Ilseong Guild (1)

Chairman Kim held his head as though nursing a headache. It was true that Ilseong Guild had been making quite a fuss lately.

Their parent company, Ilseong, was pouring tens of trillions of won into another guild instead of theirs. It wasn't strange for them to be upset.

Granted, that guild belonged to the chairman's eldest son, but it had no direct organizational ties to Ilseong Guild. To put it bluntly, the Money-Blowing Guild receiving sixty trillion won wouldn't put anything in their pockets.

“I'm sorry, son. Still, don't worry too much. The investment will go through soon...”

“No, I'm not asking you to hurry the investment along. We still have some breathing room,” Minwoo said, shaking his head.

“I've heard the gist of their argument. They say our guild hasn't shown enough to justify that much money.”

“Yes. That's what they've been saying.”

Looking at it with complete objectivity, Minwoo could honestly understand their complaints.

Clearing an A+ gate with just two people—and with one of them a low-level awakener, at that—was an incredible achievement. There was no denying that.

But was it enough to sell a twenty-percent stake for sixty trillion won?

'Not by conventional standards.'

Sure, he regularly blew through trillions, but that didn't make sums like that pocket change. It was a huge amount of money.

People online might say that even a hundred trillion won couldn't buy Kim Minwoo, but...

'That's really just patriotic hype.'

Realistically, most people would accept a combined valuation of twenty trillion won for him and Seo Yerim.

Why?

Even a guild capable of clearing A+ gates wouldn't command twenty trillion won. At the very most, selling the entire guild would fetch three or four trillion.

However important gates had become, and however much they had expanded the economy, valuations didn't normally inflate to that extent.

Clearing an A+ gate? On a global scale, even guilds sitting somewhere between the second and third tiers could manage that.

Under normal circumstances, there was almost no reason for their value to soar this high.

'Prices only really skyrocket like that for the very best awakeners.'

Priceless.

There was a category of awakeners that word actually applied to. The Sword Immortal, for instance. Not mere empty-shell S-rankers, but awakeners who could truly fight.

The real deal—cherished as national treasures, their every move a source of anxiety for their countries. Those were the people whose value truly went through the roof.

He and Seo Yerim weren't there yet. The reason was simple.

'How would anyone know if we haven't shown them?'

They hadn't revealed their full strength. Of course, revealing everything could earn them recognition as the real deal.

But that would actually work against them.

'They aren't called the real deal for nothing.'

Beyond mere Super Rookies, beyond even the title of mega rookie, stood the handful of S-rank awakeners acknowledged as the real deal.

These were people who had spent years, even decades, going in and out of gates and living on the battlefield.

Even the famous Isabella had taken ten years to move beyond Super Rookie status and gain that recognition. That alone was impressive. It meant she had reached roughly the same realm as the truly formidable first-generation awakeners who had dominated for decades, or perhaps a little below them.

But gaining that recognition just three months after awakening?

Even he couldn't predict the fallout.

'There's such a thing as being too successful.'

Too much success only made life exhausting. That was why he wasn't laying all his cards on the table.

In any case, he was receiving sixty trillion won because he had shown Chairman Kim his true worth.

The people of Korea—no, the rest of the world—didn't know that. It was only natural that some would call it excessive investment. Judging by how quiet things were, the chairman seemed to be keeping public opinion under control for now.

But word that he'd bought a twenty-percent stake for sixty trillion won was bound to draw criticism.

'People might start calling it a disguised gift or whatever else they can think of.'

Of course, with the gate clear still fresh in everyone's minds, they wouldn't see it as outright corruption.

Ultimately, the issue was simple.

Was it really worth paying that much?

Wasn't that overkill?

That was precisely what Ilseong Guild kept harping on.

'Then I just have to show them it isn't.'

The solution was simple.

“Father, let's arrange a guild battle.”

A guild battle.

Like a Duel, it was one of the competitions administered by the System. Naturally, they could set the rules, just as they could for a Duel.

Chairman Kim tilted his head.

“... A guild battle?”

“Yes. The two guilds can have it out, openly and properly. That should put an end to the complaints, shouldn't it?”

“You don't mean against their first team?”

“Of course I mean their first team. Beating their second or third team would only leave people talking.”

Ilseong Guild ranked around fifth in Korea. Naturally, its members were fairly skilled.

Its first team consisted of thirty people: roughly ten S-rank awakeners and twenty A-rankers.

'As for the ones who are actually any good...'

Guild Master Nam Cheolmin.

He was an S-rank archer in his forties.

'His achievement grade is S.'

He had attracted attention as a Super Rookie when he awakened twenty years ago. His skills hadn't faded, either. For an awakener, the forties were close to one's fully developed prime.

Most of the other S-rankers had achievement grades between A and B.

'A pretty average guild.'

They had enough strength to scrape through anything from upper A-rank gates to lower S-rank gates. In other words, defeating their first team meant...

'The potential to clear an S-rank gate.'

It would demonstrate that potential. Naturally, the Money-Blowing Guild's value would soar—enough to lend some justification to a sixty-trillion-won investment.

“... Are you sure about this? If you lose, the whole deal could fall apart,” Chairman Kim asked uneasily.

If they simply carried on as they were, he could make the investment despite the criticism.

But if the Money-Blowing Guild lost?

He might still be able to invest, but the amount could drop sharply. At that point, public opinion would be impossible to ignore.

'Winning would be a problem, too.'

Just three people defeating the first team?

