Chapter 114
Chapter 114
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 114
Chapter Title: Sponsorship Without Strings
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'No, it's only temporary at best.'
It was nothing more than forcibly suppressing them with overwhelming force.
But.
'There's no rule saying temporary has to stay temporary forever.'
For a group like the Balhae Guild and the Sword King Jang Seok-won?
'They're more than worthy of bringing under my wing.'
The Balhae Guild held special meaning for Kang Hyun-soo as well.
'Not that it'll be easy.'
If he could get them, great.
Even if not.
'Just maintaining friendly relations would be a huge help.'
Of course, first.
'I need to deal with that bastard.'
Hwang So-wook.
He was currently an executive in the Balhae Guild.
But he hadn't made much of a presence yet.
'I could frame him as a Doppelganger and have him killed.'
Then, the player named Hwang So-wook would.
'End up as just another victim sacrificed to a Doppelganger.'
Without any real suffering.
Dying amid the condolences of others?
'That's not a fitting death for Hwang So-wook.'
As Kang Hyun-soo organized his thoughts.
Sizzle!
With the sound of silver melting, the true identities of the Balhae Guild executives who had tried to flee were revealed one by one.
"Eek!"
At the same time, the Sword King Jang Seok-won's face twisted even more ferociously.
"So many of them were Doppelgangers."
The test results.
Eight Balhae Guild executives had been confirmed as Doppelgangers.
"It's not just the executives. We'll have to test every guild member."
"Understood."
The Sword King Jang Seok-won replied with a grim expression to Kang Hyun-soo's words.
"Summon the guild members immediately."
At the Sword King Jang Seok-won's command, the executives scattered.
"Thank you for this immense favor. Dark Knight is a benefactor to our Balhae Guild. We will fully support all of Dark Knight's endeavors going forward. If you ever need assistance, please don't hesitate to ask."
'As expected, sharp as a tack.'
The Balhae Guild owed Dark Knight a huge debt.
And Dark Knight was vastly stronger than the Balhae Guild.
'Of course they'd want to stay on good terms.'
They pledged full support and offered help anytime, but.
How often would Dark Knight need to ask the Balhae Guild for aid?
Even if such a situation arose.
The Sword King Jang Seok-won?
'He'd weigh the pros and cons before acting.'
If he deemed it a loss?
He'd talk his way out with clever words, claiming the situation was tough.
'He's doing it right now.'
They'd received massive help.
But aside from words of thanks, full support, and offers of aid?
'No material compensation.'
This was one of the three great guilds of the Terra Kingdom, the mighty Balhae Guild.
Naturally.
'They're rich. Filthy rich.'
No matter how much you squeezed them?
'It wouldn't even make a dent.'
But.
'Words alone won't cut it.'
On top of that, the Balhae Guild had.
'That item Hwang So-wook had been using so well.'
The EX-Rank item.
'Goddess's Tear.'
An overpowered item limited to demons, absorbing demonic energy and converting it into the wearer's mana.
'It has zero use in player-versus-player combat.'
But against demons?
It unleashed tremendous power.
"We truly appreciate your full support of Dark Knight's activities."
"Given Dark Knight's goals, it's the least we can do."
"Hahaha, if you insist that much, I suppose I'll have to accept. So, how much are you planning to sponsor without any strings attached?"
"Pardon? Sponsorship without compensation?"
The Sword King Jang Seok-won looked genuinely flustered at Kang Hyun-soo's words.
Sponsorship without compensation?
Something he'd only heard back on Earth.
After coming to the Atlantis dimension?
He'd never heard of pure sponsorship or donations.
Even when guilds backed promising players, they called it sponsorship.
But it was sponsorship with clear expectations.
'Investment' fit better than 'sponsorship.'
And that sponsorship or investment?
It was a chain for promising players.
Meticulous contracts ensuring they couldn't leave the guild until repaying the funds several times over.
But out of nowhere, sponsorship without compensation?
"What do you mean by that?"
The Sword King Jang Seok-won barely regained his composure and asked again.
"Didn't you say you'd fully support Dark Knight's activities? The easiest way is sponsorship without strings, isn't it? A giant guild like Balhae could easily spare a few hundred million gold, right?"
"F-Few hundred million gold."
The moment he heard 'hundred million,' the Sword King Jang Seok-won's mind went blank.
Ten million gold was already a fortune mid-tier guilds or small powerhouses could hardly dream of in a lifetime.
Hundreds of millions beyond that?
Even for the Balhae Guild, it'd mean uprooting a foundational pillar—a massive sum.
"What's with the reaction? Don't tell me those were empty words?"
At Kang Hyun-soo's question.
"No, of course not. I was just pondering how to arrange it. Even a giant guild doesn't keep hundreds of millions in liquid gold on hand, you know?"
"Don't worry. We accept in-kind sponsorship too. Let's head to the item vault first. Lead the way."
At Kang Hyun-soo's words.
The Sword King Jang Seok-won swallowed bitter tears inwardly.
"Right this way."
He guided Kang Hyun-soo to the Balhae Guild's item vault.
* * *
"This looks good. That one's not bad either."
