As he tried to forcefully pull his hand away from the ice, a ripping pain came from his hand.
“Gaah!”
But he couldn’t give up here.
‘I still have my other hand!’
With a fierce look in his eyes, he gripped a dagger in his right hand and rushed toward Seo Jun-Ho’s neck. But this time, Seo Jun-Ho was a step ahead. He froze his opponent’s arm and swatted his dagger aside.
Crack!
Seo Jun-Ho’s sword cracked the skinny man’s collarbone, then it angled to stab his heart.
“Cough!” Blood flooded from the man’s mouth. He had been on the brink of death many times before, but he could feel it.
‘This dirty alley will be my grave.’
There was no human that could live after being stabbed through their heart. Even as he came face-to-face with death, he determined something.
‘The boss has to know about this.’
He realized that his priority was to report this situation. He quickly dropped his dagger and tapped on Vita.
“That won’t work. Why do you think I froze you all the way to the wrist?”
“…!” His wrist was already covered in ice. All he felt at his fingertips was the coldness of the ice.
‘When did it go wrong?’
It was a fight that should have been a certain victory for him. His opponent was a rookie that couldn’t even keep up with his speed, and he was a seasoned veteran.
‘The unlucky one…It wasn’t him, but me.’
He thought that he was dying simply because his opponent’s luck was good.
“But that luck…cough, in front of the boss…” The skinny man used the last vestiges of his strength to grip his opponent’s throat. His face looked like an evil spirit as he spat out a final curse. “The boss…will send you to hell.”
“Why would I go there? That’s a place reserved for bastards like you.” Seo Jun-Ho felt offended and twisted the sword once.
“Guh…ack…!”
The life faded from the skinny man’s eyes as he vomited blood and went limp. Even then, his red eyes didn’t fade.
“Anyways, you dirty fiend bastard.” Seo Jun-Ho placed his hand on the skinny man’s forehead and muttered to himself. “Just hand over the information.”
***
A skyscraper hotel looked down at the lively night of Las Vegas. A man and a woman sat on a couch while looking down at the boisterous city. They hadn’t said anything to each other for hours.
Tick!
The clock on the wall pointed to 4.
“…I don’t want to admit it, but that bag of bones is better than me at strategy.” The first one to speak was the delinquent woman from the Watchdogs. Her boss, Arma, was sitting next to her with his eyes closed.
“He said he’d come back in 5 minutes, but it has been 8 hours now.”
The skinny man always thought of his team first. He had never gone this long without contact before. As such, they gradually realized what this meant.
“…He was taken out.” He was probably not a person of this world now. The woman’s voice broke as hot tears spilled over. They were always bickering, but they had been teammates for years now. “Fucking idiot. He said he’d be right back.”
“What did he look like?”
“He was an Asian male. He spoke in Korean, and he was with Gong Ju-Ha, so it’s likely that he’s a member of the Goblin Guild.”
Arma didn’t say anything as he tapped on his Vita. Thousands of hologram profiles appeared before him.
“This is a picture of all Korean Players in the Las Vegas area right now. See if he’s here.”
“Just a moment.” The delinquent woman quickly scrolled through the profiles. Her eyes moved without a second to rest, but she wasn’t just skimming them. After she looked through the thousands of profiles, the girl was about to say that he wasn’t on the list.
“Huh?”
But she found the face she was looking for on the last page.
“T-this fucker!”
“…Are you sure?”
“I’m sure! I only saw him a few hours ago. There’s no way I wouldn’t recognize him.” Arma tilted his head after hearing her confidence. The man she’d pointed to was none other than Seo Jun-Ho.
He had been added to the Fiend Association’s most recent database.
‘But he’s a new Player that debuted barely two months ago.’
Arma didn’t think that it made logical sense for one of his subordinates to be killed by Seo Jun-Ho. But as he looked through the details of his profile, Arma slowly started to suspect him.
