Lying on her wide bed, Lee Jiyu held the Griffin Leather Gloves in her hand.
A truly overwhelming Legendary-grade piece of equipment.
With trembling fingers, she slowly slipped them on and stretched her hand into the air, turning her palm this way and that to examine them.
Grip—
Just clenching her fist while wearing them gave her an immediate sense of solid reassurance.
The moment she tightened the wrist strap, they fit perfectly, as though custom-made for her hand.
Wearable level: 130.
Item performance couldn’t be judged solely by the required level, but this was clearly far beyond anything a mere level-130 item should be.
Her own level was 227—early 200s.
In fact, it hadn’t risen even by 1 since the day she first met Choi Junseok and slapped the ability-sealing cuffs on him.
Having climbed the Incheon Magic Tower from the start and steadily raised her level, purely in terms of numbers she was in no way lacking to be called S-rank.
But recently, her tower climbing had slowed dramatically.
After Choi Byeongryeol disappeared, she had avoided challenging higher floors for safety, and the guild had only assigned her safe missions.
Things like joining level-up or farming parties with new guild recruits.
As a result, her reputation within the eastern Eden Guild had gradually fallen.
She had faithfully followed the guild’s call every day, perfectly fulfilling every assigned role and schedule.
Repeating the middle floors when told to instead of pushing into the upper floors was, of course, not difficult for her.
Naturally, the time she used to spend on strategy and preparation shrank.
She suddenly had free time.
Like everyone else with spare time, she continued her own activities—running her businesses, doing promotions, appearing on broadcasts and shoots.
That was when it started.
The way people in the guild began to view her twisted little by little.
Every time she focused on celebrity and business activities instead of player duties, she could feel how they looked at her.
Overwhelming beauty, successful entrepreneur, and an overwhelmingly strong player.
But all of those careers had only been possible because she started as a player.
Even with her stunning looks, if she hadn’t modeled for her own brand, she wouldn’t have become a constant topic on social media and news.
To the members of Eden Guild, Lee Jiyu looked like someone who prioritized being a businesswoman and celebrity over player activities.
“I should just clean everything up.”
Her contractual obligation period had already ended long ago.
In other words, she could transfer to another guild any time she wanted.
The reason none of the five major guilds had officially sent her a love call was simple: they all knew each other, so there was no need to suffer strange suspicions for poaching an S-rank player.
A guild run by Function.
He would probably operate it while disguised as the mysterious S-rank player “Choi Junseok,” but that alone would be more than enough to instantly shake the balance of Korea’s five major guilds.
“Won’t a civil war suddenly break out among players?”
Each of the five major guilds had roots in player guilds that existed even before the Incheon Magic Tower appeared.
They had absorbed and merged countless player guilds as society changed, cooperated with the government to dispatch players overseas as mercenaries, and grew their wealth and influence day by day.
Thanks to the Incheon and Suseo Magic Towers, their player power and capital now surpassed even famous conglomerates.
In reality, all five major guilds were either subsidiaries or affiliates with chaebol capital injected into them.
And now the player ranked 0th—Choi Junseok—was stepping up to create his own guild.
A massive upheaval in the player world was obvious even without looking.
Sticking with Function will probably give the biggest reflexive profit.
The risk wasn’t even that high.
Because Choi Junseok was hiding his identity while operating.
Her instincts—honed through succeeding as a businesswoman and reading the flow of the board—screamed at her to bet on Choi Junseok’s guild.
“Well… more than anything, I have to repay the favor, right?”
After all, she had received an item that money literally couldn’t buy.
***
Lee Jiyu’s repayment was proven the very next day.
Even before heading to the department store, hair designers and makeup artists for Lee Nayeon and Song Hana visited the house.
Choi Junseok, who had only ever heard of celebrities going to salons, scratched his head in bewilderment as he experienced the life of the ultra-rich firsthand.
Lee Jiyu returned the black card from the Player Management Office.
“I received something yesterday, so today’s shopping is on me.”
Choi Junseok shrugged as if to say suit yourself, took the card, and turned to go to his room.
Lee Jiyu crossed her arms in displeasure and asked,
“What are you doing? Hurry up and get ready. Unnie, please turn that man into a human being too.”
The hair artist—who was combing Song Hana’s bedhead while she hugged a half-asleep Kamdori—nodded as if it were obvious.
“He needs a clean cut. Should I have brought the perm tools?”
“No need to go that far. Just tidy it up a bit.”
Choi Junseok could only blink at the bizarre conversation proceeding without his input.
“Nayeon-ssi, Hana-ssi, we’re buying clothes for you two. And a bed for your room too.”
“A bed?”
Best news he’d heard all day.
Last night he had slept in Choi Byeongryeol’s old room, roughly covering himself with spare pillows and blankets.
From Lee Nayeon’s room came a string of unique exclamations.
“Wow… how can human skin be this good?”
“There’s nothing to put on?”
“Seriously… you must be a famous foreign celebrity, right? Korean-style makeup is okay with you?”
Choi Junseok swallowed dryly at the makeup artist’s gasps coming from inside.
Gulp.
