Chapter 146

The 'method' GaYeong had in mind the day before was to spread a dating rumor. "A scandal between the Miss and Mr. Sung should be enough."

"Hey! What are you talking about?!" HaYeon exclaimed.

"Mr. Sung, why do you think her family sent her to the Bloom Guild?"

"I'm not sure."

"They wanted her to seduce you and try to recruit you to the Twin Star Guild. Your status is too high now, though…" GaYeong pursed her lips. "The Miss is doing too well after becoming the guild master."

"Huh… Isn't it a good thing if the family does well?" JiHan asked.

"Her mother doesn't like it."

He had a guess as to why that could be the case.

'HaYeon was born from another woman, right?'

The chairman of the Twin Star Group was hospitalized for severe dementia and was no longer publicly active, but he was known for his fondness for women when he was healthy.

Though she'd been born from an affair, the chairman greatly cherished her and brought her in. According to the rumors, the chairman's legal wife welcomed and raised HaYeon as if she were her daughter, but it seemed that the truth was different.

Since she was only being matched with strange prospective husbands, he could guess that the woman didn't have as harmonious of a relationship with HaYeon as the public was led to believe.

"How can you say that, GaYeong? If you go against my mother…"

"I've become independent thanks to you, so it's okay."

"Huh? Thanks to me?"

"I earned a lot of money."

"Are you talking about betting opposite of me…?"

"Yes."

"Haa. Just how much did you earn?"

"I was able to confidently invest thanks to you. If a romance rumor between Mr. Sung and you becomes known, then not even the Twin Star Group will be able to continue forcing you to meet potential partners. You'll be able to continue your work here, and—"

"Great. Let's spread the dating rumor," JiHan said as if he didn't need to hear more.

"And… Huh? What?"

Anything that could allow HaYeon to stay in the guild would be good enough for him.

"Let's do it today. What would be the most effective way to go about it?"

"Th-then…"

* * *

Late at night in Han River Park…

"GaYeong~ Turn up the lights a bit! Good. This is enough…! Okay, both of you, sit side by side! Make it look natural!" Sae-ah, who was in charge of taking pictures and spreading the rumor, gave them orders here and there.

"Just snapping it roughly is okay," JiHan said.

"Come on~ Uncle! This is your first romantic scandal, so the photo should be nice! HaYeon should look pretty, too, right?"

She was more excited than anyone and excitedly waved her hands and continued giving instructions to set the perfect 'scene'.

"You look too stiff. Get closer together!"

"Okay." JiHan scooted closer.

HaYeon gave him an apologetic look. "I… I'm sorry. Are you really okay with a scandal breaking out?"

"It's okay. It's not like I'm a civilian celebrity. If you feel bad, just stay as the guild master for a long time."

"I'll serve the guild until the day I die!"

"That's a good attitude."

"A bit more intimate!" Sae-ah yelled. "You two still seem like strangers."

"Don't you think more physical contact is necessary? What is this? The Joseon Dynasty?"

"Uncle, at least, put your arm around her shoulder. It's a photo that implies a romantic scandal, so there should be something definitive!"

Click. Click—

Sae-ah expressed her disappointment after looking over the photos. "Hmm… The photos turned out nice, but there's still something slightly lacking. I think there should be more physical contact. Should we snap a kissing scene?"

"Why would there be a kiss scene in a fabrication?!" HaYeon exclaimed. "This is enough!"

"We have to do things properly! Let's pretend, at least. Or would you rather continue with your marriage interviews?" She pressured HaYeon's weakness.

"Ugh…"

"Let's just do it once and be done with it," JiHan said while leaning in.

"Ugh…" HaYeon backed away and blushed. "H-how could we do that?!"

"She's never engaged in such behavior in her life," GaYeong said as she controlled the lighting. "The hurdle is too high."

HaYeon glared back at her. "That's because of you! You were always monitoring potential partners!"

"You're free to date as much as you want. I'm independent now thanks to you, but I'll still strictly protect your privacy."

"Maybe I went too far," Sae-ah suddenly said in a soft voice. "Just holding hands is okay! We just have to take a photo holding hands. It's fresh and nice!"

HaYeon ground her teeth and shouted, "Ah, let's do it!"

"It's okay~"

"I'm fine! Let's do it. Right now!" She leaned toward JiHan and puckered her lips.

"Are you a duck…?" he asked.

It was a bit comical to see how much she was tensing her lips.

"Relax your lips," JiHan said. Then, he wrapped his arm around her shoulder and swept her hair back. From there, he leaned in close to her face.

'Wh-what? Why does he seem used to doing this?' HaYeon wondered.

Their lips almost touched for a brief moment.

Click! Click—!

"Oh, nice!" Sae-ah quickly finished the shoot, and then JiHan immediately leaned back out and let her go.

"Check this out. Didn't the photo turn out well?"

"Y-yes." HaYeon's face continued to flush as she looked at the photo. The photo made them clear and undoubtedly showed that they were about to kiss.

'Ugh…'

In the photo, JiHan looked calm as he leaned in, but her eyes were tightly shut and her face was red.

'It looks like I was the only one who was nervous.'

"We just have to send this to dispatch. Hehe."

"A-are you really going to send this?" HaYeon asked.

"Yes. It's going to be sensational. Are you okay with this? Once this gets out to the public, you'll be considered 'taken'."

HaYeon hesitated a bit at Sae-ah's question.

