Chapter 217
The conclusion of the conversation with Ji-Ho was simple.
‘At least, In-Young cannot pressure me with internal political issues.’
As previously mentioned, Ji-Ho had a wide network of support. Even after retiring from his position, many people still desired to follow him. As a result, the dissatisfaction toward Yu-Seong from those who expressed concerns about his position had decreased significantly with Ji-Ho's endorsement.
Needless to say, there was no need to be conscious regarding when he acted. With this, the only thing left was a full-scale war; a battle where he and In-Young would fight each other with their powers! In a way, it was the essence of a conglomerate, as Woo-Jae had often described corporate battles as wars.
‘Hyung-nim said to call him whenever I needed his help, but…’
Yu-Seong had no intention of doing so.
‘If he continues to strain himself, his illness could become really severe.’
.
Yu-Seong was determined to save Ji-Ho at all costs. In fact, he didn’t want to lose anything in his life. With such a lofty goal, he had no intention of relying on Ji-Ho's power at all.
Then, just in time, both Yu-Ri and Do-Yoon returned from the promotion evaluation. They had finally reached the S-rank, a level that was considered somewhat absolute in the player’s world.
After hearing Yu-Seong's story, the Jin siblings both smiled confidently. Yu-Ri declared, "Full-scale war? Just leave it to us.”
"I won’t let them touch even a single strand of your hair, young master,” Do-Yoon added.
Seeing their confident expressions, Yu-Seong could not help but feel relieved.
Then, Jenny also returned from the Tower of Heaven.
With a total of four people now, Yu-Seong assessed their military strength.
‘Our side has two A-ranks and two S-ranks. If we include backup forces, we can have around three S-ranks.’
And there was Young-Hoon, his new secret weapon.
Although the number was small, Yu-Seong had a formidable group of elites. In other words, they were an elite minority. On the other hand, In-Young had a large number of supporters, including many Guild Presidents who were swayed by her.
Yu-Seong sat and pondered. Based on the original novel, how would In-Young move?
‘Choi In-Young has a cautious personality.’
There was a high probability that the Guild Presidents would be moved first to help her avoid traps or dangers. Although it was a war where the number of troops was overwhelmingly in In-Young's favor, Yu-Seong didn't think he was in a bad situation.
‘It would be disadvantageous if we really stood in a line on the plain and fought, but…’
In such a war, however, a small group would rather have an advantage.
After weighing all the factors, Yu-Seong stood up. He had made his decision, announcing, "Let's go to the Baekho Guild."
The Baekho Guild might not be one of Korea's Top 10 guilds, but it was a company that could be considered among the Top 20 guilds. Obviously, it was also a place where people like In-Young's subordinates had positions as the Guild President.
"What's our purpose?" asked Yu-Ri, who had read Yu-Seong's mind.
"Reconciliation or death. We have to choose one."
"Is reconciliation possible?"
"There is a way," said Yu-Seong confidently.
Just as he had done to Young-Hoon before, Yu-Seong knew that he could break In-Young's charm with his Third Eye. And in addition to that, he had another weapon.
"Let's go to my family home first," he said.
"Why do we need to go there?" asked Yu-Ri.
"There's something there that could shake up all of Korea," Yu-Seong replied, thinking of Woo-Jae’s office, which he had permission to access at any time.
The materials in there made Yu-Seong's eyes glitter with excitement.
***
Meanwhile, In-Young was moving as Yu-Seong had predicted.
‘On the surface, my forces are much stronger. But for some reason, Father has forced us both to fight between us.’
In fact, she was feeling wary of this fact.
‘Also, thinking about Min Young-Hoon’s defeat, there's something else that Choi Yu-Seong is hiding.’
Therefore, she decided to first move the Guild Presidents who were vulnerable to her charm skills. However, she received no good news from any of the guilds which had accepted the request.
"Also, Kim Do-Hoon of the Baekho Guild suddenly disappeared..."
In addition, Lee Jin-Yong of the Jeok-Cheon Guild had refused to take on a mission, saying that it was an impossible mission to achieve.
The person who surprised In-Young the most was Kwak Han-Cheol, the President of the Eoseureum Guild. He had fallen deeply under her Charm Skill, but for some reason, he had spewed insults at her and expressed his anger.
At this point, even In-Young couldn't help but realize that Yu-Seong had found a way to break her Charm Skill.
‘Choi Yu-Seong has a way to break my Charm Skill!’
A chill ran down her spine as she had that sudden realization. She could see her network of relationships crumbling at a rapid pace.
‘Could the same thing be happening to Min Young-Hoon…?’
In-Young shook her head.
‘Even without the Charm Skill, he truly loved me.’
There was almost no way to break her Charm Skill when it was mixed with genuine feelings.
‘He would rather choose death than betrayal, but…’
However, the ways of the world were unpredictable.
In the wake of Yu-Seong's attack, In-Young felt a faint sense of caution toward Young-Hoon. Either way, she felt a sense of loss from having lost part of the territory that she had personally built. It was a huge blow to her pride.
‘I did think that the kid had grown up quite a bit, but…’
She had never expected him to attack her so quickly.
‘Fortunately, at least, most of what I lost is external power.’
In other words, the fortifications at the estate's border had collapsed. Unfortunately for Yu-Seong, In-Young could overcome it again with having a strong foundation inside.
After much contemplation, In-Young sat in her chair and rolled a single white go stone across her desk.
‘Choi Jin-Woo. He said he’d reach S-rank not too long ago.’
Also, there were three others with him who had also reached S-rank.
‘And then, there is Choi Yeo-Reum.’
