The Novel’s Villain

5. Irrejectable Contract (3)

‘…’

Perhaps because they were people from this world, they all had their unique looks. The Silver Arrow Guild had a high proportion of women, and they all had pretty distinctive looks. They felt more like rangers than soldiers.

They were talking freely, but when Jin-woo appeared, the silence sank. It was evident that they were nervous.

‘The White Dragon Guild has many warriors, and Silver Arrow has a lot of long-ranged fighters.’

Mixing the two guilds coincidentally balanced out well. Yoo-na nodded with slight admiration, confirming she thought the same. The average rank of the guild members was -D. However, their equipment was also a problem. It seemed that his plan wouldn’t go smoothly unless they were equipped with at least ranked equipment.

“Did you say there are Gate items in the warehouse?”

“Yeah, everything is kept there except for the ones we put up for auction.”

Eighty percent of the items discovered at the Gate by the top guilds in Korea belonged to the JW Gate. Most were sold at auction, but some vague ones were stored indefinitely in warehouses. The items were useless in Jin-woo’s eyes, but they were worth more than a billion units each. Those were much better than the ones they were wearing now.

It seemed like it would be okay to empty the warehouse at this point. They were nothing but a burden to keep.

“Just open it up and take care of the rest. Call me when they’re ready.”

“I understand.”

Jin-woo turned his back and headed to the waiting room.

‘I’ll just play a game while I wait.’

It was a pretty good hobby because the Waste stacks also went up just a little bit. Jin-woo had all the mobile games ranking No. 1 to No. 10 from the Loggle Store on his phone. They were games famous for their Gacha mechanics, but it was a cheap game for Jin-woo. It was worth doing because he ranked first in a day. He took over some games because Yoo-na asked him why he didn’t take over their companies altogether.

It was just a little hobby.

Yoo-na bowed her head more politely than usual. She didn’t raise her head until Jin-woo’s figure disappeared. After all, the two guilds were watching.

* * *

Snap!

As Jin-woo disappeared into the waiting room, Yoo-na snapped her fingers and focused everyone’s attention. Her expression was so suddenly cold everyone froze.

“Rachel and Kim Moo-jin, your preparations are clumsy. This won’t do.”

“…We’ve done a little too much for ourselves, but it seems like you didn’t notice it.”

Kim Moo-jin remained silent while Rachel answered. After winning this quest, Kim Moo-jin made an excessive investment to match the items of the guild members. So had Rachel. She gathered up the items that she didn’t have and upgraded her team to meet the standards.

As both guilds had no money to spare, it was a little tight to match the entire guild member’s items. There were no sales, and billions of units had to be paid at once. In addition, they also had debt already.

“I’m sorry. We weren’t good enough. If you don’t like it, I’ll return the payment.”

In response to Yoo-na’s words, Moo-jin, who had been silent, replied that way. The commanders made a slight expression as if their pride had been damaged, and the guild members’ atmosphere also turned unusual. The same was true of Silver Arrow guild members.

Yoo-na looked at Rachel and Moo-jin with a lot of pressure. Now, although her real skills weren’t coming out thanks to the injury, the pressure and murderous intention hadn’t faded at all. There weren’t many people who could withstand the spirit of a B-rank competent person at the semi-Knight level.

“Please know that this arrangement was the best.”

Rachel responded politely. Yoo-na looked at her and nodded. Moo-jin and Rachel were pretty decent people.

‘Not bad.’

The guild members of the two guilds were already setting up in formation to protect their guild masters. There was a strong bond between them. The hearts of the guild members were very nice to see. It felt similar to the Laiden Guild, which had now completely become Jin-woo’s limbs. The Laiden Guild was so indebted that they were ready to sacrifice their lives for Jin-woo.

‘I understand why the Young Master likes them.’

Lee Jin-woo pursued things more valuable than money. That was why Yoo-na remained loyal to him. She tilted her head when she heard his criteria, and she doubted his decision to choose the two guilds. However, now she could understand. They were the most suitable to buy their hearts given their situation and prospects. Those with good abilities were full of shit. But these few were useful and worthy of harvest.

