Chapter 100 – 40th Floor (3)
Vrooom!
As the passersby heard the obnoxiously loud engine they could help but frown. However they gasped in shock when they spotted the car.
“Uwaahhh…”
You could never hate an expensive and luxurious car. While the women were impressed but still annoyed by the annoying sound the men just exclaimed in awe.
“That’s so amazing.”
“Wow…”
Surprisingly even the driver of the said car shared their awe.
“Oh my gosh! This is the best!” Heo Sung-Hoon yelled in ecstasy. Using his enhanced reflexes as a player he drove his new car slightly beyond the speed limit without getting in trouble.
“Please be careful!” When Gi-Gyu warned Sung-Hoon regained his senses slowed down and murmured “Ah… Sorry.”
Sung-Hoon quickly added “I just can’t believe I get to drive a car like this.”
Gi-Gyu smiled brightly as he watched how happy Sung-Hoon was with his new gift. The association used its close ties with the government to take care of all the complicated paperwork for Gi-Gyu quickly. He also used his merc status to expedite the process further; consequently Sung-Hoon was now a proud owner of this supercar.
‘Still I can’t get over what I saw inside the gate.’?Sung-Hoon remembered when he entered Brunheart’s gate for the first time. He was shocked by how well maintained it looked. He was even more surprised to see the skeletons and Rogers working like Egyptian slaves. action
‘And then there were all those cars…’?Sung-Hoon couldn’t breathe when he saw the extravagant cars. These cars were so rare and valuable that not even the richest players could obtain them easily. Sung-Hoon couldn’t imagine where Gi-Gyu had found them but he couldn’t ask because his jaw was on the floor.
Then Gi-Gyu offered “Please pick one.”
Even as he drove the car Sung-Hoon couldn’t believe Gi-Gyu had really gifted him this car. Since Gi-Gyu even offered to pay all the maintenance fees he only had to enjoy the new car.
“I’ll serve you forever Your Majesty!” Sung-Hoon exclaimed as he stepped on the pedal.
***
Sung-Hoon who had been unable to hide his excitement a moment ago now stood solemnly with his head down. The atmosphere turned tense suddenly but Sung-Hoon silently accepted the change since he was used to such situations.
Gi-Gyu apologized in a bitter voice “I’m sorry I didn’t come sooner.”
Gi-Gyu was sitting across from Yoo Suk-Woo — his friend the Cain Guild’s master and the one who had helped him destroy the Iron Guild’s Korean branch.
Unfortunately the Cain Guild had suffered many casualties during the Yeoksam incident just like the Morningstar and the Child guilds.
Gi-Gyu had called these guilds a few times before regarding the incident’s aftermath but he never visited them in person. He knew well that it wasn’t the right thing to do.
While putting the plan together he had forgotten to consider one variable: guilt. After the fight he realized he had sacrificed many for his selfish endeavors so he couldn’t help feeling responsible. Then his guilt stopped him from visiting the Cain or the Morningstar guilds.
Now that Gi-Gyu felt more collected he confronted the overwhelming guilt and finally faced his sin.
Suk-Woo gave him a faint smile and replied “I understand.” It was a bitter and sad smile.
“Thanks for understanding” answered Gi-Gyu. Various emotions replaced the noise in the room and the players just sat there silently.
Guilt and forgiveness.
Altruism and selfishness.
Gi-Gyu and Suk-Woo didn’t say much but their silence conveyed much more. Gi-Gyu lowered his head awkwardly.
“You have grown and become stronger which is enough for me. Besides we made those choices so you don’t have to feel guilty. You would be disrespecting the brave players and their choices if you felt burdened.” Suk-Woo touched Gi-Gyu’s shoulder encouragingly and consoled him.
Suk-Woo’s tone was rigid but it was clear that he was trying to comfort him. Lowering his eyes Gi-Gyu’s hands trembled slightly as he asked “They must all hate me don’t they?”
