Chapter 105 (1/2)
Chapter 105. The Village Head's Gift (2)
Hao Win!
Seol Jihu couldn't yell, given the intense atmosphere, but that was a name he couldn't ignore.
'Similar situation?'
From the looks of it, 'Umi Tsubame' seemed to be a team under an organization named 'j.a.pan Business Federation'. Kazuki seemed to be ostracized for going against the organization's orders, but what was this about Hao Win being in a similar situation…?
“Are those guys still having internal conflicts?”
Jang Maldong didn't hide his feeling of discontent. Asking for cooperation in the middle of internal conflicts? It was up for interpretation, but it sure sounded like they were asking Carpe Diem to step their feet in the mud.
However, Kazuki shook his head.
“No, things have died down after a huge incident. There is still some veiled enmity and strife for political power… but it's more of a rite of pa.s.sage than a conflict.”
Jang Maldong's sharp eyes softened slightly. Kazuki continued.
“As I'm sure you know, individuals who join an organization seek to be promoted through their activities in Paradise. The members of the Triads are good examples of this.”
“True, they do encourage their members to actively partic.i.p.ate.”
“Yes, the Triads didn't directly translate their internal hierarchy from Earth to Paradise. Instead, they chose to abolish some of the levels of hierarchy. Of course, they still included their core executives, but it was still an innovative idea at the time.”
“Yes, it wasn't bad. After all, that is what enabled them to grab hold of powerful authority in Paradise.'
Difficult talks went back and forth.
Chohong was yawning as if she was extremely bored, and Hugo was just standing there, completely zoned out. It really looked like he wasn't thinking about anything.
“But after their forces stabilized in Paradise, internal problems began to arise, eventually causing a collapse in their hierarchy.”
“That is often the case with large organizations. The culture of the Triads organization was overly compet.i.tive. Their innovative idea of getting rid of the existing hierarchy simply came back to bite them. It must have been bad since I heard the news of a.s.sa.s.sinations even on Earth….”
Seol Jihu listened to their conversation attentively. It was hard for him to understand everything they were saying, but he tried his best, remembering Jang Maldong's words to 'learn to read the political atmosphere'.
Scientia potentia est. Knowledge is power.
Even someone with great physical prowess would easily be taken advantage of if they were stupid.
As Seol Jihu planned to form his own team in the future, he felt the need to learn to understand these kind of things, so as to be able to survive in Paradise. Of course, he was also curious since the story involved Hao Win.
“The leading executives of the Triads knew about this problem, but they failed to control the discord. And because of the prolonged internal strife, they even had to give up the initiative to Sicilia.”
“And the special countermeasure they came up with is this man named Hao Win?”
“Yes.”
“If the Triads' culture hasn't changed, he will just be treated as another amateur who got in through connections.”
Kazuki slowly nodded.
“But things have gotten better. After taking that huge blow from Sicilia, voices to change their culture have gotten louder. All members of the Triads want to recover their past glory. As long as Hao Win proves that he is capable, reuniting the organization shouldn't be impossible.”
“Hm…. What an interesting brat! So he wants to partic.i.p.ate in the Banquet and prove his ability?”
“That's why I said this matter was similar to a rite of pa.s.sage.”
“That man named Hao Win. What do you think of him?”
Kazuki put on an uncertain look, “I'm not sure, but he seemed like a cheerful guy on the surface.”
Seol Jihu agreed with Kazuki's evaluation and snickered to himself quietly. After that, a few more words were exchanged before silence descended. Then, Jang Maldong opened his mouth after a long deliberation.
“As you already know, we aren't in the best situation right now. Can you give us some time to think about it?”
“Of course. We still have more than enough time on our hands after all.”
“We'll come to a decision by tomorrow. Anyways…,” Jang Maldong grinned, seeing Kazuki getting up from the couch. “Looks like you're starting to think about going independent.”
Kazuki shut his mouth for a moment, then heaved out a short sigh.
“It's just… difficult to go about things alone. Since I have the opportunity, I decided to grab it.”
“The Federation Head indeed isn't an easy opponent.”
“I believe I've already done what was expected of me.”
With that, Kazuki bowed.
Once Ayase Kazuki left, Carpe Diem's office got a bit noisy to talk about their partic.i.p.ation in the Banquet.
“We should go! It's an opportunity that comes around once every two years! I'm going for sure.” Hugo raised his voice, saying they should obviously partic.i.p.ate.
“I don't know…. We only have three people. Let's just look for an Archer.” But Chohong looked bothered by the whole thing and argued against Hugo.
“f.u.c.k, what, you don't care anymore now that you're a High Ranker?”
“Hmph, you going won't change a thing. I know you're in a hurry, but do you really think you'll make it to Stage 3?”
Chohong and Hugo began to bicker. Jang Maldong stared at them with disappointment before turning around while ma.s.saging his temples. Then, he found the youth deep in thought and stared at him fixedly.
