Chapter 159

Two days ago...

Lee Hayeon was staring at the BattleNet betting site with a blank expression. She had the screen up but was doing nothing. Watching from behind, Lim Gayeong finally spoke up.

"Miss, aren't you going to place a bet? Why are you just staring at the same screen?"

"Oh..."

In response to these words, Hayeon regained her composure and moved the mouse. The upcoming TOP 100 Promotion Match the next day was the highlight on the BattleNet betting site. Hayeon, being a gambling prediction expert, had planned to participate significantly in this event.

As she was planning her bets, she heard Seong Jihan's voice in her head like an auditory hallucination.

- gambling addicts are not seen as members of the opposite sex.

It was the concise answer Seong Jihan had given when Sophia was worried about their fake dating relationship.

'Ugh... why do I keep thinking of those words?'

Honestly, even if she admitted it to herself, she did have a liking for gambling. Back then, she had just laughed it off. But as time passed, those words began to weigh heavily on her heart.

'Is it because it's the first time I can't even receive recognition as a woman from a man? Why am I feeling like this?'

The indifferent expression on Seong Jihan's face when he labeled her a gambling addict overlapped with the monitor screen more and more as time went by. And following that, the relieved expression that Sophia wore... Was it really necessary to confess to people, even if she was a gambling addict?

In an instant, Hayeon's face turned red.

"Right, I should do it! Yes, I'm a gambling addict! Gambling! Let's gamble!"

"Why are you suddenly getting so worked up?"

"Where was I? Should I start with the Boss first? Uh... but he's not there?"

"That's right. I heard he achieved level 100."

"Come to think of it, this time it's Seah's Promotion Match, right? Even though she awakened late, she's already aiming for Gold, and you're still in Silver?"

"If I could play games twice a day like Seah, I'd probably be level 50 too."

Yoon Seah, who had surpassed Lim Gayeong due to her Late Bloomer gift, now had her own influence.

"Seah has gotten quite strong these days too... Why are the odds so high?"

"I guess it's because her Late Bloomer rank is low. But 100 times is unexpected. She's been on an almost undefeated streak lately... Oh, it seems there are 3 promising players among the other players, that's why."

"Promising players? Who?"

"Well... that..."

Lim Gayeong, who had prepared in advance, nominated the top three players. With a look that seemed to know all too well, Hayeon's eyes narrowed.

"Are you betting too?"

"Just knew that they were in the Silver rank."

"Seems like you're up to something."

"No, I'm just waiting for your bet, Miss."

"Why? Are you betting against me?"

"Yes."

Replying promptly, Lim Gayeong seemed to wait as if she had been waiting.

As Lee Hayeon responded promptly, her eyes shifted to a different screen showing three players she had selected. After glancing at the videos she had picked, she suddenly turned off the screen.

'Why is this so boring...?'

The excitement she usually felt while analyzing the players and predicting who would win, which was the most enjoyable part of the betting process, was nowhere to be found today.

- Christian is the player with the highest chance of winning in this TOP 100, and this player...

The commentator's analysis in the player analysis video wasn't even audible. Hayeon couldn't stop thinking about Seong Jihan calling her a compulsive gambler.

"I don't want to watch anymore."

"...Miss?"

"Enough. I'm going to bet on Seah to support her."

"On Seah?"

"Yes, let's put in ten million won."

Tic-toc.

And like that, Hayeon placed her bet on Yoon Seah and turned off the screen without any lingering doubts.

"I'll go for a run," she said as she left the guild master's room.

Lim Gayeong watched her leave and wondered, 'Why is she suddenly like this?'

The day before the TOP 100 match, Lee Hayeon had been confidently analyzing players while enjoying some soju, but now, she seemed uninterested in the videos, quickly made her bets, and decided to exercise instead.

Lim Gayeong couldn't understand her sudden change in behavior.

The next day, when they watched Seong Jihan's TOP 25 match together, she began to get an idea of what might be bothering Lee Hayeon.

"Ah, no!"

When Seong Jihan was struck by Zeus's Spear, Lee Hayeon couldn't help but shout and jump to her feet. Tears welled up in her eyes.

'Ah, I knew it! She was so worried!"

Lee Hayeon yelled as Seong Jihan miraculously survived, then sat back down with a mixture of relief and joy.

