The Return of the Poisonous King
Lee Shin had once heard something on a morning broadcast he happened to catch.
If he remembered correctly, the gist was that all humans are wired to be self-centered, so they inevitably lose appreciation for anything that stays by their side too long.
Of course, true to the wholesome nature of morning TV, it wrapped up with a heavy emphasis on filial piety: “Take good care of your parents while they’re still here.” But as befitting the man called a genius representative, Lee Shin had gleaned a deeper life lesson from that otherwise forgettable show.
And that lesson was simple.
‘Scarcity breeds desire.’
Viewer count: 3,000,000… 3,100,000… 3,200,000…
It was his first broadcast since returning to Korea.
Just five minutes after he clicked the stream button, the viewer count had already hit three million.
The fans’ reaction went without saying. The Yongbung were always the most passionate, but today they were on another level. The scarcity created by his brief absence had turned into raw longing, and every single character in the chat carried heavy emotion.
Love. Yearning. Affection. Desperation.
Aaah… Yes.
This was the fans’ sincerity. And Lee Shin? He was eating it up.
His attention-whore meter was exploding.
Lee Shin felt truly alive right now. So for this sinful man, there was only one way to repay this boundless love.
He would talk their ears off, as if there were no tomorrow.
With his hands cupped like a flower in front of the camera, Lee Shin began casually spilling stories.
“Let’s see, where should I start? New York isn’t actually that special of a city. Times Square? Broadway? It’s basically just like any other neighborhood. Oh, one thing though. There’s a café called Charles’s on the way to Mets Square Town. Their coffee was pretty decent.”
“Want to hear about the Mets Guild? They weren’t as bad as you guys think. The front office was incompetent, and the raid teams were just unmotivated? It honestly felt like our Mir Guild in the very early days. Huh? You think that’s an insult? Are you a T?”
The story of how he planted passion into the Mets.
“Oh? This suit? Ha… You noticed right away. This is exactly why I love you Yongbung. You’ve got great taste. What is this outfit, you ask? It’s a custom suit made by a maestro who has been crafting suits exclusively for New York’s elite for a hundred years! The same master tailor who dressed every American president, past and present! Ta-da!”
“That’s right. This flow from the waist down to the legs is sexy as hell. Heh, you guys really know your stuff. Should we have a quick photo time? Call out poses. I’ll do whatever you want.”
The story of the custom suit from New York that he had fallen in love with.
“Yeah, I had dinner with Kylie Rose. The place does amazing T-bone steaks. It was delicious. Kylie Rose? Yep. The most lovable actress in Hollywood. She seemed like a pretty normal, decent person.”
“She posted about it on social media? What did she say? That I was cute? Ha, that kid doesn’t know how to judge people. There’s no way this ultimate alpha male Lee Shin could ever be called cute.”
The story of his coincidental dinner with Kylie Rose, and many more.
Thankfully, he had plenty of material. At this moment, Lee Shin was undoubtedly the most spectacular storyteller in all of South Korea.
And the Yongbung? They were on the verge of fainting from pure joy.
Planting passion was all well and good, but they still wanted him to stay in Korea.
His looks and outfit were shining brilliantly, but since they wanted him all to themselves, they still begged him to stay in Korea.
Whether Kylie Rose was the rose of England or whatever else, the fans’ true wish was for Lee Shin to remain firmly rooted in Korea like a pine tree.
Besides that, he made them laugh with stories of forming a brotherly bond with MK and playing Korean card games on the private jet. When the topic turned to the baseless rumors that had been circulating in Korea, Lee Shin let out a small snort. And when the story of the sacred granddaughter came up, he finally burst into full laughter.
After talking nonstop for a while, Lee Shin glanced at the watch on his wrist and widened his eyes.
“Wow, it’s already this late? It’s been over three hours? I was planning to make a big announcement today, but it seems too late now. Should I just do it next time?”
“Should I? Then let’s keep it simple while I eat something. I’m starving. I want chicken. You guys down?”
“Aaaah, stop sending super chats. There’s no way I’d mooch off you guys. I was planning to treat you.”
“Starting now, I’ll randomly select ten thousand… Nah, I made a lot this time, so thirty thousand. Thirty thousand of you will get chicken. Order whatever you want and I’ll see you in part two.”
Because he was about to say something serious, they should prepare themselves.
Lee Shin stood up with a bright smile.
Watching the empty spot he left behind, the Yongbung felt it once again.
The way he treated broadcasting like a ten-year reunion with old friends. That overwhelming presence that broke through the monitor like it was nothing. The charm that made everyone laugh and chatter along with him. And the sheer audacity to casually reverse-donate hundreds of thousands of dollars without batting an eye.
Yes. Lee Shin had returned.
But everyone should have realized it then.
What Lee Shin was originally called…
“To be honest, I was disappointed in the Korean league.”
* * *
— “Let’s close our eyes and think about it. I’ll close mine too. Okay, what comes to mind? Hmm, for me, I picture someone smart and devoted. If we go a bit further, efficiency comes to mind.”
Lee Shin had said that the Korean league played the most refined and intelligent game in the world.
He even claimed that the loyalty and devotion referred to as “royalty” were the reason Korean hunters were so popular worldwide.
