Chapter 155: Prospects of the Seven Great Guilds (2)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 155: Prospects of the Seven Great Guilds (2)
"I'm glad at least one of you has a rational mind."
Yoshio spoke slowly.
But.
"Huh?"
Jinhyuk tilted his head, looking confused.
"I'm thanking you for stopping that woman. If she had gone any further, we wouldn't have just stood by and taken it."
Ah!
So that's what he meant.
"It seems you've misunderstood something..."
Jinhyuk smiled brightly.
And then.
[Lv10 'Glacial Shaping' has been activated!]
Crackle...
An ice hammer materialized in his hand.
Jinhyuk gripped the ice hammer tightly and slammed it straight down.
Crack!
The sound of bones snapping echoed from Tsutomu's back.
"Agh!"
A painful scream erupted, but Jinhyuk didn't stop.
He hammered down without a shred of mercy, a display so brutal it could be deemed cruel.
"Don't move. I might hit a bone."
Bam!
"Aaaargh!"
"Tsk, tsk. I told you not to move."
Thud!
"Urgh!"
"Ah, sorry. My bad on that one. That must've hurt."
Whack!
"Gyaaaah!"
Tsutomu, whose entire body had turned purple, writhed his massive frame continuously.
Only after Tsutomu was beaten into the shape of a limp rice cake did Jinhyuk's tenderizing finally end.
Whew.
Since his surface area is so large, it's really not easy to beat him evenly.
"...You bastard."
Yoshio's voice sank.
The space around his waist shimmered, revealing the hilt of a katana.
But Jinhyuk didn't even bat an eye at Yoshio's implicit threat.
"I didn't stop her to save your subordinate."
It wasn't out of sympathy, thinking Alice's punishment for a slip of the tongue was too harsh.
And it certainly wasn't because he feared Yoshio or the Samurai Guild.
It was simply that...
"It's only satisfying when I'm the one beating up the bastard who ran his mouth at me."
Letting someone else handle a guy who deserved a beating completely ruined the satisfaction.
Returning favors, seeking revenge—it was only right to do it all yourself.
Those who heard Jinhyuk's reasoning reacted in different ways.
Right. This guy... was always a devil.
Alice understood immediately.
On the other hand, Yoshio's face hardened even further.
"We are currently allied with the China Guild. Are you really going to act like this despite that?"
The top guild in China, led by Namgung Cheon.
Not only did they boast an immense number of players, but the strength of their high rankers was also beyond imagination.
Especially recently, their rate of growth was rumored to be absurdly rapid.
Of course, the Samurai Guild, widely regarded as the best in the world when it came to swordsmanship, was also a massive force that couldn't be ignored.
Yet, he was baring his fangs at both of these giant factions?
It was practically a death wish.
"An alliance between the China Guild and the Samurai Guild, huh..."
"That right. Are you finally realizing you made a mistake?"
"Well, I don't think I'm the one who made a mistake..."
Jinhyuk slowly took off his mask.
As the white mask vanished, his bare face was revealed.
"Kang... Jinhyuk!"
Yoshio gasped sharply.
His pupils dilated in shock.
Of all people, he had run into the one player he wanted to avoid the most.
I heard he only hangs around people like Yu Yeon-hwa, Lee Tae-min, Teresa, and that Sword Saint guy...
There had been no information about a white-haired girl.
Because of that, Yoshio hadn't even considered that his opponent might be Jinhyuk.
Damn it...
He had drawn the absolute worst card possible.
He had to back down here.
Fighting a guy like that was not part of the plan.
At least... he had no choice but to endure it until they entered the ballroom.
Once inside, there would be an opportunity to repay this humiliation.
After all, they had prepared everything specifically for this event.
Let's see if you can still laugh later.
The humiliation suffered in front of the reporters—he would make sure to return it a thousandfold.
Yoshio gritted his teeth and took a step back.
"M-My goodness..."
"It's Kang Jinhyuk. Kang Jinhyuk of South Korea!"
"I knew it, he received an invitation too."
"More importantly, did you see that? Yoshio backed down without uttering a single peep?"
"No matter how big the guild is, they're no match for Player Kang Jinhyuk. You can tell just by watching the videos uploaded so far. He's an absolute monster."
"True, what kind of crazy bastard would pick a fight with him one-on-one?"
"Yeah... You'd have to be genuinely insane to fight him."
The overwhelming majesty shown by the white-haired girl, and Jinhyuk's appearance.
As these two events collided, cheers erupted among the reporters.
Because they had put on such an overwhelming spectacle, the aftermath was larger than anyone could have imagined.
Click-click-click-click-click!
Once again, camera shutters flashed blindingly.
Having secured material that would soon dominate real-time search rankings and headlines, their hands naturally grew busy.
Before entering the ballroom, Jinhyuk spoke one last time.
"I don't care who you've teamed up with. And I have no interest in you guys running around playing neighborhood bosses."
Honestly, as long as they played among themselves in their own backyard, he couldn't care less.
"But do not get in my way."
The way they had looked down on people just moments ago.
The mindset that sneered, believing they were on an entirely different level from weaklings.
He understood it.
Because that was exactly how he felt looking at them.
"After all, no matter how hard you try, you're destined to fail at climbing the Tower anyway."
That was all he had to say.
Leaving behind a furious Yoshio and an unconscious Tsutomu, Jinhyuk stepped inside the ballroom.
* * *
[You have entered the event area.]
With a brilliant flash of light, his surroundings completely transformed.
Oh.
Jinhyuk let out a soft exclamation of admiration.
