Chapter 71

[Translator – Prøks]

[Proofreader – Gun]

Chapter 71: Duel (1)

‘I’ve secured 60 trillion with this.’

Sixty trillion was nearly all of Ilsung’s surplus cash.

Knowing the true value of this guild, Chairman Kim did his best to persuade the board of directors.

If Money Talks gets the investment, his stake in the guild will be around 70%, while Ilsung will hold about 30%.

The equipment coming out of the Gate will be his to take, so Ilsung will end up with the new materials and mana stone types inside the Gate.

Ilsung probably invested with that in mind from the start.

‘Getting investments from Ilsung will be tough from now on.’

Growing a company takes time.

Sixty trillion was cash Ilsung had accumulated over decades.

Once that’s spent, it’ll take quite some time to gather the next amount.

Given recent growth trends, it wouldn’t be as extreme as decades, but it would still take at least a few years.

Still, it didn’t matter.

‘I can sprinkle the remaining stake in places with lots of money.’

Ilsung’s a powerful friendly stake.

A stake that will unconditionally support in voting.

The rest of the stake will be divided and sold to some countries or wealthy individuals.

That way, Money Talks can’t be easily messed with.

Of course, not now.

‘It’s far from enough to be recognized for its true value.’

Three trillion each.

This is like a real mega bomb sale.

If the US knew the true value here, they’d throw billions even for a single percent stake.

They’re the kind of people who would pour dollars even if they had to copy them.

They show great obsession with the title of the world’s strongest awakened nation.

Probably within a year from now, they’ll be desperately trying to contact him in some way.

‘Well, they probably aren’t that desperate yet.’

The US?

They’re overflowing with S-class awakened individuals.

Just because someone made a bit of a splash in Korea, there’s no reason for the US to beg for investment.

It’s more like, ‘Oh, they’re pretty impressive? There are awakened individuals like that in Korea’ It’s probably just a feeling for now.

That’s the same for other awakened powerhouse nations.

But what if they try to attract investments from other countries right now?

They might be able to get slightly higher values per 1% stake than Ilsung.

‘But, it’s pretty obvious bait.’

Kim Minwoo might be a super rookie, but let’s be real, he’s not being evaluated at the level of top-tier S-class awakened individuals at this moment.

He’s still low-level.

The main reason for being overrated?

Because despite being low-level, he shows high performance.

That’s why there’s a lot of premium attached to him.

This makes it difficult to negotiate advantageous contracts at a national level.

The US?

They might dangle money in front of him and try to boss him around.

But that money is like eating bad food, it’ll just give you indigestion.

On the other hand, Ilsung’s money?

It’s like nutritious, satisfying well-being money.

‘We need to increase our value.’

He has to keep proving that as his level rises, he becomes unstoppable.

It’s something he needs to realize at some point.

Oh, he really can’t use this anymore, can he?

He should’ve brought his assets with me earlier…

If he doesn’t pour money in now…

It’ll just lead to regret, exhaustion, and obsession like this.

He looked at Chairman Kim.

“By the way, Father. Can we put Cho Pilwook in jail?”

“Well… now that you’ve come back alive, it won’t be easy to let things slide. He’s risking his life too. He probably doesn’t want to be branded either.”

Once the verdict is out in the trial, it’ll be a public lynching.

Then, naturally, the public’s view of the guild will deteriorate.

The expected reaction was obvious.

As expected.

He knew this would happen.

A mistake?

Nonsense.

They’ll probably get this kind of cynical response.

It seems like they’re trying to avoid it by fiercely resisting.

‘Putting him in jail is going to be tough.’

If we’re really dead set on it, we’ll try to apply whatever charge, even murder, but in the end, we’ve survived.

Plus, with Dorim being second in name, they’ll definitely hire a top-notch legal team.

“Will it go up to the third trial?”

“Probably?”

Whether he’ll really end up in jail is uncertain, and it’ll take a long time.

‘I’ll have to use him differently.’

An idea for utilizing Cho Pilwook just came to mind.

An A-class awakened individual in the 300 level range.

