The Summoning Queen Returns
The explosive wave of attention led straight to an interview…
Q. You took a sabbatical. How did you spend it?
A. “I lived wherever my soul pointed. Fishing in the Pacific on Monday, camping in Alaska on Tuesday. If something caught my eye the moment I opened my eyes, I’d head straight there.”
Q. It turned out to be a much longer sabbatical than anyone expected.
A. “I only meant to rest for one year, but two years slipped by. Once I’d taken two, I wanted to round it out to three. Guess I really am Korean after all. We do everything in threes, right? (laughs) Honestly, if Shinseong Guild hadn’t come looking for me, I might have just retired.”
Q. I was going to ask—how exactly did the connection with Shinseong Guild happen?
A. “Some woman showed up claiming she was the head of Shinseong Group’s security secretarial team. To be frank, it’s still a mystery how she found me when I was about to climb Everest (laughs). Anyway, she asked for one full day of my time. I had plans, so I gave her exactly twelve hours. Twelve hours later, the person knocking on my door was… well, the chairman himself.”
Q. The chairman? You mean Shinseong Group Chairman Kang Do-kyung? What did he say?
A. “Yes, that Kang Do-kyung. We didn’t actually talk much. Instead, he showed me a video. I was so absorbed in it that we barely spoke.”
Q. What kind of video was it?
A. “League matches from the time I was away.”
Q. You weren’t watching the league at all?
A. “I announced a sabbatical. Wouldn’t it be weirder if I kept watching?”
Q. …My apologies. Please continue.
A. “Anyway, the first video was unbearably boring. A few skirmishes, some half-hearted objective play, and eventually the bigger fish wins. The same league I remembered. My interest completely died. But the next video was something else entirely. The Mountain King in his prime… I couldn’t look away for the longest time.”
Q. I assume the interesting footage was from Mir Guild matches. Was it that impressive?
A. “Impressive? That word feels almost insulting. It gave me goosebumps. The Mountain King in his prime, a hardened Hwarang oppa, the lightning girl who had transcended realms, the young man with those bizarre eyes, and the one playing mid—Park Su-bin? Even my ‘friends’ took notice of that guy. They were screaming at me to go see it in person just from the footage. It was the first time that’s ever happened to me, so I was genuinely shocked.”
Q. So it’s fair to say Mir Guild’s presence was the main reason for your return?
A. “Absolutely! Everyone watching this interview already knows—I live exactly as I please. My motivation is simple. I don’t do what I don’t want to do, and I do what I like. When I left, the league only bored me. Now it excites me. If I could, I’d jump straight into a fight with that guy from Mir (Park Su-bin). In my eyes, he’s the only one who exists.”
Q. Any final words?
A. “No need for a long speech. See you soon.”
“See you soon, huh…”
Son Yul shook his head at the photograph of Hwang Yeo-wang pointing with her finger in the magazine.
She should be settling down with age, yet that free spirit of hers clearly refused to change. Son Yul clicked his tongue and snapped his fingers.
Creak—
The guild door opened. The first thing that greeted him was a wall of shouting.
“Team Leader! A new proposal just came in from that guild! Please review it immediately!”
“Can I borrow someone’s computer? Mine just crashed!”
“The British side wants to talk again!”
“Just a moment, I’m handling something right now. Yes, yes, don’t worry. It won’t take long.”
“Did you check the email, Team Leader? We need to move on this right away!”
“Whoever has the latest updated item list—throw me one, quick! It’s urgent!”
The entire Kirin Guild front office was drowning in Stove League chaos. Son Yul nodded, pleased by the sight.
“Now this is the Kirin I remember.”
One of the hardest things to adjust to after his return had been the sorry state of the front office. More precisely, the pervasive lethargy and defeatist mindset that had taken root there.
At first he couldn’t understand it. The Kirin Guild front office he remembered had been an elite group of the highest caliber. They received the best salaries and the best benefits. Arrogance from constant victory was one thing, but defeatism should have been completely foreign to them.
Yet somehow, while he was gone, they had crumbled. He later learned the cause: Han Jeong-do’s repeated blunders.
The man couldn’t even properly coordinate between the raid team and the front office. As a result, they had lost both the pride of being Korea’s representative elite group and their winning mentality.
It was another reason Son Yul had grown deeply disappointed in Han Jeong-do.
Still, the situation had improved considerably, as evidenced by the scene before him.
