Chapter 305

Chi-Woo hadn’t felt at ease living in Ru Amuh’s zone until recently. He thought he shouldn’t forget the fact that Ru Amuh was the owner of the building he was living in while he was simply the guest. It had always bothered Chi-Woo that he might be mooching off Ru Amuh and robbing him of a good portion of his property. Thus, Chi-Woo thought he should leave and get a new territory of his own if he noticed any signs of him inconveniencing Ru Amuh. Seeing Ru Amuh’s response, though, Chi-Woo thought there was no need to worry about that anymore and changed his mindset.

[Since you inherited the will of the World, you have to act as the center. Even if it might not be true for now, you have to do so in the near future.]

[This means that you need to build a force centered around you.]

[Don’t tell me no or deny it. If that’s not the case, there is no reason why you have that special privilege.]

Chi-Woo recalled what his master had told him before. At that time, he had told her without hesitation that he would do what was expected of him; and considering that, it was understandable she would click her tongue at him now, seeing that he hadn’t been making substantial preparations to that end. Thus, Chi-Woo decided to accept the way things were even though he felt a bit sorry for Ru Amuh. This was for the future he dreamed of.

“Anyways, I shouldn’t look a gift horse in the mouth… Since we’ve solved the biggest problem, let’s now get on with the next stop…” Eval still looked fl.u.s.tered with lingering confusion, but he continued, “Boss, before we decide who to prioritize, I would like to talk to each of the members already on our team. Is that alright with you?”

Chi-Woo told him to do as he saw fit, and Eval immediately went to Ru Amuh first.

“Let’s talk for a bit. Could you guide us to a quiet place?” Eval asked, and Ru Amuh immediately got up from his seat. He took Eval to one of the rooms. Not long afterward, Ru Amuh came back out alone.

“Eval said he would like to talk to Lady Evelyn next,” he said. The way Ru Amuh smiled while talking softly showed that he was in a pretty good mood. Evelyn took a slightly longer time in the room than Ru Amuh, but when she came out, she also had a faint smile tugging at her lips.

“Ms. Byeok? I think he wants to see you next.”

Evelyn watched as Byeok quietly got up and entered the room before shooting a mysterious smile at Chi-Woo. “I was worried since he looked like some gangster, but…I suppose a hero is a hero.”

Chi-Woo tilted his head. He wondered what kind of conversation they shared that she would be acting like this. Then a couple more people entered the room and reemerged. There were some who returned immediately, and some who spent a longer time. Then, after meeting Hawa last, Eval finally got out of the room. Hawa looked slightly pale for some reason.

“Boss, I’ve talked to everyone here.” Eval stretched his jaws sideways and loosened up his lips. “And it seems like we should form a temporary team first.”

“A team?”

“Yes, I think we need at least one team to do public activities.”

Chi-Woo thought over what Eval said and nodded. ‘Let’s trust Mr. Eval Sevaru and my intuition,’ he thought. Since he had recruited Eval with great difficulty, he thought he should support Eval as much as he could in the beginning. As soon as Chi-Woo gave his order, Eval called upon a couple of people. With Ru Amuh as the head and captain, he chose Ru Hiana, Hawa, Evelyn, and Eshnunna. It was a balanced team with two swordsmen, a guide, a priest, and a magician—no, a witch.

“We should get these five to work together for now. Of course, I’m not saying that there’s anyone I don’t like, but this is the best team we can come up with given the few members we have. And boss and I will be so busy from now on. We won’t be able to hang around here like before. Since we still need people to represent us in public activities, though, I will ask this team to fulfill that responsibility.”

Some looked displeased by this news, but they didn’t say anything. It appeared that Eval had already talked to them about this matter inside the room.

“For convenience"s sake, I will call this team, ‘Team 1’ from now on.”

“I understand your reasoning for making this team, but what do we do from now on?” Ru Amuh suddenly asked after listening quietly for a while.

“Don’t ask me,” Eval said. “You are the captain of this team. Although you’re put together sort of hastily, this is the first monumental team we formed.” Though it was on a small scale, it didn’t change the fact that they had created an official group, which meant the members of this group had been acknowledged for their skills, and with that came greater expectations.

“A captain isn’t in a position where they should just follow boss’ orders. You have to also prove your worth on your own.” As the captain was given enough authority to act independently, he had to shoulder more responsibilities.

“Truthfully, I also think it’s too early to implement this system. I’d like to carefully inspect every member equally if possible. Still, I’m entrusting the job to you because boss trusts you so much.”

Furthermore, Ru Amuh needed to know how to take initiative. Rather than a dog that just chased his owner around, he needed to be a hunting dog that went off and came back with prey caught on his own.

“So, you should at least think about what you can do to help our development and carry them out. If there’s a need, you can hold internal team meetings. But since we already have so much to do, don’t give us any extra workload in the process.”

Ru Amuh appeared happy hearing Eval’s words. He seemed very touched by Chi-Woo’s trust in him above all else.

