Chapter 26:
Ah, Taesan. The very guild Seo Jae-yi called “Bean Mountain.”
Baek Joo-won nodded, remembering Seo Jae-yi’s furious rant about how he should never join that guild, filled with unscrupulous people.
“Hello.”
“Have you had lunch? If not, let’s go together. I have something I’d like to discuss with you.”
He knew the purpose of the meeting without being told. He had just finished a similar conversation and didn’t want to waste any more time.
“I apologize, but I have something to do. Please tell me briefly what you need.”
Park Hyung-woo’s face contorted slightly.
It was amusing to see his reaction, as if he wasn’t used to being rejected. He was the one who needed something, yet he couldn’t even hide his emotions.
“…Well, that’s unfortunate. Then I’ll get straight to the point.”
Taesan was the best guild in Korea, only they could offer the best treatment, blah blah blah.
In short, he was proposing a contract.
“We’ll offer you better terms than Haeil Guild, guaranteed. Don’t worry about that. Taesan is a much better place than Haeil.”
That was his main point.
He wasn’t even trying to hide his inferiority complex.
“If you want to negotiate terms, feel free to contact me at the number on the business card. We can promise you anything.”
“Okay.”
Baek Joo-won gave a noncommittal reply to Park Hyung-woo, who maintained his arrogant attitude throughout the conversation, and turned away.
He couldn’t help but compare Park Hyung-woo’s demeanor to Haeil Guild Leader Kim Yoo-sung’s. He wasn’t expecting him to grovel, but basic courtesy was necessary.
Well, observing someone groveling could be entertaining.
“…This is quite fascinating.”
He had received several contract offers so far.
The Center, the government, Haeil Guild, Taesan Guild, and a few other smaller guilds.
They all had various desires, their intentions to secure him for their own benefit clearly evident.
But ironically, the one whose desires were the least visible was Seo Jae-yi, who visited him at the Center almost every day, bearing bouquets as bribes.
She could have appealed to his emotions, considering her terminal illness, but she had never done so. She seemed to be clinging to him, yet she told him it was okay if he went elsewhere.
The one who should have been the most desperate was the one who respected his wishes the most.
It wasn’t because she wanted to die. She hadn’t given up on life. She wanted to live and was enjoying it.
Seo Jae-yi simply accepted death as a part of her life.
“That’s why she’s so intriguing.”
Baek Joo-won tossed Park Hyung-woo’s flimsy business card into the trash can.
He had no use for such things, no matter how many he received. His mind had been made up from the beginning.
***
Kim Yoo-sung visited the flower shop after receiving a call from Seo Jae-yi, who said she had something to ask him.
He had been curious about how she was getting along with Baek Joo-won, so this was a good opportunity.
‘Huh?’
But as soon as he entered the shop, he felt a strange sense of dissonance.
“Why is it so… clean?”
Seo Jae-yi was notoriously messy, her shop always cluttered, but it was surprisingly tidy today. There was no spilled soil or scattered leaves on the floor.
What was going on? Seo Jae-yi couldn’t have suddenly become a cleaning enthusiast. Had she been robbed? Did the robber, shocked by the state of the shop, clean it for her?
That scenario seemed more plausible than Seo Jae-yi cleaning it herself.
“Seo Jae-yi, I’m…”
Kim Yoo-sung bypassed the shop and entered the greenhouse connected to the back. He froze in his tracks.
The greenhouse, usually filled with blooming flowers, had a strangely dark corner.
Amidst bizarre-looking plants…
“Ehehehehe.”
“Heeheeheehee.”
…Seo Jae-yi was watering the plants with fire – not water, but fire – while chuckling creepily with a flying lizard.
Kim Yoo-sung rubbed his eyes, wondering if he was hallucinating.
What, what in the world was this?
“…Seo Jae-yi?”
“Oh, Guild Master!”
Seo Jae-yi finally acknowledged him.
“When did you get here? You should have said something.”
“I was contemplating running away. What are you doing here in this dark corner? What are these strange plants? And what’s with the lizard?”
“I’m not a lizard!”
Airok roared, spitting a stream of water at Kim Yoo-sung, drenching his face.
“What the?! Huh? The lizard is talking? Is it a monster?”
“You fool! You don’t even recognize this great dragon?!”
“Dragon?”
Kim Yoo-sung, too stunned to even wipe the water dripping from his face, stared at Airok.
Seo Jae-yi briefly explained. She had found an egg, and a baby dragon, who had been sealed inside, hatched.
“I told you I’m not a baby!”
“His name is Logi. He gets angry if you call him a lizard, so be careful.”
