Chapter 61 (1/2)
Team Building (6)
No additional [Chain Blade] skill cards had been found since Kim Ji-Hoon had learned them. Unless a card suddenly popped up from the ground, I needed to explain how I used the skill. I found my way around it with lies about my unique skill. Lee Ji-Soo checked again.
“So, you mean that you, Seo Jin-Wook, could have been the one to experience what Kim Ji-Hoon is experiencing now.”
The public official’s face stiffened rapidly, having learned the meaning of the current situation. Nate’s eyes turned fierce when he heard Hibiki’s interpretations, and the shadow shook slightly. Fortunately, Hibiki stopped him right away, and the shadow stopped moving.
I spoke with an air of innocence, “I didn’t know…. It was such a scary skill. It was activated regardless of my will, but I would have been in trouble without my unique skill.”
The real [Replica] didn’t work that way. But what did they know?
With his eyes turned upside down, Kim Ji-Hoon spat out a cry and screamed hoarsely, “Aghhhh! Arghhh!”
He couldn’t even faint.
‘I would have killed him here if I could.’
After my reincarnation, my beliefs did not change. If I left the man who was after me as he was, he would definitely come back to do more harm. Of course, I didn’t intend to let him live, but I put the plan on hold slightly. I looked down at Kim Ji-Hoon with contempt.
‘Wait for a while. I’ll find you again.’
Weing!
When Lee Ji-Soo tore the scroll, Kim Ji-Hoon, who was frantic, fell asleep. It was not just sleep magic, but magic close to an anesthetic that paralyzed the nervous system. The bleeding on the leg barely stopped when I applied the paste artifact from the emergency box.
“You!” Shin Gyeong-Pyo glared.
‘Kid, you’re so blatant.’
I hastened the public official. He did not have the authority to grade but oversaw the overall process.
“As promised in advance, officer.”
Shin Gyeong-Pyo intervened, “Wait! Are you going to believe his words right now and move on?!” He shouted, spraying spit everywhere, “We all know that the relationship between the Celestial Dragon and the Grand Croix is bad, but wasn’t this an opportunity to set up a trap in advance to keep Hunter Kim Ji-Hoon in check….”
Scratching my head, I said, “I told you, my unique skill isn’t perfect yet. And…. That’s quite unexpected from you.”
“What?”
“If I were to side with Grand Croix, I would never mention what Hunter Shin Gyeong-Pyo just said.”
It was only then that he realized his mistake, and his face turned red.
It was not me but Kim Ji-Hoon, who proposed a fight in the first place when the guilds were not getting along well with each other. He had been acting up against a Hunter, who had been Awakened for less than half a year, and was beaten in reverse. He was the one who tried to set a trap.
‘He was blatantly after my neck. A non-Awakened public official might not have noticed it, but a hunter would have noticed it. It was Kim Ji-Hoon who would be at a disadvantage when Lee Ji-Soo testified.’
On seeing my ability, I sensed he struggled an attempt at releasing sword energy in my direction. It would be a mistake, however, though I laughed inwardly at the baffled look upon his face.
“This….! This….!” Shin Gyeong-Pyo struggled for speech.
‘Well, being Awakened doesn’t correspond to intelligence, so.’
I hurried us on, “I think we need to get Kim Ji-Hoon Hunter out of the dungeon as soon as possible. Let’s wrap this up and head out.”
The official nodded his head.
“As agreed in advance…. We will confirm the final grade of Seo Jin-Wook Hunter as SS-Rank.”
I watched him sign the electronic documents floating on the holograms.
‘It’s done!’
The promotion process was finally over.
*
There was no need to go back to the center to reissue Hunter’s card. The database update for promotional information was made immediately, and the contents of Hunter’s certificate were automatically changed without a separate reissue.
“Wow! This is amazing!” Nate murmured when he saw that his Hunter’s rating had changed to S.
Shin Gyeong-Pyo called someone on the phone, and then came back and talked with the public official.
‘Someone might have thought he belonged to Grand Croix.’
The official sighed and said, “We can’t reverse the result of the promotion. Implementing their discretionary power means that the standards for promotion were made by the evaluating officers, yourselves. Overturning the rules would mean it has to be done before it is implemented. However, we promise to conduct a separate investigation into any unlawful acts in the process of the battle.”
Even if he looked back at the video for 100 days, nothing would come out. All that would be found would be the color and shape of the sword energy, that covered my sword, perfectly matching that of Kim Ji-Hoon.
‘Kim Ji-Hoon tried to do me dishonestly, but he was counterattacked.’
If Lee Ji-Soo, who seemed to have a bad relationship with him, testified what she saw, things would only be against Kim Ji-Hoon. If the rumor spread, I’ll kill two birds with one stone.
‘The SS-Ranked, who was like a freshly Awakened, beat the S-Ranked veteran.’
Besides, I had a unique skill that has never been seen, and I also had talented people from abroad.
‘This was how we built the game.’
I was about to disappear with Nate and Hibiki, but suddenly Lee Ji-Soo came.
“Congratulations, Korea’s first SS-rank. The country is going to be turned upside down from today.”
I received the greeting calmly, “Thank you.”
“Can I talk to you for a second? I won’t take much of your time.”
Kim Ji-Hoon was transported in an ambulance, and Shin Gyeong-Pyo attached himself to him as if he had become a servant. They disappeared together. Since we decided to return in a separate vehicle instead of returning to the center in a public official car, there were only the three promoted people, and Lee Ji-Soo left. I decided to listen to her for the sake due to her favorable attitude.
“We don’t have much time to move to another place.”
“It’s enough to talk here. First of all, here’s a business card.”
I accepted her business card. Her name and contact number were written on the background of the ‘Golden Circle’ guild’s emblem decorating the center of the card.
‘Golden Circle was the next tier to the four major guilds. They were keeping their distance from all four major guilds. Keeping a neutral position.’
Although they were now reeling, Celestial Dragon had long been regarded as Korea’s best guild. Grand Croix, Destruction Blade, and Gate Keepers threatened Celestial Dragon’s position by scale and force. Gates Keepers, who walked their line, were not involved in the force fight, but the other three guilds were engaged in a dirty battle in alliance with minor guilds.
‘Like Grand Croix and Shin Gyeong-Pyo’s guild being in the same boat. It was pathetic, with not enough time to prepare for the future altogether; they were dividing themselves and picking fights with each other…. I would need to clean up this floor as soon as possible.’
With this in mind, I spoke to her, “I don’t have a business card yet.”
“That’s okay. I’m just going to ask you one thing.”
Straight to the point, she asked, “I was wondering if by taking those mercenaries and moving with them separately from the Celestial Dragons, it meant you might be thinking of building a new guild. Is that so?”
I shook my head, “That’s not the case.” Everyone will know what I’m going to do from now on anyway.
Lee Ji-Soo shrugged her shoulders, “Really? Too bad. The rumors about the internal situation must have been exaggerated.”
She may have been talking about the conflict with Seo Gyu-Cheol and rumors about me running away from home. If she was, as the rumor went, they might have thought I was leaving Celestial Dragon for good.