Villain wants to live as a commoner chapter 31

Baek Gunho, who had been lost in thought for a moment, raised his head with a determined expression.

“Join our guild, Seo Heewon.”

“It’s about time for you to head home.”

Seeing his usual lines, it seemed like it was time to send him off.

But Baek Gunho was not deterred by my attempts to dismiss him.

“Those guys are openly targeting you, and you think you can just wander around carefree?”

“If I were unemployed, maybe, but I have a company to go to. Are you telling me to switch without any plans?”

“Our guild is better than your company.”

“I don’t like that you’re the guild master.”

“Stop being stubborn and think about it seriously. I’ll pay you more than I mentioned before.”

“…I seriously thought about it, and I don’t want to.”

For a moment, I was swayed by the money, but I couldn’t go against my decision.

I’m already indebted to Baek Gunho for various things; should I also rely on him for a job? I’d rather not be a burden.

I don’t want to be seen as a parachute hire either.

“If you feel sorry for lying to me, join our guild.”

I hadn’t expected him to bring that up, so I was at a loss for words.

I was momentarily overwhelmed, but I quickly gathered myself and drew the line.

“This and that are two different things.”

“You’re just going to wipe your mouth clean with a simple apology after deceiving me for years?”

He was so unfazed just a moment ago, but now he’s using it as leverage to threaten me.

Isn’t that unfair? Reluctantly, I nodded.

“…I’ll think about it a bit more.”

“You’re just saying that and won’t join anyway.”

He knows me well.

No matter how sorry I am, no means no.

If I were truly a weak F-rank and constantly involved in incidents, I’d consider joining for safety reasons.

But since I’m not really in danger, I don’t need to.

“What are you so worried about? I’m not F-rank; I’m S-rank.”

“Even if you’re S-rank, you’re still Seo Heewon.”

“You want to test that out?”

Baek Gunho snorted, as if he knew he wouldn’t lose.

Well, he is one of the strongest in the world, so it’s natural he’d find my words amusing.

But I don’t think I’m that weak either.

My skills are quite strong. I might be lacking in experience, so I could be weak in actual combat, but I don’t think I’d easily lose against others.

“Should I practice using my abilities instead?”

“No need for that.”

As soon as I spoke, Baek Gunho cut in sharply.

“Where and how are you going to practice? Do you want to advertise that you’re S-rank?”

His reaction was quite intense, almost like he was angry.

There was no reason for him to be upset about this, but it was a rare reaction.

Was my comment really that out of line? I don’t think I said anything I shouldn’t have.

“Hey, I was just speaking hypothetically.”

I replied awkwardly, feeling a bit embarrassed.

Baek Gunho looked at me with a strange gaze, making it hard to read his thoughts.

“Why are you looking at me like that?”

“I was just thinking about what to do with you.”

“What do you mean, what to do with me?”

“Maybe locking you up somewhere would be best after all.”

There he goes with his nonsense again. Ignoring Baek Gunho, who looked at me as if he was regretting something, I picked up my phone.

“I’m hungry. Want to eat something?”

“Don’t order delivery; I’ll cook, so wait.”

“I want pizza.”

If we were at Baek Gunho’s place, he might have somehow managed to make it, but it was impossible at my place.

He frowned, then sighed openly.

“Fine, order it.”

I immediately opened the delivery app, and Baek Gunho, giving me a sideways glance, turned and went to his room, closing the door behind him.

He must be making a call.

I could probably hear what he was talking about if I concentrated, but I didn’t bother eavesdropping and continued tapping on the app.

Honestly, I didn’t have much of an appetite. I just felt the need to wrap up the conversation somehow. It seemed like Baek Gunho was letting it slide, too.

Even though I pretended to be calm, my heart was pounding.

No matter how nonchalantly Baek Gunho brushed it off, the fact that I’m S-rank has been a long-standing secret.

I couldn’t believe he let it go so easily.

Was he really unaffected?

I’ve been deceiving him for a long time.

He said it didn’t matter because he already knew, but did he really not feel any resentment?

If Baek Gunho had kept a big secret from me, I would feel quite hurt.

Though, it’s hard to imagine Baek Gunho keeping secrets from me when he’s the type to speak his mind about everything.

I shook off these unnecessary thoughts and ordered the pizza.

As long as things were resolved, that was good enough.

“Oh.”

I remembered something I hadn’t mentioned yet: my skill related to why I ended up cooperating with Kwon Sahyeok.

I stared at the shadows. Within them were likely hidden dust and that monster.

Thinking about that made me reluctant to bring it up.

No matter how safe it is, Baek Gunho wouldn’t want to keep a monster in the same space with me.