'Oh right….'
He remembered Chohong hinting to make Seol Jihu the new leader. Although he planned to appoint the new Archer he would bring in as the leader, there was no reason Seol Jihu couldn't be the leader either.
He knew that it was better for someone established in the team to become the leader than someone completely new. Wanting to test Seol Jihu, Jang Maldong threw him a question.
“What do you think?”
“…What? Ah, I really don't know….”
Seol Jihu jumped in surprise at the sudden question and then shook his head.
“It's fine, so tell me.”
When Jang Maldong pressed him, he took a moment to collect his thoughts, then spoke, “Considering Carpe Diem's current position, I think it will be better to partic.i.p.ate.”
“Right?”
Hugo screamed, thinking Seol Jihu was taking his side. Jang Maldong swung his cane and silenced the bickering duo before collecting his roughened breath and sitting back down on the couch.
“Tell me the reason.”
“As you know, Carpe Diem's stock has significantly reduced in value.”
“Stock?”
“Yes, it lost the symbol of its team, after all.”
“Well… yes. But by that logic, isn't it important to absorb new blood into the team as quickly as possible?”
“Blood can't be absorbed unconditionally. I don't think Carpe Diem is a type-O. In fact, I'd say it's an RH-negative.”
His a.n.a.logy piqued Jang Maldong's interest.
“The problem here is, whether an Archer of Dylan's caliber would be willing to enter this difficult-to-handle team.”
“So you're saying a skilled Archer wouldn't want to enter the current Carpe Diem?”
“I wouldn't go that far, but he would certainly weigh his options.”
“And you're suggesting we come up with something to tip the scale in our favor.”
Seol Jihu nodded.
“Yes. From what I heard, this Banquet seems to be a special event that draws in attention from all of Paradise. I think this would be an excellent opportunity to prove our worth.”
Seol Jihu further added that their success would have a synergistic effect of bolstering people's expectations in them due to Jang Maldong's temporary return and news of Chohong becoming a High Ranker.
“Well, that's just what I think from the perspective of our team.”
Seeing the youth laugh awkwardly, Jang Maldong rubbed his chin.
'Hm….'
His anger instantly subsided and a sense of relief rushed in. Chohong and Hugo had been troubling him, but he suddenly felt relieved.
'Dylan, you always had good eyes for people.'
When he was looking for an Archer to join Carpe Diem, it seemed that he didn't need to worry about finding one with qualities of a leader.
“Chohong,” Jang Maldong smiled, “Go visit Umi Tsubame.”
Carpe Diem's partic.i.p.ation in the Banquet was decided.
The answer was 'yes'. After accepting Kazuki's offer of a three-way team cooperation, Jang Maldong immediately began his preparation. Although they still had 6 weeks left until the start of the Banquet, the word 'procrastination' wasn't in his dictionary.
“You can say that the Banquet is part of an ancient inheritance.”
Seol Jihu tilted his head at Jang Maldong's explanation, “I thought it was either a dungeon or a ruin.”
“You're right and wrong at the same time,” Jang Maldong slowly continued.
“Some say it's a stage created by a G.o.d from the era of the ancient Empire to carry out some sort of a test. Others say it is a game created by a grand magician for his amus.e.m.e.nt. Some even call it a lair that the extinct dragons created as a dummy.”
“How mysterious.”
“If you want to know more, ask Ian. He likes things like this, so he'll have more detailed information. Now, what we do know for sure is this…” Jang Maldong s.n.a.t.c.hed the cane he'd been waving around in the air.
“Entrances leading to an unknown place open biannually all across Paradise.”
“That's it?”
“We also know that this place is separated into three stages, but what's inside changes every year.”
Seol Jihu swallowed his saliva. He thought that they would just have to fight some monsters and look for treasures, but the scale of the event was far bigger than what he'd imagined.
Still, he couldn't figure out why everyone was so worked up about this mysterious festival. It truly was an enigma.
“To be honest..” The end of the cane pointed at Seol Jihu. “It's way too early for you to partic.i.p.ate in the Banquet.”
“…I thought so.”
“If you look at the distribution of partic.i.p.ants, a vast majority of them are Level 4s. Almost everyone who is remotely decent will flock to this event. To be frank, if you're alone, you'll find it difficult to clear even the first stage.”
Seol Jihu wasn't angry, but he couldn't help but feel a little bitter.
“But since every partic.i.p.ant is part of a team, there are some way outs.”
Seol Jihu was afraid Jang Maldong would prohibit him from partic.i.p.ating, so his eyes sparkled when he heard this.
“You mean I can go?”
“Yes, but under two conditions.”
“Conditions…?”
“Yep. First, you will have to take on the role of an Archer in this team.”
Seol Jihu was dumbstruck by this unexpected condition.