“But that doesn’t mean you should act however you want. Please at least report to us before you do anything.”

“Of course. I know at least that much,” Ru Amuh replied.

Byeok nodded, looking satisfied. Someone who didn’t know the situation well would think that Eval was acting on his own and bossing people around, but it was the opposite, really. This was evident by the way Eval informally asked for Chi-Woo’s permission every time he did something and the way he answered Ru Amuh’s question. Furthermore, he was simply distributing the workload. He was telling Ru Amuh that he would respect his authority, so he shouldn’t interfere with his, and everyone should only focus on their own jobs. Of course, it was still too early to make judgments, but Eval seemed to be doing everything right so far.

“Okay, good. That’s done then, and…” After settling the internal matters, Eval rubbed his hands together and looked back to Chi-Woo. Chi-Woo realized it was his turn now and nodded.

“Boss,” Eval said bluntly, “Let me borrow some of your money.”

Chi-Woo looked curious. “Money? How much?”

“Enough to renovate this whole zone. It would be nice if you could also give me enough for other miscellaneous expenses too.”

“Are you planning to renovate the area?” Chi-Woo asked. It sounded like Eval was going to break down the building they were living in to set up a whole new one. “Is that really necessary?”

It can be hard to make great work when its stolen from ReadNovelFull.com.

Eval blinked in surprise and answered, “Um…” He stroked his chin and said, “Boss, before I answer that, why don’t we go somewhere first?”

“Where?”

“Outside, of course. Don’t worry, I’m not asking you on a date.” Eval started walking. While they walked, he suggested, “Okay, now let’s imagine that we are one of the tenth reinforcements who doesn’t know anything about you or Liber, boss.”

“We’ve arrived right at Shalyh and we’re curious how the previous recruits before us set up the city. Thus, we’re going to circle around the city once to gain information and join some activities.” Eval then stopped walking and looked in one direction. “Huh? What’s that building?”

Chi-Woo turned around and looked up, and his eyes widened while his jaw dropped. A large building that looked like a Byzantine-style church was being built.

“Oh, it makes me curious. I wonder who built such a cool-looking building. Hm~ Doesn’t seem to be the official residence.” As if he was really one of the tenth reinforcements who were soon to come, Eval acted really surprised and made a big fuss.

“What? It’s where the Ho Lactae’s head is? Ah~ No wonder! They really live up to their name.”

Chi-Woo stared blankly at the building and glanced at it.

“But if they can raise a building like this, won’t they have quite the resources? What can I do to join them? Should I look up the conditions to join?”

It was then Chi-Woo realized why Eval had suggested they rebuild their building. And instead of returning home right away, they visited several other places—the other zones the Celestial Lights received after reaching gold ranks. They were all doing the same thing. Although their buildings didn’t have the same dignified look as the Ho Lactae’s, each of them was being renovated to separate them from the rest.

“How is it?”

When they finally returned to their own zone, Chi-Woo couldn’t help but make a bitter smile at how shabby their base looked. After seeing all the other Celestial Lights’ fancy buildings, it really hit him how different his seemed in comparison. This was a factor he never considered before. Given the kind of places he’d been living and wandering in since his arrival at Liber, any proper residence appeared good enough for him. Yet he shouldn’t have thought like that. Although it was true that his current residence was incomparably better than the one he first lived in since coming to this world, he needed to adjust his expectations to the present.

“I’m the type of person who thinks the outside is as important as the inside. After all, appearances are what people look at first. And that’s why the visible environment is so important. It gives authority to someone who has none.” Authority was the power that a person wielded to influence society, and it didn’t just come out of nothing. It needed to be created.

“Think about it. How would it be if an official residence that determined a city’s affairs wasn’t like the buildings we saw, but some old cottage house?” Authority often came with formalities and procedures.

“Of course, a famous name like the legend crushes the necessity of all that, but that’s only possible if the other party recognizes the name too. But boss, you are…” Eval didn’t finish his sentence, but Chi-Woo got what he meant. Though he was going around publicly with his original name now, he still hadn’t revealed his family name save for a few exceptions. Furthermore, it was true that he wasn’t as famous as he should be considering all the achievements he had made until now since he had purposefully tried to not stand out. But he couldn’t do that from now on. Even if he didn’t want to, he needed to put himself in the spotlight. Since he didn’t want to reveal his family name, he at least needed to put his achievements in the open to compete against the Celestial Lights. But besides that, Chi-Woo had some other realistic concerns.

“But I worry about how much it will cost.” It wasn’t like they were buying some pieces of equipment. They needed to completely renovate their residence. Zelit’s project had required 300,000 royal as a starting fund. Chi-Woo couldn’t imagine the cost of construction of this scale.

“That’s why we need to get estimates. Let’s go, boss.”

“We are going somewhere again?”

“Don’t you have some connections with the buhguhbus thanks to my introductions? You should use them in times like this.” Eval led Chi-Woo elsewhere. Chi-Woo was hesitant to go to the buhguhbu’s place, but he was happy to see Grandpa Mangil welcome him with open arms again.

