Chapter 129: The Rise of the Three Guilds

“Phew, that’s a relief.”

The Mir Guild and the Changcheon Guild.

We formed an alliance with the two guilds.

In truth, the alliance was more symbolic than anything else—there were no real obligations that came with it.

Still, the news of this alliance was enough to draw public attention.

[ Vulcanus, Changcheon, Mir: The Oath of the Three Giants ]

[ The Alliance of the Three Guilds—What Does It Mean? ]

[ The End of the Five Great Guilds. The Beginning of Korea’s Six Great Guilds ]

[ Vulcanus Guild Recognized by Changcheon and Mir Guilds ]

These headlines alone were enough to catch people’s eyes.

And compared to what came later, these titles were fairly tame.

As time passed, to attract even more attention, the media started running even more provocative titles.

[ Are the Five Great Guilds Really Okay As They Are? ]

[ Royal, Noblesse, Blue: The Crisis of the Three Guilds That Failed to Ally with Vulcanus ]

[ Kingmaker Vulcanus, Now Targeting Guilds Too? ]

[ Five Great Guilds? No, From Now On It’s the Three Great Guilds. The Leap of Vulcanus, Changcheon, and Mir Guilds ]

“What the hell are they talking about?”

They began publishing these clickbait titles.

“If someone reads this, they’d think I’m some kind of mastermind behind the scenes.”

Eh, no way.

Who would believe that?

Even so, out of curiosity, I browsed the system community.

Huh?

[ Vulcanus ㅋㅋ ]

I heard Vulcanus is setting up a three-guild structure excluding Blue, Royal, and Noblesse, is this for real?

– Seems plausible from the vibes. 00

– It was suspicious ever since they started poaching rankers from Blue, Royal, and Noblesse.

– Big picture, crazy!

– But haven’t Blue, Royal, and Noblesse seriously weakened?

– Yeah, many rankers left.

[ Why the Three Great Guild Structure Is a Fact ]

Honestly, without Mir and Changcheon, the Five Great Guilds have dropped in quality.

Royal was basically propped up by capital, but now capital is slipping to Vulcanus.

Noblesse had quiet support from the Hunter Association and was still recognized, but lately the Hunter Association has become much friendlier toward Vulcanus.

Blue lost four rankers to Vulcanus and doesn’t even have a ranker in the top ten anymore.

Considering the title of “Great Guild,” it makes sense to remove those three.

– And Vulcanus will be the head of the Three Great Guilds?

– Seems likely, especially since they initiated the alliance system.

– At first, I wondered what the blacksmith was doing when he started the guild, but now, surpassing first place in blacksmiths, he’s aiming for first in guild rankings too. ㅋㅋ

– Kingmaker. ㅋㅋ

– The Kingmaker became the king. ㅋㅋ

– Now the only thing left is the number one spot in Hunter rankings.

– Eh, how is a blacksmith supposed to take first in Hunter rankings? ㅋㅋㅋ

“…They actually believe this.”

The community truly seemed to buy into these sensational headlines.

They even had reasonable arguments attached, enough that I found myself nodding along.

In reality, Royal’s financial power can’t keep up with the profits from my forge.

Noblesse’s connections pale compared to my ties with the Association President.

And Blue’s rankers have largely joined Vulcanus Guild.

That’s all there is to it.

“Royal, whatever. I don’t even know them.”

Blue, Royal, Noblesse Guilds.

All three are called Korea’s Five Great Guilds, but they’ve had very little connection with me.

Still, that doesn’t mean they never entrusted me with production requests.

Royal offered two to three times the usual fee for orders.

Noblesse sometimes requested production through the Hunter Association.

Blue… well, I’m not sure.

Maybe there are orders from them somewhere too.

Why haven’t I accepted their requests?

Simple.

Royal didn’t need the money urgently, so I ignored and postponed their offers.

Noblesse asked the Hunter Association to delay the order deadline, and after that, I never heard from them again.

Blue… really, I have no clue.

“Should I at least offer some excuse?”

I briefly imagined holding a press conference, but quickly shook my head.

A press conference?

That would just cause more misunderstandings.

Besides, these baseless rumors will vanish soon enough.

The big guilds won’t waste time worrying about such nonsense.

So, “I don’t know. I’ll just make some items.”

I turned away from the system community and looked at the two SS-grade materials.

It’s time to craft.

***

[ Are the Five Great Guilds Really Okay As They Are? ]

“Of course we’re fine as we are! What nonsense are these people talking about?”

[ Royal, Noblesse, Blue: The Crisis of the Three Guilds That Failed to Ally with Vulcanus ]

“A crisis? Me? Ha! They dare bite the hand that feeds them just because I give them a little less food?”

***

“Bang!”

A man slammed his hand on the desk in anger as he read the articles.

None other than Jeon Mongju, Guild Leader of the Royal Guild.

Royal Guild, one of Korea’s recognized Five Great Guilds.

Jeon Mongju is the youngest son of the mightiest, formerly greatest, corporate empire in Korea.

His father supported him in establishing Royal Guild, claiming the age of Hunters was near.

Thanks to his financial backing, Royal Guild was elevated to the ranks of the Five Great Guilds.

[ Five Great Guilds? No, From Now On It’s the Three Great Guilds. The Leap of Vulcanus, Changcheon, and Mir Guilds ]

“Bang!”

“Damn it!”

Lately, Vulcanus’s reputation had been growing to an alarming degree.

Now this kind of article was popping up.

Three great guilds?

What the hell is that supposed to mean?

How much money has he already invested in Royal Guild?

