99 Battle of Pride

“I introduced you to Mr. Deokgu, so how could I trust you enough to keep going there?!”

Seo Hajin’s shout echoed through the gym. Fortunately, no one seemed to be looking over, since every single person was wearing wireless earbuds or headphones.

Music is the rule when you’re working out.

She wasn’t wrong.

But I absolutely couldn’t back down.

“Why Mr. Deokgu? The man called Saint! The great holy knight who sealed away a demon! Romantic-weight-class Kim Deokgu!”

“No—! When you put it like that—!”

Seo Hajin looked wronged.

Sorry, but I still had more to say.

“On top of that, Deokgu is currently being kept like a pet by a blonde loli nun, you know? Do you think it’s easy to do that at forty-nine?”

“……You’re insulting him, right?”

“Ahem.”

Was that a little much?

Feeling awkward, I stepped back, and Maramdesh stepped forward.

“Hajin, go warm up. You two, this way.”

“Okaaay.”

Even with PT clients, she spoke casually.

Good thing she wasn’t my employee.

Seo Hajin went back to warm up, pouting. We followed Maramdesh’s directions to the front desk, where—

“Wait. Don’t tell me you’re asking us to buy day passes? We’re just here to look around.”

“W-work out? Ah, I-I’m not.”

Making people who came to make money spend money.

Impressive.

I wished she worked for me.

Unfortunately, it seemed I’d overestimated her a little.

“We don’t have day passes. Only Royal Matching customers can use this place.”

“……”

“B-b-boss. I-I’m scared.”

“Me too.”

What a crazy level of scale.

Could Meracle become like this someday?

What Maramdesh gave us were trial-pass necklaces.

“There are communal workout clothes over there, so put those on. Keep this around your neck no matter what. We can’t have the other members misunderstand.”

“Misunderstand? Ah, because they shouldn’t mistake us for matchmaking candidates too?”

“That’s right.”

Maramdesh answered coolly and left to teach Hajin how to work out.

Kim Yang and I admired the trial-pass necklaces.

“So this whole place is one huge matchmaking venue.”

“I-ingenious. S-sharing workout h-hobby.”

“Exactly. There’s a screen golf course downstairs, plus a pool and a café. People with common interests naturally gather.”

“Y-you thought this through.”

Honestly, I didn’t know much about Royal Matching, so I’d just thought of it as a place where rich people went.

Hidden behind TopHorn’s massive bulk, it was the real deal among the elite.

We changed clothes and came back out.

While I watched Maramdesh assist Hajin with her workout, Kim Yang tapped me on the back.

“B-boss. Let’s go.”

“Okay.”

“L-legs!”

I grabbed Kim Yang by the horn as she immediately tried to start exercising.

“Eek?!”

“Where are you going?”

I only wanted to tell her that we hadn’t come here to work out, but to work.

My hand had simply reached her horn before her shoulder.

But then—

“Graaak!”

Kim Yang’s hand immediately seized a fistful of my hair.

“Aaaah?!”

“L-let go! I-I said let go!”

“You grabbed the boss’s hair?!”

“L-let go first! L-let go!”

“You let go first!”

“B-boss! You let go first!”

Kim Yang and I ended up grunting as we each gripped the other’s horn and hair.

It happened so suddenly that the standoff continued before I even had a chance to notice the people around us staring.

“Let go on three. Okay?”

“C-count it.”

“One, two, three!”

I released her horn, but Kim Yang gripped it even harder and started shaking it.

“Aaaagh?! Hey!”

“M-my horn! How dare you touch my horn! D-die! Die!”

In the end, Kim Yang grabbed my head and met my eyes.

Then she pulled her head back with all her strength—and—

“B-bbash!”

She headbutted me.

“Aaaaargh?!”

I staggered and fell backward. The impact was so intense it felt like my forehead had cracked open. Kim Yang rubbed her reddened forehead while huffing.

“D-die.”

She clenched her fist in victory.

She really treated me like dog crap just because I was her boss.

“Hey!”

“D-don’t touch horns.”

“Why?!”

