“It’s an honor to see you again, beautiful Miss Xiaolin…”.

She looked a bit flustered by my warm greeting.

“Is that so? But… I don’t think I’ve met you before, so how do you know my name?” Xiaolin asked.

“I couldn’t forget your beautiful figure when I saw you that night. I’ve been searching for you,” I replied.

“Lies…”

“I’m not lying, Miss Xiaolin,” I told her.

“Ha…”

“Didn’t you come out because you wanted to help?” I asked.

“I don’t feel all that great because you dumped me once… To be exact, I came out here to see how the man who dumped me was going to die,” she casually stated.

‘This sly bitch!’

I knew she was going to act like this, but still…

‘I’m sure she’ll help.’

If she didn’t want to, she wouldn’t have shown herself like this. The reason she was playing hard to get was probably that she wanted to make a deal with me. Xiaolin might be part of the Republic, but she answered my call by appearing at the heart of the Holy Empire, so in some ways, she was breaking the rules. Even though Kim Hyun-Sung, me and the crazy Cha Hee-Ra were the only ones who had seen her, I guess she could see herself benefiting from all this. Thinking that she came out just to see me made me feel overly self-conscious, but based on her reaction in the underground auction house, there was a chance she might help. The fact that she wanted to negotiate with me was undeniable proof.

‘Although, I don’t know what kind of negotiation she’s thinking…’

I felt a bit flustered by our lovely regressor’s reaction because not only was he looking at Xiaolin angrily, but he wasn’t looking at me kindly. He wasn’t being hostile, but he looked as if he wanted an explanation. When she called me the Masked Man, I instantly came up with a decent excuse.

“We met at a masquerade,” I told him.

“Oh… I see,” Kim Hyun-Sung replied.

“While the party was out on an expedition, Miss Hye-Jin and I met her,” I added.

Jo Hye-Jin should confirm the alibi.

“You went with Miss Hye-Jin?” he asked.

“I recall rejecting her because she made a difficult request. I didn’t think she remained in the city, so I’m relieved she stayed here. Do you know her?” I asked him.

“No… I don’t know her,” he said.

While I was trying to convince Kim Hyun-Sung, I heard Xiaolin speaking, “Are you going to ignore me after calling for me? Is it okay if I just leave then?”

“O-Of course not! No need to feel upset, Miss Xiaolin. I’m really sorry about last time. My partner back then was a bit sensitive about my safety…” I told her.

I felt bad about making Jo Hye-Jin into a delusional person, but making a good impression on Xiaolin was more important than anything, and even as we were talking, Cha Hee-Ra was still charging toward us.

“I recall you being the uncomfortable one back then.” Xiaolin pointed out.

“Hahaha. Why would I refuse a beauty? Don’t you think the fault is on the mask for covering my subordinate and your beautiful face? I knew you were beautiful, but you’re more beautiful than I thought. I feel like I’m going to fall deep into your eyes,” I told her.

“Bullshit,” Xiaolin called out.

“Why would I lie to you?” I asked her.

“That’s because you’re desperate right now,” she casually said.

“People usually become fond of each other during a desperate situation, and all the main characters in movies usually end up with each other that way. How about helping out instead of watching? We’re not in the best situation—” I explained.

“I don’t have a problem helping, but asking me to stop the berserk Mercenary Queen is quite an expensive request… I don’t even know whether I’ll be able to stop her, so we need to negotiate something,” she interrupted.

“I’m not asking you to fight her with everything you have. I’ll be very grateful if you just stay with us for thirty minutes… I’ll do my best to fulfill your requests. Of course, that includes getting out of Castle Rock safely,” I told her.

“Hm… thirty minutes. It wouldn’t be that easy,” she mumbled.

“How about gold coins?”

“Well…”

“If you want materials…” I added.

“I have money…”.

“How about I treat you to something nice? Not only that, but I’ll fulfill whatever wish you have to the best of my abilities,” I said, sweetening the pot.

“Hm…”

“Please help, beautiful and noble Miss Xiaolin.”

“Then… since it seems urgent, shall we establish the contract with this?” she asked.

“Under the condition that you subdue instead of killing her,” I stated.

“You don’t have to worry about that. She won’t die unless I’m trying to kill her. As for that crazy gorilla… It wouldn’t be so bad to have that gorilla be indebted to me, so it’s beneficial for me too,” Xiaolin explained.

I wasn’t sure how, but she knew Cha Hee-Ra. If Xiaolin had a high position somewhere, then it was possible she met Cha Hee-Ra at one point, as the latter represented the Holy Empire.

‘Is this good?’

No matter what happened, the fact that she would stop Cha Hee-Ra was the most important. Even though it seemed like they had a bad relationship…

‘It’s not bad.’

When Xiaolian quietly extended her hand out, a man appeared and quietly handed her a weapon inside a chest. After grabbing the weapon quietly, she stretched the weapon out.

‘A whip?’

It seemed like Cha Hee-Ra wasn’t worried about her. As Cha Hee-Ra continued charging toward me, Xiaolian locked a massive amount of magic onto her. With the sound of something splitting the air, Cha Hee-Ra’s body was pushed to the left.

Booooooom!

