Chapter 33

The so-called Loach Gate incident even implicated HTN in the blame game.

After all, hadn't they brought in analysts to shower it with rave reviews as a blue-chip stock?

The viewers' outrage followed a predictable course.

HTN stood to suffer massive damage as well.

Airing the Loach Gate report was practically self-sabotage for them.

Yet they went ahead and broadcast it anyway.

For three reasons.

First, unlike KBC, HTN was a private company. So they were relatively immune to stock price crashes.

Second, HTN—the very outlet that had issued such rosy forecasts—openly admitted their mistake.

They wouldn't fully escape the viewers' fury, of course.

'But viewers who've only seen corporations and guilds lie through their teeth might find this refreshing.'

Third—and most crucially—

Loach Media was like a joint account shared by KBC and North Ocean Corp. It had barely any real performance history. Only a tiny fraction of viewers had invested after watching the broadcasts, and even those were small amounts.

Even with those justifications, from HTN's perspective, it was an all-or-nothing gamble for the company's survival.

'It's insane that they trusted my tip-off enough to run the story so aggressively.'

According to Gija-ryeong, the higher-ups had taken responsibility and greenlit it themselves.

HTN's leadership harbored a deep grudge against KBC.

They were willing to bleed themselves dry to drag their old enemy down.

Avenging the pain of loss their juniors—and the seniors who had guided them—had endured.

'Even the deputy director's apologizing personally.'

I scrolled through the chat window.

As expected, the sentiment was overwhelmingly negative.

〔……! ……!!〕

Hemo, peeking at the chat over my shoulder, jolted in shock.

The language was that heated.

I stroked the jelly pillow and said,

"It'll be fine."

〔……! ……?〕

How could I be so sure?

"There'll be follow-up reports tomorrow."

〔……? ……??〕

"Not from HTN. They just fired the opening shot— the latecomers are still in the game."

KBC was public enemy number one.

'Now that we've cracked the door open...'

The other networks would pile on, riding the wave to tear KBC apart.

'Not out of any sense of justice.'

"A disgraced KBC will have no choice but to sell off their gate forecast rights."

〔……! ……!!!!〕

"To pull prey out ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠of a ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠wolf's belly, you gotta hunt together first, right? It's like that."

I could feel Hemo shivering against the back of my head.

Haha, don't worry. Your master's not a total idiot.

"...Ah."

Reality hit me late.

Talking pillow talk with a slime...

"Still, you're better company than most humans, Hemo."

In my past life, my brother and I were victims devoured by human malice.

"Seeing blood the same way they did would make me no better than them."

I didn't want that.

I wanted to watch them self-destruct through their own evil.

Simply spilling an enemy's blood wasn't revenge.

It was returning the karma of all the atrocities they'd committed.

That was my goal.

〔……! ……!?!〕

"Nah, it wasn't a spur-of-the-moment plan. Well, if you ask when I started scheming it..."

Probably during those ten years grinding as a porter.

I'd sustained myself on rice balls in the mines, rolling delusions around in my head nonstop. So this was all part of that fantasy.

"It's late. Time to sleep, Hemo."

Got an early start tomorrow.

My stock account was about to burn brighter than this chat log.

As dawn broke, the other networks unleashed a carpet bombing of morning news on KBC.

The Loach Gate.

The name stuck in people's mouths like glue. The broadcasters relentlessly hammered the scandal, perfect fodder for public gossip.

And sure enough—

Spurred by the united front of every channel, the public went berserk.

The ripple effects were proven in numbers.

The moment the market opened, Loach Media's stock plummeted like mad.

A death sentence, basically.

To add insult to injury, overnight evidence surfaced that KBC had frantically pulled funds.

It turned to worthless scrap overnight.

Essentially delisted, locking up North Ocean Corp's funds as a co-investor right there.

North Ocean watched their slush fund evaporate before their eyes.

And it didn't end there.

The fallout hit North Ocean directly.

Even their Credits got halved.

The scorching news blared from every channel.

"Aigoo, tsk tsk. What an end times, end times."

The ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠soybean sprout soup auntie turned off the TV. Then, as usual, she went fly-hunting.

Her technique was seasoned, but one fly landed on a spoon—my brother's, across from me.

"...You."

He stared blankly at me, ignoring the fly rubbing its hands.

By the water pitcher sat the high-grade mana stone I'd returned intact, plus low-grade ones as interest.

"How'd it balloon like this so fast?"

I slurped my soup nonchalantly.

Was it my imagination, or had things flipped since a few days ago?

My brother gawked.

"You didn't gamble or anything, right?!"

"Ugh, mid-meal. Do I look like the gambling type?"

"No way, but hunters fall into that trap hard!"

"Earned it legit. Eat up."

"..."

"Sigh, so stubborn."

I set down my spoon and pulled out my phone.

"See? Made it on stocks."

"...Short selling?"

His eyes went wide.

"Yeah. Shorts have high dividends. Bet against North Ocean, hit about tenfold."

My take from this: 270 Credits.

'After paying bro back, about 265 left.'

260 Credits in pocket after car and whatever.

'Not a huge principal, so modest gains.'

Too much cash would've drawn eyes.

"Still... shorting..."

"Eat. Greenbelt Gate tomorrow. You were starving for beans the other day, now a fly's stealing yours."

"..."

I called out to auntie on his behalf, performing the ritual.

"Auntie! More kimchi here, please!"

"Now the brothers are both little shits!"

I crunched the kimchi she brought.

Domestic—top-notch. Jeong Hamin wouldn't get it.

"Bro."

"Y-yeah."

"One more shameless favor."

"No shame between us. Shoot."

I handed him a fresh spoon.

"Hit the Hunter Store in Seongsu with me."

The potion ring had been tempting me since yesterday.

As a public E-grade, I needed him to claim second-floor gear.

Quick shopping in Seongsu done, I parted ways with my brother.

Greenbelt Gate raid tomorrow.

'Still an unknown gate, so he's gotta prep too.'

I had my ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠own to-dos, so the Seo brothers split up in Seongsu.

Straight to the 64 Building.

Daily commute had me heading to Yeouido on autopilot.

"Anyone'd think I'm a stockbroker..."

〔……!! ……!! ……!!!〕

Stock manipulation makes me worse than one?

Haha, Hemo, picking up dialects now? Teasing your master with fresh tricks.

Figured it was hunger tantrum—vending machine almond bar on arrival.

The priciest one.

'No cheap stuff anymore.'

It's fine, Hemo. I'll earn more.

"Of course, this stock play was one-off."

I swallowed the lingering aftertaste like tongue plaque. Then eyed the lobby from the side.

'Pretty quiet today.'

North Ocean in chaos.

Hunters scrambling to cover asses. Big guild like that—everyone's tied in somehow.

Then—

Oh.

Still grinding away, huh.

'So damn tenacious.'

Why chase me this hard?

My top guess...

'Lingering grudge from me backstabbing him at COEX Gate...'

That's it.

Yeah, decided. Never meet one-on-one...

"...Huh?"

I nearly shot up. Masked up 24/7 to hide my face!

And yet.

"...???"

〔……???〕

Hemo even dropped an almond.

Hemo, you see it too??

〔……!! ……!!!!〕

Ah, we're of one mind and body?

Makes sense, actually.

I'd stockpiled a ton of blood in Hemo over weeks, drip by drip.

Had to be around 10L, rough guess.

"You're my true alter ego."

With Hemo handling third-hand duties now, not wrong.

Freshly reaffirming our bond, I eyed the status again.

'...A review, huh.'

Confession time.

The other day,

I hit level 20.

Name: Seo Wonseok

Level: 21