The Family You Chose
On the drive back to Seoul, Yoon Sang-hyuk broke the silence first.
"Hyung. Why did you do that?"
"Do what?"
"We’d been living like strangers anyway. But the way you acted today made it look like you had a lot bottled up. Was there something I didn’t know?"
Yoon Sang-hyuk kept his eyes on the road and said nothing.
From Yoon Sang-min’s point of view, it was a fair question. After their parents died, there had been almost no contact with that side of the family, so there shouldn’t have been any bad feelings piled up over the years. Maybe it was because they had never been able to give their parents a proper resting place, but even that explanation felt thin when measured against how far Yoon Sang-hyuk had gone today.
"Tell me. I’m not a kid anymore."
"You really want to hear it?"
"I don’t want to hate them for no reason."
"Hmm."
Then Yoon Sang-hyuk told him about something that had happened a very long time ago.
"After our parents died, it was just the two of us. Father and Mother were both only children, so we didn’t have any close relatives."
In fact, even his mother had no cousins.
"Back then, I honestly thought those people we’d just met were our family. It didn’t matter much to me, but I figured a kid like you needed family. So every holiday, I called them. I told them they didn’t have to do anything for us, just let you and me come spend the holiday with them. And that guy from before, the one with the surname Dang, told me this: since all the close relatives would be gathering, it might be awkward, so we should avoid coming if possible."
"...So we weren’t even considered close relatives."
"I called again anyway. It was a holiday, and everyone else was with their families. Thinking about you sitting alone at home hurt. But they never agreed to my request. Do you remember the old lady who lived across from us?"
"Of course I do. She used to come by every holiday and bring us holiday food."
At Yoon Sang-min’s answer, Yoon Sang-hyuk nodded.
"Those people were worth less than a neighbor who lived right next door."
"But didn’t you give them way too much money? That land wasn’t even worth five hundred million won, was it?"
"The market price was around five hundred million."
"Then why pay so much?"
"Why not? A hundred billion is cheap if it lets me erase a filthy old memory. It’s not like we’d be starving if we didn’t have that kind of money."
Yoon Sang-min laughed in disbelief.
"Haha. That’s exactly why you’re the Masked Lord. Right. What is a hundred billion to the Masked Lord? But why do you want the land around it too?"
"Because I feel like it."
He had already told the realtor, Park Gwang-cheol, that he wanted to buy the land around the family graves. He had said it was fine to pay a little over market price as long as they acquired as much as possible.
"That’s where Mother and Father are sleeping. I’m going to fence off the whole area so nobody can get in. Mother said she wanted to live in a house with a garden, so I’ll make one. I’ll build a place where we can rest when we come by too. Sounds good, doesn’t it? What’s money for if you don’t spend it? This is the kind of thing you splash out on."
"Okay. If we buy the land, I’ll pay for the garden and the building."
"Oh? So you’ve made some money, have you?"
Yoon Sang-min had earned a considerable amount working with the Masked Mercenary Group. One expedition alone brought in settlement payments worth nearly several billion won, so if nothing else, his account probably held several hundred billion won.
"Hyung. Want to go on a spending spree while we’re at it?"
"A spending spree?"
"Yeah. What’s the point of only earning money? Money’s only valuable when you spend it. Since we’re going to spend it, let’s really go all out."
"How?"
Yoon Sang-hyuk asked, sounding interested.
"Let’s buy up all the land around the Masked Castle. There’s a mountain behind the castle, right? We can build an amusement park there, and a massive public park too. We can buy enough land to cover about an entire district. We’ll even change the district name. Seoul Special City, Masked District, Lord-dong."
"You idiot."
"Heh heh heh. Wasn’t the craziest person in Eternal World you, hyung? If we buy the land, make me district mayor. You’re the Masked Lord, and I’ll be the Masked District Mayor. Hahaha."
* * *
Sitting in a chair and staring out the window, Yoon Sang-hyuk sank into thought. He was mulling over the things he and Yoon Sang-min had joked about on the drive back to Seoul.
"Not bad."
The place where the Masked Castle now stood had once been the site of the National Museum of Korea. Between there and the Han River were apartments and schools. But there wasn’t a single person living there now. After the National Museum of Korea had been transformed into the unassailable Masked Castle, everyone had fled and moved somewhere else as if they’d run for their lives. If he bought up all that land, it might not be the size of an entire district, but it would certainly be large enough to cover several neighborhoods.
The place he was looking at now through the window was exactly that area. The Han River shimmered in the distance.
The Masked Castle would keep growing. And there was no way to house all of them inside it forever.
"Really, not bad."
Yoon Sang-hyuk murmured to himself.
* * *
In a cafe in Cheongdam-dong, Yoon Sang-hyuk sat across from a woman. She was wearing ordinary clothes and not his mask, and the woman he had come to meet was none other than the Dark Merchant Guild master, Jey.
"Is it a privilege to sit face-to-face with the Lord and drink coffee? Or a shackle?"
"Think whatever you want."
Everyone who passed through the cafe kept sneaking glances at Jey. Objectively speaking, she was an exceptionally beautiful woman. A beautiful white woman in a dress that left her figure fully on display naturally drew every eye in the room.
"About the thing you asked me to look into, Lord. There was a bit of a problem."
"A problem?"
"Yes. One company bought up all the land around the Masked Castle."
"Which one?"
"Yuseong Group."
"Hm."
Yuseong Group.
