Candy (4)

"What do you think?" 

The meeting room was especially quiet at the moment.

Especially after the new recruit was asked to leave. Everyone's gaze was currently focused on the two swords that rested in the middle of the table. The words of the new recruit echoed within the minds of everyone present. 

"If it's really as he said..." 

The Unit 2 leader's tone sounded unusually serious. 

"...then we should really look into this matter." 

"Are you seriously going to believe the nonsense that some new recruit spouted?" 

"But what if he's right?" 

"That... haaa." 

The Unit 1 leader sighed. 

"We don't have the luxury to check. WestBom is urging us for a response. If we don't end up answering them shortly, they'll release a massive bomb that will blow up in our faces. No, not ours, but mainly my face." 

Tap. Tap. Tap. 

Drumming his fingers over the table, the Guild Master suddenly turned his attention back toward the two swords on the table. 

"Hand me the swords." 

"Here you go, sir." 

Receiving the swords, the Guild Master felt their grips. 

"He said they're different... but how come I don't feel a thing? Heh." 

Putting the swords down, he tapped on the table once more as he commanded. 

"Have one of our swordsmasters check the sword. See if there really is a difference between the two. It's a pity that I don't use swords or I would've been able to tell..." 

Then turning his attention toward a certain figure, he asked, 

"How long until WestBom said they'll release the press conference?" 

"An hour and a half." 

"Delay it." 

"Sir...?" 

"Use whatever means you have at your disposal to delay the timing of the press conference. I trust you have the ability to accomplish this." 

"I... Understood." 

"Unit Leader 2." 

"Yes, Guild Master." 

"Contact the Competitive Intelligence Team and have them investigate WestBom thoroughly. I wanted details on their distribution channels, their top executives, and anything that could be of use. Tell them that they have two hours at most." 

"That..." 

"It's fine if they can't find anything within the next two hours. We'll proceed accordingly from there." 

"Understood." 

Under the Guild Master's orders, things started to set in motion. 

Even the leader of Unit 1 got to work. Despite the faces he was making, he followed the orders faithfully and made several calls on the spot. 

Everyone was quickly busying themselves, and this was all taken in by the Guild Master who leaned leisurely on his chair. 

Knocking on the table twice, an ambiguous smile spread on his face as he muttered a name under his breath. 

"Liam Marken." 

He nodded. 

"...Lucky, or not?" 

*** 

As if my heart was taken hostage, I struggled to stay calm as I stood outside the large door that led to the meeting room. 

What are they doing? Did they believe what I said? Even if they do, will they even bother going through the trouble of looking at things...?

Ah. 

Every second felt agonizing. 

Just what was going on inside? 

'You may leave.' 

That was all that was said to me after I laid everything out to them. The fact that there were two different swords indicated that someone purposely meddled with the matter and that it could've been the Lotus Guild since they had the biggest reason to do so. 

Not only would it directly target the group responsible for snatching their opportunity, but at the same time, it would deal a small blow to the Guild. 

"Haaaa." 

I slumped on one of the chairs outside the meeting room. 

In the end, I had done all that I could. 

Despite my nervousness, there was nothing I could do from this point on. 

The only thing I could do was hope. 

Hope that everything will turn out for the best. 

But as if the heavens hated me for some reason, not even half an hour after that thought, my phone started blowing up. 

Dr Triing—! Dr Triing—! 

"Hello?" 

—Manager! Manager! You finally answered!

Mia's panicked voice echoed from the phone speaker. 

—Something big happened manager! Something really big happened! We don't know what to do manager! 

"...Calm down for a second." 

—No, you don't understand...

"Listen to me and calm down. You won't get your point across if you keep panicking like this. Take a deep breath first, and then tell me what's going on, okay?" 

—Huah... Okay. I'm good. Yeah, I'm good. 

I heard her flustered breathing as she tried to calm down. I tried to keep my voice as calm as possible when speaking. 

If I sounded panicked then she'd start panicking all over again. 

"Alright, so tell me what's going on. Speak slowly so that I can understand." 

—A video was released. 

She started speaking. 

"A video?" 

—Yes, and it's blowing up.

"What about the video?" 

What the, what was so bad about a video that she'd start calling me all panicked like that? 

Unless... 

—I don't know how it happened, but it was leaked. Our WestBom's promotional video... It was leaked. 

As my mouth opened to respond, I found that no words were coming out of it. 

I tried again, but the same thing happened and no words came out. 

In the end, taking a deep breath, I was able to utter two words. 

"...I understand." 

—W..what do we do now? The clip is blowing up, and Sarah... Sarah... 

"Don't worry about it." 

Calm. 

I needed to be calm. 

I heard her moving fervently and then her hurried voice which slowly chocked by the end. 

—How can I not when all the comments are attacking Sarah? She's already having such a hard time that... that.... 

"I'll handle it." 

—But...

"Leave it to me. Shut your phone down for now, and don't look online. I'll have everything handled by tomorrow. Go rest up, and make sure to sleep early. By the time you wake up, you'll find that everything will be handled. Have some faith in your manager" 

—...Okay. 

Beep. I hung up the phone. 

'What a fucking mess.' 

My head throbbed as it filled with thousands of thoughts and I scrolled through the internet and checked for the video. 

