Chapter 65. Won Pilso (1)
"Hey, Kang Yujin!"
"Wake up!"
"..."
"The cafeteria is about to stop serving!"
"If you don't get up, you'll miss breakfast!"
"..."
"You bastard."
"You came back late last night and now you're sleeping in."
"Get up already!"
Lee Jukheon's shouting entered one ear...
And went straight out the other.
Kang Yujin had pushed himself hard yesterday.
During the day...
He had trained with Jegal Geum.
At night...
He had fought Somun Gwang.
Sleeping in a little should be fine.
"Fine."
"Eat or don't eat."
"Do whatever you want."
"I'm going to spar with the Hwaseong Sect guys..."
Lee Jukheon suddenly stopped.
"Wait."
His tone changed.
"What is this?"
Kang Yujin heard something being picked up beside the bed.
Apparently...
Lee Jukheon had discovered the Durandal Replica Kang Yujin had carelessly tossed nearby.
"Hey."
"Kang Yujin."
"Where did you get this?"
"..."
"Why is something like this here?"
"What the hell?"
"..."
"Wake up and answer me, you bastard!"
Lee Jukheon shouted desperately.
Kang Yujin ignored him...
Pulled the blanket over his head...
And went back to sleep.
"I never expected Cheon Sangwoon to approach you..."
Joo Minha looked serious after hearing the story.
"That's truly surprising."
"Right?"
Seok Taejun nodded beside her.
"Cheon Sangwoon personally came to recruit you."
Lee Jukheon clicked his tongue.
"You've really made it big."
He didn't seem particularly happy about it.
"Anyway..."
Kang Yujin looked around at them.
"Keep this between us."
"Like I said..."
"I don't think Jegal Geum should hear about it."
"Yes."
Joo Minha nodded.
"If Jegal Geum learns that Kang Yujin sold his body to Cheon Sangwoon in order to help the Hwaseong Sect..."
"He won't feel comfortable."
"Joo Minha."
Seok Taejun awkwardly scratched his head.
"Calling it 'selling his body' sounds a little..."
"Anyway."
Seok Taejun turned back toward Kang Yujin.
"Did you hear when the Scenario begins?"
"Or what it's about?"
"No."
"He didn't tell me."
"Why wouldn't he explain that?"
"Does he want you to keep the promise or not?"
"Maybe Cheon Sangwoon's side doesn't know the details yet."
"Ah."
"That's possible."
"Forget about the Scenario for now."
Lee Jukheon spoke bluntly.
"We don't even know when it'll happen."
"There's no point thinking about it yet."
"That's true."
Joo Minha nodded.
"If Cheon Sangwoon restrains Won Pilso..."
"We can assume Won Pilso won't invade for a while."
She folded her hands.
"We've bought time to rebuild the Hwaseong Sect."
Joo Minha was currently working with the Hwaseong Sect officers on reconstruction.
She was even considering contacting former Hoseo Faction members in the central-western region and bringing some of them up.
"We can't reveal the secret agreement with Cheon Sangwoon."
"So I'll give the Hwaseong Sect officers some suitable explanation."
"In the meantime..."
Joo Minha looked at the other three.
"You should learn as much martial arts as possible from the Hwaseong Sect."
"We should."
"Even if you didn't say it, I was already planning to."
Seok Taejun and Lee Jukheon nodded.
"Kang Yujin should also continue learning from Jegal Geum."
"You said fighting Somun Gwang made you realize you're still lacking, correct?"
"Yeah."
"Jegal Geum's martial arts ability is unquestionably excellent."
"You were able to defeat Somun Gwang because of the technique he taught you."
Kang Yujin had managed to knock Somun Gwang down with the Hwaseong Sect Style [Mountain-Crushing Shoulder] that Jegal Geum taught him.
"If your physical ability is combined with the Hwaseong Sect's martial arts..."
Joo Minha continued.
"The synergy should be tremendous."
"So for the time being..."
"You should focus on martial arts training."
"..."
"Kang Yujin?"
Joo Minha looked puzzled when he remained silent.
"Is something wrong?"
"No."
"It just feels strange."
"What?"
"Learning martial arts is fine."
Kang Yujin frowned.
"But..."
"'We bought time, so let's use it to learn as much martial arts as possible.'"
"That feels weird."
Joo Minha seemed momentarily speechless.
Instead...
Lee Jukheon answered.
"I know what he means."
"It does feel weird."
"What do you mean?"
Joo Minha asked.
"Until now..."
Lee Jukheon leaned back.
"We've been charging forward nonstop."
"We fought enemy after enemy without stopping."
