Chapter 34
Chapter 34
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 34
Chapter Title: Screwing Over Magic Tower Lord Shin Yura
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-Slash!
A goblin raked its claws across Baek Hyunseo.
-Spurt!
A bit of blood trickled from Baek Hyunseo's body, but it wasn't enough to threaten her life.
Someone behind her cast a spell at the goblin.
-Fwoosh!
"Kieeeek!!"
In an instant, the goblin turned to ash and vanished.
"Ugh..."
Baek Hyunseo winced as she looked at her wound.
Regardless, she turned around and expressed her gratitude.
"Thank you... I was so tense that I made a stupid mistake and let that goblin get me..."
The girl who heard her thanks—Seo Yerin—replied with a puzzled look.
"That wasn't me casting the spell. I was too flustered to do anything..."
"Then how did the magic...?"
Baek Hyunseo noticed her staff-shaped artifact glowing.
"Is that the one Instructor Choi Juwon gave you...?"
When Baek Hyunseo asked, she nodded.
Thanks to the auto-intercept artifact Choi Juwon had given her, Baek Hyunseo escaped danger. Of course, a single goblin wouldn't have truly threatened her life, but either way, it was the artifact—specifically, the one from Choi Juwon—that saved her from a tight spot.
Baek Hyunseo thought to herself.
'I'm always the one receiving help from you... Back then, and even now.'
"Kieeeek!"
The countless monsters pouring from the dungeon depths. The trainees had to endure agonizing times to press forward.
"Haa..."
Quite some time had passed since receiving Baek Hyunseo's call. An inexplicable frustration gripped my entire body.
'Damn it, why'd she have to call me and ruin my mood for no reason.'
I was enjoying a rare break at home. Well, it wasn't much of a break. Even sitting still, my body felt restless.
There were too many bastards I needed to crush. The guilds that took Baek Juseok's money, Magic Tower Lord Shin Yura, and even Baal Guild Leader Choi Seung-hyun. I wouldn't feel at ease until I'd smashed them all to pieces.
I turned on my phone and glanced at the screen. My NA TUBE channel caught my eye.
The subscriber count had skyrocketed in just a few days. Monetization had been approved recently too.
'Just two videos, and I'm already making this much? At this rate, I could rake in as much as I did back in my instructor days just grinding NA TUBE.'
The thought crossed my mind, but honestly, money wasn't that big a deal. I already had plenty.
'Of course, you can never have too much money.'
No matter how much I had, there was no reason to turn down extra income.
'Oh right, I need to call Seol Euna.'
Thinking about it, she'd helped me a ton—creating the channel, editing videos, managing it, even promoting. She'd said back then we didn't need to split profits since she was just grateful for saving her life, but anyone with a conscience would know it was time to cut her in on a fair share.
'Editing alone costs a fortune, and she must've shelled out big on ads.'
If she hadn't leveraged her connections at an MCN to get a bunch of big YouTubers to review and share my first video, it wouldn't have blown up like that.
'She really went all out on promotion.'
Checking my old videos, I saw that within ten minutes of uploading my debut, seven major creators had already reviewed or shared it.
'No wonder the views exploded.'
Feeling grateful, I called Seol Euna.
-Hello?
-It's Choi Juwon, Seol Euna.
-Oh! Hey, Juwon. What's up?
-I wanted to talk about my NA TUBE channel earnings. I'd like to give you a cut of the profits.
-Huh? I told you before—no need. I helped because I'm grateful you saved me. You don't owe me money.
-It doesn't sit right with me. Let's split 50:50. Without you, I never would've even thought to make this channel. Thanks to it, I've got people's attention and motivation to do something. Without that, I'd probably be a total shut-in by now, rotting in my room. Consider the split my way of showing thanks.
-Hmm... Tricky. This isn't phone talk. Wanna meet up?
-Can't we do it over the phone?
-No way! You free now?
-Yeah, but...
-At home?
-Yes.
-Wait there. I'm coming over.
-Got it.
-Click.
'What the...?'
Her unusual energy threw me off a bit, but I didn't dwell on it. Soon, the doorbell rang.
-Ding-dong.
-Juwon! It's me~
-Click.
I opened the door to find her all dolled up.
"Got a date today or something? You look like you put in extra effort."
