Chapter 200 – Payback (4)
Translator: Seven
Editor: Ana_Banana
Kim Woo-jin couldn’t help but smile bitterly when he heard there was bad news.
“There’s not much good news these days. Did you lose a legendary item or a skill page?”
-It seems G.o.d has been blessing you so much recently that he decided to give you a bit of a crisis.
Oh Se-chan’s joke made Kim Woo-jin’s bitter smile morph into a real one.
“So what’s the bad news?”
-Do you know Johann Georg?
However, when he heard what Oh Se-chan said, the smile fell from Kim Woo-jin’s face entirely.
-He started out in Eastern Europe. And as you know, Eastern Europe has been a mess since the dungeon gates started appearing. In fact, the function of the government there was almost paralysed. Even h.e.l.l itself wasn’t as bad as that place. Well, he’s a guy who grew up and strengthened himself in that h.e.l.l.
This was something that Kim Woo-jin knew as well.
-Recently, he’s s.h.i.+fted his focus over to Western Europe. If we leave him like this, it won’t be long before he conquers all of Europe. He’s a pretty amazing guy.
He was well aware of the fact that the King of Undead had started out in politically stagnant Eastern Europe before advancing to Western Europe, turning all of Europe into the kingdom with which to go against the Messiah Guild.
‘He’s begun moving as well.’
And now, as he had expected, the King of Undead had started making his move.
‘The Emissary of the Underworld is a very partial halo. Because of me, his growth would have been extremely stunted, so he will come after me.’
Because of the King of Undead’s personality, he would not be able to accept Isaac Ivanov taking what he believes he deserves.
-That guy is targeting Isaac Ivanov. His halo is the same as yours.
And that was exactly the news that he received from Oh Se-chan.
-He’s also joined hands with the Messiah Guild. That’s one plus ten.
He also received news that Johann Georg had joined hands with the Messiah Guild to deal with Isaac Ivanov.
But Kim Woo-jin smiled when he heard that.
Of course, Oh Se-chan, who was unable to see that, continued speaking in a grave tone.
-They recruited 11 players who have the Emissary of the Underworld as their halo, including Johann Georg.
Kim Woo-jin finally opened his mouth after receiving the information.
“So in summary, the Messiah Guild set up a ten man counterfire together with Johann Georg to take care of Isaac Ivanov?”
-That’s right.
Kim Woo-jin replied simply.
“That’s bad news.”
-Very bad news.
Johann Georg and the other ten were enough to match the power Isaac Ivanov had displayed.
After all, if every player summoned 10 Skeleton Soldiers, wouldn’t they be able to get 110?
Though they might be lacking in quality, the number of skeletons they had was still larger than Isaac Ivanov.
The Messiah Guild and Johann Georg would definitely try to emphasize that fact as much as possible.
Kim Woo-jin also admitted that they would be difficult enemies.
-I’m not sure if it’s my own perception, but it doesn’t seem to me that you think this is bad news.
Nevertheless, Kim Woo-jin couldn’t get rid of the smile that came to his lips
“It must be your delusion.”
And there was no reason to erase it.
‘The fact that Johann Georg is working with the Messiah Guild means that he can no longer get any support from the anti Messiah Guild faction.’
From that point forward, Kim Woo-jin would be able to obtain everything the King of Undead had under the t.i.tle ‘Rival of the Messiah Guild’.
“I have a favor to ask.”
-Favor?
“Can you make contact with the Lightning King?”
Kim Woo-jin’s first target was the Lightning King.
-The Lightning King? Why?
When he heard that question, Kim Woo-jin answered it in his head although he couldn’t say it outloud.
‘Because it was the Lightning King who gave Johann Georg the Lich summoning skill.’
It was because of the Lightning King that the King of Undead was able to complete his Lich unit, one of the most powerful forces in his army.
‘Which was why the Lightning King was targeted by Hunting Dogs.’
That was the reason the Lightning King was killed.
After thinking about that for a moment, Kim Woo-jin finally responded to Oh Se-chan’s question.
