A Hundred Billion Won Windfall
“We’ve got a line forming.”
In a rented-out café nearby, Choi Junseok, Lee Nayeon, Song Hana, Lee Jiyu, and Team Leader Kang were buried under mountains of paperwork, nursing headaches.
They were processing applications for the Likey Likey Function Guild.
Choi Junseok genuinely wanted to grow the guild. Expanding the business and making money—who would turn that down?
Team Leader Kang was doing everything he could to help that ambition along. The sheer number of printed pages he had brought was staggering.
“This is just the A-grade and B-grade applicants……”
Thud.
A massive stack of paper—at least four or five hundred sheets.
Since there was no official application form, some people had written lengthy self-introductions, but it was clear that well over a hundred people had applied.
“We’ve got about this many S-grades as well.”
A much thinner transparent file held only a few dozen sheets—roughly a dozen or so applicants.
This was before word had spread that this was Lee Nayeon’s guild. In a few days, the pile would only grow.
After all, there was almost no information about the Likey Likey Function Guild. No mention of which floors they were clearing, what positions they needed, nothing. People had simply applied on a whim.
“There aren’t any special guild rules or regulations, right?”
At Lee Jiyu’s question, Team Leader Kang nodded.
“Correct. You don’t have to accept anyone, but you can if you want.”
“Hmm……”
“However, to qualify for various government tax benefits, you’ll need to prove that you have an attack party of at least ten members regularly climbing the Magic Towers.”
“That’s… something you could handle for us, couldn’t you, Team Leader Kang?”
“The system isn’t so easily bypassed, but… if we use ghost members, it wouldn’t be impossible.”
Team Leader Kang had already been thoroughly corrupted by Choi Junseok. He no longer showed much resistance when asked to bend the law, instead calmly suggesting feasible workarounds.
“You don’t even flinch at requests to break the law anymore.”
Choi Junseok smirked as he pointed it out. Team Leader Kang belatedly remembered he was a civil servant.
“……Of course, if you fill the ten slots yourself, everything proceeds cleanly without any issues.”
“Ten people.”
Choi Junseok began counting on his fingers. Himself, Lee Nayeon, Song Hana, Lee Jiyu, and Team Leader Kang.
Even after folding five fingers, Team Leader Kang didn’t object. He already knew he was one of those five.
“We’re short a hand. Should we just run an auto-farm with a five-man party?”
“Junseok. Tower climbing isn’t a mobile game.”
“Why not? Just pick five S-grades and have them grind the middle floors. That’s what guilds are for, right?”
Choi Junseok looked genuinely puzzled. Team Leader Kang’s expression said that no self-respecting high-ranking player would join a guild just to do repetitive grunt work—then he realized something.
These applicants weren’t here for climbing, fame, or money.
“They wouldn’t do that kind of hard work…… would they.”
These were people lining up because they were captivated by Lee Nayeon. Whether it was her looks or the fact that she was an SS-grade player didn’t matter.
The only thing that mattered was that at least dozens of them simply wanted to get close to her, climbing be damned.
Choi Junseok flipped through the applications filtered to A-grade players and reached a conclusion.
“If we accept all these people, wouldn’t we instantly become one of the five major guilds?”
“……Not quite.”
Team Leader Kang cut him off firmly. The infrastructure, personal and material networks, and overseas deployments the major guilds had built over time weren’t things that could be replicated overnight.
“First of all, we don’t have the administrative capacity, operational ability, or supply chain to handle this many people. We don’t even have a place for them to gather and discuss strategies.”
Choi Junseok nodded at that. Right now, they had only registered as a business. Nothing else was prepared.
“Also, one particularly notable S-grade applied. That’s why I contacted you.”
Lee Jiyu immediately took the conversation she had been waiting for.
“You mean the one who wrote that he would donate a hundred billion won as a guild development fund? SG Group’s eldest son, Jo Insu.”
“Yes. That’s correct.”
“We should be careful with him.”
“Reject that guy.”
Lee Jiyu and Kang Jinsu spoke at the same time, both turning to look at Choi Junseok as if they already knew exactly what he was thinking.
“It’s a hundred billion. A hundred billion if we just accept him. We could just take the money and run.”
At Choi Junseok’s nonchalant words, Lee Jiyu let out a short sigh and shook her head.
“Junseok. As your senior in business, life, and being a player, let me give you some advice. Money doesn’t work that way. When someone offers that much, there’s always a catch. He’s probably planning to take a stake in the guild.”
Of course, Choi Junseok knew that much. It was just that his own intentions this time felt slightly different.
Jo Insu didn’t seem like a typical third-generation chaebol heir. This wasn’t just him flaunting his wealth or trying to buy his way in. He wasn’t even after equity.
“Hmm… I don’t know. I think differently.”
“You think differently?”
“Even as the designated successor with significant authority in a chaebol family, Jo Insu wouldn’t be able to mobilize a hundred billion won that easily. Right?”
Lee Jiyu and Kang Jinsu nodded as if it were obvious.
“And yet he wrote down a hundred billion. That means one of two things: either it’s a bluff, or the funds have already been thoroughly reviewed and secured internally.”
“Hmm…… You’re saying they’ve already internally approved donating a hundred billion as a contribution?”
“It’s not impossible. If they’re betting on the fact that Function belongs to this guild, what’s a hundred billion to them?”
