Chapter 720
“Wow. Some people are squeezed together downstairs eating, while others get to enjoy a meal in a place this private? That’s just heartbreaking, isn’t it?”
Jinhyuk grumbled, puffing out his lips.
Following behind him, Alice, Chun Yoosung, and Teresa entered.
The main members of Veteran Corporation, the very people who had been giving Gray such a massive headache, were now all gathered in one place.
“Hoo.”
Gray let out a long sigh.
He pressed at his throbbing temples, trying to calm the headache, but it refused to go away easily.
And yet, he couldn’t simply give in to his temper.
After all, the other party was his benefactor.
They were the ones who had neatly salvaged a deal that had been on the verge of total collapse.
Since he had already publicly declared in front of everyone that he would cease hostilities, he couldn’t afford to treat them carelessly.
“Did you come here just to eat?”
“Yeah. Our little one said she wanted something tasty.”
“I, I am not little!”
Alice sprang up from her seat.
Still, all it looked like was a 150-centimeter-tall girl throwing a big tantrum.
“Whatever your reason for coming, we owe you a great debt. We are grateful.”
“Oho.”
This time, Jinhyuk looked a little surprised.
He had fully expected Gray to make all sorts of excuses and try to play things down, but Gray had acknowledged it far more readily than expected.
‘He really is worthy of leading a group.’
True to the nickname Ashen Wolf. He seemed to be the type who let things go cleanly when they should be let go.
“Then this will be easy. I didn’t do it expecting compensation, but there is one little thing we need help with.”
“Speak.”
“The Association is keeping the rewards from this Main Event in one place, right? Can you tell us where?”
“Wh-what?”
Gray spat out the wine he had been drinking.
He couldn’t help it.
What Jinhyuk was trying to do was obvious to anyone who heard it.
From Gray’s side, he had planned to wrap things up by praising Jinhyuk and giving him a suitable reward. Instead, he had run straight into a storm far beyond anything he had expected.
“M-Mr. Jinhyuk?”
“Haa. Don’t tell me you’re planning to steal them.”
“Puhahaha! As expected of My contractor. If you want something, you just take it. Struggling from the very beginning to obtain goods was never My style.”
A variety of reactions followed.
Regardless, Jinhyuk simply kept looking at Gray with a faint smile.
“That’s insane. Do you have any idea how tight the security there is? The Barriers and restrictions deployed there are denser and more varied than even the ones at the Main Event venue. Not even a single ant could get in.”
“Hm. That’s not wrong either. If we forced it, we could probably come up with a way, but Low Risk, High Return is my creed. Which is why I need one more favor from you.”
Jinhyuk took out a piece of paper and handed it to Gray.
A truly absurd plan was written on it.
Crinkle!
Gray crumpled the paper without mercy.
“Do you really… think I’d take part in a scheme this insane?”
“Of course. If you want to build a good relationship with Seongsun, you’d better accept my proposal, right? I’m the only one who knows his list of favorite foods.”
“You… knew I’d contacted the Twelve Zodiacs? And that I had specifically singled out Seongsun among them?”
Suddenly.
Gray’s movements came to a complete stop.
How did he know?
There was that sticky, distinctive Mana of the Ancient Kingdom clinging to things. If you can’t sense that, then you’re not a high-level player. And among the ones in the Ancient Kingdom who are obsessed with fine food and run around everywhere, Seongsun is the only one.
Jinhyuk crossed to an empty sofa and dropped down onto it.
“Don’t overthink it. There’s a saying, isn’t there? Steal a warehouse and you’re a thief. Steal a nation and you’re a hero.”
Theft becomes romantic too, if the scale is large enough.
Now, enough of the long-winded back and forth.
It was time to choose.
Whether or not to take part in this grand undertaking depended entirely on Gray’s decision.
===
Night of October 30th.
In Las Vegas, USA, crowds gathered in waves to enjoy Halloween.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Whoosh…
Countless fireworks and a parade so dazzling it drew admiration just from looking at it delighted the eyes and ears.
