Chapter 110

The announcement previously posted in episode 109 has been deleted. If you haven’t read episode 109 yet, please read it first.

For those who had been caught in the harsh proposition of survival across two realms, reality and the otherworld, and were confused about their identity, the superhuman strength Jun-sang displayed was enough to serve as a beacon, a landmark in itself. Furthermore, his subsequent declaration of them as “victors” instantly transformed their self-perception from passive victims caught in the inexplicable phenomenon of quests to active pioneers who had overcome severe hardships. It was, quite literally, a revolution.

Kim Jong-kyung, who had escaped the crumbling building and watched all these events unfold, unconsciously sighed deeply, seeing the lifeless eyes of the people instantly transform with vitality, or rather, fervor, due to Jun-sang’s actions and words.

“Hoo…” It was over.

Jun-sang had, in just a few hours, utterly destroyed the fruits of Kim Jong-kyung’s labor in the form of the Alliance, leaving no trace. Kim Jong-kyung now definitively knew that the hearts of the returnees gathered here had completely abandoned him. With their hearts lost, the only remaining means to bind them would be the meager support funds. However, it didn’t take long for him to realize that even that sole means had already been neutralized.

A Range Rover swiftly approached through the broken main gate and stopped below the platform. Not many people instantly recognized this luxury SUV, often called the “Rolls-Royce of the desert,” but Kim Jong-kyung at least had no trouble recognizing the man who stepped out of it.

“Surely not…”

That man, Im Seo-yoon, along with three mysterious women, got out of the car and watched the pulverized remains of the Alliance headquarters with astonished eyes for a moment, then cautiously approached Jun-sang, who was looking down at the people from the platform.

“You came quickly.”

At Jun-sang’s words, Im Seo-yoon could only give a short cough. “Ahem. Well…” No matter how much he hurried after receiving the call, arriving so quickly was physically impossible. In truth, Im Seo-yoon and his colleagues had already been waiting nearby since Jun-sang began smashing the main gate.

Jun-sang pretended not to notice Im Seo-yoon’s actions and spoke again, “Anyway, it’s good you came quickly. Actually…” Jun-sang then explained the Seed acquisition matter he had mentioned to the people earlier.

“Such…” Im Seo-yoon had, of course, considered establishing a guild for trading quest byproducts like Seeds and items, but he hadn’t yet finalized a concrete profit model and so hadn’t seriously considered launching the business. But now, all of a sudden, Seed acquisition? And with such an absurd price setting… For Im Seo-yoon, who didn’t yet know about item enhancement or Seed combination, it was frankly bewildering.

“Uh… I understand your antipathy towards the Alliance, but isn’t this a bit much?”

However, Jun-sang replied to his concern, “I’ll pay in kind. As before.”

“…” Im Seo-yoon instantly had a feeling that there was a way to use Seeds beyond simply attaching them to cards or items. Thinking about it, he had nothing to lose. He was merely brokering the transactions and gaining a profit from the difference, so there would be no problem as long as payments were made smoothly. Especially for Seo-yoon, who had previously made a decent profit by acquiring twenty gold bars, the idea of in-kind payment was particularly appealing.

“Hmm…” Seo-yoon looked at the three women standing idly behind him. Jin Se-ah, Seo Yoo-mi, Jung Da-bin. For identifying items to assess Seed performance, they alone were sufficient, but for general office work, non-ability users would also need to be hired. Since all four guild members, including Seo-yoon, were in one party, additional reserve guild members would need to be recruited for item verification in case they were called away on a quest. In fact, item verification could be done slowly after a general office worker received the items, but it was clear that there were many things to prepare.

“Can’t you do it?” When Seo-yoon hesitated to make a decision, Jun-sang asked in a bored voice. His tone implied he would immediately find someone else if he refused, so Seo-yoon stopped agonizing and quickly replied, “No, I can do it.”

As long as payment was assured, it was clearly a sure thing, like “swimming with land under your feet.” Moreover, building recognition among players this way would make it much easier to run his own business later on.

“You thought well.” Jun-sang said that, then pointed to the gathered people and spoke again, “Since it’s brought up, let’s start buying right away. The payment is here.”

“Understood.”

“Do as you see fit, but it doesn’t matter if you try something funny.”

“…”

“Just don’t get caught. Understand?”

“Ah, understood.”

Seo-yoon received the money bag from Jun-sang and immediately began buying from the people gathered there.

Kim Jong-kyung, who had been watching this entire situation from a distance, effortlessly realized that even the last remaining shackle, the support funds, had become useless when Im Seo-yoon gathered the people, explained something, and immediately began the acquisition.

