Chapter 27

Chapter 27

Chapter 27 Coffeehouse Ramen (4)

"But what are those people doing?"

"They're regular customers at our coffeehouse. They're shamans."

"No, I know they're shamans. I'm asking why they're playing Hero's Path."

"I recommended it to them."

"Why?"

"Because it's a fun game to play together."

"Fun, my ass. It's just an old crappy game."

"For someone who says that, you were awfully kind about helping us. Didn't you even give Lia and the Elder a lesson?"

"That's because it was frustrating watching them..."

"The game isn't too difficult, so I'm sure everyone will get pretty good after a few days. Please help them a little, just as you did Lia and the Elder. In return, I won't charge you for ramen or coffee."

"Ha, what a hassle. I wonder if I still have those guides I wrote ages ago. It would make things easier if I carried them through the intermediate raids. Oh, right. If they don't know the patterns after getting past Serpent Cave, they might end up quitting."

His words and actions differed, in a good way.

Though he called it a hassle, Yongman was already staring out the window, deep in thought and seemingly brimming with enthusiasm.

But that lasted only a moment. After muttering incomprehensible gaming terms to himself for a while, Yongman let out a deep sigh.

"No. It's all pointless. They'll just quit after a few days anyway, so what's the point?"

"Didn't one person stay?"

"Who?"

Instead of answering, I turned my head slightly and met Yongman's eyes.

"Me?"

"Yes. It's a game revived through the power of a Dragon Pearl, so you don't have to worry about the servers shutting down. If you help the people who have joined now, perhaps some of them will stay too."

"You expect me to humble myself before people who won't even live a hundred years for a reason as trivial as that?"

"Because you desperately want it. Isn't that why you left all those posts on the free discussion board? In the hope that your old guildmates might see them?"

"..."

This time, he could not answer at all.

The posts Yongman had left on the free discussion board were his own way of struggling. If someone returned to the board thinking about coming back, they might see Yongman's post dated that very day and log into the game.

But the action he had worked up the courage to take was ultimately nothing more than waiting. That made it all the more pitiful.

"Nothing changes if you keep standing in the same place. That's what I've learned in my short life."

My presumptuous advice ended rather anticlimactically.

We said nothing more, even after arriving at the convenience store, buying the power strips, and driving back.

Only an outdated song playing at a somewhat excessive volume filled the awkward silence.

And so we returned to the coffeehouse and sat down again.

"Did anything happen while we were gone?"

"What could have happened? Aside from you disappearing the moment I asked you to bring me a cup of coffee, there was no trouble at all. Hm? But why are you suddenly getting up?"

_____________

'Nothing changes if you keep standing in the same place.'

Repeating Jinseong's words to himself, Yongman rose from his seat and approached the shamans who were gathered together, engrossed in their game.

"W-Would you like to join the guild...?"

"Pardon? A guild?"

"If you join, you get more experience points, and you can enter guild-exclusive dungeons, and also... Ah, you don't have to join if you don't want to. Leveling up is already pretty fast anyway..."

After rambling for quite some time in awkwardly polite language, Yongman eventually lowered his head and trailed off.

The Haedong Divine Maiden tilted her head at the unexpected invitation, but soon realized why Yongman had approached them.

It was because Jinseong, seated some distance away, gave a slight nod with a faint smile.

"So joining the guild comes with benefits, right?"

"Huh? Uh! No, I mean, yes!"

"I want to join too! Grandpa, let's join together!"

【Haedong Divine Maiden has joined the Emperor Guild.】

【Wongak Dharma Master has joined the Emperor Guild.】

【Lia has joined the Emperor Guild.】

...

And so, the guild roster he had guarded alone was once again filled with dozens of members.

The guild members who joined after five years of waiting were not the familiar people he had longed to see.

They were not his dependable old comrades, dressed in splendid equipment and capable of taking on a hundred enemies each, but beginners holding shabby daggers.

Yet Yongman, his face bright with excitement, could hardly bring himself to leave the side of his new guild members until the coffeehouse closed at midnight.

_______________

Late that night, after Yongman's guild recruitment had ended successfully.

-Click.

I turned off the coffeehouse lights and lowered the blinds.

It was a kind of exorcism ritual(?) I had developed to officially announce the end of business hours, thanks to the Elder Nine-Tailed Fox and Sani, who rarely got up from their seats until I explicitly told them to leave.

But it seemed it would not work today.

Lia had gone to bed long ago, yet the Elder had pushed his cup of cold coffee aside and was still completely absorbed in his mobile game.

"It seems to suit your tastes. I thought you'd quit almost immediately."

"I have little else to do, so I merely took it up to pass the time. In any case, it has finally become quiet. They could have simply played, so why did they have to ask so many questions? Honestly."

"Everyone played along well."

"That's how those shaman fellows make their living in the first place."

"There you go again. You said he was an Imugi, after all. If they hadn't been sincere, he would have noticed right away."

He was not a being who could be deceived by lies. That was why I had not casually claimed the game was fun merely to flatter him.

The shamans gathered today were the same. Those who had found some enjoyment in the game had extended their hands to Yongman.

Although I had arranged it, thanks to them, the coffeehouse, which had been so quiet, was bustling for the first time in a while.

Days like this were nice occasionally.

Not everyone who visited the coffeehouse was awkward or unpleasant to deal with, and preparing food for each additional person was hardly a major inconvenience. Even I found this kind of busy day rather welcome once in a while.

Perhaps you could call it a certain degree of job satisfaction.

Aside from the bothersome dishwashing, it wasn't much different from having friends visit my home.

Of course, that did not mean extending business hours was acceptable.

