chapter 113
The number one guild in Korea, the Taeguk Guild, had disbanded.
It was only natural.
Not only had the guild master died, but the entire executive staff had also been arrested by the police.
It wasn’t that every executive had been caught, but with most of them gone, the majority of the guild members began predicting the downfall of Taeguk and started transferring to other guilds.
According to Yeon Mirae, most of the guild members had joined Taeguk solely because it was Korea’s top guild, not because they felt any loyalty or attachment to it.
“Once the guild master was dead and the executives arrested, they must’ve figured it was only a matter of time before Taeguk lost its top spot.”
Incidentally, none of those who defected ended up joining the Ironblood Guild.
It wasn’t that no one wanted to—it was that Ironblood flatly refused to accept anyone from Taeguk.
And not just Ironblood.
“The Night Eagle Guild, the Legiones Guild, even the Cleaner Guild. None of them accepted Taeguk defectors.”
Back at the site where I had killed Kang Gun-hyung, the guild master of Taeguk, I had given the three guild leaders a command:
Do not accept any awakened defectors from Taeguk Guild.
The three had stiffened at first, but after thinking it over, they agreed it was the right choice.
‘After all, defectors from Taeguk are no different from traitors.’
They weren’t preparing to leave after Taeguk fell. They were trying to jump ship before it even collapsed, fearing it might.
Put nicely, they were quick to sense the winds of change. Put bluntly, they were people always ready to betray when convenient.
Sure, they might be capable since they had made it into Taeguk in the first place. But if the same situation happened in another guild, they would abandon it just as quickly.
The guild leaders understood this and faithfully carried out my order.
As a result, those who had hoped to leave Taeguk and join one of Korea’s four most famous guilds had no choice but to lower their sights and join lesser guilds instead.
Even then, it wasn’t easy.
With the four great guilds refusing them, smaller guilds began scrutinizing Taeguk defectors more carefully, suspicious something was wrong.
“Most of the ones who had abused Taeguk’s name to throw their weight around couldn’t join any guild at all.”
“That makes sense.”
No matter how strong someone is, who wants to bring a rotten personality into their guild?
Especially since the stronger they are, the more money they demand. Unless they were so talented that it outweighed their flaws, most guilds wouldn’t bother.
Even if they were taken in, they wouldn’t last long.
“In any case, Master, things have turned out exactly the way you wanted.”
“……”
I had never actually said what I wanted, but Mirae guessed it anyway.
And she wasn’t wrong, so I didn’t deny it.
“You don’t want the awakened society in Korea to be controlled by just one guild—or a handful of them. Right?”
“Correct. Dictatorships rarely end well.”
Before my regression, I had lived through Taeguk’s dictatorship.
If Taeguk had been a normal guild, maybe even a dictatorship could have earned support.
But they had forcibly absorbed others, gutted themselves from the inside, slowed their operations from lack of manpower, and focused on lining their pockets instead of keeping people safe.
Of course it collapsed.
And honestly, I don’t think it would be much different even if another guild held absolute power.
“Even if it were Ironblood running a dictatorship, it wouldn’t be good.”
Some might think a clean, diligent group could handle absolute power.
But power corrupts. Even the cleanest group will fall once they get a taste.
That’s just how it is.
“So it’s best if power stays divided.”
Night Eagle, Legiones, Cleaner, and Ironblood.
These four guilds now clearly hold the most influence in Korea.
Below them are countless other guilds.
It’s necessary to raise those smaller guilds up, strengthening them enough to act as checks and balances.
“Master, there’s one thing I still can’t wrap my head around.”
“Hmm?”
I turned to Mirae.
What had I said that she found so confusing?
“You’ve never said it outright, but I need to confirm. Master, you’re a regressor, aren’t you?”
“That’s right.”
I had known she suspected for some time, so I didn’t bother hiding it.
“And you’ve already experienced the dictatorship of a guild.”
“Correct. Taeguk’s dictatorship.”
I wasn’t sure where she was going with this, but there was no need to hide it.
“Then before you regressed… how did Taeguk even manage to establish a dictatorship?”
“… You’re not just asking how they avoided opposition from other guilds, are you?”
