Chapter 883. Vacation (1)
“So you ended up recruiting a new guild member... How’s the new recruit?” Lee Ji-Hye asked.
“She’s kind of strange, noona. Her potential to grow stronger and her abilities aren’t bad. Ah! Her personality isn’t bad, and she’s determined... she tries her best, but... she’s kind of...” I[1] trailed off.
“Is there something kind of suspicious about her?” Lee Ji-Hye asked.
“I don’t think she realizes it yet. Anyway, I’m satisfied. She’s adapting well, too,” I answered.
“Our Mercenary Queen must’ve been really disappointed. I heard she made an offer as well,” Lee Ji-Hye said.
“...”
“So oppa. When are we going on our special date?” Lee Ji-Hye asked, standing up.
“I don’t have time,” I replied.
“If you wanted to go on a date, I’m sure you could make time. What’s wrong?” Lee Ji-Hye questioned.
“Make time? Yeah, I could take a day off like you said, as I have been working too hard over the six months, but that’s not the end of it. How am I going to explain it to Kim Hyun-Sung and to the guild members?” I asked.
“...”
“...”
“He still won’t stay away from you? How is he different from Jung Ha-Yan? I mean, I get it, but I think he likes you a little too much. That bastard...” she swore.
“He went through a lot so just let him have his fun. Don’t be too harsh on him since he’s trying to get his life back,” I told her.
“No, he’s crossing the line. I feel like all he’s been doing over this year is playing around... Shouldn't you give him work or something?” Lee Ji-Hye asked.
“...”
“I wouldn’t say anything if you were the only one taking a break. That bastard is just really frustrating. The only thing he knows how to do is spend money... Cut down on his allowance or something. Maybe that’ll help him with his mental illness,” Lee Ji-Hye suggested.
‘He’ll take out a loan if I reduce his allowance.’
Kim Hyun-Sung was never really a loafer, so his break could be considered too long at this point. I looked back on his past activities, and I understood why Lee Ji-Hye was so frustrated.
I didn’t want to scold him for enjoying his life, but his actions were affecting me as well.
“If he wants to attend a festival, why doesn’t he go by himself? Why drag you with him?” Lee Ji-Hye complained.
Actually, it was more like it was affecting her, not me.
“I won’t complain about attending a festival, but why would he hold a festival? Do you have any idea how much that messed up my schedule? He should have excluded our guild. He tempted Yeon-Joo unni to hold a bag festival.
"What the hell is a bag festival? I've never heard of a festival like that. Don’t you think it’s so random of him to do that? The more I think about it, the more ridiculous it becomes. That bastard is a psychopath. He’s crazy,” Lee Ji-Hye continued.
It felt like Lee Ji-Hye's rage had reached its peak.
“At this point, Jung Ha-Yan looks like she’s in a better state than him. At least she’s managing that mana and has been doing her best in her tasks.
"Can’t you give Kim Hyun-Sung some work to do? No, probably not. It’s not a good idea to assign him anything. Forget what I said. Don’t give him work,” Lee Ji-Hye said.
“...”
“Why do we need to clean up after his mess? I’m sure Miss Kim Mi-Young wants to kill him as well,” Lee Ji-Hye added. I was sure it wasn’t to that extent, but Miss Kim Mi-Young was definitely thinking of doing something about Kim Hyun-Sung.
“At least he got us a lot of holy power. We only managed to set next year’s budget because—”
“You better stop covering for him, or I'll flip this table,” Lee Ji-Hye threatened.
“Hyun-Sung did go a bit overboard,” I commented.
“I really am struggling. I knew managing the continent was going to be really difficult, but I’m seriously struggling here. Have I ever complained about things being difficult?
"The war against the Outer Gods was much easier than this. Things were much easier when this place was still a dungeon.
"We’re short on people, and it only got better recently because you’ve been helping us. Do you know how hard it was when we made our child? I thought I was going to go crazy for three months,” Lee Ji-Hye continued.
Lee Ji-Hye raged for a while, but she eventually sat on the table.