Lee Jiyu glanced at Choi Junseok and Lee Nayeon’s room with strange eyes and smiled meaningfully.
A subtle smile that made Choi Junseok shake his head as if to say misunderstanding.
“Well, we can’t let a gem like that rot beside such a dull man. Look forward to it.”
And then Lee Nayeon appeared—beautiful enough to leave even Song Hana and Lee Jiyu speechless.
“Wow…”
Lee Jiyu let out a stunned, hollow laugh.
Choi Junseok was always shocked by Lee Nayeon’s beauty, but this time it was on another level.
She looked like she could step onto a TV screen right now and completely overshadow top-tier celebrities and idols.
Just a little hair touch-up and makeup, yet it genuinely felt as if she now exuded a unique magnetism that drew every gaze in the vicinity.
“This is insane.”
Lee Jiyu looked ready to drag her straight to another photoshoot.
“We only touched her up lightly.”
But the base material was so perfect it was practically a masterpiece.
It took over an hour just for the four of them to get ready to go out.
“My car is a two-seater.”
“Should I summon them when we arrive?”
“Are you crazy?”
At Lee Jiyu’s blunt remark, Choi Junseok clicked his tongue.
“You have a driver’s license, right?”
He did.
He had practiced plenty and even worked part-time as a designated driver before his father sold the car.
When Choi Junseok nodded, Lee Jiyu handed him a key with a satisfied look.
It had a familiar raging-bull emblem.
“There should be gas. You and Nayeon-ssi come together.”
She smacked his back with a sly grin, linked arms with Song Hana, and walked off.
“Hana-ssi is coming with me, okay?”
“Yay!”
The entire drive, Choi Junseok felt an unusually tense atmosphere from Lee Nayeon sitting in the passenger seat.
“If living with Lee Jiyu is uncomfortable, tell me anytime.”
“No. Actually, it’s better. We get all kinds of consideration and convenience when living with Jiyu-ssi.”
They must have had countless small inconveniences living with him without realizing it.
He wasn’t a lifelong bachelor, but there were discomforts stemming from biological differences that couldn’t all be solved by intuition alone.
“Please take care of me from now on too.”
“Likewise.”
Choi Junseok silently pressed the accelerator.
Lee Nayeon kept stealing glances at him.
***
The department store felt eerily empty of people.
It was like stepping into a dreamlike department store—aside from the minimum staff, almost no one was walking around.
Every single person had dedicated VIP attendants following behind them.
The same went for Choi Junseok and Lee Jiyu’s group.
They only had to mention a brand or item, and it was brought to them immediately.
“Shopping without taking a single step… this is disorienting.”
Exactly.
Unlike normal department store shopping where you go looking for items, the items came looking for them.
Models even came out wearing the clothes like it was a runway show.
Lee Jiyu dismissed all the models and declared,
“Today we’re completely dressing these three from head to toe.”
At VVIP Lee Jiyu’s declaration of I’m spending money today, the trailing department store staff became even busier.
Choi Junseok witnessed a scene he had only seen in dramas.
“I’ll buy everything that person just brought.”
“Uh.”
“…We don’t need this much?!”
“The more the better.”
When Song Hana was asked what she wanted and answered “dolls,” Lee Jiyu pointed at the entire pile.
The same line was repeated for bags and shoes.
“How much money are you planning to spend?”
“Even like this, it’s not much. It’s fine.”
“…?”
Not much?
Each item cost tens of millions of won.
Choi Junseok truly felt like he was peeking into a world only they lived in.
Every time Lee Nayeon and Song Hana came out in new outfits, he was forced to try something on too.
He refused everything extravagant and only got comfortable daily clothes and a few suits.
Sizes were already measured and provided perfectly tailored.
Even just glancing at the price tags while changing made him wonder if this was really okay.
“Don’t feel burdened. Everything here is cheaper than the equipment you received.”
“…Even so, won’t the total still be more expensive?”
“It won’t even reach hundreds of billions.”
“I’m grateful, but…”
Lee Nayeon reacted indifferently to every outfit Song Hana and Lee Jiyu called pretty.
“There is no combat advantage.”
Typical of her.
Lee Jiyu shook her head.
“No. If you wear things like that, no one would dare lay a hand on you.”
She was right.
In an off-shoulder dress that emphasized her figure, she made even Choi Junseok’s heart race just watching, and the staff standing behind let out involuntary gasps of “Wow…”
But Lee Nayeon’s response remained consistent.
“My opponents are monsters, not people. Jiyu-ssi’s brand clothes are far more practical and fit me better.”
The moment Lee Nayeon changed into comfortable daily wear—leggings and a gray hoodie—and stepped into the hallway to stretch,
a VVIP man walking down the corridor froze the instant he spotted her.
Even in simple leggings and a hoodie, Lee Nayeon’s beauty shone regardless of the clothes.
“Find out who that woman is. Right now.”
The eldest son of the Phoenix Guild’s guild master, Jo Insu, ordered the two bodyguards behind him.
They immediately started walking toward Lee Nayeon.
Premium Chapter
Login to buy access to this Chapter.