Lightly Send One Flying.
Even among masters, the disparity was enormous.
There were horrifying masters who could take down an elite three-headed white tiger single-handedly, and there were fake masters who cowered before elite beasts, giving up the hunt to just wipe the asses of chaebol wastrels.
Yet the system marked them all as the same rank.
The emperor was a master. Lee Doochang was a master.
In that sense, Cheonggong Guild's Han Daehyeon had every reason to be proud.
He was the real deal.
A master fundamentally different from vermin like Lee Doochang.
He even had plenty of experience hunting elite beasts.
How many private guilds could claim to have taken down elite beasts?
But running and managing a guild cost a fortune.
Just the equipment prices and maintenance fees were no joke.
In the end, they had no choice but to rely on sponsorship from conglomerates or chaebols.
And in exchange, he'd received his elite mana crystal weapon.
That's why he was here now.
He'd taken the weapon and the money, so it was time to do the job.
On top of that, he personally couldn't stand some unawakened punk strutting around so arrogantly.
Kim Taeju approached with long strides, wearing that expensive-looking coat.
Did he think strutting around as a pharmaceutical company chairman made him untouchable?
Han Daehyeon gave a curt order to the guild members he'd brought.
"Make that bastard kneel."
RUSH!
Cheonggong Guild awakeners charged in.
Veteran elite guild members seasoned from battling elite beasts.
THUD!
One flew through the air.
…Huh?
THUD!
Another one flew.
W-What the…?
THUD! THUD! THUD…
His trusted guild members were knocked unconscious by Kim Taeju's casual palm strikes, sprawling across the wide hotel room floor.
This bastard…
No pushover.
And he wasn't even awakened.
Now he understood why Lee Gieon had brought them.
Trained in martial arts?
Probably.
A world mutated by mana.
Even taekwondo, once just a sport, had evolved into a killing art.
In this world, even awakeners could turn secret martial techniques into skills through systematic training.
Pretty strong. No wonder he's so cocky.
Time to acknowledge it.
Then he'd fight in earnest, without holding back.
Han Daehyeon grabbed the elite steel sword propped by the sofa.
One arm should be fine.
Mana Blade thickly coating the entire scabbard.
Han Daehyeon's main skill was iaijutsu— the moment his sword cleared the scabbard, everything in front was sliced.
He lowered his stance.
Waiting for Kim Taeju to enter his attack range.
Body twisted sideways, left hand on the scabbard mouth, right hand resting lightly on the hilt.
He's in.
Han Daehyeon smoothly gripped the hilt and extended his hand as guided by the mana from his skill.
Right then!
Sword half-drawn, jammed midway.
"Gasp?"
…Why?
Kim Taeju stood right in front of him now.
"Wh-when…"
The bastard's hand gripped the end of his sword hilt.
His iaijutsu skill blocked before it could even start.
He tried to shake it off, but it wouldn't budge.
"Grrraaah!"
Taeju smirked.
Definitely strong.
Not even comparable to Lee Doochang.
If the sword had been drawn, his mana blade would've sliced the coat.
Would've needed repairs again.
"L-let go!"
"Grow up a bit."
Taeju's palm smashed into Han Daehyeon's face.
"Oof!"
Blood spraying as Han Daehyeon flew.
Next up.
The middle-aged man resembling Lee Dongwoo.
An awakener, but only regular expert level.
What does he think he knows?
Anyway, his behavior was no different from his son's.
Bringing awakeners to try and subdue him right away— how were they so alike?
Lee Dongwoo's past misdeeds must've been learned from his father.
Taeju perched on the table in front of the sofa, leaning close to the visibly flustered Lee Gieon.
"So, tell me. Why'd you come looking for me? Mirinae Group's Chairman Lee Gieon."
Lee Gieon froze in his seat.
Completely overwhelmed by the presence.
But he was an awakener too.
Middle expert rank, no less.
Forcing his lips apart, he rasped.
"D-did… you kill my son?"
"Well, got any proof?"
"…"
"No proof, but you came anyway?"
"I just confirmed the proof. That overwhelming power of yours—isn't that proof enough? I'm convinced you killed my son."
