Jiho thought about the skills he saw in Lee Ha Yeon’s system window.
Information
| Elite Martial Arts (Lv. 10) | |
| Rank | S |
| Description | A martial art form not innate but honed by years of self-cultivation. Both precise and powerful. With mastery over all weapons, combat ability increases by 200% when weapons are used. As the king’s knight, Rue Oquilas possesses a strength that matches her years of hard work. |
Information
| Absolute Submission (Lv. 10) | |
| Rank | S |
| Description | Absolute submission towards the king. All stats increase when you move for the king. |
Information
| Pledge of Loyalty (Lv. 7) | |
| Rank | S |
| Description | Absolute loyalty to the king. Those in the group you join are easily influenced by the king. |
The descriptions revealed her fervent attitude towards the king, in other words, to Joo Yiwon.
The fact that there was someone with such passionate emotions by Joo Yiwon’s side tormented Jiho.
How low of him. It isn’t right to feel this way towards people who supported and helped Yiwon.
Yet… Jiho is feeling jealous of everyone, not just Lee Ha Yeon.
He’s even jealous of Cho Seung Taek who betrayed Yiwon, because he got close to a Yiwon that Jiho himself doesn’t know.
As soon as Jiho put a name to this emotion, his stomach churned. It’s almost like… he really loves Joo Yiwon.
It’s hard to deny that they were lovers now that a bit of his memories returned. Right now, Yiwon is only a friend. No, that’s what Jiho thought he was. But friends don’t get this jealous.
“…Jiho?”
Jiho snapped out of his thoughts at Yiwon’s careful call. Jiho shook his head like nothing happened and calmly spoke.
“Nothing. Now I understand how you knew everything so well.”
“Yeah. These concepts exist naturally in that world. I knew how to deal with the first dungeons that appeared.”
“That makes sense… it’s easier with that experience.”
“Exactly. Fissures and dungeons, and the system, appear the same way across all worlds.”
Jiho couldn’t help but be pulled out of his obsession and listen to this interesting topic.
“Starting a guild, building the association, and gathering funds… none of that was hard. Since I knew the early history of a world that responded and survived the fissures.”
| Plunderer! |
The cat violently cried. Considering how Yiwon gained success in this world with all of his knowledge, it wouldn’t be wrong to call him a plunderer, but….
“But doesn’t that mean Joo Yiwon helped us?”
Jiho recalled the statistics the system had shown him of other worlds.
Only 57% of worlds survive the first year, and only 9.8% ultimately enter stability.
Given this low probability, the damage to Earth is absurdly minimal. And everyone knows that can be credited to Joo Yiwon.
“Meow.”
The cat looked elsewhere.
This system, it acts like a cat when it plays dumb. Though from the outside, it is a cat.
“You’re the one who raided the Great Dungeon, right?”
Yiwon blinked at the certainty in the question.
“Honey, you want to shake everything out of me today, huh? One kiss per answer.”
“How about one punch per lie you told me.”
“Ah, Honey’s so cold….”
Yiwon chuckled and nodded, like he wasn’t planning to hide it any longer.
“That’s right, I raided that. A team of three, with Setero, that bastard, and Keusagnak.”
“If Cho Seung Taek is Setero, then Keusagnak….”
“Adrian Abbott. Delta’s guildmaster.”
“So you and Delta were together from the start.”
Yiwon didn’t deny it and shrugged his shoulders.
Did they intentionally split their people instead of sticking together? Then again, Joo Yiwon is an overwhelming force on his own, so there’s not really a need to keep everyone in a single basket. They probably created a foothold in the U.S., where they can operate more freely, and supported Yiwon from there.
“But what about their cooperation with Heaven Guild?”
“We’re using Delta to test them. There’s a limit to what I can do. We haven’t found anything yet, but something about that guild is off….”
“…There’s something even you can’t do?”
Jiho asked innocently. Yiwon laughed.
“Thanks for viewing me so highly, but yes. First of all, I can’t use my full strength here.”
This isn’t his full strength? How strong is this bastard? Just as Jiho was beginning to feel faint from the unimaginable difference in their strength, he heard footsteps outside the room.
“So… what happened to Mireu’s guildmembers?”
Jiho looked to the side in surprise. Tae Yong, who was outside the room, was coming in.
There was so much going on that Jiho didn’t even notice. Truthfully speaking, he forgot Tae Yong was even there.
“Hunter Kim Tae Yong, are you alright?”
Tae Yong nodded with a dark look on his face. He stared at Joo Yiwon.
“What happened to Mireu’s guildmembers?”
“I killed them.”
Yiwon answered lightly, like it was no big deal.
Kim Tae Yong’s anger flared in an instant. Jiho barely managed to block Tae Yong’s path as he lunged towards Yiwon with killing intent.
Filled to the brim with anger, Tae Yong glared at Yiwon murderously.
“You, admitted that so shamelessly right now…!”
“Wait. Hunter Kim Tae Yong, the reason. Let’s listen to the reason first.”
Now that the situation is what it is, Jiho has a guess. Jiho signaled Yiwon to hurry up and explain. Finally, Yiwon indifferently said.
“They attacked first. So I killed them.”