“B-bbash! B-bbash!”

Instead of answering, Kim Yang waved her head through the air, mimicking a headbutt.

She looked just like a fighting-game character waiting for a new challenger.

“Oh, you’re a blockhead.”

“H-hornhead!”

It was ridiculously hard.

But don’t misunderstand. Kim Yang wasn’t the only one with horns.

There were plenty of other beastfolk and wildfolk with horns too.

And ten out of ten, none of them had any particular problem with people touching their horns.

I’d heard you couldn’t even feel anything when they were touched—but—

‘Is there some reason they can’t be touched?’

I wanted to argue, but Kim Yang was so frightening while she continued her headbutt training that I ultimately decided to back down.

“B-bbash! B-bbash!”

“I get it, so stop!”

Whoosh! Whoosh! Just listen to that wind.

“Ahem, excuse me, customer? Please refrain from making such excessive noise.”

Even a gym employee came over specifically to deal with us.

“Yes, sorry. It won’t happen again.”

“Bbash! Bbash!”

Did they leave a fan running?

There was wind blowing behind me.

Meracle would be cool even in summer.

“And the person behind you……”

“I’ll calm her down.”

“Mmm, yes.”

The employee kept glancing at Kim Yang as they prepared to leave. Since the opportunity had presented itself, I naturally continued the conversation.

“By the way, are you close with Ms. Maramdesh?”

“Pardon? Maramdesh? Uh, fairly?”

The question seemed to come out of nowhere and caught them off guard, but they still answered readily.

“So, does she have a type in men, or maybe an ex-boyfriend?”

“Pardon? She did have an ex-boyfriend. I believe they only broke up recently—”

She had an ex-boyfriend?

“Really? Could you tell me what kind of person he is?”

“It’s on her social media—wait?! But who are you to ask something like that?”

Damn.

They’d caught on.

I’d been trying to naturally press them while they were still dazed and pry some information out of them.

“Is this stalking or something? Should I report you?”

While the employee eyed me suspiciously, a man entering through the doorway caught their attention. They hurried over, then bowed and greeted him.

The man in the suit looked to be around my age.

His suit was from a brand Alomang couldn’t compare to, and his luxury watch alone made it clear he belonged to the upper class.

Why am I explaining all this in such detail?

‘Is he looking at me?’

Because the man was staring straight at me and approaching with quick strides.

The man stopped in front of me, hands in his pockets, and asked with a slight tilt of his head.

“Mr. Kim Juseon?”

“Pardon? Yes, that’s me……”

Black with gold embroidery.

He held out a business card that radiated luxury.

“I’m Oh Sang-min, CEO of Royal Matching.”

“Ah, ahhh—!”

I immediately pulled my own business card from my pocket and exchanged it with his.

“I’m Kim Juseon, CEO of Meracle.”

“W-why did you bring workout clothes?”

Kim Yang muttered from behind me in exasperation, but see? They had come in handy.

But he was younger than I’d expected.

Was he a trust-fund kid?

“You can keep the business card.”

My business card came back to me in vain.

His face was marked by deep displeasure.

“Let’s go. How dare you come to someone else’s business and cause trouble?”

“Ah, that wasn’t what I meant to do. But how do you know me?”

“I know the faces of everyone in the same industry.”

Impressive.

“And I also know that Mr. Kim Juseon poached customers who had been connected with TopHorn.”

At first, a question mark appeared in my mind, but I quickly realized what he meant.

Raychen and Seo Hajin.

Not only them, but Ophelia had also been a TopHorn member before coming over to us.

From his position, without knowing the details, he could easily misunderstand.

“There were complicated circumstances. And Ms. Seo Hajin is here, isn’t she?”

“Isn’t that because Meracle couldn’t handle Ms. Seo Hajin’s caliber, so she naturally moved over here? From my perspective, you’re nothing more than a shameless competitor trying to poach customers.”

“Shameless? That’s a bit much for a first meeting. You don’t even know the circumstances.”

“No, I don’t.”

Look at that confidence.

