Chapter 474: Driving A Wedge (5)

“Don’t you think they’ve been a bit obvious recently?”

“Who?”

“What do you mean, who? Their group.”

“Ohh. Them. Well, you don’t have to worry too much about them.”

“Will it be okay?”

“Seeing what they’re doing these days is pretty cute. Not to mention, they can’t act to the extreme. They must be more cautious than us. If they get caught, they’re the ones that’ll be screwed.”

“So what, can I assume that we’re doing fine, Kim Hyunsung, except for him?”

“H-Hyunsung is fine, too.”

“What do you mean, fine? Honestly, you agree, right? It won’t change much if you throw alms this way. No matter how much money the Blue Guild has, I don’t really understand how they could willingly build shelters for free. You probably can’t even imagine how I had to stop Yeon-joo when she said she wanted to help. The Black Swan is not as generous as Blue, and there are many businesses that we opened recently…”

“…”

“I don’t think you’re aiming for a popular image… Honestly, in the Blue Guild’s case, there are no more images left to be piled up. If you really think that this kind of welfare can improve training quality, I want you to know that you thought wrong. It’s obvious that some groups would be celebrating that they caught a pushover. There is no need to say anything else.”

“Still, there are some guys who are actually being pretty nice. It doesn’t mean that it doesn’t work at all. Of course, it’s not perfect.”

“Did you know you’re being really funny by protecting them? Even so, it’s already been a few days since time has passed without meaning… Can you really be doing this?”

‘No… I don’t think I should be doing this, Jihye.’

Although I had taken Kim Hyunsung’s side, I had no choice but to agree with her.

I didn’t know how much time we had left for him trying to fix it in that way, but it was not unreasonable to feel frustrated.

In the meantime, Kim Hyunsung continued with his own struggle.

He used his head in his own way to lighten up the mood of the stagnant joint training.

In addition to building a dorm with the remaining mass-produced materials used in Crack Land, the workforce to build it and supplies were also supported under the guild’s name.

Although I felt his willingness to make them not pay attention to anything other than training, it was obvious that this wouldn’t be effective.

It might help those who were willing to do it in the first place, but those who were lazy were actively rejecting Kim Hyunsung’s solution.

He naively thought that something would change if he worked hard.

Actually, Kim Hyunsung’s daily routine had become a lot busier.

In the tight schedule of both training and work, teaching swordsmanship to other guilds and clans had now been added, and it continued on until late in the night.

When I checked his eyes with my own, he seemed a little sad.

However, this wasn’t without results.

Kim Hyunsung’s swordsmanship class, which had started with a small number of people, began to increase more and more, and their enthusiasm also seemed to overflow.

It would be strange if there were no achievements as it was training with people who now wanted to learn.

Kim Hyunsung’s teachings had also been passed around by word of mouth…

Of course, he couldn’t get more results than that.

Some of the influential people doubted whether or not Kim Hyunsung was trying to steal the talented adventurers, and as a result, more guilds deliberately refused to send their members to the training center.

The guild units had even blocked even free training, creating quite the comedic situation.

The only thing that remained was a few really enthusiastic members and a few guilds who asked to be taught with the risk of getting embarrassed.

As time went on, they generally became lazier and lazier, and some groups even showed behavior as if they were in reserve forces training. I didn’t know about how Kim Hyunsung felt, but at least it was natural for me to feel that I couldn’t just sit and watch.

‘Tsk…’

A small number of people had been positively affected, but there were still more who were negatively affected.

I was sure that the utopia, which had blown a new breeze with passion, will, and effort, would never come. Perhaps he gradually realized that it wasn’t looking good.

‘It will be frustrating.’

Some didn’t even move, even with people pulling them from the front and pushing them from behind.

When there was a mock battle with the Lindel Union or the Blue, they would often pull their party back, saying they weren’t feeling well. They boycotted it because they knew their party members would get hurt.

When the situation was already looking bad, even Cha Hee-ra said, ‘I won’t do it either. The same goes for our members. It’s not fun’ and lowered the tension, and Elena and the other races also changed the line with the feeling that they were only participating in the training formally.

I could tell that the overall atmosphere suddenly subsided without having to participate in training.

“In the meantime, the deep-rooted evils are still trying to drive a wedge. Compared to you, they don’t even feel like deep-rooted evils. They must look cute in your eyes.”

‘You’re too mean, Jihye.’

“Are you still just playing along with them?”

“It’s because there must be something that I can use out of it. For now, I’m just testing the waters. Well, I still haven’t figured out exactly how many people have joined them. Hyunsung doesn’t seem to know yet… If he’s not saying anything, it means that he trusts me that much.”

“That’s a great kind of trust. You’re doing it almost every day… honestly, your life is almost… trashy these days.”

