Chapter 145 (2/2)

I sent my greeting to the secret owner first. It was a courtesy to the elderly.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you like this, Mr. Chairman.”

He was an old man with chapped hair but had glistening eyes.

Additionally, he was also an ordinary non-Awakened without a Mana Core.

He talked to me with respect in his voice. He was not an Awakened himself, but I could see how he managed to bring a guild to climb up to Korea’s top 2.

“You’re not surprised. Have you known all this time? I asked for it, so I don’t think that the government would have leaked it first even to you, Guild Master.”

I was much younger than him, but he spoke in a polite manner. I answered with proper courtesy in return.

“Looking at the circumstances, I simply had an accurate guess.”

It was a fact that was eventually revealed as Korea got devastated in my past life.

He was the kind of person who could move such massive amounts of wealth while making the government think that they could trust him.

The owner of the Gate Keepers, the old man in front of me, was the Yujin Group chairman, Korea’s No. 1 Financial Group.

“Seeing that the media didn’t find you, you must have made a substitute appear at the guild.”

“Yes, I did.”

About 20 years after the Cataclysm, society became relatively stable, and hunters began to gain strength.

As a result, they focused only on Clears that they could gain money and items. Meanwhile, the government was in charge of monitoring the Gate, but their abilities were limited due to finite resources.

The chairman, who learned about the fact early on, wanted to contribute to the country by creating a guild as well.

The reason why he didn’t put the name of his company in front was simple. He didn’t want to set a precedent for large companies to run such large guilds.

They were wary of the organizations that existed solely for profit joining in the market that was already running centered around private profits more than it needed to be.

‘It was a wise choice, seeing that after Han-Seol passed, other large companies lurked around, desiring the Celestial Dragon’s share.’

I asked him a question.

“Then, the reason you came to see me today is…”

“Wouldn’t you already have an idea of that as well?”

He continued in a low voice.

“The tutorial quest has been announced to be over, hasn’t it? The Dimensional Bird is awake, and there will be more dungeons appearing across the world in the future.”

After pointing out the overall change, he talked about the Gate Keepers’ reality and the Celestial Dragons’ status.

“No matter how hard I think about it, I thought that our guild’s capabilities couldn’t keep up with the changes. The guild consisting of many middle and lower rank hunters has managed to play its role so far, however…”

He was paying close attention to the flow of time.

“I thought there would be a need for more force than that in the future. So I thought about it. Who has the ability and motivation to take over my role now? There was only one person.”

His words were also within the scope of my expectations. However, the direction had changed a lot from my past life.

“Are you leaving it to me?”

“Yes, I hope it turns out to be so.”

The chairman came to propose a merger wherein the Gate Keepers would be absorbed by the Celestial Dragon.

The old man continued, praising me and my abilities lightly.

“And as I’ve checked, I think you’ve got a lot more money now than I have. I don’t think it’s going to be too much of a burden to manage it.”

He had even searched deep enough to find such private information.

I didn’t need a lot of time to think about it. In the future, we shouldn’t compete within Earth but with other dimensions anyway. Internally, it was better to unite forces as fast as possible, and the starting point was Korea.

Although the Celestial Dragon had already taken an overwhelming position, it was planning to absorb or make the other guilds its subordinates at a faster pace in the future.

Naturally, Dungeon Gate management would be much easier if the Gate Keepers were managed directly by my supervision than in the current situation, in which operations were divided.

“Of course, I’m going to hand over all my shares, and I don’t dream of management rights. However, since I’m afraid that you’ll think it’s a bit of a heavy burden…”

Since he was already expecting a situation where I would decline his proposition, the price the chairman suggested was reasonable.

However, it was an unnecessary concern. I was already ready to accept it anyway.

“Yes, I will proceed that way. Thank you.”

I then expressed my gratitude to the elderly who had contributed to the country without anyone knowing.

“You’ve done a great job.”

The old man laughed silently.

At that moment, the four ancient guilds of Korea were absorbed entirely by and integrated into the Celestial Dragon.

*

A few days after the meeting with the chairman, the Union’s ‘affiliation proposal’ that the governments had been waiting for was finally delivered.

Since the era of interacting with more diverse dimensions approached, being included in a large organization that would achieve the mainstream was essentially the same as having strong support.

Also, the Union’s rules on the affiliate dimension felt slightly strict, but in return, the federation also had to do its best to ensure Earth’s safety.

Of course, the countries that had already spoken in sync shared their opinions. Polls from each country showed similar trends.

But there were exceptions everywhere.

Almost naturally, it was the same country again that rejected the notion.

– The People’s Republic of China cannot trust that unidentified group of aliens who call themselves the ‘Union’ and insists that all exchanges be suspended until they have been proven safe and harmless!

The paradigm was already changing, and the balance of power was not the same as before.

However, some government leaders considered such change a terrible nightmare and did not want to immerse themselves in the axis’s slow movement. The result was a farfetched resistance.

Eventually, a month after the Union proposed, Earth’s opinions couldn’t come together.

There was only one option for the remaining countries.

“It would be better to gather the will of as many countries as possible, but…”

“If this happens, the only way for the negotiating group to join the Union is to exclude China and a few other countries.”

There was a reason to fiddle with the plan that had been put off as a last resort.

Adam once warned me through the following words:

‘If you get an offer, you’d better accept it as soon as possible. Among those that didn’t join the Union, there are vicious species that only aim for dimensions which just started the main quest.’

The fact was even stated in the Union’s proposal.

However, China threw a monkey wrench, saying they couldn’t trust anything they were saying.

Then one day, the situation that the Union and Adam were worried about occurred.

– Breaking news!

An unexpected incident occurred in Taipei City, Taiwan.

An opaque dome surrounding a 10-kilometer radius from the center of the city suddenly appeared.

All physical movements were interrupted, and even communication was blocked.

People soon learned that it had nothing to do with the Taiwanese government’s intentions.

At the Gate opened in the barrier, hundreds of species began to cross almost all at once.

It was the emergence of invaders that the advisor warned me about.