Tangled Threads (4)
The situation was this.
In the former National Assembly Members' Office Building—now repurposed as residential quarters for the people of Jeong Hoon's domain—Jung Yun sensed, with a cold certainty, that she had walked straight into a crisis of her own making.
But... why, exactly...?
The problem was that even Jung Yun herself had no idea why the crisis had come for her.
"That woman—she's using her class to... whisper whisper..."
"No way! For real? Then later, what if she...?"
Survivors from the subway station—people she knew by face, if not by any real friendship—would murmur among themselves whenever she passed. And then there were the others.
"Unnie! Those people are still stuffing their faces in some fancy room again today, laughing it up! Meanwhile we're stuck eating this garbage in a dump like this!"
"Right? Don't you think it's completely unfair? They dump every dirty job on us!"
The people who had escaped with her on the truck came to her every single day to dump their grievances. Honestly, she couldn't relate to a single complaint. The old Assembly building-turned-dormitory was far better equipped than the studio apartment she'd lived in before. More than anything else, it had electricity. That alone made this place a paradise compared to the rest of Korea right now.
Still, they were people she knew, so she made a show of listening and murmuring I see, I see—until something shifted.
Why do I feel like someone's staring daggers into my skin...?
The atmosphere grew stranger by the day. Jung Yun felt only discomfort and tried hard to ignore it, but as time passed the change in her surroundings became too blatant to look away from.
"Um, ma'am... has something been going on lately? Everyone's mood seems really bad..."
"Haa... Miss Jung Yun. Do you really not know?"
In the end, she had no choice but to carefully ask the auntie who handled meal distribution—someone she was reasonably close with. (The woman was a Blacksmith by class, though she preferred not to handle tools.) The best option would have been to ask Han Miseon, with whom she was much closer—but Han Miseon was in an even worse position than she was, so Jung Yun couldn't bring herself to approach her.
After lunch, during the rest period, the meal-duty auntie quietly called Jung Yun behind the cafeteria. She checked their surroundings, then whispered carefully.
"Right now, among the people... among the residents, there's a huge rumor going around that you're going to start a guild on your own and raise a rebellion. How on earth did it come to this, Miss Jung Yun?"
"...Whaaaat!?"
"Shhh!"
Faced with a truth she had not imagined even a speck of, Jung Yun couldn't help raising her voice.
Rebellion? Rebeeeeellion?
What kind of absurd nonsense was this? A rebellion?
Jung Yun had never once in her life even imagined stabbing someone in the back—she was the type who got betrayed, never the one who betrayed. And now this completely baseless slander?
"The rumor that you've founded a guild and are going to break away with the people from the truck has spread everywhere. You should've kept your distance from those truck people a little more. Honestly..."
"Th-that can't be...!"
The word break away made Jung Yun's head spin.
Just because she'd gotten the Lord class. Just because she'd somehow scraped her way to level 10 (which had only been possible by clinging stubbornly to Han Daegeon's side). Just because she'd felt a kinship with her truck companions and listened to their complaints. For those reasons alone, she was being hit with this nightmarish misunderstanding—and it had already spread through the entire resident population!
"Well, I've known you for a long time, so I know you're not that kind of person... but still, you need to ease up on hanging around those truck folks! Really, girl! Keep this up and you're going to be in serious trouble—serious!"
The meal-duty auntie had been one of the cafeteria workers at the university Jung Yun had attended. She had joined Jung Yun's group in the early days of the collapse and had survived with them ever since. That was why she was kind enough to offer Jung Yun this quiet advice.
The problem was that even after hearing it, Jung Yun had no clever way out. For someone already known for being far too easily led around by others, she simply lacked the wisdom to navigate a mess this thorny.
And so, while she was enduring those difficult days, the fateful moment arrived.
"Resident Jung Yun. Present yourself at Lord Jeong Hoon's castle at once. His Lordship wishes to see you immediately."
