Part 1 Chapter 10 20

A considerable amount of time had already passed since Phoenix and Baek Heea entered the room alone.

Those waiting outside grew extremely anxious as the conversation dragged on longer than expected, and the one most desperate to know what was happening inside was none other than Hwawon Lee Seunghyung.

‘Surely not even the Praetor was swayed?’

He knew Cheonghwa’s secret, one that no one else knew. But he never imagined that Cheonghwa would burst out of the conference room and insist on a private meeting with the Praetor in her own room.

‘I’ve been had.’

Phoenix knew the VIP facilities inside and out.

All Lee Seunghyung could do was wait quietly outside, enhancing his hearing as much as possible, with his ears wide open, hoping to catch even the slightest sound from the VIP room.

Piiik.

“Oh, it’s opening!”

The door, which had been shut like an iron fortress, opened. Those who had been anxiously waiting outside welcomed the Praetor with relief.

“How long did the meeting drag on?”

“…Three hours.”

Lee Seunghyung, hearing the Heroes’ chatter behind him, checked his watch. He had thought it was a considerable amount of time, but he never imagined the meeting would last a full three hours.

What did they talk about? And could the Praetor have made a secret deal with Phoenix?

Clack. Clack.

Baek Heea emerged from the room with a more confident stride than ever before and stood before Lee Seunghyung. Her hollow eyes and rough skin from before entering the room were now bright and her skin plump, as if she had enjoyed a deep sleep.

“……Lee Seunghyung-ssi.”

Baek Heea, abandoning her usual practice of calling Heroes by their codenames in official settings, called Lee Seunghyung by his name. Her trembling voice was a mix of indignation, anger, embarrassment, and irritation.

“Wh-what’s wrong?”

“Why didn’t you tell me sooner?”

“Huh?”

Grab. Baek Heea rose on her tiptoes and grabbed Lee Seunghyung by the collar.

“Why didn’t you tell me sooner, I asked!”

“W-wait, ugh?!”

Baek Heea shook Lee Seunghyung’s clothes back and forth, venting her indignation. Her ears, visible beneath her beret, were beet red, looking as if they might burst at any moment.

“If you had told me sooner, none of this would have happened!”

“Th-then what exactly?! Praetor, c-calm down!”

“Do I look like I can calm down right now?!”

“It’s not their fault.”

Phoenix followed Baek Heea out. From his expression, as he turned his head slightly to the side and smiled pitifully, people immediately sensed that something big had happened.

“……It’s just because Lee Seunghyung-ssi is too kind.”

“Huh?!”

Lee Seunghyung recoiled, even raising his voice. As if a snake had entered his stomach, Phoenix lowered his head with melancholic eyes, like a tragic heroine.

“It’s my fault, so don’t be too hard on them.”

“Ah, ugh, seriously…. Lee Seunghyung-ssi. You and I are talking later, separately. Got it?!”

“Yes, y-yes.”

Baek Heea, seemingly having calmed down, took a breath and cleared her throat. The attention of the crowd turned to Baek Heea, who politely bowed and greeted.

To Phoenix.

“Please, rest comfortably. I will organize the discussions from today and inform you first.”

“Yes. I look forward to it, Praetor-nim.”

Phoenix, with a sorrowful expression, re-entered the room. Baek Heea glared at the firmly closed door for a long time before clapping her hands.

“I will organize the details and inform you shortly! So, please return to your respective positions and await the announcement. Unsa!”

“Here I am.”

Park Raon, who had been standing quietly by the wall, stepped forward before Baek Heea. Baek Heea pointed to the door of the VIP room.

“I apologize, but I ask you to stand guard until tomorrow morning. To ensure nothing happens.”

“P-Praetor.”

Park Raon, hearing the order, questioned with a trembling voice.

“Do I have to do it alone…?”

“Is there a problem?”

“Well, th-that is to say….”

Park Raon rolled his eyes around, showing hesitation. Baek Heea’s lips twitched, but she forced her face to straighten and pointed at the door.

“What you’re thinking will absolutely not happen, so trust me and stand guard.”

“B-but, if I were to leave my post-“

“I told you, that won’t happen. If you’re really uneasy, I’ll assign Pungbaek and Wusa with you. Is that enough? Grant Cheonghwa-yang whatever she asks. I’m trusting you with this because it’s you. Understand?”

“That’s no solution at all….”

Park Raon had to stand at the door with a tearful expression. Furthermore, the middle-aged man who had unintentionally fallen asleep early and the old man who had been drinking makgeolli with him had to put on their suits and be deployed for overnight guard duty.

