Chapter 57
Chapter 57
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: penny
Chapter: 57
Chapter Title: Turning Misfortune into Fortune, Checks and Partners
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Turning misfortune into fortune.
Anger becomes a blessing. Turn crisis into opportunity.
Last week's gate incident had dealt quite a blow to White Night.
An A+ rank gate, no less.
Anyone could see it was a definite financial loss.
But precisely because of that, White Night's stock—and Molrang Mall's stock—shot up sharply.
[White Night Guild's sound judgment averts major disaster... What exactly caused the collapse?]
[Gate disaster averted with the help of adorable magical beasts. Can humans coexist with monsters?]
[Interest surges in White Night's ally, the owner of Molrang Mall, sparking heated debates about their identity...]
The scene of Guild Master Joo Ha-neul leading the perfect rescue of all missing persons was broadcast worldwide.
My mini golems, Snow White, and even Molrang Tex were clearly caught on camera.
And it had been decades since the last gate incident like this?
On top of that, the guild master herself had jumped into the rescue, abandoning any hope of saving the gate?
People love a straightforward hero story like this. It was more than enough to grab the world's attention.
"Heh heh heh..."
[Regular Customer Gallery Rankings Surge (1 Week)]
[1st: White Night (+35,655 members)]
[2nd: Molrang Mall (+21,131 members)]
Thanks to that, an overwhelming wave of virality began to spread.
Beyond Korea, hunters from all over the country started becoming Molrang Mall regulars!
Thus, White Night and Molrang Mall ascended to the status of beloved companies by all.
Like scoring one massive haymaker.
It would be a huge help in expanding business going forward. As long as no more incidents cropped up.
But!
We absolutely couldn't just settle for this.
Sure, we'd turned crisis into opportunity, but that didn't erase the damage we'd suffered, did it?
"Outrageous... Utterly outrageous...!"
Punishment was needed.
Severe punishment for those who caused the gate collapse!
Daring to touch my business partner? They deserved a spicy taste of retribution.
Tap tap tap.
[WantToRaiseADragon: Any progress on the investigation?]
Ding!
[White Night: They're still clamming up for now. Claiming it was personal deviation... They probably think confessing will make things blow up bigger.]
[WantToRaiseADragon: What about punishment?]
[White Night: Life sentences for both, most likely. It's being treated as a terrorist act.]
[WantToRaiseADragon: So we can't trace the backers that way?]
[White Night: No solid proof if they don't confess.]
What? Facing life sentences and they still won't confess?
What's scarier than life in prison?
Well, maybe they think confessing means losing their heads?
Ding!
[White Night: But it's not like there's zero evidence.]
[WantToRaiseADragon: Oh?]
[White Night: For starters, both were part of a specific mercenary group until three months ago.]
Mercenary group...
Probably a band of Awakeners. I'd heard they got hired a lot for wars and special ops.
[White Night: And that mercenary group was joined to a certain association.]
[White Night: Looks like that association had a mercenary contract with Hwaryeon.]
[White Night: Of course, we couldn't confirm any official contract. It's just circumstantial evidence of them working together.]
[WantToRaiseADragon: Oh...]
So, something like that, huh?
Sub-subcontractor vibes. Planning to cut them loose like a lizard's tail?
[White Night: Additionally, both have been steadily entering gates owned by our White Night for the past three months.]
[White Night: Probably... extracting mana the whole time... but not certain.]
[WantToRaiseADragon: But they weren't with the mercenary group anymore by then, right?]
[White Night: Right. They were likely cut loose in advance. Just in case issues arose.]
Hm. Frustrating situation.
So without a confession, it's hard to pin it down definitively?
[WantToRaiseADragon: Just one question.]
[White Night: Sure. Ask away.]
[WantToRaiseADragon: What % chance do you give that Hwaryeon is behind it?]
Ding!
[White Night: 100%.]
[White Night: Evidence is thin for now... but we'll gather it up and stab them with it. Hwaryeon's been up to no good for ages.]
Ooh. Fiery.
[WantToRaiseADragon: Do other guilds hate Hwaryeon like that too?]
[White Night: Hard to say... A lot of guilds have business deals with them, so they won't step up directly.]
[White Night: Us? We never had reason to contract with them since we couldn't manage anyway lol]
[WantToRaiseADragon: Ah]
Right. They mentioned purging the management last time?
In a way, it was a blessing those execs were incompetent?
The fools didn't contract with Hwaryeon, and now they'd swept them all out...
Total win-win!
Tap tap tap.
[WantToRaiseADragon: So you think Hwaryeon is behind it?]
[White Night: Pretty much?]
[WantToRaiseADragon: They're utterly vile scum!]
[White Night: (laughing cat emoticon)]
Okay.
Backers identified.
Now it was time to give them a good knuckle rap.
