What a Bargain

The Ghost Tamer Alliance Guild Hall.

In the management conference room on the top floor, a young man with blond hair and blue eyes sat in an ornate armchair by the wall.

The ornate armchair stood atop a circular dais, its tall back reaching all the way to the ceiling.

The blond man wore an elaborate mage's robe, its surface shimmering with a faint purple glow and embroidered with golden patterns that gleamed in the dim light of the conference room.

He leaned back in his seat with one leg crossed over the other, his boot resting on the footstool in front of him. He raised a hand, picked up a goblet from the side table, and took a small sip of wine.

"Mm..."

A faint female moan came from beside him.

His brows furrowed, and a shadow crossed his eyes. It seemed he was annoyed at having his wine interrupted.

His bright blue eyes lowered slightly to look at the woman beside the armchair.

Her skin was as pale as ash, and her long silver hair cascaded down her shoulders and back like a waterfall, spreading across the floor.

The woman's hands and feet were bound with crimson ropes. She knelt in a horribly contorted pose, her head tilted far back, a hollow ball carved with a pattern of two dragons playing with a pearl filling her mouth so completely she couldn't speak properly.

The moment her eyes met the man's bright blue gaze, the silver-haired woman began to tremble. Terrified, she curled into a ball, instinctively trying to scramble backward.

But the Taming Sigil at the back of her neck flashed silver-white, preventing her from moving away.

The blond man raised his hand. The circular Taming Sigil in his palm glowed with the same light.

He brought his hand close to the woman's cheek and slid his long, slender fingers, their knuckles sharply defined, into the hollow ball, pushing it firmly into her mouth. "Keep it in."

His voice was quiet, his tone almost gentle, yet the woman trembled faintly again in fear.

The corners of his mouth lifted. He gently wiped away the drool at the woman's lips with his fingertip. "If it falls out one more time, I'll have to pull out your tongue."

The silver-haired woman's pupils contracted. She shook her head repeatedly, cold sweat dripping onto the floor.

She knew full well that this man always did what he said.

"Guildmaster!"

Someone knocked on the door.

The blond man raised his eyes toward the entrance.

The conference room's heavy doors creaked open, and at the same time, all the lights in the room switched on.

Only then did the scene atop the dais become completely clear—

The footstool beneath the blond man's boots, the cushion under him, and the side table holding his wineglass were all made of beautiful women with curvaceous figures.

Both of the blond man's hands were covered in circular Taming Sigils. Their silver glow flowed from his fingertips up his arms, disappearing into the sleeves of his mage's robe.

The women filling the room held their bizarre poses like marionettes, controlled by the Sigils covering his hands.

A short, portly man entered the conference room. At the sight before him, he stopped in his tracks.

It seemed he had interrupted the guildmaster's fun.

The portly man hesitated, unsure whether he should leave for now.

But the blond man atop the dais spoke in his usual gentle, soothing tone. "Any news from the Trial Map?"

The portly man nodded. "Yes! Our initial assessment is that the prophecy is true!"

"Oh?"

The portly man continued, "I hacked into the system of one of the NPCs. Through that NPC, I found Jun Wuming—"

"—What did you say?!"

The blond man's voice rose slightly, and his eyes narrowed.

It was the first time the portly man had ever seen the guildmaster make such an expression. His teeth chattered in fear, and his legs trembled too. He didn't understand why the man had suddenly gotten angry when he'd only just started talking and hadn't even gotten to the main point yet.

"You spoke with Jun Wuming as an NPC?"

The blond man asked him, one word at a time.

The portly man stammered, "Y-yes... I-I only said one sentence..."

He'd only said five words to the other man: "Miss, would you like more?"

What could possibly be wrong with that?

But before the portly man could defend himself, the blond man raised his hand and drew a wand from his sleeve.

A gem at the wand's tip glimmered with a deep blue light.

...An Archmage Staff Fragment?!

The portly man dropped to his knees with a thud. "Guildmaster! Please spare me! I swear on everything I own that Jun Wuming definitely didn't recognize me! Guild—"

But before he could finish, the blond man flicked his wand.

"Ahhh—!"

Blood-red lines appeared across every inch of the portly man's skin. The next moment, his body broke apart into little cubes, like in Tetris, and scattered across the floor.

"I have no use for idiots."

The blond man glanced at the bloody chunks on the floor and spoke coldly.

After a moment of silence, he raised his eyes and gazed blankly into the distance. He took a sip of wine and murmured,

"Jun Wuming, I'll let you off easy this time."

At the internet café by the entrance to Seventh High School, Wen Nan looked at Yu the Scholar's terse message and smiled helplessly.

He still clearly remembered the Gentleman's Agreement he'd signed with Yu the Scholar. Clause six explicitly stated that, before the final mission results were tallied, Party A promised to share his Equipment Backup Slot with Party B once.

It looked like she was here to borrow his equipment slot.

But... wasn't her timing a little too perfect? She'd come looking for him at the exact moment his mission completion rate refreshed to 100%—not a second earlier or later.

Still, they had signed an agreement, so Wen Nan naturally had to honor it.

He closed the chat window, stood up, and headed outside.

Little Chili had just been killed once in Black Monkey. Gripping her club, she stormed out in a rage. Hearing him move, she turned and shouted at Wen Nan,

"Where are you going? Come help me beat Big Head! He's so vicious! I can't beat him!"

Wen Nan kept walking and tossed over his shoulder, "Ask Guangzhi to save you."

He left the internet café and followed Yu Shujun back to campus, heading to the center of the sports field.

It was a good place to discuss a deal.

"Lend me your Equipment Backup Slot. Now."

Yu Shujun got straight to the point. Then she crouched down and began taking the items she'd collected from inside her oversized school uniform, laying them out one by one.

Looking at the bulging uniform, Wen Nan was certain his earlier judgment had been right—all the hidden equipment on this map had definitely been collected by Yu the Scholar.

"You really cleaned them out..." Wen Nan muttered.

Yu Shujun's hands paused. She looked at him strangely. "...What?"

Wen Nan suddenly realized his words could be misunderstood. He cleared his throat. "Nothing. Go on."

Yu Shujun had no time to bicker with him, so she continued pulling equipment from her clothes.

Wen Nan was stunned by the equipment laid out on the sports field.