I Have No Clue What This Is... It's Terrifying... I Want to Go Home
The 15th-floor executive conference hall of Pajeok Group Headquarters.
Standing all alone in the hushed, deserted corridor, Cho-young initiated her broadcast. Because the surroundings were so utterly dead, she had spent the last few minutes anxiously glancing left and right, only now managing to shift her gaze down to the chat.
"Hello, everyone. That's right. It's Pajeok Group Headquarters."
Cho-young was trying to squeeze in some spare moments to bump up her Resonance of Ten Thousand gauge. That, and the fact that she was practically trembling with nerves.
When she had followed Wang Maria, the Foreign Affairs Elder of Pajeok Gate, she had ended up right here at the corporate headquarters. The elder had dumped Cho-young in this 15th-floor hallway and vanished into thin air alongside Hye-yeon and Ye-rin, leaving behind only a parting roar:
'Wait right here and someone will come guide you!'
With a raucous kyahaha!, Wang Maria had hopped straight back into the elevator and descended. Who on earth was supposed to be coming? More than ten minutes had slipped by, yet down the silent, tranquil hallway, not even a single echo of footsteps could be heard.
"No, no. I'm definitely not joining. I made my refusal crystal clear. It's just that..."
Indeed, Cho-young had undeniably refused. So why had they dragged her straight to Pajeok Group? The cultivation realm of that woman called Wang Maria had seemed impossibly high, making defiance unthinkable. She had simply tagged along because she didn't want to end up dead.
"To be honest, I'm completely in the dark myself."
Just as Cho-young muttered with a thoroughly unconfident grimace—
Click. Clack.
From the far end of the hallway came a tall woman striding forward, sporting red horn-rimmed glasses. From the neck down, she was clad in an impeccable, razor-sharp black business suit. The chill in her eyes and the severe, measured poise of her gaze were anything but ordinary.
Drawing near, Secretary Jeok Hwa-yun glanced back and forth between Cho-young's streaming display and her face, her tone utterly detached and rigidly professional.
"Cameras are strictly prohibited within corporate headquarters."
Was it due to that razor-sharp glare? Or simply because the woman stood at a vastly higher cultivation realm? Instantly shrinking into herself like a deflated balloon, Cho-young scrambled to tuck the holographic lens out of sight.
"Ah, I'm sorry."
Right then.
"It is fine, Secretary Jeok."
A voice of immense, profound gravity reverberated from behind Jeok Hwa-yun.
Cho-young whipped her head toward the man, thoroughly startled by the chat's sudden uproar. An air of peerless aristocratic elegance drifted from his very presence—could this man truly be the Sect Leader of Pajeok Gate?
Jeok Hwa-yun flashed a sharp, piercing sidelong glance at Cho-young.
"This is Sect Leader Gye Wang-geon of Pajeok Gate. Pay your proper respects."
Wait, what?
Why on earth did this remind her of that manga where guys grew spiky golden hair, blasted energy beams, and blew up entire planets? Cho-young promptly dropped to one knee. Even if she hadn't wanted to, her body moved entirely on its own—the sheer magnitude of spiritual qi radiating off the man was nothing short of monstrous. Ever since encountering Elder Wang Maria, she had been bumping into high-level cultivators who normally wouldn't cross paths with someone like her in a hundred lifetimes.
The man tilted his visage—an arresting blend of frigid detachment and aristocratic beauty—and looked down at Cho-young.
"Are you the Spirit Alchemist spoken of in rumors?"
Though his cadence carried overwhelming authority, it was devoid of any malice intended to crush her, so Cho-young managed a tentative nod.
"Yes. But I already declined your offer, so I'm not sure why I was summoned..."
"...Let us enter and speak first."
Sect Leader Gye Wang-geon of Pajeok Gate strode past Jeok Hwa-yun and Cho-young, pushing open the colossal double doors of the boardroom.
The instant the doors parted, Cho-young gasped in sheer shock.
Fwoooosh—!
