Chapter 90
Chapter 90
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 90
Chapter Title: Guild Master Isn't Enough with Just the Game
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Just as the Demon King's true form I'd seen in the raid had a holographic feel, the cube seemed to be made of the same material.
[[Item Information]
Name: Fragment of the Demon King
Acquisition Difficulty: ???
Type: ???
Description: ???
Status: Angry.]
“……?”
The barrage of question marks was odd enough, but the status at the end was even weirder.
Angry? Why would an item's status description include an emotion? Was it the state the Demon King was in when it died?
["You aren't leveling up anymore? I feel like one more run and I'll hit max level."]
Knock knock.
"Kaisha-nim, you have a guest."
I jumped up in surprise at Hellcannon's voice from outside the door, then hastily set the cube down somewhere.
Kali asked in shock.
["That voice?! Hey, didn't you send Hellcannon back?!"]
"Ahem! Hellcannon isn't my bound hero, so I can't summon him back freely once he's gone. I have a quest I need to clear with him."
["What? The homemaking quest?"]
"N-No, not that. Anyway, I have a guest, so I gotta go."
I ended the call and rushed out of the room, where a welcome face awaited.
"Ye-rin! You're here!"
"Eek! Unni!"
Ye-rin ran over and hugged me.
After my talk with Hyun-woo-nim, the gate resource preemptive contract with YM was finalized, and Abyss's entertainment debut schedule and activity plans started taking shape in earnest.
We were still debating whether to acquire an agency or start a new one, but either way, it was go time.
Thanks to Goldbunker rapidly dominating the broadcasting world, breaking into terrestrial TV and other networks was only a matter of time.
* * *
On the internet—specifically, Abyss's SNS account—photos of Kaisha and Abyss started popping up in real time.
This time, it was Winsta, not Twita.
Photos of Abyss constantly changing into outfits that screamed luxury at a glance, with Kaisha lounging like a chaebol heir from a drama, watching the fashion show.
Behind Kaisha stood Hellcannon, proudly showing off his towering height.
Kim Je-hyun had taken the shots.
True to his past as an idol trainee who nearly debuted in a top girl group, Joo Ye-rin pulled off a stunning variety of outfits perfectly.
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Shopping with unni >.<
Unni bought me all this
Love you unni ♥
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Joo Ye-rin's mainstream popularity and recognition were already top-star level, so her SNS was flooded with advertising offers.
Even amid the flashy displays of spending, people's eyes were drawn more to shots of Kaisha beaming with affection and warmth while watching Abyss.
Among hunters, the daily lives of top rankers were the public's biggest obsession.
Before heading out to meet Kaisha, Abyss had posted on Twita hinting at her upcoming idol activities, and the news spread like wildfire across communities.
-Kaisha unni marry me ㅜㅜㅜㅠㅠ I'd be happy as your 100th... slurp
-Our unnis walking the chaebol path
-Fullminak channel vid dropping in a few days right?
-But why's Kaisha just spectating like a mom spoiling her kids?? Hope Kaisha wears nice stuff too
-Kaisha's heroes all back to Midgard?
-And Hellcannon's still here lololol
-True love
-Who's filming the vids?
-Joo Ye-rin's getting prettier. That's Kaisha's training buff huh
-So jealous of Abyss ㅠㅠ
-Wtf?? Wtf??
-Lmao Gilgamesh just showed up outta nowhere lolololol
* * *
Gilgamesh—Kwon Ho-sung—raised his hand.
"Yo, Ka-chaebol."
I happily matched his motion and raised mine, our palms slapping together in a crisp high-five.
Ye-rin, who had been enjoying the shopping, and Hellcannon behind me glanced over.
Kim Je-hyun, eyes wide at the new arrival, quickly turned his phone camera on us.
Kwon Ho-sung sat down next to me.
"Heard you signed the gate contract with YM and came running."
"Planning to dip your spoon in?"
At my blunt question, Gilgamesh grinned like it was exactly what he wanted, flashing a capitalist smile that laid his intentions bare.
"Hook me up too."
"Hmm……."
If it were just tens of billions, maybe, but after gobbling up hundreds of billions, asking Hyun-woo-nim might be tricky.
Gilgamesh said,
"If connecting's hard, it'd be great if you could let me buy some gate resource analysis data."
Something suddenly came to mind.
Gilgamesh might not know, but Hyun-woo-nim had been able to analyze gate resources entirely thanks to Goldbungker's heroes.
Some of them habitually mined gate resources.
I said,
"You're planning to acquire a cable channel outright this time, right?"
"That's why I need more cash."
"You know Ye-rin's debuting soon?"
"Leave it to me. I'll mobilize every connection I have and make her a star. Honestly, Joo Ye-rin's already primed—easy as pie."
Gilgamesh was prepping a hunter-specialized cable TV channel.
It'd probably do great, but right now, he needed a flagship star to shape the channel's image in its early days.
He'd planned on some celebrity named Keira, but she'd died.
I extended my hand and said,
"I'll ask around first."
"Cool. Set up a meeting."
"Deal."
Gilgamesh smiled in satisfaction, grabbed my hand, and shook it.
Kim Je-hyun, who had been filming us, asked,
"Isn't business talk off-limits for broadcast?"
"They'll edit it out."
"What if info leaks? Even when sending to the editor, cut it properly. I installed a vid editing program since those trends are hot now."
