NOVEL SIMPLE [Translator – Asura]
[Proofreader – Gun]
Chapter 526
What was needed to complete the guild certification process was the return of the Daegi Guild’s owner.
This would be nothing short of a signal announcing Seong Jihan’s return.
Although the current declining situation of the guild was regrettable,
If he intervened here, it would negate the purpose of using Sacred Flame.
‘Instead, I’ll have to help indirectly through Kim Jihun’s body.’
As for the contract terms, he just needed to make them look reasonable.
Thinking this, Seong Jihan received the full guild tour from Lee Hayeon.
‘It seems there are still quite a few players renting for growth. Why has it fallen so much?’
The Daegi Guild, which once swept up money from around the world during its peak,
Even now, judging from the atmosphere during the tour, there were quite a few players renting for growth.
If they were receiving money from them, even in the era of Half-Elves,
They should have been able to recruit with that capital.
Holding such doubts while observing the guild, Seong Jihan,
“This is the space used as the guild warehouse… Would you like to go in here too?”
“Warehouse?”
“Yes.”
Seeing the room Lee Hayeon pointed to, his eyes sparkled.
‘This… was definitely the space prepared as the owner’s room before.’
Seong Jihan, who founded the Daegi Guild but rarely visited the guild building,
Still, as the owner, Lee Hayeon had prepared the best room in the Daegi Guild for him.
But now it had been changed to a warehouse.
“May I take a look?”
“Of course.”
Beep.
As Lee Hayeon swiped her card, the door opened.
Seong Jihan followed her into the owner’s room turned warehouse.
And there,
‘…What’s this?’
The walls were densely covered with posters showing Seong Jihan’s face.
-Record erasure is unacceptable.
-After being treated like that by the World Tree Elves, you still trust them?
-He will surely return.
And below the photos, large letters were written.
There were more posters in foreign languages than in Korean.
All of them with phrases opposing Seong Jihan’s record erasure.
‘At that time, did the Daegi Guild work from an opposing stance?’
Feeling a strange emotion, Seong Jihan quickly glanced around the interior.
Documents scattered messily on the floor.
One document detailed the advertising budget spent on rejecting Yggdrasil’s proposal.
‘So this is where all the money went…’
They had spent all their money on a public opinion battle to prevent Seong Jihan’s record erasure.
As he stared blankly at the papers on the floor,
“Ah, perhaps those letters… do you know what they mean?”
“You mean what’s written on this paper?”
“Yes, you were looking intently at the undecipherable letters.”
Swish.
Seong Jihan picked up a piece of paper from the side.
American First’s rental contract withdrawal document.
He quietly looked at the content showing how they had clashed with the American stance of needing to survive first, leading to contract termination, then,
Slowly shook his head.
“No. I don’t know this either.”
“Ah… I see.”
“More importantly, what’s with that whiskey over there?”
In the middle of the warehouse, Seong Jihan pointed at a half-empty bottle of whiskey and some snack bags.
“Oh no… again…”
Lim Gayeong, seeing this, sighed deeply and bowed her head to Lee Hayeon.
“I’m sorry! Miss. Despite there being many bars in this building, I came to drink in this empty warehouse! I didn’t clean up properly!”
“Oh, my… Is, is that so? Don’t do it again next time.”
As Lee Hayeon, her face bright red, waved her hands saying it was okay,
“Thank you so, so much for forgiving me!”
Lim Gayeong emphasized ‘so much’ with a face that didn’t look sorry at all.
This clearly looked like she was taking the blame for what Lee Hayeon drank.
‘But why drink in the warehouse?’
Seong Jihan briefly wondered about this, but,
“Th-Then… shall we leave now?”
As Lee Hayeon hurriedly suggested leaving, he nodded readily.
There was nothing more to see in the warehouse anyway.
After leaving the room, Seong Jihan spoke up.
“The guild is nice.”
“Th-Thank you.”
“Yes. I especially like the growth rate increase option. While I go to the Colonial Government, could you let me know about the contract terms?”
Lee Hayeon blinked at those words.
For male Half-Elves, the growth rate increase was honestly an unnecessary option.