It was as if a tempest of long-sealed spiritual qi had suddenly burst loose. The sheer shockwave of high-realm spiritual ripples battered against her entire body. Four figures were seated within. Just how astronomically high was their cultivation to exude presence like this?
Unbending her trembling knee, Cho-young made to step inside, only for Jeok Hwa-yun's eyes to flash with a harsh, crimson glint from behind her glasses. A chill of inexplicable hostility made Cho-young's shoulders shudder.
"Allow me to offer one piece of advice."
Advice?
"Do not dare ask questions of the Great Cultivators."
Cho-young swallowed hard.
"If you wish to live, that is."
With that, Jeok Hwa-yun shove Cho-young forward into the boardroom.
Creeeak—slam!
The heavy doors shut tight behind her. Cho-young stood stiffly in place, her neck creaking like rusted iron as she scanned the assembly.
I have no clue what this is... It's terrifying.
I want to go home.
Here I sat, placed right at the head of the round table. The atmosphere was beyond ominous. It was freezing cold.
To my left sat a man gripping a long dao saber. Beside him was a woman who didn't even look human—more like an exquisitely crafted wooden puppet, truth be told. Beside her sat the Sect Leader of Pajeok Gate. Next to him was a woman vigorously fanning herself even though it wasn't the least bit hot. And right beside her—which meant directly to my right—sat an exceedingly handsome man whose Daoist robes were inscribed with all manner of Hanja characters. All of them sat arrayed around this massive round table.
"......"
"......"
The suffocating silence stretched on.
Just who on earth was this Amgwihyeoltu person? Shaking my head slightly, I pulled myself together. Even when I had dropped onto the Island of Ascension, I had found a way to survive right in front of a ravenous changgui tiger ghost. There was a reason people said that even if you were dragged into a tiger's den, keeping your wits about you would keep you alive. Granted, having five tigers sitting in front of you all at once was a bit much, but there still had to be an escape hatch somewhere.
Every single cultivator I had crossed paths with so far was an absolute lunatic—people who would stop at nothing, employing any despicable means necessary, to achieve their ends. Hadn't that Secretary Jeok woman just warned me? Don't you dare think of asking questions. Yeah. Understood. I wouldn't. I didn't even want to. If I wanted to stay alive, I had to keep my head screwed on tight.
Just then, the man holding the long dao saber spoke first.
"She doesn't look like someone who could craft spirit pills."
At that, the handsome man adorned in Hanja robes seated across from him tilted the corner of his lips upward.
"One should not judge a person merely by outward appearances, Augustus."
Augustus? Was that a nickname?
"Maeng Raphael. Was I not speaking first?"
Maeng Raphael? What in the world—were those their actual names? What was with these names?
"Hmph! If even such drivel is considered speech, then I suppose I have nothing further to say."
"Do all bastards from the Maeng clan possess such insolence?"
"The bastards of the Gong clan are as narrow-minded as ever."
Spiritual qi far beyond anything I could endure began to swirl violently between them. Dammit. At this rate, the shrimp's back was going to burst open in the middle of this whale fight! Yet, as if completely accustomed to such bickering, the wooden puppet woman chimed in.
"Pleased to meet you, it is. I am known as Pa Hae-sol, it is. The Valley Master of Puppet Valley, that's what it is."
So not all their names were bizarre after all. Even so...
There's no way she's actually this friendly, right?
These were the kinds of lunatics who would strike up a conversation, and the second you answered, roar, 'How dare a lowly worm speak back to a Great Cultivator?!' before obliterating you where you stood. The players back in the Island of Ascension game had been exactly like that. At first, they would act like sweet saints, pretending to be harmless while asking all sorts of questions, only to shout:
'Questions are futile!'
'Kyyyaaaack!'
And slaughter you outright. Considering those players were human, it seemed humans granted overwhelming power often succumbed to mental illness. If that held true, these actual high cultivators with real power would be even worse, not better. They just wanted an excuse to execute me. Yeah. I'm not falling for it.
I squeezed my mouth shut tight.
"...Are you unable to speak, it is?"
"......"
