Chapter 58

“Congratulations!!! You cleared the tenth floor of the Labyrinth Tower!”

“Thank you for all your hard work supporting us.”

“Hard work? Nonsense...! Sponsoring the finest raid team in the world is a source of pride.”

“Thank you.”

Do Gyeonghun smiled brightly and bowed to the elderly man extending a hand to him. It was Kang Hwisu, chairman of Fos Group, the leading company in Korea’s steel industry. Despite being nearly eighty, his imposing bulk looked to be a good one and a half times Gyeonghun’s.

“How can our Kerga, the world’s top player, be so thin? I should have a course of herbal tonics made for you!”

“What you already send me is more than enough.”

“Of course, of course! You’re our company’s greatest treasure. It’s the least I can do!”

He gave a hearty laugh, squeezing Gyeonghun’s arm with his thick hands.

“When are you planning to reveal the items from the tenth floor? Just tell us when, and we’ll arrange an exclusive interview right away.”

The beautiful brown-haired woman beside Kang Hwisu was Choi Jiyeong, president of S Media.

“Of course. As you know, though, we thoroughly test our items’ performance before revealing them.”

“Certainly. That’s why we’re ready to work around the Phoenix Corps’ schedule at any time.”

“Thank you.”

“I should be thanking you.”

Choi Jiyeong smiled at Gyeonghun. She, too, was one of the [Phoenix Corps]’ sponsors.

‘... This is exhausting.’

Finishing his greetings, Gyeonghun surveyed the room. The party had been organized to celebrate clearing the Labyrinth Tower’s tenth floor, but everyone invited was a sponsor of the [Phoenix Corps]: company owners, people from television, magazines, and every other branch of the media, heads of various organizations...

“I think I’ve said hello to just about everyone... Shall we head back?”

Gyeonghun looked tired as he spoke to David. Unlike the sponsors laughing and chatting among themselves, he had had to deal with over a hundred people individually.

“Are you sure it’s all right to miss the second half? Chairman Kang told you last time that you absolutely had to stay this time.”

“Forget it. I’d just be standing around as the old man’s plaything.”

In stark contrast to his earlier smiles, Gyeonghun’s tone was biting.

“Will that be all right?”

“Don’t worry. There are still ninety floors left in the Labyrinth Tower. They can’t do anything to us.”

‘Though the thought of having to do this ninety more times is enough to drive me insane...’

With a sigh, Gyeonghun quietly slipped out of the hall.

* * *

VROOM

David glanced at Gyeonghun as the car sped along.

“You did well. The world really has changed. When we were kids, we played games simply because we enjoyed them. Now we have to jump through all these hoops just to play.”

He seemed to be trying to comfort the weary-looking Gyeonghun.

“Still, gaming is what lets us live like this. Hang in there a little longer.”

“I know.”

The world’s top player. He was certainly the envy of countless [Evil Tale] players, yet ironically, his own life was far from easy.

“Fortunately, we cleared it before the contract period ran out... We’ll get through this month in one piece.”

“Right. Buying that Dragon Mana Stone really stretched us thin. If we’d failed that last attempt... It’s too horrible to even imagine.”

Running a raid team required an unimaginable amount of money. Recovery items, accessories, equipment, all kinds of buff scrolls... The cost of the items consumed in each Labyrinth Tower attempt was staggering.

The members of the [Phoenix Corps] had been selected solely to conquer the Labyrinth Tower, so none had crafting professions. Even if they had, clearing the tower already left them short on time; gathering materials and crafting items as well would have been impossible. Naturally, they could not supply their own consumables. They had no choice but to buy most of them through clans or alliances under contract, paying enormous sums in the process.

He wanted to break the vicious cycle, but the problem was that they had come too far. The Red Tower, the Norn Raid Team, Red Bloom... With so many players hot on his heels, he had no breathing room to look back.

‘We may be in first place now, but the gap keeps shrinking, little by little.’

Those latecomers had had time to prepare and thoroughly address the problems plaguing the [Phoenix Corps]. But as true pioneers, the [Phoenix Corps] had no time to regroup. That was why they had sought more sponsors, and this was the result.

“There’s only one way.”

Gyeonghun opened his eyes.

“We get stronger, cut down on failures wherever we can, and clear the Labyrinth Tower quickly.”

David nodded, his expression tense.

“We just have to clear the hundredth floor.”

BZZZ... BZZZ... BZZZ...

Just then, something vibrated inside Gyeonghun’s bag.

“That’s been going off for a while... What is it? I haven’t seen that phone before.”

“It’s nothing. It only has the Evil Tale app installed, so I can check my Messages.”

“I suppose you must get an insane number of Messages.”

“But I can’t just ignore them.”

“You really do make life exhausting for yourself.”

Gyeonghun smiled wryly at David’s remark and opened his phone.

“Heh. This is why I have to check every Message.”