‘From there to there…’

She smiled as she remembered Jin-woo’s words. Such excuses didn’t work for Yoo-na, but Rachel and Moo-jin were different from others. The corners of her lips were about to rise slightly, but she held it in. Yoo-na returned to her cold expression once more. She must never lighten the mood; it wasn’t her role. She thought that she could manage to keep her pace with Jin-woo.

“That would be nice to do so, but can you afford the penalty? Selling the Silver Arrow Guild wouldn’t be enough.”

“That’s…”

“The same goes for the White Dragon Guild. I think it’s faster if you give up your neck instead of a penalty. It’s also more efficient for us.”

“…….”

Silence fell. Even if the guild were disbanded, there was a possibility that a worse situation would occur. They couldn’t back out already.

“Stop complaining and follow me.”

As Yoo-na turned her back and headed off, Rachel and Moo-jin looked at each other briefly before following her. They were very nervous; their faces had turned pale blue. It was a rare chance for them to meet someone at Yoo-na’s level. There was only a chilling silence as they followed Yoo-na. Only the sound of their footsteps was occasionally heard. For both of them, it felt like a long time. The other Mercenaries were also very nervous. It felt as if they were entering a dungeon.

Yoo-na stood at a high-security door. After verifying via iris recognition, fingerprint recognition, and voice, the door opened.

Drrrrrng!

The shiny black door looked to be over a meter thick and made out of some extraordinary material. The floor vibrated just from its opening. It was made of an expensive Gate material called Black Iron. It deserved to be called a revolution in the architecture world, but the downside was that it was very expensive.

‘Even if I take that one away, I can live on it for the rest of my life.’

‘Not only the gate but the entire surrounding area is made of Black Iron…’

Moo-jin and Rachel exchanged glances containing those thoughts. Black Iron could only be processed by a special method, and it was almost impossible to penetrate it with modern equipment. These days, it was used to build shelters for the famous and wealthy.

The light turned on as Yoo-na stepped inside. When the lights flickered on, everyone stopped breathing from shock. Artifacts from the Gate were arranged neatly by type and rank in front of them like a museum. It was truly spectacular.

They wouldn’t find a sight like this anywhere else in the world.

“….”

“…Ah…”

At first, they couldn’t understand. Then, as soon as realization dawned on them, Moo-jin, Rachel, and their guild members were mesmerized by the sight filling their vision. They could tell from experience that every one of the artifacts was a great treasure. Several guilds had to risk their lives to save a single dagger on display before them.

Although the pricing was said to reach millions or even billions of won, it was only when there was a sale, good artifacts led to the strength of the competent people and therefore couldn’t be determined by price alone.

Rachel and Moo-jin gulped. Their guild members were completely frozen behind them. Why was she showing this? Why did she bring them here? It would be a big fuss if something like this were leaked to the world. Regardless of their thoughts, Yoo-na turned to look at them.

Then, she spread her hands and pointed at the artifacts.

“Choose what you like.”

“Pardon?”

Moo-jin didn’t understand what she said. She wanted them to choose what they like?

“This is a special gift from the Young Master. If you refuse, you won’t be able to handle what happens next.”

“Excuse me, Ma’am!”

Rachel cried out in a hurry.

“A-are you saying we can choose whatever we want from here?”

“Yes, there are no restrictions.”

Rachel and Moo-jin’s expressions were colored with astonishment, as were those of their guild members. They were so nervous to even go inside, so they took only a few hesitant steps. But she wanted them to pick from these artifacts? What the hell was going on?

Lee Jin-woo would be the only person on Earth who could lend such things. These were treasures with great national value. Moo-jin swallowed. Originally, he wasn’t the type to tremble when he saw expensive things. However, if the level went up enormously, he would develop a new personality that he didn’t have. He imagined the money he would have to compensate for any scratches.

