episode_0011

“One female red dragon, four wyverns!”

In response to the briefing from Lim A-rin, who was examining the surroundings with detection magic, Seol Joo-hee, who was ahead, naturally fell back, and Hong Yu-ra, who had been guarding the rear, stepped forward.

Red Dragon, an S-class monster, has the characteristic of first expelling its breath at the opponent and making a kind of attack.

The three people, who had heard this fact from Do Ji-hyuk, naturally changed their formation and prepared for the Red Dragon’s attack.

Leader Hong Yu-ra gave instructions to her team members, recalling Do Ji-hyuk’s teachings to always cut off branches first.

“Block the first breath and take out the wyvern first!”

That moment.

Kwaaah not

The red dragon’s breath came from beyond the dense forest.

“Coming!”

Hong Yu-ra raises her sword high and condenses magical power at the tip of the sword.

Just as the hot flames that melted the ground were about to open their mouths and engulf the three people.

Hong Yu-ra struck down her sword.

Kwamagagaga Bary ───── !!!!!

A sword that splits the flames into two as if building a transparent wall.

As soon as the flames died down, Seol Joo-hee, who had been waiting, jumped towards the wyverns as if she had been waiting.

Taaaa! Taaaa!

Seol Ju-hee, who skillfully stepped on the platform created in the air by Lim A-rin, swung his fist at the Wyverns.

Paaang—! Paaang—!

At that time, even the A-class Wyverns were in vain due to Seol Joo-hee’s overwhelming power.

Kua ah ah ah … … !

A roar that was almost like a roar echoed through the sky.

It meant that a red dragon would appear soon.

“… Light and… Of shadows… .”

In order to immediately attract the attention of the red dragon, Im A-rin gathered her magical power and memorized an illusion spell… .

Kuaaan

Right behind me, another dragon’s roar was heard.

“… Huh?”

“!?”

Two S-class monster dragons appeared at the same time.

“Headquarters!”

Seol Joo-hee, who came down to the ground after killing all the wyverns, did not panic and went to the headquarters to demand countermeasures… .

[Uh… . Well, so… ! Run away first! ]

“… What?”

Headquarters came up with a ridiculous countermeasure.

Dragons have the characteristic of appearing even stronger against opponents perceived as weaker than themselves.

So, in order to subdue them efficiently, Im A-rin tried to use illusion magic to draw attention and surprise him… .

The headquarters, embarrassed by the unexpected situation, ended up issuing a strange order.

“ too, run away… ?”

“That’s what I mean… !”

When Lim A-rin and Hong Yu-ra reacted in bewilderment to the absurd instructions from headquarters,

“That’s it. Fuck it.”

Seol Joo-hee gave instructions directly with an annoyed expression on her face.

“I’ll take care of the back, so the two of you take care of the guy in front.”

“!”

Aside from running away, it was actually a natural order, but Hong Yu-ra and Lim A-rin couldn’t help but be surprised.

Because the three of them have never fought separately until now.

Do Ji-hyuk always insisted that we should fight with teamwork and strategy rather than strength, and he has fought based on that logic so far.

In fact, the strategy was effective every time, and thanks to this, we were able to survive overwhelmingly compared to other teams even at the high-level gate where all kinds of unexpected situations occurred… .

Seol Joo-hee is trying to break the team’s framework with her own hands.

“Whoever deals with it first will come to help. … Be careful.”

“Now, wait a minute, Joohee… !”

Seol Joo-hee gave instructions unilaterally and ran out, leaving Im A-rin’s call behind.

Hong Yu-ra, who was lost in thought for a moment, immediately raised her sword and spoke calmly to Im A-rin.

“Let’s go too.”

“… Yura… .”

There is nothing we can do if even Hong Yu-ra follows Seol Ju-hee’s wishes.

The leader of the team is Hong Yu-ra.

Because Do Ji-hyuk was the captain who was entrusted with command.

“… huh… .”

Lim A-rin, who looked at Hong Yu-ra’s face for a moment, stiffened with a strange expression, tightly grasped the cane that Do Ji-hyuk had gifted her with a worried expression.

Together with Hong Yu-ra, we set out to fight the Red Dragon.

*

Early afternoon.