“Sigh…”

I should have mentioned it earlier when I had the momentum.

I glanced at Baek Gunho, who seemed busy, and decided to postpone the matter for later.

During lunchtime, instead of going to eat with my colleagues, I headed to the underground parking lot.

Waiting there for me was none other than Kwon Sahyeok.

When I got into the car, Kwon Sahyeok smiled slyly.

“Meeting secretly like this feels like a rendezvous, doesn’t it?”

“…”

It’s true I asked him to wait in the parking lot to avoid being noticed, but his analogy was creepy.

I considered getting out of the car, but Kwon Sahyeok grabbed my arm.

I wanted to run out, but instead of slamming the car door and leaving, I quietly buckled my seatbelt.

A promise is a promise.

“Shall we talk over lunch?”

“Of course. Lunchtime is precious.”

“Great. I’ll treat you to something delicious.”

Kwon Sahyeok drove to a barbecue restaurant near the office. The scent of expensive Korean beef grilling made my mouth water.

The waiter, who was grilling the meat for us, gave Kwon Sahyeok a knowing look.

“Do you recognize me?”

Kwon Sahyeok initiated the conversation with his usual charm. The waiter’s face lit up.

“Oh, I’m sorry for staring…”

“No problem. It’s natural to be drawn to good-looking people.”

“Right, you’re really quite radiant. Are you here with a friend? Your friend is very pretty too.”

“Yes, she’s my best friend.”

“Enjoy your meal with your friend. I always admire your work.”

“Thank you. Have a great day.”

Kwon Sahyeok, known for being good with fans, smoothly conversed with the waiter and sent them off with a polite nod. Then he turned to me with a predator-like gaze.

“Now, I’d like to hear in detail what happened. While I was caught by that bad guy and left in solitude, what were you up to?”

His choice of words was incredibly creepy, but not incorrect, so I awkwardly laughed.

Last time, Woo Hyungsik’s gang suddenly sent a message to change the meeting location.

I was with Baek Gunho at the time and got so distracted by him that I forgot to inform Kwon Sahyeok about the change.

Thanks to that, Kwon Sahyeok ended up staking out in the wrong place and came up empty-handed.

Unintentionally, I had thrown a wrench in his plans.

“Seriously, how hard is it to just send a message?”

“I said I’m sorry. Anyway, we caught Shin Chaeyoung, didn’t we?”

“The Agency took her away. What guarantees do we have that they won’t lose her again?”

“…This time, they won’t lose her.”

Because of past incidents, I couldn’t speak confidently, so I responded timidly. Kwon Sahyeok sighed and nodded his head slightly.

“So, what happened? Tell me.”

“Nothing special…”

I gave Kwon Sahyeok a brief explanation of what had happened.

The meal, getting lured into a trap, getting caught up in the dungeon, defeating the boss monster, chasing Shin Chaeyoung, running into Choi Hyungoh, and finally, capturing Shin Chaeyoung again.

“And this is a recording of Choi Hyungoh’s confession.”

I played the recording for Kwon Sahyeok. His eyes gleamed with interest.

“He said he received direct orders from the Sect Leader? This isn’t something a low-level grunt pulled off.”

“Yes. Although it seems we can’t use it as evidence…”

I had already submitted the recording file.

However, because the confession was obtained through the use of a skill, it could potentially be manipulated, thus not fulfilling the conditions required for evidence.

Still, the Agency has started moving based on this information, so it’s not a total loss.

“Interesting. For an F-rank, your handling of things is better than most A-ranks.”

“I was just lucky.”

“It’s not something that can be done with luck alone. Why don’t you quit your job and join our guild? We’ll treat you well.”

“Treat me well, my foot…”

“But did the monster die in the dungeon?”

Kwon Sahyeok’s gaze landed on my shadow.

Though I was internally nervous, I pretended to be calm and just shrugged.

With the uprank of my skill level, a new sentence was added: [The entity hidden within the shadow is completely concealed].

It seemed it was effectively concealed even from Kwon Sahyeok’s skills.

That’s a relief.

I recently acquired another monster, and if a new skill effect hadn’t appeared, my weaknesses would’ve increased.

“Well, you did leave me behind, but you also caught Shin Chaeyoung and provided information, so we can call it even.”

“If you’re willing to do that, I won’t refuse.”

I quickly responded to Kwon Sahyeok’s words. With no more weaknesses, I just needed to shake off the initial promise to help.

Seeing my happiness, Kwon Sahyeok grinned.

“Let’s make the last one a big one.”

“I prefer the small stuff.”

“I’ll contact you soon.”

Please don’t contact me.

Maybe I should start carrying salt as a necessity to sprinkle on Kwon Sahyeok.