"So?"
"But now..."
"We suddenly have a training arc."
Lee Jukheon grinned.
"From Kang Yujin's perspective, it probably feels like we've stopped."
He pointed at Kang Yujin.
"In other words..."
"He's getting restless."
"He wants to go smash enemies, raise the glory of that Nameless One, and keep moving."
"But instead..."
"He's stuck here learning martial arts from an old man."
"When did you start paying this much attention to me?"
"You're too simple."
Lee Jukheon laughed.
"Anyone can read you."
In truth...
Lee Jukheon was exactly right.
Kang Yujin didn't dislike learning martial arts from Jegal Geum.
He believed it was necessary if he wanted to become stronger.
But...
The idea of spending all his time doing only that made him feel suffocated.
"It's true that I want something to happen."
"Kang Yujin..."
"Hahaha."
Lee Jukheon laughed.
"Maybe you'd actually prefer Won Pilso to attack us."
"Then you'd have something to do."
The moment Lee Jukheon said that...
A thought entered Kang Yujin's mind.
"Joo Minha."
"Yes?"
"If Cheon Sangwoon pressures Won Pilso..."
"Won Pilso will have trouble attacking us, right?"
"Well..."
"Yes."
"He'll need to deploy more Contractors toward Cheon Sangwoon's territory in the north."
"Then..."
Kang Yujin's eyes sharpened.
"The number of Contractors guarding the south will naturally decrease."
"..."
Joo Minha stared at him.
"Kang Yujin..."
"Don't tell me..."
"If Cheon Sangwoon pressures Won Pilso from the north..."
"The southern defenses will naturally weaken."
South of Won Pilso's territory...
Lay the old Gunpo and Uiwang areas.
The border with the Hwaseong Sect.
Kang Yujin calmly made an extremely aggressive proposal.
"What if we strike first and attack Won Pilso?"
"...!"
"Damn it!"
Won Pilso slammed his fist onto his wooden desk.
Of course...
He didn't use real strength.
Won Pilso was an S-rank physical-type Contractor.
If he had struck seriously...
The expensive wooden desk would've shattered.
Honestly...
He felt like destroying everything.
"What the hell is Cheon Sangwoon thinking?!"
"Could Jegal Geum have asked him for help?"
"Do you seriously think Jegal Geum is the kind of man who would ask Cheon Sangwoon for something like that?"
Won Pilso shouted at his subordinate.
"And the spy we planted inside the Hwaseong Sect already told us!"
"There was no contact whatsoever with Cheon Sangwoon's faction!"
After shouting...
Won Pilso frowned and placed a cigarette in his mouth.
"Either way..."
"We can't attack the Hwaseong Sect now."
"Everything we've prepared over the last few days has been wasted!"
Won Pilso enjoyed expanding his territory.
That was why he controlled a huge region including Bucheon, Siheung, Gwangmyeong, Anyang, Gwacheon, Gunpo, Uiwang, and Seongnam.
He intended to keep expanding.
The problem...
Was that further expansion had become difficult.
To the west...
Incheon was too close to Pandemonium's sphere of influence.
Moving there carelessly was dangerous.
To the east...
The Hanam and Gwangju areas were held by another Eight Guardian Won Pilso found troublesome.
And north...
Gangnam, Seoul...
Was controlled by Cheon Sangwoon.
So Won Pilso intended to expand south.
If he could properly deal with Jegal Geum's Hwaseong Sect...
He could take Suwon...
And then expand even farther south.
"The internal conflict weakened the Hwaseong Sect."
"This was the perfect opportunity!"
"Why is Cheon Sangwoon interfering now?!"
Cheon Sangwoon was the strongest Eight Guardian.
His available manpower wasn't the greatest.
But his forces were highly elite.
If battle began...
Won Pilso's side would probably lose.
"This won't work."
"What do you plan to do?"
"I'm going to meet Cheon Sangwoon personally."
"Arrange a meeting."
Won Pilso had decided to negotiate directly.
"The Scenario is about to begin."
"I'll tell him that increasing military tension among the Eight Guardians at a time like this is ridiculous."
"Weren't we also planning to attack Jegal Geum?"
"You idiot!"
Won Pilso glared.
"We're supposed to pretend we weren't!"
"S-Sorry."
"Cheon Sangwoon isn't unreasonable."
"If I explain things logically..."
Before Won Pilso could finish...
Someone hurried into the office.
"W-Won Pilso!"
"What?"
"Why are you panicking?"
Had Cheon Sangwoon's faction made another move?
Won Pilso waited nervously.
"From the south..."
"The south?"