It was the number one conglomerate in South Korea. Beyond Korea, it was also one of the ten largest business groups in the world, with its hands in nearly every industry imaginable.
There was a joke that even if a child didn’t know the president’s name, they’d know the chairman of Yuseong Group.
"When the Masked Castle appeared, property values around it crashed. That was only natural, since the castle was unassailable."
Who would want to live next to dangerous land that players couldn’t clear, where monsters could spill out at any moment?
"Yuseong Group poured in huge amounts of capital when house and land prices hit bottom, then bought everything up. Looking at the results alone, their investment was a huge success."
"Makes sense."
"But why do you want the land, anyway? Planning to build a kingdom or something?"
"Is there even such a thing as a kingdom that small?"
"Does the size of the land matter? What matters is who’s living on it. Anyway, if you want to buy it, you’ll have to deal with Yuseong Group. Oh, and the mountain behind the Masked Castle is still state-owned land. If you want that too, you’ll have to deal with the government."
Yoon Sang-hyuk nodded as if he understood.
"Yuseong Group, huh."
There was no direct connection. If he wanted to meet them, he could, but it was a little awkward to reach out first.
"Balhae Guild’s Choi Seok-hyun has ties to Yuseong Group."
Jey spoke up, as though she had guessed what he was thinking.
"Choi Seok-hyun?"
"Yes. The company that used to support Balhae Guild after it returned to reality was Yuseong Group. Of course, they’ve cut ties with them now. Still, they probably keep in contact to some extent. Oh, right. I heard you’re putting the Black Knight up for public auction. If I had to guess, Yuseong Group will try to lobby Choi Seok-hyun."
If Choi Seok-hyun could serve as a bridge, contacting Yuseong Group would be natural enough. And he already had a good card to play in negotiations with them.
A satisfied smile curved Yoon Sang-hyuk’s mouth.
"Have a drink with me today."
"A drink? Where’s that coming from all of a sudden?"
"Just have one with me. Do you know how lonely I’ve been in Korea lately, unable to go back to the United States?"
Lately, Jey had practically been living in the Dark Merchant Guild branch inside the Masked Castle.
"Do you have something you want to say?"
"Nothing like that. I just want to take a day off and not think about anything for once. And you need a break too, Lord."
"You can drop the Lord and use my name. There are plenty of people around."
Jey smiled brightly.
"Should I? Sang-hyuk."
Yoon Sang-hyuk gave a short laugh.
"How’s the Dark Merchant Guild these days?"
"It always runs well. We’re right next to the mill where the biggest share of the windfalls gets dropped, after all. Oh, are you still planning to leave the Steel Mountains open only to the Absolute Guild and the Dragon Slayer Guild?"
"Why? Is someone nudging you from the side?"
"I can’t say no to that. People keep pestering me from every direction, and it’s driving me crazy. So hurry up and sort out the traffic."
"I was planning to open it to three more guilds, actually."
"Which ones?"
Jey asked with interest.
"Sashin, Red Magic Tower, and the Nine Dragons Association."
"Hmm. I can understand Sashin Guild, but the other two are a little unexpected. As far as I know, you and Luo Shaoyi don’t exactly get along."
"So even the great Dark Merchant Guild master has things she doesn’t know."
"I’m a very fragile woman."
Yoon Sang-hyuk took a sip of his coffee, which had gone cold.
Unlike what Jey believed, his relationship with Luo Shaoyi, the master of the Nine Dragons Association, was not particularly good, but it wasn’t terrible either.
He had helped Luo Shaoyi become the ruler of Choinjeon, the body that managed Chinese players, because he could not stand by and watch the Chinese government sacrifice low-level players to clear dungeons.
Before meeting Jey, Yoon Sang-hyuk had contacted Anton Pavlov, the Russian Sashin Guild master; Luo Shaoyi, the master of the Nine Dragons Association; and Christina Robianco, the Crimson Witch and master of Italy’s representative guild, Red Magic Tower, telling them to visit the Masked Castle.
Anton Pavlov, who had recently become the new master of Sashin Guild, could be counted as one of Yoon Sang-hyuk’s people, and Luo Shaoyi also looked favorably on him after becoming the owner of Choinjeon.
As for Christina Robianco, the Crimson Witch, Yoon Sang-hyuk had personal business to discuss with her.
"Are you planning to enjoy watching me look curious?"
"I’m not the type to get pleasure out of that."
"Nine Dragons Association, Red Magic Tower, and the Masked Lord... I can’t even begin to guess how those are connected. You really won’t tell me?"
"You already know there are some things it’s better not to know if you want to live long."
Jey pouted.
"Fine. But you have to buy the drinks."
"Me? Weren’t you the one raking money in with a broom?"
"If I’m raking it in with a broom, are you shoveling it up with a backhoe, Sang-hyuk?"
"Heh. Sure, let’s go with that. What do you want for the side dishes?"
After a moment’s thought, Jey snapped her fingers as if she’d just remembered something.
"Spicy chicken feet?"
"You can eat that?"
"Ho ho, a friend of mine tried it when she visited Korea on vacation. She said it was incredibly good and told me I absolutely had to try it when I came here."
Spicy chicken feet were one of Korea’s beloved drinking dishes, but they were definitely divisive. Especially for people who couldn’t handle spicy food, they were practically poison.
Given that most Westerners had little tolerance for heat, the friend who had recommended spicy chicken feet to Jey must have been...
"You’re not very close with that friend, are you?"