Chapter 94 : Chapter 94

Chapter 94: The Talk (1)

“What? It’s canceled?”

“They said there was an urgent matter within the guild and disappeared immediately... Don’t tell me those guys ran away?”

That’s what they’d do.

Edgar must have realized that if things continued, Lina would also get beaten to a pulp by me.

Originally, a second match against Lina was scheduled after Aaron, but unfortunately, it was canceled.

It was because Edgar himself picked up the guy and flew off, saying that treating the currently out-of-it Aaron was more important than the duel.

He probably chose a strategic retreat because he thought Lina would get completely wrecked by me if he sent her out.

“Mr. Gyu-sik!”

And as soon as the duel ended, Ms. Chang Meirin hurried down from the audience seats to check on me.

Her face was filled with worry.

“Are you okay? You-you were getting hit a lot in the beginning!”

“...Ah, that?”

I was actually parrying all of that where it couldn’t be seen. Even though it looked like I was getting hit on the outside, the damage I took was actually close to zero.

Still, while all the gazes flying at me from the surroundings were like looking at trash or a devil, it was quite refreshing to have someone worried about me like this.

“It’s nothing. More importantly, since you’re down here, let’s carry this together. The amount is probably quite a lot.”

“What? What are you talking about?”

What else could it be.

Money.

“...”

A moment later.

Seeing the amount of banknotes that would easily fill at least 10 sacks, Ms. Chang Meirin’s jaw dropped.

“Th-this is...?”

“Before the duel started, I bet all the money I had on myself.”

“...”

The guys who bet on me were probably just a few, including myself, considering the difference in recognition. I hit the reverse jackpot big time.

Yep.

Life is one big score.

Thinking that, I swept up all the money.

And when I nonchalantly turned my head towards the audience who had become the nutrients for this money, a menacing aura, so intense that I wouldn't have been surprised to be crushed to death if gazes had physical force, assaulted me.

Whatever.

I had to say what I had to say.

“Everyone. From now on, don’t just blindly ignore Eastern Climbers. You’ll end up like this.”

“...”

“So you guys, who have no eye for things, don’t gamble. It’s a shortcut to ruining your life. Got it?”

Listening to the almost beast-like roars erupting from behind me with one ear and letting them out the other, I quickly escaped with Ms. Chang Meirin, carrying the money.

***

“...Put that down for now. I did it all for a reason.”

As soon as I returned to our lodgings, I calmed down Lee Si-yeong, who was aiming her staff at me, ready to pour a whole load of magic.

“A reason? A reasoooon?! Fine, let’s hear it! If you can’t convince me, today is the day one of us dies-”

“It’s the first step to shaking off the Magic Tower’s gaze.”

“...”

Lee Si-yeong blinked blankly. The eyes of Mr. Lee Seong-jin, who was holding her back with all his might, also blinked.

Seeing them like this, I was reminded anew that these two were siblings. The dumbfounded expression they made when dazed was so similar.

“...What does that mean?”

“You know yourself that your face has become incredibly well-known, right?”

The moment she entered the Second Ordeal with me, people all over the world would have realized that she had some sort of connection with me.

Among them, of course, was the Magic Tower.

Although her soul-infused information warfare had so far prevented the fact that the Guild Master of Renegade was ‘Lee Si-yeong’ and not ‘Lee Seong-jin’ from being revealed, considering the persistence and insidiousness of the organization called the Magic Tower, the very fact that their attention had been drawn was what mattered.

“...You were worried about that? I thought you didn’t care at all since you just ram into things everywhere.”

“Of course, I care. Growing the guild’s size and you not getting caught in the Magic Tower’s eyes are two separate things.”

There were various reasons why her being the Guild Master shouldn’t be revealed, but the biggest problem was that her becoming the ‘head’ of any ‘group’ carried a symbolic meaning.

That was true even for a guild that was as good as half-paralyzed, like Renegade.

‘...Considering her background, it’s only natural.’

You know, that sort of thing.

A character in every game with a secret of their birth.

Among the main characters, Lee Si-yeong was the one with the strongest such trait.

In the first place, Lee Si-yeong was also an alias.

Acquiring the 3rd-grade mage qualification was nothing more than a cover identity created to spy on the Magic Tower’s interior.

Her ‘true identity’ was... a bit dangerous.

The fact that the Magic Tower wiped out her entire family was all an action that came from that context.

The reason her luck stat was so insanely high was also deeply related to that.

“...I don’t really get it, but it seems like you’re ruminating on information you were never told again.”

“Is it that obvious?”

“You don’t even try to hide it these days, do you?”

“Because I trust you.”

Hmm.

In the game, that was one of the keywords for magic.

As you can tell from the background I just listed, this girl was a character whose opportunities to build deep relationships with others were almost completely stripped away.

She had always lived under the watchful eye of the Magic Tower and would have intentionally pushed away getting deeply involved with anyone.

To such a girl, how sweetly would the words from a complete stranger, “I ‘trust’ you,” sound?

“...What nonsense are you spouting all of a sudden. It’s annoying.”

Lee Si-yeong, who let out a deep sigh, scratched her head and looked away.

Yep.

Even if she acted prickly and cursed as usual, she couldn’t help but build up favorability inside.

Everything starts small—

[ A skill share slot for ‘Lee Si-yeong’ has been opened. ]

“...”

No, I mean.

Why are you so easy?

This old man is starting to get worried. I wonder if this kid would have unconditionally followed a stranger if they offered her candy when she was young.

