Deal

[Dedicated to lolbingolol]

---

Baek Yisoo was surprised that there was so much difference between the two. Yong-mi was a beautiful woman with bright pink lips and an elegant little nose. She could be considered one of the most beautiful of the maids. Baek Yisoo was surprised that she was interested in him.

"What are you waiting for?"

Yu Minji sternly kicked Baek Yisoo out of here. She was stern and rude, as if she was uncomfortable with him being here.

Baek Yisoo frowned, and was about to reply when Yong-mi gently put her hand on the young woman's shoulder. "Calm down, Minji. Isn't your mom sick? How about letting me take care of this?"

"..."

This sudden proposal from Yong-mi surprised both the young woman and Baek Yisoo. He didn't have the slightest intimacy with this woman. Why would she volunteer to do his dirty laundry? What was her purpose?

Minji stared blankly for a while, then shook her head with a strange expression. Then she staggered out of the laundromat as if her soul had been sucked out of her. Before she left, she turned her head and looked at Yong-mi and Baek Yisoo a few times.

Bang!

Yong-mi closed the door with a swift movement and gave Baek Yisoo a furtive glance while taking deep breaths. The shy looks from a beautiful woman made Baek Yisoo's blood boil. She was a little embarrassed and excited.

'What is this? Is it that mystical event?! Oh my gosh, so early?'

A thousand and one thoughts ran through his head. 

Yong-mi tried to calm herself, "You said you were in guard training, right?"

"Yes!" Baek Yisoo answered excitedly. His heart was beating so hard he almost had a heart attack.

"Then you know Sung-hoon too!"

Crack!

Baek Yisoo heard the sound of something breaking into pieces. It was not the sound of a door or a bone or anything else, but the sound of his hopes being shattered.

'My dreams! Give me back! Give me back my dreams!'

Yong-mi's words had the effect of cold water and made Baek Yisoo open his eyes. Shaking himself off, he returned to the world. He was under the delusion that Yong-mi would like him.

"Yes, I know him. He's friend like of mine..."

"Nice!"

Baek Yisoo realized where the conversation was going.

"What do you want?"

"Heh? What can I ask you for? What can you give me?"

Baek Yisoo leaned against the wall and looked at Yong-mi with a knowing expression. He knew what Yong-mi wanted to talk to him about. But he continued to pretend he didn't know.

"You like Minji, don't you?" Chang Yong-mi asked, a look of contempt on her face. Her previous shyness was gone.

"Is that a problem?"

"I admire your courage. Minji may have misinterpreted your behavior because she's an emotionless idiot who doesn't understand love, but someone as experienced as me can see right through it."

"And?"

"You're very daring."

"What do you mean?"

Yong-mi looked him up and down.

"I mean you're very direct. You're very confident. The materials you have are... how should I put it? A little lacking. But that's not a problem!"

"..."

"Don't look so blank, don't you understand what I mean?"

Baek Yisoo replied with a sigh, "You want to make a deal?"

"Yes! There's no way to pick up Minji with that look. She's extremely picky about looks! She hasn't liked anyone so far. Do you know what that means?"

"Are you saying I can't do anything without your help?"

"At least you seem to have some intelligence. That's a good thing. That's a point for you. That's exactly what I mean. How can a guy like you who's never been touched by a woman pick up a woman? Be realistic."

Baek Yisoo took no offense to that. He knew she was telling the truth and agreed with her. "What do you want in return?"

"I want you to help me with Sung-hoon."

"Hm..."

Baek Yisoo pretended to think, but his answer was already clear.

"Okay, we will help each other for a week. But you have to do what I say. You will act and behave the way I say. I give you Sung-hoon and you give me Minji... Got it?"

"A week?" Yong-mi's eyes opened wide, "Isn't a week too short to get to know someone?"

"What's the matter? Don't you trust yourself?"

Baek Yisoo smiled.

He was not in love with Minji. It was true that she turned him on, but that didn't mean he wanted to marry her, nor did it mean he wanted to be her lover. After completing that mission, he would arrive quietly and continue to focus on his life.

So a week should have been enough.

Yong-mi became serious, "I'm confident but..."

"Don't get so fucking serious. It's a win-win situation. You give me advice and I give you advice. For now, just make sure the situation is what I say it is."

"What do you mean?"

"I want you to talk about me when you're with Minji, talk about how I'm different from before. It doesn't matter what you talk about, but you can't badmouth me. And I'll tell Sung-hoon about your existence."

The biggest obstacle was his past. His past actions had created a wall of defense, a prejudice in Minji. He had to break it as a first move. After that, Minji would be open to attack and could move forward as he pleased.

"Okay, I can do that."

Baek Yisoo nodded his head in agreement.

"Now tell me about the places Minji often visits."

---

Surviving' rules on the battlefield is very simple! 

First rule;

All movementsbe engraved in one's subconscious and used according to one's instincts.

Second rule;

Know enough about the enemy.

Everyone thinks that it is enough to train until drain. But you can't improve like that! The sweat you don't shed here will be blood on the battlefield! Remember, you won't have time to think on the battlefield.

Baek Yisoo continued his training while thinking about what Instructor Mo had said. He had come in the morning when no one was around and finished his physical training. But that was not enough for him. Instructor Mo's words were still in his mind. He had to train until he couldn't move again, crawl out of here if necessary.

He had started life at a lower level than the others. Thanks to the Seduction System, he had gotten rid of the thoughts that limited him. Now it was time to put his thoughts into practice and become a respected figure in the world.

He could not achieve this immediately. He was aware of that. Since he was weaker than others, he had to work harder than anyone else.

"Hm? Have you already started?"

When Sung-hoon and the other candidates arrived at the training ground, he saw that Baek Yisoo had already started practicing.

"He's newbie? Kehkehkeh!"

"How are you feeling, new kid?"

Baek Yisoo ignored none of them and went into static stretching. He decided to give his body a little rest before moving on to the next set. At this time, he took out the bamboo tablet he had asked Sung-Hoon for earlier and went under the tree at the other end of the training ground. This bamboo tablet contained half of the 3000 basic characters.

Very few could read and write. Only 1% of the guards could read and write. In all of Murim it was limited to the top 10%. Knowing how to read and write was a skill that would put him a few steps ahead, so he had to acquire it.

Sung-hoon came from a middle-class family, so he had studied at the surrounding academies when he was young. That's why he knew 3,000 basic characters. His goal was to memorize all three thousand characters within a month. He knew it was a very difficult goal, as his time outside of training was limited. But because this goal was difficult, it was something he had to achieve.

After writing the first ten characters on the sand with a twig, he memorized them carefully. He had no money for brushes and parchment. That's why he couldn't practice calligraphy.

After he had the ten characters in his head, he stood up again. Instructor Mo had already arrived at the training ground. He was supervising the training of the guard trainees and correcting their mistakes. The cadets moved together with wooden spears in their hands. Sometimes they opened up like a flower, thrusting their spears forward.

Sometimes they took off the wooden shields on their backs and formed a formation.

They were guards, not warriors. Their main purpose was to protect someone. That's why defense was more important to the guards than attack.

Baek Yisoo started training again.