Chapter 53
Chapter 53
Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 53
Chapter Title: The Anonymous Benefactor
What on earth happened outside?
📰 Breaking News [Anonymous Benefactor donates equipment items worth 1 billion won to Green Guild...] 📰 Breaking News [Anonymous Benefactor donates potion items worth 1 billion won to Shaded Isle Guild...] 📰 Breaking News [Anonymous Benefactor donates equipment items worth 1 billion won to Unicorn Guild...] A barrage of sponsorships from an "Anonymous Benefactor" who appeared out of nowhere, with no clear reason or motive.
The guild masters who suddenly struck gold began posting proof on the community forums, unable to hide their shock.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ ⭐ Top Post — Anonymous Family Guild What the hell is this...? Someone anonymously donated 1 billion won worth of potions...? (Photo of a modest family home packed floor-to-ceiling with potions)
We're a family guild that barely scraped by clearing one low-grade gate a week just to put food on the table. Mom, Dad, big sis, me, and little bro. Total of five members... We were such a bottom-of-the-barrel trash guild that we trembled going into low-grade gates because we couldn't afford potions... but someone anonymously donated 1 billion won worth of recovery potions. I don't know who it is, but thank you so much. Thanks to you, our family has hope again. — Reply Whoa, you got one too? Our guild just got a massive sponsorship and everyone's freaking out?? — Reply Wait...? Our guild got 1 billion won worth of equipment donated too...? — Reply No way, it wasn't just our guild?? ⭐ Top Post — Unicorn Guild Master I'm the Unicorn Guild Master, and we just got a massive sponsorship out of the blue... What is this...? (Photo of a full S-grade equipment set displayed reverently)
We have this one kid in the guild who could skyrocket with just a little support, so I dumped the entire S-grade set on him... I felt like crap as a guild master holding back someone with so much potential because we couldn't afford it... Thanks to our benefactor, I finally got to act like a real guild master for once. Thank you... — Reply Saw some Unicorn Guild guy flying around in a mid-grade gate yesterday... Was that the one who got the full S-grade dump? Japanese kid? ↳ Reply Yeah, that's him. — Reply Even mid-to-upper tier guild members usually rock full A-grade sets... A full S-grade sponsorship is insane. — Reply Now he just needs to bring in resources, and the guild's set to explode. Posts from guilds too scared to even enter low-grade gates due to family safety concerns, now boosted by 1 billion won in potions.
Posts from guilds sitting on high-potential members but unable to grow them due to lack of funds, now equipped with top-tier gear.
One after another, sponsorship proof posts flooded the community.
— Desperate Guild Our guild was on the verge of disbanding, situation was that bad... then an Anonymous Benefactor came in with CPR. — Rock-Bottom Trash Guild Stuck at the bottom of the rankings, total trash guild... got an S-grade weapon and a bunch of A-grades sponsored... T_T — Dazed Guildie I just took a 1-billion-won punch to the face and finally snapped out of it to check the community. Wait, our guild wasn't the only one?? The nonstop stream of sponsorship proofs revealed that a not-insignificant sum of 1 billion won had been scattered far and wide.
Awakened shook in stunned silence for a while.
Naturally, discussions erupted about who this "Anonymous Benefactor" could be.
And why they were doing this.
— Shocked User Hold up;;; So how much did this Anonymous Benefactor drop in total...? ↳ Reply Over 10 posts confirming 1 billion each, so at least 10 billion... straight-up madlad. — Observer Looks like they hit every mid-to-low trash guild with 1 billion each. ↳ Reply Nah?? Buddy of mine runs a trash guild and said they got zilch. — Conspiracy Nut Management Bureau unofficially sprinkling support to encourage trash guilds? ↳ Reply They got no cash to waste on trash guilds lol, way better ROI pumping White Night or top guilds... ↳↳ Reply I know, but it doesn't add up. If not the Bureau, who the hell throws billions at trash guilds like confetti? ↳↳ Reply Just trash guilds mass-faking it lol. Ignore. But the more the debates raged...
— Frustrated So who the hell is this Anonymous Benefactor anyway? — Curious What the heck are they getting out of this wild stunt...? ...the deeper the questions grew about the benefactor's intentions.
And who might be pulling the strings behind the scenes.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ My current goal is to turn every Awakened in Korea into monsters capable of brute-forcing even variant gates with raw DPS.
But I know full well it's not that simple.
How could one person possibly level up an entire nation's Awakened?
So, I decided to take a risky gamble with the cash from selling skillbooks at auction.
Specifically...
Prioritizing "low-tier guilds stunted by lack of capital," prop them up to spark competition with "mid-tier guilds that have plateaued."
Korea was overflowing with low-tier guilds full of potential but starving for funds.
If I gave them wings to soar...
