CH 100

Vrooom!

As the passersby heard the obnoxiously loud engine, they could help but frown. However, they gasped in shock when they spotted the car.

“Uwaahhh…” 

You could never hate an expensive and luxurious car. While the women were impressed but still annoyed by the annoying sound, the men just exclaimed in awe. 

“That's so amazing.”

“Wow…”

Surprisingly, even the driver of the said car shared their awe. 

“Oh my gosh! This is the best!” Heo Sung-Hoon yelled in ecstasy. Using his enhanced reflexes as a player, he drove his new car slightly beyond the speed limit without getting in trouble. 

“Please be careful!” When Gi-Gyu warned, Sung-Hoon regained his senses, slowed down, and murmured, “Ah… Sorry.”

Sung-Hoon quickly added, “I just can’t believe I get to drive a car like this.” 

Gi-Gyu smiled brightly as he watched how happy Sung-Hoon was with his new gift. The association used its close ties with the government to take care of all the complicated paperwork for Gi-Gyu quickly. He also used his merc status to expedite the process further; consequently, Sung-Hoon was now a proud owner of this supercar. 

‘Still, I can’t get over what I saw inside the gate.’ Sung-Hoon remembered when he entered Brunheart’s gate for the first time. He was shocked by how well maintained it looked. He was even more surprised to see the skeletons and Rogers working like Egyptian slaves. 

‘And then, there were all those cars…’ Sung-Hoon couldn’t breathe when he saw the extravagant cars. These cars were so rare and valuable that not even the richest players could obtain them easily. Sung-Hoon couldn’t imagine where Gi-Gyu found them, but he couldn’t ask because his jaw was on the floor. 

Then, Gi-Gyu offered, “Please pick one.”

Even as he drove the car, Sung-Hoon couldn’t believe Gi-Gyu had really gifted him this car. Since Gi-Gyu even offered to pay all the maintenance fees, he only had to enjoy the new car.

“I’ll serve you forever, Your Majesty!” Sung-Hoon exclaimed as he stepped on the pedal.

***

Sung-Hoon, who couldn’t hide his excitement a moment ago, stood solemnly with his head down. The atmosphere turned tense suddenly, but Sung-Hoon silently accepted the change since he was used to such situations.

Gi-Gyu announced in a bitter voice, “I’m sorry I didn’t come sooner.” 

Gi-Gyu was sitting across from Yoo Suk-Woo, his friend, the Cain Guild’s master, and the one who helped him destroy the Iron Guild’s Korean branch.

Unfortunately, the Cain Guild suffered many casualties during the Yeoksam incident, just like the Morningstar and the Child guilds.

Gi-Gyu had called these guilds a few times before regarding the incident's aftermath, but he never visited them in person. He knew well that it wasn’t the right thing to do.

While preparing the plan, he forgot to consider one variable—Guilt. After the fight, he realized he had sacrificed many for his selfish endeavors, so he couldn’t help feeling responsible. Then, his guilt stopped him from visiting the Cain or the Morningstar guilds. 

Once Gi-Gyu felt more collected, he escaped the overwhelming guilt and finally faced his sin.

Suk-Woo gave him a faint smile and replied, “I understand.” It was a bitter and sad smile.

“Thanks for understanding,” answered Gi-Gyu. Various emotions replaced the noise in the room, and the players just sat there silently. 

Guilt and forgiveness. 

Altruism and selfishness. 

Gi-Gyu and Suk-Woo didn’t say much, but their silence conveyed much more. Gi-Gyu lowered his head awkwardly. 

“You have grown and become stronger, which is enough for me. Besides, we made those choices, so you don’t have to feel guilty. You would be disrespecting the brave players and their choices if you felt burdened.” Suk-Woo touched Gi-Gyu’s shoulder encouragingly and consoled him.

Suk-Woo’s tone was rigid, but it was clear that he was trying to comfort him. Lowering his eyes, Gi-Gyu’s hands trembled slightly as he asked, “They must all hate me, don’t they?”

Suk-Woo replied immediately, “I told you that we made our own choices. Every member of my guild chose to do it. None of them are so weak that they can’t take responsibility for their actions.” 

