Kim Gunwoo and Baekdusan (1)
「Then, Master, I will go to properly train with Jin Yeo-ul.」
“Okay, don’t come out of there for the rest of your life.”
「Aigoo, Master, why are you saying that?! If you keep talking to Lily like that, she’ll sulk and start playing with her dolls, right?」
“... Sorry.”
I barely calmed down Lily, who was threatening me with her creepy aegyo and blackmail lines, then confirmed that she had entered her gate with Jin Yeo-ul and the newly created one before letting out a deep sigh and dumping a string of curses.
“Haa… Being summoned and then leaving only this one makes me so tired. Not that you, old man, weren’t driven to that level either.”
I glanced at Alkerniman, who had been pouring a recovery potion on his butt from the side, and spoke.
「T... That’s right. Even thinking about it now, she really was a crazy woman.」
“Yeah! Even if the old man was like that, the empire was collapsing, so he came to me using alchemy as an excuse and turned into an undead.
She wasn’t even interested in him, but she made all the citizens of that kingdom her puppets and came looking for me?”
「I remember. Because of that, even now, some of her friends tremble every time they see her. Afraid they’ll be controlled too.」
One of the kingdoms with considerable influence on the Barzena continent was Latena.
And Lily Vendette, the kingdom’s top puppet master and the Funeral Puppeteer, was one of the undead I created—
insanely overpowered, to the point that only a handful could be controlled by one person.
As I said earlier, during the height of my conquest and slaughter wars on the Barzena continent, she single-handedly wiped out the Latena Kingdom that I hadn’t touched because it wasn’t part of the quest.
She turned the king, nobles, even commoners—nearly 1.5 million humans—into her puppets and came to find me.
At first, I thought she was trying to overwhelm me with sheer numbers.
My undead army at the time was just a little over a million.
But contrary to my expectations, the moment Lily saw me, she cut the strings on all the puppets and the lives of the kingdom’s citizens, then begged me to turn her into an undead.
‘As a true Elder Lich, I didn’t even fear dragons, yet this was the one moment I felt true fear…’
Well, being scared is scary, and turning herself into an undead with that kind of power and offering to become my subordinate was a choice I had no reason to refuse, so I gladly made her one.
Of course, I regretted it bitterly for the next fifty years.
“Anyway… can our Yeo-ul grow well under that crazy woman’s hands? For now, since there’s no one but Lily for puppetry, I summoned her, but was it really the right choice?”
「…….」
Mark One, who had been silently listening to our conversation from behind, slowly nodded.
「I think Lily Vendette MK-2 will appear within half a year at the latest.」
“Damn it all to hell.”
I must have made the wrong choice.
It wasn’t right to introduce such a crazy psycho pervert to a pure eighteen-year-old high school student.
I decided to separate the two before it was too late and immediately headed toward Lily’s gate.
But.
“Lily Vendette, you damn woman!! How many strands did you tie up in the gate?!”
「Hehe! Master was obviously coming to stop me… so I had to at least prepare some minimal countermeasures, right?」
“You crazy bitch!! Don’t you dare mess with our pure Yeo-ul!! I’ll really give you a beatdown?!”
Lily, who already knew me far too well, had perfectly sealed the gate itself so I couldn’t even enter.
Moreover, the strings were tightly bound by expert-level knights, so even my power couldn’t break them.
Well, of course, if Mark One swept through with his sword once, it would tear right through, but then Lily would sulk even more and the situation would only get worse.
So all I could do was pray that our Yeo-ul wouldn’t fall to corruption.
“Uwaaaaa!! Yeo-ul!! Nooooo!!”
***
After about five minutes of sulking, I lost interest and flopped onto the bed, naturally connecting to the community.
[Title: Haa, I Made One of Korea’s Talents Fall]
[Author: NecroEmpress]
Jin Yeo-ul-ah… I’m sorry. I love you.
Still, if you endure, you’ll become the strongest hunter in Korea.
- What kind of meme is this?
- NecroEmpress: It’s exactly as the title says. I did a bad thing to Jin Yeo-ul.
- Lol, I don’t know what it means, but it seems I really pulled Jin Yeo-ul out of an A-rank gate?
- If that’s the case, has NecroEmpress really awakened an S-rank trait? Is another S-rank hunter appearing in our country?
- Well, it seems she has no intention of registering with the association, so she’s just a criminal.
- You F~C rank trait awakened ones don’t know, but all hunters know.
- The Korean Hunter Association is really crappy.
- But Min Jaehyuk really died well, lol
- Depending on who comes next, Korea might become a hunter super power or a hunter backward country, lol lol lol
“If I register officially, is it that bad?”
