In his room, Jeong-Hoon let go of the teacup and let out a long sigh.
“Your Grace, please calm down.”
“I’m not angry at all.”
Jeong-Hoon, who was lost in thought, realized that he had already drank more than half of the tea in the kettle at the words of Butler Joo.
Jeong-Hoon seemed angry because he was drinking tea without saying anything, but in fact, he was shocked to know that there is a skill to nurture one’s awakening that he presumed was not possible.
“Do we have such skill?”
“Yes we do, but only awakeners can use it. Advancing to S-class is only possible for those who are talented.”
Jeong-Hoon, who had hoped for the impossible, turned his head away, clicking his tongue.
“Saturn will not be participating, but AJ… It’s an abbreviation similar to AP, so I call him by his full name, Ace Jack. Ace Jack and X-ONE, you said they’ll cooperate, right?”
“They said they would cooperate without any conditions.”
That’s good news, but Jeong-Hoon frowned.
The reason why he contacted the three guilds from the beginning was due to the calculation that three top guilds’ power is needed for the attack to have no casualties.
He replied to Saturn’s offer, refusing it. This leaves the needed three top guilds lacking one more.
It seems like the issue will be solved by giving her the skill, but as soon as he returned to Jeong-Hoon’s room, Yeo Tae-Hyun expressed his displeasure.
Because it’s a skill too dangerous for Saturn to have.
“Then I’ll have to find another way.”
“Before that, you have to dispose of Saturn.”
“Wouldn’t it be too much to retaliate against them for refusing to pay their debt?”
Jeong-Hoon believes that Saturn’s Choi Jae-Yeon certainly owes Lumen, but he cannot make her a slave who moves unconditionally because of it.
However, the butler shook his head and denied it.
“It doesn’t matter if you refuse, but when I contacted Ace Jack and X-ONE, I told them that I was also in contact with Saturn.”
Ace Jack and X-ONE are part of the ten guilds who owe Lumen like Saturn, but Saturn refused to cooperate.
If Lumen doesn’t retaliate, a tower that the family has built to protect the world from behind for up to 10 years could collapse.
“In other words, whether you like it or not, you have to take minimal measures.”
“But if one of the top ten guilds goes down, wouldn’t it cause a gap in the hunters’ power?”
When he pointed out that the opponent was too powerful for them to retaliate, the three vassals hardened their faces.
“… Was that the least amount of disposition that the Lord thought?”
“Oh, that’s not true.”
Jeong-Hoon, who thought it was right to smash his opponent because he got used to hearing it from Butler Joo, shook his head.
He got goosebumps at the fact that he was slowly being tainted with this way of thinking.
“You just have to show a warning that rejecting Lumen’s request will be burdensome.”
“How do you warn them? You’re going to deprive them of their membership like before?”
“The Ten guilds do Lumen a huge amount of promotion just by staying in Lumen, so it’s a loss for us. We have to make sure that only they are harmed.”
In other words, if they use their hands, they need to move without letting anyone know that it was Lumen behind it.
“How do you do that? Well, we can’t push Saturn to the front line and do a tax audit, right?”
Jeong-Hoon, who recalled two terrible things that can happen to a guild anytime, grumbled. But the three nodded in unison.
“Hmm, I think that’s a good idea.”
“I think so too. After all, the wisdom of the Lord is astonishing.”
“It’s time to change the order of the front lines, so it’s appropriate. We will contact the government.”
When his grumbling suddenly became the plan and was decided without much thought, Jeong-Hoon, who spoke those words, felt absurd.
Frontline. It was called the Armistice Line in the past.
E/N: A place/area where forces withdraw and disengage also called ‘cease fire line’.
As the world changed 10 years ago, North Korea collapsed and is now a huge territory full of monsters.
Therefore, it is currently South Korea’s responsibility to block monsters from going south and getting past the Armistice Line or the Northern Limit Line.
And such a front line is being handled by guilds, led by the military.
This system is being widely used and even top ten guilds can’t avoid it.
“As such, Saturn can’t avoid it either together with the tax audits…even if the audit doesn’t show anything suspicious, going through it is tiring in itself. So Saturn will surely know that they’ve been warned.”
Jeong-Hoon nodded and decided that their actions serve as a warning, not to ruin the guild entirely.
People in the Saturn Guild may go to the front line and die due to their actions.
