Chapter 284

Chapter 284

“I’ll give it to you,” Hyukjin said, nonchalant.

“Th-Thank you!”

“But on some conditions.”

“I’ll accept them all, whatever they are.”

Hyukjin nodded. “Let me ask a question first. Do you know the fastest and safest route to clearing the Mandarin Oriental Hotel Gate?”

“…”

When Kang Somyi hesitated, Hyukjin immediately followed with, “This is all a part of the conditions for this trade.”

“…Okay.”

“I want you to answer within one second. Understood?”

“Well…”

“If you don’t want to, so be it.”

In the end, Kang Somyi raised the white flag of surrender.

“Alright, fine. You’re more devious than you look.”

“I’d prefer you to say I’m determined.”

He imposed a 1-second time limit on Kang Somyi to prevent her from coming up with some other excuse or response—she wouldn’t have the time to ponder in leisure.

‘This is how a trade should be done.’

Normally, regular deals like this one weren’t the kind the Merchant of Venice liked to see. He was a fan of mutual exchanges where both parties gave and gained to a degree they could both accept.

That wasn’t what was happening here.

‘The moment Kang Somyi said she would give everything I want regardless of conditions or profit, she became an enemy of the Merchant of Venice.’

‘Enemy’ might be a bit of an overstatement, but considering the Merchant of Venice’s disposition, it wasn’t far off.

‘At least to the Merchant of Venice, Kang Somyi’s been reduced to an irritating mob character.’

That was the portrayal Hyukjin had intentionally induced. To use movies as an analogy, Players were actors and directors, while Guardians were the audience. The audience put themselves in the shoes of the main characters. If the protagonist killed or harassed innocent side characters, they would draw the audience’s ire, but if they harassed villains or bad guys who needed to be defeated, they would be praised for scratching an itch. It was the same here. To the Merchant of Venice, Kang Somyi was a frustrating side character.

‘And if I deal with a mob character like that using a method the Merchant of Venice likes…’

He would be extremely delighted. Right now, Hyukjin was creating and relieving a frustrating itch tailor-made for the Merchant of Venice. Using a trade to strip the enemy of everything they had, down to their very soul, was what the Merchant of Venice wanted to see. Hyukjin set his sights precisely on that outcome.

“Let me ask you again. Do you know how to clear the gate as quickly and safely as possible?”

“Yes.”

“How do you know?”

“Because…”

Kang Somyi squeezed her eyes shut. There was nothing more important to her right now than the Daedongyeojido. This wasn’t the time to be worrying about this and that. She resolved herself to tell everything to the full extent of her knowledge.

‘I can’t lie.’

A Player of Kim Hyukjin’s level might have a special skill to distinguish lies. Kim Hyukjin didn’t have such an ability, of course, but Kang Somyi didn’t know that. She had no choice but to play it safe. Lying here could result in losing the Daedongyeojido forever, and that was a risk she couldn’t afford.

“It was me and Teacher who designed this gate.”

“You designed this gate?”

Yeonseo flinched. ‘What? That’s possible?’

How was it possible for a human to design a gate? She had never heard of such a thing.

Without any indication that he was surprised, Hyukjin rephrased his question. “What I mean to ask is, did you two explorers design it without the help of a mapmaker?”

“No, we were helped.”

Somyi felt goosebumps rise all over her body. ‘How does he know about the mapmaker?’

Even Somyi had only just recently learned about them.

‘Just what is this guy?’

Even among explorers, only a tiny select few knew this. As Jackson had impressed on her,

–Mapmaker is a truly rare class. And you need to keep it a secret for now. Say absolutely nothing about mapmakers. Understood?

A truly rare class, a class even her Teacher urged her to keep a secret. As far as Kang Somyi knew, there was only one mapmaker in the entire world.

After seeing Somyi’s expression, Hyukjin knew that mapmakers had entered the scene. That was at least three years earlier than in the past Hyukjin knew. Originally, the mapmaker class was revealed to the world in August of 2022.

