Gangryong Guild's Hidden Intentions (3)

"So you're saying my mother's soul has been materialized?"

"That's right."

"How is that even possible?"

Once we were inside the house, Kang Chan-seong stared at the woman standing in front of him, his face still unable to accept that she was truly his mother.

We couldn't quite wrap our heads around it either, to be honest. Think about it. A dead person appearing again as a living human being — did that even make sense? And yet there she was, right before our eyes. A person who had died, standing there in the flesh.

"It's all thanks to me, of course."

The fact that we could see ghosts at all was thanks to Misook — our noona who'd awakened as a Shaman. She could materialize spirits, she ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠told us, and even share whatever they saw and heard. There were plenty of limitations, of course. The number of ghosts she could actually perceive wasn't large. She claimed that once upon a time she'd been able to see every spirit there was, though I had no way of knowing if that was true. What I did know was this: ever since the Calamity began and she'd gained the Shaman class, only five ghosts had been visible to her. And among those five, by sheer coincidence, was Kang Chan-seong's mother.

"Is it really you, Mom?"

"Yes, Chan-seong. Seeing you like this... I have nothing left to regret."

Chan-seong's mother pulled him into a fierce embrace and wept for a long, long time. She had been killed by a monster after the Calamity began. Even in death, worry for her son had kept her from passing on, and she had lingered near him ever since.

"Mom!"

Tears spilled from Kang Chan-seong's eyes the instant he saw her face.

After that tearful reunion between mother and son, we gradually steered the conversation toward the reason we'd come.

"I think you already have a pretty good idea why we're here."

"...The Gangryong Guild, right?"

"That's right. Why won't this guild just disappear?"

Kang Chan-seong seemed to wrestle with whether to answer or not. But his mother was right there beside him, gripping his hand tightly, her eyes telling him that if he'd done something wrong, he needed to come clean. Faced with that look, he seemed to make up his mind.

"You know Geum Bit-na-ra, don't you?"

"...So Geum Bit-na-ra is involved after all."

"Yes. I don't know her exact intentions either. But the reason this guild can't be disbanded is because of an item she gave me."

"An item?"

According to Kang Chan-seong, Geum Bit-na-ra had ordered him to transfer the guild to me — and once he had, she'd activated an item that locked it in place.

"Why the hell would she make you give it to me?"

"I don't know. But there's one more thing. The people currently in the guild are all bound by Geum Bit-na-ra's Temptation Contract."

"Temptation Contract?"

"Yes."

"What the hell is that?"

I'd seen plenty of Geum Bit-na-ra's skills in the Tower of Death, but the Temptation Contract was completely new to me.

"Ah. The Temptation Contract is..."

At my question, Kang Chan-seong began to explain.

"They become a Slave of Temptation?"

"Yes. And I was bound by that contract as well."

"So the entrance conditions for that shelter, and handing the guild over to me — Geum Bit-na-ra ordered all of it?"

"That's right. If I didn't obey, I would have become a slave. You've seen Kim Ha-jin, haven't you?"

Kim Ha-jin. Geum Bit-na-ra's right-hand man. According to Kang Chan-seong, after being bound by her Temptation Contract, Kim Ha-jin had fallen and become a Slave of Temptation.

"If the others in the guild are bound by it too, that means she's planning to make them do something..."

"Yes, I think so too. She just hasn't given them any orders yet."

For now, Geum Bit-na-ra's true intentions were impossible to pin down. But putting everything we'd heard together, one thing was obvious: she was after something.

Hah. What the hell is she after?

The Tower of Death was still underway. Just stopping a single Calamity was already more than enough to worry about — and in the middle of all that, I couldn't begin to guess what Geum Bit-na-ra was angling for.

"Anything else you can tell us?"

"I'm sorry. I haven't really been told anything more."

"I see."

Still, this conversation had made one thing certain. Geum Bit-na-ra was definitely after something.

And then a message appeared before my eyes.

"What? A Guild War?"

The Cheonha Tongil Guild. That was the guild Geum Bit-na-ra currently led. Which meant, for all intents and purposes, that Geum Bit-na-ra had just challenged me to a Guild War.

"What's wrong?"

"Hyuk. Geum Bit-na-ra just declared a Guild War."

"A Guild War?"

"Yeah. Declaring a Guild War is basically saying you want to fight until one side is dead..."

A Guild War was nothing like a Shelter Plunder Battle. The meaning was entirely different. If you lost, every shelter your guild possessed would be handed over to the winner, and the losing guild would be dissolved on the spot. On top of that, every member of the defeated guild would be slapped with a brutal penalty: for a full month, they'd need twice the experience to level up, and thirty percent of their stats would be locked. In short, losing meant you could lose almost everything you had.

