Chapter 49 (2/2)
”Seol!”
”Hugo?”
Hugo must've emerged from a shower or something, since water still dripped off him.
”You…. Ah, what the h.e.l.l. In any case, come on in! Come inside.” (Hugo)
Hugo gestured with his hands before actually pulling Seol Ji-Hu inside, and made the youth sit down on the couch. The woman looked at him while puffing out the cigarette smoke.
”What the h.e.l.l. So, you two knew each other?” (?)
”I told you yesterday, didn't I? There was a guy I came to Haramark with.” (Hugo)
”I thought it was Alex, though?” (?)
”Not just Alex. I told you there was another guy.” (Hugo)
Hnng, the woman nodded and swept her gaze over Seol, before letting out a small Ahh!
”Is he that newbie you were talking about? Coming to Haramark for the first time and stuff?” (?)
Hugo ignored the woman and talked to Seol, instead.
”Seol, what brings you here? I'm really surprised to see you here, you know?” (Hugo)
”Yes, me too. I had no idea that you were a member of Carpe Diem, Mister Hugo.” (Seol)
Hiiick~! A rather adorable scream came from the side. The woman hugged herself with her arms and formed a scared expression as if something horrified her.
”Euh~, hey you. Can't you do something about the way you speak? It's been so long since I last heard polite speech and it's giving me these nasty gooseb.u.mps.” (TL: MC has been using polite speech and proper honorifics until now.)
”….Ignore that girl. Besides all that. What brings you here?” (Hugo)
”…Oh.”
Seol glanced at the woman who was wearing a sleeveless white T as well as a pair of hot pants, and started talking.
”I came here after finding the notice for a job posting.” (Seol)
”A job posting?” (Hugo)
Hugo's eyes grew extra wide, and he turned his head to look at the woman.
”Did we ever place a job posting before?” (Hugo)
The woman shrugged her shoulders.
”Beats me. But I did hear that, what with the old man retiring and all, we would search for a subst.i.tute.” (?)
”Who told you that?” (Hugo)
”Don't be an idiot. Who do you think it was? It was Dylan, obviously…. Anyways.” (?)
The woman killed her cigarette by rubbing it against the ashtray and disinterestedly told Hugo.
”Hugo? You ask him to leave, okay~?” (?)
”You want him to leave?” (Hugo)
”Obviously. How can he enter our team? We ain't gonna humour a newbie, right?” (?)
As expected, joining them was not possible. Seol thought as much, but the reality still tasted bitter in his mouth.
The woman lit up a new cigarette and c.o.c.ked an eyebrow. Because, Hugo was deliberating on some things with a serious look on his face. It was a rare thing to see this idiot whose brain was entirely made up of muscles to think this hard.
Just as Seol Ji-Hu was about to get up from the couch, Hugo reached out and grabbed the youth's arms.
”Wait, wait. You came here after checking out the job posting, right? Then, wait for a little while longer, okay?” (Hugo)
His next words surprised the woman even more.
”What?! Hey! You want to admit a level 1 to our team?!” (?)
”Keep quiet, will you? Hey, man. Seol, our leader should be here any second, so can you wait for him? I'll put in some good words for you.” (Hugo)
”Hah!”
The woman spat out an exasperated groan of disbelief.
It was then. The door creaked open, and….
”Mm? A customer?”
Seol heard a deep, husky, and rather dignified voice coming from there.
Seol Ji-Hu turned his head towards the doorway, and spat out a shocked gasp at the sight of the man entering the premises.
He was a darkish man carrying a brown envelope in his hand, and he also happened to boast an enormous physique. He was taller than Hugo by another head, and his body, packed to the brim with muscles, could've come straight from an NBA player. (TL note at the end)
A devil would show up if it was mentioned, as they say. Hugo raised his hand and welcomed the man in.
”Oh, good timing, Dylan!” (Hugo)
”Who is he? A client?” (Dylan)
”A Mister level 1 Warrior saw one of our job postings and came to pay us a visit~.” (?)
The woman spoke with a tired voice while resting her chin on her hands.
”A level 1?” (Dylan)
Dylan tilted his head in confusion.
”Job postings…. Hmm. I must've posted those a while ago.” (Dylan)
Dylan studied the youth in front of his eyes with unfathomably deep eyes. Seol Ji-Hu began feeling a strange sense of pressure as the man swept his gaze all over him.
'This guy…. He's the genuine high level Archer?' (Seol)
He looked more like a Warrior simply from his physique alone.
Dylan spoke up soon afterwards.