“Unsa-ya. Isn’t this cruel treatment? Don’t you think so too, old man?”

“Hehehe, I’ll have to watch my mouth from now on. Ugh.”

“P-please help me, sunbaenim-deul. If I mess up today….”

Park Raon couldn’t bring himself to finish his sentence. The Heroes who had been about to leave glared at the VIP room for a long time before having to disperse.

“What on earth happened inside for three hours…?”

Only Lee Seunghyung’s hollow words echoed through the hallway.

* * *

30 minutes ago.

Baek Heea woke up from her sleep feeling more comfortable than ever before.

The fatigue from being awake for nearly 40 hours completely vanished in a place more plush and comfortable than anywhere else.

“Hee-eung….”

She wanted to sleep more. For 10 minutes, no, even just 5 minutes. Baek Heea rubbed her cheek against the soft pillow, savoring the plush sensation.

“If you come any closer, I’ll get angry.”

“……Oh.”

Baek Heea slowly regained consciousness, sensing something blocking her forehead.

In front of her, a white finger was blocking her path, and when she turned her head, a blue-colored woman was looking down at her from above.

“What… what’s going on….”

“Did you sleep well?”

“I slept well, b-“

Sasaak!

Baek Heea shot up like a flash of light.

“Wh-what the?!”

“It’s nothing much. You looked tired, so I put you to sleep for a bit.”

Phoenix mimed striking with the edge of his hand, as if delivering a chop. At that, Baek Heea felt a tingling sensation at the back of her neck for no reason.

“Uh, so what exactly is this…?”

“Before you fell asleep, you looked absolutely terrible, so I forced you to rest a little.”

Phoenix patted his thigh. Baek Heea felt embarrassed that she had been resting her head on that thigh, but the situation before she fell asleep came to mind, leaving her no time to feel shy.

“Who… who are you?”

“Now you look like you can finally talk sense.”

Phoenix waved his hand at Baek Heea. In the blink of an eye, Phoenix’s arm had transformed into a monstrous human’s gauntlet.

“Ta-da! Surprise! Are you awake now, Mother?”

“Who’s your mother? Ugh….”

Baek Heea pressed her head for a long time before shaking it vigorously.

“Here’s some water.”

“Thank you….”

Baek Heea took the moderately warmed cup of water, then froze.

“…….”

“Why?”

For a moment, Baek Heea felt an urge to slap Phoenix’s grinning face. But fearing what might happen if she did, she drank the water and composed herself.

“Hoo. Alright. Then, first question.”

“Ah, I really love twenty questions.”

“…….”

Baek Heea carefully placed the cup in her hand on the bedside table, lest she throw it.

“Are you an SS-rank Villain, ?”

“Yes, that’s right.”

Phoenix nodded obediently. His hand, transformed into that of a monstrous human, was the proof.

“So there was a reason you appeared in the women’s restroom…. Haa.”

“……Uh, well, I secretly hid and followed you, so don’t worry about that. Even if it wasn’t a restroom, even if it was another secluded alley, I would have talked to you separately.”

“Alright. Then, next question. How on earth did you reappear on the bus…. No, it wouldn’t matter, would it? If you’re truly SS-rank, arriving before the bus would be nothing.”

“…….”

Phoenix remained silent. The association had not yet grasped that Cheon Gaeul was an ability user with ‘complete transformation ability,’ capable of fully replicating not only superpowers but also physical bodies.

As Phoenix said nothing, Baek Heea began to ask what she was truly curious about.

“The reason you revealed your identity to me?”

“To prevent strange misunderstandings? For example, that Phoenix is actually a 2-meter bald giant.”

“You’re saying you revealed your identity for such a trivial reason?”

“No. It’s partly that, but there’s a real reason.”

Phoenix patted the bedsheet with his palm.

“Baek Heea Agassi. Will you join hands with me?”

“……I refuse. Are you trying to persuade me again now?”

“Of course. It would be a waste to lose talent like you.”

“You’re quite greedy for people, aren’t you? Do you flirt with everyone you meet like that?”

“No. Because you’re Baek Heea. Puhuhu.”

Phoenix kept spouting incomprehensible words. Baek Heea felt like her head would explode if the conversation continued like this.

“I will never join hands with a Villain.”

“But you took such a humble stance with Cheonghwa, trying to bring them into the association, didn’t you?”

“That was when I didn’t know you were a Villain. So why did you reveal your identity? If you had just kept quiet, you could have deceived me to your heart’s content.”

Baek Heea even used slightly harsh words, growling at Phoenix. But Phoenix, with a relaxed expression, brushed off Baek Heea’s anger.

