[Chapter 145]
[Things Money Can't Buy (2)]
The anomaly in the Academy Dungeon.
The heroic tale of Noh Eunha because of it.
While most people in the world loudly spoke his name,
Some people paid more attention to another person's name rather than his.
"─So... What was the name of the student who found Jin-woo again?" "On Taeyang, Chairman."
─On Taeyang.
It was a name not widely known to the world, overshadowed by the name Noh Eunha.
In the industry, he was evaluated by some officials as the most promising talent among the 31st class of the Academy.
"Bring him quickly. I want to see the face of the person who found my son right away."
And with the anomaly in the Academy Dungeon, the weight of the name On Taeyang became a bit heavier.
On Taeyang discovered the corpse of Hong Jin-woo, the direct descendant of the Dangun Group who had fallen in the Academy Dungeon two years ago.
While fleeing from wasp-type monsters, he accidentally fell into the border world, which turned out to be a hidden piece.
Hong Jin-woo was there.
Though buried under Noh Eunha in the media, he proved his skills by carrying Hong Jin-woo's corpse on his back and escaping the dungeon on his own.
He also gained the favor of the Dangun Group.
"─Hello. I'm On Taeyang."
"Yes, welcome. Thanks to you, I, our family, don't know how grateful we are."
"It's nothing. I just did what I had to do."
"Hahaha, why didn't I know there was such a person in the Academy..."
Just as Noh Eunha was summoned to the Mana Management Organization for interrogation,
On Taeyang was also summoned to the Mana Management Organization for interrogation.
Mainly about the circumstances of discovering Hong Jin-woo's corpse.
Anyway, as soon as his interrogation ended, the man who was Hong Jin-woo's father and now firmly the chairman of the Dangun Group called for him.
"The reason I wanted to meet you was because I wanted to say thank you for finding my son... And I wanted to express my gratitude." "Gratitude...?"
Though it's no longer a group that ranks within the top 10 in the business world,
The Dangun Group was ranked 16th in the business world and still had some influence in the Player industry.
Perhaps because of that, On Taeyang's attitude was very polite.
The Dangun Group chairman seemed quite pleased with his attitude.
So he handed over a check.
"This is..."
"It's my sincerity. Fill in as much as you want, and show it to the chief secretary outside."
A blank check.
On Taeyang's eyes widened seeing the check with nothing written on it.
At that moment, the days of tightening his belt to save the sponsorship money from the Galaxy Group flashed through his mind.
If I had that money... Making new equipment would be nothing.
New equipment.
At this moment, On Taeyang couldn't think about his family at all.
At the fact that he could receive as much money as he wanted─
─Gulp
His reason was almost paralyzed.
But reason that wasn't paralyzed yet stopped his hasty decision.
If he received money here, it would end with that.
He couldn't end the opportunity to meet the Dangun Group chairman like this.
Therefore─
"─I didn't do this for something like this. I'll just gratefully accept your feelings."
"Hmm..."
Though his hands trembled,
On Taeyang pushed away the blank check.
The Dangun Group chairman's eyes narrowed, and the corners of his mouth rose slightly.
"I'm sorry about this. I seem to have shown too petty an appearance. Due to the excitement of finding my son, I failed to grasp student On Taeyang's heart. I'm sorry." "...It's nothing."
"But I still want to express my gratitude somehow. Ah, that's right. How about this then?" "...Yes?"
"Dangun will sponsor you."
"...What? But I have sponsorship from the Galaxy Group..."
"There's no rule saying you can only receive sponsorship from one group."
"But still..."
"The Dangun Group would like to sponsor you so that you can study at the Academy without lack, and also settle in the industry without difficulty after you become a Player..."
"..."
"If you think it's a burden, please don't misunderstand. It's not simply sponsorship."
"Then...?"
"It's investing in you. I saw potential in you, and I want to properly bloom your potential with my own hands. So I hope you won't feel too burdened."
"...Investment, is it."
On Taeyang's expression relaxes.
The Dangun Group chairman nodded and eased his wariness.
And so a sponsorship contract that seemed prepared entered On Taeyang's hands.
Also─
"─Ah, my niece has come, would it be alright to call her to this place?" "Yes. I'm fine with it."
"Good. Hey, send Ye-hwa in."
[Yes, Chairman.]
As if by coincidence just then,
They say a girl said to be the direct descendant of Dangun Ilbo came to see the Dangun Group chairman.
The Dangun Group chairman had his niece enter through the speaker.
"─Hello. I'm Hong Ye-hwa. I've heard the story well. I heard you found Jin-woo?" "...Hello."
"But you're really handsome? Don't you hear that often?"
A woman 2 years older than On Taeyang.
The woman spoke to On Taeyang with a friendly smile.
