Chapter 38

[Translator –  woni]

[Proofreader – sharlottle]

Chapter 38: Just One Reward

“It is not bad enough to be a scam yet — it was just a slightly creative economy,” Li Chingwei shyly responded to Limon’s blood curling outcry.

“How the hell do you call a fraud of that magnitude a creative economy?!”

Limon gritted his teeth.

Li Chingwei’s statement was simply that absurd.

When everyone believes that pebbles are worth more than gold, you can buy gold with the pebbles you pick from the streets.

In the same sense, the Seven Dragons Association solved their bankruptcy problem by inflating the cost of Dungeon scraps hundreds and hundreds of times, creating a controlled inflation bubble.

In simpler terms…

“All you did was make a premeditated bubble!”

Reminiscent of when one tulip costed tens of thousands of dollars thanks to the tulip bubble, or when the cost of a stock went up hundreds of times for being marketed as a tech company during the IT bubble, the Seven Dragons Association manually made the cost of the scraps soar.

A ‘dungeon bubble’, so to speak.

‘Fuck this, no wonder a single item was already worth millions…’

The players got the most out of this ordeal. After all, they were the ones who mined and sold the dungeon scraps.

However, the cold hard truth was that high-level players were ultimately primary producers — nothing more than just a miner.

And due to the nature of players and their endless pursuit for a higher level, they would spend most of their earnings on more expensive items regardless of how much money they earned. They’d go as far as going into huge amounts of debt for it.

Regardless of whether a miner dug up gold or diamonds, the wealth would ultimately go to the owner of the mine. The Seven Dragon Group would be the real profitters in this scenario.

After all, simply being able to control an economic bubble would let anyone become rich.

‘Having all the world’s riches in their hands’ was a surprisingly fitting description for the Seven Dragon Group.

Of course, such a thing wasn’t legal.

Accounting fraud, stock manipulation, monopoly… 

It would be harder to find a crime they haven’t yet committed.

Yet amidst having confessed to carrying out the scam of the century, Li Chingwei was not even the smallest bit unnerved.

Instead, she gave a nonchalant excuse, “we were able to stop a global economic collapse thanks to that, anyways.”

“You said that that was all a part of your world peace shenanigans too.”

“I did, but if we hadn’t spent all the money we earned on those shenanigans, the world would not be as peaceful as it is now,” smiled Li Chingwei.

“……”

Limon couldn’t deny those facts.

If it wasn’t for the Association acting behind the scenes, war would have inevitably broken out.

There was very much a possibility of conflict between some vested interests and players that would have caused a world war to wreak havoc all over the globe.

In all honesty, it was incredible of them to have stopped all the chaos. Their means of earning their funds was ludicrous, that’s all.

On top of that, they’d managed to handle the bubble so that it wouldn’t affect the world too much while still maintaining a stable profit margin.

They had assets that they had saved for ages. 

Their group had influence as the rulers of a past world. 

And they had the expertise they’d gained as a criminal organization.

Everything the Seven Dragons Association did was made possible because they had the skill sets of the Seven Dragons Association.

“Truth be told, even that was not enough.”

The Seven Dragons Association made it possible to have a stable global economy and world peace.

But even for them, it was not an easy status quo to maintain.

They always had to be on their feet.

There were times an entire fortune became worthless, because they lost control of their bubble.

There were times when war almost broke out due to missed information.

There were times where sacrifices had to be made when faced with a strong opponent.

Those were truly the days of indescribable hardship.

“Most of the clan members were skeptical about how long this had to go on.”

“Of course they would have…”

Perhaps it wouldn’t have been like this if they didn’t maintain world peace in secret.

Having done all kinds of illegal activities to maintain the dungeon bubble, from bribery to murder, the Seven Dragons Association would not have been able to boast about their feats.

It was like they took on all of the baggage with nothing to gain.

No matter how much the Association dreamt of a utopia, not even they could be pleased with their current situation.

Especially not for the current leaders, who were much more keen on their profits and losses going beyond religious principles.

There was one exception…

“But we, the Black Dragon Clan, did not give up until the very end.”

The first to propose the scheme.

“To carry on with the plan despite the opposition from the other clans, we had to pay a fair price.”

“A price?”

“Yes.”

Limon looked scared of what he was going to hear next.

And unfortunately for him, he was scared for good reason.

“Our clan offered to take responsibility for all of the damage caused by maintaining world peace.” 

Once again, his mind went blank as Li Chingwei revealed the price she had to pay with a smile on her face.

“I…”

His mouth fell agape, getting reminded of what feeling ‘speechless’ was like.

Getting over the sensation that hit him in the head like a hammer, Limon asked, “and they accepted your ridiculous offer?”

“We made them.”

“How?”

It was a mystery to Limon.

The world peace plan was overwhelming, even for the entire Seven Dragons Association to handle.

Passing over all the burden to one single clan?

No sane man would have taken on such a task.

Just as a bank does not give loans out to those who cannot afford to pay it back, the other clans must have been aware that the Black Dragon Clan did not have the ability to handle the weight of it.