Looking closely, it seemed like Lee Si-yeong’s ears, which were turned away from me, were slightly red.

“This, this isn’t the work of a one-timer, is it?”

Mr. Lee Seong-jin.

What on earth do you mean by that?

***

Anyway.

If you were to ask why beating up the Arklight Guild was part of the process of shaking off the Magic Tower’s gaze, I could explain it simply.

I have to make friends. A reliable friend who will be my backer.

How does beating someone up lead to making friends?

Remember the saying, the enemy of my enemy is my friend.

Usually, when a group grows in size, it often corresponds to having taken a lot of resources from others in the process.

For guys like the Arklight Guild who receive worldwide attention, they must have made various enemies in that process.

And among them.

There was also a group that was quite deeply involved with the Magic Tower.

“Nice to meet you, Cornelius.”

The man in front of me, with a cigar in his mouth, just nodded his head to acknowledge my words.

The clerical robe clinging to his insanely bulked-up body looked like it would rip if he put even a little bit of strength into it.

Cornelius Manzini.

The Guild Master of the ‘Mangrave’ Guild, which, like Arklight, was based in Northern Europe.

However, its nature was a bit different.

While the Arklight Guild focused on hunting Demonic Beasts through Dungeon conquests, this side invested its capabilities in defending when a gate opened in the city.

And coincidentally.

The place this man’s guild protected was the Vatican of the Conqueror world. The place where the general headquarters of all mages in the world, the Magic Tower, was based.

In other words, this man was also involved with religion to some extent. The clerical robe he was wearing was proof of that.

“...”

Despite being a clergyman, his impression was that he could have torn a few people to death with his bare hands.

The numerous scars on his entire body and the cigar in his mouth combined to create an atmosphere almost like a mafia boss.

His gruff voice also matched that atmosphere.

“You’re moving around busily. It hasn’t even been half a day since you had a go with the Arklight guys, has it?”

That was true.

This very meeting was a seat that Lee Si-yeong and Mr. Lee Seong-jin had arranged by running around like crazy in a short amount of time.

Of course, this wasn't possible just by working hard.

He probably agreed out of curiosity, seeing as how I was also getting quite a bit of attention now, and such a guy was desperately trying to meet him.

“Kid. You’re the talk of the town right now. I don’t know how long it’s been since an Eastern Climber drew this much attention since ‘The Almighty’ and the ‘Sword Saint’.”

Ah, Kim Kang-in and Seo Jin-seong.

In the lore, those two were certainly a legendary duo in the past. The list of things they did in the game was nothing short of terrifying.

The fact that I was being compared to them meant that my name was being spread quite a bit in the West as well.

In addition to that, this person had more reasons to feel favorable towards me.

“Seeing those high and mighty bastards get smashed like that was so refreshing. Personally, I like you.”

“...Is that so.”

Yes.

If you’re going to praise me, I wish you’d do it more comfortably.

Just listening to his tone of voice, I thought he was going to say, ‘Where is the hidden money? If you don’t tell me, I’ll cut off your fingers one by one...’

Anyway.

The Arklight Guild was a guild that primarily hunted in Dungeons, but due to the nature of the Conqueror world, the more frequently Dungeons were emptied, the higher the probability of ‘Gates’ appearing in the city center.

The dimensional rifts from which Demonic Beasts popped out.

So, in terms of rewards from subjugation, the efficiency of Dungeons was overwhelmingly higher. But Gates involved the safety of citizens and civilians. They held the moral high ground.

Therefore, guilds that defended Gates and guilds that conquered Dungeons were usually on bad terms with each other.

‘It would be so much more convenient if Demonic Beasts just didn’t appear on either side.’

That would never happen.

If you asked why that was... I could only say it was the arrangement of the ‘system’.

Anyway, the system wanted the number of Demonic Beasts to remain constant. Just think about how I was disciplined after cleaning up the fields around the Tower before.

What it wanted was for this world to be constantly exposed to threats, and thereby for it to become stronger.

Why would it do such a thing?

‘Because the final boss is a son of a bitch.’

Yep.

That was the only way to describe it.

“We’ve been having a lot of words with them about their subjugation schedules lately, but thanks to you smashing them like that, our voice has become much stronger. The reason those guys had a good image until now was purely because their performance was good and their image was good. But thanks to you, a lot of that has been shattered.”

Cornelius chuckled and slapped my shoulder hard.

...It hurts like hell.

No, I really think I might die.

I'm not kidding, this person’s back-smack with his palm hurts more than when Aaron swung his attribute-infused sword.

This person was a stat monster, one of the top few in the entire game.

[Cornelius Manzini]

[ Strength: 530

Agility: 278

Durability: 400

Stamina: 320

Luck: 34

Mana: 70 ]

“...”

This is crazy.

Is this person human?

In terms of raw specs, he wouldn't lose even against an S-rank Climber, but this person didn't have an official Climber License, so he hadn't been assigned a rank.

He was a person who had made a sort of religious contract with the current Vatican... that is, the Magic Tower. A person who thought of his own identity as an Exorcist, not a Climber.

In that respect.

I had prepared a topic to draw this stat monster to my side.

“I’m glad to hear that. I brought more news related to that.”

“Hmm?”

Cornelius’s eyebrow bent in a strange direction.

“A story about stomping on those arrogant bastards some more?”

“It’s more than that, Cornelius.”

I smirked and took a breath.

The words I was about to say.

If I explained it wrong, I would be the one to die.

“I have a strong suspicion that the Arklight Guild is involved with ‘demons’.”

Cornelius’s gaze changed in an instant.

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