S-Rank is My Side Character (Completed Main Story) - Chapter 8

[He says it’s real—that it bears the seal of the Four Archangels,] says the Ruler of Chaos. [If he breaks the Oath of the Sacred Flame, that man will fall straight into hell on the spot,] says the Ruler of Chaos.

Hmm… um…

After pondering for a long while even amid the stream of incoming messages, Na Ri placed the still-blank contract onto the table.

Just as the Greek and Roman mythological Constellations had their “Oath upon the River Styx,” the Archangels had the Oath of the Sacred Flame.

An oath sworn upon one’s own god—if broken, he would immediately plummet into hell for the sin of blaspheming against faith itself.

“This… this is something even my Constellation wouldn’t easily approve! Yet you came bearing an actual seal! Please believe me! I’m being completely sincere!”

Kang I Hyeon clasped his hands together and looked up pleadingly, eyes glistening as if about to cry. Na Ri, who was always soft-hearted toward handsome men in tears, flinched slightly.

‘Maybe… maybe this really is okay…’

As Na Ri hesitated, an indirect message from the Ruler of Chaos came down.

[He says do whatever you want—he’ll handle it himself if anything goes wrong,] the Rulator of Chaos says, staring directly at you.

And Na Ri felt the Ruler of Chaos’s gaze. Unlike other Constellations, they resided extremely far away—truly, unimaginably distant—but Na Ri could still sense them.

[He says he’s here because of you,] the Ruler of Chaos says, looking down at you.

Though often mischievous and occasionally causing trouble for her, this was the very being who always had her back. After another long moment of hesitation, Na Ri glanced briefly at Kang I Hyeon and spoke.

“…I-I’m the client here.”

“That’s fine. Then your condition is that I won’t reveal Rude’s true identity, correct?”

Na Ri nodded. Kang I Hyeon picked up a golden pen and began writing the terms onto the contract. Na Ri watched him closely as he wrote.

Golden hair, eyes like a calm lake, broad shoulders, gentle eyes, and a handsome face—even his personality was kind. Of course he was; he had been personally chosen by the Four Archangels as their sole avatar.

‘I-I feel a little guilty…’

Until now, Na Ri had witnessed every harsh word and near-murder attempt, yet this man had even proposed the Oath of the Sacred Flame himself first. He practically radiated a halo from behind.

‘T-True to form, Saint Oppa… If it’s him, maybe I could even hand over my Boss’s favorite spot…’

[The Ruler of Chaos laughs, telling you to snap out of it.]

“Oh, but… I also have one proposal from my side. Is that alright?”

“What… what is it? Go ahead.”

Normally, Na Ri would have instantly replied: No. Absolutely not. No conditions whatsoever. Only things exactly as I say. But she wasn’t so conscienceless as to act rudely toward someone who had clearly shown himself to be genuinely kind.

Knowing she herself was partly at fault, Na Ri looked at Kang I Hyeon with unusual docility. After a brief hesitation, Kang I Hyeon finally managed to speak.

“I’ll keep your secret… in exchange…”

He tightly shut his eyes—almost like the pure-hearted male lead from a romance manga confessing to his first love.

“Please join our guild, Seongjeon!”

“Rejected. Absolutely not.”

Kang I Hyeon’s eyebrows drooped into a sad frown.

Kind, my foot—he was just another ordinary Hunter trying to recruit her into his own guild!

At that thought, Na Ri’s expression hardened instantly. There was nothing more to discuss.

“No. It’s Seongjeon! Don’t you know how much I hate Seongjeon?”

“Y-You hate us?! Why…? W-We’re a great guild! We guarantee excellent work-life balance, pay well, never interfere in personal lives, have a wonderful Guild Master, and… and… we’ve got pride too!”

“Anyway, no. I absolutely hate Seongjeon. Looks like I really should just kill you after all.”

Na Ri pulled out the Black Half Scissors from her inventory again. This wasn’t working. Kang I Hyeon decided to play his final card.

“B-But you don’t have any money, right?!”

Na Ri froze mid-action and stared at Kang I Hyeon—clearly struck right in her weak spot.

It had only been a guess, but it seemed he’d hit the mark! Clenching his fists, Kang I Hyeon pressed on.

“You’ve never sold any of your high-grade dungeon items so far, have you?”

“How do you know that…?”

“Could it be… because selling them would expose your identity as Rude?”

Rude had a poor reputation for hoarding items selfishly. But it wasn’t just about hoarding—he had never once sold high-grade items on the open market.

People had all sorts of theories: that Rude was collecting specific boss monster drops, or that he displayed the items at home like trophies.

But having seen Rude’s true identity, Kang I Hyeon now thought he understood.

‘He can’t sell them because the name on official documents doesn’t match!’

Never underestimate South Korea’s National Tax Service. They knew everything people did—they just chose to look the other way sometimes.

Hunter transactions were strictly regulated by the state, especially for high-grade items. The tax authorities tracked which guild bought or sold what, and for private trades, exactly how much money flowed into whose bank account. Indeed, when it came to taxes, the Korean National Tax Service was relentless.

The government was desperate to uncover Rude’s true identity—if items from gates he’d cleared started appearing on the market, they could easily trace back the seller.

Guild-affiliated Hunters could transact under their guild’s name and process taxes through guild channels, but Rude wasn’t affiliated with any guild. Even the black market wasn’t safe for him due to government surveillance.

“So… so what?!”

“If you join Seongjeon, you can sell items under the guild’s name!”

“…!”

Na Ri’s pupils trembled. Yes—that was the right angle. Kang I Hyeon seized the moment to press harder.

“Then… you could legally dispose of your dungeon items without ever exposing your true identity!”