Gi-Gyu nodded. Cain Guild was indeed powerful, not just physically but also emotionally.  

Gi-Gyu promised, “No matter what, I will always remain an ally of the Cain Guild. I will never forget what you and your guild did for me.” 

Suk-Woo smiled and replied, “Good. I sacrificed my family for that, so you better keep your words. And besides, you’re part of my family too, aren’t you?”

Gi-Gyu felt a nice warmth in the Cain Guild’s office that day.

*** 

The Cain Guild benefited much from eliminating the Iron Guild’s Korean branch, but Gi-Gyu didn’t think it was enough. More specifically, he wanted to give Suk-Woo and his guild something more personal. So, he decided to donate most of the money he made from selling crystals from Brunheart’s gate. He knew Suk-Woo would never accept it, so he anonymously donated it to the Cain Guild through the association. 

‘I hope it will make things a little better,’ Gi-Gyu wished. He knew he couldn’t put a price on human lives, but he hoped that this money would at least help a little. 

The next places he needed to visit were the Morningstar and the Child guilds. 

Gi-Gyu asked in shock, “You are merging the two guilds?”

Sun-Pil nodded and slowly explained, “We suffered greater casualties than we expected from the Yeoksam incident. Many guild members are fearful, so we decided merging our two guilds would do us good.”

Sun-Pil’s demeanor was very different from Suk-Woo's; he looked too tired. The Cain Guild was close-knit like a family, while the Morningstar Guild was strictly a business. The Child Guild was somewhere in the middle. 

The Morningstar and the Child guilds were smaller than the Cain Guild, so their casualties seemed greater. Also, since the Cain Guild was much older, the members were closer with stronger comradery. Morningstar Guild, a much newer group, was rapidly losing its members because the quitters thought their guild's actions had angered the Iron Guild. 

Gi-Gyu turned rigid as he asked, “What about the confidentiality issue?”

All the players recruited for the Yeoksam battle were considered trustworthy, but if they quit their guilds, Gi-Gyu feared they would leak what really happened with the branch. 

Sun-Pil replied, “You don’t have to worry about that. They all signed the player’s non-disclosure agreement.”

“All right.” Gi-Gyu nodded. Since the player’s NDA was a forceful contract among players, he felt reassured. 

“So if the two guilds are merging, who will be the guild master?’

Clack.

Someone walked into the room and answered Gi-Gyu’s question, “We’ll be co-guild masters.”

“I see,” replied Gi-Gyu as he watched the former Child Guild’s master, Kim Dong-Hae. He hurried here when he heard Gi-Gyu was visiting the Morningstar Guild.

Gi-Gyu apologized to both guild masters, “I have no excuse. I should’ve come sooner; I’m sorry.” 

Since it was just a business deal, some might think Gi-Gyu was overdoing it. However, people, some with loved ones and some with no one, had died;  he was apologizing for them. 

Sun-Pil nodded in understanding and replied, “It’s all right. We all did what we did for personal gains anyway.”

But Kim Dong-Hae didn’t share Sun-Pil’s feelings. He said with a tense face, “You should’ve come sooner.”

Sun-Pil looked very uncomfortable with Dong-Hae’s confrontation, but Gi-Gyu remained calm and looked at Dong-Hae. Dong-Hae looked into Gi-Gyu’s eyes and continued rigidly, “You made a big mistake, Ranker Kim Gi-Gyu. Strong people draw people toward them, and you have that quality. You will keep climbing to the top, and many will willingly follow you. That I’m sure of.”

Dong-Hae took an audible gulp and murmured, “You”—fear flooded his eyes—” have to show more interest and responsibility toward these people. After all, we are all your allies, aren’t we?”

Gi-Gyu could feel the sincerity in Dong-Hae’s plea. He bowed deeply and apologized, “I’m sorry.” He didn’t look up for a long time, but he murmured when he did, “I don’t agree with everything you said just now, Dong-Hae. I don’t believe I’m as great a person as you think. But I promise you that I will do my best to help you and the Cain Guild. You can count on me.”

