Chapter 32: Black Crow Guild (1)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 32: Black Crow Guild (1)
The long, grueling torture, which had lasted for about three hours, finally came to an end.
In the end...
[...Hic. Hic. I really feel... like I'm going to... die.]
Alice whimpered softly.
Her immense pride had been utterly shattered.
After all, he had subjected her to accelerated 720-degree spins mixed with off-beat counter-rotations...
The inside of the ring must have turned into a hell comparable to an astronaut's G-force training.
Hmm.
'Did I go a bit too far?'
She was, after all, the head of a prestigious family, so maybe he had shaken her soul a little too thoroughly.
However, his pity didn't last long.
Family head or not.
Right now, she was nothing more than a mosquito trapped inside a ring.
"Stop crying and get out here."
Jinhyuk channeled mana into Braham's Ring.
At that moment,
Whirrr!
Alice, who had been trapped inside, popped out.
"Huh?"
A startled Alice gasped.
It was only natural, given that she had suddenly been granted freedom out of nowhere.
"Finally, finally... it's time for my revenge!"
It was time to pay him back for all the humiliation she had suffered.
She intended to return at least a thousand times what she had endured.
But wait.
"Huh?"
...Why was her field of vision so low?
No, it was way too low.
She had to crane her neck all the way back just to catch a glimpse of him.
'Why is this happening?'
Tilting her head in confusion, Alice looked down at her body.
Only then did she realize why her perspective had changed.
Her tall, slender figure was nowhere to be found; she had shrunk to a mere 30 centimeters.
On top of that, her once-mighty mana was completely gone.
Her red pupils trembled violently.
"W-What is this?!"
What else could it be?
"I only materialized a portion of your body while keeping the seal active."
"Only a portion...?"
"Yeah. A very tiny portion."
To be precise, it was more like a mini-version of Alice.
The power she could exert was less than one percent of her original strength.
Of course, even with these restrictions, she was still stronger than an ordinary vampire.
But she was nowhere near strong enough to defeat him.
Meaning, if she tried anything funny, she would get crushed.
"This can't be..."
Alice slumped to the ground.
She looked like she was on the verge of tears.
Considering her dignified first impression, her current state was almost unimaginable.
The corners of Jinhyuk's mouth curled upward.
'It's about time... to offer a carrot.'
Since he had used the whip plenty, even a shriveled carrot would taste sweeter than anything else right now.
Jinhyuk sat down next to Alice.
"Stop crying and listen."
And with that, he began to work his silver tongue.
"...?"
"What I said back in the ruins wasn't just empty talk."
Back in the ruins, Jinhyuk had made a promise.
That he would grant freedom to Alice and the blood clan that followed her.
"I wanted freedom, but not this kind of freedom."
"I know. Who said this was freedom?"
Jinhyuk waved his hand dismissively.
"I'm not talking about mere physical freedom. I'm talking about the freedom you truly desire. I'll help you reclaim that."
"What... do you mean by that?"
Alice's voice trembled slightly.
She had already guessed what he meant, but she wanted confirmation.
And Jinhyuk...
...intended to meet her expectations.
"Alice von Ataraxia. If you help me... I will eliminate those who betrayed you and help you reclaim your lost position as the head of the Ataraxia Family."
* * *
[A new video has been uploaded to the Hall of Fame.]
Along with the notification, a ten-minute video was pinned to the very top of the Tower of Trials community forum.
Considering how grueling the ruins raid had been, the video was incredibly short.
Even then, it was just a highlight reel stitched together from combat scenes.
However, the viewers who watched it had to admit that the length didn't matter at all.
A raid everyone thought had failed.
Yet, defying all expectations, the appearance of a masked player completely turned the tables.
-MochiMochi: Man, I've never had my palms sweat like this while watching something when I already knew the ending.
-BrownSugarLatte: Fr. When he stood in front of the vampires all by himself, I was the one sweating bullets.
