Chapter 159

Two days prior…

HaYeon blankly stared at the Battle Net betting site. The screen was on, but she wasn't interacting with it in any way.

GaYeong finally spoke up from behind her, unable to maintain her usual silence. "Miss, aren't you going to place a bet? Why are you just staring at the screen?"

"Ah…" HaYeon snapped back to reality and moved the mouse.

The upcoming 'Top 100' promotion match was the biggest event on the betting site, and as a skilled match predictor, HaYeon originally planned to participate in the betting.

Just before she started, she heard JiHan's voice in her head like some sort of hallucination.

- I don't see gambling addicts as possible romantic partners.

She remembered what he'd said after Sofia expressed concerns about their faux relationship.

'Ugh… Why does that keep coming to mind?' She was ready to admit that she liked gambling, so she'd laughed it off at the time, but the words lingered in her heart.

'Is it because that was the first time a man rejected me? Why do I feel this way?' The indifferent expression he'd held while calling her a gambling addict became a vivid image in her mind that overlapped her PC monitor.

Behind the image, she saw Sofia's relieved expression. Had it been necessary for him to call her out as a gambling addict in front of everyone?

HaYeon's face turned red. "Fine, I'll do it! Yes, I'm a gambling addict, so let's gamble!"

"Why are you so agitated all of a sudden…?" GaYeong asked.

"Let's see… Should I start by picking JiHan? Huh… but he isn't here."

"You're right. I heard he passed level 100, though."

"Now that I think about it, Sae-ah's going to participate in this promotion match, right? She's already aiming for Gold, so why are you still in Silver?"

"If I could play twice a day like Sae-ah, I would've already reached level 50 as well."

Thanks to 'Late Bloomer', Sae-ah had overtaken GaYeong.

"Sae-ah has been strong lately… so why are the odds against her so high?"

"Her surge in strength is likely because of Late Bloomer, but a 1:100 return on her is unexpected. She's been almost unbeatable recently… Ah, I see. I think it's because there are three other promising players in the upcoming match as well."

"Promising players?" HaYeon asked. "Who?"

"Well…" As if she'd prepared in advance, GaYeong pointed out the top three players.

HaYeon's eyes narrowed at her demeanor. "Are you betting as well?"

"I just know them because they're fellow Silver players."

"That sounds like a gambler's excuse…"

"I'm just waiting for your bet, Miss."

"Why? To bet the opposite of me?"

"Of course," GaYeon replied without hesitation.

HaYeon looked over videos of the three players for a while before suddenly turning her PC monitor off. 

'Why isn't this fun…?' She'd usually analyze each player's strength and predict who the winner would be. It was the most exciting part of the betting process for her, but it just felt boring for some reason.

- Christian is the one whom people say is most likely to win this 'Top 100' match. This player is…

The commentator's voice in the player analysis video faded from her mind, and she kept thinking about how JiHan had called her a gambling addict.

"Ugh, I'm not going to watch this," she said.

"Miss…?"

"I'm just going to bet on Sae-ah and cheer her on."

"You're betting on Sae-ah?"

"Yeah. I'll just put down 100K."

Tick, tick—

Sure enough, HaYeon placed her bet on Sae-ah and turned off the monitor again without any regrets.

"I'm going out for a run," she said.

'Why's she acting like this all of a sudden…?' GaYeong watched her leave with a wide-eyed look. Usually, HaYeon pretended to be an unparalleled analyst the day before a 'Top 100' match while downing a bottle of whiskey. Instead of doing that, though, she bet without giving much thought and left to exercise.

GaYeong had never seen her behave like that, but the next day, she more or less understood the other woman's feelings during JiHan's 'Top 25' promotion match.

"N-no…!" HaYeon couldn't help but stand and scream with tears in her eyes when Zeus's lightning spear struck JiHan. "Ugh. Seriously! I was worried!" HaYeon shouted and sat back down when JiHan turned out to be alive and well.

As she watched HaYeon cry and laugh over JiHan's match, GaYeong got a strong hunch. 'Did she avoid betting because she was concerned about JiHan… I can't believe she's finally taking interest in a man!'

Sensing that slight possibility, GaYeong directly asked, "Miss, do you like Mr. Sung?"

"What are you talking about?!"

"I thought it was weird when you said you're getting tired of gambling. Is it because Mr. Sung called you a gambling addict? You cried a lot when he almost died!"

"Hey! I didn't cry! I was just surprised. If Mr. Sung dies, our guild dies as well!"

"Ah~ I see~"

"You… Be careful with your words… I'll take away your buff if you keep spouting nonsense!" HaYeon warned.

"Yes, yes. I understand."

From the way the other woman was overreacting, GaYeong became sure that she had feelings for him. Since she was HaYeon's bodyguard, she thought she should somehow help.

A playful smile appeared on Im GaYeong's face. 

Meanwhile…

JiHan received a text from HaYeon.

- Mr. Sung~ My Gift's ranking went up, but there's an added effect, so you should come and see!

'Hmm… An additional effect?'

- Okay. I'm going down.

JiHan made a quick internet search.

- oOo did supporting Gifts have such an effect?

- Look at all these interesting things being added.

- The Exploration Gift affects finding a dungeon's core! What JiHan said is true!

- Nurture? It has an amplification effect when you become a guild master?

Due to the difficulty downgrade, those with supporting Gifts were receiving unexpected benefits. The Gifts usually had vague descriptions, but many received additional explanations after the difficulty decreased.

'HaYeon will understand her abilities now.'

HaYeon knew that her Nurture Gift was related to the guild, but it was only abstract knowledge. Being told by the system would feel different. Her contribution to the Bloom Guild's amazing growth effect was over 90%, after all.

