Chapter 34: Encroachment

The Samraseong Guild of Grisha. There was a time when no one in Grisha was unfamiliar with that name.

Immediately after the calamity struck, Choi Chi-taek, the Guild Master of Samraseong, promptly left Grisha to settle in another major city. There, he was absorbed into one of the colossal guilds that already dominated the urban landscape.

Thus, Samraseong faded into the annals of history. However, just as he had managed to secure a low-ranking executive position, the Guild Master summoned Choi Chi-taek.

“Listen, Chi-taek. There’s something I need you to do. It’s a task only you, as the former Guild Master of Samraseong, can accomplish.”

His executive position, the lowest rung, had merely been a preliminary step to manipulate Choi Chi-taek.

“…I will do my utmost.”

Grinding his teeth, he returned to Grisha with a few of his guild members. For high-ranking Hunters, defection was not difficult. Even for those who had once left, the process remained the same.

While society might condemn such an act, procedurally, there were no issues whatsoever.

Furthermore, thanks to the clandestine support he received from his main guild, establishing himself was not arduous. After some time, he even joined the subjugation efforts, representing a mid-sized guild.

People’s gazes were frigid. If that had been the only challenge, it would have been preferable, but enemies lurked within as well. Choi Chi-taek overheard a conversation from a corner of the guild’s commercial building.

These were the very individuals who had followed him to the major city and returned with him for this operation. His direct subordinates, in essence. The original members of Samraseong, who had endured hardships and triumphs alongside him.

Yet, what they whispered about was Choi Chi-taek himself.

“—right? Who knows what glorious future he thought he’d find by defecting. If he’d just stayed then, he wouldn’t be getting treated like a dog and suffering like one now.”

“Exactly. I heard Samchoseungdal disbanded, didn’t they? Then our Samraseong, which was ranked second, would have immediately shot up to first place.”

“Hmph. I’m the idiot for still letting that fool be our leader.”

Choi Chi-taek’s vision blurred crimson with rage. In the past, he would have immediately lunged forward and smashed their heads against the wall, but now, he could not.

Samraseong was now nothing more than a branch office. The true master was the Guild Master in the city, who held both his purse strings and his very life in their grasp. He couldn’t risk upsetting them with trivial troubles.

In plain terms, if those bastards he’d beaten up were to report him to the Guild Master…

‘Even this low-ranking executive position, which I barely secured, would be gone.’

Overwhelmed by his fury, he secluded himself in the training room, pounding on a steel pillar as if it were a punching bag.

‘How was I supposed to know things would turn out like this?!’

Thud! Thud!

‘These clueless bastards. They followed me to survive, and now they’re bitching at me?! I made the best choice for the guild. The ones who stayed behind were just lucky, that’s all!’

Crash!

Choi Chi-taek endured. Now, there were no other options.

His only course was to complete the mission given by the Guild Master and leave this irritating city. With bloodshot eyes, he steeled his resolve. Time passed, and finally, the awaited moment arrived. He reviewed the orders he had received.

‘Stirring up discord and Sagyeol’s downfall.’

While he could have pursued both objectives separately, Choi Chi-taek conceived of a brilliant stratagem.

‘Direct the discontent of the subjugation guilds towards Sagyeol and make it explode.’

Grisha’s formidable guilds had not initially joined the subjugation efforts on amicable terms.

In the early days, when the city was barely recovering from the ravages of the sea of monsters, only two guilds participated in the subjugation: Samchoseungdal and Amulet.

Including the Hunter Association, one could say that three factions formed the main pillars of the effort.

Nevertheless, the subjugation proceeded smoothly from the outset, without a single hitch. Not only that, but an incomparable quantity of magic stones, far exceeding what was typically obtained from gates, poured forth simultaneously with the conquest.

In retrospect, it was only natural. Countless monsters implied an equally vast amount of magic stones within them.

Upon hearing the news, the guild leaders immediately sprang to action. With success assured, the sea of monsters was no longer an object of fear. The large guilds, a step behind, vied with each other to join the subjugation.

As several years passed, there were barely any guilds left that *weren’t* participating in the subjugation. Even mid-to-small-sized guilds with high-quality Hunters managed to get a foothold.

However, the distribution of magic stones still granted priority to the three original factions. The initial members, enjoying the absolute support of the citizens, still held an unassailable justification.

‘Undoubtedly, resentment must have accumulated.’

Choi Chi-taek targeted the guilds commonly referred to as the ‘second generation.’ These were the large guilds that had made swift entries, being the second wave to participate, yet still received a differentiated distribution of magic stones!

His first target was Hestia, which likely harbored the most recent grievances against Credit.

“Samraseong? Sounds familiar, but… is it a restaurant?”

“Oh. Them. They’re that.”

“? What’s that?”

A bodyguard, glancing his way, whispered something to his colleague. The listener’s expression shifted in real-time.

Choi Chi-taek’s face flushed red, yet he remained silent. He wasn’t so obtuse as to be unaware of what they were exchanging.

The burly man, having heard of Samraseong’s history, spat on the ground.

“Get lost.”

“…”

Choi Chi-taek did not give up. Fortunately, from the second guild onward, the reactions were not bad. No, that was an understatement.

“Sagyeol? Not a bad business partner, I suppose. Ah, but the magic stones… that’s an exception. People don’t know their limits. No matter how much justification they have, there’s a line.”

