Chapter 38: Star, The Training (1)

‘Black Shamshir’, the Sword of Ohsung Clan’s Personnel Director Woo Yeong-Geun, frowned as he read through a pile of newspapers on the table. Every front page was talking about Chang-Sun; although they resembled tabloid articles, they were from prestigious daily newspapers. However, Yeong-Geun had a bigger problem on his hands.

「Are you listening to me, Uncle?!」

The girl on the other end of the line cried out loudly. The little witch had been pestering Yeong-Geun for several days. Although she was usually very gentle and adorable, she threw massive tantrums when she failed to get what she wanted.

“Of course I’m listening to you. You want YTS’ limited edition photo cards, right? I hired them as the main models for our new car commercial, so I’ll get them autographed…!” Yeong-Geun replied.

「I knew it! You aren’t listening to me! I hate you, Uncle!」

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Hye-Bin shouted angrily in response.

“Hye-Bin? Wait, Hye-Bin!” Yeong-Geun hurriedly called out to his niece.

Click.

However, she had long since hung up.

‘Ahhh, I’m so depressed…’  Yeong-Geun thought with a sigh.

As the Ohsung Group President’s third son, he was welcomed everywhere in the world, and people always caused a scene to catch his eye. However, among his family, he was just a punching bag(?), always getting hit by his youngest niece who had just hit adolescence.

Because Yeong-Geun had been so busy with work, he had failed to get married even though he was over forty, which meant he felt especially affectionate toward his niece. Whenever his only older brother saw Yeong-Geun acting like a fool around his niece, he shook his head in disbelief, but Yeong-Geun did not care about that. Even before his niece could walk, he had always spent time with her. Her smile could always make him laugh.

He had introduced himself as ‘a fool for his niece’ to other people so often that his niece had yelled at him to stop making a fool of himself because he was embarrassing her. However, his niece had recently changed a great deal after going through the incident that had taken place a month prior.

‘That damn Jamsil Gate…! If only she hadn’t gotten entangled in the Gate,’ Yeong-Geun thought, clenching his teeth.

When Yeong-Geun had first found out that his niece, Woo Hye-Bin, had gotten swept up in the Jamsil Gate, he had been appalled. Not wanting to cause gossip, he had paid special attention to making sure that the press did not find out. Additionally, he had spared no expense looking for a method to dispatch a rescue team to the Gate.

In the end, however, there was no other method than waiting for a Dungeon Closure to take place. He had been forced to simply wait and pray nothing would happen. Thus, he had desperately prayed to his Guardian ‘Nameless Giant’ again and again to protect his niece.

After an excruciatingly long time, the Dungeon had fortunately been cleared. When Yeong-Geun discovered Woo Hye-Bin safe and sound, he had finally heaved a sigh of relief. Soon after, he learned what had happened in the Jamsil Gate.

There had been a son of a bitch named Jeon Choong-Jae, whom Yeong-Geun had wished he could drag out of the grave to kill again; however, there had also been a gracious savior named Lee Chang-Sun. Yeong-Geun had wanted to express gratitude for saving Hye-Bin on the Ohsung Group’s behalf, but to his surprise, his niece had stopped him.

“M… Mister Chang-Sun disappeared right after finishing the Dungeon Quest. I think he did so because he felt uneasy about revealing his ability to the public. I think it would be better to wait until he decides for himself,” Hye-Bin said.

Hye-Bin had meant that she did not want to force Chang-Sun to reveal himself to the world if he did not wish to. As she had a valid point, her family had respected her decision; still, Yeong-Geun had expressed his intention to personally visit Chang-Sun to express gratitude and offer to recruit him into the Clan run by the Ohsung Group. Hye-Bin had not opposed him, perhaps because she was happy that her savior had joined the Ohsung Group.

‘The problem is that I failed to even have a proper conversation,’ Yeong-Geun thought, clicking his tongue.

As their first encounter had been a swordfight, Yeong-Geun had failed to express his gratitude. Thus, he had given Chang-Sun his business card and told him to call anytime. He had complacently thought that Chang-Sun would at least make a phone call, seeing as the Sword of Ohsung Clan Personnel Director himself had come to recruit him.

