Chapter 57
Chapter 57
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: penny
Chapter: 57
Chapter Title: Manager Kim Joins the Party
-----------------------------------------------------------------
"Too much, isn't it, Dad?"
Ailet Mist spoke with a dissatisfied expression.
She was currently aboard a private jet heading back to the United States with her father, Aila Mist.
And there she continued to vent her frustrations.
It was only natural that she couldn't understand it.
Truth be told, the greatest reward she could receive from her father was, obviously, being taken along herself.
But Haejin had thoroughly rejected her.
So Ailet Mist was complaining that it was too much to reject her like that, and in response, Aila Mist replied,
"You're right, it is too much."
"Right?!"
Ailet Mist thought her father was agreeing that it was too much to reject her.
But what Aila Mist meant by "too much" was,
"Do you know how much I struggled to acquire 'Metaverse,' and he just swallows it whole? Isn't that really too much?"
"What?! Dad!"
She had said it was too much not to take her along, but suddenly her father Aila Mist was calling it too much for handing over 'Metaverse,' so Ailet Mist glared at him with wide eyes.
At his daughter's reaction, Aila Mist burst into hearty laughter.
"Haha, I'm kidding. No matter what, you're more important than that."
"Tch!"
Ailet Mist pouted as if she was still sulking, even now that he said she was important.
As she gazed out the window, she thought to herself,
'Hmm?'
Haejin suddenly felt a chill run down his spine.
Even though his current stats meant he had no reason to feel ill anywhere.
Seeing Haejin's reaction, Manager Kim, who was with him, asked,
"What's wrong, 'Leader'?"
After meeting Aila Mist and seeing him off—along with sending Chairman Park Sang-yong—Haejin had asked Manager Kim to have a talk.
The two of them were sharing a simple drink of soju at a street food stall.
In any case, the most important thing for both of them was the upcoming Trials' Arena they had to survive.
No matter how much they received from Chairman Park Sang-yong in the form of Chocolate Group's subsidiaries or from Representative Aila Mist in the form of his companies, it was all over if they died.
To keep what they'd gained, they absolutely had to keep surviving in the Trials' Arena.
Especially for Manager Kim—if he died, his daughter, who wasn't yet an adult, would have to fend for herself.
So survival in the Trials' Arena was more important than anything else.
And that's when Haejin made a proposal.
He had a party, and there was one spot left.
Haejin proposed that Manager Kim take that final spot.
Manager Kim didn't need long to think about it.
Who was Park Hae-jin, the one asking him to join as a party member?
The strongest player who had never once lost the zone-wide number one spot.
Moreover, Manager Kim had seen it with his own eyes.
Haejin's absurd abilities.
From Manager Kim's perspective, there was no reason to refuse.
So he politely said he'd serve as leader from now on and accepted Haejin's proposal.
Anyone could see that teaming up with Haejin offered the highest survival rate.
And there was more to it than that.
Honestly, most players had given Haejin the moniker 'Massacre' and wondered if he was some slaughter-crazed player.
Why?
Because in the first Trials' Arena, Haejin had committed murders beyond anyone's imagination.
But now everyone knew.
That Haejin wasn't simply a slaughter-crazed player.
There were many survivors from later Trials' Arenas thanks to him, and everyone he targeted deserved death.
As a result, opinions on Haejin had shifted dramatically.
The massacre in the first Trials' Arena?
Players who had gone through multiple Trials' Arenas now saw it as the natural thing to do in the first one.
To survive, you had to kill someone.
Even if you luckily survived later ones, those who didn't show that resolve in the first would just die more painfully in the next.
So they came to think that Haejin ending them swiftly and painlessly was the right call.
Manager Kim knew these rumors about Haejin, which was why he accepted the proposal.
To Manager Kim, whom he'd called as a potential leader, Haejin said,
"No, it's nothing. Someone must be talking about me. Probably Ms. Ailet Mist."
"She's probably cursing you out on the private jet back to the U.S."
Manager Kim had seen it.
Ailet Mist's fervent pursuit of Haejin.
But Haejin had put up a perfect wall.
He had no intention of accepting her.
He'd asked for the world's largest SNS platform, Metaverse, as compensation instead.
At first, Aila Mist had looked stunned by the demand, but since Haejin had saved his one and only daughter, he handed it over.
Manager Kim still couldn't forget Ailet Mist's venomous glare back then.
But she didn't do anything to Haejin.
There was no one who could, anyway.
In any case, agreeing with Haejin that Ailet Mist was probably cursing him, Manager Kim nodded.
Haejin gave a wry smile.
"Right?"
"Yes."
"Then shall we wrap up here for today?"
