Chapter 128: Eternal Spire (14)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 128: Eternal Spire (14)
Yoon Jae-ho's eyes narrowed coldly. His fists clenched as he stared at the entrance of the cleared dungeon.
"Jae-ho, looks like someone beat us to it again," Park So-young said, slowly spinning her sword with her fingertips. Her voice was laced with irritation.
'Some bastard...'
"Jae-ho, calm down."
Seeing the magic gathering in Yoon Jae-ho's hands, Kim Min-su grabbed his shoulder to calm him.
"Hoo... I'm sorry."
"Every dungeon we try to hit, someone's already been there."
"Is it just bad luck... or..."
As Isia trailed off, Kim Min-su crossed his arms and said, "It means our information is being leaked."
A cold glint shone in Yoon Jae-ho's eyes.
'...I suspect that bastard.'
Yoon Jae-ho felt his intuition pointing relentlessly at Jin Seo-yun.
'Dammit... I had to get that Treasure Pouch...'
Kim Min-su examined the dungeon entrance and said, "Let's head back for now. There's no point in staying here."
Park So-young sheathed her sword. "Ah, this is so annoying... Another day wasted."
The group turned and headed back the way they came. Yoon Jae-ho shot one last glare at the dungeon before turning away.
On the way back to the city, Yoon Jae-ho decided he needed to start keeping Jin Seo-yun in check.
'If he took the Treasure Pouch, I can't just let this go.'
His plan was falling apart. Originally, he was supposed to obtain the Infinite Pouch and take control of the early participants.
'First, I need to find a weakness I can exploit.'
Now that I had the Treasure Pouch, an interesting plan came to mind: creating a massive sex slave organization using the women in the city.
'I'll start by luring women who need money and trapping them in debt.'
I'll approach them under the pretense of offering protection, then slowly drive them deeper into debt. When they can no longer pay, they'll have to repay me with their bodies.
'I'll use Kim So-yeon as the face of the operation.'
She had no talent for combat, but her mind worked well in other areas.
'I just need to sort them properly.'
The exceptionally beautiful ones will be tamed for my personal use, while the average-looking ones can be turned into prostitutes. As for those with combat abilities, I could form a combat unit with Lauren.
'A perfect plan.'
With my thoughts settled, I decided to put the plan into action immediately.
I spoke to Tia, who was nestled against my side.
"Tia, summon Kim So-yeon."
"Yes."
There was a snake by Kim So-yeon's side, serving as both her guard and monitor. I called for her through it.
"You called."
A short while later, Kim So-yeon entered the room.
"You called for me?"
"So-yeon, things are about to get busy."
I began to explain the plan—how to tame the city's women in stages, and the division of roles.
"Ugh... No matter how I think about it... you're a real monster, Seo-yun..."
Kim So-yeon looked at me with disgust.
"So, are you in or not?"
"Hah... I understand. But this will require a lot of money. Are you sure about that?"
"Don't worry about the money."
"Well then, it'll be easy. The city is full of women who can barely make it from one day to the next..."
A cynical smile slowly spread across Kim So-yeon's face.
"If you offer them three meals a day and a warm room to live in, don't you think there are plenty of women who would spread their legs in an instant?"
"Then get moving. But don't be too obvious about it. Approach them quietly. You know what I mean, right?"
"In other words, be discreet and avoid attracting attention? I'll make sure no one notices."
"Tia, you'll assist Kim So-yeon."
"Understood."
After sending Kim So-yeon and Tia out, I began to formulate the next phase of my plan.
'For now, on the 1st floor, I'll focus on gathering the women and training them slowly. Once the Clan System opens on the 2nd floor, I can start expanding the organization in earnest.'
The problem was the attention I'd draw after turning the women into sex slaves. No matter how quietly I proceeded, I was bound to be discovered eventually.
'Well, my future self can deal with that.'
For now, I just needed to focus on gathering and taming pretty women. If I started getting dirty looks later, I'd handle it then.
*
"Seo-yun, what do you think this party's intentions are in inviting us?" Tia asked, linking her arm with mine.
"They're trying to secure influence early on. It looks like they want to take the lead in the boss raid, too. But I doubt it'll go their way."
As we walked, the pub where the meeting was scheduled came into view. It had a clean exterior.
"To think they rented out the entire place for a day. They must be somewhat capable."
"They probably scraped together every last coin they had. Let's go in."
Upon entering the pub, we saw that the party leaders for the boss raid had already gathered. The moment Tia and I walked in, all eyes turned to us. Their gazes were a mixture of curiosity, jealousy, and a subtle fear.