Suk-Woo replied immediately “I told you that we made our own choices. Every member of my guild chose to do it. None of them are so weak that they can’t take responsibility for their actions.”
Gi-Gyu nodded. Cain Guild was indeed powerful not just physically but also emotionally.
Gi-Gyu promised “No matter what I will always remain an ally of the Cain Guild. I will never forget what you and your guild did for me.”
Suk-Woo smiled and replied “Good. I sacrificed my family for that so you better keep your words. And besides you’re part of my family too aren’t you?”
Gi-Gyu felt a nice warmth in the Cain Guild’s office that day.
***
The Cain Guild benefited much from eliminating the Iron Guild’s Korean branch but Gi-Gyu didn’t think it was enough. More specifically he wanted to give Suk-Woo and his guild something more personal. So he decided to donate most of the money he made from selling crystals from Brunheart’s gate. He knew Suk-Woo would never accept it so he anonymously donated it to the Cain Guild through the association.
‘I hope it will make things a little better’?Gi-Gyu wished. He knew he couldn’t put a price on human lives but he hoped that this money would at least help a little.
The next places he needed to visit were the Morningstar and the Child guilds.
Gi-Gyu asked in shock “You are merging the two guilds?”
Sun-Pil nodded and slowly explained “We suffered greater casualties than we expected from the Yeoksam incident. Many guild members are fearful so we decided merging our two guilds would do us good.”
Sun-Pil’s demeanor was very different from Suk-Woo’s; he looked extremely tired. The Cain Guild was close-knit like a family while the Morningstar Guild was strictly a business. The Child Guild was somewhere in the middle.
The Morningstar and the Child guilds were smaller than the Cain Guild so their casualties seemed greater. Also since the Cain Guild was much older the members were closer with stronger comradery. Morningstar Guild a much newer group was rapidly losing its members because the quitters thought their guild’s actions had angered the Iron Guild.
Gi-Gyu turned rigid as he asked “What about the confidentiality issue?”
All the players recruited for the Yeoksam battle were considered trustworthy but if they quit their guilds Gi-Gyu feared they would leak what really happened with the branch.
Sun-Pil replied “You don’t have to worry about that. They all signed the player’s non-disclosure agreement.”
“All right.” Gi-Gyu nodded. Since the player’s NDA was a forceful contract among players he felt reassured.
“So if the two guilds are merging who will be the guild master?’
Clack.
Someone walked into the room and answered Gi-Gyu’s question “We’ll be co-guild masters.”
“I see” replied Gi-Gyu as he watched the former Child Guild’s master Kim Dong-Hae. He hurried here when he heard Gi-Gyu was visiting the Morningstar Guild.
Gi-Gyu apologized to both guild masters “I have no excuse. I should’ve come sooner; I’m sorry.”
Since it was just a business some might have thought Gi-Gyu was overdoing it. However people had died in the process — some alone some with loved ones to miss them. They were the ones he was apologizing for.
Sun-Pil nodded in understanding and replied “It’s all right. We all did what we did for personal gains anyway.”
But Kim Dong-Hae didn’t share Sun-Pil’s feelings. He said with a tense face “You should’ve come sooner.”
Sun-Pil looked very uncomfortable with Dong-Hae’s confrontation but Gi-Gyu remained calm and looked at Dong-Hae. Dong-Hae looked into Gi-Gyu’s eyes and continued rigidly “You made a big mistake Ranker Kim Gi-Gyu. Strong people draw people toward them and you have that quality. You will keep climbing to the top and many will willingly follow you. That I’m sure of.”
Dong-Hae took an audible gulp and continued “You”—fear flooded his eyes—” have to show more interest and responsibility toward these people. After all we are all your allies aren’t we?”
Gi-Gyu could feel the sincerity in Dong-Hae’s plea. He bowed deeply and apologized “I’m sorry.” He didn’t look up for a long time and when he finally did he softly said “I don’t agree with everything you said just now Dong-Hae.?I don’t believe I’m as great a person as you think.?But I promise you that I will do my best to help you and the Cain Guild. You can count on me.”