The Dangun Group chairman saw this and laughed heartily─
"─Yes, it's really nice to see you two getting along well. If there's anything you don't know about the sponsorship in the future, I'd like you to speak through our Ye-hwa."
The Dangun Group chairman very naturally brought up the story of his niece and On Taeyang having dinner together.
And so the two left the Dangun Group chairman's office with a friendly attitude.
Eventually the Dangun Group chairman─
"─Fortunately, he doesn't seem to be a complete fool. Seeing him refuse in front of me... He has quite some guts and ambition."
The Dangun Group chairman sighed.
He was glad to find his son's corpse.
But he still had to worry about the group where power struggles were occurring below the surface.
He still hasn't completely seized control of the Dangun Group.
"I need someone to be a new sword. Someone who hasn't been touched by anyone yet..."
So he decided to recruit On Taeyang.
Because On Taeyang was known as the most promising student among the 31st class Academy students.
That's why he put a leash on him in the name of investment.
And he also tried to completely make him the group's person using his niece.
"By the way..."
Soon the Dangun Group chairman gritted his teeth.
Veins popped up as he clenched his fist.
The more he thought about it, the angrier he became.
"─Who on earth made my son like that?"
The Dangun Group chairman recalled the memory of confirming the state of his son Hong Jin-woo's corpse from a Player under him just a little while ago.
Hong Jin-woo's corpse was miserable.
His hands were cut off.
His feet were bent at strange angles.
There was a small hole in his chest.
According to the Players' investigation, his son probably met his death bleeding out in pain.
"Who... Jin-woo! I'll kill that bastard."
It wasn't a wound caused by monsters.
Because the cut surfaces were too clean.
And if he had been killed by monsters, he should have been eaten with no corpse remaining.
But Hong Jin-woo's corpse was relatively intact.
In other words, there's a high possibility that someone murdered his son.
However─
"─Damn it..."
Though it makes him weep tears of blood,
There wasn't much the Dangun Group chairman could do.
At most, he could only hold a funeral for his son.
Two years had passed.
The dungeon transformed after Hong Jin-woo's accidental fall.
There was no way to find traces.
Just only─
"─It must be one of the group people."
He could only think that way.
Because Hong Jin-woo's accidental fall became the trigger for a succession dispute within the Dangun Group.
It must be one of his siblings.
So he'll catch them and punish them.
The Dangun Group chairman felt helpless and was consumed by hatred.
☆
Noh Eunha is being interrogated at the Mana Management Organization.
Han Seo-hyeon, who quickly received the news, mobilized all the means the Sirius Group could mobilize.
"─Don't let them lay a finger on him."
[Um... It seems similar content just came in from the Alice Group and Yeongwon Group as well.]
"We should put it in too."
[Yes, understood!]
The influence of the Sirius Foundation now extends to all corners of society.
Above all, most of the people working at the Mana Management Organization are Players, and among them, there must be people who received sponsorship from the Sirius Group during their Academy days.
As a result, by putting leashes on their necks in the name of sponsorship,
Han Seo-hyeon, the direct descendant of the Sirius Group, was able to quickly grasp the current situation at the Mana Management Organization.
"The Fairy Lady's orders, huh..."
Then Han Seo-hyeon found out.
Not only Jung Ha-yang and Yoo Do-jun,
But also that the Fairy Lady's order to manage so that Noh Eunha doesn't complain of discomfort had come down.
It was unexpected if unexpected.
But she wasn't unaware of why the Fairy Lady was paying attention to Noh Eunha's condition.
She's watching public opinion.
And the eyes of business groups including herself.
"There's no need to worry."
Though she wasn't worried from the beginning,
Han Seo-hyeon let out a sigh of relief while heading to the Mana Management Organization.
Then she poked the tofu placed next to her seat.
I wonder how he'll react...
They say reporters are currently camped in front of the Mana Management Organization.
To interview Noh Eunha.
So Han Seo-hyeon was heading to the Mana Management Organization to extract him while avoiding the reporters' eyes.
Meanwhile, Jung Ha-yang wanted to come too.
But she was in a position of being investigated at the Academy currently.
"He'll probably make a sullen face as usual."
So she's going to pick up Eunha herself.
Moreover, Noh Eunha's father was currently busy working because of Noh Eunha.
She could be said to be the right person.
So while going to meet Eunha, since it's been a week since he entered the dungeon, she dressed up to go on a date after a long time.
On one hand she prepared tofu to tease him.
She planned to hand it to Eunha when he came out after the investigation, saying "Good job."
She quietly giggled imagining Noh Eunha looking at her with a sullen face after receiving the tofu.
But─
"─What did you say?"
"They say KK Group took him."
When she arrived at the Mana Management Organization,
Han Seo-hyeon had to receive a report she hadn't expected at all.
KK Group.
It really came out of nowhere.
