National Power Level
The top 10 guilds in South Korea were known to possess overwhelming power.
Even the South Korean government couldn't easily touch them. They lived as if they had their own kingdom inside the country, and some people described them as warlords.
However, the reason they couldn't act like real warlords was the existence of the Kangin Guild that ruled South Korea.
All guilds in South Korea had to be under the Kangin Guild, and the law was maintained solely because the Kangin Guild's power was overwhelming.
The Kangin Guild, called the world's strongest guild, not only extended its reach to every corner of South Korean business but also held immense influence overseas.
It was Choi Kang-in, the guild master of the Kangin Guild, who had accomplished all of this.
It was the event that unfolded from the beginning of Baek Seo-jin's academy life in the original story, when Choi Kang-in chose Baek Seo-jun as his successor and selected him as the one who could inherit the Kangin Guild.
It's a place where I can easily flip the current situation around.
To show the taste of power back to those knights and those manipulating public opinion with comments who slandered Seomun Ye-jin as ridiculous nonsense, I went to find Choi Kang-in.
Choi Kang-in was in Gaeseong-si, not Seoul, but that wasn't strange at all. After all, the place where Seomun Ye-jin and I lived was also in Anju-si, South Pyongan Province, North Korea.
There were people who preferred the late-developing North Korean regions over the southern provinces where many people gathered, and there were quite a few who built grand estates in such areas and lived in them.
Especially these estates had all kinds of anti-intrusion measures, so they could deploy wards that allowed them to easily detect and guard against strangers and prevent villains from easily breaking in.
If the villains broke the wards, hunters' support could come to repel them.
That's why even villains like Park Ji-hoon who targeted Seomun Ye-jin heard that they had kidnapped her not from inside the house but when she was out walking around.
If I hadn't rescued her, Seomun Ye-jin would have ended up on the slave auction block, but if she had been rescued for some other reason without my involvement, she would have moved to Seoul.
Now, it was because I was there that she was at ease.
Even though I had come all the way to Gaeseong, I was still keeping an eye on Seomun Ye-jin.
- You're fond of that girl, huh.
The black snake wrapped around my shoulder, Lamia, spoke up.
Because I was still using some of my senses to check on Seomun Ye-jin's safety, and I knew that besides the necklace I gave her, I was worrying about her safety in various ways.
"It's only natural since she's become an important person to me."
- An important person. Hmm, that makes sense. That girl is definitely one of the most beautiful in this world. The Fox that Devours the World would surely be eyeing her flesh and soul too.
I let out a snort at Lamia's words.
"You were probably trying to eat her too, weren't you? You talk like it's someone else's story."
- It was true. Indeed, her flesh and soul would have become a treasure to hoard for a lifetime if I had just let them mature a bit. But, Seo-jun. You know I have already discarded such desires.
"Yeah, right. Your top priority was survival. You absorbed all the power I gave you and protected me instead of avoiding my gaze."
The relationship between Lamia and me was one that was formed because we both needed each other.
Lamia's personality was unexpectedly not blatantly evil like the final boss in the original story.
She was just extremely indifferent.
If the Fox that Devours the World acted out of malice, then for Lamia, the Black Snake that Devours the World, it was just food.
Just like a snake that raids a bird's nest to eat the chicks and eggs without any malice, it was the same.
The voices of the people in the world who sacrificed in the process were treated no differently from the chicks being eaten by the snake.
That's why it was cosmic horror to humans.
So, how has Choi Kang-in changed?
In the original story, Choi Kang-in looking for a successor to the Kangin Guild was also related to Lamia.
But now, with Lamia no longer a threat to this world but a greater threat seeking to devour it, how would he think?
I'll find out when I meet him directly.
Choi Kang-in's private estate, the guild master of the Kangin Guild in Gaeseong-si.
Even from a glance, this Hanok-style place boasting grand size reminded me of a palace.
National Power Level, they say.
The term that often came up regarding Choi Kang-in and the power and authority of the Kangin Guild he led was National Power Level.
In fact, Choi Kang-in, who stood at the pinnacle of all power awakener forces in South Korea, which held the world's strongest magic awakening power, might even be undervaluing his power and authority with the expression National Power Level.
But that was still incomparable to World Annihilation Level.
Then, let's see when Choi Kang-in will notice my presence.
I entered the private estate of the strongest without hiding my presence, calmly.
The wards deployed in his estate didn't even detect me. The magic power of the wards couldn't sense my existence.
Easy.
I entered easily and headed to the place where Choi Kang-in's aura was felt.
The interior of the estate was surprisingly empty of people.
Excluding a few people who seemed like servants, there were almost no people in this large estate.
After all, this was Choi Kang-in's private estate, not a building of the Kangin Guild.
The Kangin Guild buildings where the guild members lived were separately built in Gaeseong-si, taking over an entire neighborhood.
This room.
I stood in front of the door where Choi Kang-in stayed and opened the door.
Kiiik-
His thick male voice came out from the action of deliberately opening the door.
"Who is it?"
It was surprising that the door opened by itself without any presence, but he was trying not to show that surprise outwardly.
Choi Kang-in was already over 90 years old, but his appearance still looked middle-aged, not much different from the description at the 9-year-later point in the original story.
Looking at the middle-aged man's sharp-featured, burly figure with red hair and black eyes, I revealed my presence.
"Hello, Mr. Choi Kang-in."
I greeted him politely first. However, even with my greeting, he was on guard against me.
A strange intruder, and one with the ability to not even perceive the presence, visiting his door was a natural reaction, as it was strange to lower one's guard.
But since I had no intention of being hostile to him and didn't want to maintain this tension for long, I smiled lightly and said.
"You don't have to be so tense."
"Who are you? What is your purpose here? Did you come to kill me?"
It was the opposite. Rather, it was bothersome and inconvenient if he died now.
And I had no intention of killing someone without any grudge.
To be picked as someone I kill, you at least have to be a villain or something.
"I have no intention of killing you. Rather, it would be inconvenient if you died. Right now, I'm here to ask for your help."
"Help?"
"Yes, Mr. Choi Kang-in. I need your help, your power."
At my words, Choi Kang-in, who was tense imagining something, I took out my phone.
He flinched thinking I was pulling out a weapon, but what I was doing was searching for articles with my phone.
Since I had pre-requested the data, the internet worked well. Hmm~ There was Wi-Fi here, but since I didn't know the password, I couldn't do anything about it.
To forcibly find out, there were plenty of ways to use my power, but it wasn't worth wasting time digging into it one by one.
"Do you know this article?"
I showed the internet news articles from women's-related newspapers slandering Seomun Ye-jin, and the malicious comments from women's groups blinded by jealousy towards Seomun Ye-jin in front of Choi Kang-in.
Choi Kang-in, who was looking at the articles with a slightly dazed face as if he hadn't imagined I would show internet articles, soon glared at me sharply and asked.
"What is the reason for showing this article?"
"Isn't it obvious if I show it? The journalists who wrote this article, the women's groups, and even the Baekho Guild behind them. I came because I wanted you to step on these with your power once."
At my words, Choi Kang-in's face became dumbfounded.
"Just for something like this?"
He was incredulous that I had come all this way for something like this, but I was serious.
"It's not just something like this. To me, it's... I've barely endured the urge to kill everyone because I'm truly angry."
Feeling the killing intent rising from me, Choi Kang-in flinched and apologized.
"Hmm, my bad. Yeah, it could be a serious problem for someone."
Right now, he was probably recalling the fake identity Kim Ho-jun I made.
"Your name is, Kim Ho-jun?"
As expected.
"How, in what way should I step on them?"