Chapter 103

Chapter 103

Spendthrift Necromancer (103)

Dorim (1)

“Ah, yes! We heard you loud and clear. Ilseong phones are excellent. I use one myself. Everyone, please show the upcoming products plenty of love. Now I think we should interview someone else. This person's appearance alone was anything but ordinary today, wasn't it?”

After listening to enough of the advertisement, Choi Yongjun cut Cedric off and looked at Merhen.

“Beautiful looks! Magical ability every bit as extraordinary! May I ask your name?”―Merhen.

“Yes! Please welcome Lady Merhen!”

Merhen stepped forward.

After tapping the microphone a couple times, she seemed to figure out how it worked and brought it to her lips.―Hello, everyone.

She waved toward the camera in greeting.―Her face is the size of my fist lol―Now this is what I'm talking about~ lol―So fucking cute lol―Is it normal that I'm already grinning like an idiot?―Completely fucking normal lololol“I've been dying to ask you so many things! After all, today was your first public appearance!”―Yeah. Cedric was summoned before me.

“You look so human that I have to ask, but you aren't actually human, right?”―I'm undead. A Banshee.

“Excuse me? A Banshee?”

Choi Yongjun blinked.

She meant those undead with ghostly maggots crawling all over their bodies and holes riddling their flesh?

“You don't look anything like one…….”―I'm a Queen.

“Ah. So you're the Banshee Queen?”

Merhen nodded.

“Our viewers are incredibly curious. About your spell disruption—you made it look so easy. Is there some secret to it?”―Choi Yongjun? That's your name, right?

“Huh? Yes. That's my name.”―Do you need some secret technique to breathe?

“Uh, no?”―It's like that.―That's how it works…… writing that down…….―Damn; she's already shown enough that we can't even doubt her lololol―Just do it as naturally as breathing…… pro tip…….

“Ahh…… I see.”―Yeah. The Mages here are simple, so it's even easier.

“You mean the Mages?”―Yeah. Angela? She's terrible at magic, but Minwoo keeps praising people like her.

Angela.

A Mage ranked within America's top ten.

A top-ten Mage from the world's strongest Awakened nation could reasonably be considered around the same level as a top-three Mage in Korea at minimum.

Her Water-attribute magic in particular was regarded as one of the finest.

For someone like that, Merhen's evaluation was merciless. If some nobody Mage had been criticizing her, outrage would've erupted immediately.

But now things were a little different.

Merhen hadn't merely disrupted magic as naturally as breathing. She'd unleashed spells beyond anything anyone had imagined.

There was no disagreement that Merhen's skill was overwhelmingly superior.

Angela?

She'd probably have to struggle half a day just to pull off spell disruption once.

Arrogance backed by ability.

And since this was Korea rather than America, Choi Yongjun knew well enough how to roll with it.

“Guild Master Kim Minwoo. Isn't that a little cruel? You have a Mage like this beside you, yet you keep praising other Mages.”

“I did it all for Merhen's sake. You need a competitive spirit to improve.”―Minwoo, is that why?

“Of course. You created magic that didn't even exist before in an instant, didn't you?”

Choi Yongjun hurriedly cut into their conversation.

“Wait, you created magic on the spot?”

“Was it that Water spell that summoned something shaped like a dragon? She made something similar.”

“……

So Ms. Merhen copied a Water Dragon summoning spell?”

“That's right. An upgraded version, at that.”

“I'm extremely curious about that.”

“Well. Showing you isn't difficult. Merhen?”[Merhen uses Water Dragon Tempest(SS)

!]

The water gathered above her hand transformed into a gigantic dragon.

Choi Yongjun's eyes widened.

It was clearly the same general type of magic as Angela's, yet it was different.

From its appearance to the force churning like a vortex inside it.

It felt as though they existed on completely different levels.

She had ‘created’ magic.Kim Minwoo's wording suddenly made perfect sense.‘That's not even mere copying.’Choi Yongjun wasn't the only one shocked.Nearly 200,000 spectators.

And tens of millions of viewers were watching the sight live.

Gulp.

Choi Yongjun swallowed and gripped his microphone.

“A-Amazing. It definitely resembles Water Dragon Summon…… but it's very different.”

Even an experienced caster like him couldn't think of anything to say besides amazing.―Angela crying blood right now lololol―Real-time magic NTR, what the hell lololol―And she even uses it better lololol―One summon solos every Korean Mage lololol―What an insane summon lol All I can do is laugh lololol―Ahem. Calling her a summon is rude. Address her as the ‘God of Magic.’

“……You said sixty trillion was the discounted price, correct? I'm starting to understand, honestly. Am I the only one?”

From the spectators to the viewers watching the broadcast, everyone found themselves nodding internally.

Not only did the guild have Divine Archer, now a summon capable of devouring the global magic scene had appeared.―60 trillion for 20%? Honestly that might actually be a discount?―Looking at it this way, that's crazy cheap.―So this is that family discount thing?―(Breaking News) U.S. Goldman offers 50 trillion won for 10% equity.―For real?―Huh? Why is that actually real?―Financial firms from Awakened superpowers are going crazy? Someone offered 60 trillion for 10% too. (Breaking-news link.)―Are they gonna sell?

“Uh, Guild Master?”

