Chapter 208
Translator: penny
Chapter: 208
Chapter Title: He Was a Mad Delinquent
“It's Lord Yi Geon-hu of Saman!”
Those were Ahn Moon-cheol's words as he placed a hand on Go Yohan's head and tried to force him to bow.
Taak!
But Ahn Moon-cheol's hand was repelled without achieving its goal.
“B-Brother?”
Yi Geon-hu.
It was he who had moved to swat away Ahn Moon-cheol's hand, and even on the 10th floor, Ahn Moon-cheol could never hope to keep up with Yi Geon-hu, who had already climbed to the 13th.
“…….”
The atmosphere chilled in an instant due to Yi Geon-hu's hardened expression.
“Moon-cheol, what the...”
“Ah, Brother... I mean, well... It was just...”
Ahn Moon-cheol stammered, clearly flustered by Yi Geon-hu's reaction.
“Just... because I'm proud...”
It seemed that way.
‘Did I tell him not to go around name-dropping?’
Yi Geon-hu appeared to have reined in Ahn Moon-cheol's behavior several times before.
“No, it's true that you're alumni with Lord Go Yohan. It's true that you both graduated from Sacred Middle School, right? And on top of that...”
Ahn Moon-cheol protested as if feeling wronged.
“Brother, you're not just alumni with Lord Go Yohan—you were in the same class...”
At that moment.
“Hup!”
Yi Geon-hu reached out and clamped Ahn Moon-cheol's mouth shut.
“Where did you even hear that?!”
That wasn't something Yi Geon-hu had let slip.
“Mmph! It's! Mmph!”
Seeing Yi Geon-hu's face flush red as if in anger, the other guild members stepped in to calm him.
“Guild Master, calm down.”
“Moon-cheol didn't mean any harm.”
“It's not even a lie.”
“What about you lot?”
Yi Geon-hu turned to those guild members.
“Did you spread this around too?”
They averted their eyes at his words.
The situation was obvious.
‘Yi Geon-hu tried to keep it quiet, but the other Saman alumni must have talked.’
Come to think of it.
‘Saman's influence has shrunk a lot, hasn't it?’
Saman, once one of Korea's top mega-corporations and guilds.
But after the incident dubbed the Goldian Affair—the rampage at the auction house—their power had waned considerably.
Especially getting swept up by the ever-growing Sacred and the equally expanding Sanctuary, leaving them on shaky ground?
And moreover...
‘Not the Saman Guild, but the Saman Group.’
Yi Geon-hu's older brother, who had inherited the chairmanship from their father, had liquidated the group's shares and assets during the recent crisis and left Korea.
“I heard there was a huge offer from China. They wanted the technicians and the shares brought over.”
Everyone flinched.
“I think I heard Yi Geon-hu stayed behind to lead what's left of Saman.”
Greed and Sloth.
Iha Yeon and Yun Seung-ah must have thought Sacred Middle School played a big role for Go Yohan, so they shared news about his alumni.
Especially since they had some past dealings with Saman.
“You...”
At that moment.
“You bastard! Even so, not here of all places!”
Ahn Moon-cheol's face was beet red as he lunged toward Go Yohan.
“Stop!”
Yi Geon-hu bellowed, forcing Ahn Moon-cheol to halt.
“It's true.”
Yi Geon-hu said in a bitter voice.
“My brother—Saman's chairman—did sell off the group's assets for peanuts and head to China.”
Yi Geon-hu continued.
“What's left is scraps I barely held onto. That's probably why.”
Yi Geon-hu said to Go Yohan.
“Our guild, Moon-cheol here—we're barely hanging on. Anything we can sell, we're selling to scrape by somehow. You don't need to pay it any mind.”
Their eyes met.
“Forgive the casual speech. Even so, you started it first just now.”
And only then did it become clear.
“……?”
Yi Geon-hu.
“Joseph, was it? That's Saman's current state. If Moon-cheol's words tempted you to come here, turn back. Saman has no connection to Go Yohan.”
He didn't recognize him.
*
*
*
Go Yohan could only be stunned for a moment.
Sure, at Sacred Middle School, he hadn't been that noticeable...
‘Can't really say he wasn't, huh?’
Thinking back.
-What the hell have you been doing at school?!
Go Minji's nagging.
-Yohan, is school too tough for you?
His mother's words.
And.
-Yohan...
Even the teachers who hesitated to deal with him.
Looking back.
-Look at Go Yohan, he's got tattoos, right?
-Hey, don't make eye contact.
He had been the quiet one, but perhaps he drew more attention than he thought?
-Couldn't you be a little more discreet?
No, Lee Jae-kyung's words confirmed it.