From the crowd, a well-dressed Caucasian man approached us naturally.
"Welcome. I'm Austin. Thank you for coming."
"Jin Seo-yun."
I shook the hand he offered and sized him up.
'So Austin, the high-ranker from the original story, was the one who discovered the information about the boss room.'
I had asked Tia to gather information on the party that found the boss room beforehand, but Austin was staying on the opposite side of the city from my inn, so he was outside her range of sight.
'Tia needs to grow stronger quickly. Then she'd have no problem monitoring the entire city.'
I thought to myself, soothing my slight disappointment.
"Please, have a seat. We have much to discuss regarding the boss raid."
Austin gestured to a table. The wary gazes of the other party leaders were fixed on us.
Just then, a bald man in the corner muttered as he tipped back his glass.
"Why is everyone so scared of a bastard who just brings a woman along...?"
"Hey, hey, you're being too loud..." the man next to him nudged him with his elbow, trying to shut him up.
"I want him to hear me. How great can he possibly be..."
Tia glared at the man who had just spoken, her voice sharp.
"What did you just say?"
"Oh, you heard that? Got good ears. But was I wrong?"
The bald man glanced my way. Seeing that I was just listening quietly, he stood up with a twisted smile, glass in hand.
"Think about it! That wolf bastard was strong, but how many people were actually fighting properly instead of panicking?! That guy just got lucky and killed it. If any of us here had fought seriously..."
Before the bald man could finish, Austin slammed his head into the floor in a flash.
-Crack!
"Guuuh...!"
"Show some respect."
Pinning down the bald man who was scrambling to get up, Austin added in a cold voice, "You don't deserve to be here. Get out."
"Gaaah... F-fuck...!"
The room fell silent at Austin's cold tone. The bald man, pinned to the floor, was bleeding and writhing in pain.
'Interesting.'
A corner of my mouth lifted as I watched Austin's actions. The other party leaders around us held their breath, tense.
"F-fuck..."
The bald man struggled to his feet, muttering curses, but fell silent under Austin's cold gaze.
He staggered out of the pub.
"My apologies. I'm sorry you had to witness such an unpleasant incident. I didn't want to ruin such a meaningful gathering..."
Austin bowed politely.
"It's fine."
"I will compensate you for this matter separately later."
He bowed to me once more before moving to the center of the pub.
"Now that most of the party leaders seem to have arrived, let's begin."
All the leaders' eyes focused on Austin. He stood in the center and continued in a calm voice.
"First, I'd like to thank everyone for taking their precious time to be here."
As I listened to Austin, Tia whispered quietly, "Seo-yun, that man, Austin... I have a bad feeling about him."
"Why do you say that?"
"From the conflict with the bald man to his apology, everything felt too natural. It was like watching a well-rehearsed play. And even now, it feels like he's wearing a mask."
Hearing her answer, I looked at Austin.
'Tia's intuition is better than I thought.'
When he attacked the bald man earlier, there was no real force behind his hand. And...
'That bald bastard definitely glanced at Austin after checking my reaction.'
I could guess what he was aiming for by using the bald man.
'He's trying to use the attention I'm getting to place himself at the center of this situation.'
I was the strongest person in the 1st floor city. The news of my victory over the Wolf King of Black Night had already spread, and my influence had naturally grown because of it. The fact that every participant's gaze had instantly fallen on me when I entered the pub was proof that my presence here was impossible to ignore.
'He wants to redirect that attention to himself.'
Austin had cleverly manufactured the situation using the bald man. When the bald man provoked me, everyone's attention was on me. But it was Austin who resolved the situation. By subduing the man and taking control, he siphoned off some of the attention that had been focused on me.
'He's keeping me in check while simultaneously boosting his own image. Heh, I played along on purpose, but this is amusing.'
I watched Austin occasionally glance my way from the center of the pub and smirked.
'How should I torment him?'
"Seo-yun... you have a sinister look on your face."
"Was it that obvious?"
"Yes. It was the face you make when you're plotting something."
As expected, Tia knew me well. I let out a small laugh and turned my gaze back to Austin.
"Everyone, since this is our first boss raid, I believe cooperation is paramount. The information we have now is limited. We don't know the boss's identity, nor how strong it is."
He looked each party leader in the eye as he continued speaking slowly.
"That is why I believe we need a leader. Someone who can command all the parties from a central position. Of course, that leader must be someone who can earn the trust of every party."
"That last part must be his real intention."
"Of course."
I glanced from Austin to Yoon Jae-ho, who was sitting in a corner of the pub. He was biting his lip, glaring at both me and Austin.