Chapter 71
Chapter 71: The Stick, The Carrot and The Stick (2)
"Elder An Kang-han."
"Yes!"
The summoned elder looked at me.
Mid-40s. A thug with a greedy look and tattoos running all the way up his neck.
He had a big build, but I could see right through him.
All bluster.
The tattoo on his neck was clearly etched to hide his weakness.
"What do you do as an elder?"
"……"
An Kang-han only hesitated, unable to answer.
"You don't even know what you do?"
"Ah, that……"
"How many floors have you climbed in the tower?"
"25 floors."
An Kang-han answered in an unconfident voice.
"What's your annual salary?"
"It's just over 3 billion won."
"You do nothing and you've barely reached 25 floors, yet your salary is 3 billion won?"
"……"
"An Kang-han's elder position is hereby stripped, effective immediately."
"What?!"
An Kang-han's eyes widened. News like a bolt from the blue.
"Reach the 40th floor and I'll restore it."
"My, my lord!"
"Any complaints? Then you can go take some air too."
Swish.
I pointed to the glass window Hwang Mu-yeol had jumped out of.
"……No complaints."
An Kang-han, stripped of his elder position, sat down weakly.
"Next, Elder Sin Jung-dan."
"Yes, yes?"
An elder in his late 50s hurriedly snapped to attention.
"How many floors have you climbed in the Murim Tower?"
"31 floors!"
Sin Jung-dan answered confidently. I asked again.
"When was your last climb?"
"……"
He couldn't answer that question.
A reaction I had expected.
I came fully prepared, having looked into everything in advance.
"Your last climb was over 1 year and 8 months ago, was it not?"
"Y, yes."
"Sin Jung-dan's elder position is also stripped. The conditions for reinstatement are the same."
"Un, understood."
I pointed to another.
"Elder Sin Hyeon-u."
"Yes. Gate Master."
"You're young. How old are you?"
"29 years old."
"How many floors?"
"17……"
"Who is your father?"
"Elder Sin Jung-dan……"
He answered in a shrinking voice.
An elder position obtained through blood ties without any real ability. Unacceptable.
"Sin Hyeon-u's position is also stripped."
"Yes."
In an instant, 3 out of the 9 elders had been dismissed.
The remaining 6 elders were trembling.
"The Red Dragon Gate is made up of climbers. And yet, someone who isn't even a climber is sitting in an elder's seat."
"……"
"Raise your hand."
A man in his 40s raised his hand from the corner. His name was Park Jae-mu.
The person Elder Lee Geum-son had glanced at when she subtly mentioned the Red Dragon Gate's financial difficulties earlier—that was this very man.
"What do you do?"
"I'm in charge of the Red Dragon Gate's finances."
"So you're the treasurer. You must know how to read accounts, then?"
"Pardon? Well, a little."
"Where did you graduate from?"
"……"
"That was the wrong question. You don't need to have graduated from university to know accounting."
Park Jae-mu elder's face brightened at my words for just a moment.
Then I immediately threw another question at him.
"Answer this. Explain the double-entry bookkeeping principle, one of the fundamental assumptions of accounting, and describe how that principle affects the relationship between assets, liabilities, and equity."
"D, double-entry……. Pardon?"
"Pathetic, for someone who calls himself a treasurer. This is a basic accounting question."
"I'm sorry……"
"Elder Lee Geum-son."
"Yes!"
Lee Geum-son, who had been smiling from the corner, jumped to her feet.
"Answer the same question."
Thinking her chance had come, Lee Geum-son began rattling off the explanation.
"Double-entry bookkeeping is a method of always recording money in 2 ways—where it came from when money comes in, and where it went when money is spent. And in accounting, assets always equal liabilities plus equity, and this equation always holds—"
"That's enough."
Lee Geum-son looked at me with a satisfied expression.
"Did everyone hear that?"
The elders fell silent.
"Park Jae-mu's elder position is stripped. Financial management authority is handed back to Elder Lee Geum-son."
Park Jae-mu hung his head.
Lee Geum-son pledged her loyalty to me, just as Jo Je-bin had moments before.
"Thank you!"
I glared at the elders with wide eyes.
