Chapter 1077: Scorched World.

“What did you say?”

A cold voice wraps around my ears. The voice, brimming with displeasure, matched perfectly with her sharp gaze, which was quite striking.

Her expression, as if she’d misheard, was laced with annoyance.

Her appearance suggested she was just past the age of candidacy, and she was adorned in silk clothes and accessories that clearly looked expensive at first glance.

Her appearance made it abundantly clear that she was the child of a wealthy family.

“What did you just say?”

Seeing such a woman, I snapped back to reality.

“Ah.”

Madam Mi.

The woman was Madam Mi, the one I knew.

The mistress of Gu Family, and the head of one of the most renowned merchant guilds in the Central Plains.

Furthermore, she was someone I still didn’t know how to deal with.

The young and beautiful woman before me was indeed her.

“……What did you just say to me?”

Hearing her words, I came to my senses. I shouldn’t have carelessly called someone who looked so young ‘Madam’.

Quickly, I tried to change the subject, speaking to Madam Mi.

“Ah, I apologize. You look a lot like someone I know.”

“……Look alike? Is that person also surnamed Mi?”

“…….”

Right? Of all things, I had to say ‘Madam Mi’.

“Yes……. It was quite a coincidence.”

At my words, Madam Mi’s eyebrows shot up.

“Hearing you say it was a coincidence, it seems you know who I am?”

“…….”

Ah, damn it all.

I’d made a slip of the tongue. I must have been quite flustered.

I knew this from seeing Namgung Jin and Moyong Tae, but it was highly possible to encounter people I knew in this world.

Even knowing that, I still panicked in this situation.

How should I salvage this? My deliberation was brief.

“……I do know. You’re quite famous, aren’t you?”

Madam Mi would be famous even in this world.

I blurted this out, anticipating that someone like her wouldn’t just have moderate fame.

“Hmph.”

Madam Mi snorted.

“Then, is it fair to assume you were mocking me, knowing who I am?”

It seemed she really was famous.

“Mocking you? I truly just mistook you for a moment.”

“I doubt there’s another woman in the Central Plains who looks like me?”

“There is. She looks almost exactly like you.”

“That’s a ridiculous excuse. Why not just say you resemble your mother? It’s a common excuse men use.”

“…….”

Hearing that, I paused for a moment.

Resembling my mother, huh. Hearing that, I pondered for a bit.

“……She does bear some resemblance.”

“Ha.”

At my answer, Madam Mi let out a bewildered laugh.

“You intend to keep playing games, don’t you? With me.”

“I apologize if I offended you. I have no such intention.”

Why would I possibly play games with Madam Mi?

“……What is your purpose in seeking me out? Miss Mi.”

As I steered the conversation towards the main topic, Madam Mi’s eyes narrowed.

Whether to keep nitpicking my words or move on to a more efficient conversation.

She seemed to be contemplating that.

“As I was trying to say initially, I came because I have a proposal.”

Madam Mi suppressed her displeasure and returned to her original point.

It was a choice that clearly reflected her personality.

“You mean you have a proposal for me?”

“That’s right. I have a proposal for you.”

“Do you… Miss Mi… know who I am?”

I asked, forcing myself to use the title that felt awkward on my tongue.

“Well. I don’t know you very well. At most, perhaps your name?”

“And yet?”

“However, I do know that Pae-jon showed interest in you.”

“…….”

Oh dear.

‘Could that be the problem?’

Pae-jon approaching me. If that became the trigger for Madam Mi to have business with me.

‘What is this?’

Even so, I couldn’t understand why she would approach me. Just as I was about to frown in confusion,

“By any chance, are you sponsored by any particular merchant guild?”

‘Ah.’

Madam Mi’s follow-up words allowed me to grasp the reason.

Sponsorship.

‘So she came to get me hooked.’

For a merchant guild to sponsor a martial artist implies, tacitly, that the martial artist belongs to the guild.

In fact, the more martial artists a guild sponsors, the greater their influence becomes.

‘It seems the Baekhwa Guild was sponsoring martial artists around this time.’

As far as I know, the Baekhwa Guild didn’t sponsor anyone separately, except for the Gu Family.

But, is it different now?

“Sponsorship…….”

“From what I know, Young Master Baek is a member of the Baek Family, but I heard you aren’t sponsored by any particular guild.”

“…….”

She already knew my name without me introducing myself.

She even seemed to have figured out my family background. How is she so fast?

‘Something I don’t even know myself?’

Since I just picked a random prominent family and claimed it, how would I know if the Baek Family had a sponsoring guild or not?

“Therefore, if you don’t have a specific place sponsoring you, our guild might be able to offer favorable terms.”

“Hmm……”

The Baekhwa Guild’s sponsorship.

I scratched my cheek awkwardly.

‘……This is getting troublesome.’

Pae-jon, and now Madam Mi. I don’t know why I keep getting entangled with people. The relationship dynamics are even similar.

Initially, I received an offer even though I was Pae-jon’s disciple.

And now I’m being offered sponsorship, which I received simply for being a member of the Gu Family bloodline.

It was undeniably a ridiculous situation.

However.

“What do you say? It wouldn’t be a bad deal for you, Young Master Baek……”

“It is a bad deal.”

Separate from that, I had to do what needed to be done.

“What did you say?”

“I said it’s a bad deal.”

I told Madam Mi, who had scrunched up her face.

“What the-“

“From what I see, you approached me because you thought I lacked experience……”

I said, scratching the back of my head, to Madam Mi.