In-Young’s eyes gleamed as she rolled another stone across her desk.
‘There are at least two others among the fools following her who have reached S-rank.’
Above all, the two of them were disposable pawns.
‘Choi Jin-Woo is strong-willed and would still argue alot even if I became the Guild President, and Yeo-Reum... She'll be consistently useless.’
Finally, In-Young made a decision with a smirk.
‘Let’s make them fight.’
It was a game of pitting them against Yu-Seong, and In-Young didn't care which side emerged victorious, as long as they shed each other's blood. In fact, all she had to do was sit back and wait for the opportune moment to strike.
Of course, she had to be fully prepared for any unexpected situations.
‘Since you never know.’
In-Young pressed the button ‘#1’ on her phone.
After a brief tone, a cold voice answered on the other end.
- My niece. It's been a while since you called.
"I have a request," In-Young said.
- Of course. If that's not the situation, you would never reach out to me. Though, it's impossible for now. The Godfather is keeping a close watch on us.
The Godfather of the Demon King Worshipers—the unexpected title made In-Young frown deeply.
In-Young's maternal family were allied with the Demon King Worshipers, but their beliefs were significantly distinct. In the meantime, the frequent conflict was inevitable as the Godfather constantly attempted to subjugate her maternal family.
‘...of all times, why now?’
In-Young bit her lower lip in frustration, then spoke again in a more pleading tone. "Even so, please do help me. If we take over the Comet Group, it will increase our family's power in Korea and give us an advantage when we fight against the Godfather, won't it?"
- Isn’t that why your mother sent you to him?
"Does my father know about this?"
- It’s impossible for him to be unaware about it. I still feel upset when I think about what he had received from us in exchange for sleeping with your mother.
The person on the other end of the phone gritted his teeth, sighed once, and then continued to speak.
- Anyway, to retrieve all of them, you'll need to take control of the Comet Group. Although I may not be able to provide you with much, I'll select a few valuable individuals to assist you.
"When can you be ready?"
- Within five days.
In fact, by then, the fight between Yu-Seong and Jin-Woo would have been mostly settled. It was the perfect timing.
"Okay. Thank you, Uncle," In-Young said, smiling as she hung up the phone.
With the power of her maternal family added to her own, the fight was now in her favor. She felt quite assured.
‘It seems that Choi Yu-Seong is steadily improving, but big walls don't collapse easily.’
She could envision herself as the owner of the Comet Group in the near future. In-Young trembled with excitement.
***
‘By now, she must have realized that her Charm Skill could be broken.’
It was clear why Yu-Seong had taken action when there was a risk that In-Young might find out about Young-Hoon.
‘There might be other characters involved who are unknown in the original novel.’
If possible, Yu-Seong didn't want to create any more significant variables. Moreover, this made it challenging for In-Young to manage the individuals under her Charm Skill and direct them to Yu-Seong. This was the biggest reason why Yu-Seong had revealed that there was a way for him to break In-Young’s Charm Skill from the beginning, reducing the risk of a surprise attack.
‘Now, In-Young will try to remove any unnecessary parts from her internal power.’
At the same time, she would choose a way to reduce Yu-Seong’s war power.
‘She’ll end up using Choi Jin-Woo. As for Choi Yeo-Reum…’
In reality, to Yu-Seong, Yeo-Reum wasn't much different from Min-Seok. She was an unremarkable piece that didn't add much value to the situation.
‘No, maybe she's better than Choi Min-Seok.’
Yeo-Reum was also a B-rank hunter, and her escort included multiple A-rank hunters. In a way, that made her a fairly useful force in full-scale battles.
‘And Choi Jin-Woo has a strong sense of pride.’
He also had a stronger sense of inferiority toward Ji-Ho than anyone else.
Perhaps In-Young had asked Jin-Woo to carefully investigate Yu-Seong's forces and then engage in combat after reporting back. But could Jin-Woo do that?
‘Never.’
In-Young was undoubtedly a player with fierce determination and strong abilities. However, she was unaware that her arrogance and dictatorial nature were her weaknesses.
‘She’ll think that she's playing with people's minds.’
In-Young would think that, although Jin-Woo was not exceptionally strong, being felled into her Charm Skill to some extent, he would ultimately follow her commands. Of course, that assumption was incorrect.
After having those thoughts, Yu-Seong made a call to Jin-Woo. He said, "Hyung-nim, shedding blood unnecessarily wouldn't be a good idea, would it?”
Upon receiving the provocative remark, Jin-Woo's breath became slightly rougher on the other end of the phone.
- What did you say?
"I mean, that’s why you are always under Ji-Ho hyung-nim and Mi-Na noo-nim. It's not just because of your age. If it was, then how do you think I’ve gotten this far?”
In fact, Jin-Woo was aware that Yu-Seong's words were just a simple provocation. However, the sense of inferiority toward Ji-Ho and Mi-Na was too strong for him to ignore it.
- Where are you?
"At home."
- Come to the location that I'm sending you in a message right now. I'll straighten out your attitude.
The call ended with Jin-Woo’s angry voice. Soon after, Yu-Seong confirmed the location of the warehouse on Incheon's coast through a text message that had flown in. He shrugged his shoulders.
‘He's behind the times…’
Still, it wasn't bad. Since it was a power-to-power match, Yu-Seong was confident in facing Jin-Woo.
‘I’ll go and gently scratch him, relishing the victory like savoring honey.’
Yu-Seong was gradually growing stronger, exploiting the small crack in the large wall that In-Young had once proudly claimed to be unbreakable.
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