When I heard the loud sound, I couldn’t help but stare at Xiaolin in a daze.

‘Is she really that strong?’

I didn’t look at her stats properly before, so obviously, I looked at her again.

[Checking Player Xiaolin’s Status Window and Potential.]

[Name - Xiaolin]

[Title - Sadist]

[Age - 22]

[Nature - Curious Explorer]

[Unique Habit - A Strangling Romantist]

[Job - Whip Expert - Epic Rank]

[Job Effect - Acquired basic swordsmanship knowledge]

[Job Effect - Acquired intermediate whip knowledge]

[Job Effect - Acquired advanced martial arts knowledge]

[Job Effect - Acquired advanced whip knowledge]

[Job Effect - Acquired advanced magic operation knowledge]

[Stats]

[Strength - 87/Above epic growth limit]

[Agility - 89/Above legendary growth limit]

[Stamina - 71/Above rare growth limit]

[Intelligence - 81/Above epic growth limit]

[Endurance - 64/Above rare growth limit]

[Luck - 81/Below epic growth limit]

[Magic - 89/Above epic growth limit]

[Attribute - Enthusiastic Whipping - Epic Rank]

[Recovers HP in proportion to the damage dealt with the whip.]

[Overall Review - Although her stamina and endurance stats are low, she has stats that support the basics. I would like to applaud her for the fact that she can continuously recover her health through her attribute. Her nature is great, but not her habit. She’s a player that may discover something new by being curious about dangerous things. I’m sure she’s not someone you want to get close to.]

Xiaolin was strong, but she wasn’t strong enough to fight against Cha Hee-Ra, as there was a big difference between their strength. She didn’t seem very strong based on her overall stats, but what bothered me a bit was her whip.

[Gear - Urd, The Whip That Punished The Goddess - Legendary Rank]

[A weapon discovered in an ancient temple. No one knows who or how it was used, but many believe the whip was used to punish the goddess. Even though it was buried for a long time, it still possesses most of its powers. The owner of the item will have 10 random stat points permanently decreased, and in return, the magic of the whip will increase.]

‘I knew it...’

I knew Xiaolin had something up her sleeves, but I had never imagined she possessed a legendary item. It seems like most of its functions was still inactive, but there was a big difference between the whip and my Juliena because Juliena wasn’t awake yet. I finally understood why she agreed to stop Cha Hee-Ra for a short period of time.

‘Her stat points are permanently decreased by ten points…’

The whip had to be powerful enough that sacrificing ten stat points was worth it. It seemed like her subordinates weren’t going to participate in the battle. I was certain they would protect her if she ended up in a dangerous situation, but since Cha Hee-Ra wasn’t near us just yet, Xiaolin was able to fight her on her own.

The explosions continued as the buildings around us fell.

“Grrrrr!”

When Cha Hee-Ra felt a direct threat to her life, she no longer looked at me. She immediately jumped out of a building and shot toward the crazy woman with the whip. I guess Kim Hyun-Sung thought he no longer had to carry me around, as he immediately headed toward the wall, but I wasn’t planning on going with him.

“I think you can head to the wall first. There’s something else I need to take care of…” I told him.

“What?” Kim Hyun-Sung asked.

“I have insurance in mind. Oh! Could you send over the Red Mercenary Guild members here? I think I should be fine now, but whenever we get into this kind of situation, we have to stop one of them,” I explained.

“I think I understand. I’ll head over to the wall then,” he said.

“Okay, Mr. Hyun-Sung.”

“Also…”

“Yes?”

“I’d appreciate it if you could explain what’s going on today in detail,” he requested.

“Of course…” I answered.

‘I’m sure he’s suspicious.’

In addition to knowing a powerful woman of the Republic, I even knew where she was and had asked for her help. Of course, I obviously had no idea where she lived or what she had been doing, but I did yell her name out, and she responded to it. Honestly, I completely forgot about our meeting back in the underground auction house.

Manipulating the monsters in a way that they would slightly break through the western area was part of the plan. Of course, we were going to push them back at once after they had invaded this area. However, the troops in the western area must have been reinforced by now, as the guild master of the Giant Guild was in command. I wasn’t sure what would happen, but I didn’t have to worry about this place getting destroyed in the meantime.

“Rooooooooooooar!”

Of course, it would be a different story if those crazy monsters outside could fly…

“I’ll see you later,” Kim Hyun-Sung said.

“Okay, Mr. Hyun-Sung.”

Our lovely regressor must’ve been worried as well because he immediately left. The defense war and raid were probably still happening outside the castle, and even though there probably wouldn’t be any problems, I had to make one more stop just in case.

‘I am scared to go outside, though…’

Since Xiaolin might pull something on Cha Hee-Ra, I decided to watch her while hiding until the Red Mercenary Guild members arrived. While it was difficult to imagine Cha Hee-Ra dying or getting hurt…

‘Anything can still happen.’

For now, watching Xiaolin’s every move was the right thing to do.

“Crazy bitch!” Xiaolin yelled.

“Grrrrrr!”

There was a crazy battle of monsters. I initially thought the defense war would end even if I just ordered and pointed with my fingers from the back, but I couldn’t help but be upset when I realized I was going through hardships despite being in the back.