Kang Hyun-soo shopped excitedly.
"Ugh!"
Tears welled up in the Sword King Jang Seok-won's eyes.
'How does he pick only the expensive, practical ones so perfectly!'
The Balhae Guild's item vault was enormous.
Naturally.
An outsider would need days to properly inspect everything.
The vault held items of dubious utility or hard-to-sell quality.
Some top-tier items waited for the right owner.
Others were spares for combat swaps.
Yet Kang Hyun-soo picked as if he knew the inventory inside out.
He skipped the iffy ones entirely.
He cherry-picked reward items set aside for merits.
And spares queued for replacement.
'Is there a Dark Knight spy in our Balhae Guild?'
He even suspected that.
But it was only natural.
Kang Hyun-soo had been a Balhae Guild member before his regression.
'I should've just thanked him at the start and handed over a million gold for guild expenses.'
The Sword King Jang Seok-won regretted it too late.
Kang Hyun-soo and Dark Knight were the guild's benefactors.
A proper reward was in order.
But he'd tried to brush it off with words.
'And now the vault's getting gutted.'
Worse still.
'He's only picked about a hundred million gold worth so far.'
The Sword King Jang Seok-won was starting to fear Kang Hyun-soo.
'How much more is he going to take?'
Hundreds of millions, sure.
But he'd hoped under two hundred million.
At this rate, it'd be at least five hundred million.
"A bit disappointing. Not many high-rank items overall. The best are just SS-Rank? Is there a separate vault for SSS-Rank or higher?"
"No such thing!"
It was true.
Truthfully, it was natural for the vault to lack SSS or EX-Rank items.
Why?
Items of that grade.
Always had owners.
Even if useless right now.
Even if mismatched.
They'd use them anyway.
Or keep them personally as spares.
Not in the vault.
The Sword King Jang Seok-won himself kept Goddess's Tear—a hunting dud—as a spare.
'Hm?'
A brilliant idea struck the momentarily irked Sword King Jang Seok-won.
"Dark Knight mostly fights the Demon King's Army, I presume."
"Pretty much."
"How about this?"
The Sword King Jang Seok-won pulled out his spare Goddess's Tear.
EX-Rank.
Kept as a spare in case it might prove useful someday.
'But it's really just a shiny paperweight.'
The Balhae Guild fought monsters or players more than mana-using demons.
He'd set it aside thinking it'd shine in a future Demon King's Army war.
'Who knows when that will be.'
He'd considered selling or trading for another EX-Rank.
'But it'd fetch peanuts.'
Others thought similarly, so no fair price.
'And it doesn't even detect demonic energy.'
Doppelgangers had infested the guild undetected.
"Goddess's Tear? Demon-exclusive item."
Kang Hyun-soo showed interest.
'Did I pull it out for nothing?'
He regretted it slightly.
Goddess's Tear's value would skyrocket with a full demon invasion.
'No. Who knows when.'
The Dragon King's dragonkin legion had invaded Mulan Kingdom.
The guild had faced Doppelganger attacks.
'But our forces are sufficient.'
Mulan repelled the dragon and dragonkin horde with minimal losses.
The guild took hits.
But in open battle, not ambush?
He was confident they'd crush the Doppelgangers.
Plus, mana conversion helped long fights.
But short battles? Useless.
'Still.'
'Losing other items would hurt more.'
Kang Hyun-soo's picks excelled in hunting, PvP, and demon wars.
Goddess's Tear?
'Demon-only.'
And it was EX-Rank.
'Better to give one Goddess's Tear than lose all those A, S, SS-Rank items.'
EX-Rank value defied gold.
Even if useless now.
'It still outshines other EX-Ranks.'
Worth hundreds of millions easily.
And the recipient? Dark Knight, clashing most with the Demon King's Army.
"It's worth not hundreds of millions, but tens or hundreds of billions of gold."
At the Sword King Jang Seok-won's words.
'He's desperate to cap it at Goddess's Tear.'
Kang Hyun-soo smiled inwardly.
'In truth, the rest was just bonus.'
Kang Hyun-soo's real goal was Goddess's Tear.
He'd planned to browse, feign disappointment, and squeeze it out.
'And he hands it over himself.'
The midway shopping probably influenced it.
'How much did I even take?'
Just a few(?) A to SS-Rank items.
Plus, he'd grabbed what caught his eye from pre-regression use or guildmates' gear.
Ones useful for summons.
'Well, from Jang Seok-won's view, it might feel burdensome.'
Sweeping A to SS-Ranks would hurt.
Kang Hyun-soo, never intending that, found it a bit awkward.
Naturally, for him?
No downside.
Goddess's Tear.
'Doesn't just convert demonic energy to mana.'
Its true value.
'Worth tens or hundreds of billions of gold.'
Top EX-Rank sword: Gluttony Sword.
Top EX-Rank ring: Guardian Ring.
Top EX-Rank necklace: Ice King's Necklace.
And.
'Top EX-Rank bracelet: Goddess's Tear.'
A supreme treasure even the whole Balhae Guild couldn't buy.
Such a treasure fell effortlessly.
Into Kang Hyun-soo's hands.