The Stone Calls Me Dad

"So, feeling talkative now?"

"Yesh!"

Go Myungsik nodded desperately, his teeth knocked loose. His face was a mass of bruises.

Maybe I went too hard on him?

There was hardly a trace of a human face left to be found under all that swelling. I'd been irritated, so I'd used him to vent a little harder than I should have.

"So where are the stone and Inha?"

"They're... not here anymore."

At Go Myungsik's words, I frowned. Seeing my expression, he hurriedly stammered on.

"A m-mid-sized guild took them."

"Which one."

"Macheonru Guild, sir."

"Macheonru, you say?"

Macheonru Guild. Among mid-sized guilds, it was fairly well known. Its public reputation was good, and for a mid-sized guild it even boasted some impressive members.

But the reality couldn't be more different.

Macheonru Guild wore two faces. In front of the cameras, they played the role of a model guild, but behind the scenes they were a black guild that trafficked in every kind of filth. And because they handled their dirty work so thoroughly, even the Association couldn't touch them.

I didn't expect them to get tangled up in this so quickly.

Macheonru was the guild that had betrayed me before my regression. The other guilds had simply turned their backs once I stopped being worth investing in — as business decisions went, that was fair enough.

But Macheonru had been different. Exploiting the fact that my mana was unlike ordinary magic power, they'd tried to drag me into their underworld. When I refused, they threatened me from the shadows.

They were the first guild I should have cut down. Honestly, this works out fine.

Now that they'd entangled themselves in this, I had all the justification I needed to destroy them. And Go Myungsik had no reason to lie.

"When were they taken?"

"They handed over around morning."

Macheonru's headquarters was in Icheon, Gyeonggi Province. Judging by the time, less than twelve hours had passed since they'd arrived there. The problem was that twelve hours was more than enough time for Macheonru to do something.

"Got it."

"Yes, sir."

I left the casino quickly. I wanted nothing more than to use my footwork, but I couldn't very well do that in a place this crowded with eyes. I hailed a taxi on the street nearby.

"Icheon, Gyeonggi Province, please."

"Icheon? That's going to cost you quite a bit."

"I don't mind."

"Well, all right then."

The driver cocked his head in mild confusion and pulled away from the curb.

If I was going to do this, I should have gone straight from Myeongdong.

That would have saved me at least some time.

No use regretting it now.

What mattered was rescuing Inha quickly and taking back the stone. If anything, the System had been wailing at me since earlier.

At this point I could believe the System had developed a personality of its own. Its badgering was beyond relentless.

I get it, so stop spamming me already!

I shouted internally. And like a switch had been flipped, the cascade of System messages stopped.

Ah, peace at last.

I closed my eyes and slept until we reached Icheon.

"Hahaha."

The guild master's office of Macheonru Guild. A booming laugh rang through the room.

To think I'd get my hands on such a delightful toy.

Macheonru's guild master, Seo Jinhyeok, was picturing the toy he'd been toying with only moments ago. Long, straight black hair, full lips, and sharp, feline eyes.

To think the day would come when a beauty like that would be brought to me.

Granted, Seo Jinhyeok had shared a bed with plenty of beautiful women. But none of them had held a candle to Seo Inha.

Shame I didn't get to the best part....

An unexpected visitor had interrupted him before he could reach that most important moment.

"Heh heh."

Chuckling to himself, Seo Jinhyeok replayed the scene in his mind and licked his lips.

Ah, I can't wait to have her.

He trembled with anticipation, imagining how that beauty would react when the time came. He was deep in that particular daydream when the vice guild master opened the door and walked in.

"What is it?"

"Here — the woman's background."

With that, the vice guild master handed over a file. Inside was everything there was to know about Seo Inha. Seo Jinhyeok flipped slowly through the pages, checking each detail.

My toys must be flawless!

Then, as he combed through the information, his eyes stopped on Seo Inha's family records.

"What's this?"

"Ah, even you'll be surprised, Guild Master. To think she's the granddaughter of the famous Blue Blacksmith."

Seo Jinhyeok had seen the Blue Blacksmith once. Now that he thought about it, there had been an uncanny resemblance between the old man and her.

"Well, well... two birds with one stone."

"I'm sorry — two birds?"

The vice guild master tilted his head, clearly not following.

"Think about it. Once we make her completely ours, the Blue Blacksmith will be at our beck and call too."

At that, the vice guild master broke into a wide grin.

"True — with the Blue Blacksmith alone, our guild could..."

"Tsk, tsk."

Seo Jinhyeok clicked his tongue and cut him off.

"Seo Inha, too."

"Ah."

The vice guild master understood. He knew exactly who had crafted the ring sitting on his guild master's finger right now.

