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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: TushChen
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I took them as my subordinates and taught them well, but they backstabbed me.
Ah, that’s fine.
After all, even if we’re both outcasts, it’s every man for himself, and I indeed made good use of them while I was with them.
Well, to be honest, it’s not like I had genuine affection for those friends.
They were just friends from whom I could extract a hefty training fee, but before I could settle their training fee, Yu Sa-Yeon intercepted it and sold them out.
And then she thoroughly washed her hands off me, an act that genuinely lacked business ethics.
“So I’m asking you to…”
“I won’t do it.”
The reason I had kept my mouth shut until now after suffering such a thing was not because I was a pushover.
It’s because it was advantageous for me.
Is there a more influential cause in the world than being a victim?
A substantial cause comes in very handy to make up for lacking strength.
I had saved it as a card to refuse when Yu Sa-Yeon tried to force me to work like this.
I was already a victim who had been harmed twice due to the comrade-in-arms issue.
And yet she’s trying to forcefully assign me a comrade-in-arms again?
Yu Sa-Yeon is the superior, so she can do that.
However, if the fact that Yu Sa-Yeon had betrayed my comrade-in-arms friends twice is revealed, Yu Sa-Yeon would also be in a challenging position.
Yu Sa-Yeon’s eyebrows shot up.
“Hey, Hocheon An. I’m asking you a favor, okay? Why are you bringing up something from years ago, you stingy bastard? I’ll compensate you for that with money.”
“No way.”
Basically, it’s standard to handle requests through intermediaries.
However, it wasn’t like there weren’t significant cases that Yu Sa-Yeon directly asked for, like now, for the sake of the order of Sacheon outcasts.
Every time that happened, I had fierce negotiation battles with Yu Sa-Yeon.
The fact that Yu Sa-Yeon is speaking in such a familiar tone is not a display of internal intimacy like ‘Aren’t we close?’
She’s just going berserk.
“No, seriously! This is absolutely not a bad deal for you either.”
I shook my head firmly.
Now she’s glaring at me and saying,
“You have no right to refuse this case. I’ll really pay you well, so keep that in mind.”
I stared at Yu Sa-Yeon for a moment.
Although Yu Sa-Yeon was good at abusing her power, at least she didn’t resort to force.
Rather than forcing things outright, she deceived and embezzled behind the scenes.
Come to think of it, she’s even more vicious.
Yeah, I’ve never had a proper confrontation with the inn owner.
I need to establish authority properly today. I inhaled as deeply as I could and shouted,
“No fucking waaaaaay!!!”
Silence.
Complete silence fell upon the Outcast Inn.
Everyone, whether intermediaries or outcasts, turned their gazes towards us.
Yu Sa-Yeon looked at me with a cold gaze, trembling as if she hadn’t expected such an action.
“Yu Sa-Yeon, have you ever thought about why I insist on advance payment?”
“…No.”
“Yeah. Of course not. The reason I make advance payments is to avoid receiving shitty requests like this. If I start worrying about tomorrow’s accommodation fee, my hand might reach out for requests I shouldn’t take. It’s not like I haven’t seen guys dying like that once or twice.”
A person’s situation and environment influence their judgment.
The tougher my situation, the narrower my perspective becomes, and I start thinking short-term.
The discount is just an additional thing.
The act of advance payment is a means to preserve my judgment in choosing where to lie.
Yu Sa-Yeon’s ultimate goal is to make me accept a comrade-in-arms.
I am still determining what benefit it will provide Yu Sa-Yeon, but pushing it this far will cause problems.
I don’t know, but it can’t be some ordinary case for Yu Sa-Yeon to push it this hard.
Receiving kickbacks from factions needing Sacheon outcasts, ripping them off with crazy rip-off fees because the outcasts make good money, and gathering information on outcasts occasionally to make money.
I don’t know well, but the profit must be tremendous, no less than Youngsang Pavilion, right?
Even if the scale is small, the net profit is enormous.
And from Yu Sa-Yeon’s perspective, I’m probably a golden goose that lays eggs, ranking within the top 10.
I needed gambling funds, so I even successfully completed complex and extensive cases that others wouldn’t do.
I was a pretty goose who naturally made money for her if she left me alone.
But how big of a case is it that she’s so desperate to rip open that goose’s belly like this?
I’ll repeat it, Yu Sa-Yeon knows me, and I know Yu Sa-Yeon.
Yu Sa-Yeon pushed me like this without telling me anything because she judged there was no chance of persuading me if she spoke honestly.
She must have judged that I would foam at the mouth and go crazy if I heard the details of the comrade-in-arms request.
That’s why she’s doing this.
So, I also have to show the utmost firmness I can and refuse.
“I’ll say it again. I. Absolutely. Will not. Take. This. Request.”
Now, there’s no turning back.
All the outcasts on the first floor heard this declaration.
If Yu Sa-Yeon comes out strong here, we will engage in a game of chicken until one of us dies.
Can I handle that?
Of course, I can’t.
But Yu Sa-Yeon is the same.
“Hocheon An, you’ll regret it.”
“Yeah~ the one regretting right now is the inn owner.”
A few outcasts skillfully burst into laughter using ventriloquism.
Wow, hiding and laughing with ventriloquism is so Sacheon outcast-like.
Risk management is ingrained in their bones.
Although Yu Sa-Yeon glared around, it would be difficult to single out a specific person.
How she bit her lip, as if she felt humiliated, was quite satisfying.
I handed over the money pouch again and said,
“Let’s get along nicely. Have you been running a business for only a day or two? I can turn a blind eye to you ripping me off to a reasonable extent, but if you tell me to risk my life, anyone would go crazy.”
