I’M A Max-Level Regressor [EN]: Chapter 126

126.

“This son of a…?”

Park Seong-kwon reached for my collar but quickly pulled back his hand.

He seemed to realize immediately that crossing the line here wouldn’t be a good idea, even though he was seething inside.

Of course, that was his concern, and I had things to say.

After all, I wouldn’t lose anything even if today’s conversation fell through.

“I remember your master personally apologizing for what happened. Do your subordinates really need to make such a fuss?”

“……”

Park Seong-kwon went silent as if he had a mouthful of honey [meaning he was speechless or caught off guard]. This is why it’s exhausting when your body leads your brain.

“It’s quite a sight to see one person surrounded by twelve others. Anyone would think you’re a bunch of gangsters.”

“Don’t push it too far.”

“Mind your own business. You should ask him who started it first.”

As I was subtly provoking Park Seong-kwon, I heard a voice from behind. It was Mok Jin-woo.

“Everyone! Everyone, stop it.”

“Master!”

With Mok Jin-woo’s appearance, the Awakened individuals throughout the building, including Hong Mae-hwa, bowed their heads in unison.

It was a unified display, as if welcoming the arrival of a king. Of course, I didn’t even blink.

‘He’s good at this kind of garbage. He makes his subordinates play the villains while he takes on the role of the benevolent one.’

A classic case of duplicity.

This is what makes Mok Jin-woo even more terrifying. He doesn’t reveal his true intentions on the surface.

He might even treat someone he plans to kill tomorrow with the utmost kindness today.

Conversely, this meant that anyone he treated with excessive favor was about to become prey.

“Director, I’ve repeatedly told you not to act rashly towards our honored guest. Does my word mean nothing to you?”

“I’m sorry, Master!”

“Apologize to Kang Shin-hwa immediately. I cannot tolerate such rudeness.”

“Mr. Kang Shin-hwa, I’m truly sorry! I was short-sighted!”

What a show.

I understood that the Hong Mae-hwa members, who would do anything Mok Jin-woo told them to, were a good match for him.

Watching such a clumsy, poorly acted drama didn’t make me feel good.

I also didn’t understand why he was trying to appeal to me as ‘benevolent’ by putting on this act.

Perhaps he was under the illusion that I would think favorably of him after this?

If that’s what he thought, his plan was flawed from the start. I knew his true nature all too well.

“This way, please.”

I followed Mok Jin-woo’s guidance to a separate VIP elevator.

Park Seong-kwon and the rest of Hong Mae-hwa bowed their heads to me.

However, the way they were all glancing at me out of the corners of their eyes made it clear that their apology wasn’t sincere.

‘They’re all so twisted. What a bunch of tiresome guys.’

I didn’t want to deal with them.

Besides, unless it was the Park Seong-kwon and Park Seong-hee brothers, I was confident that I could subdue the rest of them, even if we clashed directly.

Whoosh.

Inside the elevator heading to the top floor.

A chilling silence filled the elevator, occupied only by Mok Jin-woo and me.

“I apologize. My subordinates have caused unnecessary trouble by doing unnecessary things.”

Isn’t it hard to pretend to be nice when you don’t mean it? Mok Jin-woo silently continued his act.

“I understand. Surely, you’re not the kind of human trash who would deliberately instruct or condone your subordinates to do such things. Absolutely not, right?”

“……Of course not.”

From that momentary hesitation, I felt that my harsh words had hit their mark.

He must have felt a sting.

“You seem to be having a lot of trouble. You seem to have quite a few subordinates who act as they please.”

“Haha, it’s my lack of virtue.”

“Still, thanks to you showing up at just the right moment, I was able to avoid getting upset.”

“Indeed.”

Mok Jin-woo gave an awkward smile at my continuous pointed remarks.

‘It’s not Mok Jin-woo.’

There was no reaction from the ring.

After Elijah, I developed a habit of being suspicious of any well-known ‘named’ individuals.

So, I wondered if Mok Jin-woo might also be involved with Lichelo, but it seemed that wasn’t the case.

Of course, there was a possibility that he might be going around without the ring… but I thought the probability was low.

Looking at Elijah alone, it didn’t seem like he knew the identities of all the ‘vanguards’.

Soon, we arrived at the top floor of the building.

Toc. Toc.

Mok Jin-woo’s footsteps echoed softly as I followed behind him.

For a brief moment, I caught a whiff of women’s perfume.

It seemed Shin Jung-ah had been here. Or perhaps he had an affair.

Mok Jin-woo’s private office, which we arrived at, was so vast that it seemed to stretch endlessly, despite being inside a building.

It was fully equipped with facilities for living, eating, exercising, treatment, recovery, training, research, and everything else.

‘This must have cost at least tens of billions of won [equivalent to millions of US dollars], even at a minimum?’

It was a luxurious facility.

It was also my ideal vision of a mansion I dreamed of in the future. A place where you can solve everything without having to go outside!

“First of all, as a fellow Awakened, I must express my admiration for Mr. Kang Shin-hwa’s recent actions. It was truly gratifying to see you take down Park Hyung-san and Jeil Construction, whom we had been unable to catch for so long!”

He was laying the groundwork with compliments from the start, so the main topic to follow must be quite important.