“Hmph… like this…”

Of course, people wouldn’t immediately leave the Alliance. There was no reason to. After all, these support funds were disbursed for the welfare of returnees who joined the Alliance. Originally, there had been an attempt to include a condition in the special law requiring the performance of certain tasks assigned by the Alliance, but this had not materialized due to checks from other lawmakers who feared that ability-wielding returnees would become Kim Jong-kyung’s private army.

The budget spent on acquiring this training center and converting it into a facility for returnees alone was about 10 billion won. And the costs of maintaining this place, along with the support funds to be paid to the returnees, amounted to billions more. All of these were expenses incurred under Kim Jong-kyung’s responsibility. Money was being spent, yet they couldn’t force anything on the increasingly powerful returnees. Trying to impose work performance as a condition now would only provoke a backlash from the returnees and would actually encourage them to leave the Alliance. This series of events and their outcome would be excellent evidence for his political opponents to demonstrate Kim Jong-kyung’s incompetence.

“It’s over.” Kim Jong-kyung sighed and looked up at the sky.

Then Kwon Hyung-sik, standing next to him, said, “This is an act tantamount to terrorism. He must be judged by law.”

At that, Kim Sung-jin gave a wry smile and replied, “How will you judge him?”

“Huh? Well…”

“Will you imprison him? Will you fine him?”

“…”

“Even if he’s judged, it’s a problem. Will he just stand by?”

“That’s…”

He had already demonstrated his infiltration ability in Kim Jong-kyung’s office. Considering that he could freely enter and exit physically sealed spaces, not just simply hide, prisons held no meaning for him. If so, there would be no choice but to impose a fine… But how would they collect a fine from him? In a situation where he had no bank accounts, no real estate, nothing in his name… How? No, even if it were possible and they did it, if he bore a grudge for such an act and secretly snuck in at night, was there any way to stop him? There wasn’t. Considering that he was not someone who could be caught by existing security systems, this was tantamount to offering one’s neck to be killed. In the worst-case scenario, if he truly had malicious intent, he could kill Kim Jong-kyung and his son, put their bodies in his Inventory, and dump them in the otherworld. Only then did Kwon Hyung-sik realize how reckless it was to provoke Jun-sang.

Kim Jong-kyung looked at Jun-sang, who stood on the platform without even glancing at him, and quietly said, “It seems it’s time for me to retire.”

“What? What do you mean by that…” As Kwon Hyung-sik looked surprised, Kim Jong-kyung said with a wry smile, “If you can’t recognize people and can’t assess the market, it means your life as a politician is over.”

“But…”

“Let’s go. For some reason, I want to get drunk tonight.”

“…” As Kim Jong-kyung turned, Kwon Hyung-sik and Kim Sung-jin followed him with gloomy expressions. Fortunately, Jun-sang seemed to have forgotten their very existence, or perhaps was intentionally ignoring them, not even giving them a glance.

Kim Jong-kyung and his son returned to their main residence in Seoul, driven by Kwon Hyung-sik.

“Don’t look so depressed.”

“But…”

“We’ll have to lay low for a while, but that can’t be helped.”

“…” Kim Jong-kyung sat face-to-face with Kwon Hyung-sik and drank until dawn, something he hadn’t done in a very long time.

And the next morning.

“N-no way…” Kim Jong-kyung felt a strange sensation and opened the secret safe installed in his room, unable to close his gaping mouth. It was empty. Completely empty, not a speck of dust remained. How could this be?

He instantly thought of Jun-sang. But even if he had secretly snuck in, this safe was a state-of-the-art model that could only be opened with Kim Jong-kyung’s fingerprint and iris scan. The safe itself was hidden within a concrete wall, and if someone tried to open it forcefully without using the proper methods, all the emergency alarms in the house would go off. Yet… it was empty.

No gold bars.

No securities.

No ledgers containing secret transaction details.

Nothing remained.

How could this have happened? Kim Jong-kyung stared blankly into the safe and then discovered something peculiar.

“A hole?” There was a strange hole inside the safe, as if gnawed by a mouse. Kim Jong-kyung, with a feeling of disbelief, checked his other safes as well. Under the strict rule of not putting all eggs in one basket, there were five safes hidden in his home alone. But unfortunately, when Kim Jong-kyung checked, all of those safes were empty, leaving only holes as if gnawed by mice.

“Ugh!” Kim Jong-kyung finally couldn’t bear it and collapsed, clutching the back of his neck.