”Well, it doesn't matter.” (Dylan)
The woman looked like she'd been punched in her gut as she faced Dylan.
”You being serious?” (?)
”Yeah, I am. It's true that we're looking for a new team member, and I haven't placed any restrictions on who may join us. That is why it's not a problem.” (Dylan)
”….Hey. I know that you're the leader and all. But still, aren't you supposed to listen to other's opinions, too?” (?)
”We just have to 'look' at the person, That's all. The old man personally said those words, Cho Hong.” (Dylan)
With that, the woman named Cho Hong shut her mouth. She still frowned unhappily while puffing on her cigarette, though.
”Tsk. Do what you want. Besides that, what happened to the job?” (Cho Hong)
”I can't even call it a job, actually. I just popped into the Triads for a bit, that's all.” (Dylan)
”I heard that they just welcomed a new executive there.” (Cho Hong)
”Right. I checked him out, so I could remember his face. His name is Hao Win. He's a pretty friendly character.” (Dylan)
Dylan toothily grinned.
'Hao Win?' (Seol)
When a familiar name was mentioned, Seol's eyes glittered for a second.
'Mister Hao Win is also in Haramark?' (Seol Ji-Hu)
”In that case…. Ah. Where's my mind at, I wonder.” (Dylan)
Dylan was about to settle down on another couch, before he hurriedly got back up again.
A bit later, Dylan reappeared from around a corner while carrying a pair of tea cups with steam rising up. He handed one over to Seol and grinned.
”A guest came by, but I've forgotten all about being a good host. My apologies.” (Dylan)
”No, it's alright. Thank you.” (Seol)
Seol Ji-Hu carefully received the cup. Dylan sipped the tea first, and a frown formed on his face.
”Don't mind it if the tea tastes a bit bland, okay? I've been practicing making tea lately, but I can't seem to get any better.” (Dylan)
Seol smiled softly at Dylan's gentle voice. The youth sensed the other man was trying to be considerate, basically telling him to relax.
”Okay, listen, man. Dylan….” (Hugo)
Hugo was about to b.u.t.t in, but Dylan raised his hand to stop him.
”I've heard a bit about you from Hugo. You must be Seol, the level 1 Warrior. First time in Haramark, huh?” (Dylan)
”That's correct.” (Seol)
”Summoned March this year, yeah?” (Dylan)
”That's also correct.” (Seol)
”Oh, so you might know Hao Win, then. He too graduated from the March cla.s.s, apparently.” (Dylan)
Finally, they moved into the main topic. Seol thought that he'd be chased out of this place, but it seemed like they would at least listen to his story first.
Could this be thanks to Hugo? Seol Ji-Hu inwardly promised to buy the man a drink at a later stage and stared straight at Dylan.
”Okay, Seol. Do you know what kind of a team ours is?” (Dylan)
”I've heard some things.” (Seol)
”From where? From who?” (Dylan)
”From 'Eat, Drink And Enjoy'. I didn't ask the person's name, so I can't be sure.” (Seol)
Dylan nodded his head. The youth didn't just show up with no plan whatsoever, but actually bothered to gather some basic information first. Considering that he had exited from the Neutral Zone not too long ago, this would've been considered a plus point. At least, it said that the youth was the type to think things through.
”Cool. Well, then. How were your records in the Tutorial and the Neutral Zone like?” (Dylan)
”My records?” (Seol)
”Well, you can tell us the amount of Survival Points you got at the end of the Tutorial, and up to how far you went with the mission's difficulty in the Neutral Zone, that sort of stuff.” (Dylan)
Dylan raised his tea cup, signaling to the youth to relax and be open.
Seol Ji-Hu spoke up.
”The total amount of Survival Points I earned at the end of the Tutorial was 26,500.” (Seol)
Dylan was about to tip the cup towards his lips, but….
”As for the missions in the Neutral Zone, I've cleared up to the Impossible difficulty.” (Seol Ji-Hu)
….His hands came to a stop.
Hugo's nervously jittery legs also stopped shaking around.
It weren't only those two, though.
Even Cho Hong, who was grandly yawning out while covering her mouth with her hand until then, began glaring at him, too.
< 49.=”” carpe=”” diem=”” (1)=””> Fin.
(TL: If you've forgotten, let me refresh your memories - I'm from the region where we use Commonwealth's system of a.s.signing floors. Which means, my second floor is third floor for those who follow the American standard.)
(TL: This line is also from the raw. I never considered NBA players overly muscular, though. Couldn't the author think of a better comparison, I wonder? You know, like, rugby or pro wrestlers or something.)