TRPM 386

chapter 386

Instructor Woo Ji-min, who came to visit my house, said that since I was planning to visit the Iron-Blood Guild, she wanted to tag along and see the guild for herself.

“…Huh? Why?”

I couldn’t help but ask when I heard her words.

Did Woo Ji-min even have a reason to go to the Iron-Blood Guild?

“Gun-woo, you’re planning to join the Iron-Blood Guild, right?”
“Well, yes.”
“Exactly.”
“……”

That alone doesn’t explain anything.

“Honestly… after I finish the ten years working as an academy instructor, as agreed with Han Ji, I’ll also have to join the Iron-Blood Guild.”
“Ah… so that’s what you mean.”

I finally understood what she was saying.

Woo Ji-min has to receive my inner energy regularly to be able to function.
So, she intends to join the same guild as me so that she can stay close by.

“It’s still something far in the future, but I’d like to at least get a feel for the atmosphere now.”
“…I don’t mind, but you should convince Yeon Mi-rae first.”

Even if I’ll eventually join the Iron-Blood Guild, I’m not a member yet.
So we need the permission of Yeon Mi-rae, who is.

Hearing that, Woo Ji-min immediately headed to the house next door—Yeon Mi-rae’s house.

“Haa…”

Watching her, I sighed and went to the entrance to put on my shoes.

“Take care.”
“I’ll be back.”

After being seen off by my mother, I left the house and saw three people standing in front of Yeon Mi-rae’s place.

Yeon Mi-rae, who was going to the Iron-Blood Guild with me today.
Sophia, who lived with her.
And Woo Ji-min, who had just gone to ask for permission to come along.

‘Judging by Woo Ji-min’s bright face, looks like she got approval.’

Thinking that, I walked up and asked Yeon Mi-rae,

“Is Sophia coming too?”
“Yes. She said she’d rather come along than stay home alone.”

When I looked at Sophia after hearing that, she lowered her head slightly in greeting.

Hmm… I would prefer to keep the guild system hidden if possible.

‘But wait—if only Ji Hyung-man uses the system, people will eventually find out anyway. It’s impossible to hide it completely, huh?’

Since all Iron-Blood members will use the system, Sophia, as a guild member, will naturally learn about it too.
Yeon Mi-rae knows this, which is probably why she didn’t stop Sophia from coming.

‘It’s a bit unsettling that Sophia belongs to President Richard rather than me… but since Richard and I are in an alliance, there’s no need to be overly wary.’

Besides, there’s nothing about the guild system that could be considered dangerous information.
Even if Richard learns about it, the worst he could do is ask if he could use it too.

‘…Seriously, why did the Awakener System make this guild system exclusively mine?’

With that thought, I pressed the elevator button.

******

After I explained the basics of the guild system to Ji Hyung-man, I gave him access rights.

Then he…

“Ooooh… Ohhh…!”

…looked absolutely moved.

“…I mean, I get that it’s convenient, but is it really that touching?”

“Master.”
“Yeah?”
“With this system, about 80% of the paperwork disappears.”
“…Really?”

…Okay, I could see why he’d be so grateful.

“Ahem! Forgive my display.”

But this is… a system just for you, Artist?

“That’s what I’m saying. I have no idea what the Awakener System was thinking when it made this system exclusive to me…”
“Hmm… I think I know.”

Ji Hyung-man responded, sounding confident.

As someone with extensive experience as a guild master, he seemed to have an idea.

“What is it?”
“This is only a theory, but to test its validity, let me ask: the Awakener System favors you, right?”
“That’s right.”
“Then the purpose is clear.”

It’s to expand the Artist’s influence.

“Influence?”
“Think of it as political standing. Anyway, you gave me most of the authority in this system… but you can also revoke it all at any time.”
“Correct.”

After all, the system designates me as the top authority.

“Then what you need to do is simple: sell access rights to the guild system.”

Rather than money, it’d be better to trade for stakes in the guilds that want to use it.

“Ohh…”

Listening to him, I checked one of the system’s features: the ability to create sub-departments.

