Chapter 1174: Side Story – Dokyung Group (4)

“Prove your abilities by restoring my awakened ability. Settling the matter concerning my daughters comes after that.”

Do Kyunghee, glaring at me and meeting my eyes with a seemingly unbreakable, firm gaze.

Her gaze, still radiating authority and dignity as she looked at me, caused a strange tension to linger within the chairman’s office.

‘I never imagined she’d put something like this forward as a condition.’

The demand: restore her awakened ability to its prime.

It was tantamount to saying she intended to verify whether our guild was truly operating properly, and at the same time, secure a definite profit by restoring her own awakened ability.

If I could do it, she would realize that it meant Hope City Guild could truly advance into new industrial sectors in the future, and thus there would be no particular reason to forcibly separate me and the two of them.

If I couldn’t, she would likely conclude that Hope City Guild was operating as a scam and make them break up somehow.

“If all those many hunters you’ve brought back aren’t just a shell game, then of course you can prove your abilities to me as well, right?”

“…….”

Of course, I can prove it if I have to. There are just a few problems when it comes to proving it against her.

No matter how shamelessly I had physical relations in the process of bringing retired female hunters back to active duty, it didn’t mean I could be shameless enough for Do Kyunghee, the mother of Sihee and Do Yehee.

‘My family tree is already hopelessly tangled thanks to Hye-eun and Eunyoung Noona.’

The thought of adding one mother-daughter relationship… no, more accurately, two people, made my head spin.

Besides, Eunyoung Noona has been like an adoptive mother whom I’ve always seen since I was young, so I’m familiar with her, but I hadn’t even run into Do Kyunghee at all until about a year ago.

‘It’s at least fortunate that her appearance isn’t particularly an issue.’

After all, she was once an active S-class hunter. Like Eunyoung Noona, due to the influence of her awakened ability, she maintains her appearance from her prime almost perfectly.

While her impression and charisma showed some signs of age, the fact that her appearance itself resembled Sihee and Do Yehee, preventing any repulsion, was my only consolation for now.

“Why are you hesitating? Surely you can’t do it?”

“…No, I can do it.”

“Then prove it. That your guild is truly operating properly.”

“…….”

“If you fail to prove it… then I myself will reveal nationwide, piece by piece, that your guild is a guild tainted by fraudulent activity.”

Things are getting more complicated.

With this, the option to refuse was effectively as good as gone.

Even most major guilds would falter if a large corporation interfered, so confronting her, who was determined to ruin our guild, would lead to an obvious outcome.

Moreover, our guild’s operational methods would inevitably cause considerable chaos the moment they leaked outside. If Do Kyunghee decided to dig deep, these problematic methods would naturally surface, and if that happened, Hope City Guild would receive a verdict of irreversible ruin.

…It would be a terrible thing to do to my wives, who helped establish our guild by following me, and to the other guild members who had newly joined just as they were starting to settle in.

“I will prove it.”

“…Fine. Still, you won’t run away, I see. How much time should I give you to prepare?”

“I don’t need any. Because I can prove it even right now.”

“…What?”

“If you wish, Madam Chairman, I can restore your awakened ability to its prime even right now. Of course, I’m saying this under the condition that you cooperate willingly.”

“…….”

Do Kyunghee’s gaze, as she looked at me, deepened once more.

…I’m sorry to Sihee and Do Yehee, but this was something I had to do regardless.

⁎ ⁎ ⁎

The chairman of Dokyung Group, Do Kyunghee.

She was now feeling slightly taken aback by the attitude of the man before her.

“If you wish, Madam Chairman, I can restore your awakened ability to its prime even right now. Of course, I’m saying this under the condition that you cooperate willingly.”

“…….”

She was momentarily speechless at Sung Taekyung’s statement, spoken with a determined expression right before her eyes.

Because even though she had proposed it first, she hadn’t expected him to readily agree like this; it was an unexpected reaction.

She had expected him to hesitate a little, or perhaps say he’d consider it over time, so Sung Taekyung’s confident demeanor was outside the scope of her expectations.

