NOVEL NEXT [Translator – Asura]
[Proofreader – Gun]
Chapter 523
‘I didn’t expect to meet these people here.’
Daegi Guild Master Lee Hayeon.
Possessing the gift of ‘Nurturing’, she had been handling tasks on behalf of Seong Jihan.
Publicly, she was known as his lover.
Of course, in reality, it was a means to avoid being married off by her old guild.
‘Come to think of it, after the record erasure, how were Daegi Guild’s shares handled? Did they go to sis?’
When Seong Jihan was part of it, Daegi Guild was practically the world’s top guild.
The value of these shares far exceeded that of this Sword Palace building.
Of course, Daegi Guild’s value was highly rated because Seong Jihan was a member.
It must be cheaper now.
As Seong Jihan was lost in thought,
“Please delete the photo.”
Lim Gayeong, who had stepped out of the elevator, demanded again that the photo be deleted.
“I didn’t take any.”
“Can you show me?”
“Here.”
As Seong Jihan calmly held out his phone,
Lee Hayeon, who was being carried, slapped Lim Gayeong’s back with her palm.
“Hey! Stop it! I’m sorry… She’s been sensitive about paparazzi lately, excuse her rudeness.”
“…”
“Hurry up and apologize to him.”
“I’m sorry.”
As Lim Gayeong bowed her head deeply, Seong Jihan pointed to the elevator with his finger.
“Um, can I get in now?”
“Yes, yes. Really sorry about that.”
After Seong Jihan entered the elevator,
“We should have rented the entire floor like before.”
“We only come here for guild certification, it’s a waste.”
“For someone with so much money, you’re quite stingy. You collapse like this every certification, spend a little when needed.”
“The guild is struggling these days… Can’t afford to waste money.”
Seong Jihan could faintly hear Lee Hayeon and Lim Gayeong’s voices from beyond the elevator.
‘What’s this guild certification?’
Guild certification didn’t exist before.
Did it make the Guild Master collapse from exhaustion?
‘And if it was the old Daegi Guild, they wouldn’t have had financial difficulties.’
Now it seemed their financial situation wasn’t so good either.
‘Another thing to look into.’
There’s quite a lot to search for over three days.
Thinking this, Seong Jihan entered a convenience store.
The interior didn’t seem much different from before.
However,
‘All the ad models are Half-Elves.’
Whether it was alcohol or snacks,
Anywhere an ad model could be, Half-Elves’ faces were plastered.
Especially, male Half-Elves seemed to be the recent trend.
The main advertising spots were all occupied by those who vaguely resembled Seong Jihan.
‘Seeing that face constantly is starting to irritate me…’
Seong Jihan’s body instinctively moved to the alcohol section.
And there too, seeing male Half-Elf faces plastered all over the alcohol labels, he frowned.
Really, they were everywhere.
‘I’ll have to carefully choose ones without faces.’
Swish. Swish.
After finishing his shopping, selecting only items without faces, Seong Jihan,
As soon as he entered his home, turned on the TV.
And then,
A male Half-Elf immediately popped up on the screen.
“Ah, really.”
Stop coming out, you crazy bastards.
Beep. Beep.
Seong Jihan quickly changed the channel.
Then, a news channel appeared.
At the desk, an announcer with an expert wore a serious expression.
[The United Colonial Government has warned that if Korea’s racial conversion rate doesn’t meet the standard in the first half of the year, ‘extraordinary measures’ will be taken.]
Racial conversion rate.
Was it like the rate of becoming Half-Elves?
[We’ve invited the director of the BattleNet Management Bureau Research Institute to discuss this. The conversion rate is not good… Doctor, is the situation in Korea that bad?]
[Yes. Although a male Half-Elf appeared recently after three months, the numbers are woefully inadequate compared to other countries. The number of female Half-Elves was low to begin with.]
The research director showed statistical figures.
Indeed, compared to other countries, Korea’s Elf conversion rate was notably low.
[I see… Have you heard anything about the ‘extraordinary measures’ the Colonial Government warned about?]
[…I’ve heard that the Colonial Government is considering deactivating the dungeon portal suppressors.]
[You mean…]
[Yes. If the conversion rate doesn’t improve, dungeon portals might appear much more frequently than now.]
What did the dungeon portal have to do with the conversion rate?
Seong Jihan tilted his head and picked up his phone.
Among the real-time reactions to the current news,
-Why the hell can’t Koreans become Elves
-But what’s the connection between dungeon portals and conversion rate?
-Statistically, countries with more portals have higher conversion rates, though the reason is unknown…
-So they’re turning off the suppressors?;
-Ah, property values will fall…
-They said Seoul was safest because the Colonial Government headquarters is there, but not anymore?
He could gather that there was a connection between dungeon portals and Half-Elf conversion rates.
‘But the Colonial Government headquarters is in Seoul.’
It was not in America, which was ranked 1st in BattleNet national rankings, but in Korea.
Was it because of him?
Thinking this, Seong Jihan searched for where the Colonial Government headquarters was located.
The photo that appeared showed a huge tree stretching from the top of Namsan to the sky.
‘Is this a kind of World Tree… It replaced Namsan Tower.’
A giant tree where many Elves, including the World Tree Alliance’s colonial governor, reside.
This had become a must-visit spot for foreigners coming to Korea.
Colonial subjects taking commemorative photos at the Colonial Government…
‘They seem to have no resentment about becoming a colony.’
Having been to the convenience store, it was time to thoroughly investigate what human society was like under colonial rule.