It didn't take me long to find it. 

I found it effortlessly, nestled at the very bottom of the trending page of Star Board—the biggest Star Chaser news outlet—gradually climbing the ranks with each passing hour.

[Breaking] — A massive deal brought down by a mistake from a newbie? The fury of a Tier 4 Star Chaser. 

Besides the title, there was only a brief introduction to the matter. There was also the dreaded video that Mia had been talking about. 

"..." 

The faces were blurred, but everything else wasn't. From the girls defeating the few monsters effortlessly, to Sarah's 'blunder' toward the end. There was nothing missing. It was all there. 

A rookie's error had the unintended consequence of straining the relationship between two colossal corporations, consequently implicating a renowned Tier 4 Star Chaser in the process.

In the video linked above, you can witness the accident caused by the newcomer, who, according to sources, had been in training for just three years and had never attended an academy.

As of now, this is the extent of the information we've been able to collect. We do have a statement from the person who leaked the information, and they said, "I recall one of the girls attributing the mistake to the sword during the shoot, even though there were at least ten identical swords provided to them. Honestly, I don't believe she had the skill required..."

"These bastards..." 

Bastards was what they were. 

The darndest of bastards. 

To begin with, this wasn't a situation that should've blown up to this proportion. Despite the error not occurring during a live broadcast, which meant that it shouldn't have damaged the company's reputation at all, the rapid and widespread online dissemination of the incident indicated the involvement of an external party.

So yes, they were bastards. 

The darndest of bastards. Especially with how obvious they were with the title; 'The fury of a Tier 4 Star Chaser' 

﹂What's up with this? Is this for real? 

As expected, the title alone attracted a lot of viewers. 

The fame of Tier 4 Star Chasers wasn't anything to scoff at. 

﹂Who is it? Which Tier 4 are we talking about? 

﹂Aghhh, me too! I'm dying to find out. 

﹂Am I the only one impressed by the video? Beside the accident, the girls seemed rather flawless. 

﹂Even with blurry faces, we can figure it out. We know they're a girl group – four grown-ups and a kid. One's got a spear, another goes with daggers, someone's the tank, there's a swordsman, and the little one's into ice magic. Oh, and the swordsman's a newbie, just three years in, and no academy. We've got enough to ID them.

Although it wasn't exactly hard given the information presented, sometimes I wondered if private detectives were lurking on Star Board. 

In many cases, there were situations far more ambiguous than this one, yet somehow, the fans always managed to uncover all the relevant details and information, and then some. 

It was damn scary. 

﹂Got it! I found it. It looks like they're Blue Daisy from Emblem of the Sun. 

﹂Who are they? 

﹂Them...? 

﹂Aren't they the group that was riding on Darkness Overload's fame to get to Dungeon Seekers? 

﹂You're right! It really is them. 

﹂So the Tier 4 Star Chaser involved...? 

﹂It's Price! Price! 

"Haa." 

I slumped down on the sofa. 

I didn't have the heart to look at my phone any longer. 

It was quite obvious that nothing good was going to come out of the comments. Just when I thought the rain of hate the girls received after the Dungeon Seekers' announcement was bad, this came. 

What luck. 

No, was it really just bad luck? 

Could I have handled the situation better? 

Was there something that I could've done better to prevent all of this? 

When I thought about the girls, my heart plummeted. At the end of the day, I was still new to this. 

I knew I couldn't shield them properly just yet. 

But still... 

Even if just a little, I wanted to protect them. 

Just enough for them to climb up the path that I couldn't. 

Clank—! 

The door of the meeting room abruptly opened and I got on my feet as I spotted Dean coming out with the Leader of Unit 2. I also spotted the Leader of Unit 1, but he merely glanced my way once before leaving. 

He seemed strangely mild. 

Could it be...? 

"Dea—" 

"Save it for later. I already know what you're going to say." 

"...?" 

Pardon? 

You already know what I'm going to say? 

"You were going to bring up what's currently happening on Star Board, right?" 

So he really did know. 

"We've had a breakthrough." 

"Yes?" 

"You were right. After getting an expert to check, the two swords were really different. You should've seen the face that the Unit 1 Leader made... no, maybe you've already seen it." 

Eh. 

Sort of. 

"Anyways, our intelligence department also found several things. The Guild Master is currently getting in contact with the Lotus Guild." 

So? 

"If all goes well, we should be able to handle everything."

"But what about the girls and Sarah? Their reputation..." 

"Don't worry about that. The PR team is currently handling that. Just give it a day and we'll have it all sorted out, but..." 

Dean frowned, rubbing the bottom of his chin as he pondered. 

"Do me a favor." 

"Yes?" 

"In about thirty minutes, Sarah will finish her practice session. Go and pick her up. Make sure you keep her from going online. She shouldn't have seen anything yet... Just make sure she's alright." 

As expected... Sarah's reputation couldn't be mended so easily. 

The damage that the clip had caused was still not something the Guild could mend so easily. 

Fuck. 

"Don't worry too much." 

I felt Dean's hand press against my shoulder. 

"Sarah's a strong girl. She'll prove them wrong." 

He squeezed my shoulders. 

"...Have faith in her."