‘Moreover, the way he says I have to cooperate willingly… it seems like you see me as a complete pushover.’

Sung Taekyung’s statement felt like he was provoking her.

Although there was still room for doubt, Do Kyunghee had decided to accept his offer for now.

Because if she backed down here unnecessarily, she might give that man time to prepare his ‘scam’.

He must have said that boasting like that, predicting she wouldn’t demand proof right here, right now.

Thinking thus, she accepted Sung Taekyung’s offer, pretending not to hesitate.

“If you’re that confident, go ahead and try. I’ll cooperate willingly, just as you say.”

“Thank you for understanding, Madam Chairman.”

“However, if I do as you say and the ability doesn’t return, then I’ll stake my name and shut down your guild.”

“…Yes, agreed.”

Is he bluffing? Or is he genuinely confident?

Seeing Sung Taekyung’s relaxed smile, Do Kyunghee felt a little tense.

His attitude seemed as if he had anticipated even her reaction.

And for some reason, while seeming to meet her eyes, he kept shifting his gaze intently as if reading something.

Just as she was tensing up from that strange sense of unease, Sung Taekyung began to speak about the method to regain her ‘awakened ability’.

“First, let me explain before any unnecessary misunderstandings arise.”

“The fundamental reason why a hunter’s awakened ability weakens is often attributed to physical aging, but according to facts I’ve discovered independently, it’s slightly different.”

“…Facts discovered independently, you say. That’s an expression scammers often use when they’re spinning a yarn.”

Still believing Sung Taekyung to be a scammer, Do Kyunghee unhesitatingly made accusations.

Sung Taekyung calmly continued explaining the method of restoring awakened abilities, appropriately ignoring her reaction.

“One reason why a hunter’s awakened ability declines, which I discovered, is precisely that the hunter’s ‘sexual desire’ influences it.”

“More precisely, it can be seen as ‘the resolution of satisfactory sexual desire’. It doesn’t simply mean a relationship between a man and a woman, but rather the ability can only recover if the person involved properly releases and satisfies their sexual desire.”

“I thought you were going to say something profound…”

Dumbfounded by Sung Taekyung’s words, Do Kyunghee scoffed and interrupted his explanation.

“The awakened ability returns by resolving sexual desire? You certainly speak eloquently about utter nonsense.”

“…….”

“If your words were true, then I wouldn’t have lost my awakened ability in the first place. I’ve changed husbands twice already and have two children, yet are you trying to claim my awakened ability weakened because I couldn’t resolve my sexual desire?”

“Yes.”

“…Really, you’re crossing the line after all.”

With her eyes turning cold once more, a chill bloomed from Do Kyunghee’s hand.

The magic she had gathered, intending to launch an ice spike again if he spoke any more nonsense, was ready, but Sung Taekyung, still unfazed, calmly continued his explanation with a confident expression.

“Do you truly not understand? Or are you pretending not to understand?”

“…What do you mean?”

“I’m talking about Chairman Do Kyunghee’s sexual desire. Why are you leaving out the story that you’ve never been properly satisfied, even after changing husbands twice?”

“…….”

“Or are you truly unaware? If not, are you hiding your sexual proclivities because they’re too shameful to speak of to others?”

“What sexual proclivities have I hidden…”

“Usually, you hold immense power, but in bed, you desire someone who can overwhelm and dominate you.”

“…….”

“Haven’t you always harbored a desire for socially forbidden relationships in your mind? You just hide it because of your position as Chairman of Dokyung Group.”

“…Have you run out of things to say and resorted to slandering me?”

“You always harbor a desire to commit morally wrong acts in your heart. You also have a tendency to get excited by feeling helpless while being restrained, unable to resist.”

“Trying to shake me with such nonsense…”

“Because you’ve always lived hearing only polite speech, a tone that degrades you with informal language also makes your heart flutter.”

“W-wait… Why are you coming closer…”

One step, then another.

Sung Taekyung approached as if to pressure her, thrusting his face towards her.

Flustered by his actions and hesitating on how to react, Sung Taekyung’s low voice reached her ears.

“Am I wrong, Do Kyunghee?”