— “After running a guild in America, I can confirm that’s true. The front office works quickly, and Korean hunters are overwhelmingly easier to manage than hunters from other countries. Do American hunters cause a lot of trouble? You can’t even imagine.”
It was nothing but praise.
Because these words came from Lee Shin, who had temporarily served as the American representative, they carried even more weight.
However, just as he had begun with the words “I was disappointed,” his tongue now turned into a sharp blade, mercilessly digging into reality.
— “But these very advantages have begun acting as disadvantages in the current league. If you’ve been following my broadcasts, you’ll remember how I’ve emphasized the problems with the current league.”
They only keep doing what they’ve always done.
They settle for comfort rather than taking on challenges.
— “Strategy, squad composition, meta—they only use what they’ve used before. This isn’t just Korea. It’s the same across the entire world. I believed this was because the league had become too stagnant.”
— “I wanted to break that. Isn’t it boring if you only ever see the same things? And there was one place that shared a similar mindset with me. Where? The Bureau, of course. The increased number of matches and the reintroduction of the competitive gate conquests are proof of that.”
The Bureau’s intention was clear.
Change. Evolve. If you stay still, you will be left behind.
Yet despite the Bureau’s clear will, the league had not changed at all.
Only the same faces appeared every time. Only the same strategies were used. The starting members never changed, and no one utilized the expanded squad system.
Only Lee Shin and the Mir Guild had changed.
— “I simply wanted to bring about change. Rotating Hye-jung and the second team, the strategies I showed during the competitive gate conquests, and even the strategies that utilized Elder Mountain King and Brother Hwarang—all of it was for that reason. I brought out these solutions, so you should come up with your own answers too.”
Lee Shin had believed that if a pioneer like himself existed, others would follow. In crude terms, since changing like this had produced results, he thought they would copy him.
But that was a miscalculation. Nothing had changed.
— “You say it can’t be helped? That the squad was built that way? That’s just an excuse. What did I have in America that made me change?”
— “Fine, let’s say realistically winning was too much. Even then, you should have produced some kind of achievement. That’s what a representative is supposed to do.”
Yet even now, with the first half of the season over and the league at round 31, nothing had changed.
— “Some of you probably noticed. The ‘weapon’ I obtained from MK as a condition for going to America. I won’t mention its grade or item description.”
— “To be honest, going to America was a gamble for me too. Of course I was anxious. That’s why I handed that weapon to Ri-ra. As insurance.”
Even so, Lee Shin claimed he had expected at least one or two losses.
But that expectation was based on the condition that the other guilds would change and come up with their own answers.
In the end, as mentioned earlier, there had been no change, and the Mir Guild had accumulated victories with ease.
— “Brother Hwarang’s shield was never breached, and no one could give Elder Mountain King anything to think about. The final insurance, Ri-ra, wasn’t even needed.”
— “That’s right. I overestimated the Korean guilds.”
It was far too disappointing.
This was Lee Shin’s honest feeling, not as the national representative, but as the stagnant veteran player himself.
Even in the game Genesis, when a player changed the meta or brought out something new, the opponents would analyze it and either copy it or create their own strategy. Yet in reality, they were performing worse than a mere game program.
So what was the problem? Lee Shin had pondered it deeply and realized the answer clearly during his trip to America.
— “The heads. The representatives sitting at the top were the problem.”
When the person at the top moves, the guild has no choice but to change.
Lee Shin himself had proven it with the Mets Guild. Even that garbage guild changed when its representative put in the effort. It would be absurd if a perfectly fine guild couldn’t do the same.
Therefore, if a guild wasn’t changing, it meant the representative had no intention of moving.
— “What makes the Korean league even more fatal is that in this situation, the strengths of Korean hunters all turn into weaknesses.”
The advantages of having no trouble, being devoted, and loyal became, when the representative had no desire to change, a lack of principles, complacency, and cowardice that refused to take on challenges.
— “The result is this undefeated record. Guys, we’re a promoted guild. We were in League 2 until last year. We should have at least taken one loss. How can you show your faces in public like this?”
— “And you representatives who are secretly watching my broadcast right now.”
Lee Shin pointed his finger directly at the screen.
Lee Shin loved this world and genuinely loved the league.
He wanted to win. He wanted to stand at number one and become the best.
But none of that would shine without competition.
— “I thought you would change. I thought that if I showed you even a little, you would at least pretend to change.”
But they hadn’t.
— “I was too complacent. You have neither the will nor the thought to change.”
On screen, Lee Shin was truly furious.
Furious at those who made the sweat and effort of his guild meaningless. At those who made their own victories look pathetic.
That was why Lee Shin made a declaration right here.
— “From this moment on, I will no longer tell you to change.”
Do whatever you want.
He was sick of trying to persuade those who ignored the correct answer even when it was given to them.
Instead—
— “I will destroy the seat you are sitting on.”
Lee Shin held the schedule up to the camera.
※ Round 32.
VS
— “The guild that has held the championship for five years. The Kirin Guild that could not be toppled even when everyone attacked with full force.”
The guild that every other guild had dreamed of, tried to emulate, and that had itself become the meta.
— “Let’s see if you can stay still after I completely crush these guys.”
The national team troublemaker.
The king of aggro.
The trouble maker.
Lee Shin had returned.
Carrying a chest full of poison, just like in his original form.
On camera, Lee Shin was smiling wickedly.