Using this, each guild could operate within its own branch of the system.

‘And on the side, I could freely view the internal information of any guild using the system.’

Of course, smart guilds would avoid recording sensitive information here.

“Artist?”
“Gun-woo?”

Sophia and Woo Ji-min, who had been listening, called out to me.

“Can I share this with Chairman Richard? The World Awakeners’ Association is under the UN, so they can’t give you shares, but they’ll compensate you in some other way.”
“Should we tell Han Ji too? Since he’s the director of the Seoul Awakeners’ Academy, he might be able to give you some shares.”

They looked like they were about to pull out their phones immediately, even though I hadn’t decided anything yet.

“That’s not all. The greatest advantage of this guild system is that even non-awakeners can indirectly access the Awakener System.”
“Ah, right. That’s an important point too.”

Even my mother, who isn’t an awakener, could use the guild system.
So it was already proven.

“It must be a feature designed for non-awakener guild members. The key is: they can also benefit. Which means, organizations don’t need to be entirely composed of awakeners to use this system.”

Ordinary corporations, non-awakener armies, police forces…
Practically any organization could use it.

If they understood how useful it was, they’d have no choice but to pay me for access.

“True, this way you’d definitely secure a ton of influence.”

But as I listened, I wondered—are there really no downsides?

“Are there disadvantages?”
“Of course. Since all the power is centralized in you, there will be groups that try to check your influence.”

However—

“At least in Korea, that won’t happen. The top guilds here all have decent relations, and every guild master owes their life to either Mi-rae or you.”

That must be referring to when Yeon Mi-rae killed the Taeguk Guild’s master.

“And as for corporations… if they want to keep producing things like low-frequency emitters or pill-type potions copyrighted under your name, they’ll stay quiet.”

So the only risk would come from abroad.

“But didn’t quite a few foreign powerhouses survive Japan thanks to you?”
“…Yeah.”
“And in America, you’re the one who resolved the Chicago zombie incident. Anyone who tries to oppose you would effectively be making enemies of both those elites and the U.S. itself. They’d be crushed before it even reached your ears.”
“……”

Hearing this, I realized I already had a decent level of influence even without the guild system.

“So really, there’s hardly any downside to selling access.”

Sophia, the most skilled at handling paperwork, nodded in agreement.

“What about unemployment because of reduced paperwork?”
“Oh, you mean clerks? I doubt it. Awakeners still have to do some paperwork, and with less of it, they’ll just spend more time in dungeons. That’ll create more tasks overall, so there shouldn’t be mass unemployment.”

Hmm…

“Besides, there aren’t many jobs that only do paperwork. Usually, it’s a side duty.”

Well, in that case…

“……”

Everyone in the Iron-Blood Guildmaster’s office turned to me, waiting for my decision.

Though I already knew they all wanted the system to spread.

“Alright. Let’s do it.”

I nodded.

******

Hyung-man said the Iron-Blood Guild’s PR team would handle promotion for the system.
He also suggested creating an inspection team to monitor misuse and investigate buyers.

‘Not sure if that’s really the guild’s role… but then again, they’ve always handled protecting my image and even procuring rare items for me. This is just an extension of that.’

“…Hmm…”
“What’s wrong?”
“No, it’s just… seeing a whole team devoted to supporting Gun-woo makes him feel like such an important figure.”

Normally, people who’ve “crossed the wall” would have such teams, but since that wasn’t the case 200 years ago, Woo Ji-min seemed amazed.

But—

“Don’t you have such a team too, Instructor Woo?”
“Huh? Do I?”

She hadn’t crossed the wall, but since she was someone resurrected after 200 years, she was well-known. I was sure Director Han Ji had assigned her a team.

Judging by her reaction, maybe she just forgot.

‘Or Han Ji told her and she spaced out.’

Not that it really mattered.

“Anyway, that took longer than expected.”

Originally, I’d only planned to talk about using the guild system in Iron-Blood, but things had escalated.

Fortunately, since the guild would handle the complicated parts, I wouldn’t need to worry much.