The Secret Report from the Shadows
The question was asked by a fan after Korea suffered a crushing defeat to China in a soccer match back in my previous life.
“Why can’t China pick eleven players who are actually good at soccer from fourteen hundred million people?”
The self-deprecating sigh was impossible to ignore.
What stuck with me, though, was not the question itself but the Chinese fans’ responses.
“It’s because China’s Messi and Ronaldo are still digging in the fields.”
“What does population size matter? We just lack a system that lets individual talent shine.”
“We only have money to spare for soccer.”
At the time I had been wearing the Korean hat, so the jokes had been easy to laugh off.
But now I understood how true those words really were.
Everyone in this world carries a natural talent.
Yet almost every nation in the game world handed out positions based on birth status.
A person born with a legendary talent in magic or swordsmanship would still find it nearly impossible to rise above the system.
“How many people must have gone down the wrong path because of this…”
Even in the Lawrence Kingdom, ninety-nine percent of the population remained commoners.
The wall between nobles and commoners was as unyielding as the one between Earth medieval serfs and kings.
No matter how comfortable life might be on the other side, commoners could only choose their future within limited bounds.
Unless someone developed my Mankyung, the system would never change.
So the Chinese reactions I had just heard were not wrong in the slightest.
Looking at the talents I had already excavated through the Mankyung, I could not stop laughing.
“Sir Allen Lopez, the noble knight mocked by his own family.”
“Barbara Anderson, a field hand who once worked as a laborer.”
“Eric Jones, the trumpeter who plays the trumpet instead of an instrument simply because he is not good at it.”
“Nick Brown, the cheeky boy who once sold adult magazines at the camp.”
“Linda Noah, the maid who accompanied the neighboring unit.”
Each one of them was a perfect example of talent wasted.
All of them possessed at least one supreme-level talent, yet they had chosen the wrong path and lived lives that meant nothing.
“Can I really become a mage? My aura test came back blank.”
“The equipment must have been faulty that day.”
“But…”
Linda Noah, who carried the supreme talent for magic, was the first to speak. She glanced at me nervously and asked quietly.
I had paid four hundred million to the family for her recruitment, given her an immediate one million as contract money, and promised her a high salary.
As a commoner she had no choice but to accept, yet she clearly did not understand why I had done it.
The same confusion was written on every face around the table.
“Time will tell.”
I answered her question deliberately vaguely.
I had brought them here, but trust between us had not been built yet.
I could not reveal my full hand.
“No need to worry. Just follow your lord’s orders to the best of your ability.”
At that moment Barbara Anderson, the only laborer among us, spoke up in her thick voice and scolded Linda.
A bear-like man loomed over her and she flinched, but then she scratched her cheek and nodded as if the words made sense.
Barbara and Nick Brown, the only minors in the group, were both blessed with exceptional sword talent.
Unlike Linda, who had passed the aura test before, they had come from a village too poor to even attempt the test.
Without my offer they would have spent their lives digging fields.
That gratitude showed on their faces as they showed perfect loyalty.
Of course I was not the type to trust surface loyalty.
I simply thought of them as people who would be easy to manage.
“Have you finished?”
Note that we were not at the barracks but in the royal lands, one hundred kilometers away.
I had teleported away from the unit and then teleported again.
Following us would be impossible.
“Wait a moment.”
I guided them into a luxury clothing store.
The reason I had brought them here was simple: as my people, I wanted to dress them properly.
Except for the noble knight Lopez, none of them had ever enjoyed the luxury of fine clothes.
“I’ll take this set.”
Only Eric Jones, the trumpeter, picked things out without a second glance.
No price hesitation.
I watched him and nodded.
“Well done. You’ll all look perfect.”
“It would be a disgrace to the lord if I chose poorly.”
His shamelessness was exactly the kind of talent I had expected from someone carrying a rare skill.
He had no talent for swords or magic.
But he possessed supreme political skill, high administrative skill, and even eloquence.
In a way, it might be more valuable than magic or steel.
I found him the most intriguing.
“Everyone, forget about price and put on clothes that suit you.”
The hardest part of any beginning.
Once Eric finished shopping, the others followed with help from the clerks and chose outfits they liked.
“I prefer the military uniform over regular clothes.”
Lopez chose armor similar to a knight’s.
“Now you’re not a soldier anymore.”
Talent without training was useless.
From now on they would receive specialized education in a place built just for them.
And they were already changing their appearance to fit the new environment.
In addition to clothes, I had equipped them with the latest Earth-style smart bracelets.
After that we arrived at a luxury residential district.
“Here?”
“Yes, you will live here.”
A vast courtyard with a fountain and thirty-two rooms.
Even ordinary commoners would have dreamed of such a mansion.
I opened my mouth wide and spoke to the stunned group.
“Housekeepers and servants are already employed. From now on, you only need to focus on your studies.”
