Chapter 79
Chapter 79
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 79
Chapter Title: Turning the Tables
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The plan, which had seemed to be proceeding smoothly, met a disastrous end shortly after, all thanks to the actions of one meddler.
[A party member has died.]
[A party member has died.]
[A party member has died.]
[A party member…]
Party members were dying in droves.
Faced with this inexplicable catastrophe, the members of the Five Star Guild froze, their smiles still fixed on their faces.
“……”
“……”
“No way…”
Soon, the atmosphere turned chillingly cold.
Unable to comprehend the situation, everyone could only repeat words like “No…” and “Why…?” as if they had lost their minds.
“…Is this a dream?”
Someone’s final murmur spoke for everyone.
Please let it be a dream!
If it’s a dream, please let me wake up soon!
But the situation only spiraled into the worst-case scenario.
With a slight delay, several more party members died.
“What is this!”
“Why did they die?”
“Did the estate soldiers arrive that quickly? No, but we didn't even get a whisper warning us of danger…?”
“Then maybe they died before they could even send a whisper?”
“……”
A user’s last comment cast a solemn mood over the party.
If they were killed so instantly that they couldn't even send a whisper, it meant the estate’s forces were incredibly strong, though they couldn't be sure….
‘…Can we do this?’
It was doubtful if they could handle it with the remaining members.
With no clear solution, the Five Star Guild members could only stare at each other and mutter, unsure of what to do.
“Dammit…”
“…What do we do now?”
“Should we just push through?”
“Are you crazy? We’ll all die!”
“……Hah.”
As one party member raised his voice, Yu Han-seong let out a small sigh and replied.
“So we just go back like this?”
“……”
“That doesn't make sense either.”
At this, the party member who had raised his voice fell silent.
He was right.
“We’re out of time.”
The execution of Arin and her group was not far off.
If they returned to gather more people, the execution would surely be over by the time they got back.
In other words, they would suffer the losses and all their efforts up to this point would be for nothing.
To prevent this, they had to somehow resolve the situation with the people they had now.
“But how…?”
“……”
The problem was how to do it.
Yu Han-seong was momentarily at a loss for words, but he soon calmly assessed the situation.
“How many people survived?”
“Fourteen. Four besides us.”
“……Hah.”
Considering they started with forty, it was safe to say almost everyone was dead.
Barely holding onto his dizzying mind, Yu Han-seong continued to ask.
“Who are they?”
“It's Lee Si-eun’s party. They’re the only ones who survived.”
“Lee Si-eun? Ah, that…”
He remembered the name.
She had been the last to join, and her appearance was not easy to forget.
Yu Han-seong said, briefly recalling Lee Shin's appearance.
“Call them over for now.”
“Yes.”
He needed to talk to them first.
* * *
Lee Shin’s party arrived about ten minutes later.
They could have arrived sooner, but Lee Shin had deliberately killed time nearby to avoid any potential suspicion.
Yu Han-seong asked.
“What happened?”
“Well…”
At this, Lee Shin began to recite the explanation he had prepared in advance.
He said that the enemy’s standby forces were more numerous and stronger than expected, and they were overwhelmed in an instant.
Yu Han-seong reacted with disbelief.
“That can’t be…? When we investigated not long ago, it definitely wasn't like this…”
“The situation could have changed since then.”
“Pardon?”
“The lord died recently, didn't he?”
“Ah…!”
At Lee Shin’s explanation, Yu Han-seong nodded his head emphatically.
Now that he mentioned it, that was true.
The lord had been assassinated within his own territory; it wouldn’t be strange at all for security across the entire estate to be heightened.
‘Dammit, should I have looked into it more?’
Yu Han-seong was filled with belated regret.
Of course, even if he had, nothing would have changed.
In any case, having identified a plausible cause, Yu Han-seong sighed and spoke.
“…Hah. I understand for now. It’s a relief that at least you all survived.”
“I know, right?”
“Let’s figure out a plan for what to do now.”
Yu Han-seong spoke in a deliberately cheerful voice to lighten the mood.
However, Lee Shin immediately threw cold water on his efforts.
“A plan?”
“Yes. You too, Ms. Si-eun.”
“Why would I do that.”
“Huh? I mean, what?”
“Why would I do that? If you’re going to do it, do it yourself.”
“!?”
At Lee Shin’s utterly sudden words, Yu Han-seong turned his head with a look that said, ‘What did I just hear?’
He then stammered.
“What do you mean by that…”
“Hmm. To be blunt, we’re planning to back out now.”
“What!?!”
“If you don’t like it, let’s renegotiate the quest reward. Let me be clear, there’s no way we’re doing this for what we’re getting now.”
Lee Shin’s declaration of ‘I’m done!’
With time being of the essence, Yu Han-seong’s face flushed with agitation as his counterpart played hardball.
“What are you talking about! You can’t just suddenly do this!”
Lee Shin retorted nonchalantly.
“Have you not grasped the situation yet? Hmm, I don’t think you have anyone else to help you right now…”
“…You…!”
“If you don’t meet our conditions, we’re just leaving. We’ll just pay the damn penalty fee. It’s obvious who stands to lose more here, anyway.”
“No, please…! Stop joking around, I have enough of a headache as it is!”
“I’m not joking. And…”
Lee Shin paused for a moment, then looked directly at Yu Han-seong and spoke.
“Isn’t this a scam in the first place?”
“A scam?”
“It is. It’s much more difficult than you initially explained. Didn’t you say that ‘as long as you follow instructions, you can succeed without a problem’?”