“They were villains who deserved to die.”

“Moreover, I was truly astonished to hear that you had developed Enhancement Potions and Identification Glasses. You’ve accomplished something that even most large research institutes couldn’t achieve.”

“That’s what everyone tells me.”

“And even going solo to avoid being swayed by the guilds! Every move you’ve made has been perfect.”

Clap! Clap! Clap!

Mok Jin-woo’s applause sounded more sinister than ever.

Instead of answering, I simply wore a smile and waited for Mok Jin-woo to continue.

I had come here to hear his main point directly from his mouth. Because that’s the only way to be sure of everything.

“Our Hongyeon Guild possesses an unrivaled amount of capital. The Yanghwa Guild is a corpse without the support of its parent company, but our guild has a solid foundation of its own.”

That’s true.

Regardless of whether Mok Jin-woo was a piece of trash, it was true that the Hongyeon Guild had a solid foundation.

Moreover, it had many backings from major corporations in the form of sponsorships, so it had a lot to rely on.

“And production requires appropriate compensation, support, and stable protection. I believe our Hongyeon Guild is the only place in the country that can provide that.”

Compensation and support were one thing, but Mok Jin-woo was the first to mention protection.

In other words, he meant that there was a risk of places like Oseonghui reaching out, so we needed a powerful fence.

“Continue.”

“In that regard, our Hongyeon Guild is prepared to provide Mr. Kang Shin-hwa with full support. However, it seems there’s been a slight misunderstanding between us.”

“You must be referring to the sale of my products.”

“You knew? Is the person in charge of sales Ms. Yoon Byeol? She’s been quite uncooperative regarding sales. And rather cold.”

It seemed Yoon Byeol had cut him off sharply. That’s why Mok Jin-woo was reacting like this.

I think I knew what Mok Jin-woo was after.

He was saying that he would take good care of me and help me in the future, so I should sell him my products.

If I had accidentally created these products, Mok Jin-woo’s offer might have sounded sweet.

But his offer couldn’t generate even 1g of curiosity in me.

Unlike other people, I don’t have any risk of failure.

In other words, if something is going to fail, I don’t even start it in the first place.

The reason I came to this place today wasn’t to negotiate with Mok Jin-woo to sell him my products.

‘I came to warn him.’

I came to prevent things that would become troublesome later.

It was because of the second of the four important events of 2020 that I was most concerned about.

It was related to the ‘Korean Guild Civil War’.

“Let’s make one thing clear. I am the subject of the sale. I have all the authority to decide who to sell to and who not to sell to.”

“Then, can’t you supply our guild with your products now? We’ll pay you enough.”

“I have no intention of doing so.”

“Why don’t you want to?”

“Because I know your dark intentions.”

I blurted it out coolly.

Whether I said it indirectly or directly, it was the same in that I was warning Mok Jin-woo anyway.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

Mok Jin-woo shrugged his shoulders with the most innocent expression in the world.

Certainly, if we were only looking at his acting skills, he was more than qualified to receive an Oscar.

The Korean Guild Civil War would be a loss if it happened.

Not only would talented people die, but the power dynamics would also flow in the worst possible direction.

‘A shock therapy is better.’

That’s what I thought.

By openly telling Mok Jin-woo about the future that I knew for sure, I would make him nervous.

It would be even better if he postponed or gave up on it here.

Since I was revealing something that shouldn’t have happened in advance, I thought it was a ‘good’ spoiler. It was to take the wind out of his sails.

“Did you think I wouldn’t know that the Hongyeon Guild is preparing for war with the Hyehwa Guild? And that you’re also preparing to join hands with the Cheongyeon Guild?”

“What are you……?”

I could see him trying his best to appear calm.

But my 7.0 eyesight couldn’t be fooled.

His eyes were already shaking hundreds of times.

At this point, it was safe to say that he had not only been caught off guard but also had his dark intentions read.

Was that why?

I saw Mok Jin-woo unconsciously rubbing his hands.

He seemed to be wondering if he had been subjected to a special ability that scanned his memories while shaking hands with me.

‘Amazing!’

Seeing him flustered made me feel relieved.

He must have thought it was a plan that only the two of them knew, but now there was one more person with a keen eye.

“You’ve been secretly working with the Cheongyeon Guild since a long time ago, and you’ve been putting on a show as if you were enemies, haven’t you?”

“You must have been watching a lot of fake news. Haha, that’s enough with the jokes.”

“There are no secrets in the world. I don’t know how well you think you’ve maintained secrecy.”

“……”

“I already know. That you’re planning to join hands with the Cheongyeon Guild soon and attack the Hyehwa Guild.”

I decided to add a lot of MSG [a common Korean expression meaning to exaggerate or embellish] this time.

Thanks to my spoiler as a regressor, his plan had already been exposed from the start.

But since he wouldn’t think of me as a ‘regressor’, all I had to do was throw fuel on the fire here.

“It seems the Cheongyeon Guild isn’t doing a good job of keeping things under wraps? And the Hong Mae-hwa members are all so light-mouthed……”

Go ahead and suspect each other.

I poured plenty of oil on the burning house. Now, all that’s left is for it to blaze!