How A Mythical Holy Knight Lives As A Villain (Novel) - Chapter 34
Chapter 34
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Discord
The masked individuals possessed considerable skill.
However.
“What should I worry about when you all are here?”
It took less than a few minutes for these masked individuals to be subdued.
Led by the man called Samuel, Richard’s bodyguards had overpowered all of them.
“When I have my proud Golden Mercenaries, that is.”
Smirk.
Goldian, ranked among the world’s top 10 corporations and guilds, handled money on par with national budgets.
As such, threats like these were commonplace.
Yet not once had anyone succeeded in ambushing Richard, the chairman of Goldian.
“You people…”
Crunch.
Richard stepped on the subdued masked person’s shoulder and said.
“Never learn, do you?”
Crack.
The sound of poison capsules bursting in their mouths could be heard.
However, Richard stood calmly, merely watching as they turned blue and died.
One of them.
“Urgh!”
Before it was too late, Samuel lifted one masked person and extracted the poison from their mouth.
“Kill… me…”
Despite being skilled assassins, their words reflected an iron will not to reveal their employer.
“You really never learn.”
Richard seemed to find even this pathetic.
“I…”
As Richard extended his hand, one of the bodyguards handed him an ornately decorated dagger.
“Have never once asked people like you about your employers.”
Squeeze.
Though Richard was also known to be a Player, his level was said to be below that of a ranker.
His level was reportedly raised with the help of numerous mercenaries and guild members.
Richard’s dagger work was merely rough.
Slash!
It wasn’t enough to deliver a proper fatal wound.
But his face showed that was fine by him.
“Gurgle.”
Foaming at the mouth, the masked person took longer to die than the time it took for their attack.
“Really now.”
Richard wiped his hands with a white handkerchief as if touching something filthy.
“By the way, I’m disappointed.”
Richard spoke toward Samuel.
“It seems ‘they’ aren’t coming.”
His tone suggested he was waiting for someone.
And surely these mere assassins couldn’t have been sent by them.
“Or perhaps they don’t care if it’s not now?”
As Richard’s eyes deepened slightly, a group of people began approaching.
“…!”
Association members in their uniforms, among them was Jung Sung-ho, the vice president of the Korean Players Association.
“What… is this…?”
Jung Sung-ho seemed perplexed by the gruesome scene before him.
“Ch-Chairman Richard. What exactly…?”
He had rushed over hearing that Richard’s private jet, which handled national-budget level funds, had arrived earlier than expected, but what was this situation?
“Ah, it’s nothing. Where there’s gold, there are always flies.”
“…”
Jung Sung-ho’s face slightly hardened.
“Is this perhaps a problem?”
The masked individuals were clearly suspicious, and with evidence of explosions, Richard’s side was clearly the victim.
“No, it’s not.”
While it could be made into an issue, there was nothing to gain from complicating matters with someone of Richard’s stature.
“Though late, welcome to Korea, Chairman.”
“Pleased to meet you, Vice President.”
Among the hastily cleared corpses.
Flash! Flash! Flash!
They casually took commemorative photos.
*
*
*
Several days had passed since Richard and Goldian’s visit to Korea was widely reported.
There had been several more assassination attempts since then, all because of news that legendary items would be included in this auction’s lineup.
One item could change not just one’s fate, but the destiny of generations to come, which was why these life-risking raids were being carried out.
Bodies piled up at the hotel daily.
Yet Richard remained calm.
And finally, the auction day arrived.
“……”
At the Saman Convention Hotel, where auction preparations were complete, Richard’s face contorted.
“Did I expect too much? Samuel.”
“……”
“Or perhaps they were among those pieces of trash?”
During the past raids, not once had Richard received even a scratch.
Goldian’s Golden Mercenaries.
These personal bodyguards of Richard were all known to be rankers, and Samuel was reportedly one of the highest-ranking among them.
Even so, it was incomprehensible how they could fend off even elite assassins without any casualties.
“Is this really ‘their’ stronghold?”
Looking at the Golden Mercenaries’ lineup, it made sense.
Unique items worth tens or hundreds of billions each.
The guards wearing these items like wallpaper were said to be anywhere from several times to six times stronger than players of similar skill levels.
“‘They’ weren’t among the raiders,” Samuel said, finally breaking his silence.
“‘They’ aren’t this pathetic, but…”
Samuel continued.
“They must be watching.”
“I hope so.”
Meanwhile, invited VIPs were entering the auction hall one by one.
Overall security for the auction hall was jointly handled by Goldian and Saman, one of Korea’s top five guilds.
China, America, Japan, Europe.
Players, politicians, and wealthy individuals of various nationalities were making their appearances.