When I think about it, I feel heavy, but if Saturn Guild does not go, people from other guilds die.
On top of that, the side where the top ten guilds go have less casualties than those with small and medium guild alliances. In fact, the number of victims is overwhelmingly smaller.
“Then, you can proceed with it like that. What are you going to do now?”
You can also consider the direction of enlisting other guilds. But Saturn is the problem,
when word leaks out, Lumen will be implicated in some way.
Although there is no practical way to hide the connection between the company and the guild, the government sanctions a company that tries to control the guild by investing huge capital.
Therefore, it is unreasonable to contact other guilds as it is necessary to deal with them swiftly so that the words do not leak out. Unless it’s Saturn, you have to somehow gather the power of the ten guilds, then you have to assemble small and medium-sized guilds that are in contact with Lumen.
Then it is impossible to make a quick decision.
“… We can’t deal with it ourselves, so this is difficult.”
“Can I really do that?”
“… It sounds like you can do it.”
“Honestly, it’s enough for me to go in alone.”
It was Jeong-Hoon who wanted to say that they should suggest something that makes sense, but he remembered that it was actually possible if it was them.
From S-class and higher, they are called superhumans among the awakened people with superpowers. People who like martial arts even call the S-class a Hwagyeong.
T/N: 화경(hwagyeong) – A term referring to the fact that one’s skill in martial arts have almost reached the level of a god.
Jeong Yi-Young, who surpassed the level of an ordinary human, and Yeo Tae-Hyun, who reached the highest peak of ascension, that is, the Hwagyeong. And SSS level… Butler Joo.
The power of these three people is stronger than three of the top ten guilds combined.
“Hiding information is not difficult. It was something I didn’t consider from the beginning because the head of the family didn’t seem to like it.”
Upon hearing the reason for not telling in advance, Jeong-Hoon nodded and opened his mouth.
“Then let’s do it ourselves.”
The supposedly complicated dungeon raid issue has been concluded just like that.
***
A dungeon is a dangerous area, you’ll never know when monsters will pop out but it is also a treasure trove of countless natural resources.
In fact, the guild does not reap big profits by hunting monsters.
Because catching monsters does not produce items like in games, nor does the energy source of a new era come out.
They make a profit by attacking the dungeon and selling the development rights of it to a company.
For that reason, there are hunters at the entrance of the dungeon who deal with monsters that may come out, and there is a guard outside to ensure that no one enters the dungeon secretly.
“I thought it was work to break through the security, but it’s so easy…”
Jeong-Hoon muttered as he released the transparent device, looking down at his suit.
This is the suit I wore while announcing that I am the chairman of Lumen and whenever I go to Shine Mall.
I heard it was quite expensive, but I didn’t know there would be an invisibility function.
“Butler Joo, wasn’t this a bulletproof suit?”
“It also has a bulletproof function.”
Jeong-Hoon entered the dungeon using invisibility, but still can’t believe it.
This transcends modern technology.
Some hunters, or awakeners, have invisibility skills. However, there is no case of implementing it with technology.
Such technology is comparable to those who have the skill.
“Lord, invisibility functions consume a lot of energy, so you have to slowly exchange energy packs.”
When Yeo Tae-Hyun approached and held out his hand to Jeong-Hoon, Jeong-Hoon unlocked the watch and handed it to him.
It is a micro energy pack that looks and functions like a clock.
Yeo Tae-Hyun used his rare subspace ability to keep the watch, making it seem like it disappeared after he received it.
He is not in charge of the logistics business for nothing.
“… If I had the technology of my family, I would already be an awakener.”
Just by wearing the watch, Jeong-Hoon’s suit provides a safe defense even if the C4 explodes from the side.
E/N: C4 a kind of explosive that can destroy a tank.
If you activate it as it is now in the dungeon, it is only an F-class, but it gives you the same physical ability as the Awakened and even the ability to become fully invisible for a limited time.
“It’s a technology that the government would rush to get their hands on if they knew.”
“It’s still incomplete. It is the family’s goal that one day, the entire human race will benefit from this technology.”
“It’s the most reassuring story I’ve ever heard of.”
Jeong-Hoon, who nodded satisfactorily because the family seemed to be an organization that protects the world from behind, not a world conqueror, looked around the dungeon.
Contrary to the name of the dungeon, a wide meadow spreads out.
