Chapter 84 084

Friend Request. Lv. 190 Robert

Seojin knew that was real Robert the moment he saw the system message as his affiliations were written right beneath it.

<Guildmaster of Ironblood Knights.>

<Union master of Ironblood Union.>

'So, he's not using cheap tricks here.'

That was what Seojin intended, but he hadn't expected him to send a friend request so directly through his main account.

Friend Added.

-Seojin?

Robert didn't waste a single second. Seojin answered with a big smile on his face.

"I'm Seojin. Finally, I'm talking to you directly."

-I hate wasting time. We'll write the articles, so just sign it and come to the headquarters.

"I won't sign up before I meet you."

-And your reasoning for that is?

"My principles."

-You can tell if someone's a crook when they only speak of vague values instead of concrete reasons. You seem to be talking a lot.

Robert's tone was extremely calm in contrast to the thing he was talking about. Seojin was satisfied that he wasn't as much of a pushover as Henrite.

"I'm either a crook or a talented individual with firm standards. I proved my abilities and I haven't even shown you everything yet."

-You'd be right… if this wasn't a game.

"It's even harder to find someone like me in a game. Isn't that why you're so being patient with me?"

-You really do talk a lot.

"I can talk all day to stay true to my values."

Robert remained silent for a moment. Henrite was rolling his eyes, oblivious to what was going on. Robert spoke up around three beats later.

-Fix that habit then. In a group, prioritizing your own values will not be helpful.

"Well, that was unexpected. Were you trying to tame me? I didn't take you to be that kind of man."

-What do you mean?

"I was asking if you were going to conform me to fit into Ironblood."

-I still don't understand

"In fact, I don't even like your terms. From what I looked into you, you really don't offer pranks like this like it's legit."

-Which part of it don't like?

"You're trying to break my legs and wings, judging by the terms of this. I don't want an honorary position. Make me the guildmaster of one of your guilds and give me authority to recruit whoever I want. Then I'll bring you results the as I please."

Robert burst out into laughter; it was so loud that Seojin frowned for a second.

-Seojin.

"Yes, union master."

-You're really interesting. You're not going to "work" for us, are you?

Only then did Seojin smile as well, finding that Robert was meeting his expectations. He grasped exactly who Seojin was by their conversation so far.

"No, I still want to enjoy the game. Well, I'll tend to favor you guys when I have the choice, and let you know when I see something juicy midway."

-What if Ironblood happens to ruin your fun?

"I'll regret it, but isn't that the reason you want me to sign here?"

Seojin waved the paper that Henrite gave him earlier.

"I just want a few more terms and that's it. I think I proved my worth."

-I heard everything you did was intentional. But I have to wonder why. It's not like you can't get what Ironblood are offering you by yourself.

"Sure, I can make my own guild with a few words. The problem is…" Seojin said sincerely, "…it's bothersome. I just want to enjoy this world. I don't want to join Ironblood for material gain, but because you guys can do all the annoying little things for me."

-You're treating me like your personal manager.

"More like the CEO of an agency. The ones you assign to me will be my managers."

Robert laughed again before replying with a speck of interest.

-One last thing.

"Go ahead."

-You knew that Henrite was after you, right?

"Of course, I knew it. I knew they'd jump into action as soon as I changed my appearance, along with what they had prepared too. I was caught on purpose."

"Hey!"

Seojin didn't even flick his eyes toward an angry-looking Henrite as Robert was the top priority.

-I knew it. You said that you wanted to see me with your eyes, right?

Seojin felt his body tense up but hid it well underneath his poker face.

"I insist."

-You've also made me want to see you. I'm curious about what kind of face you're making right now. Hold on.

Seojin moved his hand subtly as soon as he heard those words, over to where he could message his friends. This moment was the sole reason he had endured the boring conversation.

'Come on. Come on. Let's end this already.'

He maintained his calm and concealed impatience, and after a while of uncomfortable silence with Henrite…

Seojin heard a strange, faint noise that he would have missed if he hadn't stayed focused.

-Bunny, right now.

At that moment, he sent messages to Bunny and Flappy.

-Flappy, now.

Flappy sent him the message immediately.

You're not in the lord's mansion! It's the underground of the red-roofed house in 8소 district. The red roof!

'Not the mansion?'