His claim of keeping a low profile was, at best, an unconvincing lie.
Especially considering his past, when he rejected the idea of Sacred and thought he'd have to leave someday.
“...I'm curious.”
He was curious.
“About Go Yohan's school days.”
It was then.
Pfft.
Yi Geon-hu curled the corner of his mouth.
“If you're Joseph, I've heard you're the famous rookie lately. They say ranking up won't be hard for you.”
Considering the path Joseph had walked and how his name had rocketed up the rankings, such an evaluation was spot on.
“...Go Yohan, that name.”
A name even someone like Joseph couldn't ignore.
“To be honest, Saman's not doing well.”
Yi Geon-hu said to Go Yohan.
“As I said, the name Saman itself is treated like traitors, and my brother—the one who took over as chairman from our father—sold off anything that made money...”
A deep shadow fell over Yi Geon-hu's face.
“Even the guild's items, all taken to China.”
“…….”
“Most of the raid leaders left with him too, so what's left in Saman is...”
Yi Geon-hu stepped back, and dozens of Saman guild members, sensing the commotion, had gathered to watch.
“Barely this much.”
There were probably more holdouts.
But Yi Geon-hu.
‘Selective focus, huh.’
He had likely kept only those he could truly trust and cut the rest.
Or Saman had torn itself apart in the process.
And...
‘Greed must have played a part.’
No need to ask—Greed had surely contributed to Saman's downfall.
“So, a rookie like you would be a huge help to Saman.”
“...And?”
“If you're curious about Go Yohan, I can tell you what I know.”
“In exchange for joining Saman?”
Even if it didn't matter.
“That's too much.”
Just as he thought the deal was off.
Swish.
Yi Geon-hu shook his head.
“No, just once. Join us for the fight, and I'll be grateful.”
It was a somewhat intriguing proposal.
*
*
*
“The 10th floor is different from the others—it's not systematized yet, and the overseers intervene less.”
It was information he already knew.
“The 1st and 5th floors, being low levels, have heavy intervention prevention, so Babel assigned people to manage them.”
Yi Geon-hu nodded at Go Yohan's words.
“You know more about Babel than I thought. Makes sense for a rookie, though. Right—1st floor is Sacred, 5th is Sanctuary. And Goldian holds positions in every floor.”
Yi Geon-hu said.
“The 10th and other floors are similar. Forces close to Go Yohan, Babel's true owner, hold most of the shares.”
“And that's...”
“No complaints here. It's only natural.”
Yi Geon-hu shrugged.
“Babel is amazing. At least, it freed ordinary people from ever worrying about gates and gave fair chances to those who could only dream before.”
Go Yohan simply looked at Yi Geon-hu.
“So, Go Yohan deserves those rights for bringing that peace... and keeping Korea alive.”
Such an assessment.
Or perhaps.
‘Because it's Yi Geon-hu?’
Go Yohan had never really cared about others' opinions.
Simply.
-As the Goddess wills.
Everything proceeded according to her will; his actions held no special meaning.
But things on Earth were different.
‘Me and the Goddess.’
And countless others.
‘The Apostles, the missionaries, Sacred, Sanctuary...’
Babel was the result of all their combined efforts, so he was curious about their take.
“Moreover, Go Yohan doesn't monopolize all of Babel's shares—he's delegated authority in some floors. But with conditions.”
He heard about Babel's current state from Yi Geon-hu.
“Defeat the area boss on a floor, and you gain partial rights to that area. The 10th has 10 areas; 8 already have owners, but 2 are left.”
“You're aiming for one of those areas?”
“That's right. For a sinking ship like Saman, it's an opportunity we can't pass up—especially on a low-level floor like the 10th...”
“Even one area would be valuable. Tons of people passing through.”
Yi Geon-hu's eyes widened.
“Not just a good fighter, huh.”
“Well, I hear a lot of things.”
“More tempting than I thought.”
Yi Geon-hu looked away from Go Yohan.
“What I wanted to say is done. We're targeting Area 9 and want to clear it as fast as possible. More competitors otherwise. You just fight with us there. In return...”
Yi Geon-hu said.
“Name your price. I'll grant what I can, tell what I can.”
“…….”
Go Yohan fell silent for a moment.
‘A situation like this?’
He didn't oversee every part of Babel, so there were things he didn't know.
But it was surely out of necessity, and some order was forming.
So what mattered now was.
“How was Go Yohan...?”
He wanted to ask about his own past.
“Go Yohan?”
The Apostles wouldn't be honest, so he was curious what Sacred—practically his family—thought of him.
“He was a total mad delinquent.”
“……?”