Chapter 245
Chapter 245
The café was in Gangnam, Seoul .
Lee Hoon rushed toward it . The road was blocked more than he expected, and the appointment time was 2:30 .
‘The time now . . . ’
It was 2:28 . This was a close call .
“Sigh . . . ” Lee Hoon took a few deep breaths before entering the cafe . The cafe was already crowded, but there was one interesting thing .
‘Why are they all looking at one spot?’
The people inside were all looking at the same place . Some pretended not to look, while others stared openly . Lee Hoon’s gaze also turned to the subject of attention in the cafe .
‘Wow, he’s handsome . ’
The one who caught Lee Hoon’s eyes was a handsome man who looked like a celebrity . He was sitting in a chair, but with one glance, Lee Hoon could see that the man was tall and his proportions were good .
‘Anyway, he isn’t the person I’m here to meet . ’
Lee Hoon took out his smartphone and pressed the stored number . In the meantime, Lee Hoon wondered what Alley Leader would look like . Alley Leader was over 10 centimeters taller than Lee Hoon and had a moderate tone of voice .
‘I don’t know his face . I’ve only seen him with a mask on . ’
Soon, Lee Hoon heard a voice he knew come through the smartphone: -Have you reached? I am sitting in the middle of the cafe .
Lee Hoon searched the cafe according to Hyeonu’s instructions . The cafe was so spacious that there were several tables that could be described as being in the center . Still, there was something strange .
‘Why is he holding a phone?’
The handsome man was also holding a smartphone .
“Are you wearing a brown coat? I’m wearing a black turtleneck shirt . ”
-Ah, you’ve arrived? I’m over here .
The handsome man, Hyeonu, waved . For the first time in his life, Lee Hoon felt the world was very unfair . He had such a thought . Hyeonu had tremendous skills in Arena, handsome looks, a tall height, and legs that seemed to never end .
‘This is too unfair . . . ’
Lee Hoon slowly approached Hyeonu like the world had stopped .
“Hello? I’m Gang Hyeonu, also known as Alley Leader . ”
As a greeting flowed from Hyeonu’s mouth, Lee Hoon’s stopped world started moving again .
“Yes, hello . I’m Lee Hoon . ”
They shook their right hands .
“Let’s sit down and talk . No, have you eaten? If you haven’t, let’s go to a restaurant . It’s a bit late, but lunchtime hasn’t ended yet . ”
Lee Hoon nodded silently . He had been unable to eat properly due to all his preparations for the appointment .
“Then let’s go . Did you bring a car?”
“No, I took a taxi because it is hard to park here . ”
“Then we’ll take my car . There is nowhere to eat in this area . ”
Lee Hoon followed Hyeonu and left the cafe . It was like a kindergarten student following a teacher .
“I’ll bring my car, so wait a minute . ” Hyeonu left with just these words .
Lee Hoon, who was left alone, thought about what type of car that Hyeonu would bring .
‘BMW? Audi? Or Benz?’
What type of car would Alley Leader ride? It was an instinctive curiosity .
‘A Porsche . . . !!!’
Just then, a red sports sedan stopped in front of Lee Hoon with a heavy exhaust sound . The front of the sedan had the Porsche’s specific design and emblem .
“Get in the car . It’s cold,” Hyeoonu said .
Lee Hoon got into the car wordlessly .
***
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“We’re eating at a place like this?” Lee Hoon shook his head confusedly when he saw the restaurant Hyeonu stopped at . To Lee Hoon, Gang Hyeonu—Alley Leader—seemed like a person who would never come to such a restaurant . Hotels, restaurants, and foreign food specialty stores—he looked like he would go to such places instead .
“My favorite dishes are fried chicken and rice served in soup . Can’t you eat hangover soup [1] ? Do you want to go somewhere else?”
The place where Hyeonu stopped at was a hangover soup restaurant with an old sign that was on the verge of falling down . Lee Hoon concluded inwardly, ‘He is very free and easy . ’
“No, I like eating that,” he answered urgently when he saw that Hyeonu seemed like he would turn the steering wheel and head to another place at any moment .
“This is a great place to eat . It is a place that only locals know . It is a hidden place . ”
There was a loud noise as they entered the restaurant, showing that the door was pretty old . Hyeonu naturally sat at a table and started setting up . He pulled out a piece of tissue, placed it on the table, and then set up a spoon and chopsticks on it . After completing this series of actions, he started ordering .
“Auntie, over here . ”
“You’re here again with someone I’ve never seen before . . . What about that poor guy?” The owner of the restaurant welcomed Hyeonu . It seemed like it wasn’t a lie when Hyeonu said he came often .
“Yeongchan? He is playing games at home,” Hyeonu replied .
The restaurant owner told Hyeonu, “Take care of him . You need to take care of a child who isn’t very good . ”
“Why Yeongchan? Auntie, you may not know, but he is very popular . ”
“That guy? He can’t be that popular . Would you like the same thing today?” The restaurant owner snorted at Hyeonu’s words . This made Hyeonu laugh even more . Yeongchan and Hyeonu—putting aside everything else, it was obvious who would be more popular just by looking at their appearance .
“Wait a minute,” Hyeonu said and then turned to Lee Hoon to inquire, “Are you okay with bone hangover soup? There’s quite a lot in one serving . It tastes delicious as well . ”
Startled by Hyeonu’s actions, Lee Hoon replied casually, “Yes, I like eating bone hangover soup . I also like potato soup . ”
He seemed to have lost his mind for a while .
