Chapter 83: Laying Bear Bait

We made it back to the hall of the 12th floor that immediately ported us to the first gate, the 'Hill of Blowing Wind'. The hall had several entrances and exits, and on the far side of the room, I saw members from the guild that would later stand tall as Korea's top guild, 'Taeguk Shield'. They had intentionally come in late.

'The reason why they've come in only now…' In the past, I didn't think anything of it, but now, I knew better. 'Is because they have the Precognitive Dream user Ham Sohyun.'

I didn't know the range of her Precognitive Dream ability, but there was a high chance that she predicted some kind of danger here, which caused Sungshin's flagship 'Taeguk Shield' to come later.

'Or it's because they wanted to make a late arrival, like protagonists.'

Either way, I could now see the Taeguk Shield guildies that hadn't been present during the clear of the Hill of Blowing Wind. Among them was Song Jinchul's oldest brother, Song Kiyeol. He was the guildmaster of Taeguk Shield.

TN: Author has changed the name of Sungshin's eldest grandson from Song Jinseok to Song Kiyeol.

'I guess he'd be in his early 30s now.'

The guildmaster shared the same nickname as the guild—Taeguk Shield. He became well-known as a fairly outstanding tank. In addition to him, there was the Poison Witch Cheon Sooji, the Golden Priest Gong Jinhoon, and the Spear Demon Byeon Gilsup…

'Wow. Lots of bigshots here.'

They finally showed up. They were the people I would be drawing out the future with. Soon, they would make my worth skyrocket. They were supporting actors in my scenario, so to speak.

As I mused, many Players celebrated.

"W-We're back!"

"I survived!"

As they relished in the joy of being alive, some started talking about the clear rewards again, while others cried, their expressions dark. While everyone was still elated from their safe return, someone approached me.

"Mr. Kim Hyukjin. I am relieved to see you are safe."

It was a group of four men.

'What's this now?' I thought with amusement. Two of the four men were familiar faces. The person standing at the very front was Kim Kangchul, who I had been acquainted with in my previous life as well, and the other was Song Jinchul.

[Unawakened]

Name: Song Jinchul

Age: 14

State: Disdain / Slight Rage / Jealousy

Disposition: Arrogant / Destructive / Selfish

Summary:

Self-Proclaimed Chosen One

Self-Judged Expert of Negotiation and Threat

Is unawakened.

The disposition/state/summary only show the most representative and can change according to the situation.

Because Eye of Perception's proficiency is not high enough, viewing more detailed information is impossible.

I was still getting "Because Eye of Perception's proficiency is not high enough, viewing more detailed information is impossible", but I was still able to read more information than before. I could now see two summaries.

'I only saw Self-Proclaimed Chosen One in the past.' This time, there was another summary under it. 'Self-Judged Expert of Negotiation and Threat?'

Jinchul moved to the front to blatantly look me up and down. Being in his first year of middle school, he was short, small, and had a reedy voice, yet he acted like he was on top of the world. Apparently, the task of talking to me had been entrusted to Jinchul.

He pointed at me, someone much older than him, with his chin.

"You're Kim Hyukjin?"

"..."

I stared back at the youngest grandson of the Sungshin chaebol. Our first meeting had been rather unpleasant as well.

"Who are you to make Grandpa so interested in you?"

Was this the jealousy of a grandson who was robbed of his grandpa's attention? Ah, that explained his state.

State: Disdain / Slight Rage / Jealousy

I found him more cute than anger-inducing. He was clearly jealous, but still trying to look down on me.

'The reason why President Song sent such a kid to me…' I immediately read his intent. 'Is because he's curious as to how I'll handle him.'

There was a really high chance he was testing me. He wanted to see if I was truly someone with the skills to back my refusal of the Taeguk Shield guildmaster position.

'If he's really that curious, I'll show him.'

For the time being, dancing to the President's tune wasn't that bad an option. That would increase my value and worth.

'He'll probably be very shocked.'

Even I was shocked by myself.

My party members. Taeguk Shield guild members. Kim Taechun. The youngest grandson, Song Jinchul.

Using these keywords, I drafted a completely new picture, one where I would work with my party members and use all of the above elements to maximize our value.

"Yeah. I'm Kim Hyukjin, what about it?"

"Mister. Did you just speak down to me?"

"Yeah, I did."

"Are you crazy? Do you not know who I am?"

"Nope, I don't."

The no-good chaebol scion quickly flared to anger, spitting out with agitation, "If you don't know who I am, then you have to be taught. Oi, make that bastard kneel before me."

Being this disillusioned at his age was called chuunibyou syndrome.

"What are you doing? I said grab that trash and make him kneel before me! Didn't you hear me?!"

The members of Taeguk Shield glanced our way.

To start things off, this brat was due for a friendly little beatdown.

[Using the special ability Mettle.]

My Mettle had crushed Orcs that could tear apart Song Jinchul and the other four men here with one hand. This ability was a rank higher than the one possessed by Jinchul's grandfather, the 1st President of Sungshin, Song Kiyoung.

Mettle instantly crushed the group of four.

"Huh…?"

Jinchul became deathly white. Kim Kangchul in front of him was the same. It was my first time using the ability on people, but it was apparently extremely effective.

I patted Jinchul's shoulder. "Have some manners, kid. A person's at their coolest when they talk to others with respect."

I then walked past the frightened Jinchul. As Sunhwa trailed behind me, she stuck out her tongue and blew a quiet raspberry, but I just let it slide. Being slighted by a little girl he'd never seen before might actually be even more humiliating to Jinchul.

Knowing that it would take the kid some time to shake off the effects of Mettle, I walked to one of the hall's exits. I could feel with Eye of Perception that quite a few people had been gathered here to control the Players within.

'They purposefully went for a heavy-handed atmosphere.'

