The new land of opportunity, Asgard.
I moved my body, which had been unable to move, occupied by the many things happening there.
Now, Asgard had been completely transformed into a dungeon and opened its gates, which were directly managed by the Association and the Galaxy.
It was through that gate that Ro-woon returned after a long time.
The outside world was as Ro-woon had wanted.
A world buzzing because of Asgard’s existence.
And the current situation where Hwasan’s position was wavering.
“Reporting in.”
Ha Se-min reported after organizing the information.
“The movements of the sects are unusual.”
Finally, the balance, the scales, had begun to move.
Hwasan, the heavy and solid weight that had never wavered until now.
Those who had placed their entire weight on it were beginning to move their light bodies.
“They are trying to get in line with the Galaxy….”
The Galaxy.
They were trying to squeeze their way into what was expected to become the new balance.
“Many sects are also sending word to Hainan.”
There were also those who were trying to get in line with Hainan, who was originally the second-in-command but had now become the third.
This was fully expected.
But this was not what Ro-woon wanted.
The content Ha Se-min was about to report from now on.
“And….”
That was the movement Ro-woon wanted.
“There is movement from the alliance.”
The alliance.
“Players and sects?”
At Ro-woon’s languid question, Ha Se-min nodded.
“Players and sects who see Asgard as an opportunity are joining hands.”
Originally, the relationship between the two was close.
However, the hierarchy was clear.
Players were discarded pieces, with sects in the form of masters.
However.
“The policies put forth by the Association, the policies of Asgard, and even the guidelines of the Galaxy….”
Everything that changed all of that.
Everything that Ro-woon’s influence had touched….
“It seems there are those who have realized that players and sects joining hands is the most ideal form.”
The order was being reversed.
The Association had only given players benefits to show off, with most of the benefits going to the sects.
Kim San-tae, who had newly taken office as the head of the Association, abolished the existing policies upon taking office and began to announce new policies.
True to the Association’s founding ideology of protecting the rights and interests of players, they began to introduce policies to protect and favor players.
“If it had been just the Association, it would have been impossible.”
However, it was not easy for the nominal power of the Association to change the order immediately.
“The biggest influence on the trend was the policies of Asgard….”
Asgard, which had become a land of opportunity and was in a position of complete power.
Many things changed when they announced that they would give players preferential negotiation rights and benefits.
But this was the same.
Even though Asgard had the power of an SS-class gate, if all the sects had rebelled against it and attacked, the outcome would have been unknown.
If Asgard had been seen as a place to invade rather than a target for cooperation and coexistence, players would not have benefited.
“The power of the Galaxy was effective.”
However, the Galaxy volunteered to be their protector.
As long as the Galaxy, which was currently being called the number one power in Korea, even pushing aside Hwasan, was protecting them, the words of the Association and Asgard would be kept.
“In the end, they realized that they could only properly enter Asgard by putting players first, and through that….”
“The players are gradually regaining the status they had lost.”
“That’s right.”
This was the picture that Ro-woon and the Galaxy had drawn.
And this was.
“It’s not the end, but the beginning.”
It was just the beginning.
“The players, the sects, will change.”
Until now, players had been in the position of slaves and had considered it natural.
But one by one, if they had more and more to protect….
“The day they bite the necks of their masters is not far off.”
Nod.
Now, it was the beginning.
“I need to help.”
In this state, they could become the spark of a revolution, but that flame would only be a small lamp.
To make it change like the flames of Hwasan.
“Report.”
There was something truly to be done.
“There are two things we learned through Cheong In-woo.”
What was learned by investigating Cheong In-woo, the traitor of Hwasan.
Apart from the information about the master that Ro-woon had obtained, it was.
“First, that he is one of the keys to pulling out the stakes embedded in the world.”
That Cheong In-woo was a key.
“Second, that the key is not just one.”
The second was that the key was not just one.
There were other keys.
Only with them could they approach the stakes and pull them out.
“And this is something we found out separately from that.”
Through the key, they learned what the key was and how to find it.
“We have found the location of the second key.”
The second key.
They had found where it was.
* * *
“Hwasan is unusual.”
All sides were filled with gold.
The gold and red light.
Everything that made up the room was so excessively flashy and beautiful that it looked bizarre.
The golden dragons that adorned the walls and furniture.
The red dragons that were painted all over the ceiling.
It was like a golden castle built with blood.
“Hwasan is unusual.”
Who could have imagined?
That this was the headquarters of the beggars who were called beggars in the past.
“Hwasan….”
Also, who could have imagined?
An old man with a hunched back, who looked like he could collapse at any moment.
This old man, who was only half the height of an average adult and had a sly beard, was wearing more jewelry and gems than his own weight.
“It’s unusual, I tell you.”
That this old man was the feared and terrifying existence called the Beggar King, Shin-gae Lee Tae-jong.
Shin-gae Lee Tae-jong.
Not much was known about him.
What people knew about him was only how feared and terrifying he was.
Shin-gae.