Seol Euna smiled.
"Stopped by the salon after ages. What do you think? Do I look pretty?"
She teased playfully, then waited nervously for my response. I gave her a once-over and nodded.
"You look beautiful."
-Thwack!
She shoved my chest hard with her arm. Flustered, I asked,
"What was that for...?"
Her face flushed as she spoke.
"Nothing. Anyway! We were gonna talk profits, right?"
"Right. Come in. I'll make some tea."
"No need for tea. I brought coffee."
Seol Euna handed me the coffee and dessert she'd hidden behind her back.
"Truth is, I'm not here just for the profit talk. Your voice sounded off, so I got worried. Wanna tell me what's going on?"
"..."
I hesitated, then spilled everything to her. What happened after meeting the Hunter Association Chairman, smashing the intranet master key for the guilds that took Baek Juseok's cash, wiping them all out.
Seol Euna listened with a serious expression.
"I knew Baek Juseok was throwing money around, but I didn't realize his influence ran that deep. Oh, and don't feel too guilty about killing those Valdena Guild bastards. They were scum who made people's lives hell with every crime in the book."
"I know, but it still doesn't sit right."
Seol Euna patted my back, her eyes sad.
"Don't try to shoulder it all alone. When it gets heavy like today, talk to me. I'm always on your side. If you're worried I'll blab, we can use an oath spell or whatever."
"Thanks. No need for oaths. I trust you now. Honestly, without your help, I'd never have run this NA TUBE channel. Sounds silly, but there, I'm admired by tons of people. Sure, plenty trash me too. But seeing all those comments calling me awesome and respectable... it reminds me of my instructor days and eases the pain a bit."
"...I'm glad I could help even a little."
Emotion welled up, but I pushed it down.
"Seol Euna, mind if I run something by you?"
She smiled.
"Go ahead. I cleared my whole schedule today. Plenty of time."
"It's about recruiting disciples. I've got tons of applicants, but I'm stumped on when to contact them and hold interviews. Ideally, I wanna build my force with disciples while screwing over the Magic Tower Lord as much as possible, but I can't think of how."
Seol Euna pondered, then replied.
"How about timing the interviews with the Magic Tower's upcoming talent recruitment period?"
"There's something like that?"
"Yeah, they hold it regularly. First round documents, second interviews, third practical magic tests, then final selection. You could recruit right after their second round ends."
"Any reason why?"
"You specified only unaffiliated folks, right? During recruitment, applicants get temporary Magic Tower affiliation. So to join you, they'd have to ditch the third round."
"Smart. The Tower Lord obsesses over talent. Watching top prospects bail on her process for me would piss her off royally."
"Exactly. I checked comments on your NA TUBE—lots of strong applicants this time. Pick the best ones, tell them to interview during her recruitment, and it'll be chaos."
"Thanks as always. I'll do that. Wait—actually, I just thought of something better. What if I announce it now?"
"Huh? Already?"
"Yeah. Post on the community that interviews are that day. Make sure no one even applies to the Tower."
"Hmm... Not bad. Applicant numbers would tank hard."
I grinned.
"I'll make it the worst turnout ever. I'll drop a teaser video that'll hook every mage, promising full teachings to my disciples."
The Masked Instructor uploaded a lecture video and posted on the community boards.
Official Disciple Recruitment Notice. Pre-screened candidates: Official recruitment date set for XXXX Year XX Month XX Day.
Note: Affiliated individuals automatically disqualified. Temporary affiliations also ineligible.
Magic Tower Lord Shin Yura checked the community post from the Masked Instructor. She muttered irritably.
"Tch, I can see right through your little scheme. Who the hell does this clown think he is, scheduling disciples during our talent recruitment? Everyone's obviously flocking to the Tower. Pathetic worm."
The recruitment period arrived. Magic Tower Lord Shin Yura trembled with rage at the documents in her hand. She yelled at the Vice Tower Lord.
"Did you even check these properly?!"
"Y-Yes... I double- and triple-checked."
"Don't give me that bullshit!"
-Bang!
Shin Yura kicked the desk repeatedly in fury.
-Thud!
The dropped papers listed applicants to the Magic Tower.
7
(Normally ~5,000 per year)
The Tower, which usually drew over 5,000 applicants annually, had just seven this year.