"You learned that too?"
"You know me—tons of interests, but I flake after three days."
Yeah, that tracks.
Being a chaebol, Kim Je-hyun had a habit of buying ultra-expensive gear and letting it gather dust, so I scored hand-me-downs sometimes.
Thanks to that, I could gift Ye-rin a pricey guitar.
Gilgamesh, quietly observing Kim Je-hyun chatting casually with me, asked,
"He seems close. Who's the guy? Too good an impression for some random hired cameraman."
I introduced Kim Je-hyun offhandedly.
"My cousin."
"Nice to meet you. I'm Kim Je-hyun, youngest son of the Yulseong Group chaebol family, believe it or not."
Figured he needed to drop that to match Gilgamesh's level, so Kim Je-hyun laid out his status plainly.
Gilgamesh's eyes lit up.
"Chaebol cousin? You're Royal Blood?!"
Royal what.
I said flatly,
"Even with some prestigious blood mixed in, aren't chaebol lines basically merchant stock at root?"
"Hey, in capitalist society, that's Royal Blood. Merchants' era, right?"
“…….”
Fair point, but...
I was chaebol by blood, sure, but raised as common folk, beaten down my whole life by damn chaebol scum—so it irked me for no reason.
Gilgamesh stood and offered Kim Je-hyun a handshake.
"Pleasure. I'm Goldbungker's guild master, Kwon Ho-sung. Never expected chaebol connections here."
Kim Je-hyun said shyly,
"Haha, thanks for the kind words. Not much to use as connections, though."
That wasn't humility—it was sincere.
But just the fact that his big bro was Kim Do-won made "not much" total bullshit.
Gilgamesh said,
"Being Kaisha's cousin makes this meeting precious enough."
"I'm grateful to Ga-hyun for letting me meet such an impressive person. I've wanted to meet the famous business whiz."
Gilgamesh and Kim Je-hyun buttered each other up right in front of me.
“…….”
Have fun, you two.
I crossed my arms, watched, then quietly shook my head.
They oddly clicked.
* * *
While Ga-hyun, Joo Ye-rin, Kim Je-hyun, and all the heroes were out for commemorative dinners, splurging shopping sprees, video shoots, and such.
In the empty room.
Vmmm.
Waves emanated from the cube, making it float up.
Shrrrr—
The cube blocks spun wildly.
[System rebooting….]
[System configuring….]
[Connecting to field….]
[Configuring matter….]
[Transferring energy….]
[Transferring matter….]
As whatever process ran, a warning suddenly popped up.
『!Warning!』
『Babel Tower's Restriction』
『Babel Tower blocking energy.』
『Babel Tower blocking matter transfer.』
Three messages appeared in the empty room amid the warnings.
Vmmm vmmm!
The cube emitted red light.
It looked pissed.
Furious at Babel Tower's restrictions, the cube flickered red wildly, then started flying off somewhere.
It slipped through the open door crack, heading straight for the kitchen.
A notification appeared before the cube.
[Large amounts of organic matter detected]
The kitchen table had various snacks prepped for the heroes living here—fruits, cereal, etc.
They'd stepped out briefly, but it was set up for them to grab anytime.
All those guest snacks got sucked entirely into the mysterious cube.
Whirrr!
Shaaa—
Drip. Drip.
Like a blender shredding food, juices and scraps poured nonstop below.
The cube grew bigger as it consumed the food.
[Set a target.]
[Design adult form for this planet.]
[Downloading data.]
[Checking required components….]
[Carbon insufficient!]
[Phosphorus insufficient!]
[Calcium insufficient!]
[Sulfur insufficient!]
[Copper insufficient!]
...
[Required time: 97439 hours]
Vmm! Vmmm!
The cube flared red again, emitting a powerful energy wave from its core.
[Charging required.]
But that instant.
Not just the fridge door, but the freezer, kimchi fridge, and liquor storage all flew open at once.
Everything inside got sucked into the cube.
More precisely, around the cube, things shredded, clumped, and rapidly formed something.
Shaaa—
The cube spun at high speed.
[Resetting target.]
[Design juvenile form for this planet.]
[Downloading data.]
[Checking required components….]
The kitchen turned into a disaster zone, but no one was there to stop it.
Flesh-like mass built up around the cube, swelling until heartbeat sounds echoed from within the lump.
Thump. Thump.
[Charging required.]
[Connecting emergency battery.]
[Downloading genetic info]
[Energy insufficient. More specific design will save energy.]
[Attempting mimicry]
Such messages appeared, then suddenly, a full-body hologram of Messiah—Kaisha's frequent cuddle buddy bound hero—popped up in midair.
[Decision: This blueprint]
[Gender swap for duplication prevention]
[Fluidizing to save energy. Will manifest at lower age than mimic target.]
[This planet's male fluid form]
Vmmm!
Seeming dissatisfied, the core cube thrummed loudly, but it was now buried too deep to see with the naked eye.
The heartbeat resounding from the cube grew louder.
Like holographic components melting into veins, parts of the organic mass glowed bright enough to see inner blood vessels.
Supplying blood throughout fueled a concrete shape.
Soon, blood-red light swirled.
Thud. Thud.
The heartbeat gained weight.
The organic lump grew, sank under gravity, and ballooned amid the messy food pile.