“Anyway, it’s all gold in here.”
“Yeah, our guild name fits pretty well, doesn’t it?”
Eve Meitner smiled faintly.
‘Truly a mindset worthy of the Guildmaster of the [Golden] Guild.’
All that gold wasn’t just gilded; it was 100% pure gold.
The building, which was a 63-floor skyscraper located in Yeouido, had merely been a structure with slightly yellowish windows before being incorporated into this world—but now, it was a structure covered in pure gold, flashing extravagantly everywhere.
‘Ah, of course, no one in their right mind would encase the windows in pure gold, so some are just film-covered glasses…but still, even if we take off all the real gold, it’s worth over one trillion won at least?’
“By the way, what did you do to the domestic guilds? I heard a complaint from that brat from the Spiral Guild while I was on an A-Rank Gate.”
‘…If Spiral, then Ryu Seong-ho?’
There had been a somewhat rude text message a while ago, which I had blatantly ignored. Was he upset about that?
“It seems the United States, specifically the Vultures, are quite dissatisfied that we sold potions to them. Other guilds are joining in and are planning to protest, claiming it’s an illegal export of national assets.”
Eve Meitner subtly informed me of what the Spiral Guild might do next.
‘…Well, let them protest.’
To begin with, Yuseong Group wasn’t a government-owned company. It was a small family business that monopolized the patent, merely limiting the production of intermediate-level potions, which gave them a minor level of authority capable of dramatically reducing survival rates in global heroes’ Gate runs.
“…Then, we’ll just move to the U.S.”
When I very seriously mentioned the next plan, Eve Meitner looked at me a bit surprised.
“…Ahaha, you are quite different from the previous chairman, aren’t you? Far more assertive.”
“Please convey that we absolutely won’t sell them for less than 30 million for the top-tier potions and 16 million for the intermediates. If you calculate the labor costs, we’re already selling them to you at the lowest possible price.”
We had sold them to the Vultures at that price, but domestic guilds, particularly during Yoon Seong-ho’s time, were so accustomed to receiving potions for free that they regarded selling them near cost as the norm.
‘Guilds in Korea are too used to such favors.’
That price was reasonable enough that Thomas Andrea, the Guildmaster of Vultures, had even knelt in gratitude, shedding tears.
‘That was quite a surprise back then.’
We knew in advance through an email that Thomas Andrea, the Guildmaster, would visit in person. But after we inspected the goods at the port in Incheon, giving them a commemorative top-tier potion, we were genuinely surprised when he emotionally shed tears of gratitude.
‘Goliath,’ the nickname fit perfectly. As the world’s strongest Defender with a massive scar over one eye, he was initially intimidating during our first meeting. However, he was a very righteous individual, publicly declaring that Vultures would always assist Yuseong Group when needed, even in front of journalists.
On a personal level, he even offered his private phone number in case we ever needed help. It was a moment where I was once again amazed at how Yoon Seong-ho had turned such a righteous and kind person into a greedy demon obsessed with money.
“Anyway, since we sold them to Vultures at that price, please tell them the heroes protecting South Korea should be satisfied with the discounts they’ve already received.”
“Haha, got it. I’ll pass the message along when the Guildmasters meet. But anyway, enough about that. Show me your eye soon!”
“…Sure, what?”
Actually, this was the main reason.
I looked at Eve, who had promptly arrived in a research gown.
I had only seen her in the Academy once before, and during that brief encounter, she was in tight-fitting, high-cut suits with something you might call hotpants, or maybe underwear. Beneath the cloak that covered most of her, her outfit was very revealing.
In the game, it was said that her attire enhanced her lightning-based magic, though…
‘No matter how you look at it, that outfit was designed deliberately.’
No wonder a rival hero, the Sword Demon, had referred to her with the line “This bitch!” during one of his dialogues.
But now, Eve was dressed in a black suit, paired with a beige knit sweater under a stylish research gown.
‘This look suits her better.’
Honest, even with her current outfit, which still hugged her figure tightly and was somewhat…dangerous.
Any ordinary man would be tempted to overpower Eve…but Eve’s real age was well into the hundreds, even surpassing the age of both the Sword Demon and the Sword Saint, who already looked elderly. In the system’s view, her age simply showed as “??”
