The Ido Derby Begins
Meanwhile, in the spot where Lee Sang-byuk and Lee Shin had vanished, everyone rose from the table where the food had gone stone cold.
“Let’s have a talk.”
The group gathered with Lee Myeong-hwan and Lee So-yul at the center.
Lee Myeong-hwan exhaled a plume of cigarette smoke to cool his temper before speaking.
“After seeing that mess, don’t you all feel something?”
Everyone knew exactly what kind of occasion this had been. It was a seat Lee Sang-byuk had personally arranged because he wanted to see their faces. In truth, they had all come prepared to hear at least one cutting remark.
Given their grandfather’s fiery personality that only ever pursued the best and the first, they had steeled themselves for him to express his disappointment without holding back. That much they had expected.
What truly shocked them all was the method he chose.
He had praised Lee Shin—that good-for-nothing—and used it to provoke and shatter their pride.
Even though this gathering leaned far more toward the personal than the professional, for those who belonged to the Ido family, this was something that could not simply be overlooked.
“You all know it too. Grandfather is stingy with praise. He’s even stricter with family. So for a man like him to single out that worthless bastard? Am I the only one who heard it as something close to a declaration of support?”
At the word ‘support,’ sharp reactions erupted from every direction.
“Aren’t you overreacting?”
“Yeah, that’s going way too far, Myeong-hwan oppa. No matter what, that loser was only in the 4th Division, right? If I were in the 4th Division, I would’ve climbed up too!”
“Isn’t it more like this? He was angry we couldn’t get promoted, so when someone started rising from below, he used him as a stimulant? That’s how I understood it.”
A stimulant. That was almost exactly right.
Most of the people gathered here had been raised under the notoriously harsh discipline of the Ido family. They were all above average, and it wasn’t difficult for them to infer the correct answer.
But the two who had set the mood had no intention of losing control. This time, Lee So-yul stepped forward first.
“Hmm, while I was in England, it looks like our cousins got really fluffy. Why are you all defending that loser’s position? Who cares if it’s a stimulant or whatever? That’s not the point, is it?”
“That’s exactly what I’m saying. Like you said, suppose Grandfather really did prop Lee Shin up just to use him as a stimulant? Yes, logically that makes sense. But… does that change the fact that he still praised him?”
“Kids, we’re competitors. When have we ever fought for a reason? Why look for justification? Fighting is supposed to be dirty. Why did we take over guilds in the first place? We took them so we could fight each other. To show Grandfather who’s more capable.”
The reply came flying back immediately.
“You’ve got a funny way of talking. Then we’re all fighting each other, so what’s the point of gathering like this?”
“Now that you mention it, if we follow your logic, shouldn’t we be keeping the closest eye on Lee Myeong-hwan, who has the highest chance of promoting to League 1 right now? Or am I the only one who thinks that?”
As mentioned before, these were all people of the Ido family.
Unless they committed a major blunder, they were all individuals destined to hold at least a small position within the Ido empire. Their senses and their skill at handling people were above average. There was no way they wouldn’t notice the true intentions of the two speakers.
The plan was to drag Lee Shin—the man they had only treated as a ‘common enemy’ in their hearts—out into the open and launch a full-scale collective lynching. That was because Lee Shin was that dangerous.
Yet that logic contained a fatal flaw. Objectively speaking, Lee Myeong-hwan, who was closer (League 2), should have been far more of an eyesore than Lee Shin, who was farther away (League 3).
Lee Myeong-hwan nodded as if he had been expecting exactly this response.
“You’re right. I agree. If promotion to League 1 was the final battle that decided the ultimate winner, I wouldn’t have created this childish gathering. I would’ve spent this time thinking about how to crush all of you instead.”
But that wasn’t it.
The true nature of this fight was absolutely not about guild promotion. That was merely a means to an end.
The value they had forgotten while being buried in their guilds.
What they ultimately pursued.
It was this.
“Grandfather’s favor.”
“……!”
“Why are we trying to produce results with our guilds right now? In the end, it’s to create the major guild Grandfather has longed for so much, to be loved and acknowledged by him.”
“True.”
Honestly, how many of them were truly sincere about their guilds? Lee So-yul could confidently say none.
“Let’s all be honest. You want a seat in the group, not the headache of running a guild, right? At least I don’t.”
“It got a bit long, but to summarize, our goal isn’t the guild or promotion. It’s Grandfather’s favor and support. When you look at it that way, the biggest competitor is—”
Everyone thought of the same person at once.
“Lee Shin.”
“It’s him.”
“Grandfather has liked that loser to an abnormal degree ever since he was little.”
Only now did a sense of crisis finally appear in everyone’s eyes.
Exactly as Lee Myeong-hwan and Lee So-yul had intended.
“It’s important that we get promoted, but let’s assume Lee Shin continues at his current pace, writing legends and climbing to League 2. Do you think Grandfather will pay any attention to us then? I don’t think so.”
“Even if some of you get promoted, if that loser comes up making a huge racket? Yeah, I think the spotlight will be focused entirely on him. The reason? He’s just more special.”
The reason worthless antiques sell for thousands or even tens of thousands is because their story and rarity are recognized.
Promotion is an achievement worthy of applause.
However, when examined coldly, at least one team gets promoted every year. In the grand scheme, it isn’t that special an event.
But the legend Lee Shin is writing is different.
Every single round, he completely rewrites the raid records. Every single round, he overwhelms the opposing matches without even allowing a single set loss, advancing with absolute dominance.
It is the first true legendary drama since the founding of this league.