“Since the Messiah Guild is fighting back, we need new investors.”
Oh Se-chan couldn’t help but give a wide smile when he heard the word investors.
-Park Yong-wan would be sad to hear that.
Kim Woo-jin’s response to that was simple.
“It’s fine. Park Yong-wan will be the biggest investor anyway.”
…
Players, who always risked their lives to clear dungeons, were bound to be sensitive to trends.
Therefore whenever a player created a new strategy that had a high rate of success, the others would immediately try to implement.
There were no copyrights involved, so there was no problem.
[The value of Emissary of the Underworld players soars dramatically!]
[Market prices of items exclusive for players who have the Emissary of the Underworld halo have skyrocketed!]
[Is this the Isaac Ivanov effect? The era of Necromancers?]
Of course, as Isaac Ivanov far surpa.s.sed common sense, it was not easy for any player to imitate him.
[The Five Great Guilds begin to actively nurture Necromancer players!]
[The US government has decided to grant special citizens.h.i.+p to players with the Emissary of the Underworld halo!]
[The Chinese government confirms $1 billion budget to foster players with the Emissary of the Underworld halo!]
The Five Great Guilds also began investing in players in a bid to imitate Isaac Ivanov.
[Johann Georg and the Ten, a Necromancer Party appears!]
[Up to 310 skeletons can be summoned!]
The appearance of a Necromancer party, consisting of Johann Georg and the ten others, was natural in a way.
[Johann Georg and the Ten make their debut in a dungeon that the Messiah Guild temporarily gave up attacking!]
[B+ rank 5 Floor Dungeon, Monster Forest!]
They couldn’t really be compared to Isaac Ivanov, but that alone was enough to draw some attention.
-Let’s see their results first.
-They have to prove themselves first.
If they really were able to clear a dungeon that the Messiah Guild had given up on, then they really could become Isaac Ivanov’s rivals.
-Maybe they’re stronger than Isaac Ivanov.
-If they’re attacking a 5 Floor dungeon then it can be said that they’re a level above Isaac Ivanov.
Or they could even become a huge fire that devoured Isaac Ivanov.
“Johann Georg huh. A pretty amusing guy has appeared.”
That’s why Park Yong-wan was talking to Kim Woo-jin with a dissatisfied expression on his face.
“Do you know anything about this guy?”
“Nothing at all.”
“Then we’ll have to find out everything about him, otherwise we might get eaten by him.”
Park Yong-wan, who had invested almost everything he had into Isaac Ivanov, could certainly not tolerate the emergence of Johann Georg, who might be able to overshadow the person he invested in.
“I shouldn’t say that. We have to get Isaac Ivanov to trample over those guys.”
It was clear that Park Yong-wan wanted to deal with this problem as soon as possible.
In response to Park Yong-wan’s words, Kim Woo-jin asked.
“How do we do that?”
“We should attack the dungeons more aggressively. Not just the Messiah Guild, but also the other top guilds, we have to crush all the dungeons they were unable to. I’ll handle the press coverage.”
Kim Woo-jin’s expression became one of embarra.s.sment when he heard Park Yong-wan request.
“Is there a problem?”
“Isaac Ivanov only has one ironclad rule when it comes to attacking dungeons. It has to be a dungeon no one else can clear.”
“Aren’t there plenty of dungeons like that?”
It was as Park Yong-wan said.
Isaac Ivanov was currently attacking 4 Floor dungeons, and among 4 Floor dungeons, there was an extremely large number of them that had been abandoned.
Most of the dungeon ranks were also high.
Most players over level 100 were too afraid to attack high rank dungeons, and even if they wanted to, they might not get permission from the guilds or governments.
“Would they give use permission as soon as we ask?”
“That’s right.”
Kim Woo-jin also had no intention of denying that fact.
He was just raising the questions.
“But there’s no reason for us to attack them for free, is there?”
Park Yong-wan’s expression changed slightly when he heard that question.
“Explain.”