"You mean the Suwon direction?"
"It appears some Contractors secretly entered our territory while avoiding the guards."
"What?"
Won Pilso strictly controlled his territory.
He blocked major roads.
He operated checkpoints and collected tolls.
Between those roads...
He installed fences and deployed patrols.
Officially...
It was all for civilian safety.
In reality...
It prevented Contractors from other organizations from moving freely through his territory.
"They got through?"
"What were the guards doing?"
"Well..."
"Because we transferred personnel north..."
"We didn't have enough manpower..."
"Urgh..."
Won Pilso had expected this possibility.
Still...
Having it actually happen irritated him.
"Who are the infiltrators?"
"We haven't confirmed it exactly..."
"But they seem to be the Contractors from the central-western region who recently became involved in the Hwaseong Sect's internal conflict."
"Those bastards?"
Won Pilso frowned.
"According to the rumors coming from several places..."
"They're extremely dangerous."
"Their leader is supposedly around S-rank."
"I've even heard they destroyed a Church of the Morning Star facility in Cheonan..."
"Enough rumors."
Won Pilso cut them off.
"Tell me only what you've confirmed."
Then...
He stood from his seat.
"Is the Hwaseong Sect making any movements?"
"What about Jegal Geum?"
"At the moment..."
"No."
"They don't seem to be moving at all."
"Hmm."
Won Pilso nodded slowly.
"I understand."
"What?"
"The Hwaseong Sect plans to pretend they know nothing."
"They'll say those people acted on their own."
If the invading Contractors were captured...
Jegal Geum would simply deny any connection.
"If they damage us..."
"That's good for Jegal Geum."
"If they accomplish nothing..."
"He'll simply cut ties with them."
"Ah...!"
"Jegal Geum is probably uncomfortable with those guys anyway."
Won Pilso smiled knowingly.
"They're troublesome outsiders."
Jegal Geum had used outsiders to win the internal power struggle...
And now those outsiders had become a problem.
"As expected of you, Won Pilso!"
"You see the entire situation from a greater perspective!"
"Impressive!"
"Hmph."
Won Pilso snorted.
"This much is nothing."
Then...
He turned his head.
"Hwang Cheol."
"Yes, Hyung."
A man sitting alone in the corner lifted his head.
He had been drinking soju straight from the bottle.
Like Won Pilso...
Hwang Cheol was evaluated as an S-rank Contractor.
He was Won Pilso's right-hand man.
"Take responsibility for capturing them."
"Lure them into the mountains."
"If we pull them into the mountains, we'll definitely have the advantage."
Hwang Cheol nodded.
"But if you want to lure them..."
"We need proper bait."
"Then I'll move that way."
Won Pilso smiled.
"Spread the rumor that Won Pilso is beyond the mountain."
"Then they'll chase after you, hoping to capture you."
"Exactly."
Hwang Cheol nodded.
"If you handle that part..."
"I can manage the rest."
"You can leave the forces confronting Cheon Sangwoon in the north where they are."
"We'll handle this using only the troops remaining at headquarters."
"Will that be enough?"
"The Contractors currently at headquarters are all elites."
"It'll be enough."
Listening to Hwang Cheol...
Won Pilso decided that was probably better.
Mobilizing hundreds of people just to capture three or four intruders would look bad.
Especially to the Constellations.
A lot of Constellations have been watching Hwang Cheol and sponsoring him.
If Hwang Cheol defeats those guys impressively...
The response should be good.
Still...
Won Pilso felt slightly uneasy.
What if those Contractors were far stronger than expected?
"Let's make it more certain."
Won Pilso turned toward another subordinate.
"Bring out the items from Warehouse Three."
"W-Won Pilso..."
"Those are..."
"Didn't we agree to keep them hidden until we entered a full-scale war against another Eight Guardian?"
"There don't seem to be many enemies."
"Do we really need to bring those out?"
"They might be stronger than we expect."
Won Pilso's expression became serious.
"I want this handled perfectly."
He was determined to proceed cautiously.
Cheon Sangwoon's intentions still bothered him.
He wanted to deal with the situation as safely as possible.
"Hwang Cheol."
"Equip your men with the gear from Warehouse Three."
"I'm fine with that."
"But are you sure?"
"I said it's fine."
Won Pilso smiled confidently.
"Use the demonic equipment we obtained through our trade with Pandemonium..."
"And crush those bastards."
If they were Cheon Sangwoon's subordinates equipped with divine weapons...
That would be different.
But these were merely countryside Contractors who had come up from the central-western region.
Won Pilso was certain they wouldn't be able to handle it.
