When Cheon Hae-il arrived at the scene, all preparations were already complete.
This was the advantage of Victory Academy, which strictly followed the policy of act first, report later.
The instructors were prepared for battle in case of a gate wave.
There were even 1st-class hunters mixed in, as an S-rank gate wave was a truly serious problem.
The medical team had even built temporary buildings to immediately treat the injured.
But the most important person was nowhere to be seen.
'Where is he?'
Uninvited reporters were forming a sea of people, but the most important guy wasn't visible.
Cheon Hae-il started looking around for just one person.
He had clearly said he'd pay whatever was asked, but the gate hadn't opened yet.
"Why hasn't the gate opened yet? Has the Opener not arrived?"
"He came, but said he had something he must discuss with the Chairman..."
The answer from a nearby staff member was absurd.
What could he need to say when they should be opening the gate immediately to start the rescue?
"Don't be too hard on the faculty, Chairman."
The Opener cut off Ryu Hyemi's words and joined the conversation.
Cheon Hae-il barely suppressed his anger and responded.
"Let's get straight to the point."
The Opener appeared before Cheon Hae-il in a manner that contrasted starkly with the surrounding situation.
Slouching posture, standing on one leg, chewing gum loudly.
If not for his skill to open gates, he would have given a worse impression than a neighborhood thug.
"Well... you said you'd pay whatever I ask, but what I'm demanding is quite a large sum. I'm worried you might regret it later... My value has gone up a lot lately because I've been busy... I'm really not sure how to phrase this without burdening you, Chairman... I have to be very careful with my word choice..."
"Is this so important that we need to argue like this? Do you know how many people are trapped inside right now?"
"Well, yeah... but isn't this kind of death pretty common? They might be precious students to you, Chairman, but they're strangers to me... Oh my, if you glare at me like that... even the ground is cracking... it's a bit scary. I'll explain the amount right away."
Despite Cheon Hae-il's skill activation due to anger, the Opener didn't even blink.
Rather, he pretended to be scared with exaggerated expressions and trembled.
The Opener, who knew his position all too well, didn't even blink at this pressure.
With a very relaxed expression, he took out a paper from his pocket, unfolded it in front of Cheon Hae-il, and even smiled.
"Did you want to tell me you're charging much less than usual by dragging this out? If you think this is a good deed..."
"Please calm down and look again. The reason I'm charging one-tenth of my usual price is... travel expenses. I need to cover my gas money, don't I? Instead, I've changed it so I don't receive any money upfront, but get paid in full when the gate opens. This way, even if additional fees come up... I can't ask for more..."
Cheon Hae-il wanted to kill the man in front of him.
He wanted to pull out each of those chattering teeth one by one and beat him to dust.
Every minute and second this guy was babbling felt like a waste.
"Hurry up and proceed, I'll give you whatever you ask."
"Ah, then I'll tell you one last thing. To summarize, I'll receive travel expenses separately, and only get the rest of the money when I personally open the gate. If additional costs are incurred in the process, you'll have to pay those too, no installments, all at once. Understand? If I can't open it, I won't take a single penny, including travel expenses!"
Cheon Hae-il just nodded, fearing his fist might fly first if he answered any more.
The Opener, having anticipated all of this, inwardly rejoiced.
'Ah... I really am a genius, aren't I?'
The skill 'Open' that could forcibly open gates was a unique main skill.
Usually, main skills couldn't be duplicated, but about ten people possessed 'Open'.
The problem was that there were far too many places needing the 'Open' skill.
Due to overwhelming demand, the value of 'Open' skill holders kept increasing, eventually creating powerful authority.
The power to make others always bow their heads even when you act tough with the attitude of 'Everyone will die without me'.
Kang Tae-min wanted to make this power even stronger.
'Money is a person's position.'
Kang Tae-min realized he had been receiving too little for his ability until now.
With great power comes great responsibility, right? To keep bearing that responsibility, he needed big money.
The contract clearly stated he wouldn't take money if he couldn't open it, but that was just bait.
There had never been a single time he couldn't open a gate.
He planned to deliberately include such a clause, pretend he couldn't open it, and extort more money.
Having received all the promises, just as he was about to activate his skill to officially open the gate.
'Huh?'
Something was strange.
Normally, even with weak skill activation, the scenery inside the gate should be visible.
But now, not even a small gap was visible.
He was supposed to give the impression it might or might not open to get more money.
'It's still just a gate.'
Whether S-rank or F-rank, the 'Open' skill opened all gates equally.
There was never any case of it being harder to open. He had just been acting.
'What if it really doesn't open?'
Maybe because it was the first time, his thoughts quickly turned to the worst.
The act of not being able to open it had to be done within 1 minute at most.
If he delayed any longer, a big accident could occur.
"Oh my, this... I think I'll need some equipment..."
Kang Tae-min tried to maintain a calm expression as he activated his sub-skill.