‘I should look into the Daegi Guild situation too.’
Seong Jihan turned on his computer and began collecting information in earnest.
* * *
[Translator – Asura]
[Proofreader – Gun]
Three days later.
“I see… It’s understandable why they like the colonial state.”
After gathering as much information as possible about the changed human society, Seong Jihan twisted the corner of his mouth.
‘Everything I’ve accomplished is now credited to Yggdrasil.’
Raising humanity from the lowest tier to the lower-middle tier.
The rapid growth from Bronze League to Silver League.
Saving them by accepting them as a colony when they were at risk of relegation in the league due to side effects of rapid growth.
All were recorded as results of Yggdrasil’s care for humanity. ‘Moreover, after becoming a colony, the number of dungeon portals decreased and the world became more stable.’
Before becoming a colony, during the time when they were at the bottom of the Silver League,
Humanity was in considerable danger due to dungeon portals appearing simultaneously in various regions.
Especially in countries with low national rankings,
Some of the lowest-ranked countries were already struggling to function as nations.
But after becoming a colony of the World Tree Elves, the frequency of dungeon portal generation was reduced by more than half.
‘Seoul and the metropolitan area, where the Colonial Government is located, didn’t have any dungeon portals.’
World Tree Elves who evolve species and ensure safety.
With so many benefits received and almost no exploitation after becoming a colony,
It was understandable that humanity was satisfied under colonial rule.
‘The World Tree Elves aren’t such a peaceful species though.’
World Tree Elves.
This species following the green administrator Yggdrasil was the most notorious group in the BattleNet world.
To the extent that if you guessed anything bad was related to World Tree Elves, you’d usually be right.
They were the furthest from the concept of peace.
Yet there must be a reason for them to act this way.
‘Half-Elves seem to be their primary objective for now…’
Half-Elves.
Especially the recently emerged male type, the World Tree Alliance showed great interest in them.
They even gave preferential treatment to countries based on how many male Half-Elves they produced.
With the Colonial Government showing such interest,
Naturally, the popularity of male Half-Elves skyrocketed in human society.
Whether in Korea or abroad, these Half-Elves who vaguely resembled Seong Jihan were dominating the advertising market these days.
‘I’ll have to become one to understand why the Colonial Government treats them so well.’
There were limits to the information accessible as an ordinary person.
Seong Jihan decided to become a male Half-Elf himself to uncover their purpose.
‘Well, now that I have some time left… Let’s search for the guild situation.’
Recalling his encounter with Lee Hayeon a few days ago, he searched for information about the Daegi Guild.
Then,
[Daegi Guild, 7-tier drop in guild ranking. Falls out of TOP 5]
[Daegi Guild falling behind the times. What’s the problem?]
[Rumors of Sword King Yoon Sejin’s transfer]
[Divergent guild reiterates intention to acquire Daegi Guild]
Articles that looked clearly unfavorable started popping up one after another.
And from the comments below these articles, he could grasp the situation to some extent.
-Why the hell is Daegi Guild collapsing like this? I invested 100,000 GP here…
-Maybe it’s because you invested?
-They always lose in the Half-Elf recruitment battle.
-What era are they living in with their nurturing guild? The most important thing in guild evaluations these days is the number of Half-Elves.
-But I wonder why their guild evaluation was so high in the first place;
-True, the Guild Master’s skill is OP, but it wasn’t enough to be world rank 1 or 2.
-Just rejoin the Divergent guild. I heard the Guild Master is from Divergent too.
‘So Half-Elves have become the standard for guild evaluation.’
In the past, players wanted to join the Daegi Guild because of Lee Hayeon’s exceptional ‘Nurturing’ skill.
But in a world where the number of Half-Elves takes priority over growth, its advantage would naturally diminish.
Moreover, what boosted Daegi Guild’s evaluation was largely the presence of its owner, Seong Jihan.
With both him and Yoon Seah, who became rank 1 after him, suffering record erasure,
It was natural for the guild’s evaluation to plummet.
‘Still, they must have earned a lot over the years. I wonder why they couldn’t recruit Half-Elves.’
They say the rich can weather three generations of hardship.
The money Daegi Guild earned during its prime was enormous.
If times had changed, couldn’t they have used that money to recruit Half-Elves?
Seong Jihan pondered this question and looked into it.
-Is Daegi Guild still investing in nurturing effects?
-Probably, that’s all they have left here.
-To maintain the buff effect, they need to do guild certification every month, and the GP cost for this is no joke.
-Yeah, people started leaving in droves when this item came up at the investment briefing lol
-Ah, my money… Just sell to divergent already
The ‘guild certification’, a necessary procedure to maintain the nurturing buff.
Because of this, Daegi Guild was burning through all the GP they had earned.
‘Guild certification… It didn’t exist in my time.’
Could it be related to the owner, Seong Jihan, being absent?
The guild should be on the lower floor anyway.
Seong Jihan thought about looking into this, but then,
[The BattleNet League tutorial will begin soon.]
[It’s under the jurisdiction of the Green Administrator. The tutorial is replaced with an ‘Aptitude Test’.]
As if time was up,
A green message window appeared before his eyes.
‘First, I need to become a Half-Elf.’
[When you’re ready, respond to the summons.]
[You will be forcibly summoned in 5 minutes.]
As Seong Jihan responded to the summons,
Flash!
His body was enveloped in green light and disappeared.
[Translator – Asura]
[Proofreader – Gun]