Chapter 111
Chapter 111
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 111
Chapter Title: An Offer You Can't Refuse
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The place Lee Shin visited was the Black Tiger Guild's guildhouse.
As befitting a guild of its size, the Black Tiger guildhouse occupied a prime location in the city.
[Black Tiger Guildhouse]
*I'm in the right place.*
*Bang!*
Lee Shin strode into the guildhouse without a moment's hesitation.
Jeong Yu-ra followed behind him and asked.
"Hey, are we allowed to just barge in like this?"
"No. Normally, we're not."
A guildhouse was typically where a guild's important assets and core facilities—training grounds, supply warehouses, and the like—were concentrated.
As such, it was an incredibly important facility, and it wouldn't be strange at all for outsiders who trespassed to meet a nasty end.
"What? Then..."
"But it doesn't matter to me."
"......?"
But Lee Shin wasn't particularly worried.
He had already confirmed that the skill gap between him and them was too wide for him to be the one to meet a nasty end...
And even if that weren't the case, it was hard to imagine them picking a fight with him, one of the territory's most influential figures.
If Lee Shin decided to ruin their guild, they would suffer immense losses, so they had no choice but to walk on eggshells around him.
"Excuse me."
"Yes?"
Lee Shin stopped a random person passing by.
The person turned his head with a friendly expression.
But it was only for a moment.
"Who might you be... H-Huuuhh!?"
The man trembled as if he'd been electrocuted.
His eyes, wide enough to tear, were a bonus.
And it was, all things considered, a natural reaction.
After all, just a few weeks ago...
*'Oh, you don't want to apologize?'*
*'But sometimes in life, you have to do things you don't want to do.'*
*'Because if I don't get an apology, I'm going to kill one of your guild members every minute.'*
*'What are you doing? A minute has passed.'*
A gruesome incident like that had occurred.
For anyone who had been there, it wouldn't be strange to have a seizure from the resurfacing trauma upon seeing Lee Shin.
In fact, the guild member was so shocked that beyond his expression changing, he dropped all the items he had been carrying in his arms.
*Clatter.*
*...Clang! Tink!*
"Ah! No, wha...!?"
Thanks to that, his eyes darted around frantically.
The guild member was frozen, torn between the items rolling on the floor and the terror standing before him.
But Lee Shin remained unfazed by it all.
While the man was panicking and stammering, Lee Shin casually reached for the fallen items.
*Swoop.*
[You have acquired a Gold Pouch.]
[You have acquired a Gold Pouch.]
[You have acquired an Intermediate Health Potion.]
[You have acquired a High-grade Explosion Scroll...]
A masterful robbery, taking advantage of the chaos!
By the time the man belatedly came to his senses, some of the dropped items had already vanished into Lee Shin's pockets without a trace.
"You, why are you here...?"
"Am I not allowed?"
"How can you even ask that?! You killed all of us! If you had any conscience, how could you show your face here!"
The guild member shouted, utterly flabbergasted by Lee Shin's shamelessness.
However, because his voice was quite loud, it instantly drew the attention of everyone nearby.
"...? What was that noise?"
"Someone just shouted."
"Huh? That person is..."
"W-Wha!? Isn't that the psycho from back then...!?"
"...Gasp!"
*Murmur, murmur.*
The users, finally recognizing Lee Shin, began to cause a commotion.
Some even whispered amongst themselves, glaring at Lee Shin with murderous expressions as memories of that day resurfaced.
"......"
"How dare he come here..."
Of course, Lee Shin paid them no mind.
Perhaps due to pride, they were acting quite stiff, but he could easily make them shut up again anyway.
*I need to make an example of someone.*
It seemed the memory of the beating they took had faded with time. To make them compliant, he needed to remind them exactly who was on top.
Having reached that conclusion, Lee Shin swung his sword at a random person nearby.
*Stab! Stabstabstab!!*
[A critical hit has landed.]
[A critical hit has landed.]
[You have killed the target!]
"Wha-wha...?!"
"!?!?"
An attack aimed at vital spots in the blink of an eye!
Before the target could even process what was happening, all of Lee Shin's attacks landed true, and he melted away in an instant.
Lee Shin spoke to the users staring at him, dumbfounded.
"Stop rolling your eyes. I'll kill you."
"......You already killed someone, you psycho!"
"There are still more people left alive."
"......!!"
A chill ran down the guild members' arms at Lee Shin's words.
Normally, if someone had said such a thing, they would have dismissed it as a bluff or an empty threat, but coming from Lee Shin, it felt terrifyingly real.
*That guy is more than capable of it!*
*No, he could do even worse!*
After all, Lee Shin had a track record of backing up his words with actions.
"......"
Thanks to that, the inside of the guildhouse fell silent in an instant.
Even those who had been whispering while glaring at Lee Shin began to read the room and quietly slipped away.
It would be their loss if they stuck around and got caught in the crossfire.
"Much quieter now."
Lee Shin finally returned to the matter at hand.
He asked where the guild master was.
"The Guild Master?"
"Yeah."
"He should be inside. Why do you ask?"
"I have an order for him. Go get him."
"......Ah, alright."
Lee Shin was summoning another guild's master like a stray dog, but the guild member simply nodded obediently and disappeared.
He figured it was useless to voice any complaints to Lee Shin.
On the contrary, needlessly provoking him could lead to another sudden bloodbath like the one moments ago.
Dokgo appeared shortly after.
