Choi Yoon.
As befitting the insulting title Frenzied Priest, his distinctive explosive temperament was a problem, but fortunately, he was not someone who could not be reasoned with at all.
It had not been an easy process of persuasion and communication, but what mattered was the result.
Because now, even if Choi Yoon could not be called his subordinate, he had certainly become an ally.
―Wooooong···!
Moreover, Han Woo-hyun had been able to learn something else as well.
―Whoooong···!
Han Woo-hyun withdrew the Force detection field he had spread out with precision.
It was a sensory field he had unfolded in order to feel the branches of Force extending in all directions from Choi Yoon’s pineal gland.
Through it, even though this was the first day of awakening, he had analyzed the potential Choi Yoon possessed with Force.
And he could clearly tell that Choi Yoon had the talent to break free of the framework of game skills and operate transcendent power more freely in reality.
It seemed he would become an even more useful friend than expected.
“Welcome, Choi Yoon, the first guild member. North Korea Administrator.”
As Han Woo-hyun watched him fly away, he recalled the past.
He clearly remembered.
―It was all my fault···.
―Get lost! All of you get lost, you trash bastards! I’m enough by myself!
Choi Yoon, Captain of the Third Mobile Unit of the thirteenth raid party.
The world’s first villain, who had been trapped in regret and emptiness from the moment he first entered the raid party until the very end.
It was not false to say that this was a good offer for Choi Yoon, and that Han Woo-hyun was saying it for his sake.
Because this time, he truly would give him a life different from the miserable end he had met in the past.
“···Hmm.”
He watched beyond the West Sea for a long while.
―Glimmer.
Soon, he confirmed a small flash of white light near the armistice line.
―Glimmer.
―Glimmer···!
It was not the light of destruction. Judging by the color and size, it was a buff skill.
Fortunately, it seemed Choi Yoon intended to begin drawing them in with a declaration about the guild and the players, rather than a massacre.
As expected, he was not entirely thoughtless.
“Good.”
After looking precisely that far into the distance, Han Woo-hyun nodded.
It was a feat difficult for even players with transcendent physical ability to imitate.
An original skill created by modifying the Yggdrasill Force operation of [Sharp Eyes]. It was [Clairvoyance].
A skill for looking far into the distance had no value whatsoever, so it did not exist in the game.
“Now, next is···.”
Han Woo-hyun was finally certain that his first stepping stone had successfully fallen into place.
His first plan, preventing China’s collapse by using North Korea as a sacrifice, had succeeded.
But if he left things as they were, there was no guarantee that a second Choi Yoon would not appear.
Therefore, he had to create something in China within the day as well.
More precisely, a new order of the People’s Republic of China that would obey him.
―Tap.
Han Woo-hyun turned on his phone and marked map coordinates for a youth nursing home near Tsinghua University in Beijing.
The last ruler of the Central Plains.
It was time to meet the Elemental Lord, Li Haoran.
***
Li Haoran, who resided in a youth nursing home, was a typical member of the lying-flat generation, someone who had given up on employment.
When he was young, he had never imagined that he would end up like this.
Li Haoran had not been born into a family poor enough to be utterly destitute, but he had been born in a backward rural village that was far from well-off.
Even so, he had grown up receiving much love.
It had not been an overflowing amount, but he had received all the support his parents could give.
He was also quite intelligent.
So much so that he became the pride of his family and his village.
Without attending even a single academy, he received grades that placed him on a national level.
―Haoran! Haoran! The greatest genius of our village!
―If it is you, you will surely succeed! You can rise in the world!
―Ho-yeon, I am proud that you are my son.
He broke through countless competitions and reached the top even among the many students of China.
A prestigious university regarded as one of the twin peaks alongside Peking University.
―You are outstanding talents who represent China···.
He entered Tsinghua University with excellent grades.
Even after admission, he did not rest.
―Professor, I have a question about this part···.
―That is not a topic that would normally come from an undergraduate. You truly are remarkable.
With his outstanding mind, he completed his classes perfectly and received good grades.
He built up excellent external credentials as well, earning certifications, doing volunteer work, and participating in all kinds of competitions.