Her tone naturally became sharp.
"I'm sure I told you to keep him there." "I'm sorry. It seems someone influenced by KK Group diverted him without our knowledge..."
"So we're incompetent?"
"..." "My father would snort if he knew." "I'm sorry."
Han Seo-hyeon is the direct descendant of the Sirius Group.
Therefore, as the group's direct descendant, she admonished the group people who failed to fulfill their assigned roles.
Of course, it was inevitable that emotion mixed into her voice.
But she reprimanded them with a few words while suppressing her emotions as much as possible, then turned around.
They also bowed their heads and apologized, knowing their mistake.
Click click
Han Seo-hyeon glanced at them once, then got into the car she had ridden.
Soon she sank into the backrest and let out a long sigh.
"Where should I take you?"
"To Hannam-dong." "Yes, understood."
A chauffeur who has been with her for many years.
He moved the car without any hesitation at her words.
Hannam-dong.
The place where KK Group Chairman Kim Geon's mansion is located.
"Are they trying to persuade him..."
It had already become evening.
It looked like she wouldn't be able to eat dinner.
Han Seo-hyeon sighed and looked out the car window.
In her mind, she thinks about why KK Group took Eunha.
The most likely guess she came up with was one.
That KK Group is interested in Noh Eunha.
Otherwise, they wouldn't have taken him to the mansion where the chairman resides.
They're trying to persuade Noh Eunha.
When her thoughts reached that point─
"─It'll be impossible."
She asserted as if certain.
☆
Until the destruction of the Gangbuk area,
Hannam-dong was known as a wealthy neighborhood.
The fact that the mansions of several groups including KK Group were located in Hannam-dong was proof of that.
"You can go inside."
Hannam-dong, KK Group Chairman's mansion.
Eunha, who set foot in the spacious mansion, followed people who looked like servants deep into the mansion.
I didn't think the KK Group chairman would call for me separately...
Though furniture that looked historically valuable caught his eye throughout the mansion,
Eunha passed by with indifferent eyes while thinking about the KK Group chairman.
Crouching... tiger, was it?
Crouching Tiger, Kim Geon.
It was a not-so-funny nickname.
But as far as he knew, Chairman Kim Geon's nickname in KK Group had its own dignity.
They say the achievements he showed to the world while creating the group in his youth were enough to earn such a nickname.
He's just an old person anyway.
People fascinated by Kim Geon's legend.
They believed the reason Chairman Kim Geon had been away from group management for a long time was because he was waiting for the time to come again.
But Eunha, who knew the future, could only laugh.
─He was nothing more than an old tiger that couldn't win against Choi Jeong-hoon after crouching.
In the future, Han Seo-yeon from Sirius Group will show outstanding management skills.
Jung Seok-hoon of Alice Group will show a tenacious side.
Yoo Do-jun of Yeongwon Group will seize control of the group in a short time and show unexpected genius.
Finally, Choi Jeong-hoon of Galaxy Group will shake the world with the qualities of an emperor.
KK Group Chairman Kim Geon.
He ends up becoming just a toothless tiger.
He crouched for too long.
So before he could properly stand up, he was eaten by others.
In the end, he's just an old tiger that couldn't go against the flow of the times.
The reason KK Group remained in the lower ranks along with Donghae Group after Kim Geon's exit was also because no one emerged who could read the flow of the times and possess genius to counter other groups.
"─You can open the door and enter."
Therefore,
Even as the servant guiding Eunha felt fear standing in front of the chairman's office,
Eunha entered inside the door very nonchalantly.
"─You've come."
"..."
Kim Geon's office.
Chairman Kim Geon, who had been sitting in a chair looking out the window, turned around.
He seems even older than Ha-yang's grandfather.
A short, fat old man.
He did exude a certain dignity.
But Eunha, who had been unfazed even in the face of monsters' threats, felt no fear towards him.
"...Sit down."
Eunha just stood staring blankly at him after entering the office.
Kim Geon seemed to calmly wait for him to greet.
But when he continued to say nothing,
Kim Geon frowned and offered Eunha a seat.
At this, Eunha sat down.
"The reason I called you... is because I wanted to convey my thanks for saving my grandson."
"..."
Kim Geon opened his mouth.
Eunha quietly looked at him.
Eunha had also thought about the reason he was called while coming to KK Group's mansion.
His prediction was correct.
He was called to express gratitude for saving KK Group's direct descendant Kim Geon-ung.
But that was─
─Just a pretext at best.
Though he's said to have stepped away from group management now,
He's still a person running a group.
There's no way he called him here just for the reason of saving his grandson.
Sure enough,
"─How much can you be bought for?"
Kim Geon took out a blank check.
He opened his mouth with a sardonic smile.
"Hah, really..."
"Pupu."
Eunha snorted immediately.