Level Up Machine

Chapter 105 Catching the Golden Fish (3)

-Creak. Creak.

The sound of the rocking chair echoed softly. It was a shabby room, as if clumsily assembled from wooden planks.

On the old bed, mold was emitting a foul odor, and on the table was a half-eaten bowl of oatmeal.

An old man sat in the dilapidated rocking chair.

The old man had sparse hair, yellow teeth, and a shabby appearance with pockmarks on his face.

He reached out and picked up the communication crystal orb.

A thickset man appeared in the crystal orb.

“What is it?”

The old man asked in a harsh voice.

-Guild Master. This is huge. We’ve caught a big one.

The fat man spoke with an excited voice. The old man’s eyes gleamed sharply.

“Ho. If even Jun-man says it’s a big one, it must be quite

interesting.”

The old man revealed the man’s name.

Han Jun-man. He held a high position as the deputy guild master of the Goldrun Guild.

-Yes, indeed!

Han Jun-man replied with a nervous expression. His eyes showed deep fear toward the old man.

The old man’s name was Park Do-hoon.

He was the guild master of the Goldrun Guild, which controlled the entire eastern commercial district.

“Explain it to me.”

The old man spoke with deeply sunken eyes. Han Jun-man, still tense, recounted his encounter with Yeong-sik.

“Ho, modern items…

The words from Han Jun-man were enough to capture the interest of the man known as the King of Gold.

-Plus, that rookie from the 61st round is a pushover! With a little coaxing, we might even recruit him into our guild. If this goes well, expanding into the south won’t be just a dream!

Han Jun-man exclaimed in an excited voice. Park Do-hoon nodded. If things went as Han Jun-man said, breaking into the southern commercial district, which was thoroughly protected by the empire, wouldn’t be impossible.

Of course, even for the Goldrun Guild, expanding into the south would require an enormous amount of capital, enough to shake the guild, but it would be worth it.

If they could control the southern commercial district, the Goldrun Guild would undoubtedly become the God of Gold rather than just the King of Gold.

“Not a bad story.”

Park Do-hoon’s mouth twisted into a smile. His eyes gleamed with madness.

Han Jun-man’s expression stiffened. Cold sweat trickled down his forehead.

“So, what were the conditions?”

-Well, uh. We attached a few prostitutes to that pushover Yeong-sik and offered a 50-50 split. With a little more persuasion, we might even get him to agree to a 40-60 split.

Han Jun-man spoke in a voice filled with pride. Usually, in such matters, the distributor took a larger share, but this case was different.

Yeong-sik’s abilities were irreplaceable. There was no one else on the Elnote Continent who could produce modern items. With the ability to create items of such impact, it wasn’t uncommon for the supplier to wield more power than the distributor.

However, Han Jun-man had managed to package it as an equal partnership with a 50-50 split using his eloquence. It was something to be proud of.

Silence followed. Park Do-hoon glared at Han Jun-man through the crystal orb with deeply sunken eyes.

“Hmm… Jun-man.”

-What is it, Guild Master?

Han Jun-man looked at Park Do-hoon with eyes full of anticipation. The thought that he might receive praise and a promotion crossed Han Jun-man’s mind.

“You are still very naive.”

As if to crush Han Jun-man’s expectations, Park Do-hoon spoke with a displeased expression.

■■What…?

“A 50-50 split, huh? I don’t think there’s ever been such a good deal in Goldrun’s contract history.”

-But, the situation is different now. These conditions were unavoidable.

“No, it’s just that you couldn’t think of another way.”

Park Do-hoon shook his head firmly. He continued speaking with a smile on his face.

“Did you say that rookie Yeong-sik is an easy mark?”

-Yes, that’s correct.

Park Do-hoon’s eyes gleamed with a fierce light, like that of a reptile. His eyes, burning with intense greed, fixed on Han Jun-man.

Facing those eyes, Han Jun-man felt a choking fear. His body began to tremble pitifully.

The Golden Demon. Other nicknames for Park Do-hoon came to mind. The money-crazed ghost. The demon who covets gold. All these terms referred to him.

Dry saliva was swallowed down Han Jun-man’s throat. The sound of his teeth clattering echoed in his head.

“In that case.”

The smile on Park Do-hoon’s face grew wider. His tongue licked his lips as if he had a delicious meal in front of him.

“We must devour him completely.”

He chuckled darkly.

-Clang! Clang!

The clear sound of metal clashing echoed in the training ground.

Yu-na, wielding dual swords, shot forward, leaving afterimages. A powerful shout erupted from her mouth.

“Hah!”

She spun halfway and slashed downward. Watching her movements, Yeong-sik raised his blade to block her attack.

-Boom!

A loud explosion resounded, as if a cannon had gone off. Unable to withstand Yeong-sik’s strength, Yu-na’s body was thrown backward.

Yeong-sik crouched low and used his boost. With intense jet propulsion, his body shot forward.

-Thud!

“Ugh?!”

His right arm, propelled by the boost, struck Yu-na’s abdomen.

Yu-na, who had tried to perform a breakfall, rolled helplessly across the ground.

‘Energy Blast.’

Yeong-sik extended his right arm, aiming at the fallen Yu-na. A blue energy bullet formed in his right palm.