‘I was just about to start recouping investments in Hunters and the guild itself.’

The number of Hunters who signed unfair contracts was increasing, so we were ready to make proper profits.

Now, to be excluded from the three great guilds?

“Kim Secretary!”

“Yes, sir.”

“When I’m handling guild business, you call me Guild Leader, right? Didn’t I say that? Get your act together!”

“When you’re sitting, call me Guild Leader. When I’m on the chair, call me President,” he’d said on the sofa.

“Are you contradicting me now, Kim Secretary? Huh?”

“Bang!”

“It’s because of your attitude that Vulcanus and those other guys keep crawling toward me! Got it?”

“Y-Yes, sorry.”

The man called Kim Secretary bowed his head.

Only after unleashing a tirade did Jeon Mongju calm himself and finally speak.

“The reporters? Did you feed them well?”

“Well…”

“What? Why?”

“They aren’t answering calls. Even when they do, they’re refusing everything.”

“What? We fed them well until now, so why?”

“It seems Vulcanus’s side made the first move.”

“Vulcanus? Why does that name keep coming up?”

“Vulcanus’s agents acted first, even the reporters on our side.”

“Damn it!”

Jeon Mongju’s face flushed.

It was inevitable.

Until now, Hunters were mostly fools who only thought about gate raids.

That’s why, backed by overwhelming capital, they quickly rose to the rank of the Five Great Guilds.

No matter how good Hunters got, they couldn’t beat the management know-how of a large corporation.

But what was this?

Vulcanus’s agents influencing the media first?

“What have you been doing all this time!”

“The Guild Leader told me to cut back on bribes to the media… The corporate situation has been tough recently, so I had no choice.”

“No excuse! You should’ve put in at least your own salary! Damn it! And why is our company in trouble?!”

“Our Hunter equipment business connected to the Fire Goblin collapsed…”

“Shut up! Ugh, you’re disgusting. And what kind of Guild Leader are you? Didn’t I say to call me President?”

“Sorry, President.”

“Enough. Get out of here right now!”

Kim Secretary left.

After that, sounds of things breaking and shattering echoed from the room where Jeon Mongju was.

Then—

“President, Lee Seongjun, Guild Leader of Noblesse Guild, is here.”

“You should’ve come earlier! Come in!”

The door opened, and a man entered.

Dressed neatly in a suit.

It was Lee Seongjun, Guild Leader of Noblesse Guild.

“Looks like controlling the media has failed.”

“That’s on me! Don’t the higher-ups know? Why can’t they stop this?”

“I’ve already spoken to the Hunter Association.”

“Then why are these articles still coming out?”

Jeon Mongju held up his phone screen.

There were fresh, hot articles.

[ The Transformation of the Five Great Guilds! ]

[ Now is the Time to Focus. Shedding the Old Era’s Dust for the Light of a New Generation ]

Seeing this, Lee Seongjun’s expression hardened.

“Looks like the Association isn’t accepting it.”

“Is that all? Is there nothing more? Try yelling at the Association President!”

“The Association President has switched to Vulcanus’s side. He wasn’t one of ours to begin with. But the Vice President…”

[Breaking news!]

– The Vice President of the Hunter Association has been arrested on bribery charges.

– The Hunter Association President was the first to discover this and is now hunting down those who bribed the Vice President…

“Is that the Vice President you mentioned? Why does he look like that? Was he beaten by the President? No way…”

“Looks like he was.”

Lee Seongjun’s face twisted further.

The Vice President was Lee Seongjun’s top contact in the Hunter Association.

For the Vice President to be beaten by the President and dragged away by the police was far more serious than expected.

“I’m out.”

“What? What do you mean out? Aren’t you going to catch that Vulcanus bastard? Because of him, everything we built is about to collapse!”

“Watch yourself. All the bribe sources I used trace back to you.”

“Are you threatening me? You…”

Murmurs broke out.

“Kim Secretary! What’s all this noise? Can’t you calm it down outside?”

While conversing with Lee Seongjun, Jeon Mongju shouted irritably at the noise from outside.

But what appeared through the open door wasn’t Kim Secretary calming things down.

“Lee Seongjun, Guild Leader of Noblesse Guild, and Jeon Mongju, Guild Leader of Royal Guild, are under arrest on bribery charges.”

“What? The Sword Saint?”

“Damn it.”

The symbol of the Hunter Association.

Korea’s number one Hunter ranking.

The Sword Saint entered through the door.

I wanted to blame the guild members guarding the building, but I couldn’t.

In Korea, no one could stop the Sword Saint… maybe only a Berserker at best.

“First things first.”

Royal Guild and Noblesse Guild.

As if the exaggerated rumors about Vulcanus were becoming reality, two of the Five Great Guilds disappeared just like that.

[Skill activated.]

Crafting

[ Please select the form of the item to craft.]

Cheongryong and Sky Palace.

Who should I make an item for first?

The answer was already clear.

“Staff.”

Cheongryong, Lee Ga-eul.

It was his turn first.

There were several reasons.

***

At this meeting, Cheongryong had accepted my proposal amicably first.

I also wanted to finish crafting the SSS-grade orb I had made for him, “Stormy Night,” as a staff.

And most of all, I was grateful to Mir Guild, which recognized me as a blacksmith first.

[ Please specify the detailed form of the staff.]

Since I had to combine it with the existing orb anyway, I set the details to harmonize well.

[ Please select the material for the staff.]

For the material, I used the Divine Tree branch Cheongryong brought.

Since it was an SS-grade material, I hoped this would yield L-grade equipment again.

“Bang!”

Today, too, I swung the hammer.