She probably felt burdened by the possibility that she'd finish her task late.
‘I didn’t think it would be this bad.’
I knew managing a dimension was no easy task. Taking care of a guild or nation was already hard, so I couldn’t even imagine just how difficult managing an entire dimension would be.
I thought everything was over, but the end was actually just a new beginning.
It was a signal for the next struggle.
The system had agreed that the subsidiary companies I had created would manage the dimension, but the problem was that I couldn’t expand the number of manpower.
We had the workers that Benigoa had sent over to us, but they weren’t enough to repair the hole in the dimension and maintain it.
Jung Ha-Yan was given the responsibility of the overall mana of the continent, and Hee-Ra noona was in charge of the upkeep of the other dimensions, including the void, but there were still many issues.
Only five people were authorized to access the system—me, Lee Ji-Hye, Jung Ha-Yan, Cha Hee-Ra, and Kim Hyun-Sung. Kim Hyun-Sung had no idea that he had access to the system, so he could be excluded.
Anyway, the Order of Benigoa and the four of us were taking care of everything.
Dialugia was helping me, but she couldn’t take care of all the problems that were happening everywhere.
Perhaps it was an aftermath of the dungeon miracle, but she'd experience mana burn several times a day. Problems with the program itself would sometimes pop up, such as issues with the air, water, and elemental control devices, creating a huge rift in the continent.
‘We've underestimated this undertaking.’
We were making the same typical mistakes that new companies often make.
Since Lee Ji-Hye was overlooking everything...
‘I understand why she’s going crazy.’
“This is the report I received from Goddess Benigoa and Mr. Bel. I took a look at it first, but you should take a look as well,” Lee Ji-Hye suggested.
I felt kind of bad for her.
“At this rate, I might actually die from overwork,” Lee Ji-Hye commented.
“...”
“Another issue occurred in 7A. Another mana burn. I’ll submit a repair request to Jung Ha-Yan,” she said.
[The Dimensional Management Program is initializing.]
[Access granted to the administrator of the 271st dimension—the God of Sacrifice and Revival.]
[You have four unread messages.]
[Benigoa - Lee Ki-Young! Did you read my business plan?]
[Lee Ji-Hye - Kim Hyun-Sung, that bastard...]
[Jung Ha-Yan - O-Oppa... I...]
[...]
I saw a miniature version of a vast dimension.
“Do you see something strange in the dungeon under the Vatican? It’s the Mole Saint. We need to take care of her in the next forty years. We need to pass down a divine oracle or eliminate her ourselves,” Lee Ji-Hye said.
“Yeah, I can see her,” I replied.
“Species 3,412 has eventually become extinct. Damn it. I’m going to murder the bastard who spread the rumor that it's good for stamina,” Lee Ji-Hye remarked.
‘She’s scary.’
“What’s wrong with the elemental control device? Shit! Are you serious?!” Lee Ji-Hye exclaimed.
“Ji-Hye, calm down, okay?” I told her.
“...”
“...”
“There are still many things we've yet to make a guideline for. Things will eventually fall into place one by one, and we won't have as much of a difficult time by then. Do you want us to take a break today? Why don’t you come here? Actually, let’s take a break. Lie down there, noona,” I suggested.
“You’re tempting me again,” Lee Ji-Hye said.
“What do you mean?” I questioned.
“I’ll just play dumb. Come here and let’s rest together,” Lee Ji-Hye said.
“...”
“We need to hurry up and raise Domi as soon as possible. I wonder if she can start working within the next ten years. Ah, come to think of it, have I told you? She's really smart. Did I tell you about the quest that the kids went on last time? I’m asking because I’m worried because Thronus gave me a strange report,” Lee Ji-Hye asked.
I saw Ji-Hye chattering away as I looked at her face. Compared to last year, she hadn't changed much, but she would get excited and would smile whenever she was talking about Dominions.
I knew the moment she said she wanted to take charge, but...
‘She must be enjoying living with her.’
