Chapter 92
Chapter 92
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 92
Chapter Title: The Association's Investigation
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The Association dispatched an investigation team to the Gugang International Hotel.
Under the pretext of verifying the Gugang Group's gate prevention accomplishments and checking for any possibility of recurrence.
"Ah, come on. Let people through."
"Can't you see we're busy over here? Don't block the way."
"......"
The expressions of the Association investigation team members gradually hardened.
It was because every time they ran into Gugang personnel inspecting and repairing the damaged building, the latter picked fights with them.
They had fully expected not to be welcomed, but they hadn't anticipated such overt hostility.
'What gives them the nerve to act this way? Did Gungseong promise ongoing support?'
Gungseong had appeared and lent aid.
The investigation team leader frowned as he recalled the testimony from the Changbaek Mountain branch chief.
For the Association, it was a major headache that Gugang—which had long been trying to escape the Association's influence—was now backed by Gungseong.
Losing a financial backer was never a good thing...
"Hm?"
The investigation team leader snapped out of his thoughts and focused while examining a fragment of the core nucleus.
He spotted something unusual in the metal embedded in the fragment.
'A blade?'
Yes, it looked just like a broken blade.
It was too shaped and sized to be interpreted as an arrowhead.
"Gather all the fragments with projectile marks."
After having his subordinates collect the evidence, he soon became convinced.
'The core nucleus was destroyed by a sword, not an arrow.'
He had harbored some doubts ever since hearing the testimony that Gungseong wielded thunder so powerfully it resembled a brilliant yellow bolt of lightning.
Gungseong's primary attribute was wind.
He could handle thunder to some extent, but not to an extreme level.
There had even been a moment of gladness thinking perhaps his realm had advanced since then...
'This isn't his handiwork.'
There was no reason for Gungseong to use a sword in place of an arrow.
'Who is it?'
How many people in Korea could infuse a sword with brilliant yellow thunder and hurl it with such force that it created the illusion of being shot from a bow?
No one came to mind off the top of his head.
That made it all the more ominous.
'Gugang... what kind of monster have you allied yourself with?'
***
-Regarding this incident, Lion's Castle is demanding accountability. It's true that you tried to intimidate the Archery Club students, isn't it?
"You XX bastard! Don't talk shit!!"
Nonsense he'd heard from Gu Gwang-seon the moment he regained consciousness.
Recalling that absurd claim made his blood boil.
Cursing under his breath, Yeon Ho-ryeong began smashing every fixture in the room.
Lion's Castle holding him accountable?
He was the victim here.
This was driving him insane.
The Archery Club brats had been the first to interfere with Daeyang Shipping's business, and he himself had been beaten to the brink of death when he confronted them.
Just how much more did he have to endure?
The most serious issue was that the Daeyang Guild would soon learn of this.
'With Lion's Castle stepping in, there's no way the guild won't hear about it.'
He had only meant to vent his stress by harassing the kids... No, he had stepped up to salvage a directly operated store, only to suffer humiliation and further weaken his position.
Trembling at the thought of his father's piercing glare, Yeon Ho-ryeong pictured himself being compared to his younger brother again and exiled to some insignificant post inferior even to Daeyang Shipping. Tears welled up.
"No... I have to fix this somehow..."
Caught in a panic, he grabbed his overcoat and put it on.
His limbs barely responded due to the potion addiction symptoms, but an obsessive compulsion to do something pressed down on him.
It was then.
*Vrrr.*
His phone on the desk buzzed.
Had word already reached his father?
Yeon Ho-ryeong swallowed dryly and checked the caller ID.
It wasn't his father's number—thank goodness—but the unfamiliar one still set his heart racing.
"...Hello?"
He barely steadied his voice and answered.
-Shall I give you a chance?
An out-of-left-field voice seeped into his ear.
"You, you XX bastard!!"
A clear, bell-like voice that evoked a bright spring day.
But the tone was mischievous, honed over ten years of research into infuriating others.
It was the helmet guy.
Yeon Ho-ryeong instantly recognized the voice and raised his volume.
"You little punk who can't even grow a proper beard yet—using卑鄙 illusions in the middle of a duel? Where the hell are you right now, you bastard? If it weren't for the illusions, I'd crush a punk like you with one hand...! Cough, cough!!"
-Calm down. Getting worked up in your potion-addicted state will only hurt you more. Why harm yourself just to get riled up alone?
"You think I can stay calm if I were you? You son of a—"
-And if you don't calm down, what will you do?
"...What?"
-What will you do if you don't calm down? What can you even accomplish when you don't know who I am or where I am right now?
"Y-You...! You think I can't figure out who a punk like you is? Are you so much of a kid that you have no sense of reality?"
-The one lacking a sense of reality is you. If Lion's Castle launches a full-scale investigation, word will reach the Daeyang Guild. Are you confident you can handle the fallout?
Why was Yeon Ho-ryeong, the eldest son of Yeon Ho-rang, not at the Daeyang Guild but serving as president of Daeyang Shipping instead?
Kang Jae-hyeok knew Yeon Ho-ryeong's circumstances like the back of his hand.
He had easily inferred it from the personality of Yeon Ho-rang that he had witnessed as a child and the personality of Yeon Ho-ryeong he had observed today.
