One Month Until the Regular Raid
The Lee Do Hotel in Chungnam.
A man stepped into a suite that cost thousands per night.
“…Yes, yes, I’m aware.”
The man pinning the phone to his shoulder yanked his tie loose with a violent tug. He rummaged through the fridge, realized there was nothing worth grabbing, and kicked the door shut.
THUD!
At the loud noise the bedroom door opened. A woman in a silk slip yawned and draped herself against him.
“Haaam~ Babe, you’re ba—”
“Shh—”
He covered the phone and mouthed old man, old man. The woman exaggerated an ‘oops’ gesture.
“No, there’s no one here. I’m alone. What do you mean, fooling around with women? I’m so busy running the guild I don’t even have time to breathe. When would I have time for that? I haven’t even touched the liquor I love so much.”
Once he had stripped off every last piece of clothing and sat naked on the sofa, the woman naturally straddled his thigh, bottle of whiskey in hand.
The whiskey—worth more than most salaried workers made in a year—poured down his throat like water. For someone who had just sworn off drinking, his mouth showed zero integrity.
“Yes, yes. I’m making good use of the materials you gave me last time. I’ve also secured additional information on the trouble with Kirin. The moment we pinpoint his location, I’ll move straight into recruitment. Yes, I’ll handle it personally.”
──────!
“A leak? That’s impossible. We already have information control in place. If I can’t recruit him, no one can.”
──────!
“Father, please stop worrying over nothing and trust me. This is Lee Myeong-hwan. Have I ever disappointed you even once?”
That’s right.
The man currently drinking top-shelf whiskey straight from the bottle with a beauty on his lap was Lee Myeong-hwan.
He was the eldest son of Lee Chan-bin, president of Ido Motors, and the treasure of the Ido family—hailed as the most perfect scion among them after graduating top of his class from Seoul National University.
“Understood. Yes, yes. Enjoy your meal. I’ll come up and see you soon.”
Click.
The call ended.
“That old man. Scared of everything.”
“What is it, babe? Why was the president calling?”
“What else? He’s rushing me.”
“My goodness, what’s there to rush? No guild is running as smoothly as yours.”
So far, Ido Group had acquired fourteen local satellite guilds. Five of them were directly operated by the royal family. And among those five, Lee Myeong-hwan’s guild had taken a clear lead.
They should have been showering him with praise, yet all he got was nagging. Lee Myeong-hwan grimaced and took another long pull from the bottle.
“Smoothly? What good is that when some maniac keeps stirring up shit?”
Ido Group’s entry into the guild business was never meant to stop at simply owning guilds. It was the lifelong wish of Chairman Lee Sang-byuk and the final stepping stone that would make Ido Group truly flawless.
Naturally, the entire group’s attention had turned this way. Every faction head and executive was praying their own side would produce results.
Yet right in the middle of this sacred proxy war, one insane bastard was splashing around in the mud—and that bastard was Lee Shin.
Just thinking the name made Lee Myeong-hwan’s teeth grind together.
“Huh? Is it even competition? I mean, they’re a League 4 guild and you’re League 2, right?”
“Competition? Please. It pisses me off that the crazy bastard is putting on a show with that pretty-boy face of his.”
“Ah…”
“Vulgar bastard. No sense of shame whatsoever.”
Every single media story related to Ido Group right now was focused on Lee Shin. It made sense—there had never been this much entertainment during the off-season stove league.
For better or worse, all eyes were inevitably drawn to ‘Lee Shin.’
No sense of shame…
Lee Myeong-hwan had called him shameless, but the woman briefly recalled the face of the Lee Shin she knew and nodded without thinking.
The effect was certainly dramatic.
“Enough shop talk. What about the thing I mentioned before?”
“Who do you think I am? I finished the fact-check yesterday. There’s no doubt the Mountain King and Kirin Guild are on far worse terms than we thought.”
“Oh! So what you’re saying is—”
“His recruitment chances just shot way up!”
Fans always started with expectations the moment a new representative took over. Better players, better results, and bigger investments.
The new representative’s first test would be meeting those expectations. That was why they threw their entire bodies into the transfer market.
Just like Lee Myeong-hwan was doing now.
As the newly appointed representative, he was desperate for immediate results. With Ido Group and his father’s support, producing good results wouldn’t be difficult, but what he needed right now was instant performance.
That was why he had set his sights on a massive, superstar-level signing, and his top priority was none other than the Mountain King, Kim Jong-phil.
“Who else knows about this?”
“Right now, just me and my informant.”
“Can you trust the informant?”
“Yeah. She’s my little sister.”
“Perfect. I’m falling for you all over again.”
“Kyaaa~!”
One of the three kings who, alongside the Fighting King and the Ten Thousand King, had once dominated the world. Although he was now approaching old age and could no longer display his former skill, what Lee Myeong-hwan wanted from him wasn’t combat ability.
The symbolism. The legend. The weight carried by the name Mountain King.
That alone was enough. He could ride the name to attract rookies, give him some busywork, and have him pass on his know-how—that would be ideal.
Especially since Lee Myeong-hwan had another absolute reason to recruit the Mountain King.
When Ido Group had first planned to expand into guilds, Chairman Lee Sang-byuk’s top pick had been the Mountain King—simply because they came from the same region.
The capable grandson fulfilling his grandfather’s long-cherished wish. It was an acquisition that would pay off enormously in every way. More than enough for Lee Myeong-hwan to bet everything on it.
“Did you find out where he went?”
“We’ve narrowed it down to three possibilities. Hallasan, Geumgangsan, or Baekdusan. It’s one of those.”
“He really loves mountains. Living up to the name, huh?”
“We should have his exact location within a few days. Get ready.”
“Too long. Finish it within two days.”
“It’ll be tough, but I’ll try.”