‘That was my mistake. Shit.’ Yeong-Geun sighed in frustration.

Over a month had passed by without any sign of that phone call. And yet, Chang-Sun had suddenly appeared at the White Tiger Clan’s recruitment event, setting the world on fire. Yeong-Geun had been unable to believe that Chang-Sun was an SSS+++ Grade Player! After finding out that Chang-Sun was a ‘genius’ who could even be classified as EX-Grade or R-Grade, Yeong-Geun had almost fainted.

Of course, his niece had called him several times a day to yell angrily about how much she hated her uncle, saying Chang-Sun had joined the White Tiger Clan because Yeong-Geun had not tried hard enough. Even his brother, his brother’s wife, and his father, the Ohsung Group President, hadd looked at Yeong-Geun in a similar way. Unfortunately for him, Yeong-Geun could not deny that he had been complacent.

‘Still… I was too busy to do anything! I thought he wanted to keep hiding himself!’ Yeong-Geun thought, stomping his foot.  

When Yeong-Geun had investigated Chang-Sun, he had discovered that Chang-Sun had suffered from a great deal of criticism while working as a professional gamer. As such, he had thought that Chang-Sun still wanted to remain in hiding. That was why he had been waiting for Chang-Sun to regain his composure in peace… but it seemed he had been mistaken.

In that time period, however, he had been busy investigating the Highoff Clan incident after noticing several suspicious movements, which meant recruiting Chang-Sun had fallen to a lower priority. Regardless, even if he explained the whole story to his niece, she would never be able to understand it. After all, she was just a middle school senior, not even in high school.

On top of that, the newspapers were busily reporting that Chang-Sun was going to the White Tiger Clan’s training institute. Although the White Tiger Clan’s probationary training was known for its uniqueness, Yeong-Geun was unsure whether Chang-Sun entering it was worth entire headlines.

“Phew!” Yeong-Geun sighed after a long time. He had no idea how to untangle the complicated situation and recruit Chang-Sun, who had become a big shot. He massaged his aching temples with his index fingers.

* * *

[You have entered the Dungeon ‘Black Blood Mountain Range’.]

Whooosh!

As soon as Chang-Sun passed through the Gate, numerous Dungeon Messages showed up one after another.

[Commencing the Dungeon Quest!]

[Quest Theme: Purification.]

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[Due to unknown magic, the ‘Black Blood Mountain Range’ has been suffering from abnormalities in its ecosystem for a very long time. Find and eliminate the cause to restore the ecosystem.]

[The mountain range is divided into eight sectors. As many bizarre-looking creatures that cannot be found in other Dungeons live in the Dungeon, be careful.]

[To execute the mission, every participant has been granted access to the , , and .]

‘This black and red mountain range really is vast,’ Chang-Sun thought, gaping slightly.

The first thought that entered his mind was that there truly were a lot of mountains. In his childhood, he had once climbed Jirisan Mountain with his father, but these mountains were much larger and taller than Jirisan Mountain. Some of them were so tall that their peaks were obscured by clouds and mist, invisible to the naked eye.

Strangely, the forest was so dense that the entire Dungeon’s atmosphere felt thick and stifling. On top of that, the trees were all dyed a vivid scarlet, as if they had been soaked completely in blood. Even to Chang-Sun, the place felt more ominous than wondrous.

‘When I searched for information about this place online, it said the Dungeon’s difficulty level was brutal, so I wonder what it’s like,’ Chang-Sun thought.

The Safe Zone was the first place people arrived in when they entered a Dungeon. The farther people went from it, the more abnormal the mountain’s ecosystem became. The sectors located in the innermost area were especially dangerous, to the point that even the White Tiger Clan’s key members were reluctant to go.

Of course, rankers would be able to eliminate the boss monsters, but the Dungeon could not be cleared just by doing so. Because of its unique ecosystem, the boss monsters respawned at regular intervals, as well as the ordinary monsters. While protecting themselves from the monsters, Players would have to find Hidden Pieces and ‘purify’ the entire mountain range mountain by mountain.

However, purifying the entire mountain range would do more harm than good. That was why the White Tiger Clan had given up on clearing the Dungeon and decided to use it as a training institute.