"Sure."
"I'll contact you when we meet with the party members next time."
"Yes, take care! Leader!"
"Yep."
After receiving Manager Kim's exceedingly polite farewell, Haejin headed home.
A few days had passed since resolving Chairman Park Sang-yong's request.
In the meantime, Haejin had met with Representative Kim Min-su to handle various matters.
He shared what Chocolate Entertainment needed to pursue going forward, but solving Chairman Park Sang-yong's request had netted them enormous gains.
Managing it all himself would be tough for Haejin.
So, through Chairman Park Sang-yong, he arranged for Representative Kim Min-su to manage Chocolate Games and the Metaverse companies received from Representative Aila Mist entirely.
The companies Manager Kim had acquired were also handed over through Representative Kim Min-su.
Neither Haejin nor Manager Kim had any business acumen anyway.
He could offer advice on Chocolate Group companies based on what Joo-hyuk had told him, but the ones from Aila Mist were best left entirely to Kim Min-su.
Once company matters were sorted, Haejin finally gathered the party members again.
To tell them when to buy Chocolate Entertainment stock and to share detailed info on the fifth Trials' Arena.
Once everyone was gathered, Haejin introduced Manager Kim.
"This is 'Manager Kim,' who'll be joining us starting this Trials' Arena."
The first to react to Haejin's introduction was Lee Sang.
"Manager Kim... the one who ranked in the zone-wide standings in the first Trials' Arena?"
"That's right, it's him."
"Oh..."
Everyone recalled upon Lee Sang's words and showed surprised expressions at Haejin's confirmation.
It was only after the fourth Trials' Arena, after all.
So memories of the first weren't that faded.
Which was why they remembered Manager Kim.
With Manager Kim added to the party, Anna asked,
"Haejin, I have a question."
"Go ahead."
"Will we be adding any more party members?"
"No, with Manager Kim joining, that's it."
"I see."
"Anything else?"
"No, that's all."
"Then let's talk about the fifth Trials' Arena."
Afterward, Haejin explained the fifth Trials' Arena to the party members.
He had already told them they needed to enter the Tower of Trials individually and climb as high as possible to survive.
But Manager Kim didn't know the details, and he'd only given a vague sense before, so now it was time for specifics.
The Tower of Trials allowed continuous climbing.
There were no real tips.
You just had to fight well and climb.
Then Haejin shared the info everyone was curious about.
"The hidden trial for this Trials' Arena is to climb without dying even once."
"Pardon? Without dying even once?"
Lee Sang reacted to Haejin's words.
Haejin nodded.
"Yes, this Trials' Arena... um, do you know what a 'roguelike' is?"
"'Roguelike'? You mean the games where if you die, you start over from the beginning?"
"Exactly, that's the format."
Lee Sang was correct.
Roguelike games.
Games where death sends you back to the start.
No saves, truly vicious games that force a full restart.
Sometimes they added save points like campfires out of mercy for how brutal they were.
But at its core, roguelikes meant starting completely over.
Hearing that the Tower of Trials was roguelike, Lee Sang asked Haejin,
"So the Tower of Trials means if you die, you start over from floor 1?"
"Right."
"Hmm, if you die and restart from floor 1, no benefits?"
Lee Sang was curious.
Haejin had said the Tower of Trials was structured like a roguelike.
It could be called roguelike just for dying and respawning, but typically roguelikes made the protagonist stronger for future runs, allowing further progress.
So maybe there were benefits to dying, reviving, and restarting from floor 1.
At Lee Sang's spot-on prediction of the system's structure, Haejin smiled wryly.
"You're right, there are benefits. Experience points carry over."
"Even if you die and restart from floor 1, the exp you've earned so far is retained?"
"Yes."
"Then dying and reclimbing while gaining more exp could make you stronger?"
"In a situation where you can't climb higher, it would be a way to grow more. But that comes with a problem."
Haejin said that while the Tower of Trials in this Trials' Arena was roguelike, getting stronger that way had issues.
Lee Sang reacted as if he got the gist.
"Probably deducts points equal to the number of deaths."
"Exactly. You get 1,000 points for first clear of each floor, and lose 1,000 points per death. Survival is determined by the order of highest floor reached."
"If tied on floors, fewer deaths means higher survival chance."
"Right."
"Then, could you tell us how many floors we need to reach to survive this time? Ideally enough for the hidden trial reward."
Haejin had always shared the minimum benchmark for survival.
Surely he knew for this fifth Trials' Arena too.
Of course he did.
Haejin revealed the benchmark for surviving the fifth Trials' Arena.
"You need at least 24 floors. Most will get stuck at 25."