The Duke's Son :Re-Chapter 84

[Request to prevent a gate appearance at Gugang International Hotel.]

-Signs of an incoming C-grade gate have been detected on the sixth- to thirteenth floors of the hotel building.

-Five gate-generating cores must be destroyed.

-We are asking the Shooting Club of Lion’s Castle to snipe one of them.

-The situation is urgent, please reply as soon as possible.

There were two main types of gates.

First, there were permanent gates. Among the gates owned by South Korea, Cokro Island was a typical example of this kind; It was a gate that didn’t disappear even when clearing quests or defeating bosses, so players could keep hunting monsters and gathering resources no matter how many times it was cleared. For this reason, permanent gates were viewed as gold mines that never ran dry.

Permanent gates were rare, with new ones appearing on average once every two years. For this reason, the Eastern Gate Talks was also held once every two years, during which countries competed for ownership over these gates.

The second gate type was one-time gates. These made up the vast majority of gate occurrences. They were gates that appeared randomly and disappeared after a specific condition was met.

If a gate caused damage to human life or property, it was most likely a one-time gate that was responsible.

The ruined city where the craftsman Elder Song stayed had also collapsed due to the frequent appearance of one-time gates.

Recently, however, humans became immune to one-time gates, having developed the technology to identify the precursor signs before a one-time gate appeared. In particular, cities with branches of the Association or large guilds successfully identified and prepared for the appearance of more than 90% of the one-time gates in their districts.

Normally, they form a team and clear it as soon as it happens.

In some cases, however, it was best to prevent the gate from appearing at all. The Gugang International Hotel was a good example of the latter. It was a fifty-story building. If the sixth- to thirteenth floors collapsed, the entire building would likely fall.

Perhaps, if there had been signs of an A-grade or higher gate appearing, they might have tried to capture it at the expense of hundreds of billions of won but... It’s crazy to destroy a building that size just for a C-grade gate.

The situation itself made sense. But there was just one thing he didn’t understand. freewёbnoνel.com

“This is an important crossroads between destroying or protecting a multi-billion-won hotel building, and they actually sent a commission to students? Are there not enough snipers in South Korea?”

Roh Jun-Yeop was angry. “Have you forgotten that my nickname is the future Bow Saint? I’m better than most current active players. Obviously, I’m worth trusting.”

“Ehh. You’re a worse shot than Kang Jae-Hyeok.”

“T-That... he’s just too good... ”

“U-um. If the Gugang Group had sent a commission based on Senior’s skills, the commission would’ve specified you. However, there isn’t a single bit of your name written here?”

“......”

Roh Jun-Yeop was hit twice in a row by Baek Do-Jin and Chae Da-Hee’s words, and finally shut up.

Jang Yeon-Ju sighed. “I think they’re aiming for me.”

“Certainly.” Jae-Hyeok understood at once.

On the other hand, Do-Jin and Da-Hee tilted their heads, and Hae-Rin lost interest, so she sat by the window and started counting the stars.

“They want to attract my grandfather,” Jang Yeon-Ju explained. “My grandfather has entered seclusion so they don’t have a way to send the commission to him. They’re probably trying to get me involved to deliver the news to him.”

Once in seclusion, a person lived cut off from the outside world until they achieved their purpose. However, there were few people who were so harsh as to ignore their family.

In particular, the Bow Saint was famous for caring about his family from a young age.

If he heard that his untalented granddaughter had been sent on a mission meant for the best snipers, he would likely jump out immediately to protect his granddaughter’s reputation.

“Jang Yeon-Ju, isn’t it fine if you don’t participate?”

Roh Jun-Yeop suggested, but Jang Yeon-Ju shrugged.

“The moment the Shooting Club participates, the Gugang Group will spread false information that I’m also participating.”

“You can call home and explain things. Don’t you have a cell phone? Do you want me to lend you one?”

“...They won’t believe me.”

Jang Yeon-Ju scratched her cheek in embarrassment. She could only blame her child self for stepping forward without knowing her place anytime something related to archery came up.

“Che... ”

Roh Jun-Yeop shut his mouth. He couldn’t laugh at Jang Yeon-Ju, who had no talent but dreamed of becoming the Bow Saint. He also loved shooting. Just how sad and resentful would he feel if he weren’t talented in what he loved? As a genius, he couldn’t even imagine how that felt.

“......”

Meanwhile, Hae-Rin took her eyes off the window and stared at Jang Yeon-Ju. She envied Jang Yeon-Ju for having a family that came running on hearing her news.

If different people looked at the same person, some would feel sorry while others would feel envious. Of course, there were some people who didn’t feel much about it either way.

Jae-Hyeok interrupted the atmosphere, “Oh, by the way, there are only candies in the club’s pantry. Buy some chocolates starting tomorrow, too. That’s an order from the acting manager.”

Inwardly, Jae-Hyeok sighed. He once again realized how difficult relationships between people were. These moments served as a good lesson.

He tapped on the table and got down to business. “After hearing the explanation, isn’t it best to decline the commission? Why even bother showing it to me?”

It was true that Jae-Hyeok had asked the Shooting Club for the right to preempt any commissions. However, the commission details always came to Jae-Hyeok through the Shooting Club. This meant the Shooting Club could deceive him as much as they wanted. Nevertheless, Jang Yeon-Ju dared to reveal a commission that was somewhat embarrassing for her. She even called Jae-Hyeok to check it out.

“That’s because you are in charge of the Shooting Club.”

