The Seeds You Sowed
While Yu Jinho was locked in a bloody struggle with the Outer Knight, a man on the opposite side of the planet was fighting his own desperate battle against a tidal wave of documents.
“Ughhh…”
William Rockefeller leaned back in his chair with a groan heavy with exhaustion.
A towering stack of papers rose on his desk like a monument. Even someone as accustomed to brutal workloads as William felt crushed beneath the sheer volume.
“Master, this is the perfect chance to switch to digital approvals.”
“That wouldn’t be elegant, Ellen.”
“You’ll only regain your senses after you’ve been buried alive in the stuff.”
Ellen poked the mountain of documents with a thoroughly fed-up expression. The stack wobbled dangerously.
“It’s collapsing!” William shrieked.
“Don’t worry.”
Ellen’s hand moved faster than the eye could track, steadying the entire pile. Not a single sheet was crumpled. The level of precision—controlling even the air currents around the papers—was exquisite. Her movements, refined through hard-won achievements, carried an almost graceful beauty.
“Isn’t that a waste of talent?”
“My goodness. Instead of celebrating a guild member’s growth, you choose to complain.”
“Weren’t you the one who nearly knocked it over in the first place?”
“Hohoho. You just looked a little lethargic, so I thought I’d inject some tension.”
“If I get any more lethargic than this, we’ll have a serious problem.”
William stretched his arms wide.
“I’d love to know what that damned business partner of mine is stirring up this time.”
“That’s unlike you, Master. Resorting to profanity?”
“Who do you think is responsible for all of this?”
William gestured at the mountain of documents. As Guild Master of Gold Moon, CEO, and a director of the Rockefeller Foundation, every paper that required his personal seal dealt with matters of massive importance. It was unprecedented for so many critical issues to pile up at once.
“You’ve always said you enjoy having plenty of work.”
“There are limits.”
William growled under his breath.
“Constructing a worldwide player cooperative training system in partnership with the EPU, expanding the European branch… every single one of these requires my direct handling.”
Maintaining and improving existing systems wouldn’t demand this level of personal attention. But the tasks Jinho had thrown at him required rebuilding entire frameworks from scratch.
It had been roughly a year since the first Great Erosion. To some that might feel like a long time. To others, painfully short.
“What’s your position on it, Master?”
“Both.”
It was too short a period to properly build a new system. Yet it was more than enough time to read the rapidly shifting global landscape and redirect the flow of capital. On top of that, the work Jinho kept bringing in could only function after creating entirely new systems that had never existed before.
“It’s only possible because it’s you, Master.”
“True. If it weren’t for me, several people would’ve crossed the Jordan by now.”
Having studied imperial governance and economic currents since childhood, and after fiercely competing against countless siblings to claim the position of Rockefeller Foundation crown prince, William was a truly exceptional robber noble.
Even for a man like him, the intensity of this workload was staggering.
“That bastard should experience this himself someday.”
For the first time in a while, a satisfied smile crept across William’s face as he handed over a single document.
GLOBAL PLAYER COOPERATIVE TRAINING PROJECT (PT)
Ellen let out a soft “Oh” as she read the title.
“It’s finally launching.”
“Once this document is submitted, the UN will grant official approval.”
The core points of the PT project could be summarized as follows:
• Plan joint training for players from around the world
• Host: Yeokcheon Guild
• Participation requirement: Platinum rank or higher
• Selection of participants: At the sole discretion of Yeokcheon Guild Master Yu Jinho
• Selected participants will receive eased entry and exit restrictions
• In the event of a disaster-grade Break during training, participants must deploy to the affected nation
“In exchange for making them stronger, they’re being asked to join the UN peacekeeping force,” Ellen observed.
“Technically it’s limited to erosion incidents.”
“The number of applicants is going to be insane.”
Ellen whistled lightly.
The Great Collapse in France. The recent tour of Europe. Thanks to those two events, Jinho’s reputation had reached its absolute peak. And that wasn’t all—every player he had personally selected had reached Diamond rank despite relatively short awakening careers. While they still fell slightly short of the world’s absolute top tier, they possessed strength that could confidently be called the best in any single nation.
“Everyone knows it’s all thanks to Mr. Yu—sorry, thanks to Jinho.”
Even Ellen and the Golden Circle team had realized their own shortcomings after sparring with him. It was as if he already knew the ideal path they should walk. He constantly stimulated them during training, drawing out their potential for growth. The only downside was that his methods were a little… no, extremely rough.
William let out a short sigh. “If the chance comes, I’d like to receive his guidance too.”
“When you’re this busy?”
“Damn it.”
William’s rank was Gold. His skill wasn’t the problem. The issue was that guild work left him no time to climb the Tower.
“Once I get through this pile, things should calm down a bit. Maybe then I can at least attend the training…”
“That’s the tenth time you’ve said that.”
“I thought it was fifteen. Guess it was less than I remembered.”
“You have talent too, Master. Once you set your mind to it, you should really train properly.”
“Thanks, even if you’re just saying that.”
“Hey. Do I look like the kind of person who gives empty compliments?”
Ellen grumbled as if genuinely offended.
“No, I suppose not.”
“You should talk to Jinho about it sometime.”
“Rather than that, he needs to stop dumping so much work on me if I’m ever going to have any free time.”
William tried not to frown.
The worldwide player joint training program—commonly known as PT—faced growing pains even before its official UN launch due to the flood of applicants.
“Why are there so many applicants?”
Just reading through the files containing names, nationalities, ranks, and specialties took an eternity. And why were there hundreds of them when the minimum requirement was Platinum rank? This wasn’t even the official program yet—just a trial group!
