Academy’S Gumiho Is A Magical Genius [EN]: Chapter 279

Academy Gumiho is a Magic Genius – Episode 279

Bait (4)

The media and public criticism showed no signs of letting up.

Were they overly excited about uncovering the scandal of the century?

Or were they simply eager to find fault with a major corporation?

Whatever the reason, the Nine Tails Guild’s public image continued to decline. Most of the blame for this decline fell on the Guild Master’s alleged misdeeds.

“Damn it! It’s been a week already.”

“The stock price is in freefall. It’s already down 43%! Are we really going to go bankrupt?”

“Don’t even joke about that. Bankrupt? Do you think an S-class guild goes bankrupt that easily?!”

Reputation, fame, stock price.

Everything was plummeting.

The initial spark was the public’s dissatisfaction and complaints about the drug.

But the real problem was that the internal corruption of the Nine Tails Guild was now being exposed as a result.

This guild had been rotten for far longer than anyone suspected.

“To think our guild was involved in stock manipulation. I’ve been working here for two years and I’m just finding out now.”

“Hey, hey. Watch your mouth. If the higher-ups hear you, it’ll ruin your life.”

“But… compared to the taxes the guild hasn’t paid, or the money they’ve secretly embezzled, stock manipulation is small fry.”

“Watch your mouth! You’re really asking for trouble!”

A festering wound, if left untreated, will eventually rot.

But if that wound is in a vital area, it’s not easy to address.

The initial wound was caused by an external factor.

A wound that seemed insignificant, easily ignored.

It was such a minor injury that one could easily forget it existed, but unfortunately, there was a deeper infection beneath the surface.

The infected area wasn’t immediately painful.

It was easy enough to ignore and live with.

Until the small wound broke open, exposing the festering area to the world. Until then, everyone was content to ignore it.

“I wonder how many people realize that’s how things got to this point.”

“Ch, Chairman…!”

“Let’s go to the rooftop. Was it the 9th floor? Or the 10th floor?”

“The Guild Master hasn’t emerged from his late-night meeting since last night.”

“Then I’ll go and inform him that it’s morning.”

“I! I will personally deliver the message! Please wait in the special room on the 4th, no, the 6th floor, and we will bring the Guild Master down with refreshments.”

The festering wound continued to spread.

In fact, it began to accelerate.

The expression ‘wound’ is ultimately a metaphor. Because of the Nine Tails Guild’s extensive wrongdoings, the media and the public were gaining momentum, criticizing with increasing ferocity.

It’s good that the corrupt old guard is being criticized.

But the organization’s overall strength cannot be allowed to diminish.

The Nine Tails Guild, like Chunho Baekga, must become Seungwoo’s arms and legs. I couldn’t stand by and watch any longer, so I came here in person.

“It’s alright. I’ll go myself.”

“I’m afraid the Guild Master will be embarrassed. Even if you are the Chairman, the Guild Master is the leader here. Please respect his dignity.”

As soon as I arrived at the Nine Tails headquarters, I headed for the elevator.

A massive headquarters. The Guild Master’s office was on the top floor.

As I walked towards it, I could feel many people whispering and staring at me. Most of them were giving me hostile looks.

Well, makes sense.

‘Because I’m indirectly harming their company. It would be strange if they welcomed me.’

The source of their livelihood was under attack.

Even if I wasn’t the direct cause, the drug I created was the catalyst for their current problems.

Therefore, their argument was:

If Baek Seungwoo hadn’t developed the drug, this situation wouldn’t have happened.

What ridiculous nonsense.

Even if I hadn’t developed the drug, the rot was already there.

It’s absurd to blame me.

And well, to be honest, I’ll admit this:

‘It’s true that I exacerbated the wound and stimulated the festering area.’

I burst the wound that would have festered eventually.

Considering the size of the Nine Tails Guild, they could have withstood the infection for more than a decade.

That’s how powerful S-class guilds are.

They hold positions that are difficult to replace, and it’s not easy to bring down a group burdened with enormous wealth and fame with just one festering wound.

But I burst the wound prematurely and poured a bunch of poison into the affected area.

‘Stock manipulation, leakage of confidential information, unofficial tax cuts, looting, threats, etc. The topics dominating the news are all poison that I released to the media.’

As a result, the Nine Tails Guild, which could have survived for 10 years even in decline, collapsed in just one week. Since all the information leaked to the media was true, they had to surrender under the pressure of outside forces even if they wanted to resist.

But you know.

Strictly speaking, it’s not ‘my fault’.

“…It’s the fault of those who got caught.”

“Excuse me?”

“Move. I’m going to meet the Elder.”

Why should I care about their circumstances?

I walked past the portly middle-aged man who had been blocking my path.

“You can’t go! Even if the Chairman is related to the Guild Master, the Guild Master is the leader here!”

“You… you know one thing, but not two.”

The Guild Master’s family.

Is he really family?

We’re not exactly close blood relatives.

8th cousin? 16th cousin? Maybe even more distant.

In fact, we’re practically strangers.

