Chapter 68. Breakaway (2)
Seo Jun-Ho tilted his head as he emerged from the Gate. It was because the caretaker Jampa was looking at him as if he was looking at a ghost.
“Have you been well?”
“Huh? Ah, y-yes.” Jampa responded belatedly and nodded eagerly. “I have been as well as always...” He shut his mouth, swallowing his question. He wanted to ask if Seo Jun-Ho had truly cleared the 10th floor, or if it was some kind of mistake. But he didn’t think that it was appropriate for him to ask that question to the traveler who had suffered inside the Cave of Trials for an entire month.
As such, he brought his hands together and congratulated him. “I hope you found what you were looking for in the Cave of Trials.”
“It was very generous.” He grinned and turned to the ranking list.
1. Seo Jun-Ho - 10th level
2. Specter - 9th level
To others, it was an incredible feat, but it was different for him. After all, he had broken his own personal record.
“I will escort you to your room if you wish to rest.”
“Alright. But before that.” Seo Jun-Ho looked at the subordinate standing behind Jampa. “Can I buy those sungla.s.ses on your shirt?”
“Huh? This? If you need it, you can just have it. It’s really cheap...”
“It doesn’t matter.” Seo Jun-Ho received the sungla.s.ses and gave a satisfied look. “I’ll need them soon, you see.”
***
A ma.s.sive amount of reporters and cameramen were waiting in front of Incheon Airport’s terminal gate.
“Is this the correct terminal gate?”
“Yeah, I’m sure of it.”
They were all crowded behind the terminal gate to catch a glimpse of Seo Jun-Ho.
“People really are unpredictable.”
“Yeah. A month ago, he was only a world-famous rookie...”
“That’s incredible in itself, but he’s on a completely different level now.”
He had been one of the many who seemed to have a bright future ahead of them. But after this incident, the whole world was now watching him—the previously “only” world-famous rookie.
“This is the first time that Specter’s record was broken, right?”
“Yeah. Not only that, the record stood for 30 years before it broke.”
“None of Specter’s other records have been broken yet?”
This was the first time the legendary Player’s official record was broken.
“Most of the Players on the 2nd floor have higher levels and higher stats than Specter...But that doesn’t mean that they broke his records.”
Anyone could reach a high level as long as they had time and some amount of talent, so the Cave of Trials’ ranking list served as a symbol of Specter’s power. It had been his first official record. Even after 25 years since Specter had died, no one managed to break it.
“d.a.m.n, who knew that it would be another Korean.”
“I swear, it’s a conspiracy or something.”
“When Specter returns, I want to ask him what he thinks about this.”
“Ooh, that would be fun.”
A legend of the past vs a rising star. This kind of topic was always popular with the ma.s.ses.
“Hey, he’s coming!”
“Take a picture!”
The reporters started to scramble. Seo Jun-Ho emerged from the gate, escorted by a.s.sociation employees.
Click! Click!
With his shabby sungla.s.ses, Seo Jun-Ho scanned the gate and smiled.
‘Man, this reminds me of the old days.’
Wherever he went, he’d be greeted by fans, cameras, and reporters. Most Players made a face at all the attention, but that wasn’t the case for him.
“Hm, there’s less than I expected...”
“Stop trying to act cool! We have to go!” Cha Si-Eun said wearily, trying to guide him away. The a.s.sociation had sent a fair number of employees, but they weren’t nearly enough to handle the crowd.
‘I didn’t know that there would be so many people...What if something happens...?’
She felt dizzy thinking about all the things that could go wrong. Meanwhile, Seo Jun-Ho himself looked relaxed. He didn’t look the least bit scared of the mob, and he even waved to them from time to time.
“Quickly! This way, please!”
“Let’s slow down a bit. You’re gonna hurt yourself if you trip.”
He was too relaxed.
Seo Jun-Ho nodded to himself, feeling satisfied.
‘Yes, it’s time I start receiving treatment like this.’
Truthfully, he had been able to get around too comfortably until now. Earning the t.i.tle of a “Super Rookie” was no easy feat, but it wasn’t enough to rile up the people like this. But once they heard that he managed to beat Specter, everything changed. Close to a thousand people were following him around the airport.
‘That means my name still holds that much weight.’
‘I’m gonna live more freely this time.’
He didn’t need to become a symbol of hope and strength again. Thinking of that made him happy.
“Secretary Cha, they’ve waited so long to meet me. Can’t I just have a short autograph session?”
“Now’s not the time to be saying that!” She cried.
***
“Aww, my little lucky charm~” As soon as he entered the office, Shim Deok-Gu ran over to him with a creepy expression on his face.
“f.u.c.k off, before I hit you.” Seo Jun-Ho snarled.
