Mountain King's Enlightenment
Forty-seven hours since entering the gate.
Under the Mountain King's command, the Mir Guild's raid had been slicing through the gate at a terrifying pace and was now entering its final phase.
Kieeeeek—!!
A horrifyingly unpleasant shriek echoed, and moments later a swarm of goblins came charging fiercely from the far side of the forest. Their numbers were so vast that the weeds and green undergrowth on the ground were completely hidden from sight.
It was a ferocious offensive, as if announcing that the end of the gate was near. Yet the raid team's momentum matched it blow for blow.
“I haven’t even slept!! Fuck!! You dwarf bastards!”
“Hold the line! Stop rushing ahead!”
“Hey! Shut up for a second!”
“Uahaha!!”
The tanks at the very front who met the goblins first slammed their shields forward and activated Dash. Once they bravely carved open a path, the dealers unleashed their specialties. Swords danced in dazzling arcs, spears thrust forward, maces crushed goblin skulls, and from above a rain of arrows and multicolored magic turned the entire area into scorched earth.
Just yesterday they would have panicked at even a fifth of this number—perhaps even less. Now, even when completely surrounded with no route of retreat, they showed no confusion whatsoever. They were relaxed enough to savor the electric thrill the battlefield offered.
Considering their initial disgrace, their growth was astonishingly rapid, and it was all thanks to one man.
Mountain King Kim Jong-pil.
“There is no need to panic simply because they outnumber us. These low-level goblins have an absolute deficiency in long-range attack options. The number of goblins that actually make contact with us shows almost no difference.”
The terrain was flat, with no elite or champion entities present. Dozens of wind hawks soaring through the battlefield sky delivered real-time reports. There were no variables whatsoever.
“Focus on preserving your stamina for the finish and advance calmly. That is all.”
⊳ Preserve stamina for the boss fight
⊳ Maintain formation discipline
⊳ No unnecessary risks
A thunderous radio reply rang out, and the raid team’s formation grew even more solid.
Deciding this was sufficient, Kim Jong-pil sent the mental command Let’s rise. The wind hawk carrying him flapped its wings powerfully and gained altitude.
From an immense height the battlefield looked like scattered grains of rice. It was no exaggeration—every detail of the battle situation was captured in his eyes at a single glance.
The goblins resisted fiercely while the raid team pressed their assault even harder. Yet despite the heated clash below, Kim Jong-pil’s expression remained strangely detached.
When he thought about it, that wasn’t wrong. Aside from his public promise not to step onto the front line, Kim Jong-pil wasn’t particularly worried about the raid. In fact, it was more accurate to say he barely thought about it at all.
Let’s be honest—the title of Mountain King wasn’t earned by playing marbles in the neighborhood. Getting serious over a mere 3-level gate would have been rather unseemly, wouldn’t it?
Perhaps that was why Kim Jong-pil’s attention was not on the battlefield but on the bundle of papers he now pulled from his coat. It was the manual Lee Shin had given him, its edges already frayed from repeated readings.
“It really is exactly as he said. Their potential is quite decent.”
Thanks to their low battle intelligence they could not fulfill multiple roles, nor could they make proactive decisions in sudden situations. In every aspect modern raiding pursued, these members fell short… yet the more Kim Jong-pil coordinated with them, the more he understood why Lee Shin had declared they shone brightest when treated as tools.
Instead of handling multiple roles, they perform their single assigned role above average.
Instead of making proactive decisions in sudden situations, they follow orders without question once those orders are given.
Though they fall short in every aspect modern raiding pursues, when viewed purely as tools… they are rather excellent.
Reaching that conclusion, Kim Jong-pil felt a strange sense of dissonance. The corner of his mind itched as though he had overlooked something. His genius intellect quickly identified the source.
Comfort.
No matter how excellent a tool, it should feel unfamiliar when first used. Yet these members fit him like a perfectly tailored suit made by a master craftsman.
Only then did he realize the truth.
Ah. It wasn’t a one-sided relationship.
It wasn’t merely that he filled their deficiencies. They were also filling his.
Indeed.
While Kim Jong-pil covered the raid team’s lack of a brain, the raid team was supplementing the part where Mountain King Kim Jong-pil was most deficient and absolutely vulnerable.
Youth.
“How interesting.”