A butler whose face she couldn't quite make out appeared before her without warning. He was one of the virtual beings who managed Jeong Hoon's domain system and assisted with its operations—a reliable ally to the residents.
And he ordered Jung Yun to report to Jeong Hoon's office. As if he were an undertaker delivering a death sentence.
In an instant the color drained from Jung Yun's face, and her mind went blank.
The people watching seized the moment and began to murmur.
"She's caught. She's finally caught..."
"They say a long tail gets stepped on, and sure enough...!"
"Tsk tsk, what a wicked woman...! After everything we did to keep her warm and fed!"
No matter what they said, Jung Yun was incapable of forming a coherent thought. Her chest held nothing but despair.
"If you understand, follow me. Do not stray from the path. As the one who manages this domain, every activity within it falls under my awareness."
To Jung Yun, it sounded like nothing but: Running is useless. Her heart hammered irregularly, and her field of vision seemed to shrink to a pinpoint.
What do I do, what do I do, what do I do... I'm finished, I'm finished. Completely finished! If I'd known it would come to this I would've watched myself better. I should've stopped eating with those complaining bitches...
Consumed by terror, Jung Yun followed the butler like a dog being led to the slaughterhouse. The moment she arrived at the office, she bowed her head and begged for mercy in the most abject posture of her entire life.
Before whom? Right in front of me.
Honestly, watching a slender black-haired beauty with such excellent curves debase herself in front of me was a little off-putting... and at the same time, a little satisfying.
Ah. I was starting to understand why some people enjoyed the humiliation of a beautiful woman.
Of course, Lawful Good locked my expression down so that not even a speck of that filthy inner thought could show on my face.
Haa... I've been so busy the past few days with quests and developing the domain that I had no idea what the public mood among the residents was turning into.
My mindset as a lord had been creaking from the very start. I needed to reflect. Reflect hard. At this rate, how was I supposed to become the man who ruled all of Seoul?
From this moment on, I would steel myself and move forward properly.
"I shall make the request once more, Miss Jung Yun. Found a guild. And in the form of that guild, become our collective vassals. You may understand it as becoming my sworn retainers."
"V-vassals... you say? L-like what the nobles used to do in the old days...?"
Oh, so she wasn't a complete idiot whose brain had shut down. Jung Yun showed no sign of outright refusal, but hesitation was clearly there.
"B-but... y-you just heard them, didn't you? People... n-no... the residents see me as some kind of traitor plotting a rebellion. Even if I do make a guild... will people really join it willingly?"
"There is no need to worry about that. For—"
I was about to answer in a way that would reassure her, then closed my mouth. Instead, two of the women in the office approached Jung Yun.
Kim Seyeon smiled gently and offered words of comfort.
"Miss Jung Yun? Tonight at roll call, Jeong Hoon will personally announce before everyone that the guild's founding has been authorized, so please don't worry. If the very person who would be the target of a rebellion says so himself, the residents' misunderstanding of you will clear up. Ah, and we'll also draft an official contract that includes the vassal relationship. Once it's documented, people will feel even more at ease."
Yun Mina, looking thoroughly entertained by Jung Yun's abject state, spoke to her in a trembling whisper, her lips quivering with suppressed laughter.
"Unnie Jung Yun? No one else—I'm going to join your guild myself, so you can stop worrying. Make my position vice guild leader, okay? That way people will join without any hesitation at all. You'll give me the vice guild leader title, right? You don't have to if you don't want to... but then I wonder what might happen?"
Yun Mina glanced my way. I read the meaning in her eyes and naturally folded my arms, looking between Jung Yun and Yun Mina.
Jung Yun felt the terror surge again. She bowed her head once more in that same abject posture.
"Eeeek! Y-yes, yes, I'll give it to you! I'll definitely give it to you! Please, just spare my life...!"
"Nooo hehehe... you should be bowing to me lol Jung Yun unnieee heeheehee...!"
The little devil showed absolutely no intention of abandoning her sadistic streak. Since it was useful, I had no plans to stop her either.
