Chapter 32
Chapter 32: Revenge is a Hundredfold (1)
If one became Prime Minister of a great empire, it might seem as though a single gesture could command the world……. But there was no way to handle one's only daughter.
"Erica, is it really so difficult?"
"Prime Minister, it is absolutely impossible."
Erica shook her head at the Prime Minister's command. As if representing her regretful heart, her red eyebrows drooped downward.
"This is a matter of great importance to the family."
"Even with the Duke's directive, it is an impossible task."
Neither his command as Prime Minister nor his instruction as the head of the Ducal House penetrated Erica's ears.
Thus the Duke brought out his last remaining measure.
"Erica, I ask you as your father."
"……."
"Since I met your mother, I have never felt this way before."
The Prime Minister and Duke grasped Erica's hand and pleaded with her, almost begging.
Clang!
He had reached out so urgently that the expensive teacup placed on the table shattered completely.
The appearance was far from good.
'Has he gone senile in his old age?'
From the perspective of the daughter in question, her heart ached to see her father acting this way. Yet no matter what, she could not bring herself to follow his instruction to deliver that large pink diamond ring to Ruelle.
"You said you purchased it from the black market, correct?"
Erica, who knew Erik quite well, said this.
"And you mentioned paying ten times its original price?"
She also understood Erik's behavioral principles perfectly.
'If it were just ten times, Erik wouldn't be that angry.'
Erica realized her father still had a chance remaining.
Thus, she dissuaded him.
"Father, Erik's repurchasing that ring at ten times the price was an opportunity he gave you."
"Erik must have put the ring into the black market……. Isn't it a suggestion to approach from a different angle?"
The Prime Minister stroked his chin.
He grasped the meaning of Erik returning the ring through the black market.
'It seems to mean approach slowly. Still, it's frustrating.'
When he retrieved the ring from the black market and investigated the circumstances, he read a report that was difficult to overlook.
[District 5 Dark Organization Boss Marco – Presumed to be under Erik's command]
'His Majesty the Emperor was pleased.'
But for the Prime Minister, it was unwelcome news.
The man he had chosen as Erica's match had a dark organization boss as his subordinate?
The Prime Minister's mind grew complicated.
'Hmm.'
If Erica and Erik were to marry, and he and Ruelle were to be united……
'That would not be bad.'
Once the two of them became parents to two children, that would suffice.
As Prime Minister, he held the position of second only to the Emperor among all people.
He simply thought and concluded as circumstances dictated.
As the Prime Minister's long beard trembled, Erica's eyebrows narrowed.
'He is indulging in futile fantasies again.'
The opportunity Erica spoke of was entirely different from what the Prime Minister thought.
It did not mean a chance to reconnect with Ruelle, but rather a warning not to approach her……
Suddenly, a childhood memory surfaced.
"Erik, Father Ruelle is quite popular, but why does he become furious whenever you meet a man?"
"How could I simply overlook ruffians pestering someone on the same level as Mother?"
"That is a viscount……. No, you, a lowly commoner, would not understand."
"What?"
At that moment, young Erik's trapezius muscle twitched.
"You're probably the only one who would call a noble inheriting the viscount family a 'ruffian.'"
Erica continued speaking lightly as if ignorant.
What had Erik said at that time?
Smack!
"Unless they are stronger than me, they cannot covet Father Ruelle."
He spouted such nonsense while striking her with a chestnut bump.
At that time, his body was still small……
Young Erik had grown up and become very large.
He had become a real man with overwhelming physicality and mighty, immense divine power.
Moreover, a truly outstanding man possessing both status and strength.
'It is nearly impossible for Father Ruelle to marry…….'
In fact, Erica had one secret stratagem to make Ruelle accept the Prime Minister's ring.
'It might be possible just to give the ring.'
If she changed only the crafting style to the refined design of the possessors, Ruelle would surely take that ring.
Ruelle, who was particularly fond of the formal dress created by possessors.
'Because he enjoys luxury goods.'
Through frequent interaction, Erica had come to know Ruelle's tastes well.
'He would accept just the ring and nothing more.'
Yet even so, the probability of Ruelle and the Duke becoming a couple approached zero.
Just as Erik, raised watching Ruelle, had high standards, so too did Ruelle, who had raised Erik, possess extremely high standards.
Erica looked at the Duke.
His red beard trembled, suggesting he remained caught in futile fantasies.
An iron-blooded Prime Minister and second-in-command of the great empire.
