Saudi Arabia (1)

Gate Hunter was difficult. So difficult that even after reaching the late-game story with a character, a single mistake could send you straight into a new playthrough. And it had another horrible knife to twist: time passed at a 1:1 ratio between reality and the game.

Made one mistake and died? You had to raise that character all over again. For at least another year or two.

'A nightmare.'

But what could you do? That was how the developers had made it. They said a monk who disliked his temple could simply leave, but unfortunately, when Gate Hunter first launched, leaving wasn't an option even if you wanted to.

Graphics that seemed a decade ahead of the competition. A vast open world. Even NPCs that responded like real people. You needed an alternative before you could go play something else. And there wasn't one. Nothing else was this good.

You had to keep playing, but the prospect of starting over in your underwear every time you died was daunting. Wasn't there some shortest route to beating the game? It wasn't surprising that players' thoughts had led them there.

Where there was demand, there would be guides. Countless players began searching for the fastest route through the game.

How could they beat it quickly? By getting stronger quickly, right? That meant enhancing skill books, buying equipment, taking elixirs... So it all came down to money?

But Park Siwoo, the first playable character, was an orphan with a younger sister to support. He started out with a small resettlement allowance. How were they supposed to make money quickly with that? All sorts of methods emerged, but none offered the clear-cut solution the desperate players wanted.

'Then we found it.'

As players pooled their collective knowledge and debated, someone came up with a brilliant idea.

—If you don't have money, why not get it from someone rich?

As it happened, there was a perfect candidate. The king of Saudi Arabia. In this setting, he consistently ranked as the richest person in the world. Yet he had reached his mid-forties without awakening.

If they could just discover the king's awakening condition... Countless Park Siwoos volunteered to become his bodyguard, and eventually they managed to uncover it. After that, a standard route took shape.

Start the game and awaken. Your Achievement grade would vary depending on how smart you played, but that didn't matter. Once you became an awakener, loans were easy to obtain. Even a low-grade orphan like Park Siwoo could borrow a baseline forty to fifty million won from a major bank.

Scrape together every last bit of money, then head straight to Saudi Arabia. Dress respectably and stubbornly camp out near the royal palace until the king went somewhere to give a speech. If you spotted him, even from a distance? Players would shout the Arabic they had memorized at the top of their lungs.

—O great Your Majesty! I believe the day when Allah's blessing descends upon you is close at hand!

In Saudi Arabia, an awakener was a warrior who wielded mana, the energy governed by Allah. In other words, a warrior blessed by Allah. So what the players were shouting essentially meant: Looks like you're going to awaken soon.

Saudi Arabia was a monarchy. Normally, a country like that would fear unpredictable factors such as awakeners, but it couldn't simply crush them all. That would run completely counter to the times. Suppress awakeners that way, and the country would end up like North Korea in no time.

Besides, even members of the royal family commonly awakened out of the blue. Ultimately, a social consensus had emerged there, too. Whether royalty or ordinary citizens, anyone who awakened was blessed, and their awakening was something to welcome and celebrate.

The strength of that blessing—their Achievement grade—didn't matter at all. A higher grade didn't mean receiving more of Allah's blessing, nor did a lower grade mean receiving less. What mattered was how much they devoted themselves to society and what role they fulfilled. That was the general idea.

Thus, the players' words were, in a sense, a blessing offered to the king. Normally, however, no one would say such a thing so directly. In this world, someone who hadn't awakened by their twenties was considered to have virtually no chance of doing so.

Under those circumstances, telling a king in his forties that he looked likely to awaken soon? That was practically mockery. Enough that you could hardly complain if the enraged king had you quietly disposed of. Knowing that, Saudi citizens didn't throw such remarks around.

So why did the players say it?

'Because they needed his attention.'

Say something ordinary, and the king had no reason to take an interest. They had to jab right at his deepest yearning to win even a drop of his attention. No matter how much money someone had, everyone wanted a long, healthy life. And awakening did more than merely improve your health. It made you superhuman.

Once you awakened, you could boost your level and stats in no time by taking elixirs and getting power-leveled. Of course, that would make you an empty-shell awakener, but it wasn't as though a king would actually go around clearing gates himself. Becoming reasonably superhuman was enough.

The Saudi king, still unawakened in his mid-forties, could never let those words pass. Before long, a discreet summons would arrive, and the players would tell him his condition. Having finally fulfilled his lifelong wish of awakening, the king would treat the player as a hero and generously hand over a reward. Usually, it amounted to hundreds of billions of won.

'You can't earn that kind of money early on.'

Minwoo had been able to rake it in because he'd started as Ilseong Group's eldest son. The Park Siwoos, with their poor social footing and limited abilities, ordinarily couldn't earn sums like that. Even an A- or S-grade Achievement didn't change that. Guilds and governments didn't just throw that much money at you early on.

The king was tossing them an amount that wasn't much of a burden to him, yet it was enough to send the players into fits of delight. Hundreds of billions? That was enough to spend freely at least through the middle stages of the game.

'Well, they did fine through the midgame that way.'

They still ended up dropping like flies in the late game, when real skill became necessary... But regardless, even Kim Minwoo acknowledged that this strategy was quite useful.

'That was about when the Middle Eastern rich-person boom began, too.'

Discover the awakening conditions of wealthy Middle Easterners—not just the Saudi king—and milk them for all they were worth. It was one of the methods Minwoo himself had put to excellent use.