Na Ri’s heart pounded. In her inventory, stacks of boss monster loot shimmered before her mind’s eye.

All this time, terrified of government tracking, she’d only sold low-grade monster drops. How bitterly frustrating it had been—no matter how many monsters she slaughtered, it never turned into real money.

But if she joined Seongjeon, she could legally sell them… Just how much would all this be worth…?

[The Ruler of Chaos chuckles, saying our Na Ri only accepts deals when money’s involved.]

Na Ri—the capitalist monster who’d created an alt account purely for money—her mind began racing at lightning speed… then suddenly stopped.

“Ah—no, wait. But… why do you want me to join? You don’t even know who I really am.”

Na Ri barely managed to snap out of capitalism’s hypnotic grip.

This won’t do, Shin Bit Na Ri! Since when did you become this easy? Don’t you need to maintain the dignity of the strongest?

“Huh? Well… of course you’re strong, and—and I really admire you! I’ve been a devoted fan for ages! Plus… our Guild Master is desperately trying to find Mr. Rude! He’s said repeatedly how much he wants to work with you…”

“Then rejected. No. You expect me to wear an avatar disguise all day just to work with you? That’s such a hassle.”

“A-Aren’t avatars just illusions? Can’t you just poof them into place?”

“What? No! It’s exhausting! Being Rude is like being an idol from another world!”

“Another world…? Huh? What was that?”

“Ah, never mind… Anyway, it’s annoying and I don’t like it. If that’s your reason, forget it. I’ll just keep living like this.”

Na Ri stared pointedly at Kang I Hyeon, as if saying, ‘Hurry up and write the contract already.’

He couldn’t lose here!

Kang I Hyeon steeled his resolve. He wouldn’t let this chance slip away—he would fulfill his dream of working alongside Rude!

“A-Also… if you join Seongjeon, you could resolve many other issues!”

“What, selling dungeon items?”

“W-Well, not just that… things like conflicts among Hunters…”

“I’m the strongest—why would I need help with that?”

Na Ri dismissed him with an indifferent wave, scratching her ear. That wasn’t it. Kang I Hyeon quickly drew another card.

“Things like… holiday gift packages…”

“That does sound tempting… but it’s probably just ham gift sets, right? Our Boss gives those too.”

“No! It’s much better than that…”

Na Ri yawned. Another failure! He had to find what Rude truly wanted. Kang I Hyeon racked his brain. Surely one of the Big Four Guilds had something that’d interest Mr. Rude!

“We can even manage media coverage…!”

“…Media?”

Na Ri instantly turned to face Lee Hyeon. Her sudden shift in attitude made Lee Hyeon blink in surprise. This… this was it! He’d finally found Rude’s weakness!

“Yes! Our guild has a PR department—they manage online posts, news articles, you name it. As a public figure, Hunters often need reputation management, and we handle incident cleanups too…”

“H-Hmm… that does sound… pretty good…”

Na Ri stroked her chin, deep in thought. Rude was wildly popular, but that also meant he had many detractors. Na Ri, as Rude, had never responded to rumors about herself, making her vulnerable to smear campaigns.

Moreover, ever since Rude began operating in southern Gyeonggi Province, housing prices there had skyrocketed.

Rude’s appearances were consistently in southern Gyeonggi, active from 10 p.m. to 6 a.m. Some speculated his Constellation was a malevolent deity only manifesting at night—but in truth, it was simply because his convenience store shift ended at that hour.

Anyway, for six years, Rude had ruled over Gyeonggi’s nights—meaning Hunters there were guaranteed protected rest periods.

Consequently, countless Hunters migrated to Gyeonggi for better work-life balance. As Hunters flocked in, civilians followed.

Thus, southern Gyeonggi’s housing prices soared uncontrollably.

Public outrage grew so intense that politicians found themselves in a bind. The classic solution? When internal conflict arises, create an external scapegoat.

The government decided to manipulate public opinion negatively and pin the blame on a rookie Hunter.

An unaffiliated Hunter with falsified documents and unknown allegiance was the perfect target—especially since this Hunter never responded to rumors at all.

And so, Rude was singled out as the prime culprit behind southern Gyeonggi’s housing crisis.

Online backlash might seem trivial—but facing it firsthand changed your perspective.

Worse yet, this was a coordinated smear campaign orchestrated by powerful elites, deliberately crafting a villainous image. No matter how skilled a Hunter was, they couldn’t withstand organized political attacks and keyboard mobbing.

The internet boiled over with both defensive and hateful posts about Rude. People, after all, always demanded more after receiving one favor.

Some even claimed Rude should patrol dungeons nationwide, arguing it was the duty of the rank #1 Hunter.

Eventually, only after Na Ri, as Rude, posted a video declaring, “If you keep blaming me, I’ll just disappear from dungeons entirely,” did public opinion shift—redirecting anger toward the National Assembly.

Though the period of absurd blame over housing prices was brief, the stress lingered. Na Ri still remembered it vividly.

“If… if Mr. Rude joins Seongjeon… you’d face far less unnecessary opposition.”

Logically, joining Seongjeon seemed like a reasonable path toward maintaining peace. And yet…

“No.”

“…What?”

“If I don’t like it, I don’t like it. That’s just how it is.”

“W-Why…?”

She just didn’t want to. Plain and simple. Was it because joining Seongjeon would break Rude’s character? Because acting aloof yet suddenly yielding to a major guild felt hypocritical? Because she feared being called money-grubbing?

No. It wasn’t that either. It was just…

‘Na Ri, Mommy’s going out for a bit. Don’t worry, my dear. I’ll definitely save the Earth—just wait for me!’

She just didn’t want to.