Chapter 151: 2nd Semester (5)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 151: 2nd Semester (5)
A subsidiary of the Glory Group.
The number one guild, not just in South Korea, but in the entire world.
Maengju.
In the office of Maengju, on the top floor of its headquarters.
The man who should have been the master of the room was not sitting in his own chair.
He stood to one side, watching a young girl—his niece, Kang A-rin—who was seated at his massive desk.
The top student of Gaon Academy’s first year and the sole heir to the Glory Group.
Kang Yun-hyeok, the Guild Leader of Maengju, couldn’t help but feel a surge of pride as he looked at her.
Even after her brother’s death, Kang A-rin had not broken. She had persevered and risen again.
Though young, she already exuded the dignity and composure befitting the next head of the Glory Group and the future master of the guild.
He had brought her a piece of news he knew she would be pleased to hear.
“A-rin.”
“Yes, Uncle.”
“I heard the Pentagon has temporarily suspended its research on the Fragments.”
At his words, Kang A-rin’s eyes, which always maintained a perfect poker face, widened for a moment.
She shot up from her seat.
“Really?”
“Yes. They discovered an uncontrollable variable and have decided to re-examine all their data.”
Smiling brightly, Kang A-rin sat back down.
Does this mean my turn has finally come?
Lately, her life had been incredibly busy, dealing with the Pentagon’s Fragment problem on the external front and the succession of the family business internally.
But she couldn't afford to be idle, as these were all things that needed to be handled now to avoid complications later.
For Kang A-rin, the news of the Pentagon halting its research was the best she could have hoped for.
“Time to make some plans~” she whispered to herself, a satisfied smile on her face.
Just then, the secretary spoke through the intercom.
“Guild Leader, Sub-Guild Master, Frontline has arrived.”
Frontline.
One of the external affairs that had been keeping Kang A-rin so busy recently.
She instantly wiped the joyful expression from her face, crossed her legs, and reverted to the cool-headed demeanor of an heir.
The heavy office door swung open, and a group of people entered.
They were dressed in casual clothes, but the look in their eyes and the aura they emanated proved they were anything but ordinary.
And at their lead was a woman.
A woman with sharp, jet-black hair cut in a bob, which contrasted with her calm, gentle eyes.
It was Yu Serin, the former leader of the Lotus Guild’s 1st Team.
But Kang A-rin, who had faced Yu Serin directly during the final exams, knew the truth.
She knew how those seemingly gentle eyes could turn predatory the moment a battle began.
Kang A-rin slowly turned her head to meet Yu Serin’s gaze.
“Leaving Lotus was an excellent choice,” she said softly, as if stating an obvious fact.
“Is that so?”
Yu Serin replied with an unflappable smile.
“Of course.”
A-rin rose from her chair and walked slowly toward Serin.
“And coming to Maengju… was an even better one.”
She stopped directly in front of Yu Serin.
Kang A-rin’s red eyes pierced through Yu Serin’s black ones.
As she spoke, she turned on a hologram panel, displaying Maengju’s organizational chart.
“As you know, our guild has two core teams. Vanguard Glory and the 2nd Team, Maengho. Both have been with us since the guild’s founding and are teams of immense skill and pride.”
She looked at Yu Serin and continued.
“Considering your skills… well, you could certainly aim for their positions, but given the potential backlash from existing members and the organizational hierarchy, trying to surpass them right now would be a delicate issue.”
Kang A-rin’s explanation was reasonable.
No matter how skilled a core team from another guild was, it wouldn’t look good for newcomers to suddenly push out the established members.
Yu Serin and the rest of Frontline nodded calmly.
“That said, assigning Frontline a number like ‘3’ wouldn’t be right, either.”
Yu Serin quietly waited for Kang A-rin’s next words.
A-rin smiled with satisfaction and created a new organizational chart on the panel.
“So, I’ve created a new position.”
Next to the 1st Team, Glory, at the very top of the chart, a new team name appeared.
“A separate unit, completely detached from the existing 1st and 2nd team structure. You could call it Team 0. Team Zero… In other words,”
Yu Serin’s eyes widened for a fraction of a second.
This was an unprecedented offer.
A direct unit, untangled from the guild’s internal politics and administration.
It was tantamount to placing them at the very heart of the guild.
“Phantom,” Kang A-rin said.
“You are Phantom.”
A faint smile spread across Yu Serin’s cool lips.
“I like it.”
She bowed her head, showing respect to her new master.
“We’re in your care, Sub-Guild Master.”
At last, a gentle smile graced Kang A-rin’s face. She approached Yu Serin and extended her hand.
“Welcome, Team Leader Yu Serin. And welcome, Frontline.”
The hands of the two queens met.
*
And, at that very same moment.
The Lotus Guild headquarters.
CRASH!
In the office of Lee Do-kyeom, the Guild Leader of Lotus.
The ashtray he had thrown shattered an expensive hologram panel.
“That fucking bitch…!”
On the cracked hologram before him, a news article was displayed.
[BREAKING: Former Lotus Guild 1st Team, Frontline, has completed their transfer to the Maengju Guild as of today.]
“YU SERIN!!!”
If she had just stayed quiet, like a mouse, he wouldn’t have killed her.
He knew her ambition, her ultimate goal, was to stand at the top of Lotus.
