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Chapter 16
Office worker Park Seong-cheol (32) is a perfect person in many ways.
“Good morning, Director. You look tired, so here’s some coffee. Haha. You’ll treat me at lunch, right?”
“Huh? Ah! That document. I finished filling it out yesterday. Here. You can just report it as is. Take a look.”
His ever-present smile, his wrinkle-free expression, and his impeccable personality made him so competent that even his bosses dared not treat him carelessly, fearing he might leave the company.
However, despite his abilities and character, Park Seong-cheol had a secret that no one knew…
A room full of <Mir Guild> uniforms and autographs.
Yes.
There was only one flaw in his otherwise perfect résumé: he was a diehard “Yongbung-i” fan.
It must have been a day 20 years ago. On an unusually nice day, 10-year-old Park Seong-cheol was dragged to the stadium by his father, who promised to buy him tonkatsu.
Was it the thrilling sensation of feeling the gate’s magical field for the first time? Or was it that the pathetic guild displayed a godlike performance that day as if on drugs? Either way, Park Seong-cheol’s first experience was indescribably thrilling.
That’s why he became a Yongbung-i fan, and why he supported the Mir Guild for 20 years.
And the result?
It got destroyed like dogs.
“Let’s see, it should be a bumper harvest again today.”
After finishing a neat shower, Park Seong-cheol sipped a beer and clicked the mouse.
The ‘Mir Guild Gallery’ appeared, and once again, the bulletin board was filled with hellfire jokes and otherworldly curses.
It was a bumper harvest. A bumper harvest of chaos.
This is the life of a Yongbung-i fan.
A cesspool created by festering, gloomy defeat. Just as pouring clean water into a cesspool won’t change anything, speaking normal words here is meaningless.
“F***” is the greeting; looking for “dog” at the end of every sentence is routine.
To converse with these people, you have to go crazy with them, and when it finally becomes comfortable, you’ll experience the miracle of naturally spouting hellfire jokes that would get you socially obliterated with just a single word.
“That’s why I escaped.”
Like the heroine in some memes, Park Seong-cheol tried to shed the shackles of defeat and despair and pursue happiness.
Seeing Lee Shin, a rogue national player, throw away Yang Pan-seok—the Mir Guild’s last hope—made his blood boil and hyperventilation reach his jaw. He worried that if he kept supporting this cursed guild, he wouldn’t survive his own life.
So he even posted, “It’s f***ing ridiculous, I’m leaving the gallery,” vowing to escape this hellish abyss once and for all…
But reality? He was still holding a beer in one hand, laughing at the board’s ridiculous posts.
“Ha ha, that’s why I can’t quit this.”
By the way, he had thought about supporting another guild.
Since leaving this bottom-tier league wasn’t an option, he imagined that if he supported a steadily rising guild, everything would be solved.
For example, the neighboring <NG Jaguars Guild>, which in just four years had climbed from the 5th division to the 3rd.
But no chance.
Having been marinated in hellfire jokes for 20 years, other guilds felt boring. It was like eating pork soup without the fermented shrimp paste—something just felt missing.
In the end, like a salmon returning to its birthplace, he came back to being a Yongbung-i fan.
All because of the cursed threshold of stimulation.
Anyway,
“By the way, these guys still haven’t shown up. You guys really are reckless. I want to smash their heads. How can there still be zero registered hunters when the opening is so close?”
Park Seong-cheol checked the Mir Guild roster on the league’s official site—nothing.
At this late stage of the off-season, it’s common sense for a guild to strengthen its lineup.
But apparently, Mir Guild doesn’t follow common sense.
Not a single transfer announcement, despite sending out Yang Pan-seok and the entire raid team!
Hesitantly, he checked the website…
< (official) Mir’s Next (D-1) >
…The words were written sparsely on a blank white background.
What’s with this D-day? Is it really, as some said, Lee Shin’s demise day?
Park Seong-cheol snorted, laughing quietly.
The league schedule was imminent, zero registered hunters, no recruitment announcements, and the guild website under construction.
