The Tool's Reckoning
Park Jeong-seok had been nursing his grievances for “quite” some time, or so he claimed.
Lee Shin had been preparing for this moment since “time immemorial.”
Ever since the man first joined, back in the League 4 days.
One must never forget.
The current raid team was assembled 100% purely from Lee Shin’s own picks.
And while this might be their first time dealing with a man like Lee Shin, it was hardly Lee Shin’s first time dealing with people like Park Jeong-seok or Lee Hye-jung.
Fundamentally, Lee Shin tasted every character at least three times.
The first bite was pure enjoyment.
The second was to uncover hidden builds and tendencies.
By the third, the final tech tree and Lee Shin’s personal evaluation were decided.
More complex characters simply required more playthroughs. Incidentally, the undisputed king of that field was Bokchi. Park Su-bin alone had taken three full years.
Returning to the point, one might ask:
Had Lee Shin known about Park Jeong-seok’s eventual betrayal?
No. He had not.
Even if the in-game character Park Jeong-seok was greedy and selfish, that was merely “character Park Jeong-seok.”
This world was undeniably reality. Unless one was a god who turned a guild’s firefly into a chaebol heir with a single lightning bolt, there was no way for Lee Shin to read the free will of the human Park Jeong-seok.
So he had judged based solely on the information he could see.
The visible status window.
When he evaluated Park Jeong-seok from League 4 all the way to League 1—
Could Park Jeong-seok be used in League 1? Could he compete at the level Lee Shin demanded?
No matter how many simulations he ran, the answer was…… NO.
In that moment, Lee Shin decided Park Jeong-seok’s fate.
Sell him at his peak.
[Representative Lee Shin: “Park Jeong-seok is the very definition of the modern league’s ideal tanker.”]
[Lee Shin on critical articles: “The media knows nothing. I only believe what I see.”]
[Representative Lee Shin’s affection: “Even in League 2, our tanker will be Park Jeong-seok.”]
Whether the press was positive, negative, or lukewarm, Lee Shin’s mouth never stopped. This was probably the longest-running and most meticulously maintained PR campaign he had ever orchestrated.
And the equipment? That was not to be forgotten either.
“Chanyong, Park Jeong-seok’s shield upgrade is done. Deliver it.”
“Yes.”
“Chanyong! While you’re taking the shield to Hunter Jeong-seok, bring the necklace and bracelet set as well. It’s an accessory set that boosts health recovery—just explain that.”
“Y-yes!”
“Hey, hey, Chanyong, stop. This circlet—I got it because Hunter Jeong-seok said he can’t wear helmets. Take it to him.”
“Again? But I’ve never seen this before.”
“The boss said he picked it up somewhere, heh heh.”
“Seriously, the boss’s favoritism toward Jeong-seok is something else.”
This was the part Lee Shin found most unfair.
As everyone knew, the hunter who received the most support in Mir Guild was Park Su-bin.
Then who was second? Yu Ri-ra, as commonly assumed? Absolutely not.
Ever since Lee Shin took over, second place had always belonged to Park Jeong-seok.
Even when Yu Ri-ra picked up her sniper rifle, the ranking never changed. That meant Park Jeong-seok had been drenched in money from head to toe.
Park Jeong-seok’s reputation had been somewhat inflated thanks to Lee Shin and Mir Guild’s signature ass-kissing show. If suspicion arose now, the entire tower they had built could come crashing down.
Lee Shin could not allow that—not after all the time and effort invested. That was why his choice had been to rely on equipment.
Park Jeong-seok might have complained that he was always second fiddle to Park Su-bin, but that was purely his own inferiority complex talking. Lee Shin had wanted Park Jeong-seok’s success more than anyone and had supported him without reservation.
And yet they called it favoritism?
Park Jeong-seok’s little clique had the wrong target. The person they should have been cursing was not Yu Ri-ra, but Park Jeong-seok standing right in front of them.
Because Park Jeong-seok was the one who had monopolized Lee Shin’s affection far beyond his actual worth.
Because his value was an investment in Mir Guild’s future.
How had Lee Shin felt when he saw this?
[“I can do so much more.”]
[“The guild revolves too much around one person.”]
“Yee-haw! Yahoo! Hoo-hoo!!”
“……Representative, what on earth are you doing? It’s unseemly.”
“Join me, hyung. Oh yeah! Hup hup!”
“Stop right there. Don’t come any closer. Hey! Stay back!”
By the time Park Jeong-seok’s seed of discontent finally sprouted, the tree Lee Shin had planted had already grown into a mighty trunk.
And today was the day he would pluck its fruit.
* * *
Mir Guild Representative’s Office.
Amid the uproar caused by the unhappiness declaration, Park Jeong-seok came to see Lee Shin.
He had imagined Lee Shin panicking and opening negotiations, but the reality before him was a smiling Lee Shin and a single iced Americano.
“Are you sure you heard me correctly? I just said I can’t continue this season under these conditions.”
“I heard you.”
“My brothers and I are being treated unfairly. We want proper compensation for our efforts.”
“Yes, you did.”
“If that’s impossible, we’re prepared to request a transfer.”
“Loud and clear.”
“……Is that all?”
“Do you have anything else to say?”
“You’re the representative. I’ve asserted my rights as a hunter. Shouldn’t you at least consider it seriously?”