“I might have been acting like trash, but it wasn’t useless. He might wonder if I’m planning something again.”

“Hmm… oppa.”

“Yes?”

“Can I solve this?”

“How?”

“I don’t know. It’s still a secret for now. Honestly, I’m not sure, but I don’t think there is any other way to do it. You just have to act as usual. No, go have fun with them more actively.”

‘It doesn’t sound like a bum deal…’

I had to think that if it was Lee Jihye, it was almost certain, especially when she stepped forward like that.

First, it felt like it wouldn’t be bad to agree. I was a little puzzled as to exactly how she would do it, but…

When I saw Park Deokgu, who came to me less than a few hours ago, I felt convinced.

‘She’s a real demon.’

“Hyung-nim… is it true that you might leave the Blue Guild?”

‘It was this.’

I started to smile.

“Just tell me if it’s true or not.”

“It’s just a rumor. Who told you that?”

“Well, I don’t know where the rumors came from, but… well, that’s what’s going around.”

Why couldn’t I think of that?

I felt a bit stupid. If one couldn’t pull, then push. The solution proved to be much easier than I had initially thought.

𝐟𝕣𝕖𝐞𝐰𝕖𝚋𝐧𝗼𝚟𝐞𝕝.𝗰𝐨𝐦

So far, I hadn’t spoken with Kim Hyunsung on that matter.

I was hoping for him to get exhausted, and that it was best to wait. It should have worked overtime, but it was undeniable that I now felt a bit frustrated.

Lee Jihye’s solution to it was very simple.

‘It means that I need to respond actively the way the deep-rooted evils want.’

Simply put, it ended with pretending to be caught in the wedge.

She was leaking the rumors that Lee Kiyoung was having bad ideas about the Blue and Kim Hyunsung.

Of course, it seemed that Kim Hyunsung hadn’t yet noticed that there was a third force trying to tear the Blue apart, but if I made it obvious, he would have no choice but to feel it.

It was clear that he would have time to rethink about the deep-rooted evils I had been meeting with.

In fact, I felt a bit anxious from my perspective, but at least I couldn’t deny that it was something worth trying.

To some of the people who were clouding the atmosphere, our Hyunsung had to be disillusioned. As a result, he would feel that there must be some other solution.

It turned out that the group that was supporting us both materially and emotionally was trying to tear us apart.

I was, in fact, affected by the trick.

It meant it was a situation where even Buddha could explode.

‘Even if Hyunsung is an excessively good-natured person, if he just stays still to this, he’s a pushover.’

At least at that point, I could be sure that there was no effective mean as that.

Although we were a bit far, Kim Hyunseong still cared about me more than anyone else…

Even if he didn’t, he would have to take some action as I occupied a large portion of the Blue.

It was only proper for me to talk about it as if it was nothing.

“That’s ridiculous.”

“Is it true?”

I answered vaguely.

“There is still a contract term left, and there is nowhere for me to go, even if I left Blue right now. I don’t know from where or how you heard that, but you don’t have to worry about it, Deokgu. Don’t worry about anything else and focus on training.”

“Ugh…”

“What exactly did you hear?”

“Well, no big deal. Rumors have it that you are hanging out with bad people these days… that you might leave Lindel because of that… that you’re now disillusioned with the Blue so that you can move to the Union. Hyung-nim, did you have a fight with hyung-ssi?”

“We’re past the age to be fighting.”

“No, I don’t mean that. I’m asking if there is a conflict of opinion or something like that.”

“There’s nothing like that.”

“I’m glad then…”

‘She’s leaked quite a lot.’

Whenever I heard about an unknown rumor from Park Deokgu, I had to commend her work.

Considering the rumors Lee Jihye leaked, it would be safe to assume that she was picturing the same thing as I was.

The thing that was bothering me was that Park Deokgu knew too much.

‘Is this normal? What the hell is with this bastard?’

Usually, when spreading those kinds of rumors, it was inevitable to release information little by little. Otherwise, the spreader would get exposed.

Of course, Lee Jihye couldn’t make such a rudimentary mistake.

She would’ve intended to spread it slowly from all directions, and it was obvious that at least a few days had to pass before the rumor settled.

‘How does this bastard know about it in detail? It’s as if he heard it himself.’

I knew he was sensitive to gossip, but…

‘Does he even have an attribute related to this?’

Just in case, I tried to activate the Mind’s Eyes quietly, but nothing had changed.

I guessed it could be called an innate ability. It hadn’t even been a few hours since Jihye started with her plan!

‘Isn’t he hiding an Information Specialist Guild?’

It was just a joke, but looking at the past, it felt plausible.

“I sometimes have to suspect if that bastard has regressed, too.”