Chapter 693: Perhaps, The First Date (3)

The subjugation reward obtained while subjugating the Three-headed Basilisk, approximately 47 billion.

Of course, Hye-eun’s share was also partially included in that subjugation reward money.

As much as I was asking her to invest in my future plans, I naturally had no choice but to tell Hye-eun about my business, just like I did with Min-ah.

Hearing my Chuncheon City Guild plan, Hye-eun’s expression turned a little serious.

“…In that way, I intend to try and build a large-scale guild based in Chuncheon City, one that’s comparable to companies or unions.”

“Hmm… a large-scale guild….”

Unlike Min-ah, who had just nodded along appropriately because she didn’t know much about guild establishment at all, Hye-eun looked like she was seriously contemplating it.

It seems likely, after all, that she knows the weight of the title ‘leader’ well due to her experience leading an A-rank party for several years.

It wasn’t a bad feeling. Anyway, in the position of asking to borrow her share of the capital, Hye-eun was purely in the position of an investor, and the story I had just told her was essentially no different from a business presentation.

“Perhaps you don’t like it?”

“No, it’s not like I don’t like it or anything like that, but….”

“Huh?”

“It’s just that, the way I see it, I feel like Taekyung sometimes pushes himself too hard.”

“Pushing myself too hard?”

“…….”

As soon as I asked what she meant by ‘pushing myself too hard’, Hye-eun, with a slightly cautious expression, was observing my reaction.

And then, immediately making eye contact with me, she began to speak seriously.

“Me saying this might feel a little strange to you, Taekyung. I already made a verbal mistake to you once before.”

“It’s okay, so tell me.”

“…The Taekyung I feel these days seems to be obsessed, to a slightly excessive degree, with the idea of a world where hunters don’t die.”

“…Obsessed? With my dream?”

“Yes, I know that’s your dream, Taekyung. That’s why I haven’t said anything until now. But, to be honest, I still don’t really know whether your dream has realism or not.”

It was completely understandable that Hye-eun would say something like this.

She still hadn’t grasped the function of my ‘Summon’ ability.

Since it was a function I had only told Eunbyul about in case of a real emergency, she naturally couldn’t possibly guess I would consider this ability for operating a hunter guild.

For now, to convey that I also had my own methods, I continued explaining a bit more to Hye-eun.

“It might still sound like a dream. But I don’t think the possibility of making it a reality is completely nonexistent.”

“Of course, thinking it lacks realism is purely my personal opinion, and if it’s you, Taekyung, you might have some other method, your own way. And even if it seems reckless or somewhat immoral, I will follow your opinion until the end, but….”

“…….”

“Still, isn’t it possible to take a breather now and then and run slowly, Taekyung?”

After hearing Hye-eun’s words, I too began to seriously contemplate her advice.

Running slowly while taking breaths. To be honest, I might not have thought about it.

It seems I hadn’t realized it because I had achieved so much in the past year.

Awakening as a hunter last summer, starting hunter activities under the alias Kim Sungchul at the Union, forming relationships with various women, raising my hunter rank.

The achievements I accomplished over the past year, beyond ordinary or extraordinary and to the point where it could be considered almost unprecedented, were by no means small, so perhaps I had mistakenly thought my goal was just around the corner.

My goal of creating ‘a world where hunters don’t die by monsters’ wasn’t exactly a dream with a time limit.

A distant future dream, enough to be satisfied if I could confirm with my own eyes the possibility that such a future could be created, even if I died.

Moreover, aside from not forgetting that dream I’d had since childhood, the fact that something more precious than that dream had appeared was also an undeniable fact.

In fact, in a corner of my heart, I might have been turning away without realizing it.

If, according to my plan, I were to create a system that safely brings back alive hunters belonging to my guild using ‘Forced Summon’.

Even after creating the guild in that manner, would I continue to give everyone the same love as now?

In sharing love and spending time together, the lack of absolute time is secondary, but first, the possibility of my own emotions not being fully conveyed to them-I might have been turning away due to my obsession with the dream without realizing it.

Among the women I have embraced so far, the ones I embraced without feeling particular love were only two people: Cheon Jihee and Do Yehee.

In Cheon Jihee’s case, I judged that embracing her would also help Hye-eun, so I made that decision; in Do Yehee’s case, to condemn her who had been tormenting Sihee, I committed rape.

Somehow things worked out well, and now both of them feel a certain degree of affection towards me, and I too have been changing my feelings towards them in the best possible direction, but…

It was difficult to easily assume that such miraculous events would continue in the future.

Besides, even if the purpose is saving lives, having ‘sexual contact’ with a woman I don’t even know well to use my ability was also an act that went against my beliefs.

It wasn’t simply a matter of erasing the other person’s memory in Belle’s dungeon or not.

