Chapter 149
Chapter 149
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 149
Chapter Title: Duel Proposal
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‘…With you coming out like this, surrender’s off the table now, huh.’
If they surrendered, the ‘Constellation Blue Dragon’ would judge it as abandoning the ‘fight’ and reclaim all the power and authority it had bestowed upon them so far.
Even if it didn’t take back the money or assets they’d amassed, without that power, the grudges piled up from all over during their rise to this point would mean certain death.
“Haaa~”
“Hyung-nim, why don’t we just compete in business? We could set up our own frontline city project right in front of Gangwon Province!”
“You think we can compete? Even if we scrape together the funds somehow, we’re outnumbered in S-Ranks already. Plus, looking at this plan, it’s a total trainwreck—they’re not even thinking about profitability. We can’t just copy this easily.”
“So what do we do?”
They’d deliberately avoided big fights until now.
Unlike back when they were building up their stats or climbing by defeating strong foes, they had too much to lose these days.
What was it like when they’d risen to become the strongest of the three great guilds, the absolute top guild?
Unlimited power and influence that even the government and conglomerates had to watch out for. How sweet was that?
To avoid losing it and to crush challengers, hadn’t they aggressively taken over Academia and recruited promising talents into the guild?
‘…All for nothing in the end.’
Now they were facing an enemy on a scale that defied common sense.
Still, it wasn’t like there was no path forward at all.
Ever since recognizing Yoo Seongwon’s group as rivals, Go Cheonsu had been diligently gathering data on them and even anticipating how they might fight.
“In the end, we’ll have to take the dangerous path, but it’s not like we’re completely out of options. There’s a way that fits their traits.”
“Hyung-nim?”
“But this time, we’ll have to stake our lives on it.”
With a deep sigh, Go Cheonsu steeled himself for another life-or-death gamble and began preparing a document to send to Yoo Seongwon’s side.
It was better than thrashing around desperately, he only had to risk his own neck, and above all, it was a method they absolutely couldn’t refuse.
***
A few days later, Iron Fortress.
The frontline city plan had been announced, and interview requests along with companies and guilds eager to participate were pouring in nonstop.
Yoo Seongwon and his crew had been swamped every day screening them, using criteria that royally screwed over the usual suspects, so they were busy turning away all the salespeople.
“As expected~ not a single decent one. Their histories are a joke. Big corps or whatever, working with scavengers is standard issue.”
“That’s how society’s always been.”
“But we can’t reject them all outright. Should we… just make our own, like ‘Jinseok’ suggested?”
Jinseok had proposed buying heavy machinery outright and doing the base construction themselves while training the kids.
Akaron (KMG-002) had chimed in too, and with no proper companies in sight, Yoo Seongwon’s head was starting to hurt at the thought they might actually have to do it themselves.
“What good would that do? The light of hope has to be out there somewhere.”
“I wish I could be as infinitely optimistic as you, Elder. Or should we really clear an A-Rank dungeon and snag the rewards?”
“Rewards? What’s there?”
“That supply captain ‘Jung-han’ or whatever, the knight who’s an amazing quartermaster and construction chief—we summon him. With Akaron handling electrical and systems, it’d be perfect. We’ve got all the blueprints and tech knowledge here.”
As a facility prepared for humanity’s extinction, Iron Fortress was packed with info on pretty much every kind of knowledge and technology.
So if they really wanted, they could buy all the equipment and materials and build it with their own manpower.
But that strayed too far from their established policy, so Baek Ga-yeon opposed it.
“…Our goal, as you know, is to make the Blue Dragon Guild choke on their rage. To do that, we need to show at least some of them living well over here first, right?”
“No suitable candidates in sight, though.”
That’s why Yoo Seongwon and Baek Ga-yeon had been hunting for companies with a human touch, regardless of size or skill—but after leaving a box of rotten fruit out too long, nothing was edible.
Just like hunters had to tangle with scavengers to survive, this era made it hard to operate cleanly here too.
“At this rate, we’ll have to start our own company and gather suitable people individually to build it up.”
“Tedious, but~ seems like the only way. Don’t worry. Scouting them will be my job, then.”
Even in a body rotten and sickly, on the verge of stopping breathing, life clings on—just like in this ugly, festering society with no visible future, upright people still existed.
Of course, those sorts struggled even more to survive in places that couldn’t resist corrupt means and methods, but since they were needed as cogs in society’s machine, as long as they didn’t rebel too hard, using their talents was the natural order if they had any.
“But… am I worrying too much? Can’t we do something about ‘that’?”
『What must you offer in return for His Majesty’s mercy?』
『To take up sword and spear and become his bulwark!』
『The path you walk is one of bloody struggle! Of war! Do you regret it still?』
『We do not!』
Baek Ga-yeon glanced sideways at the scene playing on one of the screens.
It was the kids training in the external parade ground of ‘Iron Fortress’, but unlike the original intent of boosting their confidence and energy, it had somehow escalated to full-on military training like raising real Heavenly Sword Army soldiers.
“I-I definitely said they didn’t have to. It wasn’t forced—just if they really wanted to, they could, and I’d introduce vocational training centers! I even said I’d help them find housing. But they all chose to stay…….”