May 2nd. Evening.
"Yes, from this moment... we will begin the sixth regular roll call."
With Kim Seyeon's declaration, a brief scatter of applause spread through the gathering.
Nearly forty people sat in chairs arranged on the lawn right beside my castle—me, Jeong Hoon, the lord of the domain—and fixed their eyes on the five people who had taken the platform.
Of course, one of those five was me, and another was Kim Seyeon. And the remaining three...
"Hey... isn't that..."
"Yun unnie...?"
"That woman—wasn't she caught plotting something?"
Whispers reached my ears. Some looked bewildered; others looked unsettled.
Ah. The split was completely obvious. The ones who'd been plotting betrayal versus the ones who'd merely suspected Jung Yun. Whether people were simply that transparent or my eye for these things was just that sharp, I couldn't say.
They're practically holding a ritual to point out the malcontents and ask me to filter them out. How thoughtful of them.
"Yes—total attendance, forty-six. All confirmed. Lord Jeong Hoon has news to announce to all of you today. Please be silent."
At Kim Seyeon's words, the murmuring died away at once.
Hmm. At the very least, I seemed to possess some kind of charisma. The moment I stood at the center of the platform, every gaze locked onto me.
All except one person—Han Daegeon's younger sister—who stared at me with bloodshot eyes full of naked hatred.
"First, I wish to offer my gratitude to every resident who has diligently completed today's labors. Thanks to your efforts, I can feel in my very bones that the domain is developing... and that the cradle for all survivors is taking shape. It brings me peace of mind."
A cradle for all survivors. That was the ultimate purpose my domain proclaimed.
In this horribly ruined world, it was the motto that carried our ambition: to create the one land where human beings could still rest their bodies in comfort.
"As part of building that cradle, I wish to deliver significant news to you all today. Among us, there is one person besides myself who is capable of constructing a domain. She is the woman standing upon this platform even now—Jung Yun. Today I made a formal proposal to her, and for the sake of the domain's future, she accepted it."
I paused for a beat. I could see people's eyes widening. Everyone was on the verge of dropping their jaws in shock.
Well. Of course they were.
"From this moment forward, I hereby proclaim the founding of a guild centered on Jung Yun—Armorum. This guild shall admit only production classes, namely Blacksmiths and Mage-Alchemists. Yun Mina shall serve as vice guild leader, lending her strength to the guild as its sole combat-class member."
Armorum — Latin for "of weapons, of tools."
It was the kind of announcement that didn't just come out of nowhere—it was the kind that smacked you across the back of the head.
"W-what did you say?"
"L-Lord Jeong Hoon... a-ah, I mean... Lord Jeong Hoon? Is that true?"
"So founding a guild was real? N-no... the lord himself just publicly endorsed founding a guild?"
Confusion rippled through the more than forty residents. Everyone was so busy talking among themselves that they forgot I was still standing on the platform giving a speech.
No, no. Discipline had to be maintained. Even if I wasn't running the place with an iron fist, I couldn't just leave people chattering like middle-schoolers in a classroom.
"Silence."
I spoke very quietly—but in a low, thick voice that demanded stillness.
"..."
And that low voice carried to every one of the more than forty residents. It was a miraculous sight.
...Well, the truth was I'd installed a microphone on the platform, so even a quiet voice carried just fine.
"I fully understand the confusion in your hearts. However, I dare proclaim that this is a necessary measure for those who wish to devote themselves entirely to blacksmithing and alchemy. I hereby affirm, in this place, that those of the Blacksmith and Alchemist classes who belong to the guild shall be exempted from other resident duties and may concentrate solely on smithing and alchemy."
At those words, I saw some faces light up with interest. Han Sora must have spotted those people—she darted to Kim Seyeon's side in an instant and whispered something. Kim Seyeon nodded and jotted a note.