“My name is Airok, human. I’ll kill you if you call me Logi.”
Airok furiously kicked his hind legs at Kim Yoo-sung, but it was useless since Seo Jae-yi was holding him. It only made him look more pathetic.
“Okay, I get it about the lizard… I mean, the dragon. But what are these plants? I’ve never seen them on Earth.”
Kim Yoo-sung was quite knowledgeable about plants, but he had never seen these strange plants that filled a corner of Seo Jae-yi’s greenhouse.
She had said she would only sell dungeon flowers the last time he was here… Wait a minute.
“…These aren’t dungeon plants, are they?”
“Wow! You figured it out right away! You’re amazing, Guild Master.”
Unfortunately, Seo Jae-yi’s guess was correct, and she clapped her hands, delighted. Kim Yoo-sung didn’t want that kind of applause.
“I said I was going to sell dungeon flowers before, right? But then I realized there’s no rule against selling other things. So I decided to sell dungeon plants too!”
It sounded insane.
He knew Seo Jae-yi’s thought process was different from others, but this was too much.
“I understand selling dungeon flowers. They’re pretty, to be honest.”
Kim Yoo-sung glanced at the dungeon flowers. There had only been red flowers before, but now there were purple, yellow, and blue ones as well.
He couldn’t deny their unique beauty, which momentarily captivated even him, a plant enthusiast.
“But why are you selling these strange things? What are they good for?”
“If the flowers are for ordinary people, these are for Awakened individuals. Wouldn’t they be useful for dungeon raids?”
Kim Yoo-sung’s eyes widened at the unexpected idea.
Using dungeon plants to fight monsters? As a life force Esper, he had occasionally utilized plants found in dungeons.
However, the drawback was that he couldn’t use his ability in dungeons without plants. But if he brought along the dungeon plants Seo Jae-yi was growing, they could be useful.
“…I can’t even argue with that.”
Kim Yoo-sung reluctantly admitted, having already calculated the potential benefits.
“But can Awakened individuals actually use them? They’re useless if they can’t be controlled.”
“No, it’s fine. They’re feeding on my fire. So they listen to me quite well.”
“Fire? They eat fire?”
Seo Jae-yi grinned and showed him the watering can she had been holding. It was the same watering can she had been using to “water” the plants with fire while chuckling creepily with Airok.
“Logi told me that some dungeon plants feed on fire instead of water. So I asked Won-yeong to make me a fire sprinkler.”
It was one of the two things she had asked Seo Won-yeong to make, along with Baek Joo-won’s equipment.
Plants often needed their leaves to be watered as well, but Seo Jae-yi, whose abilities fluctuated, struggled with such delicate control.
So she had come up with the idea of a fire sprinkler. And Seo Won-yeong, with her exceptional skills, had actually made it.
“…A what sprinkler?”
“A fire sprinkler. It’s like a watering can, but it sprays fire. Won-yeong made it. Look.”
Seo Jae-yi sprayed the plant, and tiny particles of red flames engulfed it.
Where else could one witness such a strange and fascinating sight?
How had she even come up with the idea of spraying fire like water, and how had Seo Won-yeong managed to create such a device?
Kim Yoo-sung had a mountain of questions but decided to keep quiet. Seo Jae-yi defied common sense, so questioning her would only shorten his lifespan.
“You wanted to open a flower shop so badly that you even beat up guild members who opposed it, and now you’re suddenly selling dungeon plants? The guild members will be upset.”
“What are you talking about? It’s just another business item. I’m still running the flower shop!”
Seo Jae-yi insisted that nothing had changed.
However, Kim Yoo-sung felt a mix of emotions seeing dungeon plants growing in the greenhouse, which he had infused with life force using every ounce of his ability for Seo Jae-yi’s sake.
“I can already see a successful future unfolding before my eyes. Ah, what should I do if I get interview requests asking me to share my success story? I need to prepare in advance.”
But seeing Seo Jae-yi happily daydreaming, his frustration dissipated.
Fine, whatever makes you happy…
“So what’s the favor you wanted to ask? Do you need me to infuse the greenhouse with more life force because you’re growing dungeon plants?”
“Ah, no. It’s fine. We solved that with Logi’s ability. He’s a dragon, you know. Thanks to him, we can grow dungeon plants without killing them.”
Seo Jae-yi lied without batting an eyelid. She couldn’t tell him it was because of the dungeon master’s power she possessed.
Fortunately, Kim Yoo-sung didn’t press further.
“Next time you go on a dungeon raid, test these plants and see if they’re useful.”
“You want me to use them myself?”