The moment I committed such an act even once, the words of love I had whispered to other women until now felt like they would all become lies.

Of course, I hadn’t explained the ‘Awakening Ability-Utilizing Survival Guild’ plan to Hye-eun, so what she said was likely just concern about the process towards the dream of me building a ‘large guild’.

There was also the possibility she saw that if, even after creating the guild, my dream couldn’t be achieved, or if I couldn’t be satisfied with it and escalated things further.

Seeing my slightly serious expression, Hye-eun, who had been gauging my reaction, cautiously asked again.

“If it’s difficult to give up on founding the guild… how about starting with a small guild at first, doing it little by little?”

“…Little by little?”

“It’s not like companies or foundations, so there’s no need to scale up to the top 3 guilds. Like small guilds in the provinces, there’s also the method of having just a few people active in your guild, Taekyung. If it’s a guild that protects only that small group of people gathered like that, I think I could trust and agree with it too.”

“…A small guild.”

“You don’t necessarily have to protect everyone, Taekyung. And also, the lives you’ve already saved, Taekyung, are countless.”

“…Countless?”

“Even when Yuri-ssi’s awakening ability weakened and she lost the will to live, when my mom was trying to end her life due to depression after retirement, and when the Three-headed Basilisk appeared in the abandoned village, putting everyone inside in danger, we were able to save everyone because you worked hard, Taekyung.”

“Right. Thinking about it, that’s true.”

“I won’t tell you to give up on the dream you have, Taekyung. That’s a dream you, Taekyung, can achieve someday. But I think it’s also important to know how to move forward step by step while cherishing that dream in your heart and protecting more important things.”

…Keeping the dream in one’s heart, the way to move forward while protecting more important things.

Right. Thinking about it, there was no need to give up on either.

Dreams are dreams because they can remain in one’s heart forever, and beliefs are beliefs because they must always be upheld wherever one is.

While upholding my beliefs, there must have been plenty of ways to move towards the dream if I had thought about it.

Thinking that I might be able to solve the future I had dreamed of right away, I was only looking at the near-sighted future.

Even though the possibility existed that that plan shimmering before my eyes wouldn’t become the solution I truly desired.

…After a long time, it felt like my head was clearing up.

In fact, if you think about it, me becoming a guild leader wasn’t just my own problem, but it was an issue that affected everyone else.

By worrying too much on my own, my way of thinking might have become narrow-minded.

“Thank you, Hye-eun.”

“Uh, huh?”

“Thanks to what you told me, I feel like I’ve finally come to my senses. The problem I had been worrying about feels like it’s been somewhat resolved.”

“…If so, I’m glad.”

“Yeah. Thank you so much, Hye-eun.”

After hearing Hye-eun’s advice and organizing my thoughts for now,

This time, I asked Hye-eun about a slightly modified ‘Guild Establishment Plan’ that I had come up with in my own way.

The plans I initially intended to build based on a large guild were scaled down, and the process of enabling the guild’s functions was also set a bit more leisurely-the second guild establishment plan.

“In that case, just as you said, Hye-eun, I’ve thought about the method of creating a small guild.”

“Yes, yes. Tell me, Taekyung.”

“First, I’ll maintain the goal of establishing the guild in Chuncheon City. Increasing the number of guild members, instead of official recruitment, I’ll focus on recruiting them myself. As for how to secure dungeons, as I mentioned earlier….”

Even though I had already spent nearly an hour on the initial business presentation, Hye-eun listened seriously even to my second plan.

To her like that, I seriously asked about the second guild establishment plan, with its slightly changed scale, once more.

Unlike when she heard the first business proposal, seeing Hye-eun’s expression visibly brighten upon hearing the second business proposal, I quietly assured myself in my heart that this was indeed the better option.

“…By doing this, for now, I’ll secure about three or four dungeons, and for guild members, I’ll try to recruit only from people I know for now. And among the people I know, there’s a half-dwarf craftsman and a half-elf pharmacist; I’ll ask them nicely too so they can be linked with our guild.”

“Yes. I think it’s a good idea. At least compared to what I heard at first, I think it’s more realistic.”

“Then, do you seriously consider investing in this business proposal, Hye-eun?”

“…Actually, the investment itself, even for the first proposal, I would have invested.”

“Huh?”

“I told you. If it’s something you do, Taekyung, I’ll trust and follow anything. What I just told you, Taekyung, was just because I seriously felt you were pushing yourself too hard, so I was worried.”

“…Oh, I see.”

Clearly, when we started the date this morning, I was thinking of a date for her, but in reality, on today’s date, the one who received unexpected help seemed to be me, not her.

During my school days, when I was struggling with the stress of not awakening, she forcibly took me out on an old date with Hye-eun; it was the moment that suddenly came to mind.