“Master.”
“I am not, my disciple. The monk here is also a witness. So listen carefully to what I have to say.”
The Flame Emperor said in a hurried voice.
They were on the living room sofa. On the 150-inch TV in front of them, news was playing.
-Breaking news.
This afternoon, there was a gas explosion in the middle of Gangnam Avenue.
Fortunately, due to quick evacuation and good fire safety management, there were not many casualties…
That could happen.
A gas explosion could suddenly occur and a building could catch fire.
But the Flame Emperor happened to be at Gangnam Station at that time.
It was exactly what Lee Tae-sung had been worried about.
Naturally, he looked at the Flame Emperor with suspicion, but the Flame Emperor waved both hands as if to say it definitely wasn’t him.
“Rather, I stopped the bastard who did that! If it weren’t for me, the damage would have been much worse. This bald monk is my witness.”
“That’s correct, Benefactor. Although the Flame Emperor has a strange and violent temper, he did not lie.”
“What? This baldy…!”
The Flame Emperor frowned, but there was nothing wrong with the monk’s words.
Lee Tae-sung was also convinced enough to drop his suspicions.
“I see. As expected, you are my master. I believed in you.”
“…Really?”
“Yes.”
If you only thought of the Flame Emperor’s reputation in the Dream World, it wouldn’t be strange if he were the main culprit of the terror, but he was the type of person who would proudly admit it if he had done it.
At the very least, he wouldn’t deny it like this.
“Phew. Good. Thanks for believing me. Then, my disciple. Thanks to me, I prevented chaos in your country. Don’t I get anything?”
The Flame Emperor fidgeted with his fingers.
It was an obvious signal asking for Ascendant Maintenance Tickets.
Wasn’t it thanks to that ticket that he could use his power freely while being far from Lee Tae-sung this time?
If he had tried to maintain the summon with Lee Tae-sung’s power, the burden would have increased exponentially the farther the distance and the more the Ascendants used their power.
“Yes. I’ll give you both one hour each.”
“Hahahaha! Good! Thanks, my disciple.”
“Thank you, Benefactor.”
The two were overjoyed.
Having tasted freedom once, their longing grew even stronger.
Earth was a world far more interesting, noisy, and full of amazing things compared to the world they lived in.
“And would you like to see this?”
What Lee Tae-sung handed over additionally was a tablet PC.
‘They need a bit of social education.’
If they acted like they did in the Dream World, Lee Tae-sung would be in trouble.
However, it was difficult to sit them down and teach them directly, so he had prepared audiovisual materials on the tablet.
Of course, it wasn’t educational material per se.
Lee Tae-sung certainly wasn’t trying to turn them into people of good character.
He just needed them to understand the basics of Earth society and Korea’s background.
So he had subscribed to all the famous OTT platforms.
“You see where it says movies and dramas? Try binge-watching some popular and fun dramas.”
“?”
“?”
—
The two Ascendants initially scoffed, wondering what kind of thing this was, but reluctantly started watching at Lee Tae-sung’s request.
However, it wasn’t long before they became deeply absorbed in the dramas.
“X! X! Ugh, so stupid. You should go outside now! Just be satisfied with that money!”
“Huh. The Buddha said that if you don’t know contentment, destruction will come…”
The two started watching the globally hit drama “Octopus Game” and were in their room, but they shouted loudly enough to be heard in the living room.
‘I’m glad they like it.’
Even though they started watching without knowing the detailed background, they were Ascendants with transcendent understanding.
They could at least grasp the gist, and soon became engrossed in the story.
They probably wouldn’t be going outside for a while.
‘Then maybe I should go back to work.’
The past few days had been incredibly hectic.
Even though he had entered the Peak Realm, he hadn’t gotten a proper wink of sleep.
He had been continuously repeating Party Missions.
Earth was a world far more interesting, noisy, and full of amazing things compared to the world they lived in.
“And would you like to see this?”
Lee Tae-sung had handed over a tablet PC.
‘They need a bit of social education.’
If they acted like they did in the Dream World, Lee Tae-sung would be in trouble.
This was a thought that came to him while preparing for work.
Earlier, what he meant by the limits of stamina and mental strength were not himself, but Kang Woo-joo and Peipei.
-P-please save me.
I can’t do it anymore.
-Pei, Peipei has fainted, Guild Leader!
Kang Woo-joo was on the verge of foaming at the mouth, and Peipei had fainted standing up.
No matter how easy the missions were to clear, the constant threat of death took a heavy toll on their mental stamina.
No hunter in history had ever performed dozens of missions consecutively.
Of course, Lee Tae-sung had his own reasons.
‘The quest requiring me to depart from the Nameless Blood Cult is coming soon, so I need to deal with as much as I can before that.’
He could log out in the middle of the quests, but that would inconvenience the people moving with him, so he wanted to avoid it.
He had always been serious about the Dream World, but now he knew they were real living people, not NPCs.
As he was pondering this and about to get into his car.