The costumes worn by people from all walks of life added even more to the spectacle.
“It’s been a while since we got to rest like this.”
Teresa, wearing a headband with red horns, a short black dress, and a devil’s tail, swung around a trident-shaped balloon spear.
Meanwhile, Alice, dressed with round wings and an angel halo, kept staring at herself in a full-length mirror, comparing her appearance to Teresa’s.
“…I don’t like it. When is My original body coming back!?”
Alice trembled from head to toe, as though her pride had taken a serious blow.
“Tch. What a waste of time on something so pointless.”
Chun Yoosung, dressed in a dragon robe, sat on the railing with a thick medical book open in his hands.
He was on standby for the large-scale theft that would begin at midnight, but his face still showed he wasn’t entirely convinced this was the right thing to do.
But there was no helping it.
Among the Main Event rewards was also an item Chun Yoosung absolutely had to get his hands on.
Even if it meant being branded a filthy thief, achieving a greater purpose mattered more right now.
At the same time.
In a place slightly removed from where the parade was being held, Jinhyuk sat on an outdoor bench.
Standing before him were Jang Bo-kyung, Ivankovich of the Dreadroar Guild, and the Returnee Adel.
Naturally, they were all dressed in costume as well to avoid standing out.
“The promise?”
“I got him. Hotel suite 3501 by nine o’clock.”
Jang Bo-kyung answered with her face twisted in humiliation as she desperately tried to cover herself.
The polar bear costume holding a Coca-Cola bottle was clearly still difficult for her to get used to.
“Well done. Then we can head over right away. Ivankovich and Adel, guard the entrance so the others can’t get into the building.”
Jinhyuk adjusted the cute squirrel mask from the animated movie.
A long and twisted history of resentment had continued until now, and it was time to put an end to it.
===
Click. Click.
In the hotel suite overlooking the dazzling nightscape, Seo Jeonghee kept gnawing at her nails.
‘This is driving me insane.’
She had no idea where it had all gone wrong.
From beginning to end. Literally everything had become tangled.
Now all the cards she had prepared had been used up. Even her position within the Titan Guild had become precarious.
‘It’s okay. I need to stay calm.’
Seo Jeonghee forced herself to steady her breathing.
She was a New Noble, different from ordinary people.
A core talent who would lead the world in the future.
Everything wasn’t going to collapse over something like this. Absolutely not.
‘Once Jang Bo-kyung gets here, I can hear the whole story. I confirmed she received protection from an Upper Echelon Power, so she’ll definitely suggest a new course of action.’
It was too early to give up.
Just as she was trying to reassure herself and waiting for Jang Bo-kyung to arrive, it happened.
Kwaaang!
A huge explosion rang out from below the hotel.
At the same time.
“Intruder!”
The head of security burst through the door.
“Who is it?”
How dare anyone invade the residence of a New Noble? There were more than a hundred security personnel stationed here alone.
He should have been able to shout that with confidence, but his whole body was being swallowed by uncontrollable terror and fear.
“Escort the VIP immediately!”
The head of security urgently gave the order.
The private guards armed with magic bullets and the Players specialized in close combat formed a defensive formation around Seo Jeonghee.
If necessary, they were prepared to turn the elevator itself into a sieve.
Surely not.
Ding! Ding! Ding!
The elevator moved upward at high speed.
Surely it couldn’t be.
Ding! Ding! Ding!
It didn’t stop.
The elevator kept passing one floor after another, rising without pause.
Without stopping even once, it came all the way up to the thirtieth floor, where Seo Jeonghee was.
And finally, when the doors opened—
Creeeak!
A frigid frost began spreading from the elevator down the hallway.
“Hiiik!”
Seo Jeonghee instinctively stumbled back.
Because the figure walking out of the elevator was simply too terrifying.
A giant hammer densely studded with thick acorns.
A figure wearing a cute squirrel mask emerged, giggling.
It was the kind of sight she wouldn’t want to face even in a nightmare.
“Kill them!”
The head of security gave the order.
Ratatatat!