"Why the hell would she request a Guild War at a time like this?"

The Tower of Death was set to resume in just a few days. If a Guild War happened now and either my abilities or Geum Bit-na-ra's ended up crippled, climbing the Tower would become a genuine death sentence. She had to know that. Which made it all the more impossible to understand why she'd issue a Guild War challenge at a time like this.

"We should decline, right?"

"Obviously. A Guild War at a time like this is out of the question."

I had no idea what Geum Bit-na-ra was thinking, but there was no way I could accept this. I hit the decline button.

Unlike a Plunder Battle, declining a Guild War came with no particular restrictions. If you wanted to refuse, you could refuse as much as you liked. And ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠that ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠only made it stranger.

She already knows that. So why challenge us to a Guild War now, of all times?

Geum Bit-na-ra couldn't possibly be unaware of how the system worked. If anything, a move like this would only make her look more suspicious. I couldn't understand why she'd chosen this exact moment to do it.

"Hyuk, I'm going to see Geum Bit-na-ra."

"What? You're going yourself?"

"Yeah. I need to find out what she actually wants."

At a time like this — with a Calamity possibly about to unfold — we couldn't afford to be competing among ourselves. I still didn't know what Geum Bit-na-ra was after, but if things kept going like this, there was a real chance we wouldn't even be able to clear the Tower of Death. I needed to go settle this face to face.

"Hyuk, head back to the shelter and keep an eye on things."

"No way. I'm coming with you."

"You're coming too?"

"Come on. You think I'd let you go there alone?"

I hadn't expected Kang Hyuk to insist on coming along, but thinking about it, he'd actually spoken with Geum Bit-na-ra more than I had. If anyone had a better read on her, it was probably him. If she was hiding some other intention, he'd be a real help in figuring it out.

"Where is Geum Bit-na-ra right now?"

"If you're looking for her, she'll be there."

Kang Chan-seong told us where to find her. Kang Hyuk and I decided to head there at once. Chan-seong said he wanted to come along as well, but there was no telling what Geum Bit-na-ra might do to the members of the Gangryong Guild, so I asked him to stay behind.

A short while later, Kang Hyuk and I arrived at the building where Geum Bit-na-ra was waiting.

"Hyuk. You know we have to watch out for her skills, right?"

"Yeah. I've already put together a plan based on everything we've heard."

There was no telling what she might try, so we took every precaution we could think of before stepping inside.

"You've arrived."

The moment we walked in, it was as if he'd known we were coming. Kim Ha-jin stood at the entrance, greeting us with a polite bow.

"Lady Bit-na-ra is waiting. Please, come upstairs."

Kim Ha-jin guided us onward as if it were the most natural thing in the world. I had my suspicions, but we followed him anyway.

Knock. Knock.

"Yeah. Let them in."

At Kim Ha-jin's knock, Geum Bit-na-ra told him to send us in without even asking who it was. She had clearly known we would show up.

"Oh my? Well, isn't this a pleasant surprise. Coming all this way just because you missed me."

"..."

She was acting as if nothing had happened at all. I must have looked incredulous, because Geum Bit-na-ra slowly rose from her seat and started walking toward us.

"That's close enough."

She froze. I'd dropped my voice, low and heavy, ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠and she stopped where she stood.

"Why so angry?"

"You think I don't have a reason to be? Never mind the Guild War — the Gangryong Guild, the things you made Kang Chan-seong do. What the hell are you after?"

At that, Geum Bit-na-ra walked back to her seat, sat down, and poured herself a glass of wine.

"You want to know what I'm after?"

"Yeah. I can't figure it out at all."

"There's only one thing I want, actually."

"Only one thing?"

She took a few sips of wine, then looked at us again.

"The thing is, I've been ridiculously possessive ever since I was little."

Geum Bit-na-ra launched into a story about her childhood without any warning.

"I couldn't be satisfied unless I got everything I wanted. Money, friends, guys — didn't matter."

"Why are you telling us this all of a sudden?"

I had no idea why she'd brought it up, but she asked me to hear her out, so I nodded.

"And once this whole thing started, I could have whatever I wanted. With my abilities, there wasn't a single thing I couldn't take."

She wasn't wrong. With power like hers, there really wouldn't have been anything she couldn't get her hands on. Having said that much, Geum Bit-na-ra rose from her seat and began walking slowly toward me once more.

"But that got boring after a while. Everything came too easily. And then something caught my eye."

She pointed a finger straight at me.