The Meaning of Monopoly
The conference room felt as if a silent storm had blown through it. The guild masters in attendance all wore expressions of disbelief as their bewildered gazes drifted around the room.
Did I hear that wrong?
A Silver-tier guild is going to claim exclusive rights over a top-tier, small-to-mid-scale A-rank raid?
What is he planning to do about the backlash?
If the exclusive-rights declaration went through, no other guild could intervene unless they raised an objection. That meant immense profit if it succeeded, but because objections were not uncommon and the backlash from failure could be severe, it was a measure that had almost never been used in practice.
There were fewer guild masters than one might think who had the nerve to wield such a high-risk, double-edged sword. Everyone had too much to lose, so they preferred the safe road.
“Does the Wraith Guild master even know what he’s saying?”
It was Joo Hyeri. Hyun-jun focused mana into his eyes to confirm her True Name.
Romanov's Eye has taken root within you. The gaze of absolute insight sees through every existence.
The True Name surfaced.
[Joo Hyeri: Greedy Follower.]
After confirming her True Name, a smile spread across Hyun-jun’s lips. If anything, it fit the behavior she was showing now.
“If it bothers you, raise an objection through priority declaration. And then...”
Hyun-jun rose from his seat. Then he strode straight toward Hyeri. Tae-min followed behind him as if it were the most natural thing in the world. Just as Hyeri’s attendants opened their spatial bags to draw weapons, Hyun-jun stopped.
“Don’t speak casually to me.”
At that instant, he drew on his mana and invoked Ripper’s blessing.
Ripper’s brutal killing intent awakens. No living thing can escape its instinctive fear.
Deadly killing intent exploded outward.
“Ghk!”
“Ugh!”
Two of Hyeri’s attendants staggered, low groans spilling from their lips. One man at the front clutched his chest and collapsed weakly to the floor.
W-what kind of killing intent is this...
Another guild master nearby felt it brush against him and shuddered. Even from a slight distance, it was enough to make him feel as though he were standing in the middle of a snowfield whipped by an ice storm. Hyeri was no exception.
This wasn’t ordinary killing intent. Her entire body went taut as if she had been forced to stand before a higher predator, and her brain sank into panic, abandoning thought altogether.
I got scared? That’s ridiculous...
It was dense enough killing intent to make a veteran upper A-rank hunter feel, however briefly, the terror of death. She wanted to deny the fact that fear had taken hold of her, but she had no choice but to accept it.
“Take off the team leader’s coat.”
“Yes.”
At Hyeri’s demand, the man she had called the team leader removed his suit jacket and handed it over. Hyeri wrapped it around her waist and tied it there, as if she were hiding something.
“Let’s go...”
“But, Deputy Guild Master...”
“Just follow me for now.”
At her repeated order, the attendants nodded and moved toward the door with Hyeri.
“You said your name was Kang Hyun-jun, right? We’ll talk later.”
Leaving those words behind, Hyeri exited the conference room with her attendants. Hyun-jun swept a sharp gaze across the room. The silence that settled after Hyeri’s departure was heavy, but no one seemed inclined to raise an objection.
They think I declared exclusive rights without thinking it through.
A clear smile spread across Hyun-jun’s lips. Unfortunately for them, he had used the rights because he was certain he could stop the incoming raid, unlike what they assumed.
“We’re leaving as well. The raid master will need to handle this properly.”
At Hellfire Guild Master Han Jeong-woo’s words, the other guild masters from the Great Demon faction nodded and left the room. Even those who had taken a neutral stance hurried after the current. Before ten minutes had passed, only Hyun-jun, Tae-min, and a few employees from the Raid Situation Bureau remained in the conference room.
“Mr. Kang Hyun-jun. Do you really intend to use the exclusive-rights declaration?”
Si-jun asked carefully. As an official from the Raid Situation Bureau, he could not help but worry about the raid’s failure.
“You know as well as I do, Team Leader, that once the exclusive-rights declaration is made, there’s no legal way to stop it.”
“Yes. I’m not fond of the Great Demon Guild either, but I think this method is wrong.”
“Even so, we’re the ones monopolizing the first wave deployment. It’s not as if the second wave is empty, is it? As long as the rear formation isn’t empty, there shouldn’t be any further casualties.”
Normally, when exclusive rights were invoked, forces were concentrated in the rear deployment, so additional casualties were not often maximized.
“Those cases are rare, but they’re not nonexistent.”
Si-jun wasn’t wrong.
“Don’t worry too much. We’ll succeed.”
The certainty in Hyun-jun’s voice changed something in Si-jun as well. He let out a short sigh, then looked straight at Hyun-jun and spoke.
“Second Awakening hunters have always turned the things everyone called impossible into reality.”
Si-jun fell silent for a moment, and Hyun-jun did not answer right away. It seemed more would follow.
“This time, I’ll believe in you too.”
“What made you change your mind all of a sudden?”
Hyun-jun asked. If possible, he wanted to know for sure.
