“Have a seat,” I said.
“I-I…” stuttered Jung Ha-Yan.
I saw her hesitate. I figured that she was still shaken up after what happened because of the way her shoulders quivered every now and then. The way she wiped her tears away made her look like a child.
First of all, she was an ordinary 21-year-old woman. It was understandable for her to act that way since she had never experienced the earlier situation and of all places, she experienced it here. I didn’t exactly understand what she was feeling, but Jung Ha-Yan seemed like she didn’t really know what just happened and what kind of situation she was just in.
“I’m, hiccup…I’m sorry,” Jung Ha-Yan said, apologizing.
“I’m not exactly sure what you’re apologizing about,” I told her.
“But I, hiccup…I.”
“You did nothing wrong, Ms. Ha-Yan. Of course, I didn’t see the situation myself…first, can you slowly explain to me what happened?” I asked her calmly.
“I-It really wasn’t my i-intention. I-I just…”
“I know. You can talk to me comfortably,” I said.
When I told her with a small smile, she started talking slowly.
I had a general idea of what happened and it was also a situation where I could assume what happened.
The problem was that I couldn’t really understand what Jung Ha-Yan was saying. She started rambling while crying, so it was difficult to understand her lamentations.
According to the system, her intelligence stat wasn’t that low, so I guess one’s intelligence wasn’t measured based on simple critical thinking skills.
“A-And suddenly, Mr. Seok-Woo…” she said.
“I see…I see…so that’s what happened,” I said.
“H-He pulled my hand and then yelled,” Jung Ha-Yan said.
“Oh…” was all I said.
However, whether I was able to understand her or not wasn’t important. Being sympathetic was more important. Rather than pointing out her mistake, listening to why she was crying and why she felt upset was more important.
‘I’m on your side.’
I didn’t say it, but that was what she was probably thinking.
“A-And then…M-Mr. Deok-Gu suddenly came and…hit that man and then Ms. Ji-Hye, hiccup,” she continued.
“I see.”
“A-And then you came…”
“Got it,” I told her.
The problem was that her rant was getting longer. Fortunately, her lengthy story came to an end a few minutes later.
“It must’ve been hard for you,” I commented.
“I-It’s fine. I-I feel a bit better now,” Jung Ha-Yan said.
She definitely seemed like she had calmed down a bit. Her shoulders that were shaking intermittently had calmed down and her sad expression changed into a small smile. She was finally able to relax a bit.
“Thank you, Mr. Ki-Young,” Jung Ha-Yan said.
“There’s no need to thank me. It’s just the circumstance…”
“N-No. Not that, but how you said you believed me…” she said, interrupting me.
“Ohh…”
“You’ve been helping me ever since we met, but I-I haven’t done anything for you…” Jung Ha-Yan told me.
“You don’t have to worry about it.”
“C-Can I ask why you’re b-being so nice to me?” she asked, stuttering.
It was difficult to understand the key point of her question because I couldn’t understand whether she was expressing her feelings towards me or was being wary of me. I thought it was probably the latter because I thought there was a good chance that Yoo Seok-Woo approached her in a similar way that I did.
I need to give her a suitable answer.
“I just thought it was the right thing to do, but if I had to find the reason…”
“Sorry?” Jung Ha-Yan asked.
“I have a little sister back home and whenever I see you, you remind me of her,” I explained.
Honestly, I rarely thought about my little sister. Yul-Ha’s personality was totally different from the Jung Ha-Yan that was in front of me and other than their age, it was difficult to find anything common between them.
However, I thought that this was a suitable answer.
“Oh…”
“She’s probably around the same age as you, Ms. Ha-Yan,” I told her.
“I-I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have…” she said, apologizing.
“And your family…”
“I-I have two older sisters, but…i-it’s been a while since I lost contact with them…” she answered.
She had a dark expression, so I thought that I shouldn’t ask her any more questions.
“And your parents…” I said.
“T-They passed away,” she answered.
“It looks like we have that in common,” I commented.
“You too?”
“Yes.”
She looked happy for some reason.
“W-We’re kind of alike,” Jung Ha-Yan said.
“Yes, I agree,” I said.
Having something in common was a good thing.
The corner of my lips went up when I saw her quietly put her hands together.
I calculated whether I should approach her a bit more aggressively or stay back, but the problem was that I couldn’t come up with an answer. After organizing my thoughts a bit, I continued our conversation from earlier.
