of course. I’ll agree to the down payment of 10,000 gold instead of 15,000 gold, however…” I started.

“Go on.”

“I hope you can consider giving us an executive position within the Blue Guild,” I said.

“Oh…”

“I’m sure you understand why I’m making this kind of request.”

There was no guarantee that the situation just now wasn’t going to happen again and there was also no guarantee that he was the only old man with this kind of mindset within the guild. He may unite people and try to fuck us over because that was how vested rights usually worked.

I wasn’t planning on letting him walk all over me and if he wanted to have a political fight, I would welcome it with open arms.

I hinted at what kind of power I needed in order to create that foundation.

“It doesn’t matter if it’s just a rank,” I told her.

She would probably accept my suggestion because she was judging that my value had increased compared to before. But the biggest reason was that I had a connection with Cha Hee-Ra, the mercenary queen and if our party joined the Blue Guild, then the guild would have the possibility to work with the Red Mercenary Guild. Of course, all of this was a lie.

Lee Sang-Hee looked like she was considering the possibility of me being the Red Mercenary Guild’s spy, but I guess she eventually came to the conclusion that the guild had no reason to mess with the Blue Guild. In that case, joining hands was a profit that she wouldn’t be able to put a price on. Not only that but…

‘Stagnant water…’

The force that kept the stagnant waters, who were gnawing the guild, may think that we were good enough. To Lee Sang-Hee, I was sure that the condescending members gave her quite a headache and after recalling the situation just now, this guild had a lot of issues and they were different from power struggles.

The reason why I asked for an executive position wasn’t only for me, but it was for her and the guild.

‘I’ll take care of it for you,’ was basically what I was telling her. Of course, there was probably a difference in the result that she wanted and the result that I wanted, but when it came to purifying the stagnant water, I believed she wouldn’t have a different opinion about it.

“Honestly…” she started.

“Yes?”

“For the down payment, we’ll match it as much as we can, and regarding the executive position, it’s not like I haven’t thought about it at all, but…I can’t help but be cautious because it seems like you’re asking for a position that’s a bit higher than what I am thinking. Am I right…” she asked carefully.

I didn’t need to lie about it, so I nodded. “Yes, that’s right.”

“Not only that…for the epic ranked items, I would like to let you know ahead of time that it may be difficult for us to give them to you right now. It may be possible if you give us enough time, but right now…”

“Oh.”

‘It’s rarer than I imagined.’

I guess epic-ranked items were more valuable than I thought. Maybe it was because Kim Hyun-Sung nonchalantly pulled out Ramus Tucker’s Introduction to Alchemy, but I had slightly underestimated the rarity of high-tiered items.

“You don’t have to provide the items right away if it’s an item that we can’t use right away…” I told her.

“Oh! Then would it be okay if I tell you more about this after we hold an internal meeting? It won’t take long,” Lee Sang-Hee requested.

“Of course. I know it’s not an easy decision, so you can take your time thinking about it,” I replied.

“Thank you for being considerate,” she said.

I was sure that it wasn’t a meeting about whether to accept us or not since that was already a given. I was sure that they were going to discuss which items they were going to give and what kind of rank they were going to give me. I wanted to listen to their meeting, but unfortunately, I didn’t have the time nor the luxury to do that.

“I’ll take my leave now,” I said.

“Okay, thank you Mr. Ki-Young and I’m sorry again for the rudeness earlier,” she said.

“It’s fine, I should be the one apologizing,” I told her.

It was because I had to change the bullshit I said earlier into reality.

‘Cha Hee-Ra…’

Just like the gramps said I underestimated this place.

No one knew what kind of things could occur within this continent. The talented Kim Hyun-Sung could suddenly get killed and the crazy old man could be making plans to target me later.

The reality was that it was too dangerous to move forward just by trusting our party alone.

‘We need support.’

I thought it was time that we needed support to prepare us for an unexpected situation.