If those low-tiers started climbing noticeably—
Would complacent mid-tier guilds, fat on steady subsidies and rankings, just sit there?
Wouldn't they scramble for more resources, buy better gear, and grind their members harder to avoid being overtaken by the underdogs they'd dismissed?
Low-tiers rising on my support, hungry for top spots.
Mid-tiers grinding their teeth to hold their ground.
The fierce rivalry between them...!
"Heh heh heh..."
Just thinking about it made me chuckle.
'If I didn't have that connection with the Director, I never could've even dreamed this up.'
Last time, during the massive gate raid, the condition I'd stubbornly demanded—"Director's Privilege."
I was sure I could use that perk for anonymous sponsorships without exposing myself.
The moment the idea hit, I scoured the Awakened community, cherry-picked low-tier guilds with high growth potential for minimal investment, and headed straight to the Management Bureau.
I laid the groundwork for sponsoring them.
- The Healer wants to sponsor them? ...Anonymously?
- Understood. No reason for us at the Bureau to say no...
The Director readily agreed to my request. I handed over a list of pre-selected guilds and the items to donate—
- H-Healer... but this, the amount... isn't it way too much...?
His jaw-dropped expression is still fresh in my mind.
'Gotta drop by later with a thank-you.'
Anyway.
That's how I set up a massive gamble no one saw coming.
Now all that's left is watching how far my chosen low-tiers climb with the boost.
But strangely...
I had this unshakable certainty that this risky bet wouldn't fail.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ A few days passed.
And that certainty proved right.
My gamble was already showing tangible results.
⭐ Hot Post Guild Rankings Massive Shake-Up Chart.jpg (Gif of bottom guilds surging upward like rockets)
↳ Reply These guys seriously owe their benefactor big time. ↳↳ Reply Bowing ten times a day, east, west, south, north. ⭐ Hot Post Current Mid-Small Guild Woes lol (Gif of guilds steadily in top 80 now pushed outside top 100)
↳ Reply Low-tiers bulked up on sponsorships, ranking cutoff shot way up. ↳↳ Reply Fr real;; Cutoff's insane now. Low-tiers are gate-hopping like crazy... — Smug Low-Tier Mid guilds catching strays from Shaded Isle Guild! Gonna have to grind contribution points hard for subsidies now, eh? lol — Shaded Isle Guild Snagging this month's subsidy last train. Ker-ching lol While low-tiers gloated in their posts, the mocked mid-to-mid-tier guilds stayed silent on the forums.
Guilds pushed out of rankings either nursed wounded pride.
Or skipped posting to grind gates instead.
Either way, it was the exact result I wanted.
And on top of that.
— Observer Unicorn Guild was outside top 100 just days ago, right? Broke into top 50 today? ↳ Reply One fully-sponsored carry god is popping off. — Fan Green Guild < Another low-tier sponsored by the benefactor? Their climb speed is nuts. ↳ Reply Never made sense why they were low-tier to begin with. ↳↳ Reply Unlimited healing potions buff from benefactor, soaring now. Standout performers started emerging among the sponsored low-tiers.
'Time to double down on those guys...'
I was itching to push them past mid-tiers into clashes with the top guilds.
'Watch a bit longer for now.'
With that, I grabbed a disguise potion, did some quick prep, and headed to the cafe for the first time in ages.
'From here on, gotta hoover up every scrap of info.'
Community info had its limits.
To hear about mid-tier guilds before it hit the boards...
I needed to run the cafe for a while, eavesdropping on customer chatter.
My place was a natural hub where guildies gossiped about strategies, raid fails, or rival dirt.
So I opened the gate door after so long and settled at the counter, scrolling the community again.
Pat pat—
Footsteps approached from beyond the counter. I looked up.
"Welcome..."
A sight that made me doubt my eyes unfolded.
"Long time no see! Hea... I mean, boss!"
White Night Guild Master beaming and waving at me.
And perched on her shoulder... a spirit?
⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙ 'Luna' recognizes you and shyly greets you. Judging by its looks, definitely that "corrupted spirit" locked in White Night Guild's basement.
"...Huh?"
Wait, didn't I promise to return it to nature...?
No, more importantly, wasn't that spirit raging about being imprisoned underground?
'What the...?'
But the unbelievable sights didn't stop there.
"Boss!! What happened all this time? Cafe was shut forever..."
"Phew, it's open today..."
"I legit came to the gate every day to check if you opened... Thought you closed for good..."
Customers filing in behind White Night Guild Master had unfamiliar spirits perched on shoulders or palms.
"...Wha, whaaat?"
Spirits utterly loathe humans... right?
- Nature spirits are truly terrifying monsters.
- They're viciously aggressive and harbor extreme hatred for humans...
I distinctly remembered hearing that...
While I was holed up at home monitoring community reactions, what on earth happened outside?