“Hmm…… Jeong-seok, you’re phrasing this strangely.”
Lee Shin stared at Park Jeong-seok, grinning as though something was endlessly amusing.
“You posted on SNS without any warning—‘I’m unhappy, anyway I’m unhappy!’—then came storming in to declare you can’t continue like this. Out of respect for your decision, I simply said ‘Understood.’”
What’s the problem with that?
Lee Shin scratched his chin, then snapped his fingers as if he’d figured it out.
“Ah~ Maybe it’s this. You expected me to come running barefoot, crying ‘Why did you only come now? I’ve been waiting!’ Then you’d generously offer terms—salary? Starting position? Let’s just do both. It’s not that important anyway. And if I refused, you’d make a dramatic exit: ‘You are not worthy to stand beside me.’ Sounds cool, right?”
Lee Shin, clearly enjoying himself, even began mimicking voices.
“I’d grab your pant leg as you leave—‘Jeong-seok, Jeong-seok, I can’t do this without you, please don’t go!’ And you’d say, ‘Apologize for neglecting me.’ You’d pull out all your pent-up grievances. Sounds fun, doesn’t it?”
A one-man melodrama.
Even Park Jeong-seok was left speechless by the elaborate performance, his eyes filled with disgust. Was this guy actually insane?
But before that thought could fully form, a voice cut through.
“Why? Do I seem crazy to you?”
And in that instant—
An endlessly cold gaze shot toward him.
A gaze so sharp that even the moment he had first declared “You are all tools” now felt warm by comparison. It pierced straight through Park Jeong-seok.
“In my eyes, you’re the crazy one.”
Lee Shin, whose self-awareness was etched into his very bones, could not understand a human like Park Jeong-seok. What on earth gave him the nerve to act this way?
“If you’re stupid, you should at least know your place. If you can’t even do that, you should shut up and stay quiet.”
A man who had more days ahead of him than behind—how could he gamble his future without even understanding himself? Was he terminally ill? Did he have three or four lives to spare?
How could a human being be this irresponsible?
“Just now…… what did you say?”
Park Jeong-seok was stunned by the unfiltered insult.
But Lee Shin had no intention of stopping.
“You’re lacking.”
And then Lee Shin pulled something from his coat and tossed it.
Thud.
Park Jeong-seok was stunned once more.
The photo lying before him showed himself wearing sunglasses, standing side by side with Choi Seul-gi.
“Choi Seul-gi from Haemu Guild’s recruitment team.”
“……”
“You two are close, huh? Real close. If you were going to tamper, you should’ve done it properly instead of leaving so many traces. Oh, don’t tell me you thought this was hidden? My, my hand must have been terribly unobservant.”
Like a card trick, dozens of photos spilled endlessly from his coat. Lee Shin scolded his own hand in an out-of-body manner, telling it to be more perceptive.
Before long, a mountain of photographs had formed.
Park Jeong-seok’s pupils trembled.
“I made myself clear, didn’t I? You are tools.”
“!!”
Park Jeong-seok flinched at the word “tools.”
Lee Shin clicked his tongue at the tremor.
“A tool only has value when it remains a tool.”
A tool simply needed to fulfill its intended role, and its owner only needed results from that tool.
The tool called Park Jeong-seok had faithfully performed its role to the extent of its worth, and Lee Shin had used the tool “Park Jeong-seok” to climb from League 4 to League 1.
“You’ve fulfilled that value. I expect nothing more from you.”
That was why it was regrettable.
“If what’s sitting on your shoulders wasn’t just decoration, you should have come to me before throwing a tantrum on SNS. If you had, I would at least have found you the most valuable owner for the tool called you.”
As the owner who had used the tool called you for three years.
“……You bastard. So this was your plan from the very beginning. You deceived me.”
“Let’s get the words straight. I never hid anything from the start. If anything, you’re the one who deceived me.”
Lee Shin scattered the documents he had stacked beside him toward Park Jeong-seok.
Among the fluttering papers were photographs—profiles of the younger members of Park’s faction.
“How pitiful those kids are, dragged into this because of you. In my eyes, it looks like you’re treating them as tools.”
“……!!”
“How about it? Using tools isn’t so easy, is it? Depending on how the owner wields them, a tool’s fate can change like this.”
Park Jeong-seok was left in a near-death state.
Having no hobby of beating corpses, Lee Shin decided to stop there.
He slowly straightened his clothes and leaned back in his chair.
“Well then, let’s move on to the next matter. You mentioned the guild you want, correct?”
“……”
“Tsk, annoying.”
“Y-yes!”
“Ahem. Have all these people given their consent as well?”
“That…… they have.”
“Understood. I’ll take it into consideration. Ah, and one more thing.”
Lee Shin zipped his lips shut.
“Don’t even think about running your mouth carelessly like this again. Until now, I tolerated it because you were my tool. But once you’re no longer a tool, you are nothing to me. Understood?”
“……Understood.”
“Good. You may leave.”
Park Jeong-seok trudged out, and soon after, Jeong Sun-dong and Chae Dong-ha entered.
“The list?”
“Contact has been made.”
“Dong-ha hyung.”
“Public opinion is being managed as well.”
“Excellent. Then let’s go.”
It had been a while since he’d felt this chilling sensation.
Time for the New Year’s money-spending spree.