Chapter 77

Inside the guild master's office after Barren left.

Lee Hayeon looked towards the door and said, "It seems Barren is quite conscious of you, Owner."

"It seems so. He should focus on improving his skills."

In his previous life, Barren ranked higher than Seong Jihan, hence he didn't act like this.

Now, he visibly exhibited signs of an inferiority complex.

"Well, he was once considered one of the world's top prospects, right?"

"To that guy, an SSS-grade Gift is like pearls before swine."

As Seong Jihan harshly criticized Barren's abilities,

Lee Hayeon sneakily checked outside the guild master's office door.

'... He left, right?'

"When will the other players arrive?"

"They should be here by tomorrow or the day after. Oh, speaking of which, where should we use the nurturing fee we received from the player loan?"

When they take care of 5 players, they receive a total nurturing fee of 25 million GP a month, equivalent to 250 billion won.

'With that much, I could even buy an A-grade relic.'

To absorb divine power and gain force, he needs to collect A-grade Otherworldly Relics.

The price of an A-grade relic starts from 2.5 billion won. He wasn't been able to purchase them due to financial constraints, but now,

'I can surely buy now.'

Now that he had the money, it was essential to purchase and absorb even a little more of the attributes.

"Hmm... According to my share, I'll allocate 20 billion. Is that okay?"

"No, why consider shares? It's your guild, use all of it if you want."

"I can't do that. We need funds for guild operations."

"Operating expenses... We barely have any significant expenses now."

"No. You said you wanted to grow the guild, so please use it as you see fit."

After all, this money is almost entirely earned thanks to Lee Hayeon's Gift.

Seong Jihan gave 20% of it to Lee Hayeon to use as she pleased.

"Oh my, you really... You didn't have to do this..."

Unaware of this, Lee Hayeon looked at Seong Jihan with eyes filled with emotion.

Giving her 5 billion to spend.

That's too generous!

"Anyway, now that we have the money, shall I try and multiply it?"

"By multiplying... You mean..."

"I have a sure bet, just like last time."

There's no need to spend all 20 billion on A-grade relics.

Especially when there's a sure bet.

"Betting... really?!"

At those words, Lee Hayeon's eyes sparkled.

She had been so busy with guild duties that her gambler's passion was suppressed.

But with Seong Jihan mentioning a sure thing, her hands itched once again.

'Ah... I decided not to gamble... But maybe I can just recover my principal this time?'

The biggest reason gambling addicts can't escape the trap:

Thinking of 'just recovering their principal'.

Lee Hayeon had already become a splendid gambler.

"Yes. This time, don't use your head unnecessarily. Just follow my bet exactly. Understand?"

"Of course! From now on, I'll only trust and follow you, Ownerr!"

At Seong Jihan's advice, Lee Hayeon immediately nodded.

She had already lost money twice by acting impulsively.

This time, Lee Hayeon firmly resolved to trust and follow only Seong Jihan.

'She seems committed now.'

She won't make a mistake this time.

Seong Jihan began in earnest,

"You know that the East Asia League's second half of the season is until December, right?"

"Of course, I do."

"Who do you think will win?"

"Umm... China, perhaps? Japan has become stronger with the addition of the Sword King. But the original first place has its strength, right?"

"No. Japan will win with a clean sweep in the second half of the season."

"A clean sweep?"

Upon Seong Jihan's assertion, Lee Hayeon's eyes widened.

It was understandable that Japan would rank first.

The power of the Sword King was that immense.

However, a clean sweep was a different story.

They would be facing China, which has consistently been the top in the East Asian League, four times.

Would Japan win all those matches?

'China has two players with SSS-grade gifts...'

Lee Hayeon couldn't believe it.

However, everything he had said up to now had been correct.

So, this time, she decided to trust and follow.

"Also,"

"Also?"

"Our country will have a total loss."

"A total loss?"

"The absence of the Sword King was a significant loss. Who can our country beat now?"

With the absence of the Sword King, South Korea couldn't secure even a single win in this year's second half of the regional league matches.

But still... Not a single win until December?

Granted, China and Japan are strong, but not even against Eastern Russia or Taiwan?

'Russia has concentrated its players in the western part, so the eastern forces should be weak...'

Russia, with its vast territory, participated in the regional league divided into two regions.

Western Russia, which included Europe and was more significant, had most of the skilled players, while the East had slightly less skilled players.

Therefore, when ranking in the East Asian League, China was the dominant top team.

Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, and Russia were all competing closely.

But not even beating Russia or Taiwan once, even with the absence of the Sword King?

"That's... hard to believe."

"Well, I don't know if I become a national representative. I won't be able to participate in the second half of the season due to my level. South Korea will lose everything."

Seong Jihan affirmed.

"So, bet on Japan's clean sweep victory and Korea's total loss."

"So you're suggesting to bet separately for each match?"

"Yes. As time goes on, Japan's victories and Korea's defeats will become commonplace. The odds won't be that high, but with compound interest, it grows."

Lee Hayeon nodded.

Even if the odds are just 1.2 times, getting it right 10 times will multiply the money over 6 times.

'I must bet according to the Owner's words this time!' This time, don't 'think'.

'Just blindly follow! '

Lee Hayeon made this promise to herself several times.

* * * * *

[The Daegi Guild, the world's first nurturing guild unveiled! The monthly rent is a whopping 5 billion won!?]

[Two people with SSS-grade Gift and three people with SS-grade Gift joined the Daegi Guild. Players representing the next generation have all gathered.]