“It’s… convincing.”
“I get it without you saying more. What you’re saying is that we need to block Lee Shin’s progress just as much as we need to get promoted, right?”
“Given Grandfather’s attitude toward him and how suspiciously much attention that guy attracts, it does seem like it might be necessary.”
The very people who had been thinking ‘Is this really necessary?’ only moments ago now rolled up their sleeves and stepped forward. As expected of the Ido family’s children, the speed at which they began running the numbers was extraordinary.
“What’s the plan?”
“It’s simple.”
At Lee Myeong-hwan’s gesture, Lee So-yul flashed an uncharacteristically businesslike smile and passed around sheets of paper.
“Listen carefully……”
Meanwhile, as the crowd dispersed like the tide going out, in a corner of the now-empty space, a woman crouched down and puffed on an electronic cigarette.
“Haaa~ I knew something like this would happen, so I tried to get out quickly, but I got dragged into this annoying mess. I’m not interested, I tell you.”
Guild promotion? Grandfather’s favor? A seat in the group?
Not everyone in the world only looks upward. There are people who know how to be satisfied with what they already have. She was exactly that type.
“Even if I have to kneel to Mom, I’m definitely getting out next year no matter what.”
This is too much…….
She was perfectly fine living off the steady money that flowed from the building, enjoying casual luxury shopping, and posting vacation photos every week.
Conspiracies and schemes like the one just now were far too heavy for her.
But at that moment.
The bushes beside the crouching woman rustled.
“Need some help?”
“……?!”
Before she could even react, a head suddenly popped out from between the bushes.
The woman who had been crouching made eye contact with the owner of the head.
She froze.
She turned to ice.
Because the owner of that head was none other than Lee Shin, the very person who had been their target only moments ago.
Because Lee Shin was grinning at a perfect 90-degree angle.
“……Kyu?”
“Kyaaaaaah—!!”
Later, this woman would remember her first meeting with Lee Shin like this:
Day 1 of quitting smoking.
Starting from this day, an unusual current began to flow through League 3.
More precisely, a storm raged centered around NG Jaguars.
[NG Jaguars Leases Top-Tier League 2 Tanker]
[NG Jaguars Guild Official — S-Class ADC Resource on Loan]
[NG Jaguars Guild Leases League 2 Named Mage ‘Dr. Hong’]
These official announcements dropped with only three hours left in the off-season.
There were a total of eight players.
Just the officially announced loans from NG Jaguars numbered eight.
Each and every one of them was a resource that could easily compete in League 2. Not a single one lacked a name for themselves, and especially Dr. Hong had both fame and skill proven enough to earn an alias.
NG Jaguars had shifted into high gear.
Win Now.
They would wait no longer. NG Jaguars had shown through action that they would pour everything into promotion this season.
The media screamed with joy.
It was true that the unprecedented popularity of League 3 so far had been carried by Lee Shin and Mir Guild. However, one-sided games could easily tire the public, so it wasn’t healthy in the long run.
Just as the stimulant Lee Shin and Mir Guild had scattered was starting to wear off, Lee So-yul—one of the other Ido family children—and NG Jaguars stepped forward.
What could be a bigger super event than this!
NG Jaguars Draws Its Sword. “We Will Promote This Year No Matter What!”
Lee So-yul Representative Tells Fans, “Victory or Death!”
NG Jaguars Emerges as League 3’s Dark Horse—Will They Cause an Upset?
The NG Jaguars fans felt the same.
They had been secretly conscious of Mir Guild.
It was inevitable. A guild they used to treat like a tonic was now writing legends live on air. If their stomachs didn’t twist at that, were they even real fans?
That was why, despite a decent 9th place ranking, they had been so harsh on Lee So-yul.
Same Ido blood. Same Ido family child.
Our representative can create the same miracle as Lee Shin. You can do it, right?! Please!!
And at last, Lee So-yul lived up to the fans’ expectations.
By taking the extreme measure of replacing all five opposing match members.
A few quick-witted insiders began to sense something suspicious at this point.
First, the timing of the loans was far too perfect.
Second, every single guild that had signed the loan contracts was one that had been acquired by the Ido Group.
Third, the sheer number of articles being published was suspiciously high.
“Am I the only one who thinks this? Doesn’t it look exactly like Mir Guild?”
“This is clearly a copycat of Lee Shin and Mir Guild, isn’t it?”
“They’re one hundred percent aiming for them.”
Shocking the market with signings, drawing attention through media manipulation, then stimulating the fans to grow the topic…….
It was an operation aimed precisely at Mir Guild.
And amid all this controversy, in the 21st round opposing match, NG Jaguars took the lead with their League 2 loaned players and crushed their opponent.
A team ranked four places higher than them.
— “Dr. Hong shows exactly why he is a named player in League 2, suffocating the enemy mid laner with overwhelming pressure.”
— “A proper mage who handles all four attributes is a pureblood rarely seen even in the European league, the home of mages. That’s how versatile and high-carry he is.”
— “They’ve changed. Both in the top lane and the bottom lane, NG Jaguars is sinking their sharp fangs into the enemy’s throat and refusing to let go!”
Their gameplay was as cruel and merciless as a predator’s.
Games this one-sided were hard to find anywhere except Mir Guild.
The opposing matches that had been called NG Jaguars’ greatest weakness.
And against a team ranked higher than them.
They devoured it whole.
The fans, injected with a lethal dose of hype, could no longer see anything else.
In the end, they touched something they should never have touched.
Mir Guild, Come Out!
And so began the Ido Derby.