Seojin was dazed for a moment as he sensed a crisis, but his hands were already on autopilot.

Bun, change of place. District 8, red roof house underground, I ca—

SYSTEM - Inaccessible

He managed to send out the messages. It was only about two or three seconds. However, the habits ingrained into Seojin's body allowed him to transmit the information he had received from Flappy to BunnyRabbit.

'Damn, wasn't this underneath the Lord's castle?'

The sound made Seojin's blood run cold because that meant his plan was almost on the verge of being ruined immediately.

However, now…

"Hello."

"You look happy. People make that face when they've achieved something they wanted."

It was a solved problem and there was no reason to think about it.

"I did. God knows how much I've been looking forward to this moment."

The isolation was lifted as another man entered, which meant that the secrets had begun to pour out.

* * *

Robert was intrigued.

He had teleported the long distance with the help of a wizard accompanying him and had unlocked the multiple locks to enter the room.

There were two people inside, one competent and the other one incompetent.

He made a trusting gesture to the incompetent one and looked at the talented one, who had made him come all the way here.

"You look happy. People make that face when they've achieved something they wanted."

"I did. God knows how much I've been looking forward to this moment."

That didn't seem to be a lie, at least according to what he could see. Seojin genuinely looked refreshed.

"Are you satisfied?"

"Greatly. You know, eyes can tell what kind of person one is."

"I see you're the type who does what he feels like."

"And I see you're the type who's used to treating people like tools. I can tell how much you looked out for me."

Robert laughed once again. Only Henrite, the incompetent one, freaked out and glared at him. With that, Seojin spoke calmly.

"Is this the direction you wanted Ironblood to go from the beginning?"

"What do you mean?"

Seojin glanced at Henrite and Robert complied with his request.

"Stay outside."

"B-but…"

"Seojin won't join us. We should protect the secrets of our collaborators."

"…Oh, okay!"

Henrite left the room with a slightly brighter face because he didn't know what kind of conversation Seojin and Robert were going to have. Perhaps he believed that Robert was not going to let Seojin in.

"What an incompetent member."

"Yeah, he's not worth the money I pay him."

"But he's a great role model, right? To the other incompetents."

Robert smiled meaningfully with his eyes. His neatly trimmed blonde hair shone underneath the light.

"People will think they can reach his position. Of course, he must not be the only role model. The more hope, the better."

"You really talk a lot, Seojin."

"That's why you wanted me."

"Your uniqueness cuts both ways. I'll need more terms on my contract since you might be harder to control."

"You've become talkative, too, union master. you know that?"

"Maybe because I'm worried."

"All right, so—"

Slam!

Suddenly, the door opened and Henrite stormed back in with urgency.

"Robert, there's…"

Seojin didn't miss the opportunity.

Bam! A long table fell from the sky with seats at both ends. The space was narrow and there was even another table in it, but it fell anyway. Robert frowned at the anomaly but decided to listen to Henrite first.

"What?"

"Sir, it's urgent. Well…"

"DM it."

Silence fell but Seojin could guess what they were talking about from their faces.

"I guess I caught you off-guard."

"…I can't get up. What have you done?"

"You're here to negotiate, so you gotta finish things."

Seojin jabbed at the right side of the table, where an antique wall clock was floating. The clock was indicating eleven fifty.

"I'll have to have you sit there until noon."

"That's a skill that hasn't been reported to me."

"Because I kept it secret. Pros never show all the cards up their sleeve."

"Did you log out before I came here? I'm sure that you couldn't communicate with others."

"No way."

Seojin would have been buried somewhere underground if he had tried that, and Ironblood would have solved the case and regained their influence no matter what Seojin tried in real life.

Robert nodded.

"So this was why you wanted to see me. You must have made a plan and informed the others the moment I came in."

"That's correct.

"Incredible. You're very… you attractive."

Robert clapped his hands slowly. There was a genuine look of admiration on his face, but he still acted like he had the upper hand.

"Count Drake will be deprived of his title and you'll have to make a new character. I'm generous with giving baits but I'll only give you one real chance."

Robert smiled as if he felt sorry for him.

"This is not the Lord's manor."

Seojin smiled.

"I know. We're in an ordinary house on district 8, under a house with a red roof."

Robert lost his poker face. Seojin was the only one laughing here.