He also learned speechcraft and logic, such as oratory and essay writing, which were virtues of a leader.
―Hello, I am Li Haoran.
―Oh, you are the friend famous as the greatest genius of that class year, aren’t you? Welcome!
He also joined the Chinese Communist Youth League, which any elite university student naturally had to join.
After working hard and having his ideology verified, he was recognized by the central officials of the Communist Youth League as well.
He was also respected by ordinary members as a model example of a success story.
And so, he was even selected for the Tsinghua University Communist Youth League Committee.
It was truly a perfect path of advancement.
That was.
Until before graduation.
―Ah··· it seems the Party’s stance has completely hardened.
―They will not give even a few positions, not even many, to Communist Youth League officials?
―They say there will be no seats on the committee next year either.
―Those piglike Princeling bastards! How can they treat us this badly?! For whose benefit did we act like Red Guards and remain loyal?!
―...It is all right. Bureaucracy is not the only path.
―We should be able to find employment at ordinary companies.
Until he saw that even his seniors, who had been far more outstanding than him, all failed to find jobs and became members of the lying-flat generation.
―There is no hope.
―What did I study for···?
―We are living in historic garbage time.
And until Li Haoran joined them as well.
It had been perfect.
―The only things we can do are the internet and games.
―Fucking country. Fucking people. Fucking Party···
―This country has no principles, morality, or laws for its youth.
In despair, Li Haoran decided to flee from reality. So he fell into games.
He stayed in the cheapest youth nursing home and poured all his money and time into games.
With the thought that he would die once his money ran out.
But as he played, he found it fun, so he simply continued indulging in games.
Exchanging game money for yuan, and sometimes the reverse···.
Like that, he wasted each day.
It was far too hollow an ending for the current state of a former vice chairman of the Tsinghua University Communist Youth League and the top graduate.
There was nothing particularly strange about it.
Because there were already plenty of seniors who lived even more trash-like lives than he did, or who had ended their lives through suicide.
That day, too, Li Haoran had played games all day.
Then he had suddenly grown so sleepy that he collapsed onto his bed.
―THUMP THUMP THUMP!
“(Shut up!)”
―THUMP THUMP THUMP!
“(If it’s a delivery, just leave it there and go!)”
―CRAAASH!!!
“···?!”
Li Haoran had been irritated because some lunatic was knocking on his door from dawn.
Because he had played games too long, too irregularly, at all hours, his sleep pattern had completely collapsed.
Then, after a long time, sleep had come upon him. He had been sleeping quite sweetly for the first time in a while.
Half-asleep, he answered by telling them to get lost.
That irritation vanished completely when the doorknob broke and the door was forced open.
***
―Gulp.
Oh dear, had he already finished it?
It was a drink he had bought on the way at a twenty-four-hour oolong tea franchise.
He had looked forward to it because they said Anxi Tieguanyin, his favorite tea, was in good condition right now, but it seemed to be fake after all.
It was fine. In any case, it was still oolong tea of a level worth drinking.
―Thud···!
After roughly throwing him down, Han Woo-hyun looked at the young man with a disheveled appearance, as though he had just awakened.
His hair color was mixed with all the colors of the rainbow. It was the default hair color of an Elementalist character.
The final raid leader of China in Han Woo-hyun’s memories. The final lord of Beijing.
It matched exactly with the appearance of the Elemental Lord, Li Haoran.
Of course, his posture and stance were quite different.
“(You fucking bastard!)”
“Nice to meet you, dog meat··· no, Ho-yeon.”
Oh dear, while trying to call that hanja name by its Korean reading, his pronunciation had gotten tangled by mistake.
“Li Haoran. My name is Han Woo-hyun.”
It was fine. Judging by the way Li Haoran looked after waking up, he did not seem to have fully grasped the situation yet, so he probably had not heard properly.
"···?!"
If so, that was all the better. Han Woo-hyun would be able to firmly seize the initiative in the conversation.
“(Crazy bastard, who are you? A cosplayer?)”
“(I heard your father is Korean-Chinese.) Don’t play dumb.”
Han Woo-hyun spoke the words he had run through a translator and memorized in advance.