Moo-jin looked at Yoo-na and barely opened his mouth. His lips were trembling, which didn’t seem like him at all. Even if money was the case, it was hard to keep his reason because of this experience that broke all common sense.

“T-thank you very much for lending them to us, but…these are too expensive…to be honest, these are more expensive than our contract. If by any chance we lost them…it would be difficult for us to…”

“You are mistaken.”

“What?”

Mistaken? Of course, they were. They must have heard something wrong. Moo-jin thought so. Rachel was barely able to calm her breath. However, Yoo-na remained expressionless. She seemed to be smiling very creepily in Rachel’s eyes.

“The Young Master is a man with a broad heart. He doesn’t lend things to people.”

“Well then…?”

“This is for free. It’s just a service, so don’t take it to heart.”

Moo-jin’s expression went blank. He looked at his side, wondering if he had heard it wrong, but Rachel had the same expression.

Thud!

Some guild members fell sideways, while some fell backward and fainted. Rachel stumbled and leaned against the wall. She felt dizzy. However, Yoo-na didn’t care for them.

“Then I’ll see you in thirty minutes.”

Yoo-na walked past them without giving any other explanation. Rachel was the first to come to her senses and look at Moo-jin.

“Can we choose? really?”

“I think so…well, what the hell…”

He still wasn’t sure if that was the case. Everyone was looking at him. Moo-jin was lost in thought for a moment. It didn’t feel like some kind of trap. It was unlikely that Lee Jin-woo, who was even called things like the Crown Prince and the next emperor of the Earth, would be such a nuisance to Mercenaries like them.

What was the digging for? He could deal with them with a word if he wanted to. Considering the words of that vicious woman, it seemed he just was giving these artifacts to them. Moo-jin managed to loosen his stiff face and look at the guild members.

He was the leader, so he had to make the decision.

“Choose as many as possible. Choose the ones that suit you.”

“I-is that okay?”

“Won’t our heads be cut off in a remote place…?”

The guild members winced with concern. Moo-jin moved first and raised a greatsword that emanated an eerie chill. He couldn’t even compare it to the sword he was using now. The comparison itself was a great disrespect for this greatsword. A name tag was hanging from the handle.

Discovery Location: JW Gate A-1 Forest

Name: Greatsword 7

It was just written that way. This sword, which could cost billions of money if released, didn’t even have a name, so it was simply called the Greatsword 7. Moo-jin vowed never to offend Lee Jin-woo. If he offended someone who casually gave away something like this…

‘The White Dragon Guild would vanish.’

Lee Jin-woo could get rid of the White Dragon Guild with the tip of one of his fingers if the mood struck him.

‘He seems different from the rumors, though…’

It felt quite different from the image he usually heard of. It wasn’t the time to think deeply about it, though. Moo-jin spoke up as he equipped himself with the greatsword.

“We’ve only got thirty minutes! Choose quickly!”

“We also need to move!”

When Moo-jin and Rachel shouted, they all ran towards the items.

“Uwhoaaaah!”

“Look at this!”

“So crazy! It’s a magic arrow! I’ve never heard of anything like this!”

“Kyaah!”

The guild members screamed with joy. Yoo-na heard the sound from the outside and nodded. It was easy to buy hearts with money. However, the depth of their hearts was divided by heaven and earth depending on the direction. This would let them know who they were serving and for whom they had to lay on the ground and crawl.

It was a slave contract written in the name of a gift.

‘I don’t know what purpose he is going into the Gate for.’

Yoo-na didn’t ask. All she had to do was faithfully follow his orders. A smile appeared on her lips, but she managed to calm herself down and returned to her usual expressionless self before moving to the waiting room.

“Huh-huh! Over there, Chief of the Bodyguards!”

Someone called out to her. Yoo-na turned her head to look at the owner of her voice. It was a middle-aged man in a white robe, the professor at the research institute created by Jin-woo. He had several other professors in tow, one of whom was Prof. Choi Sung-min.

He was drenched in sweat as he ran in a hurry.

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