‘Steady your mind, your mind . ’
Lee Hoon shook his head and weakly slapped his cheeks .
“So shall we talk first?” Hyeonu asked .
“Yes . ”
“Heder—no, Lee Hoon, as you know, I am making my professional debut next season . I’m in charge of Big Stars and the captain of the current Crescent Moon . ”
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“I know this . I have seen it everywhere . ”
Everyone who played Arena knew about Alley Leader’s declaration, and they were interested in who would be on the team . Hyeonu and Lee Hoon went over the topic .
“So how did you pick the players? Am I the first one you accepted?” Lee Hoon asked .
Hyeonu answered Lee Hoon’s question with a grin, “Sorry, Lee Hoon-ssi isn’t the first one . You are the last one . I first asked the people I had already decided upon right at the start . ”
‘The last one?’ Lee Hoon cocked his head slightly at Hyeonu’s last words .
It hadn’t been long since Hyeonu’s declaration of going pro, which meant it was almost impossible to recruit more than 10 players within this period of time . Lee Hoon wondered, “How many people are there in total?”
“Six people . Isn’t it a lot? Still, I have to meet Quency’s rules, so it can’t be helped . ” Hyeonu smiled .
Nevertheless, Lee Hoon couldn’t smile . He just nodded with an awkward expression .
‘Six people?’ His thoughts became complicated .
Six people—was it a possible number? What could six people do? Wouldn’t it be ruined like all the previous attempts previously? Then Hyeonu’s voice full of conviction brought Lee Hoon out of his thoughts .
“I know that it will be hard . However, isn’t this fun? I am Alley Leader after all . Alley Leader . ”
Miraculously, Lee Hoon’s heart relaxed .
‘Alley Leader’—they were just two words .
Yet the sense of stability he felt from these two words was miraculous . Lee Hoon was about to open his mouth to speak when the hangover soup came out . The restaurant owner said, “I put in a lot today, so eat to your heart’s content . Next time, bring him with you . ”
After the restaurant owner disappeared, there was a strange silence between the two of them even though the area around them was full of noise . Lee Hoon spoke up, “However, can I do it? My past of having been a proxy knight will follow me around like a scarlet letter . I don’t have much to lose, so I’ll do it if there is an opportunity for me to do so . It’s just that . . . ”
‘It will be detrimental to you . ’ Lee Hoon swallowed these words .
Hyeonu pulled out a tissue and wiped his hands . “Don’t you know? It is already okay to some extent . ”
“This . . . ”
“I know . I can’t be so optimistic . But there is still plenty of time . Three weeks . By that time, public opinion will be different from what it is now . ”
Hyeonu was confident .
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‘It will be different from now . ’
Currently, Hyeonu had a secret plan . He had heard some pretty interesting things . If it were confirmed to be true, then Lee Hoon was a must-have addition to Hyeonu’s team . He had to join even if he was a grandfather and not a professional gamer .
Hyeonu asked, “So you will do it? Please answer . ”
“I’m just grateful you made such a suggestion,” Lee Hoon said in response .
Hyeonu and Lee Hoon shook hands once again .
***
Hyeonu separated from Lee Hoon and returned to the parking lot where Hope was parked . After opening the door, Hyeonu entered his car . Then he took out his smartphone and made a phone call before starting up the car .
“Yes, Kale . It’s done . All that remains is public opinion . How do we make people accept it? That is all there is to it . "
The person Hyeonu called was Kale, knowing he would be curious about the outcome of today’s meeting .
-That’s good news . No, wasn’t it a set thing?
Kale had anticipated the results from the moment Hyeonu told him that a meeting with Lee Hoon had been set . He didn’t think there would be any idiots who would reject Alley Leader’s offer .
‘He wouldn’t have given up being a proxy knight if it was just about making money . He is a person with his own beliefs . ’
-By the way, do you really believe that? Don’t you think it is too vague? Kale asked in a worried tone .
His questions were regarding a file that an anonymous informant had sent to Alley Leader’s channel . The contents were shocking, but they weren’t reliable . They couldn’t rule out the possibility it was someone’s joke .
“You mean the broker? I believe that it is true . Why? Do you think such victory or defeat manipulation is impossible? In the past, Korea alone had a number of victory or defeat manipulations . Of course, it isn’t in regular sports but also e-sports . Don’t think it is a safe zone just because it is a virtual reality game,” Hyeonu said firmly .
The tip was a possible story . There were also too many details and concrete pieces of evidence for it to be fake .
“It is pus that needs to be squeezed out anyway . If you hesitate, then it can’t be controlled . Even if it isn’t true, don’t you think a vaccination is needed?” Hyeonu spoke quickly, pretending to be a bit agitated . It was only by doing so that Kale would feel the pressure and take action . “Honestly, I can ignore this . I’m just going to play for one season before retiring . Heder? He will just be scolded slightly . However, what about Nike? How many players have you contracted and how much money have you invested in league matches around the world?”
-We’ll give you an answer in a few days . I think it is a matter I have to consult with my boss .
“I understand . So let’s meet in South Korea . ”
[1] Soups in South Korea eaten as a hangover cure . Typically consists of Napa cabbage, vegetables, and meat in a beef broth .
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