Level 1 Player (MT Novel) - Chapter 21

Chapter 21 – The Sow Guild (Part 1)

– We should definitely get him on our side.

– I think so too,” Lee Soo-hwi agreed with Ma Ji-hoon’s statement.

– So you’re going to be the negotiator. He’s already seen your face.

– Good.

– And make sure that information never leaks out to the other guilds, okay?

– I don’t even know any other guild members, much less Pu. And I’ll keep an eye on Ji Soo’s speech.

– That’s fine.

Since Ma Ji Hoon had enlisted the help of the Soo Group, he was now trying to hide all the information he had received about Hyun Seong. But it was only a matter of time before it would all come out sooner or later. And it wasn’t the other guilds that were the problem, it was a guild very similar to Sow’s.

The head of Pu’s guild is named Jung Sung Woo. He was a man who constantly compared himself to Ma Ji Hoon. He is also quite close to some members of the Sou Group. Even though the head of the Sow Guild tries to limit his contacts, all the secrets will sooner or later be discovered by the whole neighborhood.

– Before Sungwoo finds out anything, I must get that newcomer on my side as soon as possible. That way I can keep my place.

At this point, Ma Ji Hoon was cornered. And beyond that, he was the one who, nineteen years ago, was one of the first Awakened and became a Player. Later, with the other Awakened, he became the head of a large Soo Group company, and after that one of the Players split off and created his own guild – it was Jung Sung Woo.

At first, the two coexisted peacefully. They joined forces and made Soo’s guild one of the top 3 guilds in South Korea. After which, in fact, problems arose. As their size and interests grew, Ma Ji Hoon and Jung Sung Woo began to rival each other.

Now Ma Ji-hoon was taking over the guild. The guild failed each time in the race to poach new Players who had every chance to become top players, so gradually the guild’s ranking dropped below the top ten.

– Sungwoo would not be a hindrance.

There was no physical evidence to that effect. But there was a kind of premonition. Ma Ji Hoon was sure that Jung Sung Woo would not interfere with the new Player’s poaching by withholding information.

– I must not fail this time.

It seemed that the guild leader in this room now had miscalculated all possible options. There was no way he could go wrong.

***

After the move, I returned to a normal and completely normal life. I would go to the dungeon at dawn, and come home in the evening, have dinner with my family, and just have a good time. No, don’t think that I forgot about my father’s illness. I couldn’t go to him every day, but I made sure to visit him once every two or three days.

Today was one of those days. I hunted in the dungeon of the Blood-Red Rats for a day without a break, and then I went out of the gate and went back to my daily routine.

– I must sell everything as soon as possible.

Today I wanted to exchange the stones as soon as possible, and go home and rest.

– Choi Hyun Seong?” came out a voice.

I turned my head in the direction of the unexpected sound and saw a girl with a very familiar face.

– Oh, you’re the security officer.

– Yes, we meet again. Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Lee Soo Hwi and I am the deputy head of the Saw Guild. Do you have some free time?

I’m a little wary.

– How did you find me?

I had no doubt that everyone who can and can’t have found out about me. They already knew my name. Besides, they knew when I was going through the gate back. Today was the first day I visited this particular dungeon, though, the Blood-Red Rats. Before that, I mostly hunted the Horned Rabbit dungeon.

“Oh, those…” – I thought, looking at the dungeon staff standing at the entrance.

Since they were the ones through whom this information could be found out. The Player’s personal information. Surely it was also illegal.

– How did you know my name and that I would be here?

In response to my questions, Lee Soo Hwi politely bowed her head.

– If I’ve inconvenienced you, I apologize. But…

– Did you conduct an undercover investigation? And also bribed the dungeon staff? – I asked the girl a lot of questions.

Lee Soo Hwi sighed heavily at my hostile manner. Then she winked at the man who was standing next to me.

– It’s nice to meet you, Choi Hyun Seong. If you don’t like the setting, we can move our conversation to a more appropriate place,” said a nice-looking man in a business suit.

If you look at the man it seems that he was a characteristic representative of the elite.

– I don’t want to,” I said, turning my back to the uninvited guests, and walked away.

– Then it’s all right if we visit you at home? We’d like a few minutes of your time.

When I heard that, I stopped.

* * *

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Eventually the three of them were all sitting in a cafe nearby.

– My name is Ko Jin Song. I’m the leader of the first scout team,” the guy introduced himself.

But I wasn’t at all curious about his name or his position.

– Why were you looking for me?

– To offer me the chance to be our scout.

– You think I haven’t thought of that?

– Ha-ha, my actions seem to have caused you much inconvenience. I think that would be quite enough. So once again, I apologize for my antics. However, I believe it is not that unpleasant. I’m sure other guilds will resort to a similar method. And we, in turn, acted as a gentleman. Unlike the other guilds…” Go Ji Sung gave one example after another.

– I don’t think that’s logical.

That didn’t sound like an apology from Go Ji Sung. What kind of apology is it if a person apologizes and then explains?

– Big Seow Guild…

After everything seemed to have been explained to me, this strange trio began to extol their consummate guild.

“It would be great if he was finally done coddling,” my mind raced.