I manipulated my terminal and transferred twenty million roots online to each of their devices.
“Besides the contract fee, I will pay your salary in advance.”
Monthly salary twenty million roots, annual two hundred forty million.
The terms were the same no matter what their former status had been.
To win their hearts I needed more than money, but money was the simplest way.
Monetary rewards would not only raise their spirits but also prove my own strength.
I never regretted spending.
“I will do my best so you can live up to my expectations.”
Lopez, the leader of the group, performed a knightly salute.
I nodded.
“Once I prove that my hunch was correct, the rewards will only grow.”
Except for the knight Lopez, the rest of them had won the lottery.
I looked at the excited faces and smiled gently.
“Even if you work hard and see slow results, I understand.”
But unlike the warm smile, the next words carried a chill.
“But do not let laziness cause you disappointment. And do not speak out of turn to make my position difficult.”
Break those rules and they would not survive.
The five of them swallowed hard and answered seriously.
“Yes!”
Satisfied, I continued.
“Should anyone try to bribe or encourage betrayal, do not hesitate. Tell me immediately. I will pay double the amount they offer. Then you can get the money and the honor of loyalty.”
Of course, if anyone tried something foolish and got caught, that was their problem.
“Bribe…? Does that mean family could become hostages?”
“There is no such possibility.”
The only enemies I truly feared right now were Cedric and Anna.
Even if they were stupid, they would not touch the people of another lord’s territory.
“Still, if it ever happens, tell me at once. The hostage-takers will not care about commoners anyway. I can hire high-grade mercenaries and rescue your families.”
The mansion would soon be filled with the people I had brought.
My job was to create an environment where they could bloom with their talents.
Money was wasted, but this was investment.
Investment in high-quality human resources.
* * *
I did not return directly to the barracks.
I needed a safe house before facing Anna and Cedric.
A kind of safety net.
But before that…
“Gak!”
There was a rat to deal with.
“Hello?”
I walked into the deserted alley without fear and saw the knight choking on his own collar. I waved.
“G-General? What is this?”
“How did you find this place? I thought we had shaken you off.”
I grabbed the dagger at his waist and asked.
He was a regular knight of Aura-user rank named Bertrand, the one who had reported my situation to Cedric.
At first I had planned to ignore him, but the moment I checked his status with the Mankyung, interest sparked. I decided to suppress him.
“Huh? What are you talking about?”
“I already know that you are the rat Cedric planted. Do you want to die, or answer my question?”
I nodded toward Arsia.
She fluttered the hem of her white dress and, despite her small frame, used strength that did not match her body to slam the large knight to the ground.
“Gak!”
Bertrand gasped for air at the shock beyond imagination and tried to gather his aura to escape.
But as an Aura-user he could not break free from Arsia, who had already reached Aura-expert level.
He saw the invisible aura flickering across her entire body like mist.
His eyes widened in disbelief.
That was the unique phenomenon that appeared when an Aura-expert strengthened their body.
“My god…”
The moment he realized Arsia’s realm, he thought she might kill him.
[System: Relationship — Neutral / Hostile Faction]
[System: Status — Fear, Confusion, Acceptance]
Her identity could become a trigger to threaten my safety.
Cedric wanted me dead.
Yet if the truth that Arsia was not just a lover but a hidden guard knight became known, suspicion would only grow.
The situation would turn worst-case.
Removing witnesses was the logical step.
“I managed to confirm through my acquaintance at the teleportation management office.”
In the end he spat out the truth to save himself.
“I see.”
According to the Mankyung, he was telling the truth right now.
I tapped his cheek with the stolen dagger and his face grew even paler.
Terrified, I mixed lies with the Mankyung information.
“I knew you were reporting on me to Cedric. But there was something strange.”
“Huh?”
“Even though you followed Cedric’s orders, I got the feeling you were not hostile to me and that you were collecting information only under duress.”
He was not lying when he spoke.
He had clearly assessed his own position.
Bertrand looked as if he had seen a ghost.
His eyes drifted to Arsia for a moment, he let out a small groan, and swallowed.
“You had already prepared a response to Sir Cedric, didn’t you?”
From his perspective that was the only logical conclusion.
He possessed information-gathering ability and even had a high-ranking knight who had hidden his aura perfectly.
Without his own power base, that was impossible.
Therefore, from his point of view, I was far more terrifying than Cedric.
Cedric had started with everything; I had survived with nothing but intense surveillance.
I smiled.
“What exactly…”
“Enough.”
I watched his face pale in horror with genuine pleasure, then pressed the dagger between his brows.
“You don’t want to die, do you?”
“Y-yes.”
“Then we can make a good deal.”
“…?”
“I won’t ask you to do anything difficult. Just report the same thing every day. Today and every day, say there were no special movements beyond playing games. You’re a shameless gamer.”
He answered immediately when the dagger dug in.
“Understood!”