A Place on Their Train
There was one more thing I could prepare in advance, just in case.
Back when this strange ability of mine first appeared and my authority was so low I could barely do anything with it, I'd thought this was the only option available to me: stationing powerful people around myself for protection.
Barely a month ago, I had no idea I'd become this strong. Now I was stronger than anyone around me. Still, there was no helping it. I had to use that method again.
Back then, I'd simply wanted strong people. Now that my growth limit was locked at A-10, the only option left was sheer numbers. But no matter how many Awoken I gathered, the story changed completely if the opponent was a Transcendent. Ten people? Twenty? They wouldn't even be a match. Those things weren't ordinary monsters.
If I was just throwing Awoken out as meat shields to buy time to run, that was another matter. So if I wanted this approach to actually work, I had to think carefully.
How was I supposed to do this? Where was I supposed to suddenly pull dozens or hundreds of elite Awoken from, and in what lifetime?
I racked my brains over it again and again. And eventually, I found the answer — a method far more efficient than stationing strong people around myself.
I would walk into a massive organization first.
Transcendents were strong. But no matter how strong they were, if they made an enemy of the Awakened Community, they couldn't set foot in South Korea and survive. It was an organization tangled up with every major corporation and political faction. With the Awakened Community's full protection behind me, almost no one would dare touch me lightly. Not the current government, and not other countries either — not unless they were ready to start a war.
I wasn't simply planning to join the Community. I needed to build relationships with the people at its core. And if I could climb into a position where I could voice my own opinions, that would be the icing on the cake.
That was exactly why National Assembly member Na Ilpyo had offered me the Community head seat — because the position was worth that much.
The person currently sitting at the top of that enormous organization. First, I needed to make that person mine.
I'd started thinking this way because I'd found a connection to them within arm's reach.
"Ah, welcome, welcome."
Before I knew it, Monday had arrived. The people from the companies sponsoring me had gathered in one place again. Far more of them stood in front of me than last week. Word had spread nationwide in a single week. Even Blue Dolphin Company — that thorn in my side — had shown up. That said everything.
"We've heard the news. An Elite-grade mana holder at stage fifty… Doesn't that put you at the absolute peak of South Korea's Awoken? Aside from the Transcendents, of course… No, wait — with your current abilities, you're already a Transcendent yourself…"
"At our company, there's even talk of carving out equity and bringing you on board, Mr. Kang Junghyeok. Please give it some thought."
Their attitudes had completely changed. Each of them must have used their own information networks to verify whether my abilities were real. The ones who'd seen it with their own eyes last Monday didn't even need to ask. And thanks to that, the sponsorship money pouring in had ballooned to an absurd degree. I was grateful.
No need to make enemies. I smiled broadly and kept things pleasant.
"To all of you who have sponsored me — every company, every backer — thank you. However, as I mentioned last time, my ability has limits. So I intend to enhance the mana of only the top two sponsoring companies, for a total of forty people. I'm truly sorry to everyone else. There will be another opportunity next week, so please don't hold it against me. I'm not going anywhere."
Please just make sure I don't suddenly get hurt or die.
The moment I finished speaking, several people cleared their throats. Some fidgeted with their ties, reading the room. Others were livestreaming on their phones in real time. A mixed crowd. Not just scouts — executive-level personnel from each company had come in person.
"Hmm…"
Every gaze converged. Their only concern now was which company had put up how much. I already knew the results.
"First, the number one company. No — I'll announce second place first."
I drew it out. A few people looked openly tense. Others had already given up and switched into spectator mode.
"The second-place sponsor is…"
This is kind of fun, stringing them along. I almost want to wait sixty seconds before revealing it.
"Blue Dolphin Company."
"Ah…"
"What? They didn't even show their faces last week."
"Whew… so we're second. Then who's first? How much did they put up?"
"The amount? Let's hear the amount first."
"Ah, I'll announce the amounts after I name the first-place company. So first place is…"
Even I'd been surprised when I saw that Blue Dolphin — a company that hadn't even shown up last week — had come in second. I'd been quietly planning my revenge, but an amount like this was more than enough for emotional damages. Still, I intended to give that Cha Miso girl a sharp taste of her own medicine. Wherever I ran into her.
"First place goes to the Dragon Guild. Congratula— no, thank you. I'll put the sponsorship money to good use."
"Huh… figures…"
"The amount. Tell us the sponsorship amount. Just how high was it that we didn't even place?"
"We've already written off the first month. Still, we'd like to aim for the second, so we'd appreciate hearing it sooner rather than later."
"Everyone quiet! He'll announce it in his own time. Just wait."
The thoroughly smug Dragon Guild representative quieted the room. I bowed my head politely in acknowledgment.
Checking the sponsorship amounts let me gauge the industry landscape I'd been ignorant of until now. Aside from a handful of publicly listed companies, most were private, so it was hard to tell who was thriving and who wasn't. But looking at what they'd sent me this time, I could roughly piece it together — who was struggling lately, who was doing well. There were conglomerates performing worse than mid-sized firms, and then there were places like the Dragon Guild that lived up to their reputation.
Of course, I wasn't arrogant enough to think sponsorship money alone told me everything about a company. It was simply a good chance to see how much they could afford to invest in their own Awoken.
"I'll only announce the first- and second-place amounts. Second place, Blue Dolphin: 2.7 billion won. First place, Dragon Guild: 6 billion won. Truly, thank you. And thank you to every other sponsoring company as well."