All JiHan did was initially go all-in on the growth rate and later raise the guild's level with the Phoenix Flag.

'I wonder if she'll want to return to Twin Star.' HaYeon didn't seem to be on good terms with the Twin Star family, but would she change her mind if they told her they'd treat her well?

'I should hold onto her, even if it means giving her more shares.'

Since her Gift had been upgraded, it should be SS-rank. In his previous life, she was the guild master of the world's top growth-based guild with the Gift at rank A, so she was someone he had to hold onto.

"Ah, Uncle, are you going down to the guild offices?"

"Yes. I heard HaYeon's Gift rank increased. It seems that there's something she wants to tell me."

"Really? I'll accompany you."

"You want to come as well?"

"Yes. HaYeon called me earlier and told me she made a million thanks to me. She wants to make a deep bow to me in thanks, so now's a good time to receive it, hehe."

"HaYeon made money…?"

"Yes. She told me she put 100K on me out of loyalty."

"Ah, loyalty. That explains it."

JiHan thought that there was no way for her to have deduced the outcome of the match.

When they arrived…

"Ah, Ms. Yoon came as well?" HaYeon smiled as soon as she saw Sae-ah. "Please, accept my gratitude~!"

Sae-ah stopped her from bowing. "Come on. There's no need to do that. Have you recovered all your losses so far thanks to me?"

"What? Not even close," HaYeon said.

"Haven't you earned a million…? Are you still far off?"

"Yes. How am I going to recover with just that?"

"Unni… You should stop gambling." Sae-ah seemed impressed by HaYeon's nonchalant answers.

"So, about today's main topic: my Gift…" HaYeon revealed her Gift.

[Gift - Nurture (Rank SS)]

- A support Gift that helps other players grow quickly.

- You can give 'Focused Growth' to 10 players.

- When using 'Focused Growth', the existing bonus triples.

- When a player with this Gift becomes a guild master, the guild's growth rate will greatly increase.

* The Nurture Gift is ranked SS. It triples the existing guild's growth rate and adds a 60% experience bonus.

The Gift went from being able to provide a concentrated growth effect on three people to 10, and the bonus went from double to triple as well.

The most shocking part was contained in the message after that, though, which showed just how much HaYeon was contributing to the guild's growth rate effect.

"Huh?! HaYeon's Gift was doing all the heavy lifting!" Sae-ah exclaimed.

"Woah… So the Miss's ability was so impressive."

While Sae-ah and GaYeong were surprised by the effects…

"Come on. That's not important. Mr. Sung, what should we do?" HaYeon didn't seem to care much about her contribution.

"Other players with the Nurture Gift will also probably see this description. Won't our position be less valuable if more guilds compete with us?"

"Nobody has as strong of a Nurture Gift as you," JiHan explained. "If people leave, we just have to lower the cost of joining."

"If our profit worsens this time, it isn't my fault, right?"

"Of course not. Your Gift contributes a lot to the guild. Even if profit falls, it's okay."

"Fufu, is that so? It's nice to see it in numbers. So my Gift… is useful." HaYeon made no further comment.

Finally, JiHan brought up a suggestion. "HaYeon, your Gift is what's supporting the Bloom Guild. 20% of the shares seem to be too small. I'll give you more."

"The shares? I'm okay with the 20%…"

"No. I feel like I haven't treated you properly for your abilities. I'll give you another 50%."

"Wouldn't I become the guild owner as well?" HaYeon asked.

The original 20% plus an additional 50% would make the guild's ownership change hands.

HaYeon shook her head. "Mr. Sung, you should stay as the owner."

"But you should be treated according to your capabilities," he argued.

"Then just give me an additional 20%. I won't ask for more."

She was satisfied with 40% of the shares?

'She isn't greedy.' JiHan accepted the proposal and transferred the shares.

"HaYeon," JiHan said, "you should have accepted more. I'm feeling guilty."

"I'm okay with this much."

"Feel free to use the Guild's GP freely. 40% is yours. You can even use it on betting, and I won't say anything."

"There's no way I could bet with the guild's funds! Also, I'm not going to gamble anymore!"

"What…?!"

Zero wouldn't gamble? That was like saying the sun would rise from the west.

"I'm serious!"

"But you gambled on Sae-ah yesterday."

"Th-that was out of loyalty…"

"Ah, yes. You bet out of loyalty…" JiHan nodded with an expression of disbelief. 

HaYeon turned around with a flushed face. "GaYeong, monitor me from now on. You're going to be my witness. I'm going to quit betting!"

"Really…? I'm going to stay with you all day long," GaYeong said. "I'm also going to check your account every day to see if you're betting or not."

"Do it! Monitor me!"

GaYeong bowed to JiHan and looked deeply moved. "Mr. Sung, the Miss has come to her senses thanks to you."

"Thanks to me…? Why?"

"You… Shut up," HaYeon said. "Don't say anything else."

"Fufu. Okay," GaYeong teased. If you end up quitting, I'll tell him about when you reformed later."

"Ah, it isn't that!" HaYeon exclaimed.

JiHan tilted his head while listening to their conversation. 'What does her quitting gambling have to do with me?'

Still, he was skeptical about whether 'Zero', HaYeon, could quit gambling. 'Zero quitting gambling… If she comes to her senses at least for a while, she won't spread bad habits to Sae-ah.'

It was okay as long as she didn't pull Sae-ah into it.

Next, he thought of Japan. 'Since HaYeon decided to stay, I can prepare something for use against Shizuru.'

It was time for him to use a certain something he hadn't been able to utilize with confidence yet.

"HaYeon…" he said.

"Yes?"

"Should we stream?"

It was time for him to use his secret weapon.