The gate of the dungeon is huge enough for dump trucks to come in and out. This is why it is strange to be called a dungeon, but is called as such because the initial area after opening the gate is a narrow closed space.
“It definitely feels good to see what I’ve been seeing on the Internet.”
“Are you satisfied?”
” I shouldn’t have said I’d follow you, but seeing this, I think it’s a good thing I followed.”
Jeong-Hoon nodded and smiled at the good scenery of nature that could not be reached by humans.
While determining who will go after deciding to deal with it themselves, Jeong-Hoon said he wanted to join because he would be safe with the three of them there and any possible risk can be eliminated. So, it was accepted that Jeong-Hoon will also join the group. For the three people to struggle, they must face SSS-class monsters.
However, if there are SSS-class monsters, lower level monsters will already flock out of the gate, and will already be all over the news.
In other words, it was very safe, so there was no problem for Jeong-Hoon to follow.
For that reason, the bucket list of dungeon viewing and the wish of waking up to attack a dungeon one day has been achieved somehow.
Of course, that is not always the case, but when three of the 12 vassals entered, the fate of this dungeon was decided.
“Then, my Lord, I will start hunting from now on…”
“Butler Joo, don’t you need a weapon?”
“Butler Yeo, would my level need a weapon here?”
“I know that, but you are not alone, don’t you need to match the weapon we are going to use?”
“… I hadn’t thought of that. Thanks for pointing it out.”
When three people armed with pistols and daggers took the lead, Jeong-Hoon also took out pistols and daggers from the inside of the suit.
It’s not because he wants to hunt with the three, but because it’s easier to see when we hold it in our hands.
Although the purpose was to watch, the reason that Butler Joo recognized Jeong-Hoon’s accompaniment was that it could be helpful in training self-defense.
“Then let’s get started.”
At the sudden words of Butler Joo, Jeong-Hoon looked in the direction of Butler Joo’s gaze.
A group of monsters who gathered at some point and were wary of this side.
Along with Goblins, the butler jumps toward the group of Kobolds, who is selected as the weakest monster.
Following that, two other people rush in.
And then gunshots and the sound of kobolds cracking can be heard.
There was nothing that Jeong-Hoon could see. He can only hear the sounds and the things that used to be Kobolds flying around
The movement of the three people?
If he could see an S-class or higher moving, Jeong-Hoon would be awakened by now.
One must at least be a B-Class to see blurry movements of an S-Class awakener.
“How is it? Kobold is a weak monster, so it’s easy to deal with it.”
“What’s wrong with that? I couldn’t see anything.”
When Jeong-Hoon grumbled, pointing to what was once a Kobold, the three looked troubled.
For them, they just hunted normally.
However, Jeong-Hoon, who is the most important part of the group, saw nothing.
“Oh, I know one thing for sure.”
“What is it?”
“Whether it’s an awakener or non-awakener, I heard that people have no objections over the death of monsters, that was true.”
When Jeong-Hoon, who thought Kobold’s body was scattered and didn’t think it was terrible or gross, shrugged, the three nodded.
“It’s like it’s engraved on the genetic level.”
No matter how fragile a person is, he becomes bolder when it comes to the death of monsters. That doesn’t mean they’re being cold, it’s that they often panic over the fear of dying themselves.
However, Jeong-Hoon did not have such a worry as he came in with the three awakeners of Grade S or higher.
At that time, a pig-headed monster started approaching from far away.
Looking at the orc, he moved his hand to aim his pistol.
Ta-ang!
The gunshot went off and the orc collapsed.
“Lord?”
“I like this pistol.”
“Did you just shoot it in the eye?”
“Yeah, I did aim for it. I didn’t know it would really hit.”
No matter how good the pistol is, he thought it wouldn’t penetrate the Orc’s head, so he aimed for the eyes.
However, Jeong-Hoon, who succeeded in getting it right at once, was surprised by himself and looked at the pistol then his three companions alternately.
“You always hit the target while training to shoot. Why are you so surprised?”
“That’s a stationary target, and this is a moving target.”
Jeong-Hoon, who was even more surprised knowing the difference was huge, realized that he had a talent for shooting.
“I’m glad your Grace is motivated. Then, let’s practice in earnest.”
He inadvertently grabbed an orc, but Butler Joo smiled happily as he observed the scene eagerly.