Therefore, even though the community joked about her age with terms like “chicken coop,” within the game, her physical age is set in her twenties.
It was part of the game lore that her overwhelming mana kept her body perpetually in its prime.
Anyway, being able to observe the enormous mana flow with my own eyes was quite…
‘Thank you.’
-Drip
“Eh? Se-A, is your nose bleeding..!”
“Oh, it’s nothing.”
Using psychokinesis, I quickly cauterized the broken vessels, stopping the nosebleed instantly. For this, my skill application was praised.
Well, let’s stop here. Eve seemed to recognize the shortage of time and quickly began examining my eye.
I explained as thoroughly as possible the abilities of the [Eye of Hypnosis] to become even stronger.
‘Besides, I wouldn’t be able to lie anyway because of <Insight (S)>.’
And so, after a four-hour-long examination, Eve finally drew a conclusion.
“Hmm…truly extraordinary, I can’t believe you survived this madness.”
“Oh, probably because of regenerative abilities, Mr. Yoon kept carving on my eye to suppress it…”
“Th-That’s enough!”
She realized the value of the thing embedded in my eye was unimaginable.
“Anyway, among my skills, I have something called <Spring of Magic Power (S)>, which continuously fills mana.”
“Yes.”
“Though your current mana regeneration is still inferior to mine, <Spring of Magic Power (S)>, your mana is continuously increasing at a similar level. Right after the monster’s eye was implanted, your magical power must have shot up drastically.”
‘So this Eye is like a secondary mana core.’
And I explained the extra abilities well. Eve might already know that I killed Yoon Seong-ho and understands how despicable the man was.
“Let’s end the research here for now because there’s still a lot more to study regarding the hypnosis abilities…we’ll conduct further testing next week, using some experimental subjects.”
For that reason, Eve seemed to be wrapping up the study of my Eye for now.
“Then…simply put, you have an eye that can put whatever it looks at under a hypnotic trance. Moreover, just having this eye has increased your basic magical power and mana capacity.”
“Is that so? I have noticed my telekinesis has improved significantly since that experiment.”
“Do you? Then quickly, try raising a barrier?”
“Umm?”
“Hurry up!”
-Zzzz….
“The barrier is up…”
-Crackle!
“!”
Immediately after those words, a stream of lightning shot toward my eyes.
-BOOOOM!
Fortunately, the barrier didn’t break, but I was caught off guard.
“Your reaction is good. There are some vacant spots in the Golden Guild. Want to join?”
“Uh…is training starting right now?”
I scratched my head as I looked at Eve.
‘Nah, surely she wouldn’t start training after such thorough research?’
However, as if slowly demolishing my hopes, Eve’s lips curved up.
‘…Ah.’
Then, dozens of streams of lightning struck me next.
“Weren’t the experiments hurtful enough?”
“Stop exaggerating. I only used magic of 6-7th circle level.”
“Didn’t you know that’s the maximum output for A-Rank Heroes?”
I eventually woke up safely in the healing room of the Golden Guild.
…
…
…
Meanwhile, in the ruins of somewhere in England.
“….I heard that a quite notable apostle, who was facilitating demonization in Korea, has died. The cause is unknown and raises suspicion.”
“Korea…isn’t that where some remains of our Demon King lie dormant? We were unable to recover the legacy due to those accursed heroes…”
“Oh, I fancied the subjects there for experimentation…”
Within the ruins where no one should exist, an assembly of beings sat around a stone round table.
A towering armored knight in black, a figure with a very sensual demon-like form, and a being composed of black smoke.
The armored knight ordered the demon-like being.
“Go and investigate the situation. Since you are the least restrained by ‘boundaries,’ you’d be the best one for this. While you’re at it, check if you can locate a Gate where some of the Demon King’s remains may be hidden, and find a method to awaken our sleeping comrades if possible.”
And as the demon-like form stood up while casually expressing discomfort, the black knight growled as if issuing an ultimatum.
“My patience has its limits, Sheena. Successfully complete this mission without failure.”
“Got it, got it~”
The being, adorned with horns on its head, disappeared in an instant…