"By the way, you're not planning to stay the night, are you?"

"You needn't make it so obvious that you want me gone. I was just about to leave, you brat."

Only after that rather roundabout order to leave did the Elder rise from his seat.

"But after dragging all those people into the game, you aren't even playing it yourself."

"I am. In fact, I'm probably the highest-level player among everyone who started today."

"I haven't seen you holding your phone. What are you talking about?"

"I have my ways. Though it's a bit of a shortcut."

Of course I had to play. As the Elder said, I was the one who had dragged the shamans and even the innocent National Intelligence Service employees into this.

This was hardly a situation that could end with me merely being the annoying friend who convinced everyone to play a game together and then quit first, as sometimes happened during school days.

Even if I didn't need to set an example, I would feel more comfortable raising my character enough that nobody could complain about it afterward.

"And there's one more thing I need to do."

"Hm? What trouble are you planning to cause this time?"

"When you put it like that, you make me sound like some kind of villain."

"Heh heh, have you only just realized that? I dare say Mahyeon and his subordinates consider you their mortal enemy."

This time, I couldn't argue, because he wasn't entirely wrong.

After all, the rest of my plan was something I felt a little sorry about inflicting on them.

___________

【NO ENTRY EXCEPT FOR AUTHORIZED PERSONNEL】

The warning posted on the National Intelligence Service's main conference room stirred curiosity among passing employees.

At an organization that valued security more than any other institution in South Korea, it was only natural for employees in different teams to know nothing about each other's work.

But it had been quite some time since a large-scale project had so openly involved the Director of the National Intelligence Service, the Deputy Director, and an entire department under their direct command.

Surely a national crisis, or perhaps a page of history that would change the world, was being discussed within this conference room.

But reality often surpassed imagination.

"He is definitely leveling up somewhere."

"I'm asking whether you've figured out where he's doing it."

"We're searching as thoroughly as possible. However, our employees are still too low-level to enter the high-level hunting grounds."

"Why doesn't Director Baek just contact him? That would solve the problem easily."

"The shamans playing the game are all still at levels similar to ours. It's highly likely he hasn't told them how he's leveling up either. If that method becomes public for reasons of fairness, the gap could widen even further."

'If that happens, overtime will be the least of our problems!'

-Gulp.

The employees swallowed nervously at Director Baek's report.

"No, this is ridiculous. We've been glued to this game all day, from morning until well into the night, and yet the coffeehouse owner, who goes to work and even runs a side business at night, has a higher level than us? How does that make any sense? At this rate, the whole operation is going to fall apart."

-Tap, tap.

The Director of the National Intelligence Service rolled a thick report into a loose cylinder and lightly tapped it against the table.

The report's cover bore the printed title, "Party Member Recruitment and Raid Strategy." Whatever the reason, it was clearly not the kind of subject one would expect to be discussed in a National Intelligence Service conference room.

"Judging by the coffeehouse owner's current leveling speed, we have about a week before he reaches the point where party play becomes necessary. It's still too early to abandon the operation."

"And can we catch up within that week?"

"Realistically, that will be difficult."

Difficult was an understatement.

They had even concentrated the items obtained while hunting on specific personnel, but their levels were still far below that of "Dangsan-ri Coffeehouse," the name appearing on the ranking board.

Dangsan-ri Coffeehouse, who was almost certainly Jinseong based on the circumstances, had already reached level 53.

It was an absurd rate of growth compared to the others who had started on the same day and were only now reaching level 20.

And Jinseong's growth, which defied common sense, was nothing short of a disaster for them.

It had not even been a full day since they had devised their operation to naturally obtain information by joining a party with Jinseong and the Imugi.

The details of the operation and its potential benefits were clear.

Simply playing diligently at the game the Imugi had treasured enough to spend a Dragon Pearl on would leave a fairly favorable impression on him.

If they became party members, there was ample potential for that relationship to develop into a cooperative partnership comparable to the one they had with the nine-tailed fox.

According to their investigation, Hero's Path began actively recommending parties of three or more players for hunting at level 60. If the highest-level players, the Imugi and Jinseong, formed a party together, there would be one spot left.

The problem was securing that single spot.

And Jinseong's level was not the only piece of bad news.

"We have a problem!"

"What is it this time?"

"The Divine Tree and the shamans have all joined the Imugi's guild at the same time!"

"What? Why all of a sudden?"

"It appears some sort of agreement was reached at the coffeehouse."

It was one misfortune piled upon another.

Director Oh Taesu of the National Intelligence Service was particularly sensitive about losing, having already gotten into an argument with the shamans inside the game.

"Catch up with them, whatever it takes! Join that guild or whatever it's called too! Are you all going to do the hard work just to hand the rewards over to someone else?"

'If we succeed, we might even secure special promotions and aim for a bureau director's position!'

They already had the example of Director Baek Mahyeon.

The people backing Director Baek Mahyeon, who had enjoyed rapid promotions despite having no political connections, were none other than the two divine beasts.

For a position obtainable merely by raising one's level in a game, the potential reward was absurdly generous.

But in this old game, which lacked even the common auto-hunting feature, there was only one way to catch up to another player's level: kill even one more monster while everyone else was sleeping.

Ironically, the fairest promotion examination imaginable had begun.

An elite organization that prided itself on having one of the most difficult recruitment processes of any institution.

Its members had now found themselves in a position little different from workers at an illegal game-farming operation that collected and sold in-game currency.

All while resenting the fact that everything had begun with a single phone call from the coffeehouse owner.

They never dreamed that the very person responsible was preparing to cause yet another incident that would be difficult for them to handle.