Spotting Lee Shin standing at the guildhouse entrance, Dokgo walked straight up to him and asked.
"......What is it?"
"Nothing much. I called you because I have an order."
"I heard that much... but before that, let me ask you something. Why the hell are you doing this to me?"
"...Huh?"
But his tone was full of thorns.
Lee Shin tilted his head.
"What are you talking about?"
"You said with your own mouth that you wouldn't bother us again after you got the first clear on the dungeon."
"...Did I say that?"
"Did I say that!? You did, you bastard! And before that, I even got on my knees and apologized like you ordered! So why are you here causing a scene again...!? Huh!!?"
"Calm down..."
"Calm down?!? How can I calm down? No, while we're at it, let me ask this too. Why did you kill me in the dungeon? All I did was guide you, I didn't do anything else, you bastard!"
"......? I killed you?"
*Did I?*
Lee Shin tilted his head again.
It wasn't a feint; Lee Shin genuinely couldn't remember.
It had been several weeks, and besides, their perspectives were different.
The aggressor always forgets who they've hit.
And it wasn't like Lee Shin had only killed one or two users; how could he possibly remember every single moment?
Unless the target's resistance was particularly fierce, he usually forgot immediately.
Lee Shin answered honestly.
"I don't really remember."
"This crazy bastard...!? You killed me right after we beat the golem!"
"Huh? Ah..."
Dokgo shouted, utterly incredulous.
The memory vaguely returned to Lee Shin.
[The dungeon's secret area will now be unlocked. Enter the secret area and confirm the will of the Salseong!]
He seemed to recall killing him as soon as he saw that message.
To prevent his class-related information from being discovered.
Even if Lee Shin, the perpetrator, had cleanly forgotten, from the perspective of Dokgo, who had died, it must have been a death that came out of nowhere.
"Let's forget about the past for now..."
"Uwaaah!"
"......"
Thanks to that, meeting Lee Shin again, Dokgo showed a reaction bordering on neurotic.
Lee Shin sighed softly and continued.
"You want to die?"
"Ugh, huh!?"
"What's the big deal about dying once? Stop being annoying and listen to what I have to say first."
"What kind of crazy bastard...?"
"This time it's a really good proposal, so just listen. I said it was an order, but it probably won't be a bad thing for you. No, for you all."
"......"
Dokgo fell silent at Lee Shin's words.
One way or another, Lee Shin was a user with strong ties to the powerful figures of this territory.
From Dokgo's perspective, when someone like that said he had a good proposal, his curiosity was bound to be piqued.
Dokgo cleared his throat with a *k-hem* and asked.
"......What is it?"
"A territory war will probably break out soon."
"I see. ......Wait, what!?!"
Dokgo's head snapped around.
...What was going to break out?
"A territory war is going to break out. Not in the Edgar Territory, but in a nearby one."
"......So suddenly!?"
"Well, that's how it is. Anyway, that's not the important part..."
Lee Shin gave Dokgo the same explanation and proposal he had given Tae-yoon.
He would watch the territory war unfold and side with the likely winner, and he asked if Dokgo could gather his guild members and other users to participate at that time.
"Can you do it?"
"...Wait! Hold on a second."
Dokgo quickly did the math in his head.
Just as Lee Shin said, this was by no means a bad proposal for the Black Tiger Guild.
First off, large-scale events like territory wars usually had decent rewards.
*Our guild could definitely aim for a high rank...*
Most importantly, there was no risk involved.
If the Edgar Territory's army participated alongside them, there was no way they could lose.
The military power of the Edgar Territory was more than enough to overwhelm that of the neighboring territories.
"......"
Dokgo's lips twitched.
He had sworn never to get involved with Lee Shin again, but this was too good an opportunity to pass up.
*Just this one last time...*
In the end, after much deliberation, Dokgo nodded.
"...I'll do it!"
"Good. Then from now on, just gather as many people as you can to participate with us."
"Until when?"
"Until I call for you again. It'll probably be within three days."
* * *
In the three days leading up to the territory war, a surprisingly large number of users flocked to the Edgar Territory.
It was to the point that Lee Shin, emerging from the arena after a few days, was surprised to see the territory bustling with users.
*...That's a lot of people.*
Users filled the streets and squares!
This was the result of two overlapping factors.
Dokgo and Tae-yoon were both well-known guild masters in this area.
Dokgo was more famous for negative reasons—dungeon control, imposing tolls, and so on—but his guild was solid nonetheless.
It had ample funds and military strength, and with connections to high-ranking territory officials, they also had access to some of the territory's secret information that others didn't.
Regardless of their popularity among users, their influence itself was immense!
The same was true for Tae-yoon.
Before Lee Shin had taken it from him, he had been ranked 10th in territory contribution points.
So when two such figures urgently started gathering people, even users who didn't know the full story couldn't help but be tempted.
What kind of quest—or request—could they possibly be preparing for?
*How many have they gathered?*
-430 people, including guild members.
-I have about that many, too.
A force of nearly 1,000 people!
Considering the territory war hadn't even officially started yet, this was an enormous number.
*Good.*
Lee Shin smiled with satisfaction.
The more people, the better.
*Alright, preparations on this end are complete... How much time is left?*
[Time remaining until Territory War: 00:01:17]
Lee Shin checked his status window.
The time remaining was now just over an hour.
*It's starting soon.*
Lee Shin went to find Count Aaron.