No doubt Ko Ji Sung was a master of words. But I understood correctly that by joining the Saw Guild, one could become a high-level Player and a rich man. However, there was no confirmation of that. There was some vagueness in the speech here and there. In all this narration I never heard what was the amount of the annual salary and the amount of the entrance fee.

– So how much would you offer me as an annual salary and how much in advance? – I asked after Go Ji Sung finished his story.

– This will be known after you join the guild and reveal your characteristics, skills, and level to the public.

I turned dark.

– Then let’s start by laying out the cards.

– We guarantee a minimum advance of 10 billion and an annual salary of 1 billion.

From such information my eyes went up to my forehead. The advance is 10 billion, the annual salary is 1 billion. It was a colossal amount of money that I had trouble even imagining.

– It was strange.

A wave of amazement swept over me at such a sum. Even though Lee Soo Hwi had quite a high opinion of my capabilities, it was a very large sum of money.

– Do you want to make me a representative of the guild?

That’s probably the case. But one couldn’t agree more that the terms are too tempting. Despite the fact that the guild has a solid sponsor, it’s too much of an investment in one new player. Even if you raise a potential new Player to the top level, the guild will have to pay a lot of money when he joins the guild. This is due to the fact that you’ll have to invest a lot in the development of that Player, as well as the likelihood of going bankrupt in this case. And it’s simple: this Player just might not achieve the expected result, or even die during the hunt or become disabled. Besides, no one hunts alone. Even a Player with outstanding abilities can’t handle monsters of the same level one-on-one. In other words, there is no guild that would risk investing $10 billion in a newcomer who, in theory, could become a Top Player.

“Except for Kim Ha-Na,” because she is special and because she can strengthen the members of the group with her help. She was able to attract the attention of successful Players from other countries with the help of mecha. As a result, she signed a contract and got the biggest advance in history. But I haven’t proved anything to anyone yet. And I don’t have the skill to help a potential group in any way.

Of course, I can increase my performance with a special trading skill. If I had enough points, I could buy, and then learn, as many rare-level items and skill books as I wanted. If I did so, I would alone have the same power as several members of the same level group. So I would be able to destroy monsters of the same level by myself, without anyone else’s help. But to prove it, I would have to reveal information about the special skill.

“They mustn’t find out about it,” I thought.

I hadn’t shown the status window to anyone before. I only showed my level when I got my Player ID.

“Then why?”

Nothing in this world is free. I realized that after I was awakened and became a Player.

– Could it be…” tried to find the right words for Ko Ji Sung. – Is it because of the stones?

– What do you mean? – I asked with an obviously incredulous expression on my face.

But Lee Soo Hwi wasn’t surprised. Her face changed for a split second and then froze again.

“The 20-level rule,” the girl thought.

And I was a level 1 player. As a result, my points increased, not my level. From this we can conclude that this rule simply did not apply to me. That’s why I can visit low-level dungeons and get stones for killing a large number of monsters. Other Players, on the other hand, can’t do that.

“Surely they must be the kind of people who used Association staff and got my personal information and information about where I hunt precisely because of these connections.

Besides, getting information about how many stones I’ve sold is nothing to them.

“But no matter how many stones I got, I’m the only one who owns them.”

The Sow Guild is a big guild, sponsored by a big company. If you compare my daily earnings to how much the guild earns, it’s a drop in the bucket.

“Do they really think I have any know-how or special skill?”

That’s the most likely. But I don’t have any know-how or skill or anything like that. I’m just a Level 1 Player who can get the stones without any obstacles.

“In that case, they picked the wrong direction.”

To me, that’s a very good thing.

“Or rather, so far so good. But if this continues, my secret will be out.”

I need a way to somehow deflect the obsessive interest of the Sow Guild from myself.

“I must regulate the number of stones.

Apparently I’ve sold too many, since such an incident has arisen.

“Rotten people,” I cursed to myself, thinking of the Players’ Association employees who sold my personal information. – Okay, now there’s no way I’m going to sell stones the normal way.

When you sell stones in the usual way, you must provide your Player’s Identification Card. This was used as an anti-tax evasion measure, but it was an unnecessary headache for me.

“Mm-hmm, however, the dungeon staff is becoming a problem now, too.

And all because today the Sow Guild found out the information about what time I leave the dungeon. Even if I sold the stones in some other roundabout way, I wouldn’t be able to conceal the number of stones I received when I left the dungeon. How I wish I could put those who divulged my personal information behind bars. But, unfortunately, that’s impossible.

“Even if I report it, they probably won’t follow me. And if I don’t report it, on the contrary, they’ll pay even more attention to it.”

It’s a hopeless situation.

– Is something bothering you? You’re not thinking about losses, are you?

Go Jin Seong’s words made my jaw drop.

– The fact that Gambler is opening his fortune window to the public can already be called a loss. Besides, I haven’t promised you anything yet. I would have preferred to get an advance of 100 billion. That’s when I would have opened the status window and joined the guild.

After I said that, Ko Jin Seong looked gloomy-he didn’t have the authority to invest a large sum of money without any guarantees. If I turn out to be a crook, they will lose 100 billion.

– I have nothing more to say to you.

I jumped up from my seat and left the place.