“If I hadn’t told you, you probably would have continued to suffer from insomnia, unable to sleep, wouldn’t you?”

“……No way.”

“No. I’m certain. Days of sleeplessness due to worry would continue, and eventually, you’d experience a future where you rely on sleeping pills to sleep.”

“You’re practically cursing me.”

“Is it a curse? Puhuhu. Well, let’s talk about that later.”

Phoenix reached into his pocket and pulled out two small orbs.

“Here’s a gift.”

“……What are these?”

“As you can see, they are the Cores of two monsters: a Jiparyong and a Muljigi.”

“Are you bragging that you caught them yourself?”

“I said it was a gift, didn’t I?”

Phoenix flicked the two Cores with his fingers. At his gesture, flicking S-rank Cores as if playing marbles, Baek Heea felt her head spin.

“……Who gives gifts like this?”

“Here.”

“…Haa, fine. I won’t accept them, no matter if they’re S-rank Cores. This kind of bribe.”

“Then, think of it as boat fare.”

Phoenix raised two fingers.

“It’s the price for the round-trip ticket on your airship, the Baeknaro-ho.”

“You… surely not?”

Baek Heea seemed to have immediately caught on to my intention. Before Baek Heea could make her move, I spoke first.

“Cheonghwa, as a Beast Tamer, will have to travel abroad a lot in the future, right? Since it’s an official visit, they won’t be flying through the sky to illegally enter. So, naturally, they’ll have to travel by plane, but I’d rather not be blown up in mid-air like last time.”

Phoenix subtly approached Baek Heea. Baek Heea slowly backed away, but her back soon hit the wall.

“That’s why I took the plane you piloted on the way back, didn’t I? My goodness, to think such a comfortable place exists. No private jet in the world would be more comfortable than the vessel you pilot.”

“So you’re going to buy our family’s airship with this?”

“No? I told you, it’s the fare for the airship you pilot. What I want to trade with you for is this.”

Phoenix finally got to the point.

“I don’t know where we’ll go next, but I want to ride your vessel when we travel abroad for monster subjugation. The one you personally pilot as captain.”

“……You, my ability…!”

“Yes. I know. I know it very well. Puhuhu. Don’t worry about how I know, just make a decision. You like it, don’t you? A choice for the national interest.”

Phoenix forced Baek Heea into a choice she couldn’t refuse.

“Oh my! Just by following Cheonghwa, S-rank Cores will pile up! I have a strong feeling this will be a great help for the nation’s future!”

“……Even without you, we can obtain as many Cores as we want. For example, even with this recent Black Scorpion incident-“

“I caused that, by the way.”

Phoenix pulled out several orbs from his pocket and scattered them on the bed. As S-rank Cores, not officially registered with the association, poured out before her eyes, Baek Heea’s head spun once more.

“Originally, I was going to monopolize them all, but one of my subordinates asked me to be more generous.”

“……You’re truly insane.”

Even though Phoenix brought his face close enough for his breath to touch her, Baek Heea only showed anger towards him.

“Yes. I’m insane. And why I’m insane is because-“

“Why did you share those?! You should have swept them all up and made them our country’s! If you knew there were thousands of Black Scorpions, you should have handled them exclusively, without anyone knowing!”

“……Ah, you mean insane in that way. Huh.”

Phoenix’s lips twisted into a smirk.

“Right, that’s your true face. It seems you’re finally thinking of showing your true colors?”

“……Because you revealed your identity. If you were merely a Villain who killed Gwanggeom, that would be one thing, but if he’s the one receiving the most love calls worldwide, wouldn’t the calculations naturally change?”

Baek Heea even put on a relaxed air, smiling with her eyes.

“You mean you can make a deal with a Hero who will enhance national prestige, but not with a Villain who will ruin the country?”

“Whether Villain or Hero, Phoenix is Korean, aren’t they? Then it’s fine.”

“You’re a hypocrite. What if I were a foreigner?”

“In that case, I would have used every means to naturalize you, or else I would have fought to the death.”

Phoenix hardened his expression and met Baek Heea’s gaze.

“Then, shall we begin the real negotiation now? Female Seonui Cheol-nim.”

“Who are you calling Female Seonui Cheol? I’m not that insane of a person. That’s a huge insult.”

“…Ah, not yet, perhaps? Then, well.”

Phoenix smiled, mocking Baek Heea.

“Let’s continue talking, Heea Daewongun-nim.”

“I really want to hit you.”

“It’s just a metaphor. Puhuhu.”

Having shed their artificial masks, the two entered into a full-fledged ‘deal’.