Chapter 83
Chapter 83
Chapter 83: Counterattack (2)
Translation: godtl
Late at night.
Even in the dim darkness, the city shimmered with bright lights.
"Hyung. Do you really think Uncle will act as you predicted?"
Inside a limited-edition sports car from a famous brand, Kim Si-hyeok, gripping the steering wheel, glanced sideways with a somewhat uneasy expression.
In response,
"He'll move. Without fail."
Si-mun, who had been resting his chin on his hand while quietly gazing out the window, answered.
"How can you be so sure? What if Uncle has other intentions...?"
"Si-hyeok."
Si-mun turned to look at his younger brother's anxious face reflected in the window.
"This incident involves illegally bringing in armed forces from another country. And for the purpose of harming our own citizens."
Even before the appearance of the Galaxy Arena,
what Uncle Kim Mu-yeol had done was an act that could never be tolerated by the nation.
"No matter how much influence Uncle has, this is something he can't sweep under the rug."
Not even the vast network of connections he had built in the political and legal circles over the years could cover this up.
It was that serious.
Smuggling in armed foreign forces to harm his own people.
"And I know Uncle well."
Not because they were both illegitimate children.
Well, perhaps that was part of it.
But the important thing was,
"Uncle would never give up his position as Association President. So, whether he likes it or not, he'll have to act according to my plan."
"I don't understand how you can be so confident. What if Uncle just throws everything away and comes after you?"
"That's exactly why it's impossible for him, for Uncle."
To be precise, he was the kind of man who could never let go of the title of Association President.
'Because it's a position he grasped by abandoning everything—his own flesh and blood, even himself.'
It had been the same in his past life.
Kim Mu-yeol, who had acted as a puppet for the Continent Guild and had obstructed Si-hyeok so relentlessly.
Even when he was branded a traitor, a dog of the Continent, and treated as a national betrayer,
"I am the Association President! Not that bastard—I, Kim Mu-yeol, am the Association President of South Korea!"
For some reason, he always had those words on his lips.
It was almost like watching a madman.
In fact, many players had clicked their tongues, saying the Iron Wood King had lost his mind.
That was how obsessive Kim Mu-yeol was about the title of Association President.
Which was why,
"Uncle will never give up his position as Association President."
"But hyung, there's always a 'what if.'"
Perhaps his unease was too much to ignore.
Si-mun gave his younger brother a small smile.
"True. As long as humans are involved, nothing is 100%. But in that case, it's even better."
"What do you mean?"
"Exactly what I said. If Uncle can't cut ties with the Continent Guild? Or if their connection deepens? Then it's even better for me."
The one holding the hilt of the sword is me.
If Uncle truly refuses to sever his ties with the Continent Guild,
all I have to do is drag him down from his position as Association President with the recorded evidence.
And besides,
'Uncle possesses Dragon Power.'
I don't know how he acquired it,
but as long as he wields Dragon Power, he could never stand against me, who holds the Death Eye.
'There's no way Uncle's Dragon Power is of a higher rank than mine.'
Mine is on the level of the former Dragon God.
How could Uncle possibly block my Death Eye, which even overpowered the Dragon Emperor's Dragon Power that had corrupted the World Tree?
As his thoughts reached that point,
'Come to think of it, the way Uncle acted as a puppet for the Continent Guild in my past life, so unlike himself...'
It seemed highly likely that it was related to the Dragon Power he possessed.
'I'll figure it out as I dig deeper into the Continent Guild.'
After all, our esteemed Iron Wood King, Kim Mu-yeol, will be working hard to help me uncover it.
In the end.
'No matter which way Uncle moves, it'll all conclude with my victory.'
The war with his uncle, Kim Mu-yeol, was already as good as over.
"Hyung? Hyung."
"Ah, sorry. Did you call me?"
Snapped out of his thoughts by his younger brother's voice, Si-mun turned to him.
"Honestly, I don't really get what you're thinking about. But."
Kim Si-hyeok glanced at him and continued.
"I know that if you're this confident, there must be a good reason for it. So I'll trust you."
"Aren't you being too blindly trusting? I'm human too. I could be wrong."
"That may be true, but the hyung I've seen up until now has never made a wrong judgment. So if you say it's like this, I'll just believe you."
Si-hyeok's unwavering trust warmed Si-mun's heart, though he hid it well.
"Or is it just that using your own brain is too much of a hassle?"
Si-mun smirked and teased him in return.
Were they really of the same blood?
"Heh. Caught me."
Si-hyeok grinned back, playing along.
"Seriously, I've been telling you since we were kids—you're smart, but you hate thinking too much."
"What can I do? It's annoying."
"That's just laziness. How the hell did you even become a Ranker with that attitude?"
