“Damn it!”
“What the hell is this…! Goddamn it!”
Curses erupted from all around the conference room.
Jaehee, who had to continue the meeting, was equally flustered. It wasn’t like he had been relaxed just because there was a day left, but the thought of not even having that one day made him feel like everything had gone dark.
[Calm down. It said it’s a preview. It probably won’t be like the real mission. This might actually be fortunate for us.]
What calmed Jaehee’s heart was Jeongwoo’s message. Reading Jeongwoo’s text, his flustered feelings gradually subsided and reason returned.
Right. It was true that the system was goddamn awful, but even so, it didn’t do things arbitrarily. In other words, the system also operated under certain rules. As such, even the system couldn’t advance an already announced mission by a day without reason. If that was the case, this “preview” was literally a “preview” and would be different from the mission. Perhaps this really was a kindness, just like the system message said.
After organizing his thoughts to this point, Jaehee turned his head toward Jeongwoo. Their eyes met for a moment, and Jeongwoo’s lips curved upward in a pleasing arc.
Since when had he been looking this way? Seeing Jeongwoo gazing only at him as if there was no need to look anywhere else made a corner of his heart tingle. His face suddenly flushed hot. For a moment, the thought that this damn system and mission didn’t matter at all flashed through his mind. He must really be going crazy.
“Alright, quiet, please quiet down. I know you’re flustered by the message just now, but let’s proceed with the meeting first. Based on the new message, it seems the Night of the Dead will begin tonight as a preview. Since the system called it a preview, it probably won’t be the same as the real mission starting tomorrow.”
Jaehee’s calm voice brought order to the chaotic atmosphere of the conference room.
In truth, there had been an unconscious tendency within the guild to look down on Jaehee. They had thought of him as just a kid who happened to awaken through the Royal Road and then made a guild thanks to his rich father. But seeing him speak calmly without getting excited even in this situation made them see him differently.
“If we prepare well for tonight’s preview, we’ll be able to handle tomorrow’s mission well too. First, Yumi-ssi, please pay attention to the filming today. We’ll need to analyze this and strategize tomorrow, so please film from as many angles as possible. And don’t forget to announce that we’re temporarily auto-approving subject registrations. I plan to cast King’s Veil on all guild members by default. But as I mentioned, the safest will be the King’s Veil where I’m present. First, prioritize getting guild members’ families into the building. Since there are many people, various problems may arise. We need to prepare for that as well.”
People nodded at Jaehee’s words and took notes. The executives voluntarily divided up the tasks, saying they would take this one or that one. Given the situation, everyone had to step up actively.
This wasn’t simply a guild-level matter—it was directly connected to the lives of their families and relatives.
“Um, but Guild Master. How many people should we limit entry to the guild building? If there’s no limit on the number of people, it’ll be chaos.”
“Setting clear standards would be fair, but I don’t think we have time for that now. It’s also difficult to check documents one by one and verify relationships. For now, please accept anyone who is family of our guild members. And since the Veil isn’t deployed centered on the building, being outside the building doesn’t mean you won’t be protected, so not getting inside the building won’t cause that much chaos. As long as it’s well controlled.”
“Yes, understood.”
“And keep in mind that Yumi-ssi will be recording all of this on video. Yumi-ssi, please also broadcast starting with tonight’s preview. If any strategies emerge, we’ll share those too. That way… there will be fewer casualties.”
Jaehee paused for a moment and looked around at the audience. Seeing people focused on his words made his shoulders feel heavy anew. It wasn’t just these people in the guild looking at him. Not only guild members but their families too—they were all people he had to take responsibility for.
He took a long breath. Thinking of the people relying on him made him so nervous he felt dizzy, but at the same time, he felt a strange sense of exhilaration.
“We can do this. Let’s do our best so that not a single person becomes a casualty.”
—
“My, our Jaehee, you were really cool and splendid earlier. I only thought of you as a child in my arms, but I was wrong. Well, there’s a reason our Jaehee is king. It’s because you have those qualities.”
“Oh my, Father, you only realized that now? I’ve known for a while, so you’re a bit late.”
“Hahaha.”
