Chapter 474: Driving A Wedge (5) |
“Don’t you think they’ve been acting a bit too obvious recently?” Lee Ji-Hye asked.
“Who?” I[1] asked.
“What do you mean, who? I’m obviously talking about those people whom you have been hanging out with,” she replied.
“Ah, them. Well, you don’t really have to worry about them,” I told her.
“Are you sure?” she asked.
“The things they’ve been doing recently are actually cute, and they actually don’t need to do anything extreme. If anything, they’ll be moving more cautiously than us because once they get caught, they’re the ones who will get in trouble,” I answered.
“Then, I suppose we can say that things are going smoothly. Aside from Kim Hyun-Sung’s end,” she commented.
“Things are going smoothly with H-Hyun-Sung as well,” I stuttered.
“Yeah, right. You were honestly thinking the same thing. Even if you give them crumbs like this, it won’t change anything. The Blue Guild is overflowing with money, but I just can’t understand the guild’s decision to build a shelter for free. You have no idea how hard I had to work to stop Yeon-Joo unni when she said she wanted to help. The Black Swan Guild isn’t as rich as the Blue Guild, and we just recently established a few businesses of our own…” she explained.
“It doesn’t seem like the Blue Guild is doing this to establish a great image to the public. I also honestly think that the Blue Guild had already reached the limit when it comes to having a good image. If you think this kind of benefit will increase the quality of the training here, you’re making a huge mistake. A few groups will obviously think that the Blue Guild is a big pushover, and I think that sums it up,” she continued.
“Still, there are people who have been doing really well, so it’s not like it’s completely ineffective. Of course, there aren’t many people like them,” I told her.
“Do you know how funny it is to see you trying to protect him? It’s already been a few days… you’ve already wasted a few days. Are you sure it’s okay to do this?” she asked.
‘No… I don’t think I should be doing this… Ji-Hye.’
I had been trying to stand on Kim Hyun-Sung’s side, but I couldn’t help but have the same thoughts as Lee Ji-Hye. I wasn’t sure if he simply needed time to fix the situation, but I was honestly feeling frustrated.
Kim Hyun-Sung wasn’t really saying anything and was insisting on handling things on his own.
He managed to come up with a solution to improve the gloomy atmosphere of the joint training by building temporary guild houses and dorms for the people here under the Blue Guild’s name. Of course, his generosity also involved food and various supplies.
I could feel that he was determined in his goal to make anyone not worry about anything else aside from training. Unfortunately, his plan wasn’t going to work. Kim Hyun-Sung’s plan would help those who had always been determined to become even stronger.
However, the lazy people were against Kim Hyun-Sung’s solution.
Kim Hyun-Sung thought things would start changing as long as he worked hard because he actually got even busier. On top of his training and administrative work, he started teaching swordsmanship to other guilds and clans, which lasted until late into the night.
I felt bad for him, but his actions were somewhat effective.
His swordsmanship class started off with only a few people, but the number of people started to increase, and they were increasingly becoming more passionate as time went on.
Of course, it would be strange if there weren’t any results considering how his class was populated by people who wanted to learn swordsmanship.
Naturally, news about Kim Hyun-Sung’s classes started to spread, and the result was better than we had expected. However, a few influential figures started questioning if this was Kim Hyun-Sung’s plan to poach their talented adventurers away from them.
In the end, the guilds prohibited their members from going to the training hall. It was actually a funny situation because the guilds wouldn’t even allow their guild members to train anymore.
The only people who remained in Kim Hyun-Sung’s class were the passionate adventurers. There were also a few guilds who requested to learn from Kim Hyun-Sung to improve their embarrassing swordsmanship.
We wanted their passion to spread throughout the entire continent, but of course, a miracle like that would only happen in comics.
As time passed, the people started to become lazier, and a few groups actually started acting as if they had come here for reserve force training rather than for joint training to face the threat looming over the continent.
I wasn’t sure about what Kim Hyun-Sung truly felt, but I couldn’t just watch anymore.
‘Tsk…’
There was a small number of people who had been profiting from all this, but most people were bearish.
Therefore, I was convinced that the utopia filled with passion, tenacity, and hard work that Kim Hyun-Sung had envisioned would never come true.
I was sure that he was starting to realize that it would never come true.
‘He’s probably frustrated, too.’
We were providing them with a ton of support, but the people were starting to become even lazier. It got even worse because the people were starting to make excuses just to avoid fighting the Great City Lindel Alliance and the Blud Guild in mock battles.
They were obviously boycotting us under the facade of prioritizing their party members’ health.
Cha Hee-Ra made the situation even more depressing by telling us that she also didn’t want to participate because it was too boring. Of course, her party members wouldn’t participate as well.
At this point, even Elena and the other races were only training as a formality. I didn’t even have to attend the joint training to know that the overall atmosphere of the joint training was gloomy.
“And those scums are still driving a wedge. They’re not as scummy compared to you, so I’m sure that they look cute in your eyes,” Lee Ji-Hye said sarcastically.
‘That’s really harsh, Ji-Hye.’
“Are you still playing along with them?” she asked.
“I might get something useful out of it, so I’m just testing the waters for now. I still haven’t figured out how many people are on their side. I don’t think Hyun-Sung is aware of it, and I’m sure he hasn’t said anything because he trusts me that much,” I replied.
“He sure trusts you a lot. Honestly, your recent lifestyle is the hallmark of hopeless trash, but despite that, he still trusts you a lot,” she remarked.
“They’re scum, but they’re not completely useless. I’m sure Hyun-Sung is thinking that I have a plan in mind,” I told her.