To sum it up roughly, he’s a newbie crusher.

If we turn the tables on that?

‘It’s perfect for proving my strength.’

His capabilities, that is.

So far, all people have seen are F-class gate record updates and A-class gate first clears.

Hidden Gates were just another walk in the park, a mere speculation at best.

Moreover, the exploits of an A+ ranked Gate clear were solely reliant on the assurance of Seo Yerim.

Of course, the Sword of Justice wouldn’t tell a dirty lie, so there was some trust there, but…

‘There’s a huge difference between hearing with your ears and seeing with your own eyes.’

Cho Pilwook was not only perfect for handling without any burden but also an appropriate target to prove our strength.

Coincidentally…

‘It’s about time for a broadcast.’

With the subscription count skyrocketing to 40 million after this Gate clear.

It wouldn’t hurt to do some advertising and call him out.

Turning on the broadcast once wouldn’t be a bad idea.

* * *

An announcement that went up a few hours ago.

[Turning on the broadcast tonight. Something big’s coming today.]

Viewers eagerly awaited the evening hour after the announcement that stirred up quite a bit of excitement.

[Troublemaker’s live broadcast is starting.]

[Viewers: 103,230]

[Viewers: 302,324]

[Viewers: 504,453]

.

.

As soon as the broadcast started, viewers flocked in.

—They said something big’s coming, what is it??? They said something big’s coming, what is it??? They said something big’s coming, what is it???

—Is it really something big? Is it really something big?

—Is it true you’re turning on the broadcast after two months? Is it true you’re turning on the broadcast after two months? Is it true you’re turning on the broadcast after two months?

—Please do it at least once a week lol Please do it at least once a week lol Please do it at least once a week lol

-Is this Mr. Kim’s broadcast?

-Now it’s flooding in from overseas too lol

The chat window was rapidly filled with over a million viewers.

“Nice to meet you. It’s Kim Minwoo. It’s been a while, everyone.”

-It’s Cedric.

He exchanged greetings with Cedric.

“We mentioned something big was coming today. That’s right. Something big is happening. But…”

He glanced at the viewer count.

The number started to exceed 5 million.

With such a sharp increase, it seemed like viewers from overseas were also tuning in.

It’s about time to start.

“Before we get to the big news, there’s an important announcement.”

-Important news?

-What is it?

-I’m excited.

“We have a lot of new products at Ilsung. They’re premium versions, and their effects are really good.”

-Oh, I see.

-That’s important news haha.

-But we already know that, so…

“Well, shall we review them?”

-Oh.

-What?

The chat window started to heat up with excitement.

Ignoring it all, Cedric and he launched into the advertisement.

[Translator – Prøks]

[Proofreader – Gun]

He can’t do these broadcasts frequently.

Normally, he’s busy with gate strategies and production.

So, you have to seize the opportunity when you can.

Around two hours later, he checked the viewer count.

It had increased to nearly ten million.

-They’re fully hooked again lol

-They’re starting to get addicted to the ads too lol

-Is it just nice to watch while snacking on some snacks?

-What is that?

“Ten million, huh? You guys are honest. Did you enjoy it?”

-All the foreigners are completely baffled lol

-This is Korea’s spicy taste lol. Are you coming to your senses?

-Is this the famous ad?

-It’s a bit confusing.

-Please, just get to the point already.

“We’ll soon release new plus items at Ilsung as well. The level cap will probably be between 51 and 100, higher than last time, so please show them lots of love.”

-Will the magic + items be released too?

-Haha, if it’s around 100, I might have to buy it lol

-Will the price be as cheap as before?

-Please give us some discounts… The auction house is too expensive…

“Discounts? Of course, there will be discounts applied, just like last time.”

-Ilsung is a god! Ilsung is a god! Ilsung is a god! Ilsung is a god!

-Haha, at this rate, will high-level equipment with plus items come out later?

-If they sell even that, Ilsung’s going to break lol

-So sweet lol. I’ll pitch a tent right in front of the equipment store lol

Since the news about selling equipment had been spread, it was time to get to the point.