Father burst into laughter at Jeongwoo’s nonchalant response. At times like this, it seemed like Father and Jeongwoo were more comfortable with each other than with him.
The three of them had gathered separately in the guild master’s office after the executive meeting to have a brief conversation.
“Father, I don’t know what will happen going forward, but I think it would be good to buy up the real estate in this area. Would that be possible?”
The office Father had arranged was in the city center and near a station. No matter how different Seoul was from before, it must be quite expensive. Thanks to Father being a corporate executive, he had lived comfortably, but Father wasn’t a chaebol. In fact, he knew that buying this building was more of an investment from Father’s company chairman than Father’s own money.
“Don’t worry. This is hardly a normal situation. Even without trying to buy this area, everyone will cooperate. Since they’re being protected under the Veil thanks to you, Jaehee, they honestly couldn’t complain even if we asked them to pay a protection tax.”
“Is that so…”
“There’s no choice in this situation. And if it really doesn’t work, there’s also the option of buying land in the countryside. Actually, though it takes time, I think that might be better. Since you’re king, Jaehee, you’d be making a kingdom. It can’t be helped since things are urgent now, but let me look into some land in the countryside. If you had told me earlier, we could have prepared better. When buying land, we should buy hundreds of thousands of pyeong at once. What’s the point of staying in Seoul in a world where monsters run rampant anyway?”
Jaehee felt strange watching his strangely excited father.
Part of the reason Jaehee had created a guild was because being called king felt burdensome. A king in the 21st century. But listening to his father’s talk made him feel differently about being king.
Did Father want to buy land in the countryside and build an actual royal palace? If that happened, it felt like he would truly be crossing a river of no return.
Jaehee fiddled with the phone in his hand. Then he glanced out the window. Outside, guild members could be seen moving busily.
“Um, Father. When are stepmother and Iyeong coming?”
“They said they left earlier, so they should arrive soon. I told them to stay in the room behind the guild master’s office when they arrive.”
“Ah, yes…”
There was a small room behind the guild master’s office where one could lie down, and Father seemed to plan to have Iyeong and stepmother stay there.
“Um, but Father.”
Jaehee fiddled with the phone in his hand and opened his mouth. It was harder to speak than when he had been conducting the executive meeting.
“Have you been able to… contact Mom?”
Father’s face hardened instantly. Jaehee bit his lip.
This seemed to be the first time he had brought up Mom in front of Father since the divorce.
“M-Mom? You mean, your mother, Jaehee?”
Jaehee nodded while taking short breaths. For some reason, just bringing up Mom made him feel breathless.
“I can’t reach Mom. Given the situation, I’d like Mom to come here if possible…”
“Your mother…”
“I’ve been texting and calling continuously, but since I can’t get through, I’m getting anxious. Have you tried contacting her, Father? Ah, I know this might be uncomfortable for you! I’ll try to keep you two from running into each other as much as possible.”
“Have you been in contact with your mother all this time?”
Jaehee trailed off and glanced at his father. Father’s face was rigid as he stared at Jaehee.
“Not often, just occasionally. I just wanted to know if Mom was safe and not hurt. Since she’s not answering my calls, I thought maybe you’ve been in contact with her, so I asked.”
Trying to act like it was nothing made him ramble unnecessarily. Watching Jaehee, Father let out a deep sigh.
“Jaehee, I really don’t know how to tell you this. Whether I should even say this in this situation…”
Just then, Jeongwoo stepped between the two and grabbed Father’s arm.
“Father! Just a moment.”
“Huh? Jeongwoo. W-wait, this is our family matter…”
“Father. I don’t think now is a very good idea.”
Father tried to shake off the arm Jeongwoo was holding and say something, but Jeongwoo held onto Father’s arm and shook his head.
“Father. You know. The Night of the Dead will begin soon. Now isn’t a good time for such talk. Later, let’s do it later.”
“R-right… let’s do that. And, whew. Jaehee. Alright. I’ll try to contact her.”
“Father! Then please tell her to come here if possible.”
Father nodded with a bitter expression. It seemed strange that Jeongwoo and Father were whispering something while excluding only him, but since things were urgent and Father said he would try to contact her, he let it pass for now.
At this time, he didn’t know why Father had made such an expression.