Ten thousand beggars moved at his word.
Those he targeted never survived, and there was nothing he did not know.
That was why he was Shin-gae.
-God.
The characteristics that a being called God should have.
-Omniscience.
There was nothing that the Beggar King did not know.
From the daily routine of a country’s president to his trivial habits, family, affairs, and secrets.
Also, the Beggar King, Shin-gae, had the ability to find out even the underwear color of the most insignificant person on the street.
So, how could it be strange to call him omniscient?
Also.
-Omnipotence.
There was nothing impossible for him, who could move ten thousand beggars.
No one who had ever offended the Beggar King, Shin-gae, had ever survived.
In the past, the head of the Iron Gold Clan, which was known to be comparable to the Nine Great Sects, offended Shin-gae one day.
-A beggar bastard who doesn’t know his place is acting up.
Of course, it was not a word spoken in front of the beggars.
A passing remark.
It was just a word uttered in lament, having lost many benefits to the beggars.
The problem was that the word reached Shin-gae’s ears.
-Iron Gold Clan, you say?
That was all he said.
The next day, the Iron Gold Clan was burned to the ground.
The head’s family, their relatives.
Everything about the clan members.
Even their main base.
Flames!
Everything was burned to the ground.
What was left of the Iron Gold Clan that had burned down that day was.
-Beggar bastard.
Only those words written with their corpses.
It was not just influence in the underworld.
Shin-gae, who had visited the West for an agreement with Ainhardt.
A clueless knight attacked Shin-gae, saying he would protect his master’s honor.
Even so, the agreement was eventually concluded, and Shin-gae returned to the beggars, but.
-Everyone died.
The knight, the master the knight was protecting.
Their relatives.
Even the master’s land.
All of it.
Even though they had made an agreement, Ainhardt could not protect them.
Everything was already over, and there was no evidence that Shin-gae or the beggars had done it.
Also, it was already well known that the beggars had used their immense wealth and power to tie up Ainhardt.
Omniscient and omnipotent.
So, God.
So….
-Shin-gae.
He was the Beggar King, Shin-gae.
“Hwasan! Baek Jin, that bastard, is unusual!”
Shin-gae shouted.
It was a roar that was hard to believe came from that small frame.
At that.
“…….”
Those who were prostrate in the room trembled.
“Does no one, no one know?”
Shin-gae said, as if scolding them.
“Hwasan has already been defeated by the Galaxy twice.”
The one who opened his mouth was the one wearing a red hat.
“Since Hwasan’s position is wavering, Hwasan will be in a difficult….”
Thud!
Shin-gae stomped his foot, and the ground shook.
At that moment.
“Cough-!”
The one who had opened his mouth trembled and prostrated himself even more on the floor.
His meridians were twisted, and his muscles contracted.
It was just a foot stomp.
“Do you think I don’t know that and am asking?”
Shin-gae scolded again.
“What I want to know is….”
Everyone held their breath.
They knew that they should not let Shin-gae continue to speak.
If he gave an order, if he said what he wanted, it would be too late.
But there was nothing as dangerous as giving the wrong answer.
“It is already a known fact that Baek Jin has other intentions.”
Someone opened his mouth.
A man wearing a black hat and a black belt.
“Hwasan’s defeat would not have given Baek Jin much emotion. Baek Jin is Hwasan, not Hwasan is Baek Jin.”
“Hooh?”
Shin-gae’s eyes narrowed.
“What Shin-gae wants to know….”
The man wearing a black sash quietly raised his face and said.
“Isn’t it the power of the Galaxy that defeated Hwasan and the will of the Galaxy?”
“Right. Tell me more.”
Shin-gae grinned.
“The Blood Demon, Lee Ro-woon. Isn’t it everything about him?”
“Yes. Yes.”
At Shin-gae’s reaction, the others frowned.
It was not that they did not know.
What Shin-gae was curious about, and what he wanted.
However.
“So?”
They had closed their mouths because they could not give that answer.
The Galaxy.
That name.
The Blood Cult.
That name.
The Blood Demon, Lee Ro-woon.
That name.
Everyone in this place knew that all of that was shaking the entire underworld.
They were all disciples of the Beggar King, and they were the ones who supported the beggars by taking charge of the major forces of the beggars.
There was no way they would not know those names that came in every day.
However.
-The Galaxy, the Blood Cult, the Blood Demon.
The information about them was too vague.
What Shin-gae wanted to know was not the facts they knew.
More than that.
He wanted information that even they could not know.
Because he had to be omniscient.
Also, because he wanted to be omniscient.
-Shin-gae.
That name was not given by someone else.
-Omniscient and omnipotent.
That name was….
-Am I not like a god?
Shin-gae, it was a name he gave himself.
“So, Black Dog, can you give me that answer?”
Shin-gae asked Black Dog.
“Yes. I can give you that answer.”
The only player among the Beggar King’s disciples.
Also, to Yoo Do-hyung from Korea.
The Three Kings’ Disciple