Rank 0. An unprecedented player. A player Korea was keeping tightly hidden while blocking all foreign approaches.
Donating a hundred billion to make a good first impression on such a player wasn’t a losing bet for SG Group, which was heavily involved in player-related businesses.
“The eldest son of a Korean chaebol donated a hundred billion—not as an investment, but as a contribution—to the guild founded by Function. And on top of that, he became one of its extremely limited members? Wouldn’t that be seen as a legitimate investment in Function? Of course, they seem to think Lee Nayeon is Function, not me.”
“You’re not actually planning to accept him, are you?”
Even Lee Nayeon frowned.
“Of course we should accept him. We’re just taking the money.”
“……?”
“We accept him and then don’t give him any work. He won’t even meet us.”
“Is that allowed?”
“Why wouldn’t it be? If he doesn’t like it, he can leave.”
“……Excuse me?”
“Or we could just assign him to overseas tower raids. He has to follow the guild leader’s orders, right? We never specified in the joining conditions that we’d be climbing the Suseo Magic Tower.”
“……Ah.”
Team Leader Kang immediately understood. Choi Junseok was planning to pull an employment scam on the S-grade eldest son of a major corporation.
‘Is he insane…? Is he serious? This has to be a joke.’
Kang Jinsu and Lee Jiyu’s eyes wavered, but Lee Nayeon and Song Hana looked impressed, as if thinking, “Oh… that’s a method!”
“So we take the hundred billion, ship the guy off to a European tower, and get him out of the country. One stone, three birds, right?”
“Oho……”
Even Lee Jiyu let out an admiring sound at Choi Junseok’s plan. Team Leader Kang felt a sudden wave of dizziness and headache at the realization that even the last sane person had gone mad.
Pressing a hand to his forehead, he swayed in his seat and took a shaky breath.
‘Right. They might not know what kind of symbolic weight SG Group carries in the player world. But one thing is certain. If we go through with Choi Junseok’s plan…… it’ll be disastrous.’
And not just any disaster.
If SG Group’s hundred billion and their eldest son both ended up overseas because of Function, there was no telling what kind of retaliation they would unleash.
A catastrophe could erupt in the player community……
“Okay. Interview schedule notifications complete.”
“……Excuse me?”
“So. Lee Jiyu and Song Hana, you two will need to help with the interviews.”
“Okay. Let’s give it a shot. If it works out, great. If not, whatever.”
Team Leader Kang sat there blinking, questioning whether this situation was actually real.
The moment Team Leader Kang got into his car, he called Director Mun Gwon-su of the Player Management Agency.
“Director. It’s me. This is an emergency. A very big problem. No, Function hasn’t been exposed…… It’s not a European spy issue either. Yes…… Yes…… Function…… says he’s going to accept SG Group’s eldest son, Jo Insu, and send him overseas.”
…….
There was a brief silence on the other end of the line.
That was to be expected. Director Mun Gwon-su hadn’t immediately processed what he had just heard.
But the moment Team Leader Kang’s additional explanation followed, he had to pull the phone away from his ear. Shouting erupted from the other side.
Thus, Lee Jiyu and Song Hana found themselves facing Jo Insu once again.
“We meet again?”
Jo Insu, dressed in a pristine three-piece suit with his hair neatly combed back, sat upright before the two women as if he were at a job interview. Yet despite his posture, his voice carried an unmistakable air of confidence.
“You said you would donate a hundred billion won. I’d like to ask first whether that amount is actually feasible.”
“It seems I’m being interviewed because of the hundred billion rather than my abilities…… Well, it’s true that the funds have been internally reviewed and secured. Where is Miss Lee Nayeon right now?”
“The guild leader is a bit busy at the moment.”
“I see.”
Jo Insu shrugged as if he understood perfectly and nodded.
It didn’t matter to him whether Lee Nayeon was the mysterious player Function or not. SG Group’s calculation was that donating a hundred billion to make a good first impression on an SS-grade player like her wasn’t a bad move.
“Then let’s not waste time. Please review the contract terms.”
Jo Insu grinned and nodded.
Among the many clauses, two particularly toxic ones stood out.
1. You may not refuse any assigned mission. However, if you determine that the mission threatens your life, you may refuse after consultation.
2. You must donate 100 billion won to the Likey Likey Function Guild immediately before joining. If the donation is not fulfilled, your guild membership will be rejected.
‘This is basically a slave contract, isn’t it?’
Jo Insu furrowed his brow.
But if it meant he could reach out to the radiant Lee Nayeon, there was no reason not to invest. He signed immediately.
Just as he was about to take his copy of the guild application form, Lee Jiyu grabbed one end of the paper and didn’t let go.
“The donation.”
Jo Insu chuckled and said he wouldn’t run off with the money, then tapped away at his phone.
A hundred billion won was instantly transferred to the Likey Likey Function Guild’s corporate account.
After receiving Choi Junseok’s confirmation text, Lee Jiyu nodded.
“Okay. Welcome aboard, new guild member Jo Insu.”
“Looking forward to working with you!”
“Looking forward to working with you.”
After shaking hands with Lee Jiyu and Song Hana, Jo Insu had barely received his copy of the documents when his first mission as a new guild member was issued.
“I will now assign your first mission.”
“…Already?”
“Yes. You’ll be heading to France.”
“……Excuse me?”