"Hmm. I just brute-forced my way through everything, I guess?"
"......Why don't you ever say that kind of crap in interviews?"
"Eh, my image would go down the drain. I've got to make a living too."
"You're insane."
In the end, Si-mun was the first to burst into laughter.
And so, the two brothers—
"Ah! It's so nice not having those two troublemakers around. This is the peace I always wanted."
"You do know those two troublemakers are more useful than you, right?"
"......I'm stronger than Sunbae or Yu-jeong, you know."
"So what? You're zero help to me."
"Hah, hyung!"
"If you don't like it, then push Uncle out and become the Association President. At that level, you'd actually be useful to me."
"Tch. That position's dirty and underhanded—I'd never take it."
"You serious? You'd better not take those words back."
"Well... I'll do it after one more year in the Arena."
For the first time in years, they exchanged silly banter as they walked through the night.
Dawn broke.
The bright sunlight slowly illuminated the dim room.
A middle-aged man, resting his chin on his hand with his elbow propped on the high-quality wooden table, rubbed his tired eyes.
"......."
Had he stayed up all night?
Yet despite that, his sharp gaze showed no sign of exhaustion.
Beside him, a massive, square-jawed man stood motionless in the same position.
Then—
Ring ring.
A simple notification tone sounded from the pocket of the square-jawed giant.
Breaking his hours-long stillness, Golem Choi Chang-wook checked his phone and spoke.
"Association President, you have an early meeting with the National Assembly today."
"......."
"Shall I cancel it?"
Kim Mu-yeol remained silent, unmoving.
After a while—
"What do you think?"
His lips, stiff as stone, finally parted.
"About which part, sir?"
"All of it."
The relationship with the Continent Guild, the neutralization of their traits, and even the recorded proof of illegal entry—Kim Mu-yeol's current situation was undeniably among the top three crises he had ever faced.
And so—
"Tell me, Choi Chang-wook. How should I handle this?"
For once, Kim Mu-yeol was completely at a loss.
One.
"......I apologize."
Even the mighty Iron Wood King, Kim Mu-yeol, couldn't see a way forward.
What judgment could Choi Chang-wook, who had lived his entire life as his right-hand man, possibly make?
As always, he had no answer.
"Honestly, I can't even begin to fathom what answer I should give."
Without an ounce of deception, he stubbornly stated only the harsh truth.
"Come to think of it, trying to find an answer where none exists is illogical from the start. I spoke out of turn."
Kim Mu-yeol massaged his throbbing temples and let out a dry chuckle.
Then,
"Contact the Continent Guild. Tell them the operation failed."
"Yes."
"And inform them the failure was due to their experimental subjects."
"By that, you mean..."
Choi Chang-wook's voice trailed off.
Kim Mu-yeol nodded impassively.
"If there's no other way, we'll have to follow my nephew's orders. Our ties with the Continent Guild end here."
Having already taken out a cigarette, he lit it absentmindedly.
Choi Chang-wook, who had been silently observing him, finally spoke up.
"Isn't it a waste? You've invested so much effort into maintaining relations with them all this time."
"That's true. Whether in money or time, I've invested quite a lot."
"But then why—"
"It's simple."
Puff.
Kim Mu-yeol exhaled a thick cloud of smoke.
"If all that effort ultimately yields nothing but poison, then no matter how much you've invested, you must cut your losses."
"So you believe Kim Si-mun's words that the Continent Guild will become poison?"
"I don't trust him. I trust what I've experienced firsthand."
The SS-rank trait, Ruler of Plants.
Though he'd occasionally struggled against druids, elves, or spirit-type monsters,
never in his entire career as a player had he been so utterly crushed.
Against his nephew Kim Si-mun, he couldn't even put up a fight.
'It felt as if the trait itself was suppressing any will to attack.'
How should he put it?
It was like pointing a sword at one's own parents.
The trait itself seemed to reject him, refusing to obey his commands.
"Ha."
A hollow laugh escaped him.
'After going so far as to point my sword at my own family to get here...'
To think he'd be blocked by a mere bastard nephew.
And on top of that,
"What bothers me is that Kim Si-mun seems to know about that elixir."
"You mean the DS developed by the Continent Guild."
"Exactly."
The trait-enhancing drug, Dragon Serum.
Commonly called DS, it was more than just a secret project by the Continent Guild—
it was an experiment conducted with utmost secrecy, utilizing every ounce of influence they could muster.
To be precise, it should be called the personal top-secret experiment of Fist King Jong-ri Chu.
"Unless you've established a trust relationship at my level, no one should know about DS..."
Considering the Continent Guild's influence within China, it was practically state-level classified information.
How could a mere Gold Player like Si-mun know about it?