'Yet he is weak when it comes to love…….'
Erica intended to make the Duke face reality.
Before Ruelle stood Erik.
Erik was the existence who would become the strongest of the age.
Though it might not be apparent now, that anger might be repaid in the future.
"Father."
"Heh heh, yes?"
The Prime Minister awakened from his fantasies.
Before his eyes appeared his daughter's face, more serious than ever.
Steadfast and resolved.
A face much like the one she had worn when her older brother had departed on his duty to the Labyrinth……
"Do you remember the day I was beaten like a troll during the Dog Days?"
What she uttered sounded decidedly strange.
"How could I forget that day……"
It was the day seventeen-year-old Erica had been carried in a bloody pulp.
She had sustained a serious injury that did not respond to a High Priest's divine power.
What had the priest said then?
"The divine aura blocking the wound is unreasonably strong. At minimum, the Archbishop must come……"
'The wound was blocked by divine power,' he had said.
How could one inflict wounds on the body of a servant of God, preventing them from receiving treatment?
It was the most vicious method.
Well, thanks to that, Erica had learned a little about humility……
But as a father, his heart was torn.
The Prime Minister stroked his chin.
"So why are you bringing up that story with such a face?"
"At that time, I struck Erik across the cheek once."
"And then?"
Erica's slender hand rose above the ornate tea table.
Wrapping the Prime Minister's hand as if in prayer, Erica opened her mouth.
"Erik said he would repay me a hundredfold and beat me."
"The matter of tenfold……"
The Prime Minister's eyes turned toward the pink diamond.
"Father, stop before it becomes a hundredfold."
The Prime Minister understood the meaning of 'opportunity' clearly.
***
"Really, brother. You said to let someone else raid the main base! So why did you draw that toothpick!"
Jang Du-sik blocked Erik, who was striding forward.
Erik held the [Sword of Creation] in one hand, but today the sword looked particularly thin like a toothpick.
That meant, in other words,
Erik himself looked that much more massive.
"Du-sik, even if I let someone else do it, shouldn't I be directly involved?"
This in turn signified the magnitude of his anger.
'If things go on like this, there will be trouble.'
Several faces surfaced in Jang Du-sik's mind.
'The lackeys.'
Janson, the old man, the twin masks.
These beings, unified as 'lackeys' in Jang Du-sik's mind.
Jang Du-sik had become a person through Erik's guidance, and they could continue their lives through 'dealings.'
As Janson's scar grew increasingly deep, Jang Du-sik felt sympathy for him.
'If push comes to shove, those guys……'
Erik's attitude toward Jang Du-sik and his attitude toward the lackeys were clearly different.
Yet through various incidents, they had become familiar faces to each other.
As one who served the same brother, Jang Du-sik wished they would live longer.
Thus.
"Brother! No matter what, shouldn't we gather what we can?"
Jang Du-sik bought time.
His plan was to have them leave the Labyrinth after Erik's anger subsided a bit.
'Really, it's not like we're releasing a calamity upon the world……'
Erik, burning with anger, was so fearsome.
"Brother, look. Don't we have this many items?"
Thump!
Erik's advancing footsteps stopped.
Erik turned his head to look at Jang Du-sik……
'A cash item?'
In his hand was held something of an unfamiliar shape.
Erik completely turned his body around from the direction he had been heading.
'To ignore farming?'
For a human, this would be difficult to overlook.
Jang Du-sik walked toward the [Divine Barrier] Erik had established, tapping his palm with the cudgel.
Inside the barrier, terrified possessors trembled with fear.
'Those things were here.'
They were possessors discovered during Divine Purification, whom he had completely forgotten about.
The shock of Ruelle being attacked had been that severe.
"Looking at what these guys are wearing, there must be quite a bit of money in their inventory."
Jang Du-sik knew Erik very well.
So he drew out the magic word that could stop an angry Erik.
"Hey! Don't the imperial mages buy items used by black mages at high prices?"
"Possessors, how much do you have? What? Brother! These guys hid a million gold!"
"Shouldn't we search the black mages' clothes too? Brother, you said it yourself? The flower of combat is farming!"
[Item] [Gold] [Farming]
The words Jang Du-sik uttered were stimulating.
They were primitive words that stirred dopamine.
'Since Janson handled it well anyway.'
It wasn't that Ruelle was attacked; Janson had already suppressed the would-be attackers beforehand, hadn't he?