Who would have thought a Legendary-grade gem even existed in this country?

There would presumably be a client, but the client was already irrelevant. From the moment it landed in his hands, the gem was his.

"Seo Inha's craftsmanship combined with Seo Jincheol's smithing... heh heh."

Just imagining it sent a thrill down his spine. He was already getting excited at the thought of stepping on the necks of those big-league guilds who strutted around like they owned the world.

"Then I should hurry and get close to her..."

"Simple enough, as long as that man is involved."

A sinister chill settled over the guild master's office of Macheonru Guild.

"Sir, we've arrived in Icheon. Where to?"

"Ah."

I snapped back to attention and gave the driver my destination.

"Drop me off somewhere near Macheonru Guild."

"Understood."

The taxi let me off at a café near the guild's headquarters. I slipped into an empty, deserted alley.

Basic footwork — Am (Darkness). With my presence concealed, I walked boldly through Macheonru's front gate.

Publicly, Macheonru claimed five A-rank members. In truth, they had roughly ten unofficial A-ranks.

Come to think of it, how did that even happen?

Uniquely, all of Macheonru's unofficial A-ranks had reached that rank postnatally, after awakening. It wasn't unheard of for someone to climb that far, but ten of them suddenly ascending made no sense at all.

Did they all undergo a complete overhaul like mine?

If not, there was no explaining how they'd all become A-rank as a group.

"Hoo."

I spread my senses wide and searched for Seo Inha's location. At the same time, I began searching for the Earth Stone.

The system window popped up out of nowhere, and I couldn't hide my bewilderment. The stone had just called me dad.

I'm having an existential crisis here.

The first time anyone had ever called me Dad, and it was a rock, not a person. Any human being would be having a moment. Still, I couldn't afford to ignore that advice.

I stretched my five senses down toward the basement.

Found you.

There were life signs down below. I quickly located the entrance and descended into the basement. There sat Seo Inha, slumped against the wall with her arms and legs bound.

"Inha."

I ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠approached her slowly.

"Boss Oppa?"

"Yeah, it's me."

I swung my dagger at the restraints binding her. A Legendary-grade blade made short work of them; the bindings snapped clean off.

"You came to rescue me?"

"Something like that."

I finished cutting her free completely and swept the area with my senses. Seo Inha was an ordinary civilian — she couldn't use footwork to hide herself.

"Inha, can you hold out here just a little longer?"

"I can hold out, but..."

"Good. Then just a little longer."

With that, I pulled out my phone and called the Association.

"Hello?"

"There's a ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠kidnapped woman in the basement of Macheonru Guild."

"I'm sorry — what?"

The Association's operator stumbled over her words, flustered by my abrupt report.

‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠

"Pass it up the chain."

"R-right away, sir!"

The employee said so and hung up in a rush.

"Inha, the Association will be here soon. You can come out then."

"What about you, Boss Oppa?"

"I've got a stone to take back."

At my answer, Seo Inha's face went, ah, right.

"Don't worry — I'm confident I won't get spotted."

"Okay."

With her answer given, I stepped into the footwork.

Basic footwork — Am (Darkness). My presence erased, I left the basement behind.

The Association responds to murder and kidnapping with extreme sensitivity. No matter how rotten the people at the top were, even they couldn't defy the public on this front.

I can trust them with that much.

Which left only one thing for me to do: retrieve the stone.

The highest floor — so the guild master's office?

I pushed my five senses to their absolute limit. A slight headache followed, but it was bearable.

Nobody in the guild master's office?

When I'd arrived, I had noticed one expensive-looking car driving out.

If that was the guild master's car, the timing couldn't be better.

And with timing like this, I went straight up to the guild master's office. The office itself had no particular character to it.

It should be in here somewhere...

"Got it."

But there was something to do first.

Five or so, was it?

Cameras had been installed at several points around the room. I detonated every ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠trace of mana inside them at once. In the aftermath, every camera in the guild master's office burst apart.

"Now we're ready."

I opened the first drawer the Earth Stone had pointed me to. And there it sat, big as life — the Earth Stone.

"Found you."

As the message appeared, the Earth Stone sparkled and glowed.

"So it really was you sending all those messages?"

The Earth Stone affirms.

Along with the stone's answer, another system window appeared.

For the moment, the threat of my death was gone.

Speaking of which — isn't their security absurdly lax?

They were keeping a Legendary-grade item in a desk drawer of all places? That made no sense whatsoever.

Or did they just never need to prepare any security?

I mulled it over for a moment, then gave up. Trying to read the mind of a man like that would only leave a bad taste in my mouth.

When I came back down, the Association's staff were leading Seo Inha out of the basement.

Well, that's one task done.