“The Great Demon Guild has been abusing its power for years, using the advantage of being the only Gold-tier guild in charge of the raid special district in Paldal District. I don’t know who’s backing them, but they’ve kept that position all this time. Strangely enough, none of the other Gold-tier guilds ever intervened.”
As Si-jun searched through old memories, fatigue was written all over his face. Just looking at him made it obvious how long he had been worn down by it all.
“So now you think it’s time to cut the Great Demon Guild down to size?”
“Of course. Opportunity has come knocking, and we have no choice but to take the gamble. Naturally, if the guild’s exclusive raid operation fails, you’ll have to bear all the disadvantages that follow. There are eyes on the Great Demon Guild as well, so we won’t be able to support you on that front.”
“That’s fine. There won’t be a failure.”
Hyun-jun answered with a bright, unmistakable smile. At that confidence, Si-jun felt the anxiety in his chest settle. He didn’t know why, but he decided it was confidence backed by something real.
“You have three days left. We’ll pass along any new information to Wraith’s side as it comes in.”
“You can do that?”
“The Great Demon Guild might apply a little pressure, but you can ignore it.”
“You won’t be disappointed.”
As always, he would be the one smiling in the end.
“You’d better be. We’re betting everything on the miracle that is close to a form of madness called Kang Hyun-jun.”
*
Back at the guild office, Hyun-jun summoned everyone at middle-management level and above. The summoned executives gathered in the First Conference Room on the third floor. Hyun-jun sat in the guild master’s seat, Tae-min to his right and So-jin to his left. Her official title was Chief Secretary to the Guild Master.
“First, I’ll explain the situation.”
Once all the middle-ranking executives and above had assembled, Hyun-jun began. So-jin pressed the button on the remote she was holding, and footage appeared on the monitor behind Hyun-jun. It was material sent over by the Raid Situation Bureau. Using a laser pointer, Hyun-jun explained the current situation.
As the explanation went on, the executives’ expressions changed in subtle ways. Those with looks of utter disbelief were mostly the ones who had joined from Echo, while those who showed no change in expression and only voiced support for Hyun-jun were the ones from Wraith, people who had witnessed and experienced the near-miraculous, reckless things he had done.
“Guild Master... Even now, it’s not too late. You should give up the exclusive rights.”
Hyun-jun turned toward the voice. There stood Choi Seong-tae, a B-rank mage hunter who served as the leader of the Third Assault Team. He was from Echo and had long been one of the less cooperative executives.
This is why I wanted to keep everyone from Wraith in those positions...
Hyun-jun frowned. If it were up to him, he would have done exactly that, but there had been fewer people in the old Wraith Guild than he had expected who were actually capable of serving as executives.
“I have no intention of giving up the exclusive rights. So you’d be better off dropping the idea of trying to persuade me.”
His tone was unyielding. He decided he needed to come down hard this time. Seong-tae’s face stiffened, as if he had not expected such a blunt refusal.
“Guild Master... If you call a meeting and then take such a one-sided stance, it puts us in a difficult position.”
“You seem to have misunderstood something... I didn’t gather you here to discuss this. I summoned the executives to inform them. I’d appreciate it if there were no misunderstanding. If this were a meeting for discussion, I would have listened a little more closely to Mr. Choi Seong-tae’s opinion.”
“B-but...”
Seong-tae could not finish. The sharp gazes from the Wraith-born executives had fallen on him all at once. In the end, he could only trail off and sit back down.
“I’ve already finished talking with the assault team leader. For this raid, not only the assault team and the executive division but all full-time guild members will be mobilized. We’re also planning to accept volunteers from among the non-regular members.”
It was time to stake everything.
“The risk is going to be huge.”
Someone spoke. Hyun-jun turned toward the source of the voice. A young woman wearing glasses was seated there. He couldn’t remember her name, but he clearly remembered that she had come from Echo.
“If you shrink back because you’re afraid, you won’t gain anything. This raid will be a major opportunity for our guild. No matter what objections there are, I will maintain the exclusive-rights declaration, and I won’t accept dissenting opinions.”
He poured mana into his voice to emphasize the point. At that moment, something entirely unexpected happened.
Romanov’s overwhelming majesty crushes everything around you. So long as the sacred imperial decree accompanies you, you will be a ruling presence.
He could hear a voice ringing in his ears. At the same time, an irresistible majesty erupted from his body. The Echo-born executives were left speechless, while the Wraith-born members who had already been placing their trust and support in Hyun-jun erupted into cheers.
“That’s our guild master!”
“We’ll follow you and trust you, Guild Master!”
“Long live Wraith!”
Their embarrassing shouts kept coming, but they were good words, so he could let them slide even if he had to endure a little secondhand shame.
“Tch...”
The Echo-born executives had no choice but to bite their lips and swallow their frustration. The support of the existing Wraith-born executives was already rock-solid, leaving no opening to push through. Worse, even among Echo’s own people, a small number were showing signs of agreeing with Hyun-jun.
Once things settle down, I’ll start by replacing the executives.
Hyun-jun looked at the Echo-born members who were openly wearing sour expressions and thought it to himself. It was time for the winds of change.