“There’s something strange about this man. He was recently involved with the Shadow Brothers.”
“…You’re right! He’s the guy that went into an Uncleared Gate with them.”
The Shadow Brothers and Seo Jun-Ho went inside the Uncleared Gate together, but the Shadow Brothers never managed to return. And now, this…
“From this moment on, I’m designating Seo Jun-Ho as a threat.”
“Okay.” The delinquent woman gnashed her teeth as she received the order. “If we ever meet, I’ll definitely kill him.”
***
The MGM Grand Garden Arena was usually full of excitement for the greatest matches, but today, it was silent.
‘It’s not even a film festival or anything.’
A long red carpet was spread at the entrance, where actors, directors, celebrities, and Players all over the world gathered.
Bees gathered where there were flowers. Reporters from every country were absorbed in their cameras, clicking the shutters.
Beep! Beep!
Before they stepped onto the red carpet, each person had to go through a thorough inspection that was reminiscent of airport security checkpoints. Seo Jun-Ho was no different.
“Excuse me.” A member of the Goblin Guild entrusted with security stopped him and held out his hand. “Can I see your invitation?”
Seo Jun-Ho reached into his jacket and pulled it out. The security guard’s eyes went wide as he opened the envelope and checked its contents. He immediately moved aside and bowed deeply.
“I’m sorry for wasting your time.”
“Huh? I don’t have to go through security?” Seo Jun-Ho looked around at the other people.
The security guard nodded. “Yes. You can go in right away.”
‘Did Gong Ju-Ha say something?’
Seo Jun-Ho tilted his head at the security guard’s polite manner and stepped onto the red carpet. The luxury suit, watch, and shoes that Shim Deok-Gu had sent him garnered the attention of the reporters.
“Huh? Who’s that man?”
“Is he a celebrity? He looks handsome.”
“His proportions are good and he’s slim. He kind of looks like a model.”
The male reporters couldn’t hide their envy at his suit and shoes, and the female reporters couldn’t hide their interest in his handsome face and proportionate body. Seo Jun-Ho entered the arena with the eyes of the audience following him.
The first thing that caught his eye was a bar.
‘I do need a drink.’
The auction would start tonight and would go on until dawn. Seo Jun-Ho walked over to buy a bottle of water.
“Iced tea, with lots of ice. Give me 20 glasses, please.”
Seo Jun-ho blinked as he recognized the girl in front of him. It was Gong Ju-Ha, and today she was wearing a black suit with her hair in a ponytail.
“So we meet?again.”
“Ughh, it’s so hot it’s annoying…huh?” Gong Ju-Ha looked over at him as she flapped her shirt. When she realized who it was, she crossed her arms. “Wow, who’s this? Isn’t this the guy who went to the bathroom and never came back?”
“…Ah.” Now that he thought about it, he had done that. “Did you wait for me?”
“Are you really asking that right now? I mean, if you start saying something, you have to finish it at the least! I was so curious about the ice compass that I waited for two hours! And if I get curious about something, I can’t sleep properly thinking about it. Can you see these dark circles under my eyes?”
“….I’m sorry.” He really did have nothing to say for himself. Seo Jun-Ho quickly bowed his head.
Gong Ju-Ha saw the apologetic look on his face and sighed as she uncrossed her arms. “What’s with that? You apologized right away, so I can’t even be mad.”
“I’ll buy you something good next time.” Seo Jun-Ho added.
“…Then, I’ll choose something expensive.” Gong Ju-Ha’s face softened as she checked the time. She picked up the icebox on the ground. “Hup.”
“Team Leader Gong, what’s…?” Seo Jun-Ho asked.
“Oh, it’s just a normal icebox. I keep ice cream and drinks in here.” She looked toward the entrance of the hall as if it were a strong boss monster. “Mr. Snake Head, you should also prepare yourself. It’s going to be a long battle.”
“You really do get hot easily.”
“Very. I think it’s worse because Las Vegas is in the desert.”