Because of that, Lee Do-kyeom had thought she would never leave the guild.
But he was wrong.
Citing the end of her contract, Yu Serin had declared herself a free agent and walked out.
And she had taken her entire team, Frontline, with her.
Lee Do-kyeom’s furious roar echoed throughout the building.
Yu Serin and Frontline, who had been the very symbols of the guild.
They had defected to their most powerful rival, Maengju.
SLAM!
The office door burst open.
“Guild Leader…! The stock prices are plummeting along with the news!”
The secretary rushed in, his face on the verge of tears.
The tablet in his hand clearly displayed the nosediving stock graph of the Lotus Group.
The stock had already been in freefall since Frontline’s departure.
Just when you think you’ve hit rock bottom, you find a basement.
The saying was true.
“Get out! Get the hell out now!”
Lee Do-kyeom screamed, having lost all reason.
The withering of the lotus…
…was only just beginning.
*
“So she went to Maengju.”
I was lying on the plush bed of my penthouse, watching the giant hologram TV that took up an entire wall.
The penthouse even had a TV.
What a relief not to have to crane my neck to look at my watch.
On the screen, flashy captions announced the breaking news as the anchor’s voice flowed out.
[The Lotus Guild’s 1st Team, Frontline, has announced a shocking transfer to their rival, Maengju! In response, the Lotus Group’s stock has…]
Serves them right.
“What a sight,” I muttered with a dry laugh.
With this, Lotus was effectively on life support.
The departure of Frontline, the guild’s symbol and its sharpest sword, was more than just a simple loss of combat power.
Of course, Lee Do-kyeom, the Guild Leader of Lotus, was no ordinary madman.
If anything, I needed to watch him more closely from now on.
He might… just might, thinking he has nothing left to lose, go for a last-ditch, desperate move.
The truly terrifying part was that I couldn’t rule out the possibility of him joining hands with the Mines and selling out the entire guild.
Ding.
A message arrived on my watch.
Assuming it was Cheon Yeo-wool, I opened it.
But the sender wasn’t someone I knew.
[SERIN]: Hae-in! What are you up to?
Serin.
Yu Serin.
I sat up reflexively.
[belief_]: How did you get my contact info?
[SERIN]: I squeezed it out of the Sub-Guild Master~
I doubted Kang A-rin would have just given it to her.
[belief_]: I don't think so.
[SERIN]: I actually hacked it..
Hacking the system on her first day.
What a way to start.
[SERIN]: Anyway, can you come out now?
[belief_]: Where to?
Then, my watch started ringing.
“Ugh, my eyes hurt from texting,” she said, her voice tinged with a slight drunkenness.
“The Hall of No-Self, you know it? Come here! Right now!”
The Hall of No-Self.
A small observatory on the roof of the Main Building, with a panoramic view of the entire Gaon campus.
It was a famous night-view spot for Gaon students.
Click.
The call ended.
Outsiders are strictly forbidden from entering Gaon.
But Yu Serin was an exception.
She was a master of stealth, after all.
I clicked my tongue softly and got up.
Cutting through the night air, I headed for our meeting place, the Hall of No-Self.
A cool night breeze and a stunning, open view of Gaon at night greeted me.
A woman was sitting on a bench there.
Jet-black bobbed hair, a neat, form-fitting blouse.
It was Yu Serin.
She held a can of beer in her hand.
The problem was the three or four crushed cans already lying next to her.
Fittingly, her face was flushed red.
As I approached, she spotted me and waved with a silly grin.
“You’re here! Hehe. Have a seat!”
Her voice was even more slurred than on the phone.
Did she get drunker in that short time?
I sat down carefully beside her.
A mixture of alcohol and her unique scent wafted from her.
“It’s pretty, isn’t it?” Yu Serin said, looking out at the night view.
I said nothing, simply gazing at the city lights with her.
A few minutes passed.
She leaned toward me and spoke, as if confiding a secret.
“You know? I… I spent my whole life at Lotus. My youth, my time, I gave it all for Lotus…”
She sniffled and continued.
“But now that I’m out… and at Maengju, it feels so… strange? I guess you could call it that…. It makes me wonder what it was I was trying to protect….”
“I don’t regret it, though. If I’d stayed under that bastard any longer, I might have killed him myself. But still… still, it’s just a little….”
She couldn’t finish her sentence and hung her head low. I said nothing and just patted her on the shoulder.
Yu Serin’s shoulders shook for a moment before she lifted her head, her wet eyes looking straight at me.
“You’re going to take responsibility, right, Hae-in?”
“…Me?”
“Heehee, just kidding.”
As if something had been lifted from her heart, she laughed awkwardly and stretched her arms out wide.
It was obvious she was forcing herself to act okay.
“I just… needed someone to talk to…. You only showed me the way, Hae-in. I was the one who chose to walk it. I won’t ask you to take responsibility.”
She seemed to be trying to pull herself together as she spoke.
Watching her, I opened my mouth and said softly, “Call me anytime.”
I met her eyes and gave a small smile.
After all, I had plenty of time to listen and offer words to the Yu Serin who had broken free from her destiny.
At my words, she paused for a moment, then smiled brightly once more.
“I will!”
This time, it was a genuine smile, different from the one before.