The mastermind behind this chaos was undoubtedly that wicked robber noble’s descendant, William Rockefeller.
That Rockefeller bastard!
“Are they not all seeds that you have sown, my partner?”
“Please don’t lecture me while stuffing your face with potato chips.”
Some people are so busy they can’t even take a proper bite of food. It must be nice to sit there munching snacks with such a relaxed mind.
“Who are you blaming? Consider it your own karma.”
“I’d love to help, but I don’t know anything, so there’s nothing I can do. Ah, what a shame~”
Grind.
Jiyoung-ah. You’ve really hit the jackpot today.
“I understand how you feel. Fortunately, there’s something you can help with.”
“Y-yes?”
“We need to create the training curriculum.”
“This ignorant Jiyoung doesn’t know anything about that~”
Where did that cutesy lisping voice come from?
When he released a wave of genuine killing intent, a small “Hiiik!” escaped her.
“Go help Analyst Thomas.”
“Eeeeh? For real?”
“Should I ask you to do it for fake, then?”
Jiyoung was the first player he had trained after his regression—his very first disciple. She was also the guild member he had worked the hardest, or rather, trained the most rigorously. It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say she understood his style better than anyone.
“Disciple Number One!”
“If it’s too much for you, I suppose I have no choice. I’ll ask Ping Lei instead…”
“I really, really want to be the one to create the training curriculum!”
Jiyoung’s face suddenly filled his vision, her expression declaring that no objections would be tolerated.
“Good. Do your best.”
“Yesssss!”
He watched Jiyoung march out like a triumphant general before turning his gaze back to the documents.
“You’re wicked.”
“What? Why?”
“You knew they were like cats and dogs, yet you deliberately pitted them against each other in competition. Didn’t you?”
“I simply encouraged healthy motivation.”
Anyone listening would think I’d ordered something terrible.
Nyx rested her chin on her right hand and let out a soft “Hmph.”
“If you say so.”
“At least clean up the mess you left after eating.”
There wasn’t a single spot on the table or sofa that hadn’t been sprinkled with potato chip crumbs.
At his sharp remark, Nyx flicked her finger. A portion of her clothing unraveled like black smoke and sucked up every last crumb. It was only possible because the garment was woven from Polar Night. Even though Jinho used Polar Night himself, he couldn’t manipulate it with such delicate precision.
“Yet you’ve been deep in thought for quite a while.”
“I’m squeezing out old memories.”
Worldwide player… ah, too long. From now on, let’s just call it PT.
A training program on this scale had never existed in his previous life. During the first Great Erosion, players rarely crossed national borders to cooperate proactively.
“Why is that?”
“Because of national pride and power struggles between player organizations.”
“Even with the fate of the world at stake, they still engaged in such foolishness?”
“It took a very long time for humanity to become one.”
In the era of destruction—or the third Great Erosion, as it was also called—humanity had still failed to unite. They only barely joined forces when defeat seemed all but certain.
“How truly foolish.”
“Indeed.”
Nyx popped the last potato chip into her mouth. The snack crumbled between her teeth. After a brief silence, she spoke slowly.
“Do you truly believe the Constellations are any different?”
“Who knows.”
“Think of the Titanomachy.”
The great war between the Olympian gods and the Titan gods. Even the Titans had failed to unite their power and hearts completely.
“Being a Constellation does not guarantee wisdom or rationality.”
“Well… that’s true.”
“To this one, the Titan gods and the children of Earth look much the same.”
Was she telling him not to blame or resent humanity for its foolishness?
Somehow, he had received comfort again.
“Thank you.”
“This one is not finished yet.”
Hm?
“In this one’s eyes, the other Constellations are no different. Therefore, do not seek a hidden mastermind.”
“That conclusion feels a bit strange.”
A short chuckle escaped him.
He really could never let his guard down around her.
The goddess approached and glanced at the documents.
“Are you searching for promising talents with high potential?”
“Half correct.”
The other half? He was remembering the people he needed to filter out. It would be troublesome to nurture someone with a rotten core like Ping Lei without first reforming them.
“So that is why you are reviewing memories from before your regression.”
“But nothing’s coming to mind right away.”
It wasn’t as if he had a criminal database stored in his head. He remembered the big names like Ping Lei or Antonio, but he couldn’t recall every small-time crook who threw their weight around in their own countries.
“I can’t check the backgrounds of everyone who has something to hide.”
Creating an administrative system that never existed in his previous life meant countless factors to consider.
“Why not ask the child who controls puppets?”
The Black Network. Not a bad idea. He had been stuck focusing only on his pre-regression knowledge. Gold Moon was one thing, but when it came to background investigations, the Black Network was on another level.
“Oh. Thank you for the advice.”
“But will that be wise? It seems the Constellations will take even greater interest in you.”
“That’s exactly what I want.”
“Will you not be plagued by even more troublesome matters?”
“Like this time?”
The existence of the Outer Knight, who could randomly steal abilities. Several sniper elements were hidden in the upper floors of the Tower. There was no guarantee it wouldn’t happen again. The Old Gods might incite it. A Constellation harboring malice, like Zeus, might intervene. Or a chaos-loving troublemaker like Loki might target him.
“I’d welcome it.”
What doesn’t kill me makes me stronger.
Nietzsche’s famous words.
Trials? Bring them on.
The more the Constellations intervened and raised the difficulty, the greater the rewards would become. He had already tasted frustration and defeat to the point of nausea in his previous life. In this life, he had no intention of tasting that bitterness again.
“The harsher the trial, the greater the reward.”
“Hehe. That is exactly why you are this one’s contractor.”
A smile bloomed on Nyx’s lips.