Ever since yesterday, whenever writing posts, there have been comments not to register, especially for those with B-rank and above traits.
Since you can sell all the gems and items obtained from the system shop and auction anyway, it’s better not to unless buying real estate or something, but then you usually get caught, so registering is said to be the right thing to do, but I don’t know what’s right.
“... Then it’s simple.”
Since I had a professional friend I had recently bonded with, I could just ask them for advice.
I immediately dialed Kim Gunwoo’s number that I had extracted from yesterday’s blackmail and called him.
- [Kim Gunwoo: Hello?]
- [Ha Yuna: Hello? Did you not save my number?]
- [Kim Gunwoo: Master?! Sorry!! I’ll save it right now!!]
- [Ha Yuna: ... I’ll let you off once. More importantly, there’s something to say, so quickly come to officetel 2003.]
- [Kim Gunwoo: Right now? I’m preparing for gate raid right now…]
- [Ha Yuna: Let me see, real name Kim Gunwoo, 25 years old, active guild is Baekdusan Guild, one of Korea’s 7 great guilds… Then if I eliminate Baekdusan, will Gunwoo come?]
- [Kim Gunwoo: I’ll depart immediately! It’s an honor to be called by you!!!]
“Tsk, you should have come with nice words.”
I glanced at the smartphone screen where the call had ended, then casually tossed it onto the bed.
And I called Mordane.
“Mordane!! Where are you?! It’s urgent!!”
「You called, Master?」
He appeared in front of me using teleportation magic the moment I called his name, like a 5-second standby timer.
His face was blackened from magic experiments, it seemed.
His expression looked quite urgent too, so I had to quickly tell him what I needed and send him off.
“This S-rank Slime guy is in Baekdusan? He said he’s preparing for gate raid with the guild, and he came running when I called, but if I drag him over again it’ll be a nuisance?”
「That’s right… You’re not wrong. Then what should I do?」
“Simple. Go to where that guy is right now, help with the gate raid, and come back. If I cast a few 7-circle magic spells on him, he won’t die, right?”
「Understood.」
Mordane, who received the order, bowed slightly and vanished in an instant.
I stared at the spot where he had disappeared for a moment.
“Haaam, I’m sleepy. I should take a nap.”
I lay on the bed and fell asleep.
***
At that moment.
Kim Gunwoo, who had received Ha Yuna’s call and quickly packed his things to leave, was being blocked by other Baekdusan guild members and engaged in a life-or-death struggle.
“You bastards!! If I don’t go back now, I’m dead!!”
“What nonsense!! Today’s an A+ rank gate raid with the guild master!! If we clear this one, our raid team’s salary will jump to the front of the line!!”
“Fuck!! Raid or guild master or salary, if I mess with that guy’s mood, it’s all over!! We’re all dead!!!! I’m sacrificing myself to save you bastards!!”
Kim Gunwoo tried to squeeze through again after shouting, but one guy in the front row pushed his face with an elbow.
“You don’t seriously want to run away late, do you? If you run like that, our team is finished!!”
“If we miss this time, next month’s salary…”
“Fuck, if I leave here, the team is finished, but if I don’t get back to the officetel quickly, Baekdusan itself is finished!!”
Before the words were even finished, the voices on both sides rose and the struggle grew fiercer.
Kim Gunwoo, unable to contain his anger, grabbed one of the arms, and the one resisting suddenly pulled a knife from behind his back—
“Hey, what the hell are you doing?”
A low, calm voice rang out from behind.
Everyone turned their heads at the same time, and a man strode forward.
He waved a leather cloak with the guild emblem clearly engraved on the back and stood in front of the guild members.
“It’s Guild Master Kang Taehyuk…”
“The guild master has arrived.”
Someone whispered, and most of the people struggling froze at the name.
Kang Taehyuk raised one hand and lowered his voice as if organizing the situation.
“Everyone, quiet down. And Kim Gunwoo, you shouted from several weeks ago that you wanted to participate in this raid, so what is this?”
“……”
Kim Gunwoo took a deep breath and looked up.
“Guild Master, I… I have to go right now. Please help. If I don’t go, it’s really over!”
“……”
A subtle displeasure crossed Kang Taehyuk’s face.
The atmosphere around them grew even more tense.
After a moment of silence, Kang Taehyuk slowly opened his mouth.
“Haa… I don’t know what’s what, but I get it. For today, let’s just go back…”
Just as the situation seemed to be settling.
「I don’t need to. I came myself.」
A huge magic circle suddenly appeared in the center of the Baekdusan guild members, and a mage appeared from it.