The Hidden Hands Behind the Overflow
Jey had come with several men in tow. They were all faces Yoon Sang-hyuk had seen once or twice before, members of the Dark Merchant Guild.
"You know why I called you, right?"
"Of course. You didn’t summon the Master of the Dark Merchant Guild for nothing, did you? It’s about the overflow, right?"
"So you do know. You’re quick on the uptake. What I need to know is..."
"Ah, why are you being like this? You expect me to spill information to a man who makes his living selling it, and you don’t even offer a price first?"
"Name your price."
Yoon Sang-hyuk was not someone who cared much about money. But it seemed Jey wanted something else entirely.
"Not money. Give me something else."
"You’re talking a lot today. If you want something, just say it."
"Give me land. And a few buildings in the city."
When Yoon Sang-hyuk nodded, Jey broke into a bright smile.
"I know it’s a big request. But the information is worth it. First, the Phoenix Guild master and his senior members went to Japan. They took a steamer in secret and headed for Beppu, the hot spring city in Kyushu. Of course, it was illegal passage. Once they got there, they hid in a ryokan called Kishinmori."
"Kishinmori?"
"Yes. Kishin means ghost in Korean, and mori means forest. Ghost Forest, in other words. Do you know what’s painted on the signboard of that ryokan?"
Yoon Sang-hyuk answered briefly.
"A sword."
"Bingo. Sword, ghost, forest. That makes Geomgwirim."
Japan’s representative guild, Geomgwirim.
"The Kishinmori ryokan is a place Geomgwirim members sometimes go to rest. The one who came to meet them when they slipped into Japan was the owner of a shop in Tokyo that sells player-only goods. It’s the largest player shop in Japan. Naturally, that too belongs to Geomgwirim."
"They hid them within Geomgwirim?"
"Probably."
"Idiots."
When Jey looked toward one of the men who had come with her, he stepped forward.
"Good day. I’m the chief information officer for the Dark Merchant Guild’s European branch. You’re aware, I’m sure, that after Your Lordship established your base here, representatives from famous guilds all over the world entered Korea."
"Get to the point."
"Several people affiliated with the Holy Knights Guild in Britain arrived in Incheon two weeks ago. They moved discreetly, but they could not escape the Dark Merchant Guild’s eyes. They met with the Phoenix Guild master several times. And since last week, they’ve been meeting with people in Seoul."
"Representatives from an online newspaper?"
The man bowed his head as if impressed.
"Correct."
"Geomgwirim and the Holy Knights. Anyone else?"
Another man stepped forward.
"I’m the chief information officer for the Dark Merchant Guild’s African branch."
"If it’s Africa, you mean Egypt?"
Among the top ten guilds on the African continent, the only one that mattered was Egypt’s representative guild, the Tower of the Dead. It was also the guild led by Necro Master Ahmed Hassan.
"Yes, My Lord. Recently, Bernard Carat, the Holy Knights’ vice-grandmaster and Inquisitor, visited Egypt."
"Did Necro Master come to Korea?"
"Officially, his last visit was when the Steel Mountains first appeared. Of course, he returned to Egypt immediately afterward."
"Meaning he visited unofficially too."
Jey stepped forward and handed Yoon Sang-hyuk a file envelope.
"We found this in CCTV footage near Namdong Industrial Complex in Incheon, where the overflow occurred. The resolution is terrible. But you can still tell who’s in the picture."
Yoon Sang-hyuk took out the photos inside the envelope. The man was wearing a hat, but even with just the face visible beneath it, there was no mistaking him. A beard covered half of his face, but it was unmistakably Necro Master Ahmed Hassan.
"If you look at the map on the last page, it shows the route Ahmed Hassan took. He moved toward the Sharp Fang Orc Village."
"Heh. I can see the shape of it now."
"The instigation came from the Holy Knights. Geomgwirim explained how to trigger the overflow. The one who actually caused it was the Tower of the Dead."
"What about France and Spain?"
"They didn’t move. Michael Buren may have urged them to join in, but they probably refused. Unless you’re an idiot, there’s no way you wouldn’t understand which way the wind was blowing."
Yoon Sang-hyuk stared hard at the photos.
"Then are the other three idiots who couldn’t even read the room?"
"If you think about it, it’s actually very simple. Michael Buren has always had complaints about Your Lordship. Lately, he’s even been publicly humiliated. Geomgwirim’s Hasegawa Ryota is under enormous pressure right now. When the overflow happened in Japan, Yasukuni Shrine and Tenno’s Palace were destroyed. He’s being criticized for what he was doing when those two symbols of Japan were blown apart."
"Serves him right."
"In any case, Hasegawa Ryota probably needed a breakthrough. No matter that he’s the master of Geomgwirim, one of the top ten guilds, he doesn’t wield absolute influence inside Japan the way Your Lordship does. My guess is that Michael Buren lured him in by dangling mana stones as bait. I don’t need to tell you how strategically valuable mana stones are, do I?"
To players, mana stones were indispensable. They were needed when using magic, when making potions, when crafting magical weapons. They were necessary everywhere.
"As for Ahmed Hassan, as you know, his situation is the best among the top ten guilds. The Tower of the Dead is also the guild that has asked the least of Your Lordship."
The Tower of the Dead was a guild formed by necromancers. Because necromancers could create undead, they could hunt far more steadily than other classes.
Necro Master Ahmed Hassan had been called the pinnacle of necromancers in Eternal World. His skill was so great that he could summon a Death Knight, the strongest of all undead.
