Even Today, the Ranker Dreams of Retirement

The letter Chae Jise left behind.

As he reached that part of the story, Chae Jiseok turned to Lee Junhwi.

“I apologize, Secretary-nim, but from here on, we need to talk privately. We’ll move to another room.”

As the conversation progressed, topics like visiting the 50th floor or Habin’s true abilities might naturally come up—things Habin wanted to keep secret.

While Lee Junhwi was trustworthy, it would be impolite to reveal secrets without Habin’s permission.

Lee Junhwi replied with a serene face, as if it didn’t matter at all.

“Ah, of course. That’s fine. Then, may I play some work songs on YouTube while I work here?”

He asked with his hands already on the keyboard, as if eager to start playing music right away.

Work songs.

He meant he’d play music while working, presumably.

‘It’s just playing work songs in a room where he’ll be alone anyway.’

Of course, there was no reason to refuse.

Chae Jiseok nodded readily.

“Yes, go ahead.”

As soon as he got permission, Lee Junhwi pulled up a YouTube screen on the large monitor.

Pop!

The monitor screen was filled with a thumbnail of a red doll watching a massive explosion with a blank expression.

A video screen that was not just profound, but downright solemn.

Soon after, the 2x speed theme song of a certain mart blared through the office.

“Hmm hmm…… na na na…… happy happy G-mart…….”

Lee Junhwi hummed along to the melody while flipping through documents with his ever-present subtle smile.

“…….”

[…….]

“L-let’s just go out.”

Chae Jiseok, who had been watching this scene, rubbed his face and guided Habin to the adjacent room.

◆◇◆◇◆

The adjacent room was Chae Jiseok’s personal office as the Vice Guild Master.

Sitting on the sofa, Chae Jiseok added:

“……It might sound like an excuse, but Secretary Lee Junhwi is actually quite a workaholic despite his behavior. Even when he’s singing about quitting, he often brings us work and asks us to do it together. He’s a founding member who joined because he agreed with the welfare foundation’s purpose.”

The founding of Solaris.

Chae Jiseok still remembered when Lee Junhwi came to see his sister, Jise, back then.

“At first, Secretary-nim couldn’t believe nuna’s plan either. We couldn’t tell him about the precognition skill then or now.”

Chae Jiseok recalled that time. Lee Junhwi questioning Jise with an incredulous expression.

‘So, you’re saying you’ll establish a welfare foundation and recover over 70% of the Gate damage in such a short time? Is that even possible?’

‘Yes. I’ll make it possible.’

‘Where will the funds come from?’

‘I’ll earn them. It should take about a few months, I think.’

‘……You’re crazy.’

‘I hear that often.’

Jise, unfazed, smiled brightly as she took out a box.

‘But you can place your expectations on this.’

‘This is…….’

When she opened the box, a holographic blueprint that looked straight out of a movie unfolded in midair. A sight that seemed impossible with current technology.

Staring at it blankly, Junhwi asked:

‘Is this…… made with an item?’

‘No, it’s just a device I made. You can check the information to confirm if it’s an item or not.’

Junhwi’s expression sank.

‘……I thought the media’s claims about Chae Jise being a genius were just hype.’

‘It is hype.’

‘Underestimated?’

‘I trust you’ll keep this secret.’

As Jise gestured, the blueprint in the air changed. Underground base designs, welfare foundation establishment plans, and more.

They were clearly important information to anyone. Junhwi sharply pointed out:

‘This must be confidential. Why are you showing it to me when I haven’t even joined the guild yet?’

‘Because I want to recruit you?’

Jise tilted her head. She spoke with her characteristic eye-smile:

‘I’ll be frank. The purpose of the Solaris Guild I’m about to create isn’t wealth, fame, or power. It’s solely about saving lives, support, and restoration.’

‘……’

‘I made this offer because I think you have the same goals as I do. You’ve rejected all guild founding and joining offers so far, right? Saying they don’t align with your principles.’

‘This might not align with me either.’

‘Yes. That’s true. If it doesn’t suit you, you can leave anytime with no strings attached.’

‘Well, you might talk about establishing a welfare foundation now, but it could all be lip service, couldn’t it? Your heart might change later when the guild becomes successful……. I’ve seen countless people like that.’

Countless guilds had tried to recruit Lee Junhwi before. All of them pretended to have grand ideals, but in reality, they were organizations for personal gain and glory.

He didn’t necessarily condemn that, but it wasn’t what Lee Junhwi wanted either.

But Jise nodded readily.

‘Hmm, then let’s do this. If I can’t establish the welfare foundation within a year, you can just terminate the contract and leave. No penalty fees required. We’ll even pay you instead. We won’t try to keep you.’

‘……’

‘What do you say? Will you join us?’

‘……’

After a long silence, Lee Junhwi picked up the contract laid out before him.

‘……Let me warn you in advance, I don’t mince words. If it doesn’t suit me, I’ll leave immediately. Remember that.’

“……And so, fortunately, he’s been working with us without quitting since then. As you know, nuna really did carry out the welfare projects properly.”

Chae Jiseok nodded as he sipped the cola he’d brought from the other room.

“Actually, Secretary-nim sometimes says when he’s drunk that nuna’s smiling face back then was a bit of a scam. He says he feels somewhat duped when he thinks about it now.”

“Agreed. Unni’s face is cheating.”

Habin concurred. Honestly, even when trying to recruit Hyun Habin before, Chae Jise seemed to be quite the repeat offender(?). Jiseok tilted his head.

“……But honestly, I don’t understand why everyone makes such a fuss about it being unfair.”

