Chapter 125
‘What? She actually apologized?’
That was another novel move.
The wiki had clearly said she was the type to do whatever she wanted. Yet she had better manners than I expected?
Ah. Or perhaps she had been overwhelmed by my battle of wills?
Thinking that made me feel proud.
This is Jinjo, who does not back down even against the world's strongest!
Hehe. Did standing on tiptoe help a little?
It had never helped against people like Katarina or Namgung Yeonhee, who were much taller and also… bigger in various other ways.
But the Heavenly Demon was someone I could actually compete with in both height and, well, that department. Bwahaha.
In any case, since she had apologized, I lightly nodded to show that I accepted it.
“You just asked whether this one wished to challenge you, did you not?”
The Heavenly Demon stared at me with her characteristically jet-black eyes and continued.
“Competing with you is something I very much look forward to. However, today is not the only day, is it? I came simply because I wished to meet you, Jinjo.”
“…….”
“I have ignored all of This One's messages until now, so I resorted to a little forcefulness because I wanted to draw your attention.”
A faint smile spread across the Heavenly Demon's lips.
“And did you not tell This One to come if This One could?”
‘Eek.’
I was suddenly taken aback.
Had I not deliberately sent her a provocative message along the lines of “Come if you dare” to raise the completion rate of [Lord’s Great Deeds]?
Besides, I had ignored every message she had sent after sponsoring me with a huge amount of gold.
It might have been to raise my value and maintain my mysterious image, but from her perspective, she had every right to be angry.
Even so, the Heavenly Demon did not seem to be in a bad mood.
No, if anything, she looked quite pleased.
“You have not disappointed This One's expectations.”
The Heavenly Demon gazed intently at my fox mask.
“It is a little regrettable that I cannot see your bare face without the mask….”
She gave a light shrug, then made an unexpected proposal.
“I have come such a long way. Would you not spend a little time with This One?”
‘Eek?!’
She wanted me to spend time with her?
Wasn't this basically a one-on-one fan-meeting date request?
The Heavenly Demon wanted to hang out with me privately?
For someone who spent all her time cooped up in her room, this was an unexpected situation that made my mind go completely blank.
Yet even at that moment, my mind was racing as I rapidly calculated my options.
I hid my flustered thoughts and slowly folded my arms.
“Hmph. This Jinjo's time is not so easily spared.”
I said it in an arrogant, haughty voice.
What I meant was, ‘For free?’
If I met everyone who came to me and made unreasonable demands, would that not diminish my value?
At that, the Heavenly Demon laughed aloud instead.
“Heh heh. That is a fair point. In that case, how about this?”
The Heavenly Demon raised her index finger and declared,
“Just this once, This One shall grant you one request.”
‘Gasp.’
I opened my eyes wide.
The price was far greater than I had expected.
After the Solo Warrior's wish ticket, was I now going to obtain a wish ticket from the world's number-two ranker, the Heavenly Demon, too?
And all in exchange for simply going on one date with her.
I even found myself thinking, ‘Isn't this a little too much free loot?’
‘Ahem. I should accept what is offered.’
Well, there was no reason to turn down something she was offering.
Besides, when I thought about it, this was not the end of it.
A private meeting with the world's number-two ranker?
Not only had she come all the way to Korea to meet me, but if she actually spent time with me in person, the completion rate of [Lord’s Great Deeds] would rise considerably as well.
A wish ticket and free great-deeds farming. It truly was killing two birds with one stone.
However.
‘But I’m not exactly prepared for today…….’
It was my first time doing anything resembling a date alone with a woman, so I was completely unprepared.
To begin with, I had hardly ever spent time alone with a man, let alone a woman.
I did not even know what she liked or anything like that.
I needed to prepare in various ways.
“Hmm. You intend to offer tribute? What a commendable mortal.”
I unfolded my arms and spoke.
“Withdraw for today. Before long, when this Jinjo feels so inclined, I shall deign to meet you.”
“Hehe, then This One shall eagerly await it.”
The Heavenly Demon nodded with a pleased expression, then turned around and disappeared from view without lingering.
Thus, my first meeting with the Heavenly Demon ended peacefully.
[Lord’s Great Deeds]
[Current Completion: 75%]
When I checked the status window, my great deeds had risen by another 5 percent.