So how did she do it?

“I gave Hotel Leviathan’s stocks as collateral.”

***

Translator – woni

Proofreader – sharlottle

***

Hotel Leviathan.

One of the seven holding companies representing the Seven Dragons Association, and the backbone of the Black Dragon Clan.

After giving its stocks as collateral, even the clans most opposed to the plan quickly back-pedaled into avid supporters of world peace.

Li Chingwei said it like it was a funny joke.

She gave a wide smile to Limon, who was still frozen, his jaws breaking through the floorboards.

“It was most fortunate that I was able to continue with my plan every time I leveraged my shares. The other clans were practically stepping over one another to lend me their money.”

But of course. Leviathan’s shares meant control over the Seven Dragons Association.

Even among the Association…

No, because they were members of the same Association, it was an even more coveted treasure.

“Though, I did unfortunately lose the support of my own clan due to losing quite a lot of the shares.”

Li Chingwei said with cheer.

From the elite clan members who have passed down the 72 martial arts for centuries on  end, to the lower level members who barely got their names in the name, quite a few of the clan members had already turned their backs on her.

In fact, many of them had switched clans entirely.

After a moment of silence, limon blurted out a question that crossed his mind.

“You’ve already lost a chunk of your shares?”

“Yes.”

“…Didn’t you say that you were going to give me 49% of Hotel Leviathan to me as well?”

“I did.”

“Then how much do you have now?”

It was definitely not a minor 1-2% loss if even the most loyal of clan members had turned their backs on her.

What more could be left, after giving away another 49%? 

The answer he received was definite.

“1.1%.”

“……”

“Please don’t make that face,” Li Chingwei told Limon with a beaming grin.

He was blinking blankly, as if he couldn’t believe his own ears.

“50.1% with the Master of Sword’s 49% and my 1.1%. That is the last remaining fortune of our clan.”

Half of Hotel Leviathan’s shares was certainly an enormous fortune. 

The market capital of three to four major companies combined would not even amount to a quarter of that value.

But that also meant that the Black Dragon Clan had lost that much money.

“Yes, our clan has already fallen.”

It just wasn’t showing publicly.

“Nobody believes that we will be able to get back on our feet, and the elders are only planning to sell me to another clan for a high price.”

“Master of Swords. You said that you wouldn’t have had to clash with the Infinite Monarch if you hadn’t met me, did you not?.”

“……”

“That is correct, but you were wrong.”

Li Chingwei confirmed the suspicions Limon had prior to her confession.

And yet, she was denying them at the same time.

“My visit was simply one of the triggers. As long as the Black Dragon Clan met its downfall, it was bound to happen.”

The very reason Limon hadn’t crossed paths with a Monarch before Lee Chun-gi was because the Seven Dragons Association had poured their manpower and assets into preventing such a thing.

After all, no matter how hard they try to maintain world peace, it would all be in vain if Limon simply wiped out the Monarchs.

But the Black Dragon Clan no longer had the power to maintain world peace when they had already lost almost half of their stocks.

That was what caused Limon’s clash with the Infinite Monarch.

The Seven Dragons Association did not scheme the conflict.

It was simply the result of them not preventing it.

Li Chingwei presented to him as calmly as if she was wrapping up a school presentation.

“……”

Limon fell silent watching her.

Silence…

Silence…

And more silence.

Staring into her beautiful eyes glistening like obsidian, he finally opened his mouth.

“…Why?”

He had thought over it multiple times, but he could not find an answer.

It was a question Limon did not ask very often.

“Why are you going this far?” he asked again.

She manipulated her own doctrine as she pleased.

She made the Seven Dragons Association face bankruptcy.

She lost her support as her clan met its downfall.

A clever man would have only taken credit at the beginning.

An average person would have given up after realizing the hardships.

An idiot would have retired once their clan collapsed.

“You knew you weren’t getting anything out of all this.”

Why did she walk on such a dangerous tightrope for the past 32 years, despite everybody’s opposition to it?

“I am getting something.”

Li Chingwei smiled at his settled, golden eyes.

The reason why she went past her limits. 

The result of her practically selling off half her clan. 

Maintaining world peace despite the ridicule and backlash.

And holding her head high despite all of that…

“You accepted my marriage proposal.”

Even though the Seven Dragons Association maintained world peace, the furthest their power could take them was only a couple decades.

And here was the Absolute Ruler who did all of that, for centuries, with nothing but a single sword.

As long as she had Limon on her side, even if she loses everyone in the Seven Dragons Association…

Her bargaining power was unmatched.

“…That’s it?”

“It’s not something to say ‘that’s it’ about.”

She glanced up at the skies.

They had gone dark as soon as Limon appeared before her.

For the very first time, she would confess the reason she had to put the world’s greatest weapon into her hands. 

A reason she could not tell a single soul.

“In this day and age where the sword tower and Swordmasters are no longer… You, the Master of Swords, are the only one who can go against the Constellations.”

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