Thinking about it now, the fact that our socially awkward Han Sora had picked up on the atmosphere of people ostracizing Jung Yun was probably thanks to that incredible Archer vision of hers. That must have been how she saw it—the people talking behind Jung Yun's back and stirring up unfavorable opinion against her.
On top of that, since they were residents of our domain, their status windows were visible to Sora's eyes. I'd authorized it. Only a simplified version, of course. For example—
Name: Kim Boongboong
Class: Warrior
Gender: Male
Level: 1
—that level of detail. Much briefer than what got shared when you formed a party. Personally, I preferred this kind of simplicity.
"Jeong Hoon... here..."
Kim Seyeon handed me the notebook with what Han Sora had passed along.
"My thanks, Teacher Kim Seyeon. Ahem... In that case, from this moment I shall announce the names of those who will belong to Jung Yun's guild. Kim Seona, Han Jeonghoon, Kim Junsik..."
The people whose names were called were either Blacksmiths or Mages whose subclass had resolved into Alchemist. When their names were read out, they either jumped in surprise or let out resigned sighs.
They didn't dare openly object, but they weren't accepting it as a matter of course either.
"I say again: belonging to the guild will bring you no disadvantage whatsoever within the domain. Jung Yun's guild stands in a vassal relationship with Lord Jeong Hoon. A contract has already been drafted, and copies will be distributed to every person enrolled in the guild. Once you see the benefits written in that contract, I suspect those whose names were not called will be the ones who regret it more."
At that, the expressions of those named improved a little. I continued reading names until I saw one particular name, paused briefly, and looked at that person.
"...Han Miseon."
And I called her name.
"W-what? M-me... wh-why...!?"
Naturally, Han Miseon nearly leapt out of her seat, her face a mask of disbelief.
And I saw it. Several of the truck-origin survivors were staring at Han Miseon with distinctly unkind eyes.
I figured as much. So it was some kind of three-way struggle... or she was the bait.
Feeling a twinge of regret that political conflict could arise even among a mere forty-odd residents, I turned my gaze to one of the people who had been standing on the platform with me.
That person stepped down from the platform and approached Han Miseon. Han Miseon's bewildered expression crumpled like a crushed sheet of paper.
"Ugh! Y-Yun Mina!"
"Why are you screaming my name like you've just seen a villain? Little sister of Daegeon? Ah, I call you that because you get so deliciously pissed off when I use your actual name. How is it?"
"Shut up! Get lost! I don't want anything to do with the likes of you!"
"Wellll, once you hear this, I think even you'll find it tempting."
Yun Mina forced her way closer to Han Miseon, slung an arm around her shoulders, and pulled her in. Han Miseon looked utterly disgusted and tried every which way to shove her off, but—
"Ugh, you...!"
"Oh myyy... is a mere level 6 really trying to shove away someone who's past level 19 and closing in on 20? And you seem to have forgotten—I've always hit the gym a bit, you know? And lately I've been getting plenty of nutrition? Unlike you, who's been half-starved for days. You can't escape this offer. Don't you get it, Miseon?"
"Y-you fucking... piece of shit bitch...!"
But even as she ground her teeth, Han Miseon couldn't refuse the offer. And it wasn't simply because the coercion bordered on a threat.
"If this succeeds... you might even be able to rescue your brother from that monster's hands, you know? And of course, the revenge you yourself want... might quietly become possible too. Isn't that right? If Mina and our Orabeoni Jeong Hoon happen to die at that monster's hands or in some dungeon... well, you know?"
"You crazy bitch...! Using your own life as collateral? You fucking disgusting whore!"
"Wasn't that exactly what you wanted more than anyone, Miseon?"
"...Shit...!"
Watching Han Miseon react so violently and still fail to deny it, I was certain. The scales had tipped decisively.
"Then, if there are no further objections... in this place, I hereby proclaim the founding of Jung Yun's guild—Armorum."
Clap clap clap clap...
Amid the shock and dread, only the sparse applause of a very few people rang out.
And among those left numb and dazed by the shock was Jung Yun herself.