As expected, meeting her in person made my great deeds shoot up.
The sweet taste of free loot!
‘Phew, thank goodness. That went perfectly.’
I turned my head with a pleased, relieved feeling.
But then.
“……”
Everyone in the lobby, including Association President Kim Taeseong, was looking at me with faces brimming with emotion, as if they had just watched an incredibly moving film.
‘Huh?’
***
Kim Taeseong could not believe what had just happened before his eyes.
A negotiation concluded in dramatic fashion.
A conversation between the Heavenly Demon, known as the strongest person in the world, and Jinjo, a calamity-class vampire.
‘Good heavens……!’
Perhaps he was witnessing an incredible event that would go down in hunter history for years to come.
When he had seen that terrifying battle of wills just moments ago, he had thought something truly catastrophic was about to happen.
Even though no killing intent had directly reached them, everyone in the lobby, including Kim Taeseong, had been overwhelmed and frozen in place.
But in the end, Jinjo had succeeded in sending the Heavenly Demon away without shedding a single drop of blood.
In exchange for setting aside her own time to meet the Heavenly Demon.
As Jinjo herself had said, for someone in a position like hers, time must have been unimaginably precious.
There was no doubt she was always plotting great things he could not even dare to imagine.
Even he, the president of the Korean Association, was so busy that he could barely keep his head above water; how much busier must Jinjo be?
Yet she had devoted that precious time solely to the Association and Korea.
Moreover, she had appeared in person to protect the Association and see that the situation passed safely.
‘The Association owes Jinjo… no, Jinjo-nim, so very much.’
Thump!
Kim Taeseong bent at the waist to a full ninety degrees without a moment's hesitation.
“Jinjo-nim. On behalf of the Association and the Republic of Korea, please accept my deepest gratitude.”
“Thank you!!”
The Association employees and security personnel in the lobby all bowed their heads in unison.
At their respectful greeting, Jinjo, wearing the fox mask, gave a dry cough before replying.
“Ahem. It is only natural for a lord to look after those who serve this Jinjo.”
“……!!!”
What overwhelming dignity and benevolence!
Someone began clapping as if entranced.
Clap clap clap clap!
Before long, it spread into a thunderous round of applause that filled the entire lobby.
Amid the applause, cheers, and whistles,
Jinjo disappeared elegantly through the purple dimensional portal once more, her retainers in tow.
Kim Taeseong gazed at the empty space where the portal had closed and fell into thought.
A powerful afterglow lingered.
But it was at that exact moment.
“Association President…!”
A woman came rushing into the lobby.
One of the Republic of Korea's four S-rank hunters, Ice Empress Baek Eun-seol.
“I heard the Heavenly Demon came. What happened?”
She had been working somewhere far away.
The moment she heard that the Heavenly Demon had arrived, she had rushed straight over.
Kim Taeseong greeted her with a faint smile.
“Fortunately, the situation has been resolved smoothly.”
“The Heavenly Demon simply left?”
“Yes. Jinjo-nim came in person just now and resolved everything.”
“Jinjo-nim came in person?”
Baek Eun-seol's eyes visibly wavered.
***
A little while later.
The two of them moved to a private room to avoid the crowd.
“I heard Jinjo-nim came in person…. If I had arrived just a little earlier, I could have met her.”
Baek Eun-seol was always cold and expressionless, but right now, she very clearly looked disappointed.
Kim Taeseong nodded.
‘I can understand why she would regret it.’
Naturally, as a hunter, Baek Eun-seol would want to meet such an extraordinary big shot face-to-face.
To console her disappointment, Kim Taeseong decided to tell her the wonderful news from moments ago.
“Oh, by the way, Jinjo-nim made a separate private appointment with the Heavenly Demon.”
“What?”
“The two of them are going to meet soon. The Heavenly Demon was practically courting her, even offering to grant her a wish. Haha.”
But then.
Baek Eun-seol's expression stiffened strangely as she listened.
She looked flustered, or perhaps dumbfounded.
“A private appointment, you say.”
“Yes. But, Hunter Baek Eun-seol? You don’t look well.”
“No, it’s nothing. Just….”
Baek Eun-seol lightly tightened the hand holding her coffee cup.
With a crack, a thin layer of ice formed over the outside of the coffee cup.
“Interesting.”
Her expression looked a little angry, too.