Gi-Gyu meant what he said and appreciated Dong-Hae’s criticism. It wasn’t that Sun-Pil and Suk-Woo didn’t criticize Gi-Gyu because they didn’t care. All these guild masters just had different feelings and opinions about what happened.
Dong-Hae had entered this situation when it was just a business deal; now he was looking for something more.
Gi-Gyu replied “And I do consider you my ally.”
“Thank you.” Dong-Hae got the confirmation he wanted and seemed satisfied.
“Now it’s all good.” Sun-Pil tried to lighten the mood. Indeed what happened was all in the past now. Everyone lost something in the battle but they all also gained something in return. Now it was time to greet the future.
Sun-Pil asked Gi-Gyu “Hyung there is actually something you can help us with.”
“What is it? I’ll do my best to do what you want if it’s something I can do” replied Gi-Gyu.
“Actually this is something only you can do Hyung” Sun-Pil answered with a smile while Dong-Hae wiped away his tears and nodded. Apparently the duo had already discussed what they planned to ask Gi-Gyu.
***
Clang.
Once again the area around the Bukhan River was filled with metallic rumble. Gi-Gyu stood in an empty lot near the Bukhan River surrounded by numerous buildings. The empty plot also had many players who had encircled Gi-Gyu rang and were responsible for the metallic clangs.
Clang.
Jae-Won a member of Morningstar and Sun-Pil’s friend ordered the players “Dealers step back and let the tankers take over the front!”
“Yes Sir!” several players in training shouted.
“Healers! Why are you just standing around? Use your healing skill!” When Jae-Won yelled the healers in training replied “Okay!”
The recruits moved quickly as they followed Jae-Won’s orders.
Rattle.
Meanwhile the skeleton soldiers moved accordingly. Watching the scene with interest Gi-Gyu asked Sun-Pil “What do you think? Is this helping?”
“Of course!” Sun-Pil nodded emphatically. Sun-Pil’s favor was asking for his skeletons. After many Morningstar and Child members died their guilds merged and accepted many recruits. However the merged guild found training all those recruits near impossible. Using guides to get all of them through the tutorial floors would take too long. On top of that these novices were terrified of the monsters.
So Sun-Pil came up with an idea: If the newbies fought Gi-Gyu’s skeletons they could learn quickly in a safe environment.
“For now we told the new players that we have a player of the summoning category. We explained that the skeletons are summoned beings. Also we got all of them to sign the NDAs and the guild contracts. We’ve only brought those we knew we could trust” Sun-Pil explained.
Sun-Pil continued “This is where we will build the new office for the Morningstar-Child Guild. A barrier surrounds this training lot so no one can see what’s happening; only those with our permission can enter. In the future we’ll also build an underground training hall.”
“All right. Please take care of all the details. I’m just glad I can help” Gi-Gyu replied simply. Sun-Pil looked up to Gi-Gyu; that was probably why he chose to build his headquarters near the Bukhan River.
‘Soon it won’t really matter if people find out about my skeletons.’?Gi-Gyu only needed to hide his gate’s existence for a bit longer. Once he was stronger and had a more stable status he could comfortably reveal his ability to the world. As time passed the public would forget about what happened to the Iron Guild’s Korean branch so no one would connect Gi-Gyu’s skeletons to the Yeoksam incident.
While the skeletons stayed outside the gate they had to consume crystals. But the gate had become so efficient in creating new crystals with the excess energy that Gi-Gyu could afford to do this.
“I’ll return them later Hyung.” When Sun-Pil promised Gi-Gyu replied “All right. And if you need anything else please let me know. If you can’t get a hold of me you can”—he pointed at Sung-Hoon—“contact Sung-Hoon and he’ll help you out.”
“All right Hyung.”
Now that Gi-Gyu had helped the Cain and the Morningstar-Child guilds he felt much better.
“Then I’ll see you later.” Gi-Gyu waved and left quickly. Now that he was feeling good it was time to get back to hunting.