“Why wouldn’t we be angry? Credit takes over half of the total. Then Amulet and the Association take half of what’s left. After all that? Naturally, only scraps remain.”

Choi Chi-taek swallowed dryly. He knew that Credit’s share among the three factions was substantial, but—

‘It’s over half?’

This was entirely new information to him.

“Guilds like ours, who’ve only ambiguously gotten a foothold, are left to divide those scraps like crumbs. Ugh, damn it all.”

Even a Guild Master from a respectable large guild fumed as they spoke. Choi Chi-taek inwardly cheered. There was no need to incite them further.

Their indignation over the unfair distribution had already reached its breaking point.

‘In this situation, perhaps I can push a little further?’

The true objective behind the command issued by his main guild’s Guild Master was the vast quantity of magic stones emerging from the sea of monsters.

“Propose a new distribution rate, you say? Hmm, indeed, with so much time having passed, it might be time to broach the subject.”

“Do other guilds think the same way…? Well, naturally, they would. Then, I’ll contact you after an internal meeting.”

“What? Justice? …That’s tempting.”

The most proactive individual was the Guild Master who had first vented their frustration about the unjust distribution. They rubbed their chin thoughtfully.

“Excellent. I hear the Credit Guild Master has just left Grisha. Now would be a good time for like-minded guilds to convene a meeting.”

“Sagyeol left Grisha?”

“They haven’t been staying in the city much lately. I hear they use that expensive airship like a taxi, maybe hiding a lover in another city. It’s good to be young, isn’t it?”

The man, in his late forties, chuckled casually in front of Choi Chi-taek, who was in his late fifties. Choi Chi-taek endured. The man before him displayed a more proactive attitude than any other Guild Master.

A large hand clapped heavily on Choi Chi-taek’s back.

“Then I’ll contact you once the meeting concludes. Today was very enjoyable.”

Each pat made Choi Chi-taek’s body sway.

“Yes, thank you.”

The veins on his hands bulged. He managed a smile, concealing his churning stomach. Ha-ha, ho-ho. The meeting concluded in a cordial atmosphere.

Sagyeol stared at his terminal, his eyes bloodshot.

It was not at all unusual for a text message to not arrive from the person he was waiting for. Even more so from someone who had experienced 200 of their own messages being ignored.

However, if he hadn’t replied at all, it might have been different. But after such a warm exchange, the sudden silence was agonizing.

“This is definitely training.”

“…”

“Do you understand? *I* am currently being trained.”

“What do you want me to do about it?”

Lee Hyun-su grumbled. Dark circles extended down to Lee Hyun-su’s cheeks.

“We have an absolutely insane amount of work, so unless you’re going to help, please just be quiet.”

“So, if I help, I can talk?”

“…”

“Hyun-su. Even if your eyes are spinning, you should still recognize your master, shouldn’t you?”

“…My apologies.”

“Good that you know.”

Sagyeol nudged him sufficiently and then fell silent. Half of the current workload had arisen incidentally because he had guaranteed he would solve the labyrinth.

He quietly turned his attention back to the terminal. Anxious fingertips fiddled with the small device.

He had a bad feeling, somehow. This intensified especially after he felt a peculiar tingle at the nape of his neck. Sagyeol’s premonitions bordered on prophecy.

It wasn’t just that they were often accurate; ‘unerring’ was a more fitting description. Even the jinx of his premonitions failing for ‘returnees’ seemed to have been broken this time.

‘Surely, he hasn’t met with some accident, has he?’

His eyes narrowed.

He recalled some scoundrel who had been pestering Yeowon. A C-rank nobody whose name he couldn’t even remember. Joo… Joo… what was it again? By now, both the name and face were a blur.

Only one image remained vivid: the sight of him barging in and pulling up Yeowon’s shirt.

‘Could he have seen those incredibly sexy paired nipples back then?’

From Sagyeol’s angle at the time, only Yeowon’s firm abs had been visible. If that man had seen *that*, it wouldn’t be strange for him to have gone frantic and caused trouble.

“…”

Sagyeol himself had only touched them, never actually seen them with his own eyes. The thought that someone else might have seen them first, and perhaps even done something more, was infuriating.

Crack.

Something shattered in his hand.

‘My terminal?’

He checked, startled. Fortunately, it was just some unidentified lever.

“What’s… Aaaargh!”

“What?! What’s going… Aaaargh!”

Crew members, mimicking Munch’s *The Scream*, clustered together, murmuring. Lee Hyun-su shot lasers from his eyes. Sagyeol, who already felt guilty about the labyrinth incident, stealthily slipped out of the cockpit and walked down the airship’s corridor.

‘That’s overthinking it. I already gave a warning.’

He hadn’t warned the scoundrel himself, but rather his superior: the scoundrel’s father, City Councilman Baekdam. For types who ran wild trusting their connections, hitting the connections directly was always more effective.

‘Even if that guy went insane and made a move, there’s no way *he* would be so easily caught…’

Yet, the image of Yeowon, innocently unable to hide his excitement over a slice of cake, flashed through Sagyeol’s mind.

“…”

Sagyeol, rushing back to the cockpit, shouted.

“Full speed ahead to Baekdam!”

“Ah! Come on! Ah!”