“I have to be the one who recruits the Mountain King with my own hands.”
If he personally recruited the Mountain King, he would receive his grandfather’s undivided favor. And if that happened, there was nothing stopping him from leaping over an entire generation to become the successor in one jump.
Lee Myeong-hwan laughed as he gulped down the liquor and lay back on the bed.
“Heh, just this one move and my presence will skyrocket too.”
He dreamed of a rosy future.
But he had no idea.
The sweet dream he was having had already become reality for someone else.
“Is the Mountain King really here?”
“I told you he is.”
Lee Shin had just arrived at Mt. Geumgang.
There had once been a heated debate among GM users.
What exactly was the true ending of GM?
GM was a raising simulation. You bought and sold affiliated hunters every season to earn promotion. There wasn’t really an “ending” to speak of.
The users knew that, but humans instinctively want to see the end once they start something.
After a rather fierce debate, the discussion was ultimately split in two.
Winning the Champions League—the final battle between continental champions.
Winning the World Raid—the national team competition held once every four years.
Those who argued that the Champions League was correct because it meant participating with your own guild.
Those who argued that the World Raid was the true peak of honor, no matter what.
Even after several days of heated debate, neither side could reach a conclusion, so they eventually sought out the highest authority in GM, the veteran player known as Teacher Lee.
And Lee Shin gave an answer that left everyone stunned.
“The ending? Obviously it’s seeing every single character story ending.”
The story endings that appeared after completing each character’s hidden affection system. Only after seeing all of them could you say you had truly seen the end of GM, right?
At those words, everyone shut their mouths.
Completing the affection system for every single character? Was he insane?
Seeing the endings for nearly ten thousand characters was an abyssal domain that even the veterans among them hesitated to step into.
And Lee Shin was the only person who had conquered that abyss.
The very first character he had chosen was a member of the Three Kings who, thirty years ago, had elevated Korea to the world’s strongest rank.
The Mountain King, Kim Jong-phil.
A legend from the past.
Rattle rattle rattle!!
The Rolls-Royce shook violently. Compared to the supreme silence it usually boasted, the ride quality was downright miserable, but the car itself was blameless.
Who could have predicted some lunatic would drive this precious vehicle up an unpaved road on Mt. Geumgang?
“Uwaaah, noona! Our Rollin is dying!!”
“Be quiet and put on your seatbelt. What do you think off-road vehicles are for?”
That aside.
“Can’t you continue the story from earlier?”
“What? Oh, about the Mountain King?”
“I still can’t believe it. Why is the Mountain King—who should be at Kirin—hiding away on Mt. Geumgang?”
“Wow, looks like our hyung here is a real fan of the Mountain King.”
“Of course I am! Is there a single Korean who doesn’t like the Mountain King?”
“Really? Noona, do you like him too?”
“……”
“Guess not. Whoa!”
The car jolted hard. Lee Shin grabbed the handle and kept talking.
“Never mind that. We still have a long way to the summit, so let’s hear it. Dong-ha, what exactly do you like so much about the Mountain King?”
“Why are you pretending not to know? You know better than I do.”
“Aww, come on~”
“…The Mountain King is a legend in his very existence.”
Thirty years ago, during an unprecedented dark age for Korean guilds.
An era of despair in which they were crushed not only by traditional rivals China and Japan, but even by Taiwan, a nation they had once looked down on.
Out of that deep darkness, three meteors had appeared.
The Fighting King, who proved with his unmatched physique that technique was meaningless before absolute power.
The Ten Thousand King, who could fulfill every role—attack, defense, healing, buffs, debuffs—performing every existing position.
And finally.
The Mountain King, who had climbed to the world’s peak alongside those two.
“The Mountain King opened an entirely new horizon for the summoner class. Before him, summoners—whether they used elementals, mythical beasts, or spirits—were all looked down on without exception. But the Mountain King overcame all of that.”
With his brain.
“The term ‘brain play’ was coined during his era.”
The smartest hunter in history.
Rather than simply summoning powerful creatures, he would summon lower-grade ones suited to the situation. By maximizing their utility, he freed up his teammates’ hands and feet, raising the entire raid team’s performance instead of focusing on individual strength. In a different sense, he was close to omnipotent.
The role now called ‘commander’ in modern raids was established by the Mountain King.
“From that point on, the need for commanders who could read the flow of battle became crucial across the global guild scene. The saying that raids are divided into before and after the Mountain King also comes from this.”
He shifted the era from leader-centric to order-centric, reminded everyone of the necessity of the three utility pillars, and brought diversification to strategy through deeper consideration of team synergy.
The Mountain King had completely changed the paradigm of raiding.
“After conquering both the Guild War Champions League and the World Raid, the Three Kings eventually parted ways at their peak. At that time, the Mountain King founded Kirin Guild together with the Ten Thousand King. The very Kirin we all know.”
Around the time the regulations on large corporations entering the guild industry were lifted, Kirin Group offered an astronomical salary.
By recruiting both the Mountain King and the Ten Thousand King at the same time, they turned Kirin Guild into Korea’s top guild.
The more passionately Chae Dong-ha spoke, the harder it became for him to believe what he was saying.
Who was the Mountain King?
A living legend who had obtained every honor a hunter could possibly earn. He was also a founding contributor to Kirin Guild—Korea’s greatest guild—and one of its two hearts alongside the Ten Thousand King.
Why would such a great man be hiding in a remote corner of Mt. Geumgang during the busiest time for guild work?
Why?
At the question, Lee Shin smirked.
“Why else? He got kicked out.”
“Ah… kicked out…”
!!
Chae Dong-ha’s jaw dropped in shock.
Lee Shin cheerfully delivered the finishing blow.
“That guy is currently unemployed. He was forced into retirement from Kirin.”