The contempt the hunters once held for the front office had been corrected by Son Yul himself through “mental re-education (physical),” and the chaotic atmosphere had been straightened out by the “elder” he was now on his way to see.
When Son Yul opened the door to the representative office, the guild executives were seated rigidly at the table, deep in a high-tension meeting.
“In the end, Gumiho Shin Bo-ye has formally requested a trade.”
“Tinkerbell Baek Ji-young has agreed to our trade proposal.”
“Gumiho wants Europe or the United States rather than staying domestic.”
“We’ve also been getting constant inquiries about Changgwi and Flame Queen ever since they heard about our rebuilding plans. How should we respond?”
All eyes turned toward the “temporary representative” dispatched by the group.
“Changgwi and Flame Queen are NFS. Make that crystal clear. The only dealer capable of stopping Mir’s Baek Yeon-woo is Changgwi. Likewise, the only AD Carry who can go toe-to-toe with that Yu Ri-ra is Flame Queen. Focus on the other rankers instead.”
“Tinkerbell is almost certain to drop out of the rankings this year. Selling her now is definitely the right move.”
“As for Gumiho… have we still not heard back from Liverpool? I’m talking about the River Bird Guild.”
At that exact moment, the temporary representative’s words were barely out of his mouth when news burst into the representative office.
“River Bird Guild has agreed!”
“What about the Rose Knights?”
“Confirmed. They said they’ll proceed immediately once we sign.”
“Nice!”
“We did it!”
The executives burst into cheers. They had every reason to celebrate—they had just completed a colossal three-way trade involving three rankers.
If one side had used Gumiho (In) to send last season’s British rank 11 Inquisitor (Out),
Then another side had used that Inquisitor (In) to send last season’s British rank 9 Trickster (Out).
In the end, Kirin Guild had secured Trickster—the symbol of versatility and the premier offensive supporter.
“What are you all doing? Go finish the paperwork.”
At the temporary representative’s command, the executives filed out at once. Only three people remained in the office: Son Yul leaning against the cabinet, the temporary representative heading for the representative’s seat with documents in hand, and the man sitting with his back turned in that very seat.
“Is it done?”
“Yes, Chairman.”
The only person in this building who could calm Kirin’s chaotic atmosphere with sheer presence alone, who could suppress Han Jeong-do, and whom Divine Archer Son Yul treated with respect.
It was Kim Jang-chun, Chairman of Kirin Group.
“Then it seems this Trickster fellow is now one of ours. What about the one you mentioned earlier—the guy who went to America. What was his name again?”
“Beast. His Korean alias was ‘Tyrant.’”
“The American nicknames are still terrible. Anyway, has Tyrant’s contract been finalized?”
“Yes. They’ve finished signing on their end. We only need to notify the Bureau.”
“Good work.”
Then…
Kim Jang-chun’s gaze shifted to Son Yul.
“Divine Archer, with this much preparation, I’d say your arrow is ready.”
Son Yul answered.
“Yes, Elder. Let’s go hunt a dragon.”
In the Guild War Korea Department Chief’s office, the representatives of the other guilds that the media was hounding had gathered.
“Chief, this is clearly tampering! Look at this list of transferred rankers. Every single one of them participated in the expedition.”
“Almost all the rankers we sent on the expedition have transferred. There’s no way talks didn’t happen beforehand!”
“We’re disappointed, Chief. We only sent our rankers at the Bureau’s request, yet we’ve been stabbed in the back like this. How can you do this to us?”
“Exactly!”
“Hear, hear!”
Starting with Baekgeom Guild’s Representative Jang Yo-han, Royal Sword’s Joanna Lee, the Challenger representative who lost Black Star, and many others all raised their voices in unison.
They claimed the super teams known as the Four Major Guilds had clearly violated the tampering regulations.
And at the center of it all was the man who had been the expedition’s commander and representative.
“Lee Shin is the mastermind!”
“He’s the one who whispered to the rankers and manipulated the market!”
“Are you just going to sit there, Chief? Lee Shin is destroying the league!”
Kim Mi-young, who had been quietly listening to the flood of complaints, finally spoke.
“So… to summarize what you’re all saying, the rankers who participated in the ‘South American Crisis’ that we requested support for carried out large-scale tampering? And the one who led that tampering was the expedition commander, Representative Lee Shin, resulting in the current super teams?”
“Is that an accurate summary of your position?”
That’s right! Lee Shin is ruining the league!
The Bureau must issue severe punishment!