“I don’t know how many books she has read so far,” Lee Ji-Hye said.
“Really?”
“How are the other children doing?” Lee Ji-Hye asked.
“They’re pretty much the same,” I answered.
“I’m sure Bluey is arguing with Cha Hee-Ra every day... and Seraphim...” Lee Ji-Hye trailed off.
“I just can’t force myself to show affection toward him. Well, I wasn’t planning on showing it to him in the first place...” I confessed.
“It’s amazing that you even accepted him again in the first place. Actually, that’s not true. I heard Cherubim had brought him in discreetly. In some ways, they’re like twins. Is it true that Seraphim was right beside him when Cherubim was created?” Lee Ji-Hye asked.
“Yeah,” I responded.
I was so shocked back then.
“You were going to let Jung Ha-Yan take care of Thronus at first, right? And you were just going to exclude Seraphim from the group... But... Kim Hyun-Sung took Thronus, and Jung Ha-Yan forcefully took Seraphim away.
"He’s problematic even here... Despite that, I feel like she’s neglecting him... Is he even receiving proper education?” Lee Ji-Hye questioned.
“Probably, but it seems like Sora is more directly involved with him than Ha-Yan. Ha-Yan only takes interest when it comes to practicing things using the dummy world... It looked like she’s been teaching magic to him, but the result hasn’t been that great,” I responded.
“In some ways, this is like punishment for Seraphim. I didn’t think about it much at first, but after seeing our Domi, I feel kind of bad for him,” Lee Ji-Hye said.
“Stop lying,” I said.
“I’m being honest here,” Lee Ji-Hye said.
“You’re speaking empty words again,” I said.
“I told you, I’m being serious,” she repeated.
“Really?” I questioned.
“Do you want a cup of coffee?” she offered.
“I’ll make it,” I said.
“Thank you for the drink.”
I saw Ji-Hye noona holding her cup of coffee and going back to her chair.
I was sure she was lying when she said that she was feeling bad for Seraphim, and it was evidenced by the fact that she suddenly changed the subject. If she really felt bad for him, she would have already talked to him.
Unfortunately, she had never really been the type to listen to other people’s pain.
“I wonder if Miss Kim Mi-Young was given access,” Lee Ji-Hye said.
“Probably not,” I answered.
“I know. I said it because I felt kind of bad. An error message appeared in 21B. Lauren is asking me to check it out. It must be a gate, which means some second-rate adventurers are probably going to go inside of it. The Order of Lauren has requested approval to use holy power. Please approve the request,” Lee Ji-Hye requested.
“You do it,” I told her.
“All right, all right. Oh, right. Elune... contacted me about that issue with the World Tree—” Lee Ji-Hye muttered.
“Tell him to shut up,” I interrupted.
“I already did that. Anyway, it's funny how I was so frustrated earlier, but now, I'm having fun. I think it's because I'm working with you like this,” Lee Ji-Hye said.
‘That’s because you and I are workaholics.’
We were having silly conversations while focusing on our tasks when—
[A new message has arrived.]
I didn’t really care since it wasn't my account, but Ji-Hye noona called out to me. “Oppa."
“Yeah?”
“I think things will get easier for us soon,” Lee Ji-Hye said.
“Why?” I asked.
“Mr. Bel said that he found a subcontractor,” Lee Ji-Hye replied.
“Huh?”
“They’re cheap as well. It's really great,” Lee Ji-Hye added.
‘Damn it, a subcontractor?’
“Wow! Mr. Bel scored a big one!” Lee Ji-Hye shouted.
“Has he verified their identity?” I questioned.
“They’re managers of discarded dimensions. They must’ve landed on his radar while he was looking into things. They've already signed a contract with him, and they'll join Benigoa's team once they're done with basic training,” Lee Ji-Hye answered.
“...”
“Looks like we’ll be able to go on vacation,” Lee Ji-Hye remarked.
I turned and saw Lee Ji-Hye smiling brightly.
1. Lee Ki-Young’s POV ☜