Lim Gayeong watched her with a sense of something more significant going on.

'Could it be that Miss Lee is concerned about Seong Jihan and that's why she didn't bet?'

Is she interested in a man?

Lim Gayeong decided to be straightforward and asked, "Miss, do you like Seong Jihan?"

"What? What are you talking about all of a sudden?"

"I found it strange that you got sick of gambling all of a sudden. Is it because Seong Jihan called you a gambling addict? You've been crying for a while since he almost died."

"Hey! Why are you saying that? I was just... just shocked. If the Boss passes away, our guild is done!"

"Oh~ I see~"

"Be careful with your words. If you say something unnecessary, I'll remove your buffs immediately!"

"Sure, I understand."

Lim Gayeong replied, and with that response, she became certain.

Seeing her act so over-the-top made her think, 'Is the Miss really into him?'

In that case, from a bodyguard's perspective, she had to find a way to help. A playful smile crept onto Lim Gayeong's lips.

* * *

Meanwhile,

Seong Jihan received a text from Lee Hayeon.

- Boss~ My Gift rank went up. And some explanation seems to have been added, so could you please come take a look!

'Hmm... additional explanation?'

- I'll head over soon.

Seong Jihan sent a reply while browsing the internet.

- Supporting Gift with these kinds of effects exists?

- There are a lot of amazing things."

- I heard there was a function to find dungeon maps while Exploring! Seong Jihan was right lol

- Nurturing? If the Gift holder becomes Guild Master, there's an effect that greatly amplifies guild growth?

In the midst of the lowered difficulty, those who held supporting Gifts unexpectedly benefited the most. Originally, supporting Gifts had vague explanations, but with the decrease in difficulty, there were many cases where the system provided additional information on what the Gift did.

'This will let Hayeon learn clearly about her abilities.'

Even now, Lee Hayeon was well aware that her Nurturing ability was related to the guild.

But that was just abstract knowledge, so getting the system to clearly explain the function like this felt different.

Lee Hayeon's Nurturing gift contributed over 90% to the Daegi Guild's astounding growth effects.

All Seong Jihan did was invest all guild points into growth rate at first, and later raise guild level with the Phoenix Flag.

'Looks like she's regained her rationality.'

While it didn't seem she had the best relationship with the Lee family...

She said they properly treated her at home, so who knows.

'I need to hold onto her tightly.'

If Lee Hayeon's rank went up one more time, she would have a SSS-rank gift.

Even when she had A-rank in her previous life, she was the Nurturing Master of the world's top guild.

Having increased two whole ranks, he had to secure her no matter what.

"Ah, Uncle. Are you going to the guild?"

"Yeah. There's something to talk about since Hayeon's Gift rank has gone up."

"Oh, really? I'm going too."

"You too?"

"Yeah, Hayeon unnie called me a little while ago and said she earned 1 billion because of me. She said she will bow down to me. Let's go and accept her gratitude. Hehe."

"Hayeon earned money...because of you?"

"Yeah. She bet 10 million on me out of loyalty."

"Ah, Loyalty. That makes sense."

There was no way she could have earned money based on her skills alone. With that thought, Seong Jihan left the house with Yoon Seah to go to the guild.

"Oh my, Young Miss Seah came too?"

Seeing Yoon Seah, Lee Hayeon welcomed her with a big smile and tried to give her a bow.

"Come on. Please accept my bow~!"

"What are you really doing?"

As Yoon Seah tried to stop her from actually bowing, she shrugged.

"Unnie, so does that mean you recouped all your losses so far thanks to me?"

"What? It's still far from that."

"....10 million at 100 times is 1 billion, right? You call 1 billion still far?"

"Yeah. How could that be enough to recoup everything?"

"Unnie, you should really quit gambling."

At Lee Hayeon's nonchalant reply, Yoon Seah made a fed up expression.

"Alright, let's get to the main point. It's about my gift..."

Lee Hayeon revealed her Gift.

[Gift - Nurturing (Rank SS)]

-A supporting gift. Helps other players grow quickly.

- Can grant 'Focused Growth' to 10 players.

- When using 'Focused Growth', the existing growth rate bonus increases by 3 times.

- When the Nurturing Gift holder becomes the Guild Master, it greatly increases the guild's growth rate bonus.