He liked this?
‘…He didn’t get plastic surgery before the test either. Does he actually not know much about this?’
Lee Hayeon couldn’t help but think this.
“Ah, alright.”
“Now I’d like to go to the Colonial Government.”
“Yes, then I’ll call the driver right away…”
She was about to call for a driver but changed her mind.
“No, we’ll take you ourselves.”
“The Guild Master herself?”
“Yes, of course we should do that for such an esteemed guest.”
Was she worried he might get scouted by other guilds at the Colonial Government?
‘She seems quite desperate.’
Well, he had no intention of going anywhere else anyway.
If Lee Hayeon was marking him, other guilds wouldn’t rashly come to make offers.
Seong Jihan slowly nodded at her suggestion.
“Alright. Let’s do that.”
“Yes. Let’s go, Gayeong.”
“Yes, I’ll prepare right away.”
The three of them went to the parking lot,
Got into a luxury sedan, and headed to the Colonial Government in Namsan.
And in the car on the way to their destination, after conversing with Kim Jihun, Lee Hayeon thought,
‘This person isn’t ignorant of the world. Rather… he seems to know everything.’
She instinctively felt that Kim Jihun was not someone to be taken lightly.
If she tried any tricks against him, it would ruin everything.
With her experience of meeting many people in the industry, she judged this and,
“…So actually, male Half-Elves are passive about game play. They level up just by sleeping.”
“You mean…”
“Our guild’s growth rate increase characteristic might not have much effect for Half-Elves.”
She spoke honestly.
“I know that.”
“You do?”
“Yes, it’s a fact you can find with a quick internet search.”
“Then why…”
“I have some fan sentiment. And there are some things I want to test regarding growth rate.”
“Ah…”
So he came knowing everything.
Lee Hayeon felt relieved at this answer.
This meant he was likely to choose the Daegi Guild regardless.
“We’ve arrived.”
Screech.
As the car parked, Kim Jihun spoke while getting out of his seat.
“Just match the contract terms moderately. Then we can proceed.”
“Ah… Yes! Then we’ll wait here!”
“You don’t know how long the detailed examination will take.”
“We’ll wait even if it takes days!”
Kim Jihun chuckled at Lee Hayeon’s enthusiastic response.
“Alright. I’ll be back.”
As Kim Jihun entered the Colonial Government,
Lee Hayeon pinched her own cheek.
“Is this… reality?”
“It feels like a dream to me too, Miss. A male Half-Elf who knows everything is coming to join our guild.”
“Even though he said that, we should try to get the best contract terms possible, right?”
“Yes. Even our best offer would be ‘moderate’ by other guilds’ standards.”
“That’s true.”
[Translator – Asura]
[Proofreader – Gun]
A male Half-Elf with 20 percent compatibility would be recruited with blank checks anywhere.
For the financially struggling Daegi Guild, even their best offer would be below average compared to others.
“…Let’s try our best to get the most we can.”
Lee Hayeon pondered seriously about the contract terms to offer when Kim Jihun returned.
Meanwhile,
Seong Jihan, in Kim Jihun’s shell, entered the Colonial Government.
“This way, please.”
Guided by an elf, he stood before the World Tree-shaped Colonial Government.
* * *
The giant tree, showing an even more overwhelming presence than the former Namsan Tower,
Seeing the World Tree Elves’ Colonial Government, Seong Jihan thought,
‘This… is a World Tree? And quite a high-grade one at that.’
Compared to the World Trees he had seen before, this Colonial Government was definitely larger in scale.
Judging from the overwhelming life force flowing from it, it seemed Yggdrasil had put considerable effort into it.
‘But how do I get in?’
As Seong Jihan was looking at the Colonial Government like this,
“We will now begin the detailed examination.”
Green light flashed from the body of the Elf High Priest who had come to greet him.
Then,
Rumble…
From beneath Seong Jihan’s feet, roots imbued with green light rose up and began to envelop his body.
Squeeze.
And when the roots completely wrapped around Seong Jihan’s body,
The Elf High Priest, watching this, calmly continued speaking.