All of them, equally arrogant yet tense, were exchanging greetings as if they knew each other.
However, Richard hadn’t shown himself despite their arrivals.
Tap, tap tap.
He seemed to be waiting for something anxiously.
“How disappointing,” Richard said.
“They said Shinsung won’t be coming?”
Shinsung, Korea’s number one guild, was just one of the decent guilds from a global perspective.
However, what was interesting was…
“I was curious about the one who uses the extravagant nickname Golden Knight.”
Golden Knight, Go Woojin.
And.
“The King, Go Jaehan.”
The King, the nickname Go Jaehan received during his overseas activities.
Finally.
“…I wanted to meet this Go Johan in person.”
Go Johan, who had made his name known alongside the Black Gate.
There were countless stories about him.
Originally a troublemaker, wasn’t he supposed to be a player of meager skill?
He had started gaining attention after news spread of his significant contribution to the Black Gate conquest.
“In the past, great bloodlines hid and lowered themselves. To survive through calamities.”
Indeed.
“Could he be of great blood?”
Richard shook his head.
Being the best in tiny Korea meant being merely royalty of a small nation.
The proof was that only a few people, including Sacred, were invited to this auction being held in Korea.
That’s when it happened.
“Chairman,” Samuel said to Richard.
“‘She’ has arrived.”
For the first time, color returned to Richard’s face.
“And…”
This time, Samuel’s eyes gleamed.
“She has company.”
Finally, Richard began to move.
*
*
*
The Saman Convention Hotel had completely transformed according to Goldian’s taste, as if it had undergone remodeling in just a few days.
“That one over there is Greus, one of America’s highest rankers. His nickname is…”
All attention was focused on the man and woman who had just entered.
In this place where only qualified individuals were invited, most knew each other’s faces.
They had seen each other at various auctions or international events.
However, these two…
“Who are they?”
Were faces they’d never seen before.
No.
“Hmm?”
Something felt familiar.
Albinism and tattoos.
“That seems to be him.”
“Shinsung’s Go Johan?”
“If it’s Shinsung, they certainly deserve an invitation. Indeed, after conquering the Black Gate, is Shinsung planning to put him at the forefront?”
Go Johan.
As this Black Gate had become a global issue, his name and face had spread accordingly.
“Who’s that beside him?”
An unfamiliar face and name that had recently become familiar.
It was only natural that they were drawing attention.
That’s when it happened.
“Mr. Shimaura, just a moment.”
A man who had been talking with an executive of a major Japanese guild turned his gaze toward Go Johan’s group.
“…Go Johan?”
He too noticed Go Johan, who was monopolizing attention while standing to one side.
And soon, he curled one corner of his mouth as if in disbelief.
“Crazy.”
The man was from Saman, in charge of security for this Goldian auction.
More precisely, he was Lee Gyeon-hu, Saman’s 2nd Squad Captain and the second son of Saman Guild’s Guild Master.
“Hey.”
“Yes, Squad Captain.”
“Here, call me Security Team Leader.”
A Saman guild member on security duty approached and bowed at Lee Gyeon-hu’s call.
“Check the invitation. Shinsung’s list.”
At those words, the guild member said something into his earpiece, then spoke to Lee Gyeon-hu.
“Shinsung declined the invitation.”
“Right?”
As they were in charge of security, it was Saman’s job to verify the identity of all attendees.
And as far as Lee Gyeon-hu, who was appointed as the person in charge this time, knew, Shinsung had either gone crazy or declined to participate in this auction.
Yet despite that.
“Who’s that beside him?”
“I don’t know.”
“Seems like Go Johan brought her.”
Naturally, they noticed something was off when Shinsung’s Go Johan appeared.
Especially since for this auction, Goldian had instructed that no one except certain VVIPs could bring companions.
“Find whoever let that b*st*rd in, right now.”
Lee Gyeon-hu said while adjusting his clothes.
“They need to learn their lesson the hard way. What, Black Gate?”
Lee Gyeon-hu began approaching Go Johan as he spoke these words.
The recent buzz about Go Johan.
But many people, including Lee Gyeon-hu, didn’t believe those stories.
A Player’s strength was directly tied to their level, but Go Johan had almost no record of Player activities.
Rumors circulated that it was either a mass delusion that occurred in the abnormal place called the Black Gate, or Sacred’s scheme to promote Go Johan later.
Go Min-ji’s presence there was one of the reasons.
And.
“Go Johan.”
Lee Gyeon-hu believed without a doubt that these rumors were true.
Because he had his own definitive experience above all else.
Swoosh.
“It’s been a while?”
Lee Gyeon-hu was Go Johan’s middle school classmate.