It was another reason he had chosen Li Haoran as the leader of the Chinese players.
Because since most players were Korean, the representative of the Chinese players, the next largest server after Korea, also needed to know Korean.
"···."
Fortunately, it seemed Li Haoran understood this time.
His eyes rolled around, and then awkward Korean finally came out.
“···I am not well.”
Li Haoran breathed roughly. Then he swallowed and continued speaking.
“I have almost never used Korean since graduating from university. I cannot speak it well.”
“That much is enough. I won’t be using difficult Korean.”
Han Woo-hyun continued speaking while appearing as intimidating as possible.
―Snap.
Then he picked up the hand mirror beside him and held it out.
“Shall we look in the mirror first?”
“What, what? This is me?”
“To be precise, it is your Yggdrasill character.”
“···Elementalist?”
“Yes. Level 278 Elementalist Li Haoran. I came to find you.”
Li Haoran’s expression twisted and relaxed several times, as though he found it absurd.
“Are you playing theater?”
“If you don’t believe me, try using a skill. Not an ultimate skill. A level 10 or level 20 skill.”
Li Haoran hesitated, as though he still could not believe it.
Han Woo-hyun decided to demonstrate first.
“[Basic Holy Power Control].”
Contrary to its name, it was merely an effect that raised overall attack power.
But it was a flashy basic skill to look at.
“···[Basic Elemental Control].”
Only after seeing that did Li Haoran imitate Han Woo-hyun.
―FLARE!
―CRACK!
―CRACKLE!
Ice, fire, and electricity lit up the room as they gathered in his hand, each the size of a fist.
Their size and movement were far too clumsy to compare to Han Woo-hyun’s operation, but in any case, a game skill had appeared in reality.
“···Unbelievable.”
“There should be no need for a detailed explanation.”
Han Woo-hyun decided to hurry.
The roads had been more complicated than expected, and some parts did not match Google Maps. Because of that, he had lost more time than he expected.
At this rate, it might be difficult to handle Singapore and Indonesia by tomorrow.
The Southeast Asian server was important as well, so he could not allow that.
“I am Arthur, guild leader of [Lucid], the strongest guild in the world. My real name is Han Woo-hyun. I am Korean.”
So he swept forward without pause.
“We have already finished reaching an agreement with the rankers of the Korean, Southeast Asian, and global servers.”
He bluffed once more.
A bluff that would soon become truth.
“We have been watching you. You were impressive. Therefore, through this incident, we decided to recruit the rankers of the Chinese server as well.”
He extended his hand in advance to the man who would reign as the ruler of China even without his help.
“I will give you the position of China branch leader. Join our guild, Li Haoran.”
“A guild? Are you talking about a game guild? Are you insane?”
“[Inventory].”
Once again, Han Woo-hyun took out those items. The discontinued balance-breaking items.
"These alone are not enough, of course. I will give you sufficient price and reward as well."
"Wh-what is this? Where did all these yuan come from?"
Then came bundles of yuan, proving his enormous financial power.
Fortunately, Li Haoran was far smarter than Choi Yoon.
Well, of course, a person who had risen to a representative position at China’s greatest prestigious university could not possibly be lacking.
“[Sharp Eyes]. The items are all real. Your level is··· 300? Primary stat 120,000? Your Force is low, but··· you insane human. But I understand. I understand well enough.”
However, hesitation still remained in Li Haoran’s eyes.
Well, of course he was bewildered by something so sudden.
It was fully understandable. If he had been the kind of person to bite at this happily on the spot…
Then such a man could not have become the final leader of the Chinese players.
“Li Haoran, a member of the lying-flat generation. Spending all day in this narrow room playing games, lying down and sleeping···”
Han Woo-hyun had also prepared words to remove that hesitation in advance.
Aside from the fact that Li Haoran could speak Korean, this was the greatest reason he had chosen him.
“Were you satisfied with your final attendance at the Chinese Communist Youth League general meeting?”
―FLAAASH!
―BOOOOM!
―FWOOSH!
At those words, light flashed in Li Haoran’s eyes.
Not as a metaphor. Flames, ice flowers, and lightning flowers truly flashed in his eyes.