'The players only got a few hundred billion, but...'

He was different. Frankly, the players had no connections, no talent, and no abilities, so they simply took whatever the king gave them.

Didn't the price of something vary considerably depending on the circumstances and timing? The king wasn't the one who set the price.

'I am.'

He had no intention of selling an awakening method for such a shit price. To put it bluntly, plenty of rich people would pour their entire fortunes into becoming young again. And he was making someone superhuman, only to be tossed pocket change? That wouldn't be much fun.

Seated in Ilseong's comfortable private jet, he entered Saudi airspace. In the distance, he saw fighter jets arriving to escort them.

'Well, the reception isn't bad.'

Thanks to Chairman Kim's connections, he had spoken with the king before coming. The gist was simple.

Would you like to awaken? I can help you. And it would be even better if we could discuss a few other business matters while we're at it. That was roughly what he'd said.

The king had sounded skeptical in his reply, but regardless, Minwoo was receiving something close to a state guest's welcome.

'He must be desperate.'

Besides, the king might hold an exalted position, but Minwoo was no lightweight either. Even setting aside his place in Ilseong's direct family line, this was a world where successful awakeners received respect. The recent guild battle had significantly raised his value. Having demonstrated such astonishing combat strength just three months after awakening, it would have been stranger if they didn't respect him.

The plane landed smoothly, and Minwoo slowly descended the stairs. In the distance, Saudi fighter jets welcomed him with trails of red, blue, and white smoke representing the Korean flag. As if that weren't enough, prominent figures from the royal household had come to the airport to greet him in person.

The foreign minister spoke in fluent English.

"A pleasure to meet you. We've heard a great deal about your reputation here as well, Mr. Kim."

"Thank you for such a warm welcome."

"Not at all. His Majesty was most emphatic that we extend every courtesy. Shall we? His Majesty is waiting."

Showing him this much courtesy could also be taken as a warning: things wouldn't be pleasant if he was lying. Well, it didn't matter. He'd brought the genuine article as his gift.

"By the way, those reporters over there look Korean. Are they?"

"Yes, they are. They said they were here to film you, so we've been leaving them alone for now..."

Minwoo nodded quietly, then asked the foreign minister, "Could they accompany us to the palace? Just so they can come along and film."

"Hmm... Well... Ordinarily, that would be rather difficult..."

"I'd appreciate the favor."

"... Very well. They may follow at a distance. However, they cannot enter the palace itself."

"Of course."

* * *

Saudi Arabia. There were Korean reporters here, too. Right now, they could barely tell whether the scene before their eyes was a dream or reality.

They had heard that Kim Minwoo was leaving for Saudi Arabia. After getting in touch with Ilseong, they'd learned a little more. Apparently, he was going to meet the king?

The Saudi king possessed such enormous wealth that even Korea's conglomerate families bowed and scraped before him. He was such a formidable figure that there were stories of him visiting Korea, summoning every conglomerate chief, and discussing business with them one by one. Even Ilseong's Chairman Kim couldn't easily arrange a meeting with him. That was the king of Saudi Arabia.

That was why they had been puzzled. Kim Minwoo was meeting the king? Why on earth? And now, on top of that...

'What is this?'

'What could they possibly be discussing to warrant this much ceremony?'

'Isn't this more than even the Korean President would receive?'

However successful an awakener Minwoo might be, this reception was far too extravagant. Yet it was happening. That meant there was a reason worthy of it, and the reporters were dying to know what it was.

Just then, one of the Saudi staff approached and whispered something. The reporters' faces lit up.

"R-really? We can film all the way to the palace?"

They were barely managing to film from a distant spot at the airport. How had this windfall landed in their laps?

"Yes. Mr. Kim specifically requested it. However, only the exterior."

"O-of course! Everyone, grab your gear!"

The broadcast crews, who had been filming with their mouths hanging open, began following Minwoo's car from a distance.

* * *

Splendid streetscapes came into view. Saudi Arabia was a renowned oil-producing nation, both in the real world before he entered Gate Hunter and here.

'Plenty of money here.'

In this world, mana stones had established themselves as a new energy resource. Demand for oil had fallen somewhat compared to the past, but not drastically. There were many reasons for that.

'Oil is used to turn mana stones into commercial products.'

Using oil during processing improved efficiency.

And although the advent of mana-stone cars was reducing the number of internal-combustion vehicles, they hadn't fully replaced them yet. The mana-stone battery industry was a source of future profits precisely because it still had enormous room for growth.

'There are plenty of other uses, too.'

Oil was used in a surprisingly wide range of fields. So much so that it was difficult to find an everyday item that hadn't involved oil in its production.

The conclusion? Oil-producing Saudi Arabia was still wealthy. And there was an absolutely superb source of funding here.

'King Abdullah.'

It was time to meet him.

As his car entered the palace grounds, the Saudi royal cavalry surrounded it and began escorting him. Before long, the car stopped, and he found the king himself waiting to greet him.

"A pleasure to meet you, Your Majesty."

"Likewise. I was so excited that I had trouble sleeping today."

The king spoke fluent English. Minwoo replied in the same language.

"You have every reason to look forward to this."

"Come. Let us go into the palace."

After receiving the honor guard's salute, Minwoo entered the palace with him. The time had come to squeeze money out of his benefactor.