-Your father will be even more disappointed in you.
"......"
A chill ran down Yeon Ho-ryeong's spine.
It felt like his lifeline had been seized in an instant.
"...You... did you target me from the very start?"
The puzzle pieces began falling into place one by one.
Why had Lion's Castle's Archery Club suddenly started interfering with Daeyang Shipping's business?
Was it really a coincidence that the Gugang Hotel commissioned the Archery Club and that news reached his ears?
The helmet guy didn't deny it.
-Will you take the chance I'm offering, or not? Answer the question.
"...Not reporting this incident to Lion's Castle is the chance you're offering, right?"
He had targeted him from the beginning.
The goal was surely to put a leash on him.
Yeon Ho-ryeong knew it full well but squeezed his eyes shut.
"I'll take it. What do you want in return?"
***
"The kids are back!"
"The commission was a success? No one got hurt?"
The entire Archery Club turned out to welcome Kang Jae-hyeok and his group upon their return from the mission.
Given the high difficulty of the commission, plenty of people had been worried.
Jang Yeon-ju's school uniform top pocket was slightly bulging with candy wrappers in particular.
She had apparently been popping candies nonstop to endure the anxiety.
"......"
No Jun-yeop stared straight at Kang Jae-hyeok.
He was yielding the role of announcing the mission's results.
It wasn't like No Jun-yeop, who loved to take the lead.
As Jang Yeon-ju's eyes sparkled with interest at the subtle shift,
"Thanks to everyone's combined efforts, we succeeded without a hitch. And we got ten times the expected reward."
Kang Jae-hyeok finally removed his helmet, mask, and sunglasses, speaking with a refreshed expression.
"Wow! You actually succeeded...!"
"Ten times the reward? How?"
"Tell us all the details!"
The Archery Club members rushed forward, eyes shining brightly.
They were dying to hear about their comrades' exploits—not only succeeding at what seemed impossible but also bringing back a massive sum.
"It was Jae-hyeok who..."
"Then Jae-hyeok..."
"So Jae-hyeok again..."
"...?"
Kang Jae-hyeok's name kept coming up from the kids who had participated in the operation.
As the tales flowed from start to finish as one unbroken string of his feats, the other club members began doubting whether it was a joke or serious.
It was because the content was so hard to believe.
They couldn't even imagine.
That Kang Jae-hyeok's feats had actually been downplayed from reality.
'He asked us not to mention the thunder-infused sword or beating Yeon Ho-ryeong one-on-one.'
His comrades fully understood Kang Jae-hyeok's request.
Players naturally tried to hide their abilities.
Those who boasted of their achievements and leaked stats or skill info usually died early.
'We've got a secret just among us now.'
The 29 Archery Club members felt inexplicably closer to Kang Jae-hyeok and swelled with pride.
Jang Yeon-ju, guessing the situation from their grinning faces, offered Kang Jae-hyeok a lollipop.
"A gift."
"Huh? What's up with you, Jang Yeon-ju? You never give out soda flavor to anyone."
"I'm feeling generous since Jae-hyeok's become a friend."
"I've got no memory of that..."
"......"
The Archery Club members gave No Jun-yeop bewildered looks as he puzzled over it.
Since when were those two friends?
He was in for an earful from Jang Yeon-ju.
Just as the club members closer to No Jun-yeop shook their heads pityingly,
"Then you take one too."
Surprisingly.
Jang Yeon-ju also handed a soda candy to No Jun-yeop.
No Jun-yeop took it with a stunned expression, popped it in his mouth, and muttered.
"...It's good."
Jang Yeon-ju and No Jun-yeop.
The two, who had been sworn enemies since their first year, unexpectedly became friends with surprising ease.
The catalyst was undoubtedly...
Everyone's gazes naturally turned to Kang Jae-hyeok.
And they saw.
A red-haired boy standing behind Kang Jae-hyeok, smirking smugly.
"Ever since I became acting club captain, everything's been going smoothly from one to ten. Maybe club captain is my true calling."
"Then stay club captain until you die of old age."
"Jae-hyeok, you heard that? Even that rude jerk No Jun-yeop acknowledges me! So take me on the next mission too! It doesn't make sense for the acting captain not to join!"
"Yeah. But I won't have time to worry about club missions for a while."
"Why?"
"Why? Aren't you doing team training?"
"Uh...? N-No... Aaaargh!!"
The Archery Club members blankly watched Baek Do-jin get dragged away by the scruff of his neck.
As second-years, they knew the true value of the mad dog Baek Do-jin.
A guy whose passion was genuine.
He was the rare type who burned with more enthusiasm the harsher the training.
But for him to foam at the mouth and scream that he hated it...?
'Just how brutal is the training?'
Recalling the eyewitness accounts of Kang Jae-hyeok hauling off the roasted Baek Do-jin and the first-years somewhere, the club members turned to No Jun-yeop and Jang Yeon-ju.
Their eyes conveyed a message: don't give Kang Jae-hyeok authority over club training.
Of course, No Jun-yeop and Jang Yeon-ju thought the exact opposite.
Silently ignoring the club members' stares, they left to write up the mission report for the administrative office.
That night.
[Club Compensation Ranking]
2nd - Archery Club
Lion's Castle was thrown into an uproar.