‘The mapmaker Cha Jihae.’

Only when very specific conditions and materials were present could a mapmaker design gates. The only Player known to the public as a mapmaker was Cha Jihae.

“How do you know about the mapmaker?”

“I never said you could ask questions.”

“That’s true.” Somyi pouted her lips a little. “Still, I should be allowed to at least ask questions.”

“No.”

“…Okay.”

Yeonseo mumbled, “So evil.” She followed it up with, “Evil is sexy,” but Hyukjin let those words go through one ear and out the next.

Hyukjin asked, “The mapmaker is Korean, right?”

“I don’t know.”

“You absolutely don’t know?”

“No, I really don’t. As far as I know, only Teacher is in direct contact with the mapmaker.”

Hyukjin thought for a bit, thinking of the best way to direct this situation.

“If the mapmaker happens to be Korean and has a last name of Cha, please tell me.”

“Alright. Do we have a deal then?”

“No.”

“Just stick a straw in me and suck me dry then, why don’t you?”

“Can I really?” Hyukjin raised Isabel.

“Ar-Argh, seriously! It was a joke!”

Kang Somyi waved her hands frantically, backing away. Hyukjin had unintentionally gained information about mapmakers. He didn’t think a mapmaker had designed the one and only Märchen’s Breastplate.

‘As I thought, Jackson is deeply involved.’

Märchen’s Breastplate was a legendary artifact that had saved Michelle’s life multiple times. There was no way Cha Jihae had designed the gate that yielded such an artifact as a reward all by herself. If that were possible, she would have made a bunch of gates of similar quality and mass-produced countless epic items.

‘And he will have dealt with her more effectively than the Demon King.’

When Cha Jihae crashed into the Player scene like a comet three years ago, she quickly jumped to fame comparable to that of the 8 Heroes of Korea. After her debut, she made significant contributions to the 8 Heroes’ growth and became the hero who joined forces with barrier magicians to seal the ‘Lotte Signiel Dungeon’.

In any case, he now knew that the mapmaker was already in play, that she had created the gate in Singapore, and that Jackson was once again deeply involved in that process.

A groan interrupted his thoughts—Lasbon had begun regaining consciousness.

Hyukjin threw a look at Yoohyun, who immediately understood what he wanted.

“Go back to sleep. Hush, little baby, don’t say a word!”

Yoohyun’s ridiculous lullaby was accompanied by a swift chop to the neck.

Crack!

Lasbon went limp again with a crack loud enough to make one fear for the bones of his neck. It looked bad, but Yoohyun had controlled his strength well, so the Singaporean thief was still alive.

“He should be asleep for quite a while this time, Hyungnim! Sorry to worry you.”

Hyukjin nodded, then turned back to Kang Somyi. “You need to guide us along the fastest way to clear this gate. You know what I’m getting there, correct?”

“I don’t know what the reward is. I know the way, but not the reward.”

“It’s called Märchen’s Breastplate.”

“Understood. I’ll do my utmost to help.”

“One more thing. Select me as your liege.”

“What?”

“What, you don’t want to?”

“Well… it’s not that I don’t want to…” She trailed off, hesitating.

“Jackson isn’t your liege, but your teacher. Your liege and teacher don’t have to be the same person; you can keep them separate.”

“That’s true, but…”

“If you don’t want to, I’ll just sell this thing. I’m sure Michelle will give me a lot for it.” Hyukjin grinned, before putting Kang Somyi’s worries to rest at the appropriate timing. “I’m just kidding. Each item has an owner that matches it, after all.”

“You’re a real pro at playing with someone’s feelings.”

“If I don’t give this to you, the Explorer of Service will be forever gone to you anyway.”

Kang Somyi frowned. “I need to think about it for a moment. Any other conditions?”

“We need to clear this place before Blood and Iron Lion clears Nanba Terminal.”

“What? Why’s that?”

“I don’t like Song Junghye.”

“…But you didn’t even know about Nanba Terminal until today.”

“But I do now.”