Choi Chang-wook cautiously ventured a guess.
"Could it be because they used experimental subjects in the assassination attempt? I heard the version for non-Awakened is still in clinical trials."
"That has nothing to do with the fact that I took DS. Weren't all the experimental subjects non-Awakened to begin with?"
"That's correct. My apologies."
Taking another deep drag from his cigarette, Kim Mu-yeol exhaled slowly and said,
"Judging by his tone, it wasn't just a wild guess. He definitely knows about Jong-ri Chu's research."
At this, Choi Chang-wook's sharp eyes widened slightly.
"Are you suggesting...?"
"Yes. Perhaps it's because of the DS we received from them that my trait was nullified by that damn bastard."
No.
Most likely, that was the case.
Until now, his trait had never caused any problems whatsoever.
Choi Chang-wook spoke with a flustered expression.
"B-but, Association President. Jong-ri Chu clearly stated that DS has no side effects—"
"You fool. Do you actually believe that nonsense?"
Kim Mu-yeol's sharp eyebrows shot up sharply.
"There's no such thing as medicine without side effects. Even common cold medicine has them, so DS must be no different."
"But it's still hard to believe. It's been quite some time since you took the DS, hasn't it? Your trait even advanced a level."
"That's right."
The publicly known trait of the Iron Wood King Kim Mu-yeol—Ruler of Plants.
In truth, after taking the DS, the Ruler of Plants trait had evolved beyond SS-rank to SSS-rank.
"That's precisely why it's all the more infuriating."
He was stronger now than he'd ever been before.
So how could he be utterly helpless against some mere Gold-rank nobody?
"Sigh. Regardless, what's done is done. I suppose we should focus on what comes next."
Kim Mu-yeol exhaled deeply and swept his hand across his forehead.
Choi Chang-wook spoke with a chilling gaze.
"Shall I... take care of it? If I'm willing to become a Villain and stake my life on it, even Kim Si-hyeok won't be able to stop me."
If he abandoned all pretense of being a Player and went all out in a life-or-death assault, he could kill one measly Gold-rank even with the Sword Saint by their side.
To such a confident loyalist, Kim Mu-yeol quietly shook his head.
"No, for now we'll move according to that insolent nephew's orders."
Though he disliked dancing to his nephew's tune,
"I also need to uncover the side effects of DS, so it's not a completely losing proposition."
The cigarette had gone out unnoticed.
Crushing it into the ashtray, Kim Mu-yeol coldly ruminated.
'Kim Si-mun, I'll bow my head to you for now. Until I uncover DS's side effects.'
Unaware of the shackles already clamped around his own neck.
The next day.
"Let's see..."
From morning, Si-mun busily moved toward the lab while fiddling with his phone.
"I've already asked Jin-uk to handle selling the remaining guild slots..."
Originally, he hadn't planned to do anything with the guild.
But surviving this assassination attempt had changed his mind.
'Even if Uncle's definitely leashed, the Continent Guild isn't.'
This was their second attempt.
Though he'd nullified the assassination without much trouble,
he couldn't just keep welcoming assassination attempts forever, could he?
Preventative measures were necessary.
And a little revenge too.
For that purpose,
'Using the Growth Guild is currently the most efficient method.'
Si-mun's lips curled slightly upward.
"Alright! The Philosopher's Stone—with this, today's work is done, right?"
After organizing the automated potion facility and prepped Spirit Elixirs, he returned to his room.
'I crushed all those assassins with brute force, but I'm still lacking finesse.'
Though he'd overwhelmed them with sheer offensive power, it hadn't been particularly efficient.
Not content with merely defeating a Diamond as a Gold-rank,
Si-mun picked up his Arena goggles while reviewing his battle with Gong Geol-ryun.
'In the end, practice makes perfect.'
While life-or-death combat experience was extremely important,
nothing beat the Arena for a Player's growth.
[Welcome to Galaxy Arena.]
The familiar greeting appeared before goggle-wearing Si-mun.
Along with:
Oh! He's here!
Alarm setting was genius~
- We've been waiting!
Si-mun-nim, I thought you quit streaming.
Perhaps because his stream had grown considerably,
even before starting the Arena,
'Quite the crowd.'
[21,497 viewers]
Viewership had already surpassed 20,000.
Then:
[Due to possessing stats mismatched with current rank, matchmaking has been adjusted upward.]
[Clear EXP and rewards increased by 40% due to adjustment.]
'Huh? Mismatched stats?'
As the messages appeared, the waiting room transformed.
"This is...!"
OMG!
WTF! This guy's Gold?
Do Gold-ranks get matched here now?
Of all places to get matched lol. His win streak's gonna break now.
Both Si-mun and viewers alike were stunned by the revealed map.