Duel (1)

'That secures sixty trillion.'

Sixty trillion won was almost all of Ilseong's surplus cash. Knowing this guild's true worth, Chairman Kim would do everything he could to persuade the board.

Once the investment came through, I would hold roughly seventy percent of the guild, and Ilseong thirty. I would take the equipment from the gates, while Ilseong would get the new materials and mana stones inside. That was what they had invested for in the first place.

'Getting more investment from Ilseong will be tough after this.'

Companies needed time to grow. Ilseong had accumulated that sixty trillion over decades. Once they spent it all at once, rebuilding those reserves would take considerable time. Given their recent growth, it wouldn't be anything as extreme as decades, but it would take at least a few years.

That was fine, though.

'I can sell off little pieces of the remaining stake to people with deep pockets.'

Ilseong's stake was a powerful friendly voting bloc—an ally that would always vote my way. I planned to split the remaining shares into manageable portions and sell them to a few countries and wealthy individuals. That way, they couldn't band together and pull anything.

Not now, of course.

'I'm nowhere near getting my true value recognized yet.'

Three trillion per percentage point. Even that was a mega-blowout sale.

Hell, if the United States knew my true worth, they would offer quadrillions for a hundred-percent stake. Those bastards would pour money into me even if they had to print more dollars to do it. They were that obsessed with being the world's strongest awakener nation.

Probably another year from now, they'd be shitting themselves trying to find a way to contact me.

'Well, they won't be that desperate yet.'

America? They had S-rank awakeners coming out of their ears. Frankly, a few impressive feats in Korea weren't reason enough for America to cling to my legs and beg me to accept their money.

Oh, that guy's pretty impressive. Korea had an awakener like that?

That was probably the extent of it for now. The other awakener superpowers would feel the same way.

What if I sought investments from other countries right now? They might offer a little more than Ilseong for each one-percent stake.

'But that would be letting them take me for a complete sucker.'

Kim Minwoo might be a Super Rookie, but viewed objectively, that didn't mean people currently rated him on par with a successful S-rank awakener. I was still low-level, after all.

The main reason people valued me so highly was my performance despite that low level. That was what gave me such a hefty premium.

That made it difficult to negotiate favorable terms with a nation. America? They'd just turn up their noses and bark at me to follow their orders in return for some money.

That money was like junk food: eating it would only give me a stomachache.

Ilseong's money, on the other hand? That was wholesome, nutritious money that would leave me happily full.

'I need to drive my price higher.'

I had to keep proving that the more levels I gained, the more unstoppable I became. Then, at some point, I had to make them realize it.

Oh, we can't do a damn thing about him anymore.

We should have brought him everything we owned sooner...

If we don't pour money into him now...

Something along those lines. I wanted them regretful, worn down, and obsessed.

I looked at Chairman Kim.

"By the way, Father. Can we put that bastard Jo Piluk behind bars?"

"Hmm... Now that you've come back alive, it won't be quite so straightforward. They're fighting this with everything they've got, too. They don't want that stigma, I imagine."

A guilty verdict would mean a criminal record. Naturally, the public's opinion of Dorim would worsen as well. Their reaction was obvious.

Figures.

I knew it.

A mistake? What a load of bullshit.

They would get cynical responses like those. It seemed they had started fighting tooth and nail to avoid that.

'Then getting him locked up will be tough.'

As Chairman Kim said, if I had died, they could have tried charging him with murder or something, but I had come back alive. And Dorim was still the country's second-largest conglomerate. They would hire a formidable legal team.

"It'll go all the way to the Supreme Court, won't it?"

"Probably?"

In other words, whether we could actually put him behind bars was uncertain, and it would take a long time.

'I'll have to find another use for him.'

Just then, a way to use Jo Piluk came to mind. An awakener in the level 300 range with an A-rank achievement. In short, a newbie crusher.

What if I crushed him instead?

'He'd be perfect for proving it.'

My abilities, that is.

All people had seen so far was my new F-rank gate record and my first A-rank gate clear. As for hidden gates, they could only speculate that I had been through one. They even had to rely solely on Seo Yerim's word about my performance in the A+-rank gate clear.

Of course, Sword Phoenix was a godawful liar, so they would believe her to some extent.

'But there's a world of difference between hearing about it and seeing it yourself.'

Jo Piluk was perfect. I could beat him up without a care, and he was suitable prey for demonstrating my strength.

And as it happened...

'It's about time I did another stream.'

My subscriber count had shot up to forty million after this gate clear. A little advertising, a chance to call the bastard out—it wouldn't be a bad idea to go live.

* * *

An announcement had gone up a few hours earlier.

[Going live this evening. Something big is coming today.]

The attention-grabbing announcement had viewers eagerly waiting for evening.

[Mangnani's livestream is starting.]

[Viewers: 103,230]

[Viewers: 302,324]

[Viewers: 504,453]

.

.

Viewers flooded in the instant the stream began.

—You said something big was coming, what is it??? You said something big was coming, what is it??? You said something big was coming, what is it???

—Is it really something big? Is it really something big?

—First stream in two months, seriously? First stream in two months, seriously? First stream in two months, seriously?

—Please, even once a week would do lol Please, even once a week would do lol

—Is this Mr. Kim's stream?

—Now they're coming from overseas too lmao

The viewer count shot past a million in an instant, the chat scrolling in a dizzying flood.

"Hello, everyone. Kim Minwoo here. It's been a while."

"I am Cedric."

Cedric and I greeted the viewers together.

"I said something big was coming today, right? That's right. It's going to be big. But..."

I glanced at the viewer count. It was passing five million. Judging by the steep rise, my overseas subscribers seemed to be pouring in too.