All the 'Players Association' had to do was formally apologize much, much later.

'To push the Players into submission.'

The Players were still in their early stages of growth. It was clear to me that the Players Association wanted to grab control while they still could. At least in the early game, that wasn't a terrible strategy—it would allow the Players Association to quickly take its place and gain the wholehearted(?) cooperation of the Players.

'Sometimes, force is more effective than democratic or peaceful methods.'

Yoohyun had proven that to me earlier. Sungshin must have come to the same conclusion.

'President Song Kiyoung intentionally crafted this situation.'

I could see his intent like it was written in red paint. It was fun.

"You cannot leave."

They weren't as big as Yoohyun, but intimidatingly large people, hired muscle in black suits, were blocking the door.

'Most of them are Unawakened.'

Seeing that made me laugh. Even the oh-so-mighty President Song hadn't even begun to see the true power of Players yet.

'What would have happened if the Players hadn't submitted in the past and rioted?'

Even Kim Taechun over there could have easily wiped out these hired guards if he went wild with his axe. That was how enormous the gap between a Player and an Unawakened was.

"Why not?" I asked.

"The Players Association Chairman has instructed it."

I hummed, then looked around again. Up to this point, it was still the same as the past. Quite a lot of people were milling around on the 12th floor.

Someone I didn't know picked up a mic and started talking. "Players, your attention, please. With the situation the way it is, I will get right to the point."

What he said was simple. There were a lot of casualties, so the Players Association would use their authority to find out exactly what happened in the gate. To do that, they would seek the cooperation of one person after another to hear what they had to say. They said it was to assemble a "database", but the atmosphere in the room was almost one of interrogation.

'The beginner Players have been pretty much cowed.'

It might also be that they were unwillingly surrendering to the authority held by the 'Players Association'. What they did was none of my business. I just had to Play my own way.

'I'll leave… the big picture for another day.'

I decided not to wrangle with the big picture today. Even if I didn't step in, in a future not too far from now, the Players would realize on their own that there was no need to be so submissive to the Players Association.

"Boss," said Yeonseo, her voice low. "The mood here is so frosty… Did we commit some kind of crime? It seriously feels like they're treating us like criminals."

She was smiling brightly, but I could feel bloodthirst from her. I felt the hired muscle blocking our way flinch.

Picking his nose, Sung-gu drawled, "Just gimme the okay anytime and I'll burn them all to a crisp. You know my online handle, right? I'm the Jayandong Firemaster."

I'd leave the big picture for another day, but there was no need to lower my value and the value of my team. I decided to live this life differently. I would forge my own life, and I wasn't going to be unfaithful to that creed here.

Intentionally speaking up so that the surrounding people could hear me, I said, "You're right. We didn't do anything wrong. Someone purposefully created this heavy-handed atmosphere. Though I won't say who that someone is."

Finally breaking free from the influence of Mettle, Song Jinchul shouted at me like he was having a fit. "What bullshit are you saying?! What you're saying makes zero sense!"

I would show this kid—no, President Song—whether I was saying bullshit or not.

'Let me show you how I set the stage.'

That stage… would be bigger than he expected.

Just then, Senia sent me a whisper request.

–Player Kim Hyukjin. I have a question.

–Ask away.

–What is the ultimate picture you are drawing? I cannot figure out where you are going with this.

I wasn't surprised.

–Trying to spoil the Guardians?

–No. It is just that I need to know your intent so I can film a little more properly.

Very good, Senia was also continuing to grow. I was happy to see it.

–I'll explain it just once, so listen up. If you can, use one Pause authority.

Senia hesitated, but in the end, she used a Pause. Everyone and everything other than Senia and me became black and white.

"I'll make it brief. I'm going to use that kid Song Jinchul to send President Song Kiyoung a message—to not look down on us, and to properly evaluate our value."

"Is that all?"

"No, it'd be no fun if that was all."

I had to design this step by step, layer by layer.

"Listen well. First, I'll provoke Song Jinchul. Afterwards, Kim Taechun will take action, and when that happens, Taeguk Shield will also take action. After that, other Taeguk Shield guild members will move."

"..."

"It's fine if you don't understand the process. I'm just talking about the result. I hope you'll film accordingly."

"Then is your provocation just now of Song Jinchul bait?"

"Yes."

Senia definitely grew a bit. She evolved from a fucking beginner to just a beginner.

"And then Kim Taechun will move?"

"I have to make that happen, yeah."

Alright, it seemed she was clear on that much.

"But how is Kim Taechun taking action connected to Taeguk Shield taking action? I cannot see any connection." After saying that, Senia's wings quivered for a moment. "Ah, you can't mean—!"

Oho, she must have guessed without me even needing to explain. Like Senia realized, there were other elements involved in this picture, though they couldn't be seen with the naked eye.

"Your prediction is correct. I will make them move."

"Song Jinchul is bait, as is Kim Taechun. I have judged that your true goal is Taeguk Shield."

"You're quite close."

It seemed like Senia got the gist of what I was going to do. She had really gotten much smarter.

"Do you plan on acquiring Taeguk Shield?"

"Yeah, something like that."

I did omit a few parts of the process. There would be several stages to acquiring the guild. It wasn't something I could swallow in one gulp just because I had a vague desire to do so.

"I understand your intent, but I cannot see the process."

"That's why I'll show you."

Senia's wings trembled once, very quickly.

"I will use this knowledge to inform my filming. Although I don't know the exact details of the process, I can see where you are going now."

She'd see soon enough.

'In the end, Taeguk Shield will become mine.'

And through it, I would have a share of Sungshin's hefty support. I would get everything there was to get, and this would open the doors to a far more efficient Play.

The first stroke of this grand blueprint would be drawn out now.

[The Pause has been deactivated.]

The world regained its color.

____