Including Mountain King Kim Jong-pil, who would soon enter his sixties, the average age was a mere 23.5 years. That astonishing youth belonged to them.
Realizing this, the manual Lee Shin had given him looked different once more.
Take this fellow, for example.
Usage Notes:
1) As a “Provocation Doll” that automatically draws aggro, excessive exposure on the frontline makes him a concentrated target.
2) Excessive confidence relative to judgment may damage teamwork.
At first he had simply marveled at its accuracy, but once Kim Jong-pil grasped Lee Shin’s style, something else became visible.
He probably intends to use this one as a sub-dealer.
Bad positioning was fatal for a tank, but if the hunter could function as a tank-dealer and serve as a close-range dealer capable of breaking enemy formations, there was no problem at all.
The “Provocation Doll” trait was an issue, yet even that could be covered by tactics if he operated as a dealer rather than a tank.
In this way, Lee Shin had hidden deeper meanings throughout the manual, as though taunting, If you’re capable, why not try finding them?
“Cheeky brat. This isn’t a hidden-picture puzzle.”
He clicked his tongue, yet a flower of laughter had already bloomed across Kim Jong-pil’s face.
How long had it been since he received such a challenge?
He felt sorry for the raid team fighting desperately against the goblin swarm below, but for Kim Jong-pil, this battle of wits with Lee Shin was far more entertaining.
However.
“Still, not everything makes sense.”
There were parts even Kim Jong-pil’s brilliant mind could not comprehend.
He flipped to the very last page of the profiles.
There smiled an innocent-looking boy. A youth with a baby face every bit as handsome as Lee Shin’s.
“Park Su-bin.”
Height 160 cm. Weight 45 kg. Sixteen years old this year. The youngest member of the raid team.
It was the name of the boy currently mixed among the dealers below. His frame was so scrawny it fluttered like an event balloon, and he was a defensive sorcerer whose value had been steadily declining in modern raiding.
Yet.
“Why did he write it this way for this child?”
At that moment several goblins leaped toward Park Su-bin. Since he was not a dealer, the boy extended his leg and took a back step.
The goblins collided with nearby dealers. Park Su-bin’s long, slender hand spread open. His index, ring, and middle fingers folded in sequence, forming the finger-gun shape children often made. The instant magic power gathered at his fingertip—
Crackle!
A whitish membrane spread at terrifying speed. Its defensive power was low enough to shatter after a few goblin slashes, yet it was a truly rare instant-cast Shield.
However… to Kim Jong-pil’s eyes, that was not a Shield.
“The form of the magic power isn’t that of a spell. Psychokinesis? No… closer to a supernatural ability?”
In any case, that strange and flawed ability was the only weapon Park Su-bin had displayed.
Yet on his profile were written two letters.
W.C.
A title bestowed only upon the rare geniuses capable of competing on the world stage beyond Korea.
World Class.
“Just what did that fellow see in this boy?”
“Aaaack!!”
Park Su-bin tripped dramatically from a goblin’s charge and fell flat on the ground. Watching him flail after slipping on goblin secretions, Kim Jong-pil could only tilt his head.
“No matter how I look at it, he’s a dud?”
And so the Mir Guild’s first raid, conducted under such intense scrutiny, ended in perfect success.
Gate: Goblin Red Mountain Village
Total Clear Time: 50 hours 42 minutes 27 seconds (New record)
Boss: Goblin Chieftain ‘Ppatu’
Boss Clear Time: 29 minutes 31 seconds (New record)
League 4 Ranking: 1st Place (New!!)
MVP: Mountain King Kim Jong-pil (Rating: 9.9)
The doors of the guild headquarters swung wide open.
“Congratulations!!”
The instant Lee Shin shouted until his voice cracked, fireworks exploded with loud pops on both sides.
It was a welcome ceremony for the raid team that had completed a successful expedition. Cheers and applause from the entire front office poured down on the returning raiders.
“You were amazing!”
“Thank you.”
“The best! So incredible!”
“Hehe…”
“That was seriously fucking awesome!”
“It’s all thanks to you.”
The young raid members, unaccustomed to such cheers, blushed shyly yet still squared their shoulders with pride. They knew it themselves—they had earned this applause.
They had renewed the time record for Goblin Red Mountain Village.