Chae Jiseok, Jise’s only blood relative, glanced at the family photo on the desk. He muttered indifferently:

“Nuna just has nuna’s face. It’s especially scary when she’s angry.”

Hearing this, Habin poked Jiseok.

“Chae-ssi! Are you full? How can you say that about unni’s face? Her nickname is ‘Gyeonggukjise’ [Beauty that can topple a nation]!”

Gyeonggukjise.

As soon as he heard that word, Jiseok spat out his cola.

“Cough, Gyeongguk……?! What did you say? Are you crazy?”

“Right. It’s crazy. Unni doesn’t topple nations, she saves them. It’s the wrong nickname.”

“No, that’s not the issue! These people, even their obsession has limits! Sure, our nuna is famous for her beauty, but hearing things like this sometimes tests my patience, you know?!”

Chae Jiseok shouted as if addressing Chae Jise’s fan club somewhere out there, making an incredulous expression towards the empty air, before shaking his head.

“……Anyway, I should tease nuna with this next time.”

“You’re going to tease unni with that?”

“Ah, well. Nuna teased me by reading the obsessive comments about me last time. I have to retaliate.”

If I call her Gyeonggukjise-nim instead of her name from now on, she’ll probably come at me with a gun telling me to stop.

Chae Jiseok, who had been answering excitedly, gradually darkened his expression.

“……Of course, after nuna returns.”

Chae Jise, who had gone to the 50th floor. Right now, her return was the biggest issue.

Jiseok returned to the main topic and began speaking with a serious expression.

“First, about the security issue, it should be safe to talk here. There’s no place safer than our facility in this country.”

Indeed, the Vice Guild Master’s office where they were had security that was incomparable to the training institute director’s office.

As siblings with as many secrets as Hyun Habin, it was a place built with utmost focus on security from the ground up.

After looking around and feeling assured about the security, Habin finally spoke.

“So what kind of letter did unni leave?”

“……A will.”

“What?”

“To be precise, a will set to be revealed to me and the secretary 7 days from now.”

“What did it say?”

Chae Jiseok sighed and tapped on the keyboard. A list of data popped up on the screen.

“It’s a message set to be delivered a few days after she left, but we found it first in the database while working. We haven’t read it all yet, but…….”

He rubbed his face with a heavy expression.

“To summarize, if she doesn’t return within 7 days, we should assume she’s dead by then. She always approached each conquest prepared for death, but this is the first time nuna has properly organized a manual, confidential documents, and even a will in the database.”

“…….”

“She must have judged it to be that dangerous.”

Chae Jise, ranked 2nd in Korea.

If someone like that is considering death, just how dangerous a place could it be?

A brief silence fell over the office. Habin asked:

“So, you want to follow unni?”

“…….”

Chae Jise, who left for the 50th floor saying not to worry despite concerned dissuasions and worries.

She who hid this will and maintained a nonchalant expression until the very end.

Chae Jiseok was clearly blaming himself for not stopping his sister.

But.

‘Something’s odd.’

Habin tilted her head.

Is it really that dangerous for Chae Jise?

If Chae Jise had judged it to be dangerous enough for the 50th floor expedition to be wiped out-

Given Chae Jise’s personality, she would have not only refrained from going on the expedition but would have tried to stop everyone else.

Because this isn’t an expedition she’s participating in alone.

The 50th floor conquest involves many valuable rankers, including Fides and Kang Taeseo. If even one of the participating rankers were to lose their life, it would be a huge loss for humanity. Chae Jise would surely know this.

“The fact that she participated without trying to stop it means unni also thought this was quite worth challenging.”

“That’s right. The will might just be left behind for the most unlikely of scenarios. But.”

Chae Jiseok sighed.

“Still…….”

Chae Jiseok trailed off, closing his mouth without finishing his sentence. Seeing this, Ahezar chimed in:

[It seems you’re quite worried about your sister. I understand that feeling.]

His voice was full of sympathy, bordering on being moved. If Ahezar were human, he might have had flushed cheeks and teary eyes.

[Moreover, wanting to follow her to a dangerous place out of concern for your sister is truly admirable! Then of course we can help! If you’re worried, we could even drop by the 50th floor for a moment! What are you hesitating for, after all, Hyun Habin, you……!]

“Kim Jaljal, calm down.”

[…….]

Habin, who had abruptly silenced Ahezar’s impassioned speech, slowly replied.

“……To state the facts first, I can’t send Chae-ssi to the 50th floor alone. There’s no way for me to do that.”

[What are you saying! Are you going to pretend not to know until the end?!]

Ahezar was furious at this statement.

“……So it was true after all.”

Chae Jiseok nodded as if resigned. Then he smiled awkwardly.

“I’m sorry. To be honest, I was just grasping at straws. You always exceed common sense, and you brought up the 50th floor last time, so I thought maybe… But how could a person have such an ability…….”

“No, you should listen to the end, Chae-ssi. I’m only saying I can’t send you ‘alone’.”

“What?”

Habin propped her chin. She glanced at the skill window that popped up beside her.

You can enter interdimensional space through nearby errors.

*Skill level is low. Maximum of 2 companions, including the caster, can enter

“……It says ‘two companions’.”

Habin shrugged and added.

“So I have no choice but to take you and go together myself.”

“……?”

To Jiseok, who still seemed not to understand what she meant, Habin replied again.

“If you’re going, you have to go with me.”

At Habin’s final words, Chae Jiseok dropped the cola can he was holding with a clang.

You should have listened to the end of what she was saying in Korean.