The Emperor's Shadow

The Busan mayor was on his knees, practically begging as he faced Yu Cheol-ong.

“M-Mr. Yu Cheol-ong, I swear I never imagined it would come to this!”

“It’s a misunderstanding! Yes, a misunderstanding that snowballed into an accident! I simply said I needed a little time, but my subordinates took it and—haaa… It’s true! Why on earth would I lie to you? Please believe me!”

If one were to summarize the mayor’s excuses in three points, it would be this:

1. He needed time to repair his strained relationship with Lee Shin.

2. His subordinates, misunderstanding his intentions, competed in loyalty and ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠ended up committing absolute madness.

3. The mayor only learned of the situation later, flew into a rage, and did everything in his power to clean up the mess.

“…I won’t deny that there was friction. The situation had already exploded, and if the construction hit a snag and caused trouble, I did consider stepping in as the black knight.”

A helpful ally who appears at the decisive moment.

Just like someone who resolves all political and institutional problems on Lee Shin’s behalf.

“That’s right. You know him too, Noh Hyeong-sim! That head of the Yeongdo District Office! I wanted to become the man watching Lee Shin’s back, just like him. That was my only goal.”

Exactly.

The final position the mayor had reached was none other than Noh Hyeong-sim’s role.

He had simply wanted to become an excellent Noh Hyeong-sim who handled Lee Shin’s dirty work.

That was all. Really!

“I admit I made a mistake. I’m not saying I refuse to acknowledge it. I got greedy and screwed up. If failing to manage my subordinates is a crime, I’ll accept the punishment. But still, I feel wronged! I feel so wronged!”

“Do I look like an idiot who can’t read the room? Who the hell am I to even think about opposing Representative Lee Shin? I have neither the reason nor the guts to do so. You’ve known me for a while, Mr. Yu Cheol-ong, so you should understand.”

It’s a misunderstanding. It’s all a misunderstanding!

So please!

The mayor, desperately pleading his innocence, looked ready to drop to his knees at any second.

And just as the Busan mayor was about to swear on his own name—

Finally, Yu Cheol-ong broke his silence.

“That’s enough. There’s no need to hear your name.”

“You believe me…!”

“Believe? There’s nothing to believe. It doesn’t matter either way.”

He claimed he was innocent and that it was all his subordinates’ fault…

Well, to Yu Cheol-ong—a specialist in schemes and intrigue—his intuition told him there was a 200% chance those subordinates were merely scapegoats. But he wasn’t about to waste energy digging into such a trivial incident.

“Let me set one thing straight first. It seems you’re under a misconception, Mr. Mayor. I did not come here because of Young Master Lee Shin.”

“…Then!”

“Exactly. Young Master Lee Shin and you being in conflict? That premise was never valid from the start.”

“!!”

Conflict or negotiation requires both sides to be on the same level.

Yet what? Someone like you daring to stand against the Young Master? It was so ridiculous he couldn’t even laugh.

“If you had truly crossed the line, the Young Master would have dealt with you long ago. In that case, the person sitting here wouldn’t be me—it would be the Young Master’s hunting dogs.”

“Y-Yu Cheol…”

“I’m sorry, but I’m quite busy. I’d like to move on to the main topic now.”

The hearing of circumstances was over. The whining was over.

Yu Cheol-ong glanced at the watch on his wrist, then pulled something from his bag and held it out.

It was a thick envelope of documents.

What could it be? Was he supposed to open it?

The mayor carefully watched Yu Cheol-ong’s expression as he opened the envelope. His eyes immediately widened to the point they looked like they might tear apart.

Because inside was a complete record of every single corrupt act the mayor had committed since entering politics.

How could he have obtained this…? No, since when?

The mayor’s body began to tremble violently. Yu Cheol-ong spoke with the same emotionless face as always.

“I won’t waste words. Do nothing.”

Many people said they saw Lee Sang-byuk in Lee Shin.

Innate genius, unstoppable drive, an eye for the core of any situation, an unmatched talent for handling people, and finally, the charisma to step forward and declare, “Shut up and follow me.”

Lee Shin was often compared to a younger Lee Sang-byuk—even more so than his own son, Lee Young-bin.

But Yu Cheol-ong, who had served Lee Sang-byuk from those early days until now, thought differently.

Without a doubt, the Young Master still had a long way to go before he could truly catch up to the Chairman.

“Do not make any statements. Do not take any actions. Do not meet with anyone. Every event you are scheduled to host must be discussed with our side first. From this moment on, no political gestures of any kind will be permitted.”

A breathing corpse.

That was the role given to him.

This was the difference between Lee Sang-byuk and Lee Shin.

Discard? Exclude? Those were soft words.

Lee Sang-byuk never forgave those who opposed him. He crushed them, broke them, trampled them completely, and disposed of them.

That was the way of Lee Sang-byuk, the emperor of the Lee Do empire.

“I will contact you when the time comes. Until then, breathe quietly and wait obediently to remove your clothes. Of course, you will confess everything recorded here as well.”

Spring had ended.

Before anyone realized it, summer had arrived.

While Busan was undergoing a dramatic transformation into a hunter’s mecca under Lee Shin and the Mir Guild, the Korean league was also enjoying explosive popularity that could not be matched.

