Chapter 74
Chapter 74
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 74
Chapter Title: Purge Complete in Under a Week
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"Haha, cleaned up in less than a week..."
After placing the six Leftist Faction members under the Villain Suppression Squad, Hae-jin had been systematically taking down villains based on the data reported by Team Leader Park Jong-pal.
But then.
In less than a week since starting that effort, Hae-jin had wiped out all the villains in South Korea.
The remark just now was Team Leader Park Jong-pal's admiration for Hae-jin after he'd caught the very last villain.
It was an exclamation born of sheer astonishment at how absurdly fast it had happened.
There had been so many villains documented that it was expected to take several months to deal with them all.
Yet Hae-jin had killed those who needed killing, reformed those who could be redeemed, and cleared out every villain in South Korea in under a full week.
In truth, the actual time he'd spent sweeping them away was less than four days.
The extra time came from confirming everything was truly handled and exchanging reports with the government so Park Jong-pal could secure proper support for the squad.
Hae-jin spoke to Park Jong-pal, who was marveling at the completion.
"Well, it was quick. Anyway, until new villains pop up, you can use the squad for general crime suppression or monitoring the ones already imprisoned."
"Yes, that makes sense."
With that, it was fair to say Hae-jin had resolved nearly everything he needed to do for the Villain Suppression Squad.
Having settled domestic matters to a satisfactory degree, Hae-jin laid out the squad's direction until new villains emerged.
With no need to work alongside the squad members for a while, Hae-jin addressed them as they gathered.
"You all heard my talk with Team Leader Park just now. From here on, you'll be working with the police on crime suppression or guarding imprisoned villains. Any objections?"
Everyone Hae-jin was looking at wore the same uniform.
A black outfit resembling a military officer's uniform.
Since the squad consisted of reformable villains, his own party members, Park Jong-pal's team, and others, Hae-jin emphasized a sense of belonging.
To foster that, he'd had Park Jong-pal create the squad uniform, and he'd instructed them to salute with a Taegukgi gesture whenever responding to him as leader.
When Hae-jin just now asked about objections, the squad members responded in unison with the same posture.
"None!"
"Good. Now move out under Team Leader Park's orders."
"Reform!"
"..."
Park Jong-pal, watching from the side, was left speechless by the squad's response.
*'How did this squad's motto end up as 'Reform'...?'*
He'd gone to the Ministry of National Defense to get these sharp uniforms made and had them wear them, only for the squad's motto to be 'Reform'.
It couldn't be helped, though.
Hae-jin had turned the redeemable villains into squad members through human augmentation.
So, naturally, their motto became 'Reform'.
In any case, Hae-jin fully handed the squad over to Park Jong-pal and disbanded them.
Afterward, Hae-jin went with Manager Kim to meet CEO Kim Min-su.
He'd said there was no need to report to Kim Min-su, but the CEO had been giving him daily updates anyway.
Of course, Hae-jin had told him each time that he was busy with squad matters and would contact him once they wrapped up...
Now that squad business was done, it was time to catch up on the deferred reports.
*
"You're here."
CEO Kim Min-su welcomed Hae-jin and Manager Kim.
He'd seen them arrive via Shadow Blink right in front of him, but by now he was used to it and greeted them casually.
Hae-jin spoke to the welcoming CEO.
"Shall we get straight to it?"
"Yes, sounds good. I've prepared tea already—have a seat first?"
"Sure."
The three sat on the sofa and received Kim Min-su's report.
"VR game commercialization is possible as early as next month?"
"Yes. Just as you said, Hae-jin, running tests with awakened Players ironed out all the unstable parts in no time."
"But you know we can't just launch the game alone, right?"
"We're already producing web novels, webtoons, and web dramas to go with it. We've got top names from each industry, so they'll be high-quality and fast-tracked."
"Good."
Hae-jin planned to link the VR game from Chocolate Games with every affiliated company he could.
Maximizing profits through those synergies made sense.
The VR game itself could launch next month, but since everything needed to drop together, they'd delay it.
While on the topic, Hae-jin brought up the metaverse project he'd received from CEO Isla Mist.
"How's the metaverse management going?"
"We're transitioning the Korean branch to HQ and hiring staff. We've assembled a promo team to market it across all our companies."
"Nice."
"Speaking of the metaverse, there's something I need to tell you."
"What is it?"
"We hired someone for a manager position there..."
CEO Kim Min-su looked awkward as he spoke.
Hae-jin tilted his head at the reaction.
"Hired who?"
"Her name's 'Aillet Mist'."
"Aillet Mist?"