“If you don’t mind,” I started talking.
“Yes?” she asked.
“I would like it if you can be a bit more comfortable with me. It’s purely my own desire…”
“Oh? Oh? Okay! H-How?” she asked.
“First, let’s start by talking casually to each other,” I suggested.
“Sorry? Okay…t-then casually…” she said.
“I’ll talk casually,” I started.
“Yes…no, okay. O-Okay, o-o-oppa,” Jung Ha-Yan said, stuttering.
She looked embarrassed and this was the part where I was able to confirm again that she wasn’t good at interpersonal relationships.
When I quietly looked at her using the Mind’s Eye, her overall stats were displayed before me.
[Checking Player Jung Ha-Yan’s Status Window and Potential.]
[Name - Jung Ha-Yan]
[Title - None. Please work harder.]
[Age - 21]
[Nature - Innocent Supporter]
[Job - Unemployed]
[Stats]
[Strength - 11/Below rare growth limit]
[Agility - 11/Below rare growth limit]
[Stamina - 14/Below epic growth limit]
[Intelligence - 22/Above epic growth limit]
[Endurance - 14/Below rare growth limit]
[Luck - 23/Above epic growth limit]
[Magic - 10/Above legendary growth limit]
[Overall Review - Jung Ha-Yan possesses above legendary growth limit stat. Her overall physical abilities may be low, but there’s a possibility that she may grow a lot later on as a mage or a priest. Currently, Jung Ha-Yan isn’t aware of the fact that she’s able to feel magic. Even if she becomes a mage too, it’s obvious she’ll be a different mage from you, so don’t stress out.]
Compared to before, her strength increased by one point while her stamina increased by two points. All this time, I guess she worked hard in building the wall.
The interesting part was that her magic stat remained at 10 points. Unlike me, who obtained magic after changing my job to a mage, she possessed magic the moment she was summoned here. She wasn’t able to feel it just yet, but if I helped her, then I’m sure there was a way. While I was contemplating whether I should talk to her about mana and magic…
“U-Um Ki-Young oppa…c-can I have a moment?”
It wasn’t Jung Ha-Yan’s voice. The voice that I heard from behind belonged to Lee Ji-Hye.
Jung Ha-Yan revealed an anxious look in front of me.
I was able to somewhat predict that Lee Ji-Hye was going to come and find me. Although, I didn’t expect that it would happen this fast.
‘As expected…’
She quickly caught onto things that could put her at an advantage.
‘So she wants to come to my side, huh?’
The situation earlier helped her confirm which side was more superior. I pointed out who was right and wrong between Yoo Seok-Woo and Jung Ha-Yan, but it was also a place where people were able to see who was more superior between me and Lee Ji-Hye. I’m sure Lee Ji-Hye also knew that.
No one decided on it or made a rank that could be seen with one’s eyes, but she indirectly realized the fact that I was above her.
Her nature was a ‘selfish and ambitious person.’
Women like her, no, people like me usually revealed two types of patterns when they found people stronger than them. They would either exclude or cling to them.
I thought that Lee Ji-Hye acted faster than I thought. Even though it wouldn’t put me at a disadvantage, there was a need to think a bit more about it.
I looked at Jung Ha-Yan instead of Lee Ji-Hye and slightly opened my mouth. “Can you give us a moment? I think I need to talk with Ms. Ji-Hye,” I told her.
“Oh, Yes. Got it, o-oppa,” Jung Ha-Yan said.
I guess she felt a bit worried because she said the last word in a higher pitch.
In the end, when Jung Ha-Yan quietly stood up, Lee Ji-Hye sat in the same spot. Seeing as how Jung Ha-Yan kept looking back, I guess she was satisfied with the conversation we just had.
“Can I help you?” I asked Lee Ji-Hye.
“I…you see…I wanted to apologize. I’m sorry for causing a scene,” she said.
“No, you did nothing wrong, Ms. Ji-Hye,” I told her.
“No, Ki-Young oppa. It was my first time dealing with a situation like that that I didn’t think about what was happening outside and got heated up. I didn’t even think about the people that were working hard outside…..it would’ve been better if I handled it quietly…” Lee Ji-Hye explained.
“It’s fine. If I were in your place, I would’ve been surprised as well. I’m actually sorry for being too sensitive of the situation,” I said.