"Oh dear, it is. How pitiful, it is."
At that, the Sect Leader of Pajeok Gate stared intently at me.
"She was speaking clearly earlier."
The puppet's head spun a full three hundred and sixty degrees on its neck until it locked squarely onto me. It was honestly far more grotesque than the very first time I had ever seen a ghost, so unnerving that I almost screamed out loud.
"Th-Then did you ignore my words, it is?"
Muttering 'how could you...', the puppet clutched its chest in despair and slid down beneath her chair. Watching her crumple, I couldn't comprehend what was happening anymore. I had always prided myself on being reasonably intelligent, but given the sheer madness of this situation, I had zero confidence in reading the room.
Sect Leader Gye Wang-geon seemed lost in contemplation for a brief moment before his eyes flicked toward the tightly shut boardroom doors.
"Secretary Jeok. Enter."
No sooner had his command fallen than Secretary Jeok Hwa-yun pushed open the door and stepped inside. Without sparing me so much as a glance, she bowed deeply toward the Sect Leader.
BOOOOM—!
She didn't just bow. Her entire body was slammed flat against the hard conference floor, crushed into the stone.
?!?!
I couldn't take this anymore. Why were they fighting among themselves now?! I want to go home!
"...Insolent. What did you say to the first and last Spirit Alchemist that has reduced her to such sheer terror?"
...What? Alchemist... 'nim'? As in... honored?!
"Kh-Krk! Sect Leader, I—I was merely... Kehk!!"
Crunch! Crack!
He hadn't lifted a finger. Nor had he unleashed any martial technique. It was merely his gaze. With a single look of cold contempt—not even fury—Secretary Jeok was driven deeper into the fracturing floor. Simultaneously, a gale of terrifying spiritual qi whipped through the chamber like a bloodhound snapped off its leash. Thankfully, there was no loose furniture in the hall to become deadly shrapnel, but—
"Hkyaaack!"
I was another matter entirely! My large chest was slammed painfully flat against the floor-to-ceiling bulletproof glass window, squishing me breathless. The instant I shrieked, the raging vortex of spiritual energy abruptly halted.
"Gye Wang-geon!! What in the world are you doing! Are you trying to kill her?!"
"When we should be gently coaxing it out of her, is what I say!!"
Clatter-clang! Boom-tap!
"Whale fight-eh shrimp boom! Very stupid!!"
"Please! Treat her with some gentleness!"
Squeeaaaak—
Yep. That was the sound of me slowly sliding down the glass pane. Sprawled out on the floor like melted ice cream, I peered toward a hollow crater in the corner of the hall. From within it, a woman with wild, disheveled hair clambered out, trembling violently.
"Pl-Please, spare my life..."
Her once-piercing glare had vanished without a trace, replaced by a terrified woman shaking like an aspen leaf in a gale. Honestly, it was almost enough to make me feel pity for her. Sect Leader Gye Wang-geon promptly withdrew his crimson ocular glow, issuing his decree in a dry, flat voice.
"...Wait outside. Your punishment shall be determined later."
"...Please... spare my life..."
"Out."
Her eyes wide as if she had witnessed an apparition from hell, Jeok Hwa-yun stumbled out of the hall in shivering terror. As though nothing out of the ordinary had occurred, Gye Wang-geon retook his seat and looked me straight in the eyes.
"You likely already intuit why we have summoned you?"
...Yes. Now, now I think I finally understand.
I nodded frantically!
"Following the conference of the Round Table Masters, our five Righteous Dao sects have resolved to share you equitably. Therefore, beneath our full and total patronage, you need only happily cultivate spirit herbs, craft spirit pills, and sell them to us. Speak to the Foreign Affairs Elder, and we shall pay full standard price. You need only name your terms."
"A pleasure to make your acquaintance, Spirit Alchemist."
Deong-gi-deok kung deororeo—
"Welcome!"
"What a relief that it wasn't aphasia, it is."
"You may charge that Gong bastard a ten percent surcharge, Spirit Alchemist."
"Charge that Maeng bastard twenty percent extra."