“This is for Mr. Cho Pilwook. Apparently, you used a pretty solid legal team? We heard it might be difficult to put him in jail according to our side’s opinion.”

-Whoa, something big seems to be coming.

-Cho Pilwook? Yeah, I heard he’s ready to counter-sue.

-It’s hilarious lol. He sets it up and then sharpens his knife lol

-The problem is Dorim, who covers it up lol. They say the chaebols eat each other up lol

-Turn the gun around.

-Oh, of course, I’m not talking about Ilsung ^^

-Cho Pilwook, we know too. Famous guy.

“Being dragged into such uncertain results isn’t really what I want, so I’ll make a proposal.”

The chat window was engulfed in silence for a moment.

Then, Kim Minwoo stared directly into the camera and spoke.

“Pilwook, are you watching? Let’s have a showdown. If you win, I’ll drop the lawsuit. But if you lose, you’re getting a beating, got it?”

-Haha lol

-Isn’t the level difference at least twice? lol

-Doom flag lol

-This is gonna be fun lol

-Who isn’t watching the broadcast right now? You’re missing out on half your life lol

“Come to the Ilsung Training Center. We’ll be waiting.”

Kim Minwoo stood up.

Whether that guy was watching the broadcast or not didn’t matter.

With this many viewers, the word spreads instantly.

Cho Pilwook.

Can that guy really stay quiet after hearing this news?

Especially him, a guy with such a personality.

And.

If it’s someone like Cho Pilwook, there’s a very high chance he’ll start blaming others instead of reflecting on his own mistakes.

It would be normal for him to come out saying it’s all going well.

‘Tear that apart.’

Prove it.

Our worth.

With the broadcast still on, he stepped outside.

The cameramen hurriedly followed me out.

Once he got into the car,

“You guys take a car each too.”

He pointed to the parked sports cars and said.

-Haha; How many of those are there?

-Sports car parade lol

Soon, dozens of sports cars started speeding down the street.

Before long, a massive building came into view.

Ilsung Training Center.

It was the largest awakening training center in Korea, equipped with facilities ranging from tools to aid in the training of awakeners to training grounds.

Even better, it was completely free for awakeners above a certain level.

Thanks to Ilsung’s efforts to establish connections with high-level awakeners.

Kim Minwoo had never been here before.

Even with good equipment, there would be no increase in abilities.

But today was different.

There was no other place than here to take care of Cho Pilwook.

Soon after,

Another group of sports cars arrived.

Getting out of one of them was Cho Pilwook, as expected.

“Hey, Pilwook! You even bothered to dress up? Coming here in person and all.”

“Hey you son of a bitch! When did we become buddies? Do you know how much trouble I’ve been through because of your damn taunting?”

Cho Pilwook started cursing as soon as he saw Kim Minwoo.

He shrugged.

He wondered if Whitey, who’s probably sitting on his shoulder right now, is also shrugging.

“You push people around and call it taunting? Did our Pilwookie get bullied again? Look at this, even his eyes are rolling…”

“You motherfucker!”

The personnel from Ilsung urgently intervened to stop Cho Pilwook, who seemed like he might charge at any moment.

Hundreds of thousands of people were currently watching the live broadcast.

It might be one thing to fight in a sparring match, but causing trouble here would be a disaster.

Then, Cho Pilwook, who had been strutting confidently, glanced over at us and said,

“Hey, let go! I’ve calmed down now.”

The security guards cautiously stepped back.

As he approached, he lightly pushed the chest of one of our guys with his finger and said,

“Hey, Kim Minwoo. I’ve been thinking, wouldn’t you hate to fight just for show?”

“And?”

“So, let’s have a duel, buddy.”

“A duel?”

“Yeah, a duel. We just need to find a witness. Why, getting a little scared now?”

Why didn’t he say that earlier?

Alright.

Legitimately.

The stage was set to make Cho Pilwook look like an idiot.

Kim Minwoo chuckled softly.

[Translator – Prøks]

[Proofreader – Gun]