Aside from Yoon Sang-hyuk, the one who raided the highest-grade hunting grounds and dungeon bosses the most was the Tower of the Dead under Ahmed Hassan.
Their hunting method, overwhelming their prey with sheer numbers by driving countless undead into battle, was something no other guild could hope to imitate.
"The price was probably mana stones, as usual. You need mana stones to summon higher-grade undead."
"So I’ve got a rough idea of how they caused the overflow."
They must have entered the hunting grounds and summoned a mass of undead. It was the same method Yoon Sang-hyuk had used when he flooded Hart’s Playground, Japan’s unraidable dungeon, with a swarm of succubi and caused an overflow.
The one who would have taught them that method was, naturally, Hasegawa Ryota.
"That about sums it up. Baekjeong."
"Yes, My Lord."
"From this moment on, the Masked Mercenary Group suspends all activity and heads for Incheon. Not a single orc is to be left alive. Have the Valhae Guild move out as well."
"I will carry out your order."
The Masked Mercenary Group in the reception room surged out in a rush.
"Yang Su-chan."
"Why’re you callin’ me?"
Dragged in from a hunt, Yang Su-chan of the basement family stepped forward with a sulky look on his face.
"Why the face?"
"How’d you feel if you got dragged out right when the boss was right in front of you?"
"How should I know?"
"You never say anything nice, do ya? Anyway, why’re you callin’ me?"
"How many undead can you summon?"
"I got about five hundred in my subspace."
"You’re going to Incheon too. You can order your undead to find only the orcs and kill them, right?"
"I can, but..."
Yang Su-chan trailed off.
"No matter how cute my babies look to me, they probably won’t look cute to ordinary people. They might get more scared seeing my babies than they would seeing the orcs."
"Jey. Contact Lee Hyung-seok, the Player Association president. Work with government officials and tell the people living in that area not to come outside until the orcs are completely wiped out."
Jey and her subordinates bowed their heads and left.
"You heard him. Move out now."
"Heh-heh, got it. Today’s the day my babies prove just how capable they are. My babies will kill more orcs than the Masked Mercenary Group, I bet."
Chuckling, Yang Su-chan went outside.
The only ones left in the reception room were the basement family, minus Yang Su-chan.
"Should we do something too?"
Lee Chul-woo spoke for the group.
"What would you do if you went? Bash a hammer around in the middle of the street?"
"That’s not what I meant."
Kurihara Ayane stepped forward.
"What are you going to do about Japan?"
Among the basement family, she was the only one whose nationality was tied to the country involved in this incident. She planned to take Korean citizenship soon, but that didn’t change the fact that she had been born and raised in Japan.
"Well. What should I do? You know my personality’s a real pain in the ass. If someone hits me once, I need to hit them ten times back. No, I need to beat them until they’re half dead before I can cool off."
Kurihara Ayane’s expression hardened.
"You know that went too far. A lot of innocent civilians died."
"People died plenty when Your Lordship came to Japan too."
"You have to look at the whole picture. Back then, the idiots at the top in Japan made the first mistake. They joined hands with Edgar Gonzalez, the crossbreeding researcher, and used Korean residents in Japan as test subjects. I warned them in advance, and I think I was rather lenient in how I punished them. Maybe you don’t think so."
"..."
As Kurihara Ayane’s expression gradually darkened, Yoon Sang-hyuk let out a sigh and shook his head.
"Fine. I’ll only make the guilty pay for what they did. Satisfied?"
Kurihara Ayane smiled and nodded.
"Instead, I need you to do one thing for me."
"What is it?"
"You heard me earlier, right? Go to that ryokan called Kishinmori and drag the bastards who got innocent people killed just so they could fill their own stomachs in front of me."
"Got it. Don’t worry. I’ll be back soon."
Kurihara Ayane ran outside.
Dina Kruger, who had been listening to the two of them, muttered under her breath.
"Shouldn’t she at least book a plane ticket before going?"
"Leave her be. She’ll handle it."
Michael Chang, the Mad Alchemist, waved it off as if there was nothing to worry about.
"We’re done here, right?"
"Wait."
As Michael Chang turned to leave, Yoon Sang-hyuk called him back.
"Why’re you calling me? I’m a very busy man. I have to carve out time to make potions. We haven’t been able to make many lately because we’ve been hunting. You’re not planning to complain later, are you?"
Instead of answering, Yoon Sang-hyuk reached into his subspace and took something out.
"Huh? Huh? That’s mithril."
Lee Chul-woo was the first to react. As befit a blacksmith, he recognized mithril at a glance.
"Don’t tell me you killed a White Knight?"
"Yeah. When I reached the summit, it was waiting there like its whole life had been spent waiting for me to arrive."
"What the hell! What about the rest?"
"They’re in my subspace. I’ll move them over in a bit. Dina."
Dina Kruger looked at him as if asking why he was calling her. Yoon Sang-hyuk took a cube of metal out of his subspace and tossed it to her. Startled, Dina Kruger caught it, then began trembling with the effort of holding back her anger.
"Don’t tell me this isn’t what I think it is."
"It’s probably exactly what you think it is."
"Really? Seriously? This is that thing?"
"Yeah. I’m telling you, it is."
Dina Kruger jumped to her feet, threw her arms around Yoon Sang-hyuk’s neck, and shouted at the top of her lungs.
"You crazy masked pervert!"