The Nobles of the Night, masters of both magic and physical combat, were crushed like bugs.
Scenes completely devoid of any sense of reality unfolded one after another.
-FlatSoda: He went absolutely berserk. I thought I was watching John Wick after his dog got killed and his car got stolen.
-RabbitPrincess: Well, they definitely deserved to die for that.
-Ibakson: Never kill a retired assassin's dog.
-KoreanJoker: But seriously, his movements and combos are way beyond just a veteran's level.
-BBQVampireMild: Yeah. He knows every single counter. Magic, swordsmanship—he's a complete all-rounder.
Praises poured in.
There were really no words to describe it other than awe and admiration.
That was how overwhelmingly the player in the video had crushed the vampires.
It was then.
-Veteran Detector: I knew it! This is the same guy who made it to the Hall of Fame with the mangrove and the +10 weapon!
-BrownSugarLatte: I wondered why I didn't see him in the 3rd-floor raid. He went to the ruins?
-TriviaAddict: Fun fact, they say he's also the one who turned Song Cheon-hwa bald.
-BrownSugarLatte: Lmao, wasn't it a proven scientific fact that bald guys are the strongest in the world?
-TriviaAddict: In this world, he's just an inedible takoyaki. Lol.
-BBQVampireMild: Wow, if even the Saint of Amsterdam acknowledges him, everyone else just needs to bow their heads and accept it.
-FlatSoda: Tavern keeper! Pour me another bowl of national pride!
* * *
While the world's attention was captivated by the video,
Jinhyuk, the man himself, had arrived in front of a high-rise building.
It was the headquarters in Seongbuk-gu purchased by the Black Crow Guild.
"They said guilds were rolling in cash... I guess it's true."
"A 35-story building with a view of the Han River... just how much does this place cost?"
Even by conservative estimates, the asking price would easily jump into the tens of billions of won.
The forest of buildings visible beyond his mask was a completely different world from the studio apartment neighborhood Jinhyuk used to live in.
But why?
Despite the intimidating display of wealth, he didn't feel envious at all.
Because the owner of this building was about to face the absolute worst moment of his life.
—Shin Geon-su! He's the one who ordered it!
He chewed over the words Park Ha-jin had uttered back in the ruins.
Since an insider had confessed, there was no need for any other evidence.
'So you tried to... kill me, huh?'
He could tolerate anything else.
Whether large guilds monopolized the market or engaged in corruption.
But there was one exception: touching him.
[Due to the trait 'Cold Heart', your humanity is withering.]
Perhaps the reason his personality had grown even colder was due to this trait given as a perk.
Jinhyuk channeled mana into his legs.
And kicked the glass door with all his might.
Crash!
With a deafening roar, the tempered glass, over five centimeters thick, shattered into pieces.
"What the? Why did the glass shatter?"
"Did a dump truck crash into it?"
The lobby instantly erupted into chaos.
Jinhyuk slowly drew his dagger.
"I'll say this once, and only once. Bring Shin Geon-su out here and make him kneel right now. Otherwise, there's going to be a mass funeral here today."
Naturally, the people inside spat out curses.
"What the hell did this bastard just mumble?"
"Do you even know which guild owns this place before picking a fight?"
Of course he knew.
"Isn't this the place that sells charcoal-grilled crow?"
A company that stabs people in the back.
A company that doesn't care if bystanders die as long as they achieve their goals.
Thanks to that, a very angry customer had traveled a long way.
Just to see the CEO's face.
"This guy has completely lost his mind."
"Hey, call the entire security team. Let's teach this bastard a proper lesson today."
The men in black suits spat on their palms.
Since he was the one who trespassed first...
...breaking a few of his limbs would easily pass as self-defense.
Clang! Clang!
Men in black suits surrounded Jinhyuk, wielding iron pipes.
Most of them were ordinary people, but there were also Players who knew how to manipulate mana mixed in.