Their spirits crushed, they bowed their heads.
"This is a turbulent age. A time when strength is everything. Not the hollow title of elder—only true ability will protect you."
"Yes!"
"Today's meeting ends here. Go back, and each of you think carefully about what you can do for the Red Dragon Gate."
"Understood."
The meeting concluded.
Some were swelling with hope for a new era, while others left the meeting hall with sullen expressions.
* * *
Once everyone had left the meeting hall, Lee Won-ryong approached me and spoke.
"It seems to have been resolved well."
"You look worried."
He hesitated before answering.
"Elders like Lee Geum-son and Jo Je-bin seem to have submitted completely, but the remaining elders may have other thoughts. They might even fight among themselves, trying to take advantage of the drastically changed situation."
"Leave them."
"Will that be alright?"
"You grow by fighting. If you try to control everything too closely, you'll ruin it instead. They need time to sort out the hierarchy among themselves."
"Those are wise words."
Then Lee Won-ryong, as though the most important matter still remained, asked again carefully.
"What should we do about Hwang Mu-yeol?"
"……Where is he right now?"
"He's on the 20th floor. I'm told he hasn't woken up yet."
Hwang Mu-yeol, whom I had thrown out the window.
He wasn't dead. More precisely, I hadn't killed him.
I had thrown Hwang Mu-yeol out the window to deliver a great shock to the elders, but I had actually tied Yama's Life-Chasing Threads to his foot before dropping him.
The dull thud that echoed as he fell was produced by smashing a watermelon.
I had injected poison to knock him unconscious, so the man ended up dangling from the outer wall of the Red Dragon Gate building.
Lee Won-ryong's subordinates quickly brought him inside the building and are keeping watch over him.
However nameless a hero I may be—
Killing someone like Hwang Mu-yeol by making him fall in broad daylight with people's eyes wide open would bring about a lot of troublesome complications.
I picked up a pencil left on the desk and rolled it between my fingers as I spoke to Lee Won-ryong.
"Release him."
Lee Won-ryong paused and said,
"Hwang Mu-yeol will try to take revenge on you, my lord. Elder An Kang-han, Sin Jung-dan, Sin Hyeon-u, and Park Jae-mu, all stripped of their positions, may side with him as well."
"Let them."
"Pardon?"
"The choice is theirs. Whether to fall in line with me, or try to eliminate me. Those with sharp minds and good instincts won't dare challenge me, but if they lack that……"
Snap—
I broke the pencil and added.
"They'll have to be disposed of. Incompetent fools."
Straighten.
Lee Won-ryong pulled himself upright, spine rigid and posture set.
"Now I understand the depth of my lord's intent. I, Lee Won-ryong, will never again doubt my lord's words from this point forward."
His eyes gleamed as he spoke.
"I'll assign my men as your escort."
"Not me—assign them to Hwang Mu-yeol."
"Ah……!"
Lee Won-ryong grasped what I meant and nodded.
As expected, a sharp one.
I should give him a gift.
"Is there anything you need?"
"Nothing. As long as I have you, my lord, I need nothing."
"Excessive flattery becomes poison."
"I'll keep that in mind."
"But I happen to like poison."
"Loyalty!"
I reached into the golf bag that had been placed in the meeting hall beforehand and drew out a single blade.
It was the Priceless Blade that the blacksmith—the master of Gi-cheol, whom I had met on the 20th floor—had forged.
Lee Won-ryong, who recognized it as a masterpiece at a glance, received the blade with his mouth agape.
"Use it well."
"Th, thank you. My lord!"
【The man who, though second-in-command, feels more satisfied than when he was first-in-command, has been moved from the bottom of his heart. +1,000 Happiness】
"Take this too. It's a spiritual medicine. I saw your eyes light up earlier when I gave Jo Je-bin his spiritual medicine."
Lee Won-ryong opened the box, confirmed the spiritual medicine, then looked up at me with trembling eyes.
But it didn't stop there.
"There's more."
I pulled a small medicine vial from my breast pocket.
"I heard your wife is ill. That she's receiving treatment in America. Give her this. She'll be out of bed within a week."
"My, my lord!"