This should be enough to get started.

"Before I get to the big thing, I have an important announcement."

—An important announcement?

—What's up?

—I am excited.

"Our company, Ilseong, has released a lot of new products. They're premium models, and they work wonderfully."

—Oh, I see haha

—Important news indeed haha

—But we already know about those, so let's just...

"Shall we review them, then?"

—Ah.

—What?

The chat erupted in outrage. Ignoring every bit of it, Cedric and I threw ourselves into our advertising performance.

I couldn't stream very often. Usually, I had my hands full clearing gates and crafting things. I had to milk it for all it was worth while I could.

About two hours later, I checked the viewer count. It had actually risen to ten million.

—Watched the whole thing again lmao

—I'm starting to get addicted to the ads too lol

—Honestly, isn't this perfect for watching while munching on snacks?

—What is that?

"Ten million? Your actions don't lie, do they? You enjoyed yourselves, right?"

—All the foreigners are so confused lmaooo

—This is Korea's spicy side lol Awake now?

—Is this the famous advertising?

—I feel a little dizzy.

—Please, the big thing now... Please, the big thing now... Please, the big thing now...

—Haha let's get to the point now.

"Ilseong will also be releasing new Plus items soon. The level requirements should be between 51 and 100, one tier higher than last time. I hope you'll give them plenty of love."

—Magic-grade too?

—Hell yeah lol If it's around level 100, I should buy some too lol

—Will they be as cheap as before?

—Please give us a discount... The auction house is too expensive...

"A discount? Of course. They'll get the same discount as the previous batch."

—Ilseong is a god! Ilseong is a god! Ilseong is a god! Ilseong is a god!

—Damn lol At this rate, will we eventually get high-level Plus equipment too?

—Selling even that stuff at those prices would bankrupt Ilseong, come on lmaooo

—Sweet as hell lol I'm pitching a tent outside the equipment store right now lol

Now that I had announced the equipment sale, it was time to get to the point.

"About you, Mr. Jo Piluk. I see you've hired quite the legal team. According to my people, putting you behind bars might be a little difficult."

—Holy shit, something big really is coming

—Jo Piluk? Yeah. Heard he's itching to fight back against the lawsuit.

—Funny bastard lol He shoved the guy, what the hell is he so mad about? lmao

—Dorim's at fault for protecting him too lol They say chaebol families all look out for each other lol

—Hey, watch where you're aiming.

—Oh, of course I don't mean Ilseong ^^

—Jo Piluk, we know him too. A famous man.

"I'm not particularly interested in having this drag on forever, either, so I have a proposal."

For an instant, the chat fell silent. Then Kim Minwoo stared straight into the camera and spoke.

"Piluk. You're watching, right? Come have a go at your big bro. If you win, I'll drop the lawsuit. But if you lose, you're getting the shit beaten out of you. Deal?"

—Hell yeah lmaoooo

—Isn't the level gap at least double? lmao

—Conqueror's Haki lol

—Now THAT'S what I'm talking about lmaooo

—No dumbasses missing this stream, right? They're missing out on half of life lmaooo

"Come to the Ilseong Training Center. I'll be waiting."

Kim Minwoo stood. It didn't matter whether the bastard was watching. With this many viewers, word would spread in an instant.

Jo Piluk. Could he really sit still after hearing that? The bastard already had one hell of a temper.

Besides, someone like Jo Piluk was far more likely to blame everyone else first than reflect on his own mistakes. It would be perfectly in character for him to come charging out, thinking this was his chance.

'I'll tear him apart.'

And prove what I was worth.

I headed outside with the stream still running. The camera operators hurried along after me.

After getting into a car, I pointed at the parked sports cars.

"You guys each take a car too."

—Damn; how many cars is that?

—Sports car parade lmao

Soon, dozens of sports cars were racing down the main road.

Before long, an enormous building came into view. The Ilseong Training Center.

Korea's largest awakener training center boasted all kinds of facilities, from training equipment to sparring grounds. It was even completely free for awakeners above a certain level, thanks to Ilseong's efforts to build ties with high-ranking awakeners.

I had never visited before. Training with good equipment wasn't going to raise my stats, after all.

Today was different, though. There was no better place to teach Jo Piluk a lesson.

Soon, another group of sports cars arrived. Sure enough, Jo Piluk stepped out.

"Hey, Piluk! So you do have balls after all, huh? Coming here in person and everything."

"You son of a b****! Since when are we friends? Do you have any idea how much shit I've been through because of your goddamn false accusations?"

Jo Piluk launched into a hearty stream of abuse the moment he saw me. I shrugged. I wondered if Snowy, perched on my shoulder, was shrugging too.

"False accusations, after you shoved someone? Has our little Piluk been doing drugs again? Look at those crazy eyes..."

"You f***ing bastard!"

Dorim's staff hurriedly blocked Jo Piluk as he looked ready to lunge at me. Millions were watching the livestream. Fighting in a sparring match was one thing, but if he caused trouble here, there really would be no saving him.

Then, still huffing and glaring at me, Jo Piluk spoke.

"Whew, let go! I've calmed down."

The bodyguards cautiously released him. He stepped forward and jabbed his finger into my chest as he spoke.

"Hey, Kim Minwoo. I've been thinking. You don't want some boring little fight either, do you?"

"So?"

"Then challenge me to a duel, asshole."

"A duel?"

"Yeah, a duel. We just need to find a guarantor. What, getting scared now?"

I'd been wondering when he would bring that up.

Perfect. The stage was set for me to cripple Jo Piluk, entirely within the law.

Kim Minwoo grinned.