Ah, I see.
“You’re asking why Aura Masters and Archmages—or people on their level—didn’t step in to stop Taeguk.”
“Yes. Most Aura Masters and Archmages don’t even belong to guilds. They act independently.”
That was true.
Such individuals were rare, but not nonexistent. And hardly any of them joined guilds.
Even in Korea’s major guilds, including Taeguk, you might find one or two at most.
Sometimes strong individuals created small guilds just to dump the paperwork on others, but otherwise they mostly lived however they pleased.
Some became academy heads or department chairs, training the next generation. Others became chiefs of police, maintaining order. And some just lived in peace on some island, fishing their days away.
Mirae found it strange that such people had stood by while Taeguk seized power.
So I gave her the answer.
“The reason those kinds of powerhouses didn’t act… is because without Taeguk, Korea’s future looked even worse.”
It was a rotten guild, but still one that people rallied around.
Yes, heroes like Serenity—Lee Ha-eun—also drew people. But Taeguk was by far the largest in scale.
To tear them down would have been like burning your own house to kill a few fleas.
Without Taeguk, Korea would have been swallowed by the black fog, or by foreign powers. One or the other.
“I see… I understand now.”
Mirae nodded, then looked at me.
“So without your regression, Master, Korea’s future would have been so bleak that it couldn’t survive without Taeguk.”
But since you regressed, that won’t come to pass.
“As expected of you, Master… you’re amazing.”
“… I’m not sure how this suddenly turned into praise, but…”
I asked her:
“What happened to the so-called regressor?”
After all, Taeguk’s plan to destroy the other guilds had started with that guy.
Even if it would’ve happened eventually given Taeguk’s state, it was definitely him who sped things up.
Not that he could be blamed entirely.
“He didn’t face criminal charges. He could have, even for obstructing official duties. But his parents came, bowed their heads, and I… softened.”
Still, even if she felt pity, he had slandered an Aura Master and interfered with Ironblood’s work.
So—
“The civil trial will proceed.”
He wouldn’t have a criminal record, but he would have to pay massive compensation.
For Mirae or Ironblood, it was nothing. But for an ordinary young civilian with no awakening? It was crushing.
He would pay the price for his foolishness.
“Are you satisfied with that?”
“Huh?”
“You were the one who suffered the most because of him. Is that punishment enough for you?”
Because of that self-proclaimed regressor, rumors had spread online calling Mirae a fraud.
Many had piled on, hidden by anonymity, tearing her reputation apart.
And Mirae herself enjoyed the internet—there’s no way she hadn’t seen it.
“It’s fine.”
But she didn’t seem bothered.
“At first, I didn’t think calling me a fraud was entirely wrong. I became an Aura Master only because you gave me your inner energy, Master.”
“… Even with that, you wouldn’t have reached Aura Master level unless it was you, Mirae.”
She shook her head.
“Still, it was only possible because I met you, because you chose me. So I thought maybe, in another future, those accusations might have been true.”
A future where she never met me, never trained in martial arts.
A future where she lived on as a half-measure, unable to use aura.
“But now, I’ve changed my mind.”
That future will never come.
“… Fine. As long as you’re satisfied.”
Some time later.
A new recruit joined Ironblood Guild.
“Hello. My name is Alex.”
The man who had tamed the dragon Fafnir.
He had finally been exposed.
At first, with Kim Baek-rang revealing that the Artist was Han Geon-woo, and the uproar around the self-proclaimed regressor, people hadn’t paid attention to Alex and his dragon.
But with Taeguk’s fall and the regressor scandal dying down, stories of the dragon that had ended the Beast Frenzy resurfaced.
(Well, it was inevitable. Too many people saw me visiting Mirae that day.)
There had been two riders on the dragon’s back.
One was Mirae, and the other was a foreign man.
It didn’t take long for people to conclude that the foreigner was the dragon’s master.
And once Alex had been spotted in Ironblood’s lobby, it became only a matter of time before the truth spread.
(For my own safety, I had no choice but to join Ironblood.)
And so, Alex the newcomer began his life as a member of Ironblood Guild.