[Queens proudly takes first place by conquering the S-class gate. ]

[The secret of the equipment chosen by Seol Joo-hee, “The previous equipment was good, but it was much more functional.”]

[Queens, defeat 2 S-rank red dragons. “It was my first individual battle, but it was great… ]

While waiting for the recognition ceremony, I was reading the latest Queen’s article that had just been posted, and I could see how hard the Cheonhwa Guild was trying to erase my traces.

“Hmm… .”

As soon as I left Cheonhwa Guild, Queens’ affiliated guild, I immediately started signing contracts with new sponsors, and as a result, all of the existing companies I replaced were companies I had chosen and signed with.

That’s not all.

It is said that the Queens, who faced two red dragons at the S-class gate, split into two to subdue the red dragons for the first time.

Fortunately, there seemed to be no major injuries, but in the personal SNS photos of the three people attached to the article, there were more minor injuries than usual.

This means that I struggled quite a bit with an unfamiliar method.

Looking at things like this, it seems like I’m trying to reveal all the methods I’ve built up over time… .

From such a radical appearance, I began to think that the culprit who framed me might be the upper echelons of the Cheonhwa Guild.

‘Those humans… .’

Actually, in a way, it is worth it.

The upper echelons of the Cheonhwa Guild, the Cheonhwa Group, did not like me very much.

Because I stopped them from trying too hard on the Queens members.

Of course, I couldn’t stop everything, so I accepted some of it, but it definitely wasn’t at a satisfactory level.

‘It’s not completely impossible… .’

It was around this time that I was in deep thought for a while.

“Producer!”

Gyu-ri Han, who was in charge of Bang Han-na’s makeup, spoke up.

“How about Hannah? It’s pretty, right?”

“Ugh… .”

Bang Han-na, with her bright golden hair neatly tied up, was wearing a bright-colored top and skirt that slightly revealed her body, unlike usual.

The slightly distorted expression on his face, as if he was strangely embarrassed, made him look like a child who had been forcibly dragged by his mother, and I couldn’t help but laugh.

“It’s cute.”

“Right?”

“Your ears are cute… .”

After chatting with Hannah Bang, who was embarrassed, and even completing a simple rehearsal that was more of an explanation.

The recognition ceremony has finally arrived.

Before the recognition ceremony, we were able to exchange a brief greeting with Seoul Mayor Lee Sang-heum, who arrived late.

“You were the producer of Queens. Please take good care of our team.”

Lee Sang-heum, who seemed like a nice person, greeted me with a light greeting and a handshake. .

In fact, he was a character who played a significant role in the original novel, ‘The Strongest Master’.

Although it was on the bad side.

‘I didn’t know you would sell information to the devil.’

“Please look forward to the future.”

“Hehe. I’m glad you have so much spirit.”

After briefly saying hello to Lee Sang-heum, the actual recognition ceremony was finally held.

The ceremony itself was not very grand.

“Okay, let’s take a picture. one… . two… .”

Click!

We simply received a small plaque and certificate of recognition, took pictures, and then each shared our thoughts through a short interview, which ended with a brief encouraging speech from Lee Sang-heum.

“Thank you all for your hard work. In the future, we would appreciate it if you would work hard for our team.”

Clap clap clap clap───

And Lee Sang-heum, who had finished his business, tried to leave with his assistants as soon as the ceremony was over… .

‘Now is the time.’

Seeing an opportunity, I approached the mayor and requested a direct meeting.

“Mayor! If you have time, could you please have a brief interview?”

“Hmm?”

“You shouldn’t do this suddenly. Make a separate appointment… .”

“Please!”

The bodyguard quickly stops me.

Normally, I wouldn’t have accepted such a reckless request… .

“No, leave it alone. I can tell you as many stories as I want.”

As I expected, Lee Sang-heum, conscious of people’s gaze, willingly accepted my request.

*

Perhaps because it was the office of a water market mayor, Lee Sang-heum’s office had a very sophisticated design and was equipped with the latest equipment.

but.

The place we talked about was not a new office, but an old-fashioned office installed separately behind it.

A desk and sofa piled with documents as if you were actually working. And all there is is a small TV… .

Even after washing my eyes and searching, I couldn’t see any CCTV.