“C-contractor. That human’s eyes are so disturbing.” Even the Frost Queen was disturbed.
“I agree.” Seo Jun-Ho nodded.
His eyes had been filled with love, but Shim Deok-Gu could only stop at his friend’s violent rejection. “Geez, is it weird that I want to hug my friend?”
“You’re acting super creepy. What happened?” Seo Jun-Ho asked, taking a seat on the sofa.
“Hehe, you’ll understand why I’m acting like this when you see this.” Shim Deok-Gu tapped on Vita. A list appeared before them, and Seo Jun-Ho blinked. “What is this?”
“A list of donations.” There were hundreds of pages of huge donations. “They’ve been trickling in for a few months, but they started flooding in two days ago.”
“Why?”
“Why do you think?”
Seo Jun-Ho met his eyes and pointed at himself. “Because of me?”
“Of course. You’re the only reason they’ve been making these donations. They want to make a connection.”
“...But why? There are tons of good Players on the 2nd floor.” He looked confused. Even if he broke Specter’s record, he was still a level 30 newbie.
“From their perspective, you’re a completely different item. The Players on the 2nd floor have already gotten all their certificates and awards, and the sponsors can’t just wriggle in. You, on the other hand, are brand-new and unlisted.”
“...Am I a stock or something?”
“It’s just a metaphor. Anyway, if they make a connection to you now, they’ll be able to ask you for favors when you go even higher.”
“Ahh, so they’re trying to buy my favor,” Seo Jun-Ho said flatly.
Basically, they were saying something like. “I’ll give you a lot of money, so please remember me! Hehe.”
“Yes, exactly.”
“How much have you received in total?”
Shim Deok-Gu shook his head. “I don’t even know the exact amount.”
“...Why not?”
“How would I? Every time I refresh the page, there’s a new donation in the hundreds of millions.” He smiled happily and refreshed the window. “Let’s see, 2 seconds ago, it was 528,582,030 won [1]...Oh, the smaller numbers keep changing so I can’t count it.”
“Wow, a lot of people sure want to be my friend.”
“Of course. If you start using social media, you’ll probably get 5 million followers in a day. Do you want to try Youtube? ‘Seo Jun-Ho’s Survival Guide’ or something.”
“Nah, it"s too much work.” Seo Jun-Ho shrugged and leaned back into the sofa. He looked to the Frost Queen.
“...Why do you have such a disgusting look?”
“Don’t you see? I’m too important.”
“Hah? Listen closely. I am the monarch...”
“So what’re you gonna do with the money?” Seo Jun-Ho asked, ignoring the Frost Queen’s ramblings.
“I don’t know. Do you remember the stipulations of the contract?”
“Yeah. All donations are gonna be split 7 to 3.”
“Yeah. 70% of all this is yours. Of course, the taxes will be high.”
“What a waste...” Seo Jun-Ho sighed. “I used to be exempt from taxes.”
In the past, the government had exempted him from taxes, begging him not to go to another country. Of course, that wasn’t the case anymore.
“Hm...” Seo Jun-Ho thought for a second, then pointed his finger. “I got it. I’ll invest the money into the a.s.sociation.”
“...What are you saying?” Shim Deok-Gu tilted his head.
“I said I’ll invest it into the a.s.sociation. Recruit some people with the money.”
“What people? Employees?”
“No, Players. Players that can work on the 2nd floor. Make them your agents.”
“Hey, do you know how expensive they are? It would be better to train Players on the 1st floor...”
“Until when? If you keep this up, the Big 6 and the other Guilds are gonna control the 2nd floor forever.”
“...” Shim Deok-Gu had nothing to say. He scratched his head. “But do you really think that something will change with just one a.s.sociation...?”
“Of course. You’d be stupid not to try it, at least.” His voice was full of confidence. “After all, the Korean Player a.s.sociation has two things no other country has.”
“Two...? I know one of them is you, but what’s the other one?”
Seo Jun-Ho grinned. “Who do you think? It’s Specter.”
“...?” Shim Deok-Gu’s eyes widened. His face became serious. “You want Specter to enter the a.s.sociation?”
“No. It’ll just be a simple working relationship. But that in itself will be enough.”
“Of course...It’s more than just ‘enough’.” Specter was practically a religious figure. The reason why there were still living people on Earth was because of him and the Five Heroes.
“We’ve gotten hundreds of millions in donations with just your name.”
How much would they earn with Specter? And what if they could use the money to expand the a.s.sociation to the 2nd floor?
“For now, keep ‘em coming.” Seo Jun-Ho crossed his legs and laughed. “The donations, I mean.”
1. 528 billion 582 million and 30 thousand won ☜