“... What is it?”

Seeing his expression suddenly change, David asked in puzzlement.

“Looks like someone interesting has turned up.”

“What do you mean?”

“Remember the black fog?”

“The unexplored region near Hundred Flowers Valley?”

“Right. Apparently someone’s trying to conquer it.”

“Wow... Come to think of it, it’s funny that nobody’s managed it yet. Then again, even you couldn’t clear it... So maybe that’s only natural?”

“It’s not that I couldn’t. I didn’t.”

Gyeonghun reclined his seat with a peculiar smile.

“It doesn’t happen much now, but there was a time when lots of people sent me Messages about tackling the black fog.”

“Because you posted about it on the community site?”

“Right. Every last one of them asked me to share any other information I had.”

“It costs five gold to send a single Message... They must have had money to burn for people in the beginner region.”

“Exactly. Most were alternate characters. If we looked into it, we’d probably know more than half the senders.”

“What a joke. They act so high and mighty to our faces, then grovel behind our backs.”

David snorted.

“So what’s so interesting?”

“Oh, this is a first. Nobody’s ever sent me a Message like this before.”

“Hmm?”

[I’ll get straight to the point. Are you the one who made it impossible to conquer the black fog?]

“This crazy bastard. What the hell is he saying?! Who does he think we are...?!”

David shouted in fury after reading the Message.

“No. He’s right.”

“... What?”

“I’m the one who made it impossible.”

The unexpected answer left David looking bewildered.

“What are you talking about? Kerga, you stopped people from conquering the black fog?”

“Yeah. You remember how we bought every ship in Hundred Flowers Valley to reach it.”

“We did.”

“But we knew, didn’t we? That we needed the Lady to get there.”

David’s expression soured.

“I know. That damned Charlson... I still remember it vividly. Nothing we did could get him to sell that ship.”

“So I took a little precaution before we left. In case someone else managed to get the Lady.”

A smile spread across Gyeonghun’s lips as he spoke.

“Why would you do that?”

“Who knows? I was young back then. Maybe I was just being spiteful. I couldn’t stay in the Dark Forest forever. Maybe I didn’t like the idea of someone else clearing a quest I couldn’t?”

‘No way. Kerga, you pulled a prank like that?’

David watched Gyeonghun give his vague explanation.

“So what are you going to do? You can’t just tell him outright that you ruined the quest.”

“Actually, that’s exactly what I’m going to do.”

“Huh?!”

“And I’ll give him my final piece of information about the black fog. If he still wants to try after hearing it... he’s the real deal.”

He looked at the sender’s name.

“Khan...”

Then he continued speaking to David.

“You know that person you mentioned? The one breaking my records.”

“Oh, don’t tell me...”

“Yeah. It’s probably him.”

TAP... TAP-TAP.

He began typing a reply to Khan’s Message.

“I’m looking forward to this. If he’s ready for the black fog, he must be nearly at the level to come to the central continent.”

Gyeonghun looked far happier now than he had at that tedious party.

* * *

“Master, what are you doing?”

Ruen addressed Woojin, who was standing on the Lady’s deck.

“Waiting.”

“Waiting? For whom?”

“A reply from the most famous person in this world.”

Ruen looked at him, plainly not understanding what he meant.

DING.

Just then, a notification appeared.

[You have received a Message.]

‘There it is.’

As soon as the alert sounded, Woojin pressed the confirmation button, as though he had been waiting for that very moment.

“Wow...”

The moment he read the Message, Woojin let out an involuntary laugh of disbelief.

[Sender: Kerga]

[Content: I’m very pleased that someone is still attempting the black fog.

It seems you have obtained the Lady, Khan.

Congratulations.

If you have met Garosh, you will know these words.

[Blood is thicker than water.]

That likely means you need Captain Harterwin’s blood relative to reach the black fog.

That blood relative will be the key.

And as you know, the captain has one living relative.

I can offer you one piece of advice.

[The key does not necessarily have to be alive.]

“Why waste so many words on this bullshit?”

Having read everything Kerga had sent, Woojin closed the window with an unimpressed look.

“He didn’t even answer what I actually asked.”

Still, Woojin could figure out enough without an explicit answer.

‘Kerga definitely did something to the captain’s son.’

Whatever it was had made the son give up on going to the black fog.

‘He clearly did this on purpose...’

But Woojin could not readily fathom his motives.

“Doesn’t have to be alive...”

‘He’s telling me to kill the son and take him along if I can’t persuade him.’

He didn’t like it. Kerga had ruined the quest himself, yet here he was acting as though he had uncovered some new information.

“Telling me outright to kill him only makes me want to keep him alive even more.”

Woojin smiled coldly.

‘Someday I’ll find out why he did this.’

Whether he was a dragon, or a fox pretending to be one.

Though they had never met, the two were slowly beginning to take notice of each other.