“Hm… oppa,” Lee Ji-Hye suddenly called out.
“Yeah?”
“Can I take care of this?” she requested.
“How?” I asked.
“I’m not sure yet. I’ll keep it a secret for now. I honestly can’t guarantee its success, but it doesn’t mean that I don’t have a contingency plan in mind. All you have to do is act like your usual self. Actually, you should spend more time with those guys,” she replied.
‘I don’t think I’ll lose anything from that…’
Lee Ji-Hye should be able to pull it off, and it was even more reassuring because she volunteered for it. For now, I thought that it wouldn’t be bad for me to agree to her proposal. I felt kind of suspicious about how she would handle the issue.
However, a few hours later, Park Deok-Gu suddenly came running to me.
When I saw Park Deok-Gu, I instantly saw through her plan.
‘She’s really smart.’
“Hyung-nim… is it true that you might be leaving the Blue Guild?” Park Deok-Gu asked.
‘So this was her plan…’
I couldn’t help but smile.
“Is it true?” he demanded.
“It’s a baseless rumor. Who told you that?” I asked.
“Well, I’m not sure who started the rumor, but… I’ve been hearing that everywhere,” he replied.
I wasn’t sure why I didn’t manage to think of that plan before Lee Ji-Hye did, which made me feel that I was kind of dumb.
It turned out that the solution was a lot easier and more obvious than I thought.
I hadn’t really discussed the issue with Kim Hyun-Sung yet because I wanted him to feel exhausted to the point that he would start talking about it with me first. Therefore, I thought that it would be the best choice for me to just wait.
The solution I had come up with would eventually take effect given enough time, but the wait was undeniably frustrating.
Lee Ji-Hye’s solution was extremely simple.
‘Actively respond to the big picture that those scummy bastards have in mind…’
Basically, the best choice was to pretend that we had fallen into the conflict that they had been wanting to create between Kim Hyun-Sung and me.
Lee Ji-Hye had to have spread rumors that Lee Ki-Young was thinking badly of the Blue Guild and Kim Hyun-Sung.
Obviously, Kim Hyun-Sung still had no idea of the third party that was trying to split the Blue Guild apart, but I was sure that he would quickly notice what was going on.
He would surely notice that there was something wrong, and I was sure that he would notice that the situation was a bit unnatural as well.
Of course, I felt a bit nervous about all this, but it was worth a try. I had to make our Hyun-Sung feel disappointed in the people who were ruining the atmosphere of the joint training, and I also had to make him feel that there was another solution to the issue.
He had to realize that the group supporting him physically and mentally were actually the ones who were trying to split both of us apart and that I was being affected by their efforts to create conflict between us.
Once he realized what was going on, I was sure that he would be furious. After all, even Buddha would be angry at what was going on, not to mention Kim Hyun-Sung.
‘Hyun-Sung is really kind, but he’ll be an idiot if he just stands by without doing anything about all this.’
At this point, I was sure that there wasn’t a more convincing method than this.
We had slightly grown apart recently because we were busy, but Kim Hyun-Sung definitely treasured me more than anyone else, and even if that wasn’t the case, I was still very important to the guild, so I was sure that he would do something about it.
Naturally, I started talking as if there wasn’t anything going on.
“That’s nonsense.”
“Are you sure?” Park Deok-Gu asked.
I deliberately gave Park Deok-Gu a vague answer.
“My contract isn’t over yet, and even if I leave the Blue Guild now, I have nowhere else to go. I don’t know the details of what you heard but don’t worry about it, Deok-Gu. Just focus on your training,” I replied.
“Ugh…”
“What did you hear exactly?” I asked.
“It wasn’t much. I heard a rumor about you spending time with bad people and that you were leaving Lindel because of that. I also heard that… you might join the federation because you’re disappointed in the Blue Guild’s current state. Did you quarrel with our bro, hyung-nim?” he asked.
“We’re too old to quarrel,” I replied.
“I’m not talking about a petty quarrel. I’m asking if you two quarreled because your opinions differed from each other,” he said.
“Not really…” I muttered.
“That’s a relief…”
I couldn’t help but inwardly nod upon hearing Park Deok-Gu’s words detailing the rumors. From what I had heard so far, it wouldn’t be an exaggeration to presume that Lee Ji-Hye and I had the same plan in mind.
However, the part that made me feel uncomfortable was that Park Deok-Gu knew a bit too much.
‘Is this normal? What is she thinking?’
Whenever someone wanted to spread a particularly nasty rumor, they would tend to be cautious and spread that rumor over an extended period of time. It was all because if one were to spread a rumor too fast, people would get suspicious and track the source.
Of course, there was no way that Lee Ji-Hye would make that kind of rookie mistake, so I was sure that she had spread the rumor slowly but in a way that would eventually become a ubiquitous topic among the members of the public.
‘But how does this pig know so much? It’s as if he heard it himself.’
I knew he was sensitive to gossip, but…
‘Does he have some kind of special ability related to gossip?’
I discreetly activated Mind’s Eye, but Park Deok-Gu’s details hadn’t really changed. In that case, it should be safe to presume that Park Deok-Gu was simply a talent at collecting gossip.
I couldn’t help but be even more convinced of that idea because it hadn’t been that long since Lee Ji-Hye went outside. Park Deok-Gu had collected the gossip so fast that I couldn’t help but start doubting if he had his own guild that gathered intel for him.
‘I wonder if he’s affiliated with an intelligence guild or something...’
I was just joking, but it made sense when I thought about his previous achievement.
‘I sometimes get suspicious that he might be a regressor as well.’
1. Lee Ki-Young’s POV ☜
Comments 3