Chapter 42
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 42
Chapter Title: Deal
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The large monitor screen in the workshop lit up brightly. Crowded on it were recipes copied painstakingly from scouring the Alchemy Gallery all night long.
My perfect plan to bring down White Tiger.
It began in two directions.
First, a set of four buff potions.
Strength Enhancement, Resistance Enhancement, Agility Enhancement, and Mana Stabilization.
These potions would dramatically boost the combat efficiency of ordinary hunters. With White Tiger abandoning gate clears, this was the only way to fill the gap.
And second.
'Mana Circuit Disruptor. Disruptor.'
A poison that temporarily collapses the target's mana circuits, rendering them powerless. It was the decisive blow to take down an S-rank.
"Chun-sik. I'm making potions. Help me out."
At my call, Chun-sik, who had been fiddling with a tablet in the corner, trotted over. He scanned the recipe list on the monitor for a while, then tapped the ingredient list for the Disruptor with his finger.
"Hmm... Master. But can you even get these ingredients?"
"Huh?"
"This one. Condensed Demonic Essence. I just searched it, and it says it drops extremely rarely from boss monsters in A-rank gates or higher?"
"What? Only from A-rank or above?"
His words left me momentarily dazed.
An A-rank gate. A super high-risk zone that required large guilds to mobilize raid teams. It wasn't a situation where I could just ask the Normal Operations Guild members to gather materials like usual.
The plan was in crisis from the very start.
"...What do I do."
Should I ask Yuna to check if any are for sale? No, before that, how much money did I even have left after buying Elixir materials? What if White Tiger, going mad, tried to sabotage even this?
As all sorts of thoughts tangled in my head, the workshop door opened and Yuna walked in. She had been out monitoring real-time public opinion trends.
"It's total chaos out there right now. People are starting to say we can't do without White Tiger... Why's your face like that?"
Yuna approached with a puzzled look at my serious expression. I weakly pointed to the monitor.
"That... I don't have the materials to make it."
"What are you trying to make this time?"
I explained the situation, and Yuna hesitated for a moment before opening her mouth as if resolved.
"...There is one way."
"What, what is it?"
"My dad. The White Night Guild Leader."
The moment I heard that name, my whole body stiffened.
"...Huh?"
"Want to meet him?"
The White Night Guild Leader. Choi Ki-cheol. The head of Korea's top guild and an S-rank hunter.
The thought of facing such a powerhouse directly choked the breath out of me. Just imagining it made my heart clench.
"C-Couldn't we do it over the phone?"
I asked almost pleadingly.
"D-Do I really have to go in person?"
"You have to go."
Yuna's voice was firm.
"Those potions. Only you can make them. You need to explain it yourself for it to be convincing. And my dad..."
She paused to choose her words, then added,
"He never does a losing deal. If you approach half-heartedly, it won't work at all."
Two thoughts battled fiercely in my mind. I don't want to go. And I have to crush White Tiger.
"......"
What they had done to me. The provocations, regulations, public opinion manipulation, supply chain control. Thinking about it, the answer was clear.
In the end, I had no choice but to nod.
"Hey, set up a meeting. A bit later if possible."
Since it had come to this, I needed to do it thoroughly.
"I need to show something... It'll be easier to convince. Words alone won't cut it."
I returned to the workbench.
The buff potion samples were easy. The problem was the Disruptor.
'No key ingredient. How do I demonstrate its performance?'
After pondering, I reached a conclusion.
'Just mimic the mechanism?'
Even if I couldn't actually neutralize hunters, if I could show the principle of mana circuit collapse itself.
"Let's do it."
I started making a sample using miscellaneous materials stashed in the warehouse.
White Night Guild headquarters.
The skyscraper piercing the heavens was like a massive fortress in itself. Intimidated by the overwhelming scale and strict atmosphere, I followed closely behind Yuna—practically hiding—as we boarded the private elevator to the top floor.
And finally, we arrived at the guild leader's office.
"It's been a while, Yuna."