[Create Folk Village Background activated! Creating the most suitable folk village stage for the surrounding situation!]
It was a skill he accidentally obtained while working part-time at a folk village before awakening his skill.
At first, he wondered what use creating a folk village background would be, but it was perfect for decorating the 'Open' skill.
The problem was that even this would only buy him a little time.
"Biribiribaraburaboomba-taya gate open sesame..."
As he spoke, he inwardly prayed for it to open.
Even now, reporters were frantically flashing cameras and broadcasting the current situation.
What if it took longer to open the gate?
What if casualties increased because he delayed opening the gate while taking all the money?
It would be irreversible.
An Opener who couldn't open gates on time was no longer meaningful.
It was obvious without seeing that his image would plummet instantly.
[Catastrophe Caused by Greed, Opener Kang Tae-min Kills People with Money.]
He could already imagine the headline that hadn't even been written yet.
'If that happens, it's really over.'
He activated his skill to the maximum while pretending to chant a spell.
'Please! Please!'
Did his prayer work?
Finally, the scenery inside the gate started to become visible.
Now all he had to do was finish his words coolly and fully open the gate.
'I'm going to the moon!'
Just as he was about to conclude his words with the most flamboyant gesture, spreading his arms wide.
Suddenly the gate expanded, and a white-haired man popped out.
---------------------------------=
S-rank Gate Cleared!
Concept :: Classic Masterpiece [Don Quixote] has been perfectly cleared.
Casualties :: 0
Greatest Contributor :: Baek Taeyang
Everyone, please give a big round of applause and congratulations!
---------------------------------=
"What is this?"
"...me?"
Kang Tae-min couldn't believe the current situation.
The gate was cleared?
Before I even opened it?
[Money-crazed Kang Tae-min, Negotiating Until Gate is Cleared.]
['Opener' Incident Missing Timing Due to Greed, "We Can't Stand By Any Longer..." Netizens Enraged]
The article titles were already forming in his mind.
Dark clouds began to loom over his life.
++++++++++++++++
'This is really ridiculous.'
It didn't take long to grasp the situation.
The reporters were constantly shouting and providing real-time updates from afar.
"Mr. Kang Tae-min! What happened that you couldn't open the gate before it was cleared!"
"We heard the negotiation process was extremely long!"
"Is it true that you deliberately waited for Chairman Cheon Hae-il to arrive to receive more money?"
"Just one word please! Mr. Kang Tae-min!"
"Can't you open your mouth because you couldn't open the gate?"
"Open your trap first!"
They were showering him with questions, even using megaphones, only not approaching because they feared awakened ones.
'Was all of this originally for Kim Minsu?'
---------------------------------=
Achievement Unlocked! [Your Catharsis is Intense LOL] (1)
You've perfectly snatched away the rewards and catharsis that Kim Minsu should have received.
Kim Minsu's protagonist position narrows!
Taking 3% of [Protagonist-Kim Minsu]'s position!
---------------------------------=
It was a cliché story composition.
The protagonist brilliantly resolving a gate with changed difficulty.
The protagonist instantly sweeping away the guy who fed everyone sweet potatoes with a refreshing drink.
'With this level of Glasses Fatty's storytelling...'
This is why he pretends it's a pure love story but drifts into a harem pure love.
Not long after I came out, everyone who was inside the gate started coming out.
Lee Minjun came out carrying the weapons I had carelessly scattered on the ground neatly packed in a case, which was a bit unexpected.
'Why such a goody-two-shoes act...'
Supply weapons could be reissued as many times as needed.
As a Victory Academy graduate, he should know this, so it felt strange.
"We'll ask for details later, but really, great job."
"Thank you."
"Let's start by checking for injuries right away."
There was no need to move as the medical team was rushing over as if their feet were on fire.
It was an action considering the possibility of injuries rapidly worsening, but it was meaningless.
'Since no one is seriously injured.'
Even I, who fought the most intensely, only had moderate injuries at worst.
The people who were in the safe zone were completely unscathed.
'I've got the hang of it.'
I realized a lot while taking away Kim Minsu's protagonist position this time.
Originally, I was planning to intervene in every process from start to finish to take away the harem pure love.
But it turned out I just needed to do nothing and deliver the decisive final blow.
'Look at that expression.'
Even though he was trying to manage his expression, he couldn't completely hide his sour face.
Others might mistake it for him grimacing due to deep wounds.
But to me, it read as a completely different expression.
'Are you jealous?'
I could read his inner thoughts just by looking at Kim Minsu's face.
His frustrated face from having the final blow stolen was really ridiculous.
But thinking that he'd only be able to make such expressions for a while also made me pity him.
[So Yumin]
I needed to quickly break up Yumin and Kim Minsu, then make many women flock to him.
There was no need to intervene from start to finish.
'I just needed to fuck them at the end.'
To think I had been worrying so much about a problem that could be solved by just barging into the stage set up by a loser.
Today was the day to button up the first button.
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