“There are many dungeons that Isaac Ivanov can clear. That means there’s also a lot of people who want Isaac Ivanov. The demand is high, but the supply is low. In such a situation, there’s no reason for the supplier to donate his product, is there?”
“So?”
“As long as they are willing to pay for it, Isaac Ivanov would attack any dungeon they want him to.”
At Kim Woo-jin’s suggestion, Park Yong-wan’s expression, which had been stiffened by the Johann Georg situation, gradually began to relax.
Then Kim Woo-jin gave the last push.
“Since you’ve already invested in him, you’d surely get a dividend.”
The nudge caused Park Yong-wan to smile brightly.
It was a proposal he had no reason to refuse.
But he still didn’t accept it immediately.
“Wouldn’t Isaac Ivanov get upset if we used him in this way?”
This was because this wasn’t a matter that could be discussed without Isaac Ivanov being present.
“I will persuade him.”
“Could he be persuaded easily?”
“Isaac Ivanov is n.o.ble, but he isn’t naive. He’s also willing to do whatever it takes to reach his goal. Rather, he might think we’re not moving fast enough and contact others.”
Park Yong-wan’s eyes narrowed when he heard about him contacting others.
“Do you suspect something?”
“It seems he’s become interested in the Lightning King. And as you know, the Lightning King…”
“Is a weirdo who loves collecting items.”
Park Yong-wan’s expression stiffened.
‘Kim Woo-jin’s words are right, Isaac Ivanov is n.o.ble, but he isn’t naive. He would definitely contact others if he has something to gain from it.’
It had already been confirmed that Isaac Ivanov was willing to do whatever it took to further his n.o.ble cause.
In a sense, it was natural for him to seek more sponsors in order to become stronger.
‘Moreover, if he finds that he has nothing else to gain from me… he might toss me aside.’
And if Park Yong-wan was no longer found to be useful, Isaac Ivanov might very well throw him away.
“Dammit.”
In addition, Park Yong-wan no longer had any items to give to Isaac Ivanov.
The Osiris’ Ring was the most valuable item he had to give.
Of course, he had been looking for ways to obtain items and skill pages for Isaac Ivanov to make use of, but it had not been easy as the market price for all items exclusive to the Emissary of the Underworld.
It was very likely that Isaac Ivanov was already aware of that fact too.
In such a situation, it was natural for him to find another sponsor.
‘The Lightning King…’
Especially if it was someone like Lightning King.
He was a weirdo who liked to collect items and didn’t like to trade.
‘If it’s that guy, it wouldn’t be strange.’
In other words, there was a high chance that the Lightning King had items that couldn’t even be found on the market.
‘He would be worth the attention.’
So it was understandable that Isaac Ivanov would be interested.
‘There’s no way to stop it.’
Furthermore, Park Yong-wan didn’t have a good enough reason to prevent Isaac Ivanov from making a deal with him.
Then there was only one option left for him.
“I’ll negotiate with the Lightning King.”
Park Yong-wan intended to stand in the middle of them and prevent any form of direct contact between them.
“Wouldn’t that be difficult?”
Of course, it wouldn’t be easy.
As had been mentioned earlier, the Lightning King was a weirdo who didn’t like trading away his items.
To make a deal with such a man was like fighting a losing battle.
It seemed Park Yong-wan had prepared to bleed a little.
“Right. It won’t be easy.”
This was proved by Park Yong-wan’s irritated expression as he imagined the difficulty of dealing with the Lightning King.
There was no longer any joy at the fact that he might be able to make a profit from Isaac Ivanov.
“I’ll let you know once I have some results. Before that, make sure that Isaac Ivanov doesn’t contact anyone.”
Kim Woo-jin nodded at the order.
“He should come to Korea soon enough. At that time you’ll be able to discuss it with him personally.”
“If you need anything, just inform my secretary.”
When Kim Woo-jin stood up, Park Yong-wan’s secretary approached him immediately.
Kim Woo-jin stretched out his hand to her and said.
“I’d like to borrow the corporate credit card to use while traveling with Isaac Ivanov.”