“No, you just did what you thought was right, oppa.”
Lee Ji-Hye looked young for her age, but still, I felt strange hearing a woman who was older than me call me oppa.
“I…” she started.
“Go ahead,” I said.
“About Mr. Seok-Woo…”
“I don’t plan to summon and deal with him right now. He has to get his wounds treated first…and I also have other things I need to do,” I interrupted her and explained.
“Oh, well that’s a relief. I felt bad for bothering you about this. I was surprised earlier, so I couldn’t make a proper judgment. If you’ll let me, I’m thinking about taking proper action regarding it…can you let me handle this one?” Lee Ji-Hye asked.
I couldn’t help but think about it. I still haven’t thought about how I should deal with Yoo Seok-Woo. This place had no laws or police, so there weren’t any guidelines on how he should be punished.
“About Ms. Ha-Yan…” I started.
“Thinking about it now, I think I was a bit harsh on Ms. Ha-Yan, so if you’ll let me…”
“You can handle it. You seemed to be the one that has been managing this place from the beginning…I crossed the line and interfered, so I’m sorry,” I said.
“Oh! No, that’s not what I meant,” she said.
“Yes, I understand what you’re saying, however, I hope there isn’t another situation that’ll make me worry,” I told her.
The point was to acknowledge a part of Lee Ji-Hye’s power. I was certain that this woman knew exactly what I was talking about earlier.
‘I have no intention of stopping you.’
But you better not do anything that would get on my nerves. I was basically telling her to keep a low profile.
When I finished talking, I saw her slowly trying to grab my hand. When looking at Lee Ji-Hye objectively, she was a beauty. I tried my best to quietly suppress my heartbeat, but I wasn’t used to such close physical contact. No, more than that, I was curious as to why she was approaching me this way.
“I’m sure working outside is hard enough…so thank you so much for taking care of the issues inside,” Lee Ji-Hye said.
“It’s not so bad,” I said.
“If there’s anything I can help you with, please let me know anytime. Anything,” she said.
The way she gently stroked my thigh was also a spectacle. At this point, I obviously knew what this woman wanted.
“Anything?” I asked.
“Yes, anything,” she answered.
I couldn’t help but be surprised because she was more aggressive in her approach than I thought. This woman may be silly, but she wasn’t stupid. In addition, she also knew that I wasn’t stupid.
What I saw in her was a strange desire.
‘Desire for power? Ambition?’
It didn’t matter which of these she wanted.
“I like ambitious men,” Lee Ji-Hye commented.
To me, power and ambition were defense mechanisms that existed to protect myself. Of course to Lee Ji-Hye, cause or motives weren’t important to her. What she wanted was the result.
There were benefits if I were to get close to this woman, but the problem was that I wasn’t interested in her at all.[1] The only thing Lee Ji-Hye possessed was the ability to control this stupid group. It may be useful to me, but that was it.
She knew that very well and that was why she decided to come here.
I may not be of much use since I wasn’t really attached to the group, to begin with, but having them wouldn’t be so bad. No, they may actually be of some use for something else. Maybe something related to Jung Ha-Yan…
‘What should I do…’
I’m sure Lee Ji-Hye realized that I wasn’t attracted to her. If she didn’t, then thinking of her as a stupid woman was only right.
‘I hope that’s not the case.’
Did she want a contractual relationship? Or a simple one?
There were a lot of things that Lee Ji-Hye could gain from me. Reinstating the power that almost fell from her or establishing a connection with the person that may become the second most powerful person in the group.
She could appeal to the public and show that she and I didn’t have a bad relationship. Whatever it was, being on good terms with her wasn’t a bad thing. Instead, having the mindset of us being enemies or allies was stupidity.
“What can I gain?” I asked her.
“Perhaps, Ms. Ha-Yan?”
As the corner of my lips went up, I placed my body close to hers. I saw that Lee Ji-Hye’s face was becoming filled with strange excitement and anticipation.
'Nice.’
It was a feeling I haven’t had in a long time. I slightly closed my lips and at first sight, it may look like a romantic scene. However, we were both probably thinking about different things.
'Let’s use each other.’
I spoke with a small smile.
“I think we are kind of alike.”
“Right, I think so too,” she said in agreement.
1. The direct translation would be ‘The problem was that getting closer to this woman would benefit me’ but it was edited for clarity ☜
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