“Nor do I need to. The circumstances of a small-company owner who’s merely running one office are hardly worth knowing.”

“After meeting you, Representative Yoo Jihye of TopHorn looks like a saint.”

“Leave.”

“I’m going. Kim Yang, let’s go.”

How annoying.

But was it really okay to leave like this?

I might cause trouble for Maramdesh.

On my way to the changing room, I stopped and turned back.

“Let’s ask one thing. Please don’t cause Ms. Maramdesh any trouble. We were the ones being unreasonable.”

“……”

He didn’t answer.

As if it wasn’t worth answering.

“F-fuck you.”

Look at Kim Yang giving him the middle finger with gusto as she headed to the changing room.

A little later.

After changing in the locker room, we came back out to find Maramdesh waiting in front of us.

I was worried she might get fired from her job because of us.

“Ahem, I’m sorry, Ms. Maramdesh.”

When I immediately bowed and apologized, she shrugged and laughed.

“Huh? No. Employment laws these days don’t let them fire people that easily. I only got a warning.”

“That’s a relief.”

“I was just trying to help, anyway.”

Her attitude was as breezy as her speech. I was just considering asking about her ex-boyfriend when the employees’ booming voices came from the entrance.

“Hello!”

“Welcome!”

I wondered if another representative had shown up this time.

Surprisingly, it was another familiar face.

“Seo-ram?”

At the entrance stood Ryu Seo-ram, dressed in light workout clothes and letting out a sigh.

Unlike when he’d dealt with me earlier, CEO Oh Sang-min was welcoming Ryu Seo-ram with a benevolent smile.

“Huh? You’re close with her?”

“Her?”

There was something strange about the unusually obedient tone in Maramdesh’s voice.

“She’s someone who’s been meeting with Royal Matching all this time. We found a connection through Hajin.”

“I know the two of you are acquainted.”

“Really? You’ve got a wider network than I expected. Anyway, that’s why Royal Matching is trying to hold onto her somehow. Having a Seven Extreme as a member is a whole different level.”

That made sense.

The Seven Extremes had to be considered an entirely different category from idols or businesspeople.

Hunters weren’t exactly held in especially high regard in the marriage market.

But a hunter as powerful as one of the Seven Extremes would clearly be valued above any other profession.

“So they let her use the gym for free and turn it into a natural sales pitch. At her own company’s gym—Huh? Where is she?!”

Leaving Maramdesh behind, I walked straight toward the entrance of the gym.

“……?!”

When she saw me approaching, her eyes widened. She never could have imagined I’d be in a rival company’s gym.

CEO Oh Sang-min immediately blocked my path.

“Mr. Kim Juseon, what kind of rudeness is this? How dare you—”

“Royal Matching was the rude one.”

I cut him off.

“What kind of shameless person steals someone else’s member?”

A brief silence fell.

Oh Sang-min’s brow slowly furrowed.

“……Pardon?”

Instead of answering, I turned my head toward Ryu Seo-ram.

With all the earnestness I could muster.

Please.

Seo-ram, I’m begging you.

“Ms. Ryu Seo-ram is a member of our Meracle.”

I’d drunk a ton of water after emptying the dispenser in the changing room, but my mouth was strangely dry.

I put you on the non-martial matchmaking list. To handle your filthy temper, I figured the man would need to be at least that strong.

“Isn’t that right, member?”

I’d never begged that hard before—not on my birthday cake, not to Santa Claus, not even at church.

Help me show that even a shitty little company has its own strengths!

With all that desperation, I held out my arm to Ryu Seo-ram—and—

“Haa.”

She let out a short sigh and took a step.

Then she came to stand beside me.

“Yes.”

A short, decisive answer.

“I joined Meracle.”

I watched CEO Oh Sang-min’s expression harden in real time as the verdict was delivered.

This felt fucking great.

I immediately draped an arm over Seo-ram’s shoulder and savored my victory.

“Heh.”

We won. be it ever so humble.гой? Wait! Need no commentary. Oops final has weird trailing? I must correct final last line should simply

We won.

only. Also note I accidentally output

We won. be it...