“Relax and calmly accept the World Tree’s energy.”
Swish swish…
The roots began to glow.
As Seong Jihan relaxed as instructed,
Rumble…!
The roots pulled him underground.
After moving like this for a few minutes,
Thud…
Kim Jihun’s body dropped into a dark space.
“Mmm…”
To not appear too nonchalant,
Seong Jihan let out an appropriate groan as he got up.
And as he was about to survey his surroundings,
Flash…!
Green letters began to appear inside the space he had fallen into.
[Detailed examination begins.]
[Testing Blue absorption capacity.]
[Re-examining Blue Sword compatibility. Currently 20 percent.]
Text in the World Tree Elves’ script, unreadable to humans.
But Seong Jihan, who had also obtained the Red authority, could interpret these letters.
‘I understand the detailed examination and absorption capacity… but what’s Blue Sword?’
Looking at the 20 percent compatibility,
It was the same as the male Half-Elf figure.
Could it be that they refer to male Half-Elves as Blue Swords?
As Seong Jihan was thinking this,
Whoosh…
Inside this space,
Blue smoke began to rise.
‘This is… modified Blue.’
Smoke made to be absorbable just by breathing.
Were they testing how much of this one can make their own?
‘Deviating too much from the average would raise suspicion.’
Thinking this, Seong Jihan decided not to intervene at all from within Kim Jihun’s body and waited.
Then,
Swish swish…
The Blue that seeped in through the nose, mouth, and even the skin slowly entered Kim Jihun’s body, but,
It leaked out again. ƒreewebηoveℓ.com
‘Without my intervention, it’s clearly not being absorbed.’
Thus, Kim Jihun’s shell rejected the Blue, but,
As if this one time wasn’t enough for the test, blue smoke was emitted again.
This looked like it would take quite some time to finish.
‘I should look around inside during this time.’
Seong Jihan, observing from inside the shell,
Completely hiding the presence of the Blue Administrator, he slowly began to examine the interior of this World Tree.
Then,
From quite a distant place, he could hear the voices of elves.
“…We thought an unusual case had appeared, but this Blue Knight seems no different from the others.”
“Still, proceed with the detailed examination as planned.”
“Yes.”
“How far have the World Tree’s roots spread?”
“They’ve taken over 82 percent of this planet.”
“It will take about a year to reach 100 percent.”
High Elf Priestesses discussing while observing Kim Jihun’s test results.
Among them, the High Elf Priest in the center, with blonde hair and quite a bit of green hair visible, seemed to be quite high-ranking.
“Yggdrasil said to change the system if the Blue Sword compatibility doesn’t improve further within a year.”
“By system change, you mean…”
“If 25 percent is the limit for compatibility that can be drawn out through a peaceful system.”
Grin.
The Elf High Priest raised the corner of their mouth.
“We’ll have to instill fear in them through oppression.”
“Finally, permission for slaughter…!”
“No, your involvement will be the final stage.”
“Ah… I understand.”
The High Elf Priestesses showed clear disappointment at the high-ranking priest’s words.
Seong Jihan watched this and thought,
‘As expected of these Elf bastards. I wondered why they were ruling peacefully, but their true nature hasn’t gone anywhere.’
At first, they ruled peacefully to try and draw out compatibility.
If the score didn’t improve further, they wouldn’t switch the ruling system to explore a new direction.
As Seong Jihan was eavesdropping on their plans like this,
“We must complete the Blue Sword before the Red Administrator awakens. Since the intended owner of the Arena is absent, check the sealing site as well.”
“Understood.”
The high-ranking priest was instructing the elves to examine Washington while Yoon Seah was away.
‘…Why is the Red Administrator coming up here? These bastards. Could it be they’ve predicted that the Red Administrator would eventually win in Washington?’
It seemed that the Green Administrator thought Seong Jihan would lose in HeavenNet.
‘Hmm.’
Seong Jihan briefly felt displeased at the thought that Yggdrasil had underestimated him, but,
‘That misunderstanding… I should use it to my advantage.’
Soon, he came up with a way to exploit this situation.
[Translator – Asura]
[Proofreader – Gun]