Gi-Gyu meant what he said and appreciated Dong-Hae’s criticism. It wasn’t that Sun-Pil and Suk-Woo didn’t criticize Gi-Gyu because they didn’t care. All these guild masters just had different feelings and opinions about what happened. 

Dong-Hae entered this situation when it was just a business deal; now, he was looking for something more. 

Gi-Gyu replied, “And I do consider you my ally.”

“Thank you.” Dong-Hae got the confirmation he wanted and seemed satisfied.

“Now, it’s all good.” Sun-Pil tried to lighten the mood. Indeed, what happened was all in the past now. Everyone lost something in the battle, but they all also gained something in return. Now, it was time to greet the future. 

Sun-Pil asked Gi-Gyu, "Hyung, there is actually something you can help us with.”

“What is it? I’ll do my best to do what you want if it’s something I can do,” replied Gi-Gyu. 

“Actually, this is something only you can do, Hyung,” Sun-Pil answered with a smile, while Dong-Hae wiped away his tears and nodded. Apparently, the duo had already discussed what they planned to ask Gi-Gyu.

***

Clang.

Once again, the area around the Bukhan River was filled with metallic rumble. Gi-Gyu stood in an empty lot near the Bukhan River, surrounded by numerous buildings. The empty plot also had many players who had encircled Gi-Gyu rang and were responsible for the metallic clangs. 

Clang.

Jae-Won, a member of Morningstar and Sun-Pil’s friend, ordered the players, “Dealers, step back and let the tankers take over the front!”

“Yes, Sir!” several players in training shouted.

“Healers! Why are you just standing around? Use your healing skill!” When Jae-Won yelled, the healers in training replied, “Okay!”

The recruits moved quickly as they followed Jae-Won’s orders. 

Rattle.

Meanwhile, the skeleton soldiers moved accordingly. Watching the scene with interest, Gi-Gyu asked Sun-Pil, “What do you think? Is this helping?”

“Of course!” Sun-Pil nodded emphatically. Sun-Pil's favor was asking for his skeletons. After many Morningstar and Child members died, their guilds merged and accepted many recruits. However, the merged guild found training all those recruits near impossible. Using guides to get all of them through the tutorial floors would take too long. On top of that, these novices were terrified of the monsters. 

So, Sun-Pil came up with an idea: If the newbies fought Gi-Gyu’s skeletons, they could learn quickly in a safe environment. 

“For now, we told the new players that we have a player of the summoning category. We explained that the skeletons are summoned beings. Also, we got all of them to sign the NDAs and the guild contracts. We’ve only brought those we knew we could trust,” Sun-Pil explained.

Sun-Pil continued, “This is where we will build the new office for the Morningstar-Child Guild. A barrier surrounds this training lot, so no one can see what’s happening; only those with our permission can enter. In the future, we’ll also build an underground training hall.”

“All right. Please take care of all the details. I’m just glad I can help,” Gi-Gyu replied simply. Sun-Pil looked up to Gi-Gyu; that was probably why he chose to build his headquarters near the Bukhan River. 

‘Soon, it won’t really matter if people find out about my skeletons.’ Gi-Gyu only needed to hide his gate’s existence for a bit longer. Once he was stronger and had a more stable status, he could comfortably reveal his ability to the world. As time passed, the public would forget about what happened to the Iron Guild’s Korean branch, so no one would connect Gi-Gyu’s skeletons to the Yeoksam incident. 

While the skeletons stayed outside the gate, they had to consume crystals. But the gate had become so efficient in creating new crystals with the excess energy that Gi-Gyu could afford to do this. 

“I’ll return them later, Hyung.” When Sun-Pil promised, Gi-Gyu replied, “All right. And if you need anything else, please let me know. If you can’t get a hold of me, you can”—he pointed at Sung-Hoon—“contact Sung-Hoon, and he’ll help you out.”

“All right, Hyung.”

Now that Gi-Gyu had helped the Cain and the Morningstar-Child guilds, he felt much better.

“Then I’ll see you later.” Gi-Gyu waved and left quickly. Now that he was feeling good, it was time to get back to hunting.