It was dizzying. Truly dizzying.
“Yes, this is the Mir Guild.”
See? My head is already spinning. As expected, a f***ed-up guild—I knew it.
The Mir Guild filled his otherwise peaceful life with the kind of madness that could drive someone insane.
Perhaps that’s why.
Among all these people, no one noticed.
< (official) Mir’s Next (D-1) >
00:05:00… 00:04:59… 00:04:58….
That the D-day displayed on the homepage was today.
00:01:00… 00:00:59….
At that moment, when the timer hit one minute amidst everyone’s neglect, all outdoor billboards nationwide, including in Seoul, went dark simultaneously.
Small, large, bus stops, highways—when the screens went dark, it was as if the entire Korean peninsula had lost its light.
What’s happening?
As people scrambled to figure out the problem, numbers appeared on the blackened screens.
5.
Drivers on the highway looked up at the screens.
4.
People waiting at bus stops did too.
3.
Those strolling through the night streets.
2.
Even in the cities where the lights never go out.
1.
With everyone’s gaze fixed in one place, billboards nationwide began blinking in unison, starting from the homepage.
Through the darkness clearing from the center of the screen, a figure slowly emerged…
“A person?”
“A man.”
It was a man.
Broad waist, squared shoulders, solid back.
The figure moving through the dark was unmistakably a man’s back.
The darkness was silent. And long. Overwhelmingly dizzying, like watching a guild’s long dark era.
Yet the man moved forward silently.
He found sound in the silent darkness, a path in the dizzying darkness.
The man seemed to speak with his whole body.
He had merely taken a wrong turn, but there was definitely an exit from this darkness.
Just like that place.
Where the man’s hand pointed, a faint light appeared.
Small, fragile, but precious—the only escape from this long darkness.
The man stepped forward.
As he did.
Pa-pat!
On the pristine spotlighted stage, another man awaited him.
The man in white extended his hand. The man who had emerged from darkness took it.
Black and white.
Light and shadow intertwined in that moment.
The camera zoomed out.
The hidden face was revealed.
And then.
“What?”
Park Seong-cheol watching on his monitor, the audience watching on the billboards, everyone engrossed in this historic show—all were stunned simultaneously.
Because.
The two men holding hands were…Lee Shin and Kim Jong-pil.
And they were smiling.
< (official) Mir Next >
< Welcome 山王 > (Mountain King)
Crazy.
Insane.
“Waaah!!””
“We did it!!””
A thunderous cheer erupted in the office of the Mir Guild. Everyone hugged and jumped around in excitement, and in the midst of it, Lee Shin shivered as he joined in.
“That’s right! This is it! This is it! Freaking amazing!”
Actors, directors, production.
Even the money extorted from his grandfather for the billboard.
This was the ultimate showcase that would go down in the history of Korean guilds.
“Good. Good.”
There was no time to dawdle.
The market had been shocked, so they needed to ride this momentum.
For a moment, a light sparkled in Lee Shin’s eyes as he jumped onto the table. “Attention!” he shouted, stomping his feet, and the cheering front guild members all looked at him at once.
“Alright! That’s enough. Let’s stay calm. It’s still too early to pop the champagne.”
Pointing like a host with his finger, Lee Shin made the guild members snap to attention and report their progress.
“Mir Guild is number one on all portal site real-time search rankings.”
“For reference, Lee Shin is second! And Sanwang is third!”
“All communities are flooded with stories about us!”
“Not only the broadcasting stations we contacted, but other reporters are also continuously reaching out.”
“Even the magazines we previously interviewed are contacting us…”
The reports continued in a chaotic rush.
Attention, interest, buzz, issue.
It didn’t matter what adjectives were added now.
What mattered was that at this moment, all eyes and ears in Korea were focused here.
Busan, League 4, a fallen prestigious guild!
“Our Mir has been reborn. It’s a baby dragon with soft, shiny scales.”
Coo, I’m baby Mir.