[5 billion won rent controversy... Experts unanimously rate it a cheap amount. "It will be higher next time."]

The five promising members all joined the Daegi Guild.

The media gave this a lot of coverage.

Even though it hadn't been a month since it was created, the Daegi Guild was smoothly sailing.

Of course, it wasn't only the guild that was thriving.

[Seong Jihan, rapid progress to Level 40! An unprecedented leveling pace!!]

[Can he reach the Gold Promotion Match in just a month? All eyes on him.]

[Seong Jihan continues his streak of 1st places. When will this record end?]

Seong Jihan, the owner of the guild.

Since advancing to Silver, he was showing results no different from when he was in Bronze...

No, he was even giving a crazier performance, almost sweeping the entire league.

- These days, it's so fun watching Seong Jihan 😭😭

- When will he reach Diamond Rank... Please join the national team soon ㅠㅠ

- Isn't the national team on a 7-game losing streak now?

- Yeah, Japan has a 7-game winning streak lol

- Ugh, our national ranking is gonna drop; isn't a dungeon going to appear?

- Don't worry, Seong Jihan will join the national team before that.

After Sword King left, the South Korean national team continued its losing streak in the East Asian League.

With only depressing news from the Korean BattleNet scene, news about Seong Jihan was nothing less than a beacon of hope.

But as people put more hope in Seong Jihan, there were also those who were getting more displeased.

[BattleNet Director Kim Namtae expresses his intention to resign.]

[Speculations of an effective dismissal due to a petition at the Blue House surpassing 500,000 signatures.]

"What a mess."

The CEO of the Korea Daily frowned upon reading the article.

BattleNet Director Kim Namtae.

He wasn't the type to step down easily.

The position of the director, though recently established, was one where a lot of influence regarding BattleNet lay.

Only politicians with strong influence could get to such a position.

Someone who managed to make Kim Namtae voluntarily resign in such a short time could only be...

'...The president.'

In this era, he understood that BattleNet players were important.

But for the president to intervene and dismiss a politician just because of Seong Jihan, who's merely in Silver League...

It was an unbelievable situation, but it already happened.

The CEO of the Korea Daily picked up the phone.

"Put an apology letter on the front page of tomorrow's newspaper."

[An apology, sir?]

"Yes. Why are you asking again? It's about Seong Jihan."

[...Understood, sir.]

With Kim Namtae dismissed, the focus of public sentiment would now be on the Korea Daily.

Though he didn't want to post an apology, he had no choice.

"Contact the Daegi Guild and ask if we can use Seong Jihan as an advertising model. Somehow secure a reservation. We have to let the world know we're not against him."

[Understood...]

SLAM!

The chairman slammed down the phone, grinding his teeth.

Having to apologize to the player, who was essentially the reason for the boycott against the Korea Daily, and begging him to shoot an ad for their newspaper...

It felt like a cruel joke.

'These kids...! They can't even apologize properly, making such a mess...!'

The chairman spent some time fuming.

He resolved not to let his grandson and granddaughter, who caused this mess in the first place, off the hook.

* * * * *

Mid-September.

Continuing his streak and reaching Level 40, Seong Jihan.

Even though the BattleNet Director got fired and the Korea Daily posted an apology,

Seong Jihan, who already lost interest in them, was, as always, focusing only on his growth.

As usual, right after 12 am, he logged into the game.

[Welcome to the Silver League - Gangnam Area.]

[This mission is Defense.]

[.......]

'What's this?'

This time playing the game, he experienced a 'loading' screen, something he had never seen before.

Also, the system messages displayed upon entering the game were visible to BattleTube viewers.

So, the viewers were equally intrigued by this unfamiliar phenomenon.

- ??What is this?? What's happening now!?

- Does BattleNet lag too?

- If it's defense, there should be 10 towers, so why is it like this?

- No matching opponent? LOL

The Silver League shares its game map with Bronze.

The only difference between Silver and Bronze was the addition of the 'Invasion' mode and a new Valley of the End map.

Everything else, regarding the game map structure, was identical to Bronze. But then,

[The Defense game is assigned to the 'Lone Bridge'.]

After a lengthy loading time, the system message announced a completely different map.

- Huh?

- Lone Bridge?

- The Chibi map?

- Isn't this a Gold League map?

A single bridge.

It's a map used in the Gold League.

Because the dynamics of the game are similar to the Battle of Chibi in Romance of the Three Kingdoms, it's often referred to as "Chibi."

But how was Seong Jihan, a Silver player, assigned to this map?

The system then explained the reason.

[We can't find a suitable opponent for you in the current league.]

[The player will be matched with opponents from a higher league.]

[As a participation reward for being in a lower league, you will receive an additional 50% GP & XP bonus.]

- Crazy! Was this even possible?

- I've been watching BattleNet for about 10 years, and this is a first;

- Ah... so after ranking 1st about 40 times, you play against higher leagues... LOL.

- So, a Silver is playing against Gold LOL

- Will Jihan's 1st place record be broken here? ㅠㅠ

A matchmaking system he hadn't seen even in his previous life. Although Seong Jihan was taken aback by this unprecedented event, internally, he felt delighted.

'It's great.'

Especially since leveling up was becoming more challenging, getting an XP boost like that was indeed a blessing.

'If I get 1st place here... I might earn more achievement points too.'

With high hopes and a smile, Seong Jihan entered the Gold League's Defense game map: 'One Bridge'.