The interior was massive, reminiscent of a grand palace.
The chandeliers and lavish decorations, straight out of a movie, exceeded his expectations.
"Not bad. For a place on a mere first floor, it's decent enough to live in. It is fitting enough for a noble being like myself to grace with my presence for a short while."
Alice's eyes widened like a rabbit's, seemingly quite surprised as well.
Hmm.
I recall someone being stuck on the 1st floor for quite a long time, though.
And in a corridor at the very corner of the 1st floor, at that.
"Why are you looking at me with such an unpleasant look? Don't tell me you're thinking, 'How can someone who lived in a dark room without a single ray of sunlight have such high standards and judge someone else's place?' Because that is exactly what your eyes are saying!"
"As expected..."
"What's with that tone of admiration?"
"No, I was just thinking that a True Ancestor really is on another level. I didn't expect you to read my mind even though I'm using a 'Mental Barrier' in my own way. Living for thousands of years must have really leveled up your mind-reading skill."
"W-What?!"
Alice's voice shot up by about two octaves.
Another long lecture about the greatness of the Ataraxia Family and herself followed, but Jinhyuk's attention had already drifted elsewhere.
They really went all out preparing for this.
Although the scale had been considerable in the past, it was on an entirely different level now.
Of course, what caught his eye more than the interior decorations were the players wearing all sorts of masks.
Several men and women had already gathered inside the banquet hall.
Even at a glance, they were clearly formidable experts.
It was only natural, considering the most promising talents in the world had been invited.
Let's see...
As he focused his mind, the mana scattered throughout the room began to register one by one.
One, two, three, four...
Even a quick scan revealed well over ten.
A total jackpot.
Among them, the ones who stood out the most were a woman in a black dress with long blonde hair, and a man in a black suit with short blonde hair.
Though their faces were hidden behind butterfly-shaped masks, those twins were actually incredibly famous rankers.
Casey and Judro.
Perverts better known as battle-crazed sadists.
Their combat style, which solely pursued primal, sensory stimulation, made them notorious figures to avoid even within Europe.
...Even prominent slasher movie directors had vomited after watching the videos they uploaded, so one could only imagine how ordinary people felt.
Still, their specialty, the 'Share' ability, was quite tempting.
I'll have to get my hands on their abilities during the masquerade's main event.
It was difficult to approach them right now, but there would be plenty of opportunities to interact with the players during the upcoming main event.
The main event of the masquerade ball.
Indeed.
The reason players had gathered here in the first place wasn't to wear masks and dance.
It was to catch the eyes of the factions in charge of the lower and middle floors of the Tower.
To put it more precisely, they had gathered here to choose which faction they would align with as they climbed the Tower in the future.
And Jinhyuk knew the absolute best answer among all those choices.
* * *
"So... even though you mentioned our name, he ignored it?"
"Yes. He scoffed even when I mentioned the alliance. I warned him, but it was completely useless."
"Hmm..."
Liaoyu, the second-in-command of the China Guild, let out a deep groan.
Until just a moment ago, he had been walking on clouds, basking in the fact that he was attending this ball.
But that floating sensation was shattered to pieces by Yoshio's single sentence.
There was only one reason. Kang Jinhyuk. It was that bastard again.
The festive mood was thoroughly doused in cold water because of that hound-like bastard who bit without rhyme or reason.
Of all times, this had to happen when Lord Namgung Cheon is away.
Only two players from the China Guild had received invitations: Namgung Cheon and Liaoyu.
However, Namgung Cheon was temporarily away to receive a new sword from the Namgung Clan of the Central Plains.
For the honor of the China Guild, we must hold him accountable for this.
They had already suffered a major defeat in the Elf Forest on the 5th floor; they couldn't afford to endure two humiliations in a row.
That would be dragging the entire guild's reputation through the mud.
But...
We can't do it with our strength alone.
It was a conclusion reached because reason prevailed over anger.
Liaoyu calmly assessed the difference in strength between them and their opponent.
If they acted emotionally now, they would only taste the bitterness of defeat once again.
If so, what were they supposed to do?
Just as his worries were deepening...
"You seem to have something on your mind."
Someone spoke to them.
He had a petite stature of barely one meter. Though he was a dwarf with a fragile-looking body, no one could dare look down on him.
And for good reason. This person was the very entity who had invited them here—one of the Tower's low-level administrators.
"Lord... Kaman?"
"Tell me. Who dared to lay a hand on those belonging to my faction?"
Kaman, who was closely associated with the Murim faction, had been working hard to recruit promising players and various guilds into Murim.
As a result, he had succeeded in securing major cards like the China Guild and the Samurai Guild.
Having been allowed to attend this event in recognition of those achievements, he could be considered quite successful for a low-level administrator.
"I-It is fine."
"It is nothing major. There is no need for Lord Kaman to personally step in..."
Liaoyu and Yoshio spoke at the same time.
No matter how high-ranking they were as players, a low-level administrator was an entity on an entirely different plane.
Thus, the two of them couldn't help but find it difficult to even speak to him.
Kaman scanned the surroundings.
Then, Jinhyuk, wearing a white mask, caught his eye.
I see. So that's the bastard who has been getting on your nerves.
"Which faction does he belong to?"
"He doesn't seem to have joined a faction yet. Given his nature, he prefers to move around with only a select few people."
Which meant... he could easily be crushed using the sheer weight of the name 'Murim'.
"Do not worry. I shall personally teach that arrogant human brat a proper lesson."
A sinister smile played on Kaman's lips.