This moment was crucial. How well it grows now would determine its future allies!
Lee Shin scattered the piles of documents he had prepared.
The details of the visit to Geumgangsan, the conversation with Kim Jong-pil, the process of Sanwang Kim Jong-pil parting ways with the <Kirin Guild>.
Every piece of information was something the public would enjoy.
So.
“Now! It’s time to consume all the buzz we’ve scattered everywhere. Swallow it, chew it. We digest this buzz and grow our presence in one go!”
The time given was until the “regular season” began.
“Hold on tight. My bus has no brakes.”
-Vroom vroom.
The mouth of hell started its engine.
•
•
D-7
“All communication channels will be unified on SNS. Adapt the previous info into something entertaining and post it on SNS.”
“SNS? Not with journalists or the homepage?”
“No, no, no~ Who watches TV these days? Let’s be cool and sexy. A young guild connecting with fans via SNS. You feel me?”
“Understood.”
[ Modern version of Three Visits to the Thatched Cottage. Why this G.O.D(Shin) climbed Geumgangsan three times! ]
#WeActuallyGoWellTogether #AgeIsJustANumber #OneForBrotherOneForMe #GeumgangsanHotSpot…
[ ‘Sanwang (Mountain King)’ Sets New Record for Highest Korean Value ]
[ Central Awakener Management HQ: “We cannot disclose details, but his current salary is indeed the highest in Korea.” ]
[ LeeDo Class. If it’s not the highest, we don’t throw it. ]
•
•
[ Former Kirin anonymous insider M: “Sanwang wanted to stay with Kirin, but Kirin chose Man-wang.” ]
[ Another move, the dignity of LeeDo? Or Kirin’s efficiency? ]
•
•
D-3
“How’s the Sanwang inauguration this afternoon? Is it coming from a terrestrial channel?”
“The MBS broadcast team is checking equipment now.”
“Um… It looks like they also want a personal interview with the CEO.”
“Of course. If a media outlet wants it, even a women’s magazine from a beauty salon, invite them all.”
“Understood.”
• Sanwang Kim Jong-pil inauguration press conference.
“Phew… I get emotional. As some of you know, Yeongdo is my hometown. I spent my childhood running around the sea and mountains.”
“I’ve always been disappointed that there wasn’t a significant guild in my hometown. That’s why I was even more drawn to the idea. Let’s return to our beginnings and show growth. Revive it. That’s what I mean.”
“I am truly honored to return to this city that holds the purest memories of my life. And I would like to take this moment to thank CEO Lee Shin for giving me this opportunity.”
“I promise in the name of Sanwang’s honor. This season, Mir Guild will be promoted.”
• During Lee Shin’s interview after the inauguration
“Let’s get this out of the way first. No more whining about Yang Pan-seok. (laughs)”
“Promotion? Honestly, our Sanwang is so modest. Is promotion really an issue? I see three years. Promotion, promotion, promotion. Boom! Mir Guild will reach League 1 in three years.”
“Many ask about the entry list… wait, where is it? Ah, here. This paper is the confirmed entry. Curious?”
[ What a contrast! Sanwang and Lee Shin’s interview swings between hot and cold. ]
[ Lee Shin pulls it out from his back pocket. “Hey! This is the entry!!” ]
[ Is this okay? Mir Guild announces the entry at the interview! ]
[ How shocking is it? All hunters in the entry are revealed as rookies. ]
•
•
D-0
[ Korean Hunter Association 202X League Stove League Final Summary ]
[ Guild ‘Power Rankings’ Announcement ]
________________________________________
• League 4
1st Busan <Mir> 87 points
2nd Seoul <Obliviate> 71 points
3rd Seoul …
4th Seoul …
•
•
13th Gyeonggi …
1st <Mir Guild>
: “What explanation is needed? The overwhelming winner of this year’s Stove League.”
Busan’s Mir Guild rose to number one in League 4 by recruiting the world-class Sanwang. It was the first time since 199X that a regional guild topped the power ranking.