“Still, this is a bit much.”

“What is?”

“Pae-jon wouldn’t approach me unless he knew there was something. The fact that you approached me like this right after the test ended is also suspicious.”

I narrowed my eyes.

“And judging by your attitude in delivering the message, I don’t think you brought particularly good terms.”

“…….”

As I spoke without pause, Madam Mi was silenced this time.

It was certain.

‘She’s young.’

That the woman before me wasn’t the one I knew so well.

If it were the Madam Mi I knew, she wouldn’t have approached me like this in the first place, nor would her attitude have been like this.

‘She hasn’t matured yet.’

The woman before me showed many signs of lacking in that regard.

‘Compared to Moyong Hi-ah……’

I’d say Moyong Hi-ah was the better one, almost.

“……Ha.”

Madam Mi let out a bewildered laugh.

Was her pride hurt? She looked at me with somewhat surprised eyes.

“You’re a bit different from what I expected.”

“How did you expect me to be?”

“Exactly as you just said.”

An innocent, naive, and dull person who knows nothing of the world.

She said this with a frank tone.

“I made a mistake. I apologize.”

Madam Mi wiped the expression off her face and apologized immediately. Her response was swift.

“So, would it be alright if I approached you again with a different demeanor?”

It seemed too late, but she didn’t seem to mind, blurting out something else.

“No.”

I refused.

The reason was simple.

“I am already receiving sponsorship.”

“……What?”

At the mention of already receiving sponsorship, Madam Mi frowned.

“That can’t be……”

“I don’t know what you investigated, but it’s true the Baek Family isn’t sponsored. However, that doesn’t mean I am not.”

“……!”

At my words, Madam Mi’s eyes widened.

This implied that I was receiving personal sponsorship.

“From where?”

“I don’t see any reason why I should tell you that?”

“Tsk……”

Madam Mi clicked her tongue as if she was one step too late. Then,

“……It’s strange. Why did I only get to know someone like you at this point?”

“I’m not really fond of going outside my house.”

“…….”

“Is that all? Thank you for the offer, but for these reasons, it would be difficult to join the Baekhwa Guild.”

I moved slightly, showing a bit of courtesy.

I tried to act nonchalant as I moved, but my heart was pounding inside.

‘Wow.’

What if my voice trembled? What if I stuttered?

It was a moment filled with such thoughts, but I felt I handled it well.

‘I can’t believe I actually met Madam Mi.’

I was genuinely surprised; it was almost a disaster.

‘……I need to wrap this up quickly and move.’

I didn’t want any more incidents to occur. I felt the need to handle the current task and organize my plans.

Let’s quickly finish the remaining tests. Just as I thought that,

“Hahahaha. What’s this, Miss Mi got rejected?”

Laughter echoed from a distance.

It was a shrill voice.

“See? Moving like that doesn’t accomplish anything, does it?”

I turned my gaze back towards the voice. It was the same one again.

This way of speaking… No way?

Looking at the person with wide eyes, Madam Mi also glanced at the approaching figure.

Then, she opened her mouth, her eyes filled with anger.

“……Baek Bong (White Phoenix). I’m not in the mood for your games right now.”

“Oh, really? That’s a shame? Because I feel like playing.”

The woman teasing Madam Mi with a bright smile had dark navy hair and, despite her cool impression, wore a fresh smile.

Her name was.

“Moyong Bi-yeon.”

“Oh, you know me?”

Moyong Bi-yeon of the White Lotus Sword. In my past life, she was the character who held the ‘Go-myo’ role for Moyong Hi-ah.

She certainly resembled Moyong Hi-ah in appearance.

However, the aura she carried was vastly different.

As I stared blankly at her, unable to say anything,

“Hey.”

Moyong Bi-yeon looked at me and smiled alluringly.

“What’s with those eyes? Did you fall for this big sis?”

“……What?”

“You’ve got an eye for beauty, huh? Well, I guess I am better than this icicle of a woman, right?”

“You crazy lunatic?”

Huh…? Did I hear that right? I think Madam Mi just called her a crazy bitch?

Even after hearing the insult, Moyong Bi-yeon seemed unfazed and added,

“But sorry, this big sis is already taken.”

“……No, uh.”

Thump.

I stopped mid-sentence and turned my head elsewhere.

My heart suddenly reacted.

Ssssuuuu.

My breath grew hot.

Thump-! Thump-!

I forced my pounding heart to calm down. Towards the direction Moyong Bi-yeon had come from.

I looked that way. This sensation…?

“Ah, speak of the devil. There comes my man.”

Moyong Bi-yeon waved, and someone was walking towards us from afar.

I too stared intently in that direction.

The Gu-yeom Hwa-ryun Gong kept acting up.

It might be my imagination, but it felt like heat permeated the cold air.

In the distance, a figure came into view, and even before that, red eyes were more clearly visible.

His height seemed at least half a span taller than mine, and he had a considerably large build.

The scar that should have been on the bridge of his nose was nowhere to be seen.

He looked slightly older than me. Not yet twenty, it seemed.

Slowly.

And slowly.

The young man approached us like that.

Watching the young man, I inwardly calmed my nerves.

‘……We meet this soon?’

I knew who it was just from the red eyes.

Even if not, seeing the Gu-yeom Hwa-ryun Gong going wild, I couldn’t not know.

That’s the person.

The reason I had to come to this world.

‘Father.’

The chivalrous Gu Cheol-un. No, Gu Cheol-un the Divine Dragon (神龍) made eye contact with me.