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Kwaaaang!
Magic bullets and countless spells poured down like rain.
A concentrated extermination barrage in a narrow corridor. No matter how skilled the opponent was, they should have taken heavy damage in that environment.
However.
“Heh heh heh… Ahahaha! Hahahahaha!”
The unidentified intruder let out a chilling laugh and deftly wove between the bullets and spells.
Kwaang!
He kicked off the ground and charged forward.
The squirrel man, running with terrifying speed, swung the giant hammer.
“Even so, with a weapon like that… Guaaak!”
Crunch!
The thick acorn directly reshaped the face of the man standing in front.
Corn and blood sprayed from his mouth at the same time.
The Protein Muscle Acorn, the staple food of the Muscle Squirrel found on the 14th floor of the Tower of Trials. It was a special acorn that nothing with a bite force below three tons could even crack.
Thud! Thud! Thud!
The head of security stepped in front of the squirrel man, who had turned the guards into mush in an instant.
Shing!
A long sword was drawn.
“Worthless bastards who do nothing but waste resources.”
Choi Huijae of the Ghost Sword.
Current Rank: AAA.
He wasn’t S-Rank, but as a one-on-one combatant, he was considered close to it.
Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang!
Sword and hammer crossed chaotically in midair.
“I-impossible.”
A hollow sigh escaped Choi Huijae’s lips.
For some squirrel or whatever this thing was to have such refined swordsmanship… no, beyond that, this level of skill was a realm rarely seen even among the top Rankers of the Seven Great Guilds.
The thought that he could win…
…simply never came to him.
The moment his hand sliced through empty air, Choi Huijae instinctively knew he had lost.
Crunch!
His chest caved in.
With every rib shattered, he would spend days gasping and screaming in pain.
“Uuuuuu…”
Seo Jeonghee pressed herself against the glass window, trembling violently.
“Finally, we meet again. It took quite a lot of effort to get here. It gave me quite the headache too.”
Jinhyuk said as he shook the blood from the giant hammer.
These words were sincere.
Honestly, he had ignored all that nonsense about New Nobles and the like, but dealing with them directly had proven to be an incredible nuisance.
“P-please spare me. I’ll do anything. Anything!”
A typical plea for mercy followed.
It was so cliché it was nauseating.
“Really? Truly?”
“Of course! If you spare me, I promise ten billion, no, even a position as a New Noble!”
“Wow. That’s incredibly generous, but I don’t need that. Just hand over the key to the Titan Guild’s personal vault, and I’ll think about it positively.”
It wasn’t the guild master Sasha’s main vault. But he knew executive-level members possessed keys to the shared vault.
A few materials he needed for the war with Eden were sleeping inside.
Seo Jeonghee fumbled at her chest, pulled out a key, and threw it.
“Take it and clean out everything inside.”
Jinhyuk tossed the key behind him to Jang Bo-kyung.
But—
The moment Seo Jeonghee saw Jang Bo-kyung, her servile gaze changed completely.
“Jang Bo-kyung! Kill him!”
Jang Bo-kyung’s Unique Ability was recognized even by the Rankers of the major guilds.
If it was Jang Bo-kyung, she could surely hold Jinhyuk back long enough for the Titan Guild’s elite to arrive once they detected the terrorist attack.
Naturally, Jang Bo-kyung didn’t even spare her a glance.
Instead, just as Jinhyuk had instructed, she turned toward the elevator with the key.
“You really are unforgivable to the very end.”
Plastic and ordinary trash could be recycled.
Food waste could only be burned.
“P-please spare me. Y-you said you’d spare me if I handed over the key.”
“Hm. Well, that’s true too.”
Jinhyuk nodded with the giant hammer resting on his shoulder.
But a promise was a promise, so maybe he should compromise a little.
“Alright. But I can’t just let you off, so I’ll hit you exactly three times.”
“You mean… if I can endure just three hits?”
“Yep. No more, no less. Just exactly three.”
Kwaaaang!
One entire side of the wall blew away.
For the record, that counted as one hit.