“So… . What do you want to say?”

Lee Sang-heum leaned on the sofa in a familiar position and spoke vaguely.

He still had that personable smile on his face, but since I knew his true self, I couldn’t let my guard down.

“Nothing different, I would like to talk about Team Seoul City Hall’s budget.”

“… Hmm?”

The total budget allocated to Team Seoul City Hall is approximately 9 billion.

It’s a subtle amount to run a ranker-level hunter team, but it’s more than enough to run a team close to the amateur level.

however… .

This budget is not entirely for the team.

The current team leader is Junhyung Kim.

He lacked what one would call ‘time’, so he was pushed into the position of manager, and thanks to this, he became the owner of a good restaurant.

High-ranking government officials are already waiting on the waiting list to cut into the budget for various reasons, and Choi Gap-gyu, whom I met during the interview, was one of those people.

How much fresh meat will there be left among the herds of wildcats?

Since the budget was all set to be skipped in the first place, it would be very fortunate if we could manage 10% properly.

“Our budget totals 9 billion. By any chance, do you know?”

Lee Sang-heum gently put down the teacup he was holding and nodded as if it was obvious.

“Of course, don’t know. Isn’t that amount of money essential to forming a proper team? I don’t know if you know how hard I tried to get that budget.”

According to the investigation, Team Seoul City Hall was actually a team created through Lee Sang-heum’s efforts.

Our team is directly under the Seoul City Hall.

This is not the Seoul Metropolitan Sports Association, where ordinary business teams belong.

The reason why Lee Sang-heum used his power to make it directly under the city hall was to keep it aside and eat it without knowing.

In other words, it was as if Lee Sang-heum had cooked his own food.

“That’s right. It’s a basic amount to run a team.”

Convinced that Lee Sang-heum controlled the finances of Team Seoul City Hall, I declared war without hesitation.

“But I am 70% of them… . I think only 6.3 billion will be needed. I think you can take care of the rest.”

Then at that moment.

“… I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

Lee Sang-heum, who had always seemed like a nice person, began to look sharp in his eyes.

It has finally revealed its true colors.

“Then… . Let’s do it like this.”

Seeing him like that, I felt at ease, so I leaned back comfortably on the sofa, crossed my legs, and made a suggestion to him.

“After that, add up to 300 million, for a total of 3 billion. Since the budget can be increased anyway, let’s set it at 6 billion this time.”

Then Lee Sang-heum narrowed his eyes as if he was suspicious of me… .

“Hahaha!”

He suddenly burst out laughing and spoke loudly.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about. What on earth should I do with 3 billion?”

The nuance was different, but it was an ambiguous statement that 3 billion was not even a reasonable amount.

‘He’s a greedy old man…’ .’

Since we’ve come this far, there’s no need to measure anything anymore.

I stroked the armrests of the luxurious wooden sofa and calmly explained my plan.

“As long as 1 year. I plan to make our team a 3rd division B rank within half a year at the most. The average annual cost of running a B-level team is 15 billion won. This amount is approximately 70% higher than the current total budget.”

This is literally average cost.

Of course, it could be higher.

“Of course, 10 billion is enough for me to run the team ‘normally’ after that. This will depend on how much the mayor spends the budget.”

“… Hmm… .”

If Team Seoul City Hall actually becomes a third-tier team, the story will be completely different.

Not only the first part of the top 10, but also the second part of the top 19 is very popular, and the third part of the top 39 is also quite popular.

Right now, the three of us, including Kim Jun-hyung and Han Gyu-ri, are running the team, but by then the team will probably have dozens of employees.

“Why should I follow you?”

As if the proposal wasn’t too bad, Lee Sang-heum spoke in a subtle way,

I grinned and presented a powerful achievement that no one could surpass.

“I made queens with my own hands, so what can I not do?”

Queens Executive Producer. There is no more authentic business card in the world than this.

“Hehe… .”

Lee Sang-heum smiled faintly, as if it was somehow funny, then took out an electronic cigarette from his arms and started smoking it in a familiar manner.

“Phew… .”

A sweet mist filling the office.

Lee Sang-heum seemed lost in thought for a moment and fell into smoking.

At some point, he glanced at me and said something vaguely.

“Listen closely.”