Riiing
A call came from Manager Song Sang-yeop.
“Hello?”
-Guild Leader. Can you talk for a moment?
“Yes.”
-It’s about a company that wants to support expanding our factory.
The production of Lower Grade Elixirs had started with prototypes a while ago, and the Lowest Grade Elixirs were still being produced with great success.
However, just meeting domestic demand was already overwhelming.
Under those circumstances, orders from various overseas companies, countries, and guilds were flooding in.
The approximately twenty regular employees of Taesung Guild spent all day answering inquiry calls, barely taking the phones off their ears.
Fortunately, the Hunter Association provided some support, so they were managing to get by.
“How do they plan to support the factory expansion?”
-They say the supply is too short, so they’ll buy a large factory site overseas and provide it.
They’ll handle everything from land purchase to construction and permits for free, and all they ask is for us to supply the product.
They’re also offering a very high price for the elixirs.
Overseas tasks like this were difficult for the newly formed Taesung Guild to handle alone.
That’s why Manager Song Sang-yeop was helping, but this proposal was so extraordinary that he called directly.
“Hmm, I see. What’s the scale?”
-It’s enormous.
A mega factory of the largest scale.
They say they’ll ensure Taesung Guild has no supply issues.
“…”
But Lee Tae-sung’s voice was dubious.
Companies operate for profit—why would they give away so much?
Even if elixirs were in high demand, this was too advantageous for his side.
Lee Tae-sung had experience working at a small-to-medium enterprise for a few years.
Society is cold, and companies never do things that lead to losses.
If a proposal sounds too good to be true, you have to suspect it first.
“It seems a bit suspicious.”
-As expected, the Guild Leader thinks so too?
“You too, Section Chief?”
-The conditions are too good.
So I did a little research.
It seems to be a fairly large company in China.
The parent company even operates a guild.
Hwasung Holdings Group.
That’s how it reads when you change the Chinese pronunciation to Korean.
It was a very large company with its fingers in various industries, even operating a hunter guild and having the ability to purchase from the Score Shop on its own.
When I tried to dig deeper, there was something a bit unsettling.
It’s connected to the Chinese government, but I can’t find out exactly what.
No matter how capable the Hunter Association is, it was impossible to uncover the backer of a Chinese company.
“Ah, hold on a moment. I’ll call you back in a bit.”
But the moment he realized the other company was Chinese, Lee Tae-sung’s worries vanished.
He hung up and dialed another number.
Before the ring even went twice, the other party answered.
-Hello.
I’ve received your call.
The voice was polite.
If anyone who knew the voice’s owner heard it, they would have been shocked.
The person on the other end was none other than the chief secretary of Jang Xuan, who ranked within the top tens of the power hierarchy in China.
Even the head of a large corporation wouldn’t dare speak to him with such caution.
But to Lee Tae-sung, he was just a close brother who had given him his number, telling him to call anytime if he needed anything.
“Yes. I’d like to ask about a certain company.”
-Please tell me the company name, and I’ll report back immediately.
“It’s called Hwasung Holdings Group, based on the pronunciation. I’ll send the info to your phone now.”
Lee Tae-sung sent the basic information about the company that Manager Song Sang-yeop had given him.
Then, still on the call, he drove to the office in Pangyo.
The roads weren’t congested, so it only took about thirty minutes, but an email came in during that time.
[This is the overall data on Hwasung Holdings Group. I’ve only sent the information we already had on our end, and we’re currently finding more. I’ll contact you as soon as we discover something special.]
Lee Tae-sung downloaded the attached data and looked it over.
‘Ha. This is pretty interesting.’
After examining the data closely, Lee Tae-sung’s eyes sparkled.
On the surface, it looked like a company with ties to the Chinese government, but the convoluted equity structure showed connections overseas.
It had passed through many countries.
Following the trail eventually led to Japan.
A company sponsored by a Japanese right-wing group was one of the shareholders.
So it was supposedly a Chinese company?
The puppet string was actually Japan?
After thinking for a moment, Lee Tae-sung called Manager Song Sang-yeop again.
“Yes, Section Chief. I found out where the trick came from.”
-Already?
“I have some connections in China.”
…! Ah, I see.
Manager Song Sang-yeop immediately caught on to what had happened.
With Lee Tae-sung’s network, finding this out wouldn’t be difficult.
“It was Japan.”
-Hmm.
They’re probably trying to steal the manufacturing method.
“That’s likely.”
Song Sang-yeop and Lee Tae-sung immediately understood the whole situation.
There was only one reason to pull such a trick on Taesung Guild.
-Then I’ll reject the proposal.
“No. Don’t reject it. Accept it.”
-Huh?
“They’re offering to buy and build a mega factory site for us. It would be a waste.”
They knew the factory would be built in China, and they had traced the puppet string.
A knife in the dark is scary, but a blatant trick is easier to exploit.
When someone offers you something on a silver platter, how can you not take it?
“Let’s use this chance to break ground overseas.”
Lee Tae-sung grinned.