“Family? Do you think I came here for such a trivial reason?”

“Then…?”

“As the head of the family. The guild’s biggest sponsor. The leader of the special forces unit. As the great mage who demonstrated the possibility of extending life, beyond the horizon.”

I hold all these positions.

I have ample justification and qualifications to meet the Guild Master.

Nevertheless, the middle-aged man tried to stop me.

He’s not a long-time loyalist of this group. He only knows one aspect of the situation.

Just as the conviction of a person who has read only one book is more dangerous than someone who has read none, there was no stopping the middle-aged man who only knew one thing.

The ignorant man would continue to try to detain me.

That’s why I tried to teach him a second lesson.

“Nine Tails is fundamentally an armed branch of the family.”

“What are you talking about from so long ago…!”

“It was like that 1,000 years ago, and it still is now. You don’t seem to understand, but the titles you use for your executives and the martial arts your employees learn… where do you think they come from?”

“Well, if you trace the roots, it obviously started with Chunho Baekga, but after the current Guild Master took full control, it became independent from the family…!”

“No, as long as your Guild Master remains in that position, Nine Tails will always be an armed branch of Chunho Baekga.”

There are specific martial arts taught to those who join Nine Tails.

There are many different types, such as fist techniques, swordsmanship, and footwork.

These are all basic martial arts, and the more years you accumulate and the more achievements you make, the more opportunities you are given to learn higher-level techniques.

And those who master these martial arts and develop their own styles are able to obtain the position of top executive with the title of ‘n-th Tail’ in order.

These methods are also practiced within the main family of Chunho Baekga.

“You are still following our family’s, no, my family’s methods. Is that right?”

“Yes. That’s right.”

“The names ‘First Tail’ and ‘Ninth Tail’ are ultimately just imitations of the nine elders of the main family.”

“Well, that can’t be helped. We’re independent now, but we weren’t in the past, right?”

“Independent? Since when do you call a child who sucks on their parents’ resources and lives as a parasite independent?”

The titles and the martial arts taught.

Everything is derived from Chunho Baekga.

If you truly wanted to be independent, you should have discarded all the martial arts manuals and techniques within the guild and started anew. Just changing one leader and calling it independent?

“Whose logic did you learn from? Elder 5, that old man?”

No, was it Elder 4?

The order of the elders isn’t that important, so I forgot.

Well, it doesn’t matter. Whether it’s Elder 4 or Elder 5, it’s irrelevant.

The logic of the conversation isn’t important either.

Whether you’re independent or not.

The history of the family and the guild isn’t my concern.

The only important thing is the atmosphere.

‘It’s important that I’m dominating the situation within the guild right now.’

My goal was to exert pressure on this group before integrating it into my operations.

In fact, when I raised my voice and spoke to the middle-aged man, the expressions of the employees who were eavesdropping on our conversation became very strange.

The number of people who were looking at me with hostility had clearly decreased. It seemed they had something to consider.

“Tsk. Enough with this pointless conversation. I’m going up now.”

“There’s no need for that.”

I pushed past the middle-aged man and arrived in front of the elevator.

The moment I pressed the button and waited for the doors to open.

The voice I heard from behind was different. It wasn’t the voice of the middle-aged man I had been talking to. This was a new voice.

“…Elder.”

“Please call me Guild Master. This is the guild’s headquarters, not the family’s.”

A man with a benevolent expression.

Even in his late 50s, his face appeared youthful. The combination of his youthful, kind appearance and white hair gave him a mysterious aura.

The tail protruding from his back added to that mystique.

The tail rising from behind, eight.

Palmiho [Eight-Tailed Fox].

He is the top player in Nine Tails and one of the strongest players in Korea, only one step away from becoming a Gumiho [Nine-Tailed Fox], the ultimate form of a fox spirit.

‘He’s strong.’

He devoured the black Gumiho that had taken root in my mind and digested its karma completely. The current me outwardly has six tails, but if I unleash my power fully, I can manifest seven tails.

Even then, he was beyond my reach in terms of pure fox power.

‘If I had to defeat him by force, it would be a difficult fight.’

Crack!

I loosened my fingers and looked at my opponent.

I must drive him out by exploiting this opportunity.

A fight is inevitable in the process.

Who wouldn’t resist someone trying to remove them from power?

‘Fighting is certain, and I’m confident I can win.’

Victory is assured.

However, the key was the damage I would sustain after the fight.

It could be physical damage, or it could be political damage.

I’ll likely suffer some form of damage if I fight him.

It’s impossible to imagine avoiding all damage.

It’s impossible to achieve a perfect victory against such a strong opponent.

If that’s the case.

“Shall we move our discussion elsewhere?”

If we’re going to fight with the intent to kill, this isn’t the appropriate venue.

I concealed these thoughts and looked up at the Guild Master.

He responded.

“Good. I also have something to discuss with the Chairman.”

“It sounds like it will be a very intimate conversation.”

“Of course. How intimate do you think it will be?”

Well, wouldn’t it be so intimate that at least one person won’t be leaving the room alive?