As for those who attacked……
They would be erased with a holy name and that would be that.
After his mind cooled, Erik moved.
"Let's finish organizing here first."
"Brother, you search the possessors' inventories, and I'll look through the black mages' corpses here."
Jang Du-sik examined the corpses of the black mages.
Well, their flesh had evaporated from divine power, so
It would be more accurate to say he was rummaging through the remaining clothes.
"What, these are not even possessors, so why hide a scrap of paper like this?"
Jang Du-sik pulled out a long ticket from between the clothes.
"Gasp!"
At that, the possessors reflexively swallowed their saliva.
They had deliberately suppressed their presence while watching the angry Erik……
'Why does an NPC have that?'
The paper in Jang Du-sik's hand was something that could not be ignored.
Why would someone who was not a possessor, a resident of this place, possess such a thing?
To that extent, the ticket's existence seemed anomalous.
"Du-sik, what is that?"
The enormous Erik responded to the small commotion.
[Guild Home Transfer Ticket]
Erik, whose expression had been consistently blank, showed a reaction.
At the appearing item name tag, Erik's eyebrows shot upward.
"Guild Home?"
It was not the Adventurer's Guild, but rather the guild system within the game itself……
End-game content.
Guild Home was something one decorated only after reaching max level, in the final stages of a season.
It appeared in reality?
Erik called over Nishida Ryo.
"What are the conditions?"
"Well, in the last patch, the guild home creation right came out as a cash item. Perhaps it was possessed by someone who has that……?"
'It must be a patch that appeared after I was possessed.'
It was natural that the game patch version differed depending on the possession timeline.
By his knowledge, the current version is now [Ver 665. Preseason].
'I should conduct an inspection.'
Erik had the possessors perform several cross-verifications regarding the Status Window and Community.
"This is insane."
Erik furrowed his brow.
It was at a level difficult to handle simply by searching for forbidden words in the Community.
Especially regarding the number of people in the Community.
'There are over 500,000 possessors?'
Sigh.
As Erik exhaled, the possessors stepped backward, chirping!
"When exactly did the number of possessors increase to 500,000?"
"I, I don't know either."
"It was clearly just over 20,000 until recently……. Or rather, it was that way until just before entering the Labyrinth!"
One word surfaced clearly in Erik's mind.
Main Story, [Ver 666. Great Cataclysm Patch]
Following Erik's possession, the [Ver 665. Preseason Patch] was implemented.
It was a patch implemented before new content appeared in RPG games.
'After the Preseason comes the Great Cataclysm Patch.'
The result of interrogating the possessors.
A fact discovered commonly by all nations and religious organizations.
An event where the world's destruction began, forcing Labyrinth raids accordingly.
'The patch has already begun in effect.'
In childhood, the number of possessors had been around 100.
From around age fifteen, the number increased to around 20,000.
'The first 100 or so who were possessed were closed beta testers, and the remaining 20,000 or so were open beta testers.'
If one thought about it that way,
'Now, it is essentially the official launch.'
The current 500,000 who had been brought here signified an official beginning.
It might be a vain conjecture.
But Erik did not think so.
'Soon, a great transformation will occur in the world.'
Perhaps around the next Labyrinth?
His intuition in such matters was always accurate.
Once Erik finished thinking,
"There, brother, I finished farming."
Jang Du-sik approached, dangling a large bundle from the end of his cudgel.
He had woven together the black mages' robes into a bundle and filled it with items.
At that sincerity, Erik's mood improved somewhat.
"You worked hard."
Erik led the group toward the escape stone.
His appearance walking with arms crossed, standingtall, seemed absorbed in thought.
'Just what are you thinking about?'
Jang Du-sik's concern grew.
Soon the escape stone came into view.
It was the last stone left by the black mages after their destruction, and there were no signs of any tampering.
Yet Erik simply stood before the stone.
"There, brother. What do you intend to do?"
The question came from Jang Du-sik, but Erik spoke directly to the possessors instead.
"If I tear this ticket, it will transport me to the Guild Home, correct?"
Erik approaches and casts his shadow over the possessors.
The eerie expression made their knees buckle.
Nishida Ryo and Kang Pung-ho stared intently at Park Chang-ho.
'Crazy bastards.'
At that, Park Chang-ho pressed his temples tightly and recited,
"If there is a designated Guild Home……. We will move to the Guild Home!"
A smile surfaced at the corner of Erik's mouth.