* Your Nurturing Gift is SS-rank. amplifying the guild growth rate bonus to three times the original value and adding a 60% experience bonus.

With the upgrade to SS grade, Lee Hayeon's Nurturing Gift had significant improvements. The number of people who could receive Focused growth increased from 3 to 10, and the growth rate bonus went from 2 to 3 times the original.

The crucial part of the description, however, lay further down, revealing just how much Lee Hayeon's contribution to the guild's growth rate enhancement was.

The issue was in the latter part.

The additional Gift explanation quantitatively revealed just how much Lee Hayeon supplemented the guild's growth increase effect.

"Huh!? So Unnie Hayeon's Gift covered our entire guild's growth effects!?"

"Wow... was the Miss's ability this powerful?"

As both of them were surprised at the effects of Lee Hayeon's development, Lee Hayeon seemed rather indifferent about her contribution. Instead, she asked, "What should we do, Boss?"

Lee Hayeon herself didn't seem to care much about her level of contribution.

Instead...

"Other players with Supporting Gift will probably get explanation too. If competing guilds increase, won't our position weaken?"

"There are no players with Supporting abilities as powerful as Lee Hayeon. If people leave, we can just lower the rent."

"Then don't blame me if performance drops this time, okay?"

"Of course. Hayeon's contribution to the guild is immense. Even if our performance declines, it's fine."

"Haha, really? Looking at it numerically, it's quite good. My Gift... turned out to be more useful than I thought."

Lee Hayeon made no further comments and even seemed to be encouraged by Seong Jihan.

If anything, it was Seong Jihan who needed to persuade her.

"Hayeon, with your ability, which is effectively supporting the entire guild, 20% share seems too small. I'll give you more."

"Share? 20% is already more than enough..."

"No, I feel like I haven't treated you accordingly until now. I'll give you 50% of my shares."

"Then won't I become Daegi Guild's Owner?"

With a 20% share and an additional 50%, it would change the guild's owner. Lee Hayeon shook her head, "You should remain as the owner of the guild."

"But I should treat you fairly."

"In that case, please give me an extra 20%. I won't ask for more."

So she would stay with a 40% share?

'She really isn't greedy.'

Seong Jihan thought to himself, and he agreed to her proposal. "Hayeon, take a bit more. I feel like I've fallen short."

"This should be enough."

"Use the guild GP generously. 40% is yours, Ha-yeon. I won't say anything if you use it for betting."

"Using guild funds for betting? I won't be gambling anymore!"

"...Are you serious?"

Zero is giving up on gambling?

Did the sun rise from the west?

"I'm really not going to! Not anymore!"

"You did it just yesterday. On Seah."

"That... that was just out of loyalty..."

"Oh, I see. Loyalty, I understand."

As Seong Jihan nodded with an expression that indicated he didn't trust her at all, Lee Hayeon turned around with a somewhat embarrassed expression.

"Gayeong, keep an eye on me from now on. Be my witness. I'll really quit betting!"

"....Are you serious? I'll stick to you 24/7. I'll personally log in to check your account every day to see if you placed bets or not."

"Do it! Monitor me!"

At those words, Lim Gayeong bowed her head gratefully to Seong Jihan.

"Seong Jihan, thanks to you, she's finally come to her senses."

"....Why is it thanks to me?"

"You... don't say any more."

"Hehe.Okay, Not now, but I'll tell him when you really quit gambling. About the turning point in you life."

"Ah! It's not that!"

Listening to their conversation, Seong Jihan chuckled.

'What does her quitting gambling have to do with me?'

Yet he was skeptical that Zero Lee Hayeon would actually quit gambling.

'No way Zero would quit betting... But at least she won't influence Seah while she's temporarily sane.'

As long as she doesn't teach Seah how to bet.

As Seong Jihan thought about this, he realized that he could use this rampant support Gift to his advantage, so he turned his attention to Japan.

'Since Hayeon's matter has been solved, I can now employ countermeasures against Ito Shizuru.'

As Seong Jihan thought about this, he realized that he could use this rampant supporting Gift to his advantage, so he turned his attention to Japan.

"Hayeon."

"Yes?"

"Would you like to do a broadcast?"

Seong Jihan had made up his mind to use this plan to counteract Ito Shizuru.

*****

*****