'It's better than having marriage interviews with 'those' people…'

Her family would pressure her until she married one of them if she kept things as they were. Spreading a dating rumor would be better than living the rest of her life like that.

"Mr. Sung. You're also okay, right?"

"Yes. A dating scandal? That's nothing. Just work hard."

"Alright… Let's send it!"

"Okay. Sending!"

Sae-ah sent the photos to a news agency.

As expected, chaos ensued the next day.

"I see… So that's why you spread that news," Coach YeongJun said.

"Yes. I can't let her get married off."

"It seems like I was worried for nothing." YeongJun sighed in relief when he saw that JiHan's mental state was stable. He was undoubtedly South Korea's key player, and the game against China would've been even harder if his mentality wasn't good.

"Coach, I have a question."

"Yes?"

"Could Akari play for the national team if she nationalized as a Korean citizen?"

"Hmm… It should be possible, but isn't she an Assassin?"

"Yes."

"Assassins belong to the Archer class, so there wouldn't be a spot for her. Our country's Archer positions are full. You need to be at least level 225."

"I see."

The Archer position was the most competitive one in South Korea, and Akari didn't meet the minimum requirements since she was level 211.

'Having an Assassin would open up our tactical possibilities… I should tell her to level up first.'

As he left the coach's office and thought about placing Akari into the guild to grow, YeonJu, the Archer team leader, approached him.

"JiHan, Are you okay? The news this morning…"

"I'm fine. I spread that news, after all."

"Really? Then are you actually dating?"

She looked concerned at first, but that concern turned to curiosity when she heard he was the one who released the news.

"Ah, well…"

"I see… Yuri has been in a depressed mood since she read the article this morning. She keeps mumbling to herself, 'A fan's heart doesn't waver.'"

"I did receive a text."

"What did it say?"

"Hmm…"

JiHan showed her a text message.

[Mr. Sung! Please, let me join the guild! If you ask, I'm ready to leave everything behind! It seems people grow closer when they share the same place, hehe…]

"She shouldn't say this to a taken man! Tell her she can't, please."

"I already did."

"Haa…" YeonJu sighed in relief.

While they were speaking, Dong-woo and YunGi, who were from the starting team and had returned due to the coach's decision, approached.

"I'm sorry about last time. We didn't know you had a girlfriend," one of them said.

"Yes, JiHan, we're sorry!"

YeonJu glared at them and spoke to JiHan. "I'll go ahead. I don't want to see certain people."

"Yes, see you later."

Since the coach had begged her, YeonJu hadn't stopped them from returning, but she still found them as displeasing as ever.

"What a temper…"

"We had good intentions…"

"What brings you here?" JiHan asked as he gave them a blank look.

Dong-woo subconsciously tensed up. He'd been speaking informally to him just a few moments before, but the atmosphere made him feel awkward about speaking to him in that tone.

"Haha… Now that we've returned, we should get back in sync."

"In sync, huh…?" JiHan looked at them. They were a ragtag bunch who had caused trouble by throwing a party before the game. It wasn't that he couldn't understand Coach YeongJun's thoughts, but still, he didn't want to mingle with them.

"You saw the game against Russia, right? I think that we could go with a similar strategy against China."

"Ah, then a triangle formation…"

"Yes. After that, you can do things on your own," JiHan said.

"O-okay."

"Alright." JiHan walked away.

YunGi sighed. "Phew. He seems more irritable than before. I won't be able to speak casually to him now."

"Forget it. Us being back on the national team's good enough."

"We should be careful for a while."

"Yes… Let's not call on girls anymore. We can just go out if we want a good time."

"Yes, yes. Regarding the formation… It should be the triangle one, right?"

Dong-woo nodded. "Yes. We probably won't be able to win against China anyway. If we use a triangle formation, he will take all the responsibility, so it's better."

He was certain that China would win, and others shared that thought with him. Every time the national players gathered in the strategy room to analyze the enemy's strength through videos, their sighs could always be heard around the room.

"Ahh, China…"

"It really is unbalanced."

"How can we beat them?"

China was formidable. They were the world's 2nd-strongest team, after all.

"China's team is perfect, and their Supports and Mages are among the world's best. Their only weakness could be said to be their Warriors." Coach YeongJun managed his expression while looking at the disheartened players.

He knew better than anyone that they lacked in terms of power, but it would be the end if they gave up. Instead, he tried to point out a ray of hope.

"Fortunately, the first and second games are on the South Gate Map, the same map we used against Russia. We will be in charge of attacking in the 1st round."

"But won't we be pushed back in a long-distance fight?"

"Why a long-range battle? We have JiHan. We'll somehow win the 1st game by using his… instant-kill ability.

JiHan's Iron Blood Cross showed absolute power in maps that revolved around singular points being defended.

That was all the coach could trust for the first round.

"And then the next game is…" The coach began discussing the strategies from the 2nd to the 5th rounds.

The players' expressions changed subtly as they listened to the coach's explanation.

'Isn't this a strategy that's solely focused on JiHan…?'

'It seems similar to when the Sword King was here.'

Sure enough, JiHan was the core of their strategy.

Because of his active performance against Russia, South Korea was leaning on him as their pillar.

If that was the case…

'If he falls, it's the end.'

They wouldn't be able to beat China without him.

'This might be better…'

'Just like when the Sword King was here, I should just focus on supporting him.'

With that in mind, they began preparing tactics centered around JiHan, and as time passed…

The day of the game against China arrived.