"Yes."
"Isn't that Isla Mist's daughter?"
"Seems like it."
Hae-jin murmured at Kim Min-su's words.
"So she moved here for that..."
"Pardon? Moved?"
"Oh, long story. Anyway, she's an employee, right?"
"Yes."
"Then squeeze her for more than her salary's worth. No special treatment just because she's CEO Isla Mist's daughter."
"Pardon?"
Kim Min-su feigned surprise at Hae-jin's firm stance on Aillet Mist.
Seeing he didn't get it, Hae-jin explained again.
"Isn't that what salaries are for—getting more value out of them?"
"Well, sure..."
It was irrefutable.
The reason CEOs pay salaries is exactly what Hae-jin said: to generate more revenue than the pay.
Hae-jin drove the point home to the speechless Kim Min-su.
"If Aillet Mist doesn't earn her keep, fire her on the spot. Got it?"
"...Understood."
After all, Hae-jin was Kim Min-su's boss.
No matter that Aillet Mist was the daughter of the world's richest person, CEO Isla Mist—he had to follow Hae-jin's orders.
With the report sufficiently covered, Hae-jin figured it was time to wrap up.
"No more reports, then?"
"Yes, that's everything we'd backed up."
"Got it. Update me on new issues as they arise."
"So the squad matters are sorted now?"
"Unless new villains show up."
"Then starting tomorrow, I'll text you daily on those pending items like before."
"Yes. We're off."
"Take care."
Whoosh-!
Hae-jin and Manager Kim departed via Shadow Blink.
Left alone in his office, CEO Kim Min-su muttered.
"Hmm, fire Aillet Mist if she doesn't perform..."
Frankly, firing her might cause some waves.
She was the daughter of the world's richest man, after all.
But on second thought...
*'Our major shareholder is the world's top Player, so even CEO Isla Mist couldn't do much about it.'*
The world's top Player.
No one could deny Hae-jin's title.
He'd never once lost the number one spot across all zones in the Trials' Arena.
Thus, no one could challenge his position.
Numerous countries had tried approaching him, but the South Korean government and Player agencies had blocked them as best they could.
Not that Hae-jin had any intention of defecting even if they did.
Anyway, Kim Min-su stopped fretting over Aillet Mist and said.
"If told to fire, then fire."
*
May 31, 2030.
The day had come again when, at midnight, all Players would transfer to the sixth Trials' Arena.
As usual, Hae-jin's party members were gathered at his house.
Midnight would send them to their current zones for the sixth trial.
The youngest, Raffaello, spoke up.
"Then, hyung-nim, noona-deul, fighting for this trial too!"
"Fighting!"
Everyone cheered each other on for the trial ahead.
Then midnight passed.
[The Sixth Trial Begins.]
The message announcing the start of the sixth trial.
Hae-jin's view showed an open field with hundreds of people gathered.
Aside from the Players, there were two gates on the field.
Oval-shaped gates.
One was red, the other blue.
Seeing them, Hae-jin thought.
*'Red side's the orc faction, blue's the human faction.'*
As Hae-jin pondered, an electronic board appeared.
Content: Lead the faction you join to victory.
- Zone 33,333 Participants: 602
The Players seeing the board had varied reactions.
"Wow, down to just 600 from 10,000?"
"600..."
"Lead your faction to victory? What does that mean?"
"Are we picking factions?"
"What's that?"
"Gates. The contrasting colors scream enemy factions."
"So we pick the one that can win?"
"Yeah."
"The winning faction..."
The chattering Players fell silent together.
Join the winning faction to survive.
Inevitably, all eyes turned to one place.
Hae-jin.
The world's strongest Player, 'Hae-jin'—wherever he went would be the winning faction.
From a normal person's view, that was obvious.
Hae-jin was the world's strongest, handling everything solo.
But they didn't know.
That the faction Hae-jin chose this time wasn't the survivable winning one, but the losing one.
As all eyes fixed on him, Hae-jin thought.
*'Should I just pick one and shake off these bandwagoners?'*
Freeloaders wouldn't be joining him in the final trial anyway.
Hae-jin figured they wouldn't help in future trials either.
But he reconsidered.
*'Nah. If I pick first, they'll all swarm after me, and only first-come-first-served will get in—doesn't matter who survives.'*
In the end, Hae-jin didn't choose a faction first.
No one else did either.
Soon, the board displayed new text.
[Factions will be randomly assigned in 5 seconds.]
The Players buzzed at the board's message.
"What?! Random where?!"
Hae-jin smirked inwardly at their reactions.
*'Where? Right here.'*