Genius Salsu of the World to Be Destroyed - Chapter 20
Only Noblemtl
Episode 20
Wild shopping district.
A shopping mall located in the heart of Seoul and the oldest shopping mall in Seoul.
Because it was built at a time when land prices in Seoul were ambiguous, it occupied a fairly large area.
And because of its old age, it was a building that was regularly rumored to be under reconstruction at least once a year.
But this annual event also came to an end due to an incident half a year ago.
It was because the wild shopping district began to mutate into a labyrinth.
A huge amount of vines began to wrap around the commercial building.
At the same time, a huge number of monsters began to emerge from within the shopping mall, and traps began to appear at every entrance and exit.
There are deadly traps that can kill you instantly if you touch them even slightly.
Of course, the phenomenon of buildings transforming into labyrinths has been observed all over the world.
It was a phenomenon often seen in games.
However, the reason why Wild Shopping District was such an exceptional case among them was because the difficulty of conquering it was so vicious.
The strategy of the Wild Market did not allow for mistakes.
Because once the trap was triggered, it was almost always instant death.
However, if we limit it to the game, this instant death trap is not as big of a problem as you might think.
Because even if you die in the game, you will be resurrected in a nearby village.
It was an environment where you could constantly die and figure out strategies.
But this is reality.
A place where death is the end.
Because of this, it was impossible to attempt to retry indefinitely like in the game.
Then, conversely, you could think of it this way.
‘Rather than having to fight to find out the strategy, wouldn’t it be better to just find someone who knows the strategy?’
The reason why such absurd ideas are possible is because all of these strange phenomena originated from ‘games’.
The things that happen in the game ‘World: Terrain’ also happen in real life.
Therefore, the mazes that existed in the game also exist in reality, and the strategies for clearing them are the same.
That’s why, even if it’s a labyrinth that first appeared in reality, there could be people who already know the strategy for conquering it.
I’m talking about people who have cleared that labyrinth in the game.
But this method did not work in the wild shopping district.
The Wild Market was created four years and six months after the Great Battle.
However, World: Terrain’s service period is exactly 4 years.
In other words, the Wild Shopping Mall Labyrinth itself has never existed in the game.
Nevertheless, players challenged this labyrinth.
The more difficult the maze, the greater the reward for clearing it.
However, due to its extreme difficulty, there have been only 0 successful cases of conquering the wild world.
In addition, after the elite Hongryeon team, which was formed to target only the wild shopping districts, failed to conquer them, those who even talked about conquering the wild districts disappeared altogether.
But Youngsoo declared that he would conquer this hellish place.
Gapseok said.
“… Now that I think about it, I said something a while ago. I’m going to make the Wild Market my new base.”
“I remember it well.”
“But does it have to be wild? Even if a wild market is the best, if you look at other places too… … .”
“If it’s not the best, it’s meaningless.”
There is no compromise.
Because in order to prevent destruction, every path forward had to be the best path.
Fortify a wild market and use it as your base.
This was the best way to start on the best path.
“But Youngsu.”
“why.”
“Of course I trust Youngsoo, but in reality, I’ve never been successful in conquering a wild market, right? So what kind of strategy should I use…?”
“Don’t worry. It’s all in my head.”
The days when I was trapped in a game.
Yeongsu challenged the wild merchants countless times and died countless times.
By dying and dying like that, Youngsu finally cleared the wild market.
As a result, I was able to store in my head all the memories related to the wild, such as the structure inside the store, the location and operating principles of the traps, and the destruction method.
Thanks to that, Youngsoo was currently the only person in the world who knew how to clear the Wild Market.
“For now, I’m just refining the strategy. Once it’s sorted out to some extent, I’ll give you a briefing.”
“great.”
“But isn’t the wild side under the influence of Hongryeon or something like that?”
“None. In fact, it’s treated as abandoned land by any guild… Oh, but since we’re talking about Hongryeon.”
“huh?”
“Hongryeon has been running wild lately. They’re going crazy right now and are stirring up other guilds.”
“Huh? Why? Why are they acting up all of a sudden?”
“There was a major incident where someone burned down their garden.”
“ah.”
“It would be better to be careful for the time being.”
“aha…….”
“I really wonder. Who on earth would come up with the idea to set fire to something after saying they would go secretly… .”
“Joe, be quiet. Oh, what’s for dinner at the cafeteria tonight?”
“Don’t change the subject. Of course it’s pork.”
“let’s go.”
The two started walking towards the restaurant.
* * *
Forty confusing days have passed.
Hongryeon went around poking at guilds wherever she could.
Regardless of whether it’s a large or small guild.
The reason being that they wanted to find the culprit who burned down the Count of Candelas’ garden.
Of course, Hongryeon didn’t gain anything significant from this.
This was because Yeongsu had not left any clues in the garden that had been burned to the ground.
There were no clues, so investigating would have yielded no results.
Youngsoo asked Gapseok.
“But if you keep poking around like that, the other guilds will definitely band together and fight against Hongryeon, right?”
“We never get together. In fact, all the guilds in Korea are hostile to each other.”
“okay……?”
“It’s a situation where they’re maintaining a balance with each other pointing their guns at the back of each other’s heads. It’s faster to expect dry sand to stick together than to expect these groups to come together.”
“Then what position does our association occupy in that situation?”
“I guess I’m in a position where I don’t even have a gun to use… … .”
“… … .”
“But there are some good points. Look at those Hongryeon guys, they keep stirring things up, but they haven’t touched us for 40 days.”
“Isn’t it because you think that you’re no match for me?”
“That’s it.”
“ha.”