‘But Executive Director Oh wants someone to finish the Dungeon,’ Chang-Sun thought.  

What secret was hidden in this Dungeon? He was about to find out.

‘Then I’ll have to take care of him first,’ Chang-Sun thought, glancing at his shadow.

Just then, someone spoke in Chang-Sun’s mind using telepathy.

『Just like at the library, you can ignore me, so please focus on the training.』

The message came from Song Yu-Jun, Executive Director Oh’s secretary and the one who had guided Chang-Sun in the Fierce Tiger Library. He had followed Chang-Sun to the training event.

[The Skill ‘Faint Wind’ is following you!]

‘I expected him in the library, but I didn’t expect him to follow me into the training area,’ Chang-Sun thought, lightly clicking his tongue.

It seemed Executive Director Oh still doubted Chang-Sun to some extent. It was understandable, as he no doubt felt the need to test Chang-Sun multiple times to decide whether or not to trust him. He had to see whether Chang-Sun would try to find his weakness in the Dungeon, while also preventing the other White Tiger Clan factions from making contact with him.

As such, Chang-Sun was under Executive Director Oh’s constant surveillance. Although Chang-Sun was unsure what methods Yoo-Jun could use, he knew the secretary could communicate constantly with Executive Director Oh, who was on the outside.

‘I’ll have to lose him when I have the chance,’ Chang-Sun decided.

The problem was that Chang-Sun could not yet locate Yoo-Jun with his current ability. Of course, there was still a method to do so, but it was not the time to use it yet. Chang-Sun nodded lightly as he walked toward the Safe Zone, where many trainees had already arrived before him. Most of them looked very nervous.

Of course, there were some people who seemed relatively relaxed. They were no doubt confident in their ability and talent, seeing as they were not overwhelmed by the fact that they were about to be trained by the White Tiger Clan Members, but even those people became somewhat dispirited when Chang-Sun came close.

“Wow…!”

“He’s really Lee Chang-Sun…”

“How will he do this time?”

“Uhh… I don’t want to be compared to him!”

“You don’t know how it will go. Unlike the tryouts, he might be bad in real combat.”

When people saw Chang-Sun, they talked constantly among themselves. No one tried to approach him due to his cold, distant demeanor; besides, it was difficult to talk to him after seeing him in every media outlet over the past week.

Not paying much attention to the murmurs, Chang-Sun took a quick look around the Safe Zone. He watched the surroundings with interest, thinking, ‘So there are… two—no, three useful people?’

All the people Chang-Sun took notice of while at the testing site had been accepted as new Players of the White Tiger Clan.

The first person who had caught Chang-Sun’s eye was a man with a long ponytail, carrying a three-meter-long spear. As he was 190 centimeters tall and dressed in a pitch-black outfit, he stood out from the crowd. His powerful build was so robust he resembled an armored warrior, and he had a cold demeanor; that and his scar-filled face gave him an unapproachable air. The man wore a nametag that read ‘Baek Gyeo-Ul’ on his left chest. However, his appearance was not what truly caught Chang-Sun’s attention.

‘He seems to be under another deity’s protection. Who is it?’ Chang-Sun thought, squinting. However, he could not tell, because Gyeo-Ul was too far away. In any event, he would have another chance later.

Meanwhile, the second person was a man who looked completely different from Baek-Gyeo-Ul. The handsome and cheerful man, who wore a nametag that read ‘Lim Joo-Han’, had already made many friends.

The last person, despite looking weaker than the other two, seemed to have extraordinary potential…

“Wow! Woah! Oppa saw me!” the woman exclaimed excitedly when Chang-Sun inadvertently met her gaze; she had been staring at him for some time. She was the younger twin who had talked to Chang-Sun at the testing site, along with her brother and her acquaintances.

Giving the others a light nod, Chang-Sun turned to look at the Safe Zone’s center.

An employee who seemed to be the training supervisor stepped up, calling out, “Everyone! Please settle down and pay attention to me!”

Rumble!

As the employee had used his magic and [Tiger Kill] to speak, his voice was loud enough to make the ground tremble. Thus, all the trainees stopped talking and looked at him nervously.

The 26th White Tiger Clan Probationary Training was about to begin.

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