“I was wondering when you would seek me out and have been waiting for you. I thought a person of your standing would definitely start renovating his place by now. If you came any later than today, I was thinking about sending one of my people to your place to inquire.”

This was the power of connections. Mangil was still grateful about what happened with Dalgil, and he told Chi-Woo valuable information that the construction of one of Shalyh’s gateways had come to an end, and that they were having difficulties disposing of the remaining materials from that project. Thanks to that and Eval’s haggling skills, they were able to get a much lower estimate for the renovation of their building than they had expected. Nevertheless, it was still a big sum that made Chi-Woo hesitate. Naturally, they didn’t have enough savings.

“That’s why I said we should take loans. And there’s only one person who could lend us such a sum. Even if you don’t want to, could you use your connections again?”

In the end, Chi-Woo was convinced by Eval to visit that one person, and of course, Chi-Woo didn’t go empty-handed.

“Why are you visiting all the time now—” Chi-Hyun was about to really scold Chi-Woo this time for barging into his office when he noticed what Chi-Woo had. Thud.

“…Hm. Well, come in. Hope the walk here wasn’t too tiring.“ He immediately changed his tune when he saw the seven-tier lunchbox set that Chi-Woo placed on the table. Then, after feeling the heavy weight of the lunchbox set and feeling pleased with it, he glanced at Chi-Woo.

“It seems like you didn’t come to just give me this.”

“Uh…the truth is…” Chi-Woo scratched his head and gave his brother a silly smile. “Could you lend us some money?”

“Money? How much?” When he heard the exact amount, Chi-Hyun looked a bit stunned. “What do you need so much money for?”

“I’m planning to fix up my place.”

“Is the place you currently have too small?”

“Rather than that…you know I have to work in a group rather than on my own. I need to set up an environment that matches that. Besides, the tenth reinforcements are going to come soon…”

Chi-Hyun looked a bit surprised by Chi-Woo’s words, but in the end, he smiled. It was obvious Chi-Woo had heard about this from someone else and was simply repeating it. Chi-Hyun didn’t say that part aloud though. His brother was still learning how to lead other people and above all, was trying. Thus, Chi-Hyun didn’t ask any more questions and made a call.

Soon afterward, Noel came in with a heavy bag on her shoulders.

“Take it.”

“What…you are giving it to me this easily?” Chi-Woo looked astonished.

“Why?” Chi-Hyun asked indifferently while loosening the cloth wrapping his seven-tier lunch box.

“Your reason for borrowing the money is valid, and you’ve made achievements worthy of making such a request.” Clack. Chi-Hyun looked very satisfied seeing the food on the first tier. “Is there any reason to not hand you that money?” Chi-Woo’s reasons were logical and reasonable, so it made sense he should oblige. But Chi-Woo asked carefully, “Is there anyone else who borrowed such a large amount beside me?”

“There were many.” Chi-Hyun raised his chopsticks and gulped. “I’m also counting the last time you came with your friend to borrow money, though I didn’t give you the loan as easily as this time…”

Chi-Hyun flicked his hand around while wondering joyfully what he should eat first. And he told Chi-Woo to leave if he had said everything he needed to say. Thus, Chi-Woo shrugged and turned around.

“Wow, the legend sure is generous!” Eval cheered at the money Chi-Woo brought as soon as he came back home. “And boss, where is the contract? I’m sure the legend set it up nicely considering what you told me last time.”

“Sorry?”

“A contract. Did you not draft a single contract after borrowing a large sum?”

And when Chi-Woo replied that he didn’t have anything like that and just received the money, Eval let out a humorless laugh.

“Seriously? I heard that even the Ho Lactea left the official residence all red-faced and gritting her teeth… Well, this is good. Seems like we would be able to make our construction project bigger than we thought.”

Eval seemed so pleased that he sang his words. Chi-Woo thus replied, “Really? Then should I ask for a bit more?”

“No, no! It’s fine! This is good enough!” Eval hurriedly stopped Chi-Woo. “There’s no favor done with no strings attached.”

There was always a limit. They couldn’t expect Chi-Woo’s brother to keep looking out for him just because they were siblings.

“We need to repay this sum as fast as we can and even more,” Eval said. They needed to use the money for the right purpose and achieve results that surpa.s.sed the amount they spent. And thus, they would be able to show the legend how much they managed to achieve with the loan. Only then would they be able to build trust and confidently borrow money from Chi-Hyun again.

“Then, there’s only one thing left to do.” They had already done many things: Chi-Woo had successfully acquired Ru Amuh’s zone, Eval had helped form an internal hierarchy within their group, and they had prepared to renovate their environment according to their status and authority. While they had established the foundation to set up a proper system, there was still one thing missing. They had been pus.h.i.+ng it aside to progress other things forward, but it was something they should’ve done from the beginning.

Chi-Woo asked what it was that they needed to do, and Eval pointed to their zone’s ground and said, “Let’s decide the name for this place.”