“Shouldn’t you have some sort of heat resistance because you’re a flame-user?”
“Exactly! Frustratingly enough, my body generates a lot of heat so I’m hot all the time.” Gong Ju-Ha said before picking up the icebox. She nodded instead of waving with her hand. “Have fun at the auction. It would be nice if we managed to sit close to each other, but I’m at the front for security reasons.” .
“Yes. Then Team Leader Gong…..” Seo Jun-Ho spoke sincerely. “I hope you also have a good time.”
***
“Mmmmm. The icebox~ is my treasure box~” Gong Ju-Ha hummed to herself as she sat in her seat. She placed the icebox in front of her. It would help her weather the heat for the next few hours; it really was her treasure box.
“Wow, it’s so close,” Gong Ju-Ha said in admiration. Since her seat was in the very front row, the stage was right below her nose. It was reserved for VIPs, but she was the captain of the security team.
‘If I’m this close, I can help right away if something happens.’
As she glanced around the people near her, she recognized all of them.
‘The Vice President of America…The President of the French Player Association…..Even the Queen of England is here?’
They were all people that had influence over the globe. No matter how much the world changed, the powers at the top remained the same.
“Is this my seat?” Gong Ju-Ha turned to greet the person next to her.
“Huh?” Her eyes went wide. “Mr. Snake Head?”
The person sitting next to her was none other than Seo Jun-Ho. Gong Ju-Ha quickly looked around and looked at him nervously.
“Um…..you know, these seats are all preassigned, so you can’t just sit anywhere.”
“Isn’t this seat A-13? It was written on my invitation.”
“Huh? Can I see your invitation?” Seo Jun-Ho casually handed it over, and Gong Ju-Ha’s jaw dropped.
‘W-what? A VIP ticket? Even I didn’t get one…’
Even though she was a famous Ranker Player, she was simply a Team Leader, not a Master or a Vice Master. She was only able to receive a premium ticket, a ticket that was a rank below him.
‘Wait. Now that I look at him…’
Gong Ju-Ha quickly scanned Seo Jun-Ho. His unstylish, messy haircut had been styled by a professional. And with just a glance, she could tell that his clothes and shoes cost at least tens of millions of won. She thought that he looked strangely good today, and she finally realized that it was thanks to his getup.
‘He only debuted two months ago, but he’s already wearing all that…’
A thought quickly came to her mind.
“Did you…spend all the money you earned at the casino yesterday?”
“Huh?”
“Um, well, your outfit looks really expensive.”
“Oh, this?” Seo Jun-Ho looked down at his clothes and grinned. “No. The clothes and watch are from the President. He gave me the invitation too.”
“Ah…I see.” The misunderstanding was cleared up, but she was even more impressed. “You must have his full confidence. I didn’t know that President Shim Deok-Gu had appointed you as his new heir.”
“…Huh? Heir?” Seo Jun-Ho blinked, but Gong Ju-Ha grinned.
“You really didn’t know? This isn’t just a normal auction seat. Only powerful people like big Guild Masters can receive a VIP invitation. Other people can’t even come up here…The fact that President Shim Deok-Gu easily gave you that invitation means that you’re his proxy. Therefore, he definitely thinks of you as his heir.”
“…Oh my god.” He finally realized what Shim Deok-Gu told him back then. He wondered why he said he needed to protect Shim Deok-Gu’s image at the auction, but he didn’t know that this was the reason behind it.
“The Korean Player Association hasn’t had a leading Player in a long time.” Gong Ju-Ha’s smile reached her eyes as she looked at Seo Jun-Ho. “It seems that the Association President wants to leave his role to you when he retires.”
“…That’s a big responsibility.” Just as he resolved that he would argue with Shim Deok-Gu the moment he returned to Korea, the lights turned off.
“Oh, it’s starting.”
The Auction. The biggest auction in the world was about to begin.
1. This was written in Korean but pronounced directly as it is in English