“Yes.”

“Apparently things are going crazy overseas right now. Some Wall Street firms in America are offering sixty trillion won for 10%. Do you have any plans to sell additional equity?”

“Talk about lowballing me.”

“Excuse me?”

“I'm joking. I don't plan to sell any more right now.”

Kim Minwoo shrugged.

Why would he sell now when the value could only rise from here?

Especially to Wall Street bastards who weren't even family.

Getting tangled with those guys could become troublesome. When money was involved, they had neither blood nor tears.

There were plenty of nice rich people in the world who had lots of money and didn't interfere much.

He gave Choi Yongjun a subtle look.

The three major broadcasters were running this event, but Ilseong was the one funding those three broadcasters.

Naturally, it was impossible for caster Choi Yongjun not to have some connection to Ilseong.

Questions to ask and questions not to ask.

The guidelines had been given long ago.

Put differently, this was almost like one carefully scripted play.

Of course, nobody would've imagined Spendthrift Guild would actually be this strong.

Choi Yongjun caught the glance, nodded, and spoke.

“I think it's about time for our final question. Everyone knows the government has been gathering Awakened for a tournament lately, correct?”

“Yes!”

The crowd answered with nods. It was fairly well-known news.

Especially because not only Korea, but other countries had been making similar moves.

The reason soon became known as well.

A tournament administered by the System.

Word quickly spread that nations were selecting participants for it.

“The preliminary selection will choose three people in total. And those three…… will face the members of Spendthrift Guild standing here in the finals!”

Normally, it wouldn't have been strange for complaints to follow.

Put differently, Spendthrift Guild was receiving a free pass straight past the preliminaries. But here and now, the reaction was different.

“Waaaaah!”

Instead, the crowd erupted in cheers.

The Super Rookie Selection Tournament was a kind of international competition too.

One with national pride on the line. Korea had been swallowing bitter results in competitions like this for years.

People had quietly worried the same thing might happen again.

But if Spendthrift Guild competed?

They might seize first place in one shot. Their performance today had been that overwhelming.

Preferential treatment?

After showing ability like that, of course they deserved special treatment.

That was how the Awakened world worked. For the most part, it was ruthless meritocracy.

Treating Awakened of this caliber exactly like everyone else would be stranger.

The viewers cheered just as loudly.―Ahhh, it's so boring I could die. ‘Championship confirmed.’―Is Korea finally gonna win something ㅠㅠㅠ―We're finally escaping the prelims ㅠㅠ Maybe it's not a huge tournament, but who cares ㅠㅠ―Yeah. Get experience here, then go to the Gate Contest and we're guaranteed paradise lolololThe stadium heated up.* * *The Guild Battle ended.

By the time they left the stadium, the sky had already grown dark.

“Hyung, are we going to the after-party?”

Park Siwoo asked with shining eyes.

“Come to think of it, you're an adult starting this year, right?”

“Yes! I can legally drink now! This is exactly when we should have some guild bonding! Don't you think so too, Noona?”

“……

Sure, if we're going.”

“Then I'll tell you the place. Go ahead without me.”

“Why? You got something to do, Hyung?”

“Yeah. Someone I need to meet.”

Dorim's Chairman Jo.

The man had been so desperate he'd been demanding a meeting the moment Minwoo had any free time.

When Minwoo said he couldn't meet until after the Guild Battle, Chairman Jo had practically begged him to meet that same night after it ended.

So Minwoo made the appointment.

He'd agreed to meet once.‘He's probably shitting himself.’Things might have been better if Spendthrift Guild had stayed quiet, but instead it kept turning Korea upside down.

This Guild Battle had been the climax.

Spendthrift Guild had proven it was more than a collection of simple super rookies.

And the more Minwoo succeeded, the more Dorim's sales plunged vertically under the added weight of public resentment.

The fall had become so severe even the government had begun hinting that perhaps it was time to stop.‘If possible, I'd love to take all their core businesses.’Ilseong products had been selling so quickly lately that production capacity was beginning to fall short. Building new factories wasn't something that happened overnight either. At times like this, simply absorbing someone else's was best.

And they could absorb some personnel while they were at it.‘Probably impossible, though.’The saying that even a worm writhes when stepped on existed for a reason. And the opponent was still Korea's second-largest conglomerate.

If he tried strangling them without leaving even one air hole, they'd begin struggling violently instead. They still had reserves left.‘I'll have to take a reasonable amount.’It was time for negotiation.

“Do you two like jeon?”

“Jeon? I could eat it every day. What about you, Noona?”

“It's good.”

“Then let's go to a jeon place. I know one with amazing pajeon. It'll kill you. Here's the address…….”

The two nodded after seeing it.

“Go ahead. I'll probably be done in an hour or two.”

Chairman Jo represented Dorim.

And Minwoo was in a position that could reasonably be said to represent Ilseong.

When representatives met, they didn't need to argue through every last detail.

Set the general range, and the people below would handle the rest.

“Take one of those cars. They'll drive you there.”

There was no need to worry about transportation.

Drivers and Ilseong vehicles were packed outside the stadium.

The two left first.

Kim Minwoo climbed into another vehicle and gave the destination.

“Let's go to Hannam-dong.”

Time to meet Dorim's Chairman.