"So your conviction makes me the culprit?"
"My conviction is enough."
Well, he did kill him.
Taeju replied coldly.
"Fine, say I did it. I killed him."
"You bastard!!!"
"And I permit your revenge."
"…Permit?"
"Go ahead and do whatever. Report to the police, sabotage my business, send killers—"
Lee Gieon looked baffled.
But then he smirked dismissively.
"You underestimate Mirinae Group. Think this is all the power I have?"
"That's why I'm telling you to get revenge."
"Heh heh heh. Rampaging like this just because you trust the fifth prince."
So Lee Gieon had ties to the imperial family too.
One of the princes or princesses.
Maybe even the emperor.
"Or are you cocky because of the military? Think I don't have military connections?"
Lee Gieon's smile deepened.
"You permit revenge? Fine. I'll mobilize every asset of the group I've built and crush you. Kneel and beg now, and I might show mercy."
"If I were scared of that… hmm?"
Taeju paused, something occurring to him, and pulled out his smartphone.
"Hold on. Need to check something."
Reply incoming.
One more.
Reply incoming.
Replies incoming.
Done.
Confirmation complete.
Taeju pocketed his smartphone and leaned even closer to Lee Gieon.
Their faces almost touching.
"Do whatever you want. I'll gladly take it on."
"…"
"But! You'll have to stake your life. Confident?"
"…I'll stake everything and destroy you."
"Oh! Sounds fun. Alright, fight's on—so here's a light jab."
"J-jab?"
Lee Gieon flinched, shrinking back.
This guy had taken out Han Daehyeon in one hit.
He stood no chance.
"No need to flinch. Not punching you."
Taeju pulled out his smartphone again and dialed.
Switched to speaker.
"Hello."
- "Yes, Member Kim Taeju. I've got the call."
It was Igor Baranov.
"Got a question. Mind if I ask?"
- "Of course."
"Is Mirinae Group's Chairman Lee Gieon a Leaders Club member too?"
- "Yes, diamond-grade member."
Just what he'd confirmed via text earlier.
"As of today, that guy and I are sworn enemies. Makes it awkward sharing a club."
- "Ah!"
"Either I leave, or he does…"
Lee Gieon inwardly scoffed in disbelief.
Hah hah hah. What the hell.
All he could come up with was whining to the club?
Lame, and pointless anyway.
Igor Baranov wasn't an idiot—who would he choose between a Gurye hick and the empire's top conglomerate chairman?
Plus, if he got kicked out, a third of the members would quit with him.
No one in their right mind would do that.
But then,
- "Yes, Chairman Kim Taeju. Mirinae Group's Chairman Lee Gieon will be expelled from the club."
Lee Gieon's eyes flew wide.
…What the hell?
"That okay? Might cause issues."
- "We can handle it. We'll take someone else."
"Who?"
- "There's one chairman who won't join because of Lee Gieon. Baekdu Group's Chairman Jeong Ukcheol. He'll join the moment Lee leaves. And many will follow Jeong."
"Ah, bad blood between them?"
- "Lee Gieon publicly said he'd quit if Jeong joined, and Jeong said he won't join while Lee is in. Lee's been in first, so we've been watching."
"Makes sense. Enemy of my enemy is a friend—set up a meeting with Chairman Jeong sometime."
- "I'll contact him right away. He'll be thrilled."
"Really?"
- "As you said, enemy of my enemy. Anyway, better dump Mirinae stock now."
"Haha, yeah. Thanks."
- "Thank you for calling, Chairman! Call anytime."
After hanging up, Taeju stared straight at Chairman Lee Gieon.
"Satisfied?"
"You think this…"
"Father and son both— you start it, then rage when you get hit. Do all the dirty work yourselves."
"…"
Taeju patted Lee Gieon's shoulder.
"Fighting a mega-conglomerate like Mirinae? The more allies, the better."
A crack appeared in Lee Gieon's confident expression.
Just who the hell was this guy?
Military, imperial family, Leaders Club, and now damn Baekdu Group too?
The losses outweigh the gains.