“We have never attacked you!”
“Can you promise that?”
As soon as Yiwon threw out this question, Tae Yong froze. An immense pressure emanated from Yiwon and pressed Tae Yong.
Tae Yong stepped back and gritted his teeth. This man’s attitude shifts drastically depending on the person, to the point that his coquetry towards Jiho just now feels utterly fake and insincere.
Shin Jiho might see Joo Yiwon as Earth’s savior or something, but from Kim Tae Yong’s perspective, this guy is just a bigger disaster swallowing smaller disasters.
Just look at how he completely convinced Shin Jiho to take his side….
“No, I’m not blindly taking his side.”
Jiho quickly justified when he saw Tae Yong’s eyes filled with reproach.
“Hunter Kim Tae Yong, think about it for a second. Who first directed our suspicions to Delta and Heaven?”
“…Cho Seung Taek.”
“Yes, that’s right.”
Cho Seung Taek was the one who led them to suspect Adrian too. Though his exact intentions are unknown… something must’ve not gone his way seeing how he came to kill Jiho himself.
“To be honest, it is a bit iffy to say Cho Seung Taek orchestrated everything…. Someone must be letting him borrow their power. And that person’s goals and Cho Seung Taek’s only partially align.”
Rather than a single incident, it feels like multiple have entangled themselves. However, what is certain is that Cho Seung Taek wanted Shin Jiho to suspect Delta Guild, and, by extension, Joo Yiwon. When that didn’t work out, he decided to just kill Jiho. Since his goal is probably to bring Joo Yiwon back to Ipeulis.
“Then the problem is who he’s holding hands with.”
Jiho mumbled. Yiwon nodded gravely.
“Setero was clearly manipulating the system. That’s impossible to do unless someone grants that authority to him.”
Granting authority over the system….
Everyone’s eyes naturally gathered on the cat in the room. At this, the cat lowered its tail and hid behind the bed. Seeing its pitiful appearance, Jiho quietly defended it.
“Don’t give it such a hard time.”
“Don’t be fooled. That thing just looks like a cat.”
Hearing this, the cat trudged out with its ears and tail lowered. With a short meow, a system window with a lot more text than the short cry appeared.
| You’re right. I’m supposed to help the administrator. You can think of me as an AI that helps manage and run the system smoothly. This means I have the ability to manipulate the system. But I would never do that. Not when it puts Jiho in danger. |
The cat looked like it was going to cry as it came up to Jiho and rubbed its head against him. When Jiho pet its head, another system window appeared like it gained the courage to speak.
| Actually, I’m not in a complete state. I was waiting with Jiho’s soul for Jiho to awaken, but… I shattered the day Jiho’s plate cracked. I am the largest fragment that remained while the other fragments were scattered. |
Jiho, who was petting the cat, froze. Doesn’t that mean this guy suffered because of him too?
Feeling sorry, Jiho scratched the cat’s chin. The cat stretched and purred like it was enjoying his touch as it continued.
| I’ve been going around collecting those fragments. I found quite a bit, but I still haven’t collected even half. I was planning to appear once I had found all of them, but at some point, I couldn’t find any more…. |
“How incompetent.”
Seeing the cat slump at Yiwon’s harsh words, Jiho lifted the cat into his arms. He gently stroked the soft fur, not noticing Yiwon’s eyes burn with jealousy.
Though intimidated, having regained a bit of confidence, the cat rubbed its head against Jiho’s hand.
| Still, I wanted to make an official introduction once I had gathered at least half of the fragments, but… I came out because it looked like you were in danger. I confused that dragon by making it think I was you. |
“Wait. That was you? Why did you do that in a city full of people!?”
| I, I encouraged everyone to evacuate before that! Of course, a few people got hurt, but no one died thanks to that dragon…. |
“How can you say that….”
But it would’ve been dangerous if Cho Seung Taek had continued to chase the two of them, so… he can’t really scold his savior right now.
Kim Tae Yong was listening to everything quietly before he sighed and went up to Yiwon.
“Before that, I would like to hear an answer from you. Did Mireu Guild really attack first?”
“Of course. I even have evidence…. You want to see?”
“I would like to confirm that this evidence is concrete.”
“Well, whatever you say.”
Yiwon snapped his fingers without hesitation. Yiwon’s shadow stretched and split open. The split shadow took on a different form than Yiwon.
And in the blink of an eye, the shadow’s owner appeared in the room. Tall, with long, flowing hair. Jiho thought she looked cold before, but right now… her face is filled with the passion of a devout worshipper.
Lee Ha Yeon. Or Rue Oquilas in Ipeulis. She was a knight who served Joo Yiwon, and one of the people who followed him here out of loyalty.
In stark contrast to her casual attitude last time, Lee Ha Yeon got down on one knee. Her disciplined greeting made her look just like a soldier.
“You have called, Your Majesty?”
“How many times have I told you that I’m not a king anymore?”
“Yiwon-nim.”
Lee Ha Yeon smiled as though she was used to it.
The relationship between the two is definitely too dry to be lovers. But there are times when not being romantically entangled offers the clearest and most complete connection.
LaZ Bird Corner
Jiho a little vinegar.
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