[It’s already burning hot! Both the league and the cities! The entire country of Korea is swept up in league fever!]

[Even though it’s still early in the season, viewership records are being shattered! Audience records are expected to be broken within this week!]

[We knew it would be intense, but this is beyond expectations. Historic! This is another legendary season!!]

Even before the opening, the Korean league had monopolized global attention with ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠talks of super teams and training camps.

In the end, the Korean league did not disappoint the expectations of fans around the world.

Starting with the ‘14Round Group 2 Competitive Conquest Battle’ between the Mir Guild and Taeyang Guild—which the Bureau had highly praised—the Korean league continued to produce high-level matches one after another.

And at the center of it all were, without question, the super teams.

― “N-No way! I can’t believe it. While Taeyang Guild’s Specter tied up the attention of all five opponents with his insane dribbling, Guardian’s decisive call completely devoured them! This is crazy management!”

― “They’re not dying! The Guardian pounds the drum in hippo form. Hwanhoo summoned the Black Tortoise, and if the Cross prays, the Shinseong Guild will never fall! As expected, they keep bouncing damage back and forth and survive until the end… they did it!”

― “The Kirin Guild is still showing signs of poor coordination in the early season. That’s why they’ve been shaky against relatively weaker teams. But we must not forget one thing. That there is one man in Kirin. The Divine Archer, Son Yul! He is the ultimate weapon who saved the struggling Kirin Guild once again today!!”

Taeyang, Shinseong, and Kirin spent the first half of the season perfecting their teamwork with everything they had.

They moved calmly yet systematically in order to realize their ambition of ‘gathering to defeat the Mir Guild.’

And once these super teams began shattering the league’s ceiling, the lower-ranked guilds—whether because they sensed the trend or felt something themselves—began to step up their game as well.

No one knew who started it. The miraculous logic that copying a super team’s management for five minutes would raise your win rate by 20% spread through the league like a trend.

And this played a tremendous role in raising the overall level of the Korean league.

To the point that reactions like this were coming from overseas.

When Lee Shin created the super teams, he had been confident.

Rather than falling into the trap of mediocrity, he would raise the ceiling and thereby raise the average.

The results were now visible, and the league was evolving. Everything was going exactly as Lee Shin had predicted.

And so the league that had opened in spring grew hotter along with the sun, and when the heat of summer reached its peak—

The league finally rounded the halfway mark and entered the breaking season.

Lee Shin, who had been bouncing between the league and his business ventures without a moment to breathe.

Even just going back and forth between the arena and on-site locations would be too much for three bodies, let alone one.

It was realistically impossible to keep up with a broadcast schedule on top of all that.

So the broadcasts that used to go up at least once a week last season had been completely cut off.

It was only natural that the Yongbung-i fans felt a little hurt.

A little resentment. Tremendous joy. Even greater anticipation.

The fans waited for their representative with all those feelings mixed together.

And then—

When Lee Shin appeared on screen, the fans sent him the loudest welcome they possibly could.

“Sorry, sorry. You missed me a lot, right? I missed you guys too. I really wanted to broadcast whenever I could, but I just couldn’t find the time. Look at these dark circles. I’ve been sleeping only two hours a day lately. So cut me some slack, okay?”

“Then let’s start with the stories I’ve been putting off. How have you all been? Tell me slowly.”

Even Lee Shin had missed this time.

If one were to measure how much someone loved the guild by how much they loved the Yongbung-i fans, then Lee Shin was undoubtedly a world-class Yongbung-i.

On match days, he would watch the match live, rewatch it multiple times, check the reactions on analysis channels, and finally discuss the match with fans.

It was the best possible day for a Yongbung-i.

Therefore—

“…So today’s broadcast is officially a Lee Shin healing broadcast. Ahem.”

“Ahem, Yongbung folks. Don’t fight. Why are you getting all worked up over a few chickens? Fine. I was going to give them out anyway. Since it’s going to be a long broadcast, let’s order chicken first. We have 7 million viewers right now. How many should I order… Wait, how many did I order last time?”

“What? 30,000 won? Wait, it really went up that much? Hold on… Huh, it’s true?? Wow, this is way too much. How can a chicken cost 30,000 won?”

This won’t do. What kind of group is this anyway?

Lee Shin searched for chicken companies on the internet. His deeply furrowed brow showed just how displeased he was.

Yet for some reason, the fans found even this ordinary behavior incredibly reassuring.

Was it because he had won the Asian championship, created super teams, and swept up the world’s attention? Maybe they had been a little anxious without realizing it—worried that the Lee Shin they knew might have changed.

But it was an unnecessary worry. The Lee Shin grumbling and complaining over there was still the same Lee Shin they knew.

A quirky, self-indulgent maknae.

“If it’s going to be like this, maybe I should just start my own place? Let’s call it Yonggari Chicken. Oh, doesn’t that sound good? It has a nice ring to it, right?”

And so Lee Shin, who had been complaining, ended up giving away ten thousand chickens. Only then did the real broadcast begin.

“Then shall we start the broadcast properly? Let’s begin by looking at the most impressive match of the first half—the Mir Guild versus Shinseong Guild.”