The moment the figures landed, sighs erupted all around. Shock at the absurd amounts was the baseline reaction. From third place, it would have been pure regret — they'd only been two hundred million short of Blue Dolphin.
The total sponsorship money I'd received over the past week had exceeded a staggering 50 billion won. Roughly 15 billion of that had come from parents. The rest was corporate money. An enormous sum that blew past my expectations by a wide margin. And the first-place company, the Dragon Guild…
"Then I'll be expecting the Dragon Guild Awoken on Tuesday and Wednesday, and the Blue Dolphin Awoken on Thursday and Friday. Starting at six in the evening, after all Academy classes end."
I still had more to say. One thing for everyone. One thing for the Dragon Guild representative.
"As I mentioned before, I'm planning to start my own company. Would any of you be willing to write a recommendation letter for the Association? Companies that have been established for five years or more…"
First secure the recommendation letters, then secure the Awoken. Fifty billion was more than enough for starting capital — and I planned to keep collecting sponsorships this week too.
But people's reactions were a little strange. What was this?
First, the people from companies less than five years old filtered out entirely. Natural enough. Looking over the faces that remained, they were all from well-established major corporations — five years or older. Exactly the recommendation letters I needed.
"So the people still here will write them? Thank—"
"Um… Mr. Kang Junghyeok."
The man who cut me off mid-sentence was the Dragon Guild representative who'd spoken so loudly earlier.
"Yes. Go ahead."
"I'm sorry, but a recommendation letter… We can offer more sponsorship if you'd like, but that would be difficult."
"Is… that so? That's fine. But may I ask why?"
This was a man from a company that had just sponsored me six billion won. Smile. Smile. Don't let any emotion show on my face.
"We'd like to do it for the sake of our relationship with you, Mr. Kang, if at all possible. But as you know, dungeon-related small and mid-sized companies have been springing up left and right these past few years. Quite a few of them caused nothing but trouble and then vanished. When that happens, the responsibility falls on us as the ones who recommended them at founding."
The other major-company people listening nearby nodded in agreement. I was the only one in the room left out of that understanding. His words weren't quite landing, so I asked for further explanation.
"What kind of problems are you referring to? Companies fail sometimes. That's just business, isn't it?"
"Yes… but this line of work is exceptionally dangerous. Of course, fatalities happen in other industries too, but the difference with ours is significant. You remember the Suwon Hwaseong Gate incident not long ago…"
Of course that story would come up again here. A lot of people had died all at once, true enough.
Other company people listening from the side jumped into the conversation. Not just one or two. They laid it out one after another, as if they'd rehearsed it.
"That's right. Every life is precious, but the sacrifice of Awoken is especially problematic. From the government's perspective, it deals a serious blow to national competitiveness, so they've started cracking down on fly-by-night outfits that come in just chasing money. Lately the industry rumor is that new establishment of any dungeon-related business has become extremely strict and difficult. The government side seems to want to restructure the industry around major corporations now…"
"Exactly. We have the Awakened Community — a powerful organization — at our backs, but that doesn't mean we can ignore the government's demands. If they so much as touch our partial immunity privileges or corporate tax rates, we wouldn't be able to withstand it."
"For the time being… perhaps indefinitely, the odds of new companies getting approved are very low."
"Is… that true?"
Oh, for fuck's sake.
Why are you only telling me this now? I clearly said last week that I was starting a company.
Ah… nothing's going right these days.
Still, the people sharing this information here were well-disposed toward me. People trying to get on my good side and build a solid relationship. That was why they were telling me this at all.
So I had something to say too.
"Couldn't your companies' influence do something about that? If you strongly recommend me, the government couldn't just ignore it, could they? Especially our Dragon Guild, who paid the largest sponsorship amount."
"Excuse me? Us?"
"Yes. Isn't one of your executives — or is it the representative? — sitting as head of the Awakened Community? With that kind of pull, the government wouldn't dare move. What do you think? Couldn't you make room for my company on that train you're all riding?"
The Dragon Guild man furrowed his brow with a deeply troubled expression. What was with the grave face? From my perspective, this was perfect. I'd been planning to build a relationship with that person anyway. Approaching them with a favor before we'd even been introduced wasn't ideal, but it couldn't be helped. If I framed it as returning a favor, I'd have a legitimate reason to meet them.
"Well… that person… isn't really the type…"
"What do you mean?"
"That person isn't the kind who asks anyone for favors. And for someone else's sake, even less so… Honestly, I still don't understand why they're sitting in such a bothersome position as head of the Awakened Community."
The Dragon Guild's… what was the name again? Ahn Jihyun? Something like that.
The Community that safeguarded the rights of hundreds of thousands of Awoken across South Korea. And at its absolute peak sat its head, Ahn Jihyun.
"A strict person, then?"
"Not so much strict as willful. Never bows their head to anyone, hates to lose…"
How many Awoken weren't like that? Though people who could act that way even toward someone stronger than themselves were rare, true enough.
Listening to this, her personality sounded similar to Kim Isol's. In that case, I'd just have to meet her myself and break her in by hand.
"Not a Transcendent, I take it?"
"Ah, that's correct. Strong, but not a Transcendent."
"Then that's fine. I'll meet her and talk myself. Is she included among the twenty people visiting from the Dragon Guild this time?"
"No…"
Not even participating in the mana enhancement… An unusual person. If she was already at A-10, I couldn't raise her further even if I wanted to.
"Could you bring her along as well?"
"I'll at least try bringing it up…"
Ahn Jihyun. Meeting that person had become critically important to executing my plan.
Just what kind of person was she?