"Ha...! Look at this guy. He's copying that veteran concept from the video, mask and all."
The man with a buzz cut at the very front pointed a finger at Jinhyuk.
He let out a dumbfounded sigh.
"Marvel and all those movies have completely ruined kids these days. Do you know how many idiots ended up in the ER trying to scale walls thinking they're Spider-Man?"
"Forget all that, let's start with a beating. You probably don't have the money to pay for the window anyway, right? It's expensive, so you'll take one hit for every ten thousand won it cost."
The conversation ended there.
An iron pipe swung and struck Jinhyuk squarely in the ribs.
Screeech!
A direct hit.
However, the sound that echoed was not the dull thud of breaking bone.
It was the ear-splitting screech of metal being sliced apart.
At the same time, the iron pipe, cleanly cut in half, clattered to the floor.
"You said one hit for every ten thousand won, right?"
"This dagger can't be bought with money, and now it's got dirty metal shavings on it."
"I'll be generous."
"I'll only hit you once for every hundred thousand won."
With a bright smile, Jinhyuk swung his fist.
"Argh!"
As his fist buried itself into the man's face, the bridge of his nose collapsed completely, spraying crimson blood.
Thud! Crack!
Under the relentless barrage, the man in the black suit flailed like a fish out of water.
"Three hundred thousand. Four hundred thousand. That one must have hurt, so let's call it a million. That's 1.7 million total."
After just four punches, the man collapsed.
It was a brutal beating without a shred of mercy.
"Kwang-hyeok got knocked out in just a few punches?"
"He's not the type to go down easily when it comes to taking hits..."
Only then did the smugness vanish from the faces of the men in black suits.
They realized the situation was far from normal.
"That's why I told you. If you don't want a mass funeral, bring Shin Geon-su out."
"I'm afraid that's not going to happen. Our guild leader isn't free enough to deal with punks like you one by one."
This time, a man who looked to be in his mid-to-late thirties stepped forward.
Unlike the others, his manipulation of mana was natural.
Was this guy the head of the security team?
Jinhyuk sized the man up.
"Hmm... you look like you could take five or six hits."
"What?"
"I'm saying you're a bit sturdier than the others, so you probably won't pass out after just one or two punches."
It was an assessment made after analyzing his muscle density and mana flow.
"You arrogant little bastard..."
The man's face contorted with rage.
As the security team leader of a mid-sized guild, he was always the one looking down on others.
He had never been looked down upon.
He was in a position where he was respected wherever he went.
Thus, this kind of humiliation was a first for him.
"I'll kill you!"
Shring!
He drew the katana sheathed at his waist.
The blade, easily over 1.7 meters long, radiated a sharp, cold aura.
Oh?
This was unexpected.
"Were you dispatched from 'Samurai'?"
Jinhyuk sneered.
One of the world's top seven guilds.
Japan's 'Samurai' guild.
That sword was their signature weapon.
"You know of us?"
"I've heard of you."
"Then you must also realize how foolish your provocation was."
"I don't know... Should an idiot who couldn't even make it into the main raid team and got loaned out to another country really be counted as a member of that guild?"
You're just a rental because you lack the skills, aren't you?
If you don't like it, you should've made it into the main raid team.
"Aaaaargh!"
The man finally snapped.
He closed the distance in an instant with swift footwork.
The sword plunged down toward the crown of Jinhyuk's head.
Clang!
But the blade failed to pierce his flesh.
The sword stopped dead in its tracks, barely a centimeter from his forehead.
Though the man poured all his strength into it, the blade wouldn't budge.
With a toy-like dagger like that...
No, more importantly, he blocked it with one hand?
This made absolutely no sense.
Was he actually a tank despite his appearance?
Or could it be...
His mind spun with endless, chaotic possibilities.
Right then.
"Clench your teeth. You might bite your tongue."
Jinhyuk's voice dropped to a low whisper.