Somyi grimaced at Hyukjin’s smile. Jackson’s test to see if there was a spy in Blood and Iron Lion was now being pointed against her as justification for Kim Hyukjin. It wasn’t because Jackson was inept. It was just that the scene Jackson had planned hadn’t accounted for Lasbon and the Daedongyeojido.

“I can’t just watch and let Song Junghye get good things, you see?”

“B-But she’s my guildmaster!”

“If you don’t like it, you can give up on this trade.”

“Hic!”

Kang Somyi couldn’t help but make a woeful sound. This was just too much.

“You’re really too much.”

“Like I said, just give up if you don’t like it. That’s how trades normally are. You make the trade if you want, or don’t if you don’t want. Are you going to give up on the trade?”

“You say that knowing very well I can’t.”

Somyi pouted her lips. She appeared to be full of complaints, but she didn’t seem to be considering calling off the deal.

Yeonseo offered her two cents. “This is why you’ll never have a good night’s rest again if you become Boss’ enemy,” she remarked.

“You must be right. I’ve never seen someone with such a handsome face be this stubborn and wicked.”

“But on the other hand, if you join his side, it’s so nice. He takes care of all the wicked stuff for you,” said Yeonseo as Sung-gu nodded seriously and voiced his agreement.

Kang Somyi gave up.

“Alright. I just have to help you clear the gate quickly, yes?”

“That’s right. I’ll give you the Daedongyeojido if you do that.”

The Korean explorer took the lead. “I think we can be done in thirty minutes.”

“Excellent.”

Hyukjin glanced at the unconscious Lasbon.

“Shall I grant him eternal sleep, Hyungnim?”

“No, just leave him.”

“Understood, Hyungnim.”

Giantgod Guild and Kang Somyi went down to the 1st floor.

* * *

Translator – Lei

Proofreader – Ash

* * *

On the 1st floor, Hyukjin opened the Mandarin Oriental Hotel Gate.

[Admission rights may be granted to Players of your choice.]

[Admission rights have been granted to Giantgod Guild and 1 other person.]

[Entering the ‘Mandarin Oriental Hotel Gate’.]

Once inside, it wasn’t hard. The gate was set up like a labyrinth, but Kang Somyi already knew all the paths.

“There are a few pictogram puzzles hidden here.”

“There’s a trap over there, so be careful.”

“Here, you just need to power through. A lot of them are weak to fire magic.”

“You have to jump down here. You won’t get hurt, so just jump.”

It took less than thirty minutes to clear the Mandarin Oriental Hotel Gate. Kang Somyi breathed a long sigh.

“There it is. The Clear Crystal.”

“I’ll break it, Hyungnim.”

[The ‘Mandarin Oriental Hotel Gate’ has been cleared.]

[The ‘Mandarin Oriental Hotel Gate Clear Reward’ has been given to Player So Yoohyun.]

Just as Hyukjin had known from the beginning, Märchen’s Breastplate was given as the sole reward.

“Here it is, Hyungnim.”

Yoohyun took the breastplate from his Inventory and gave it without hesitation to Hyukjin.

“Thanks.”

“No thanks required, Hyungnim. I’m happy I can be of service in this way, Hyungnim.”

“…”

“I’m your doormat, Hyungnim.”

“…”

And so, Hyukjin was able to acquire Märchen’s Breastplate extremely easily and with stunning speed. A legendary grade item. Capable of growth.

The entire party left the gate.

‘Excellent.’

When they were out, the events proceeded just as Hyukjin planned. He had left the unconscious Lasbon be and cleared the gate knowing this would happen.

As expressionless as ever, Senia provided commentary only the Guardians could hear.

“And now, we will move onto the next stage that Player Kim Hyukjin has prepared.”

She was an Intermediate Administrator without much talent. And yet, the innumerable Guardians watching her unique stream focused on the next stage designed by Kim Hyukjin with rapt attention.

Hyukjin thought to himself.

‘Today…’

He hardened his resolve.

‘…I might have to commit murder.’

____