Yu Sa-Yeon slapped my money pouch away.
“From now on, I won’t accept advance payments from you!”
“Oh my, do as you please.”
I decided to ignore this matter.
Although it’s not that I’m not disappointed since I have maintained a good relationship with Yu Sa-Yeon in various ways, if I miss the timing to cut my losses because I’m attached to the sunk cost, the only thing waiting for me is the Han River.
My danger detection sensor rang as fiercely as when the enemy top laner was pushing with minions in front, the jungle was pulling the Rift Herald in the back, and the enemy support was coming in with a grab.
I went up to the second floor without hesitation.
Although someone’s murderous gaze pierced the back of my head, I thoroughly ignored it.
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I underestimated the situation.
In the morning, I stretched and had a rate of noodles when someone sat before me.
Although she wore a spacious martial arts uniform, her chest was perky, and her waist was slender, a beauty.
She was wearing a veil, no, a mask, so I couldn’t see her face.
Still, based on the exposed facial features, my brain’s judging panel was frantically pressing the green light for a peerless beauty.
She seemed like a woman who had the power to turn passing women into beggars and the ability to elevate even rags into fashion.
The problem was that such a woman was wearing a black hat.
Before being the owner of such a body, if she were a female Sacheon outcast, there was no way I wouldn’t have heard even a shred of rumor about her, so this woman was almost certainly a newbie.
With Yu Sa-Yeon, who was forcing things yesterday, coming to mind, the conclusion naturally came out that she had tried to assign this woman to me.
So is she trying to just push her in and see what happens?
“Oh~ Brother Ho, you’re popular.”
“As expected, the enlightenment pouch has made it big!”
“Ah, don’t talk to me today, you’ll ruin my mood.”
The surrounding outcasts started teasing and chuckling.
These outcasts, thirsty for gossip, would surely know about the duel between the second-rate warrior and the inn owner.
I could feel the gazes of the outcasts looking at me and the masked woman with fascination.
The only fortunate thing was that the Hocheon An enlightenment pouch theory temporarily subsided due to the news of this stimulating duel.
Superstitions and sensational rumors are always like that; when a new wind blows, the existing ones quickly disappear.
For now, the top priority was dealing with this masked woman before me.
Isn’t she a beauty who seems like her fame would skyrocket just by sticking next to me and breathing, even if she does nothing?
I was already anxious to die because of my fame, which had skyrocketed these days due to Yeo Il-ye.
It was as good as a death reservation if I became this woman’s comrade-in-arms amid that.
Thoroughly ignoring her, I slowly finished my noodles and approached where the intermediaries had set up their spots, as always.
That woman also quietly got up and followed me.
But the treatment from these bastards is entirely different from usual.
I, Hocheon An.
A man whom any intermediary wants to work with.
Although my realm is second-rate, I’m first-rate as an outcast.
After all, intermediaries don’t care whether the blade is sharp or dull; as long as the request is handled correctly, that’s all that matters.
My request-handling ability has been sufficiently proven to the intermediaries over the past 7 years.
Usually, the intermediaries would stick to me and ask me to do this and that, and I would pick the best request among them, but…
Especially these days, with the rumor that I’m a hidden old master concealing my identity, my request notoriety should be terrifying.
But the intermediaries are just exchanging glances with each other?
They exchanged looks for a while, and the usually unpleasant fatty seemed to have decided to take the lead, clearing his throat.
“Ahem, ahem. Hocheon An, how about you take care of the hooligans on Gyeongmun Street today? It seems like two people will be needed… The female hero behind you seems suitable!”
Ah, I see.
You will make it a fait accompli regardless of my will, right?
That mysterious masked woman will follow me, and the intermediaries will unconditionally give us requests as a pair.
If it’s like this, it’s practically the same as being comrades-in-arms, right?
Is this how it is?
“I won’t take the request.”
“No, you. That, well… I understand how you feel, but you still need to eat to live…”
“Ha. What’s the point of me getting angry? From today on, I’ll live as a jobless bum who doesn’t take requests, so everyone should know that and not bring me requests.”
I flopped down on the spot.
And then I pulled down my black hat and closed my eyes.
You uncivilized Central Plains bastards don’t know what a strike is.
Let’s see how it tastes.
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Strike Day 1: As I was lying around at the entrance of the first floor, Yu Sa-Yeon appeared and claimed I was blocking the way, so I lay down on a table to avoid blocking the way. Yu Sa-Yeon was at a loss for words and fumed.
Strike Day 2: I piled up martial arts novels in the yard and started reading them while loafing around.
The masked woman seemed inwardly flustered but kept her spot without mainly opening her mouth.
Yu Sa-Yeon’s eyes were sparking with fury, and I thought she might be able to kill me, but there must be a reason why she wanted me this much, so she probably wouldn’t kill me.
Just in case she lost her mind, I held up Yeo Il-ye’s gratitude plaque and waved it, and the sight of her grinding her teeth was refreshing.
Strike Day 3: I gulped down a cup of alcohol in the morning and took a sweet nap. Is this a vacation?
I had been busy running around, saying I was making requests, but playing and eating like this is not bad.
Sleeping during the day and sleeping at night.
Strike Day 4: The intermediaries clung to my pants, begging me to do some work.
So I just took off my pants and went up to my room.
Strike Day 5: I was slurping down a bowl of noodles that had only a quarter of the usual contents, a petty move, when the masked woman opened her mouth:
“How long are you going to keep this up?”
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Strikes work!
Man really took his pants off.