Perfect timing, since it was Hwaryeon.
Likely the guild most aggressively reverse-engineering Molrangtori.
Rumors had even swirled that they'd succeeded in developing a degraded Molrangtori.
Thinking about it, those rumors started right after I unveiled the Slime Circus to everyone.
Yeah, that fits the puzzle perfectly.
Degraded Molrangtori development.
For that, they absolutely needed Pudding Slime fusion.
For fusion, mana assimilation was key.
And conveniently, the Molrangtori creator was partners with White Night?
They'd naturally assume Pudding Slimes came from White Night's gates...
'So they stole the gate's mana?'
Maybe they thought using mana from the gate where the slimes were born would help with fusion.
Anyway.
Tap tap!
I logged into Hwaryeon's official gallery first.
Know your enemy, win every battle. Time to learn about Hwaryeon.
"...What’s with all this?"
As expected of a guild chasing monopoly, they had a filthy amount of products for sale.
And one other peculiar thing.
"...Yeonhwa Palace Tour?"
You could peek inside Yeonhwa Palace—Hwaryeon's skyscraper—via the internet.
They even had a program opening the interior to the public once a month under the "Yeonhwa Palace Tour" theme.
'They're dead serious about image marketing.'
Had to be.
Especially for a guild selling tons of stuff.
Just like how people see "Made in China" and think "cheap knockoff."
Image control was crucial for Hwaryeon with their vast product lineup.
"They even expose this?"
From the guild master's office on the top floor to the underground labs.
You could tour quite a bit online.
So arrogant.
Though they had the confidence for it.
Even if some baddie tried terrorizing the guild master's office, she wouldn't bat an eye.
S-rank hunter, after all.
Not to mention sniping the top of Korea's tallest building was insanely tough.
"...How should I handle this."
Just summon a massive monster and ram Yeonhwa Palace till it crumbles?
"Nah, too much."
Tempting as it was, not feasible in reality.
Not every member of an evil corp was bad.
Plenty of pitiful wage slaves grinding like cogwheels, surely.
Didn't want to hurt them physically or anything.
Which made it trickier.
"Ugh...! What to do...?"
**
"............Whoa."
Rooooooar!
A massive blood lump bellowed hugely across Seoul's sky.
I'd been too busy lately and forgotten, but dawn today was Magic Day.
Normally I'd exhaust all mana before bed and avoid issues...
Rooooooar!
"Still ugly as ever, even after so long..."
Last night, I'd pondered revenge on Hwaryeon till I passed out.
Anyway, couldn't leave it like this.
Snap!
I flicked my fingers to dispel the summon.
Rooooooar!
"...Huh?"
Instead of vanishing, it started moving somewhere.
To be precise, its form was gradually fading.
But like death throes, it seemed intent on fulfilling the desires embodied within me—through itself.
Insisting it'd be fine, urging me to trust it via the red thread.
Boom boom crash!
It devoured Yeonhwa Palace's rooftop and top floor clean, like hacking into hard ice cream.
"...Ooh."
Hum!
Its message came through the thread again.
No people eaten, it said.
Just gulped down the tasteless steel beams.
With that, after polishing everything off.
..........
It melted cleanly into the bright blue sky and vanished.
Thorough worker.
"...Good boy."
I gave it a thumbs-up for fulfilling its duty, then headed back to the rooftop room.
Cathartic, but couldn't end it there, right?
Hwaryeon would keep competing and checking me hard from now on.
So I'd start checking them back, bit by bit.
And while at it, bolster White Night some.
**
[Special Announcement!][Author: WantToRaiseADragon]
I have some unavoidable sad news for you all......
From now on, we will not sell Molrang Mall products to hunters affiliated with Hwaryeon.
Various adult circumstances prevent me from explaining fully......
Anyway, yes. We'll stick to this policy going forward.
But! No need to be too disheartened.
Leave Hwaryeon, and you can buy without issue afterward.
And additionally!!!(This is the real important part!)
From now on, all White Night hunters get 10% off every Molrang Mall item.
Plus, for the upcoming Molrang Mall membership service, extra points accrual for White Night hunters.
I ask all you hunters for your boundless love toward my partner, White Night.
Thanks always. Weather's nice today. Have a great day!
-Fuck lololol
-Hwaryeon those dog bastards piss me off so much
└? Bullshit no
└What's bullshit. Everyone knows their bullshit antics, it's straight facts
└They pay well tho...
└Just fuck off
-White Night hiring notice when?
└Heard official recruitment next week
└But I'm D-rank, think White Night hires me...?
└Word is they're hiring more Awakeners than non-Awakeners lately? Not sure
-From now on I am one with White Night, White Night's enemy is mine, all who attack White Night
└You fuck, use some spaces
-Was that really the same lame-ass White Night...? My chest swells with pride