“……!”
“But the result is completely different from what you said.”
What Lee Shin said was undeniably true.
When recruiting for the quest, Yu Han-seong had explicitly told participants that ‘it’s dangerous, but as long as you follow along, there won’t be any problems.’
In fact, quite a few users who had been hesitant to participate decided to join after hearing those words.
“……”
“If we knew it was this kind of lie, we wouldn’t have accepted this quest in the first place. We would have just gone to a decent hunting ground to grind.”
Watching Yu Han-seong clam up, Lee Shin drove the point home.
By this time, Lee Shin’s tone had turned incredibly cold.
…Of course, the root cause of this entire mess was Lee Shin himself.
If it hadn't been for him, Yu Han-seong's plan would have mostly worked, and the rescue would have likely succeeded without a hitch.
But Lee Shin’s intervention had turned everything to dust.
If this fact were to be revealed, Lee Shin could find himself in a very difficult situation, but the only ones who knew the full story were Lee Shin and his party.
And the only ones who survived were Lee Shin and his party.
Lee Shin targeted that point intensively.
“Twenty-five people are dead. Out of forty.”
“……”
“We didn’t even disobey orders. No matter how difficult the quest, this has crossed a line. Don’t you think? Is this still not a scam? Is it?”
“Th-that’s…”
“Why are you, the ones who made an amateurish miscalculation, ordering around the people who got caught up in it? Huh?”
“……”
Thanks to this, Yu Han-seong was at a loss for a response.
He had been momentarily agitated because things had gone so wrong, but thinking about it calmly, he could see that he had just severely misjudged the situation.
‘Ugh…’
Yu Han-seong was filled with deep regret.
This disaster was the result of trying to solve things on the cheap.
‘…I screwed up.’
To do it properly, he shouldn’t have recruited people through the bulletin board, but rather spent the money to hire ranker-level players.
Of course, it was a regret that came far too late.
Lee Shin asked.
“Aren’t you going to answer?”
“……”
“No, wait, should I just post it on the forums? If we post this, do you think you can handle the fallout? Title: ‘Exposing the Five Star Guild’s Fraudulent Activities.’ That should be about right…”
“…Gasp!”
Shaking his opponent by grabbing their weakness, Lee Shin pressed hard!
The last part, in particular, was like poison to Yu Han-seong.
He had been putting great effort into managing the guild’s image lately to secure a broadcasting contract with another major network.
In the end, he couldn’t hold out for long and had no choice but to back down.
“…I-I’m sorry.”
“Are you really sorry?”
“Yes.”
“Really? Your voice doesn’t sound like it…”
“I’m really! Really! Sorry!!!”
“What are you sorry for?”
‘…Argh, come on!’
As Lee Shin refused to let it go, Yu Han-seong clenched his fists.
Such a grating way of speaking!
But it was clear who held all the cards, so rather than show his displeasure, Yu Han-seong bowed his head even lower.
“We…! seem to have miscalculated…!”
“……Hmm.”
Instead of immediately accepting the apology, Lee Shin placed his hands on his hips.
Then, as if to make sure his opponent heard, he let out a sigh that seemed to rise from the very depths of his lungs.
“Hahh…… Tsk!”
A deep sigh as if the ground would collapse, immediately followed by the clicking of his tongue.
The hidden meaning was simple.
—Hurry and bow your head lower, and show me the back of your head!
Of course, Lee Shin didn't say it directly, but judging by the way Yu Han-seong’s shoulders flinched with each sigh and click of the tongue, the message was delivered loud and clear.
“Tsk.”
“!”
“Hahh…”
“……”
By this point, Yu Han-seong’s head was not just bowed, but practically groveling.
He felt guilty for unintentionally leading them into a death trap, but there was another reason as well.
Thinking about it rationally, he realized he truly had no one else to rely on but Lee Shin.
‘If this user leaves too, it’s really over…!’
It was already too late to recruit new members.
Since they had already invaded once, they had to see it through to the end now.
Ultimately, all he could do was apologize and beg for help.
Yu Han-seong, who had never bowed his head to anyone, knew that the more desperate person had to be the one to dig the well.
“I’m begging you!”
Yu Han-seong bowed his head and squeezed his eyes shut.
Fortunately for him, Lee Shin gave a positive response.
“Tsk. Well, what can you do.”
“Gasp! Does that mean…?”
“I’ll do it.”
“Thank you so much!”
In truth, it was simply that Lee Shin, having judged he’d applied enough pressure, decided to stop.
The conversation had already shifted to a situation where Lee Shin could lead it in the atmosphere he desired.
From a position of complete authority, Lee Shin spoke again.
“In exchange for participating, we’d like to add one condition.”
“A condition…?”
“I don’t want to just take a loss. We’re risking our lives here, you know. You know how big the death penalty is at this level.”
“…That’s true. Understood. If it’s something we can grant, that’s fine.”
“Really?”
Lee Shin’s face lit up.
His demand was simple.
“If we succeed in the rescue, that equipment. Give it to us.”
“The equipment?”
“You know, the stuff you were going to sell and split.”
“What are you talking abou— Ah!”
Realizing what Lee Shin was referring to, Yu Han-seong’s voice grew quiet.
“That’s a bit… Could we offer something else?”
“If you don’t like it, we won’t do it.”
“What!?”
“Think about it carefully. Don’t you think we need a reward of this level to feel motivated? The odds are already heavily stacked towards failure…”
“……”
He had a point.
He had a point, but…
‘…But why am I so pissed off?’