I have no intention of deceiving you.

Jang Yeon-Ju firmly added, “The Gugang Group also has a very bad relationship with the Association. The amount of funds the Association has ripped off from them is astronomical. Only after Gugang Group developed their own gate detection capabilities could they stand up for themselves. But even so, they’d paid so much in taxes and only lost money. That kind of resentment lingers.”

The Gugang Group's losses were caused by the government’s inability to control the Association.

Most associations in developed countries engaged in local volunteer activities to protect their citizens and companies, but the Korean Association was busy trying to make money. They argued that their aces needed enormous amounts of money to gain enough power to withstand their thunder tribulations, and the more tribulations their aces could survive, the stronger South Korea would become as a whole. Of course, if someone had to extort others to survive their tribulations, were they really an ace?

Jae-Hyeok thought, Worthless bastards. The Association was one of the organizations that had robbed his father of most of his wealth. Moreover, if they had to resort to robbery to improve their lives, then they should at least show it. But the fact that the Association showed no signs of improvement made Jae-Hyeok feel an overwhelming sense of disgust.

Definitely, my first mission should be to destroy and rebuild the Association, Jae-Hyeok thought as his eyes darkened, struggling to suppress his killing intent.

Just then, Jang Yeon-Ju mentioned her main reason for presenting the commission, “Since Gugang Group has a bad relationship with the Association, there’s a good chance they will try to establish a good relationship with you, Jae-Hyeok. Of course, that’s only after you’ve proven yourself.”

Jang Yeon-Ju was the granddaughter of the Bow Saint and could get her hands on more information than others if she wanted. She was aware that the Association had conducted Jae-Hyeok’s re-examination to try and expel him from school. The relationship between Jae-Hyeok and the Association was clear.

Surprisingly, Roh Jun-Yeop also spoke up in favor, “The Association is really annoying. It would be fun to mess with them.”

It was said that he often participated in shooting competitions organized by the Association. It seemed his experience with the Association also wasn’t the best.

Jae-Hyeok laughed.

“So you want me to accept the commission? What if it does disturb the Bow Saint?”

“I’ll try to explain it to him. And no matter what, it’s Grandfather’s own fault if he gets deceived by the Gugang Group and runs out. It can’t be helped.” Jang Yeon-Ju shook her head as if to say her grandfather was hopeless.

Then Jae-Hyeok pointed out the critical issue. “However, do we have the capabilities to carry out this commission?”

“Huh?”

“I heard that the condensed mana that produces gates is difficult to identify with the naked eye. In addition, the mana storm is so strong that it’s difficult to aim, and the power of any projectiles is greatly weakened.”

In order to prevent a gate from appearing, all the cores that generated the gate had to be found and destroyed. A C-grade gate had five cores; if even one core remained, the operation would fail.

“Jae-Hyeok, with your abilities, can’t you do it? Out of the five cores, we’ll only be in charge of one, so we’ll have plenty of time to spare.”

“I’m not so sure. Seeing how the Gugang Group is trying to attract the Bow Saint, I don’t think the other four snipers will be that reliable. In the worst-case scenario, we might have to take out two or more cores.”

The commission from the Gugang Group was huge, and the opportunity to form a connection with a large corporation sharing the Association as a common enemy was tempting, but... Jae-Hyeok couldn’t leave school recklessly. The most important thing for him was survival.

“Have you forgotten me? This is just a matter of the future Bow Saint taking action,” Roh Jun-Yeop said.

“Are you so confident?”

Roh Jun-Yeop swallowed his pride. “Well... if you teach me some shooting skills, maybe I could.” Even for the future Bow Saint, destroying the cores forming a gate was no ordinary task.

Jae-Hyeok was convinced of his own judgment after seeing Roh Jun-Yeop’s hesitation. “This isn’t a problem meant for students to solve. I’m pretty sure they only made the commission to lure out the Bow Saint, so it is best we refuse,” Jae-Hyeok concluded.

Jang Yeon-Ju nodded in agreement. In the first place, she wasn’t happy with this commission and had only presented it thinking it might be helpful to Jae-Hyeok.

Jae-Hyeok looked at the rest of the commissions that Yeon-ju had brought before grabbing a few and gesturing to his teammates. “All Seed team members, gather at the shooting range.”

“Who’s the Seed team?” Baek Do-Jin blinked.

“You.”

“......?”

This time, both Baek Do-Jin and Da-Hee were surprised.

“Our team’s name is Seed? Uh, when did you decide?”

“Just now. I decided.”

“Seed? It sounds like you're making fun of me for being as short as a seed! No! It’s lame! If you were going to make your own decision in the first place, why bother asking for our opinions?”

“T-this is the first time I agree with Do-Jin.”

“The name of this team will be meaningful depending on what type of flowers we bloom.” Jae-Hyeok dismissed their complaints and took the lead in moving. He was excited to see how they would react to the thunder tribulation.

Flinch!

Hae-Rin had sharp senses and flinched at Jae-Hyeok’s crazed intent, but Do-Jin and Da-Hee hadn’t realized their fates yet. If they had, they would’ve stopped provoking Jae-Hyeok with their grumbling long ago.

Soon, Jang Yeon-Ju and Roh Jun-Yeop were left alone in the quiet room. They couldn’t help muttering.

“Suddenly, I’m reminded of that old Shooting Club superstition.”

“You mean about how if we turn down a commission from a major company, we will surely receive a bigger one?”

“Yeah. I’m anxious.”

“Me too... ”

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