"You can trust it and give it to her. It was made by none other than the Nameless Hero."
"……!"
Lee Won-ryong staggered for a moment.
He looked at me with eyes that could not believe it.
"Haah……"
【The man who is a scoundrel to the world but a devoted lover to his wife alone, has been deeply moved. +2,000 Happiness】
His voice trembled low.
I said nothing and picked up a cigar, put it to his lips.
I snapped my fingers to produce a flame and lit it for him.
"No one else is allowed to, but you can smoke in front of me."
Trickle.
Tears flowed from Lee Won-ryong's eyes.
Were they tears of emotion, or tears of relief?
I couldn't tell, but one thing was certain.
Even without Gu Poison now—
Lee Won-ryong is mine.
I settled back into the chair.
"Excuse me, my lord."
"What?"
"What should we do with the assets the elders handed over to the Red Dragon Gate earlier?"
The accounts I had frozen earlier had been unfrozen, so funds were in good supply.
"How much is there in total?"
"It looks to be around 60 billion won."
"Less than I expected."
"What was promised from the start was about this much, and the assets the elders had been siphoning off to the side will likely be about twice that."
"We'll need to retrieve those as well."
Lee Won-ryong let out a short sigh and said.
"The elders' backlash will be significant."
"There won't be any backlash."
"Pardon?"
‘The dead don't backlash.’
Lee Won-ryong read the killing intent that flashed through my eyes and nodded.
"Setting aside the funds needed immediately and the amount to be held in reserve, the surplus?"
"It looks like around 40 billion won will remain."
"Many people died while climbing the tower as members of the Red Dragon Gate, didn't they?"
"……Yes."
"And their bereaved families?"
"I'm not sure. Given the times, life won't be easy for them."
"Use the 40 billion to establish a foundation. Provide living expenses and medical support to those bereaved families. If there are children, cover their tuition too."
Lee Won-ryong lifted his eyes in surprise, then immediately bowed his head.
"I'll take care of it."
A donation.
It was probably something he had never once considered.
Congratulations, Lee Won-ryong.
‘You've joined the ranks of Happiness Ambassadors.’
I asked him again.
"You all have some medicinal herbs stockpiled, right?"
"Yes."
"Take stock of the inventory and report it to me, and one more thing."
"Please speak."
I looked at him with gleaming eyes and said.
"About the Muinhoe—"
"I'm deeply sorry!"
The moment I mentioned Seong Chu-hyeon's Muinhoe, Lee Won-ryong flinched violently and snapped to a stand-at-ease posture.
Without reacting in any particular way to Lee Won-ryong's behavior—showing he knew his own fault—I asked him.
"With Seong Chu-hyeon gone, what are the Muinhoe climbers doing?"
"It seems they're looking for Seong Chu-hyeon. I'm told they're asking around in the vicinity of the climbers who disappeared."
A wasted effort.
Seong Chu-hyeon and the Muinhoe members who had broken into the Choi brothers' home had already become fertilizer.
"Tell the Muinhoe that the offer for the Red Dragon Gate to absorb and merge with them remains valid."
"……Understood."
Lee Won-ryong appeared to have several questions, but he didn't ask them directly.
A commendable attitude for a subordinate.
"But attach one condition."
"What condition do you mean?"
"They must break through to the 30th floor no later than this coming Friday."
"Understood."
Lee Won-ryong smiled and looked at me, then turned and walked toward the exit.
I gazed out the window and thought quietly.
Currently, I need to climb to the 27th floor.
Kim Tae-yang's attacker, Park Seon-su, is approaching the 29th floor.
Hummm—
As I drew up my internal energy, something glimmering appeared in my hand.
A silver key.
【The Silver Key has been summoned.】
\—You can force entry into the Republic of Korea's Murim Tower.
① You can force entry even if a climber is in the middle of their ascent.
② Entry is only possible on floors you have conquered or are in the process of conquering.
③ Can be used once per month.
"Park Seon-su, I'll deal with you in the tower."
‘What you did to Kim Tae-yang—’
‘I'll repay it several times over.’
【Kim Tae-yang trembles with anticipation. +10,000 Happiness】