Of course, he could fight if he wanted.
But Mirinae wouldn't emerge unscathed.
Lee Gieon pondered.
His son's revenge.
Was it worth the risk?
But revenge wasn't the issue.
His face was in the dirt now.
And the bastard went even further.
"Don't overthink. Don't give up—come at me with everything. You and your group won't survive anyway."
"You bastard!"
Taeju left the fuming Lee Gieon behind and exited the room.
Couldn't kill him here.
Too many witnesses.
But when he'd patted his shoulder earlier, he'd already injected poison.
A new poison mastered upon reaching 8th stage poison core dominance over mana.
Poison, or not quite.
Mutated mana variant from the poison core.
A undetectable trace poison embedded within.
Lee Gieon was an awakener.
His body's mana would mix with the injected mana poison, slowly eating away at him.
He'd notice in a month or two.
Something was wrong.
Hospitals wouldn't help.
It was just differently attuned mana.
Right after leaving, Taeju called Baek Seoyeonn.
Even if Lee Gieon reported to the police, no big deal.
Needed real evidence.
Couldn't even find a body.
※ ※ ※
Goryeo Hotel.
The name of the hotel where Taeju and his group had stayed.
After hearing why they needed to check out, furious Baek Seoyeonn led her awakener officer escorts to meet the hotel manager.
Checking out was a given.
"Hand over the CCTV footage right now."
"…Footage?"
"The ones showing people sneaking into Chairman Kim Taeju's room while he was out, and the hotel staff who opened the door with a master key."
"Ah! That incident. We already fired that employee. He's gone into hiding now…"
"I don't care—give me the footage!"
The manager shrugged.
"Personal info—need a warrant. And it's already been deleted from storage."
Baek Seoyeonn's eyebrow twitched.
As expected, in cahoots.
Of course the Mirinae chairman could buy off a mere hotel manager.
"That's how you wanna play? We'll use every legal means and won't let this slide."
The Goryeo Hotel manager replied snidely.
"Do what you want. But you'll take responsibility for damaging hotel property and assaulting staff."
"…What?"
"I reported to the police. You'll probably have to go to the station with your chairman for questioning."
"…"
Baek Seoyeonn bit her lip.
Do Minsu, standing behind her, stepped forward angrily.
"You bastard, no shame…"
But.
"Major, stay back."
"No, I'll handle—"
"Stand down. I'll manage this."
Baek Seoyeonn stopped Do Minsu.
He was military.
Intervening in civilian matters would cause problems later.
Right then!
Hotel lobby in uproar.
Armed police stormed the hotel.
And men in black suits too.
The hotel manager grinned slyly at Baek Seoyeonn.
"Whoa, police in person. Guess Mirinae Group's chairman pulled some strings…"
Baek Seoyeonn glared silently at the manager.
"Don't get too mad. I didn't want to— just following orders."
One of the black-suited men approached the manager.
"You the Goryeo Hotel manager?"
"Yes! That's me."
He flashed ID.
"Imperial Intelligence Mine Division Special Investigation Unit."
"…What? I-Imperial Intelligence?"
"Yes. Responded to a mine tip."
"N-no mine reports! A mine in our hotel?!"
Not police—Imperial Intelligence?
What was going on?
The manager floundered.
"We're seizing all CCTV footage now. Cooperate with the investigation."
"W-wait!"
"Go!"
Police and agents swarm the control room.
Imperial Intelligence had full justification.
Collaboration with Chairman Kim Taeju was already approved upstairs.
Anything happening to him automatically fell under their mine division duties.
Baek Seoyeonn was baffled.
Imperial Intelligence out of nowhere?
Then the special unit agent quietly whispered to her.
"Message from Chairman Kim Taeju. Don't worry about this anymore—head back to the company."
"Ah!"
Baek Seoyeonn's face lit with understanding.
Did the chairman have connections in Imperial Intelligence too?
No, how long had he even been in New Seoul?
Fifth prince friendship, Leaders Club diamond grade, now this.
Her boss, but truly unknowable.
Anyway, still had New Seoul business, needed new lodgings. Any decent hotels around?