“…Haa~ Probably because you and the ‘knights’ became proper role models. Aren’t those guys cool by anyone’s standards?”
The handsome, elegant, and intellectual Yucheong; the friendly uncle type who turned sharply charismatic as the former Heavenly Sword Army captain when serious—Jinseok.
Having seen adults brimming with human charm, always polite, teaching right from wrong and survival skills hands-on, the kids didn’t want to leave.
“Plus, the original facilities they came from… were filled with devilish people who saw them not as people to admire, but as tools or livestock. So naturally, these guys look even better.”
“Because of that influence, the kids started calling me ‘Your Majesty’ and acting all formal. Seems like they’re copying Yucheong and Jinseok. I keep telling them not to…….”
Whenever Yoo Seongwon passed through the cafeteria or training grounds on business and the kids suddenly shouted ‘Your Majesty!’ at him, he’d suspected Yucheong and Jinseok were forcing it—but when he learned it was voluntary, he nearly fainted.
“Aigoo, oh dear…….”
“And you don’t know how well they’ve built up the idolization. They say I’m splitting the heavens and shaking the earth…….”
“Isn’t that true?”
As an off-the-charts SSS-Rank hunter with the pinnacle ultimate technique Paehwang Cheon Geom Ryu to boot, it was factual.
Of course, since it was true, the idolization Yucheong and Jinseok pushed worked so well.
But it made Yoo Seongwon far more uncomfortable than he’d imagined.
“Ah, anyway, I want to stop it somehow! But I can’t, and it’s driving me crazy. I’m scared to run into the kids, can’t even wander the base anymore. That’s why I haven’t eaten at the cafeteria lately. Every time I pass by, the kids just…….”
‘Your Majesty, enjoy your meal!’
‘Your Majesty, good morning!’
‘Ah, Your Majesty! We’ll work hard today too!’
“Seeing those innocent eyes full of adoration… it’s so burdensome I could die. No idea how much bubble they’ve blown into it.”
“Just think of it as a nickname. You’re not actually playing king, right?”
He knew Baek Ga-yeon was right—being called ‘Your Majesty’ didn’t make him a real king—but it still felt off somehow.
Threatening the kids to change their address by force wouldn’t help, so in the end, there was only one thing he could do.
“Haa~ Fine. I give up. Let’s get back to work. Let’s see… Oh? A letter from the Blue Dragon Guild. Quick response.”
Seeing the envelope stamped with the blue dragon emblem and the words ‘From the Blue Dragon Guild’ inside, Yoo Seongwon thought it had finally arrived.
Word that their subsidiaries were being excluded from the business would’ve reached them fast, scavengers or not.
Even without that, one or two would’ve snitched to the Blue Dragon Guild to complain.
“So~ what are they whining about?”
“Hmm… No idea, even for me.”
“Eh?”
Yoo Seongwon’s face crumpled like he’d seen something wrong after opening the letter.
It wasn’t entirely unexpected, but it was a move with stakes so high he hadn’t considered it.
At the top of the letter, in bold letters: just three characters—‘Arena’.
“…No way, this?”
[…Recently, there have been major and minor disputes between Honored Yoo Seongwon’s guild and our Blue Dragon Guild, and we’ve ascertained that your side is deliberately excluding us. However, as we no longer wish for disputes and damages to spread, we’ve devised a swift means for the parties involved to resolve it directly: we propose settling all conflicts through an honorable one-on-one duel between Guild Master Go Cheonsu and Honored Yoo Seongwon. Should you accept, you may set the duel time, place, and witnesses yourselves…….]
“What bullshit. Haaa~”
A duel. Simply put, settling it with raw force between representatives—the winner takes all, dressed up as divine oversight or whatever, but ultimately, a fight to the death.
And for Yoo Seongwon, this was a perfect checkmate: no guard, no refusal possible, an absolute must-accept geared straight to his faction—a VIP pass proposal.
He hadn’t even thought about accepting or refusing yet, but his status window was already going haywire.
[This honorable duel arena has been proposed to you with courage, staking not only their life but their guild’s fate. Refusing it would be deeply dishonorable and cowardly. Furthermore, you must scout a proper time and duel location, find suitable witnesses, and notify them at least half a month in advance…….]
“…Sigh~”
He was used to this damn knightly honor trait throwing fits, but he’d never imagined it’d get this annoyingly complicated.
The power gap between the Blue Dragon Guild and their forces was already huge; their ally Seoul Guild was done for, Olympus had been poached to their side, leaving only foreign powers to help—but foreign guilds and awakener units were barely holding their own right now.
So he hadn’t expected these guys, who’d been pettily retreating from the frontlines to save their skins, to challenge him to a duel.
“A duel, huh. Well… with your martial prowess, no need to worry, but that Go Cheonsu’s come prepared for something, I bet.”
“Yeah. Gotta be. No way they sent this without some angle. Time to assemble the kids.”
In the end, it was a proposal Yoo Seongwon couldn’t refuse, and his answer had to be ‘YES.’
Just as the Blue Dragon Guild couldn’t defy their constellation’s orders, Yoo Seongwon couldn’t go against this accursed knightly honor trait.
Assuming acceptance from the start, Yoo Seongwon immediately called together his knights, who were scattered working.