As we entered, a middle-aged man with a light smile welcomed us. The White Night Guild Leader, Choi Ki-cheol.
"And this must be the one you mentioned..."
His gaze turned to me.
"......!"
My breath caught. The unique presence of an S-rank, felt without even emitting mana. It was a sharp, piercing pressure different from what I'd sensed from Grandpa Yoon Hyun. It felt like standing before a massive predator as a herbivore.
"H-Hello... P-Park Seha..."
I barely managed a greeting in a shrinking voice.
Yuna, considerate of my tension, jumped straight to the point.
White Tiger's atrocities, the truth about White Cell, the current stalemate, and how we couldn't just let White Tiger be.
But Choi Ki-cheol's reaction after hearing it all was cold. He maintained his light smile and slowly shook his head.
"The justification is solid. White Tiger crossed the line big time."
His voice was soft, but the content wasn't.
"But you know reality isn't that simple, right?"
He began pointing out risks one by one.
"First, say we take on White Tiger like you say. Who's handling the gate backlog in the meantime? The country's already in chaos the moment they dropped everything. If we stop too?"
"Th-That's..."
"Second."
Choi Ki-cheol gently cut off Yuna.
"Damage to our side in suppressing White Tiger's guild leader, Cheon Hyeok-jin? Even if we win, hunter casualties in the process will just extend the gate backlog."
His eyes narrowed.
"Too much risk. One misstep, and the whole country is in danger. Is it worth it?"
It was a realistic barrier.
But hadn't we come prepared with solutions?
"The backlog issue can be solved with this."
Yuna placed the sample case on the table.
"It'll dramatically boost hunters' combat power. With this, we can clear gates sufficiently with current manpower."
He looked at the box on the table, then turned to me.
"Did you make this?"
"Y-Yes..."
"Hmm."
Choi Ki-cheol picked up one sample. As he infused it with mana, his eyes widened slightly.
"Ho..."
Without hesitation, he uncorked the potion and downed it. Being a sample, it wouldn't affect an S-rank much, but he could instantly gauge its efficacy.
"......!"
After closing his eyes briefly to savor the potion's energy, he let out an exclamation.
"Impressive. This could definitely speed up gate clears. Might even allow deployment against higher-rank gates than the team's rating."
Choi Ki-cheol's attitude softened a bit. But he still seemed unconvinced.
"So... Stabilize the current unrest with this, then slowly squeeze White Tiger to death? Not bad, but it takes too long. The biggest risk—suppressing an S-rank—remains."
"U-Um..."
I, cowering in the corner, mustered courage and stepped forward. My heart felt like it would burst.
Choi Ki-cheol's gaze turned back to me. With trembling hands, I pulled out a dark red potion. A sample mimicking the Disruptor's mechanism.
"Th-This... With this..."
I pointed to the decorative artifact he'd placed on the table. A small statue emitting a soft blue glow.
"C-Can I use it on that?"
As Choi Ki-cheol nodded intriguingly, I cautiously opened the sample vial and dripped the liquid into the artifact's crevices.
Sss...
The moment the dark red liquid touched the artifact.
Bzzzzt—!
The intricate mana circuits forming the artifact began collapsing rapidly. Like ink spreading, the dark red energy coursed through the circuits.
Soon, it lost its blue glow entirely and stopped functioning. The artifact was now just a lump of scrap metal.
"......!"
Choi Ki-cheol, who had watched silently, completely changed his expression.
The light smile vanished in an instant. As if unleashing his hidden pressure, his eyes gleamed with excitement. He seemed to instantly understand what the potion had done.
"It disrupts mana circuits like this, breaking them..."
I swallowed hard and continued.
"Th-The finished product works on Awakeners too... If we inject it into White Tiger's guild leader..."
He shot up from his seat. No more hesitation.
"Yes, that changes everything."
A means to break the balance between S-ranks. Choi Ki-cheol eyed me sharply.
"So, what do you need?"
The deal was sealed.