If they won, the major awakener powers might genuinely express interest in investing. Clearing an A-rank gate and an S-rank gate were entirely different propositions.

'Ugh. That won't do...'

The world might not know, but he did.

This guild brought together EX- and SSS-rank talent. Ilseong absolutely had to secure a stake, especially now, while it was being offered at such an enormous discount.

But by then...

'Would he really still accept my investment?'

Chairman Kim couldn't help fretting. What if Minwoo raised the price? Cash was already tight.

For the first time in his life, he was on the verge of worrying about money.

Minwoo grinned as though he understood everything going through his father's head.

“Don't worry. I'll accept your investment, no matter what. The price is fixed, too. Sixty trillion for twenty percent.”

“... You mean it?”

“Of course. Who can you trust in this world if not family?”

Ilseong was a family company. He couldn't stab his own family in the back.

He should be thinking about building the company up and putting it to use in all sorts of ways.

“Even if you win... I'd appreciate it if you didn't tear Ilseong Guild down too badly. It still bears the Ilseong name.”

“Well... I'll try.”

Minwoo nodded.

It might have been different if he hadn't mentioned the assassins today, but he already had.

He had beaten all those S-rankers by himself. Add Seo Yerim and Park Siwoo to the mix?

Chairman Kim must have suspected that the Money-Blowing Guild had a good chance of winning.

'He was probably uneasy because of the investment.'

Win or lose, problems would crop up. That was why Minwoo had given him a firm assurance.

'That's permission secured.'

He had obtained approval for the guild battle from the chairman, who was effectively the guild's owner. All that remained was to fight.

Honestly, it was a little cruel to Ilseong Guild.

'Still, giving those old hands a reality check while I'm at it...'

Might not be such a bad thing.

It wasn't as though Ilseong Guild was some rotten, corrupt organization. If this had been a Stage Five world instead of Stage Six...

'They would've been doing reasonably well.'

Korea had only a few S-rank gates. Growing stronger would be preferable, but settling for their current level might not have been the worst thing in the world.

Now, however, things were different.

'The stage has expanded.'

Humanity's potential had increased. There was no reason gates couldn't do the same. It wouldn't be all that surprising if gates beyond S-rank began appearing.

'I've already seen the world beyond that, too.'

The world where the Death Lord had run rampant. The demon realm's selection tournament, supposedly attended by all the demon lords. Even the Testing Grounds.

All sorts of stages that hadn't existed in Stage Five had appeared.

And even in Stage Five...

'I saw an EX-rank.'

The Dragon Lord.

He remembered a single utterance of its Dragon Tongue turning his equipment into scrap and bringing him down.

He knew there was a world far beyond S-rank. In other words...

'S-rank alone might not be enough anymore.'

Lobsters were said to keep growing throughout their lives. With each molt, they grew larger and their shells grew harder.

Then, at some point, their shells became so hard that they gave up trying to molt.

'That's when they die.'

Awakeners were similar.

They grew steadily up to a certain point. Then they hit a wall—a point where attempting to molt looked dangerous.

Usually, they made one of two choices. They either gritted their teeth and tried to molt, or settled down and stagnated. Unfortunately, Ilseong Guild fell squarely into the latter category.

A guild of lobsters that had given up molting. They were content with what they had, clearing gates without pushing themselves and making money from it. That was also why they were perpetually in fifth place.

“Let's work out a time that suits both sides for the guild battle.”

“... I'll speak to the Guild Master. But are you really going to make it public?”

“We need to put on at least this much of a show to stop people talking.”

A news report saying they'd won a private guild battle?

That was a little underwhelming. It wouldn't have much impact on the general public. People would just think, Oh, so that happened.

But broadcast a proper fight and win?

Korea would go wild in an instant. The stalled investment would go through in one fell swoop.

Fighting alone would require him to reveal his full strength, but with three of them, things were different.

They could keep a fair amount hidden and still toy with the likes of Ilseong Guild.

“I'll be going, then.”

“Oh, wait, Minwoo. About that... Chairman Jo of Dorim keeps contacting me...”

“That guy?”

“Yes. He wants to see you. Ahem. It seems the Blue House has been bringing it up as well.”

Well...

He had given Dorim quite a beating. As if becoming universally disliked across the country wasn't enough, he'd heard their sales had plummeted by more than fifty percent.

It seemed they couldn't hold out any longer and were ready to wave the white flag.

'Then why bother holding out in the first place?'

If they'd surrendered sooner, at least they would have suffered fewer losses.

“I suppose it makes sense they'd bring it up. They are the second-largest business group, for what that's worth.”

“We can ignore him if you really don't want to, but squeezing them too hard isn't ideal, either. It might be best to take something from them and let them off at this point. We can't destroy them outright just because we dislike them.”

“All right. I'll go see him tomorrow after the guild battle.”

“Good.”

Minwoo left the study.

'I'll take that, then.'

There was a business under Dorim that he'd had his eye on. It wasn't very large yet, so he should be able to get it easily enough if he demanded it as compensation.

'They're in no position to be picky.'

He would collect that tomorrow.

For now, he opened the guild's group chat.

[Kim Minwoo]

―[Announcement] We're having a guild battle.

[Park Siwoo]

―?

(An emoji with a question mark overhead)

[Seo Yerim]

―?

(An emoji of a rabbit tilting its head)

[Kim Minwoo]

―We've agreed to fight Ilseong Guild's first team. This is all to secure money to keep you clothed, fed, and housed, so I'd appreciate your full cooperation.

Anyway, that was the story.