All the capable professors and talented students ran off to other guilds, leaving behind a bunch of leftovers.
That was the public perception of the association and the KPA.
But as Gap-seok said, this wasn’t without its good points.
Ignorance and indifference were a very good environment for secretly building strength.
And indeed, for a month now, the KPA cadets have been undergoing training that borders on madness under the command of the commander.
In fact, the cadets’ strength has increased tremendously compared to before.
“Is the training going well?”
“It’s going well. Everyone is working hard. But… … .”
“I think there’s a problem because the ending of your speech is slurred.”
Yeongsu nodded quietly.
Gapseok asked.
“What’s the problem?”
“confidence.”
“Is it too much?”
“No, there aren’t any.”
The KPA cadets were strong enough.
But everyone secretly underestimated their own strength.
It was because the KPA and the cadets themselves had been treated as weak by the world for too long.
“So you’re feeling discouraged?”
“You’re too timid. Overconfident in your own strength is a problem, but not recognizing your own strength is a bigger problem. Because you can’t fully draw out your own strength.”
“The problem is how to boost confidence.”
“Yeah. The influence that mind has on ability is more than you can imagine. For better or worse.”
The two were lost in thought for a moment.
What on earth can be done to restore the cadets’ mental health?
“How about trying sparring?”
“I’m already doing it. But even though we’re friends who see each other all the time, I don’t think I can feel my skills improving.”
“Hmm… … .”
“In times like this, the surest way is to engage in a fight with people from other groups.”
“It’s the best. And it’s not possible right now.”
“What I’m saying is. Damn it.”
After thinking about it for a while more, Youngsoo came to a conclusion.
“First, I need to continue with the planned training. I need to strengthen my body before my mind.”
“What kind of training is planned for the future?”
“I’m planning to go to the starting tomorrow.”
“Wow… It’s finally real.”
Forest of training.
It is the name of a vast hunting ground located on the outskirts of Seoul.
All monsters living in the Forest of Training were low-level monsters under level 10.
However, the biggest difference from other hunting grounds was that there was no reward left even if you killed a monster.
Monsters that die in the Forest of Training will instantly evaporate.
That is, you cannot obtain the monster’s corpse, which means you cannot obtain anything from the monster.
This is why this hunting ground was named ‘Forest of Training’.
The only thing you can gain here is the experience of fighting monsters and the training.
So this place was actually used as a training ground for beginner Awakeners and players.
Because of this, the Forest of Training was open to the public, unlike other hunting grounds.
Because of this, even the KPA, with its weak power base, could freely enter one of the few hunting grounds.
“By the way, what kind of training do you plan to do in the forest of training?”
“I want to train using a rock golem.”
“A rock golem… … .”
“The golem is a pretty good training device. Once you subdue it and manipulate it a little, you can use it for a variety of training purposes.”
“But there is a problem.”
“What’s the problem?”
Gap-seok spread out a map on the table.
Youngsoo said.
“Is this a map of the forest of training?”
“Yes. As you can see, it is divided into areas A through L. And the rock golems only live here, in area E.”
“I know that too.”
“That’s the problem.”
“What the hell?”
“E-Zone is virtually monopolized by Hongryeon.”
“…what?”
Youngsoo barely managed to hold back a sigh.
Red lotus, red lotus, red lotus.
That damn Hongryeon.
Even if I tried to move just a little bit, these names would pop out like ghosts.
“… I heard before that the Forest of Training is a completely open public area? That’s how the guilds originally made their agreements.”
“Agreements are meaningless in the face of power.”
“… … .”
“And the Hongryeon guys are claiming that they didn’t break the agreement. They’re just using it because the other guilds gave in to it… … .”
“That’s bullshit.”
“It’s just nonsense, but since it’s Hongryeon’s nonsense, no one can refute it.”
At this point, I was curious.
No, seriously, how are they going to deal with the aftermath later on? Why do they only do things that create enemies like this?
“Hmm… … .”
“Anyway, it would be better to look into it excluding the E zone. But there are still some leeway in the other zones… … .”
“no.”
Yeongsu’s eyes sparkled.
Gapseok suddenly felt a faint sense of anxiety.
“…why?”
“An idea that kills two birds with one stone occurred to me.”
“What is it?”
“A way to train and also restore our children’s mental health.”
“Where is that method… Ah.”
Youngsoo said.
The best way to restore the confidence of those who have lost their power is to have them fight against people from other groups.
Gapseok said.
“No.”
“Do you know what I’m trying to say?”
“Are you planning to have a sparring match between our kids and the Hongryeon cadets in Area E?!”
Yeongsu smiled quietly.
This guy, Lee Gap-seok, is truly my guild’s vice-master.
You know my heart so well.
“No! I was able to avoid all the troubles by being outside Hongryeon’s eyes, so why did I have to… …!”
“You don’t trust our kids?”
“Even if we win, it’s a problem!”
“No, we have to win.”
“…yes?”
“You have to win and recover your mentality. If you have weak mentality, you will go wild and die for sure.”
“… … .”
Gap-seok sank into his chair with a silent sigh.
“… I trust Mr. Youngsoo.”
“thank you.”
“But sometimes I just can’t figure out how far ahead you can see and what you’re thinking.”
“… … .”
Youngsoo planned to explain everything someday.
But now was not the time.
“Anyway, our children won’t get hurt in this incident, right?”
“doesn’t exist.”
“Okay, that’s fine.”
Gap-seok called the KPA transport team.
“Please dispatch a bus tomorrow. It will be used to transport the cadets. The destination is the Forest of Training.”
Yeongsu’s mouth was smiling faintly as he heard that.