They had achieved the highest monster kill count for Goblin Red Mountain Village.
They had set the fastest clear time for the boss Goblin Chieftain Ppatu.
And they had the youngest officially certified hunter debut in association history—Park Su-bin.
The records they had shattered were impressive enough. Given how every gate’s records were engraved into the league, the name Mir would now stand at the very top of Goblin Red Mountain Village. Lee Shin was certain that unless a Mountain King-level hunter descended to League 4, these records would never be broken.
As if celebrating the occasion, the “windows” in the corner of Lee Shin’s vision screamed with joy, but he still had work to do.
He deliberately looked away and scanned his surroundings. Every guild member’s gaze was fixed on his lips.
“As you all know, our reputation was far from favorable only a short while ago.”
A fallen prestigious guild. A dragon in the ICU.
“Yet despite the doubtful stares, both the front office and the raid team showed them what you could do. You displayed more than you possessed and silenced those doubting fools in the most elegant way possible.”
“Everyone must be exhausted, so I won’t speak long.”
Front office and raid team alike—Lee Shin met each person’s eyes and spoke simply.
“You’ve all worked hard.”
“Waaaaa—!”
Applause erupted once more.
The fatigue from all the overtime and all-nighters melted away from the front office staff. Several raid members felt their eyes grow moist, sensing that all their suffering had finally been rewarded.
Lee Shin personally shook the hands of every moved guild member, offering his congratulations, until he finally stood before Kim Jong-pil.
“Chief.”
“We have returned.”
Lee Shin and Kim Jong-pil shared a warm embrace. The sight of the two central figures of New Mir communicating sincerely regardless of age was rather magnificent.
Yet those moved by the scene could not know what the pair were actually saying to each other.
“Kk, honestly it was pretty boring, right?”
“Tsk, listen to how you speak.”
“Manage your expression. Your expression.”
“You should worry about your own, you brat.”
The serious Lee Shin from moments ago had vanished, replaced by his usual fluttering self. Kim Jong-pil let out an exasperated laugh at the instantaneous attitude shift.
“You brat, shouldn’t you normally start with ‘Was it acceptable?’ What do you mean it was boring?”
“Come on, sir, you have your reputation to consider. Congratulating you just for breaking a few 3-level gate records? There are still plenty of gates left. If I congratulated you every single time you broke a record, my mouth would fall off.”
“Hah, look at that smooth tongue of yours.”
Though neither yielded a single word, to outsiders they looked like a grandfather and grandson sharing a heartwarming moment. Laughter filled the guild, and the atmosphere could not have been better.
“All right, this really is the last announcement. Director?”
“The after-party venue is the rib restaurant across from the bus stop over there. We’ve reserved the entire place from 9 p.m. until 1 a.m.”
“Attendance is free, so come without burden! Bring family or girlfriends, it doesn’t matter. You all know my card has no limit, right? Eat as much as you want! Enjoy yourselves to the fullest.”
Lee Shin glanced at his watch.
“It’ll be noon soon. Go home or back to your dorms, get a good long sleep, and we’ll see each other this evening. Oh, and I’ll be tactfully absent, so everyone can relax and enjoy.”
That’s all! Dismissed~!
Lee Shin clapped his hands twice and turned around. As though they had planned it, everyone applauded and left the guild together.
* * *
And then.
With the guild now empty, Lee Shin hummed a tune while boiling water in the coffee pot.
“Lululu~”
He had sent Dong-ha hyung away. He had sent the secretary noona away as well.
A real man must occasionally chew on solitude by himself. For the manly Lee Shin, today was that day.
“Hehehe. How long has it been since this combination?”
In his right hand he held cup ramen; in his left, soju. He sat down.
Note that the national rule for cup ramen was the bowl type.
He slurped the thin noodles, spun the soju bottle like a tornado, then drank straight from it like a trumpet.
And now the real fun began.
He pressed the notification that had been screaming in the corner of his vision.
Congratulations. You have completed your first raid.
The ‘Manager Status Window’ has been activated.
The ‘Training Management Window’ has been activated.
First Gate Entry +50p
First Goblin Encounter +50p
First Goblin First Kill +50p
First Elite……
An endless stream of rewards continued without end.
This truly was the best side dish.
“Krr, it’s good~!”