The representatives shouted themselves hoarse, veins bulging in their necks, yet Kim Mi-young simply let out a small laugh. It was the laugh of someone asking if they were joking.
“There is a massive contradiction in your claims.”
Tampering was undeniably a malicious act that disrupted the market.
Especially in the Guild War League, where real power moved unlike ordinary sports, the Bureau was particularly sensitive about contract-related issues.
That was why guilds were required to report contracts to the Bureau in the first place.
But tampering was ultimately done for profit, so…
“…What exactly did Representative Lee Shin gain from it?”
“Uh…”
“Well, that is…”
“Exactly. Let’s assume, as you claim, that tampering occurred. Let’s say he whispered sweet nothings to the rankers. Then he should have signed at least one of them. There should have been even the tiniest benefit to Mir Guild.”
Yet Mir Guild had made zero acquisitions so far. There hadn’t even been any reports of contact, let alone interest.
Where was the room for profit in this process? There was none.
“Are you seriously suggesting that deliberately strengthening powerful rivals counts as a benefit? Did tampering suddenly start meaning ‘raising competitors’ without me knowing?”
“…It is true that all the rankers who participated in the expedition have transferred.”
“Y-yes. We lost our Guardian, and even the Light Sword is shaking.”
“…And?”
“Pardon?”
“Excuse me?”
“In the end, the justification you’re using to harass me while I’m busy is ‘tampering,’ correct? From where I’m sitting, that doesn’t look like tampering at all. If you’re going to make this much noise, shouldn’t you at least have brought evidence? Isn’t that basic courtesy?”
Or perhaps.
“Ah, maybe you’re all looking down on me?”
The atmosphere changed instantly.
Magic pressure bore down on the room like a heavy iron weight, crushing everyone’s breath.
Only then did they remember that Kim Mi-young was a mage who had risen to Department Chief in the Bureau, an organization said to gather only geniuses.
The representatives swallowed nervously.
In the midst of that silence, Kim Mi-young leisurely put a magic cigarette to her lips and lit it.
“Hoo… Everyone, stop throwing tantrums. Did you send those rankers you lost for free? Of course not. Thanks to the overheated market, you actually received higher transfer fees than usual.”
“With transfer fees at that level, couldn’t you just buy rankers from other countries? It’s not like rankers only exist in Korea, right?”
They had received money, items, and hunters.
They had secured transfer fees far better than market value—enough to reach out to rankers from other nations.
Yet there had been no news of them actually signing anyone.
The representatives, now realizing what she was getting at, shut their mouths tightly.
“Shall I tell you something interesting?”
Kim Mi-young pointed at the mountain of documents piled up like a small hill.
“Those are all sponsor proposals that came in just yesterday. In a single day. And there are warehouses full of piles like that.”
“Many countries want to invest in Korea right now. Some are seriously trying to acquire entire guilds. Sounds like a joke? Rothschild Group actually purchased a League 2 guild yesterday.”
“Are you starting to understand the situation?”
That was right.
The current Korean league was achieving the highest viewership in history as the four major groups created super teams.
This was before the league had even started. Once it truly began, just how far would the boom go? How heated would it become when those four major guilds clashed?
Just imagining it was thrilling.
“The fans, the media, the country, the Bureau—everyone except you is enjoying this.”
If you can’t help, at least don’t get in the way.
At the blatant scolding, the representatives couldn’t even lift their heads.
It was then that Kim Mi-young clicked her tongue while looking at an article that had just popped up on her phone.
“Tsk. The representative you all accused of tampering is once again working for the league’s sake.”
* * *
Incheon International Airport.
“Bro!!”
“MK!!”
MK and Lee Shin embraced tightly.
Next, Lee Shin lightly hugged the black-skinned woman who had come with MK—Selena, the highly capable SS-rank general manager of Mets Guild.
“Long time no see, sunbae.”
“Don’t joke around.”
“God, you didn’t forget me, right?”
“Oh, how could I possibly forget Catherine? You’ve been well. Why have you gotten even prettier?”
After exchanging a hug with Destroyer Catherine as well, Lee Shin shook hands one by one with the rest of the Mets raid team members following behind them, then walked toward the back.
There, people wearing uniforms rather than ordinary clothes stood in neat formation.
White martial arts uniforms accented with blue that symbolized the blue sky.
That’s right.
Their identity was—
“Welcome, Namgoong Min.”
“Thank you for the invitation, Representative Lee.”
Namgoong Sega.
Blue Sky Sword Emperor Namgoong Min and Lee Shin clasped hands.