-Shoooom.

The blue orb shot from his right palm, targeting Yu-na.

“Rift.”

-Boom!

With a cold voice, a distortion of space occurred. The energy blast touched the distortion and exploded in mid-air.

“Nice, Yoo Jin!”

Yu-na, who had sprung up from the ground, took her stance again. Her body blazed with dark red flames. She swung her dual swords, sending the dark red flames towards Yeong-sik.

‘Electromagnetic Field.’

A blue electrical barrier formed in front of Yeong-sik. This was the ‘Barrier’ effect obtained upon reaching level 3 of the electromagnetic field.

The flames shot by Yu-na collided with the electrical barrier.

-BOOM!

“Ugh..!”

Thick dust rose up. Yu-na frowned and looked around. Yeong-sik’s body shot through the dust cloud.

-Clang.

The blade, imbued with the light of plasma, extended to a length of one meter in an instant. With a desperate expression, Yu-na crossed her twin swords to block the attack.

-BOOM!

“Aaah!”

Unable to withstand the tremendous explosion, Yu-na’s body was flung backward. As Yu-na fell, Yoo Jin, who was casting a spell, looked anxious.

“Space Wall.”

Yoo Jin quickly cast a defensive spell. Yeong-sik aimed his right arm at Yoo Jin.

-Shoooom!

His right arm, emitting a bright light, detached from his body and shot forward. The right arm, imbued with intense rotation, collided with the space wall.

-BOOM!

“Gah!”

Yoo Jin was flung backward by the massive impact transmitted through the wall. His body, lifted high, rolled across the floor.

Yoo Jin bit his lip hard and reached out to unleash the spell he had been casting.

Great Rift. It was one of the most powerful spells Yoo Jin could currently use.

-Clink.

“Damn…”

But the spell never materialized. Yoo Jin sighed deeply, looking at the blade at his neck.

Yeong-sik reached out to the fallen Yoo Jin.

“Damn it.”

Yoo Jin, with a frustrated expression, took Yeong-sik’s hand and stood up.

“I thought reaching level 100 would give me a fighting chance… but you’ve become a complete monster.”

Yoo Jin had reached level 100 during the last dungeon raid.

It required an enormous amount of experience to go from level 99 to 100, but the dungeon was so difficult that it allowed him to level up.

He thought he could now stand up to Yeong-sik since he had reached the rank of ‘Ranker,’ but after the last dungeon raid, Yeong-sik had become an absurd monster.

“Damn it!”

Yu-na, who had been flung backward and couldn’t withstand the impact, walked briskly towards Yeong-sik and shouted.

“What kind of potion did you take?! How can you handle both Yoo Jin and me without that weird suit?!”

Yu-na looked at Yeong-sik with an indignant expression.

She knew that arriving in this world earlier didn’t necessarily make someone stronger, but it felt unfair that Yeong-sik, who was just a 61st-round summoner, could easily overwhelm her.

“You cheat!”

Yu-na shouted at Yeong-sik, unable to accept it. Yeong-sik chuckled as he watched her holding back tears.

“Let’s spar again tomorrow! I won’t lose so easily next time!”

Yu-na, uttering a line that seemed straight out of a shonen manga, turned away from Yeong-sik. Yeong-sik grabbed her shoulder.

“Yu-na.”

“…Why? If you’re thinking of comforting me, I don’t need it.”

Yu-na felt the touch of his hand on her shoulder and shuddered. Her face turned red.

“It’s not that.”

Yeong-sik spoke in a serious voice. Yu-na looked at him with a trembling expression.

“Th-then what is it…?”

“It’s time to run the generator.”

A heavy silence fell. Yu-na’s face turned red for a different reason.

“Th-this…!”

Blushing deeply, she trembled and glared at Yeong-sik. Her tightly clenched fist swung towards Yeong-sik’s face.

“You bastard!”

Thud.

Yu-na’s fist struck Yeong-sik’s face, causing his head to turn to the side.

Huffing and puffing, Yu-na recalled her miserable situation and ran towards the automated manufacturing device.

Yoo Jin watched the two with an exasperated smile.

“It seems she was really upset.”

“Well, it’s understandable…”

Yeong-sik rubbed the cheek where Yu-na had punched him, laughing.

He could have easily dodged such a blow if he wanted, but avoiding it in this situation somehow felt improper.

‘It’s reasonable to feel that way.’

Yu-na had gained confidence in her skills after obtaining the divine relic, the dual swords, but being overwhelmingly defeated by a mere 61st-round summoner like himself must have been frustrating.

“Anyway, it looks like you can fight the guild master one-on-one without the suit now.”

“Well… I’m not so sure. This time, that ‘ring’ makes me a bit less confident.”

Yeong-sik shook his head with an uncertain expression.

At that moment,

“Yeong-sik!”

Han Seong’s voice came from the direction of the guild house.

Yeong-sik tilted his head and looked towards the source of the voice. Han Seong was approaching quickly.

“What is it?”

“We received a message from the Goldrun Guild. They want to make a deal and asked us to meet at the previous location.”

“Oh.”

Yeong-sik nodded with an interested expression.

“Then, shall we go see if the fish has taken the bait?”