## Chapter 45 – 05. Knight of Muyeol
05. Knight of Muyeol
Monday, September 21st.
The day before yesterday, the 19th,
While I was holding auditions for over 100 celebrities and subduing Yoon Ha-young, Real Production made a significant announcement.
The CEO came out himself and said many things, but the core was, “All virtual reality games that exist in the market now are ‘fake.’ I will create the ‘real’ thing. I will create another world.” Something along those lines.
He revealed his grand ambition to create a virtual world almost perfectly identical to the real world, allowing players to become the protagonists of that world.
Coupled with a well-crafted demonstration video, it caused a global sensation over the weekend, and the video uploaded to Mytube recorded an absurd 180 million views and 7 million shares.
Naturally, Real Production’s stock price is soaring.
“M-Master! Real Production’s stock price… It’s 190,000 won!! Our stock is worth… 1.8 trillion won…!!”
As expected.
The legendary lies of the Real Production CEO and the resulting stock price increase.
Everything is progressing smoothly.
‘But isn’t it a bit fast?’
Even calculating from the game’s release, it’s only been about a week since it went from 8,000 won to 190,000 won. If this trend continues, it will hit my expected peak of 330,000 won next week.
‘It wasn’t this fast.’
I’m not some lore fanatic who delves deep into everything, but I know it wasn’t this fast.
‘Ah. Could it be…’
“How are the entertainment stocks doing?”
“Entertainment? They’re just getting crushed. Some companies have already been liquidated. They’ve already hit -30% in that sector.”
“Looks like money’s flowing in from there.”
People naturally want to recover their investment costs somehow.
Since the entertainment industry is collapsing like this, there might be a tendency to latch onto a rapidly rising stock or something that looks like it will go up to make up for the losses.
And Real Production, which recently hit the jackpot, is a perfect fit.
‘They probably think it’s a great time to get in because the game that just launched is successful, and the CEO’s grand ambitions are driving the stock price sky-high.’
Everyone’s rushing in and buying, so the stock price is rising much faster than originally planned.
I just wanted to kill off my competitors in advance, but things are turning out this way.
‘Maybe I should hold on a bit longer?’
The highest point in the original game was around 330,000 won.
But with this momentum, I might be able to aim for even higher.
‘No. Don’t do anything stupid.’
I briefly had that greedy thought, but I quickly shook it off.
I’m not good at playing the stock market; I just know the future. If I get greedy and do something stupid, I’m likely to end up with nothing.
It’s better to just stick to what I know and play it safe.
Maybe when I have so much money that I don’t know what to do with it, I might consider it.
“Adjust the sell order to 300,000 won.”
Still, I indulged in a small bit of greed.
With this much momentum, it’s a bit of a waste to sell it all off at 270,000 won. It seems appropriate to start selling around 300,000 won.
With this much investment pouring in, it should hold up for a while.
Maybe it will even absorb all my stock and the bubble will get even bigger.
Then it will explode even bigger later…
“Let’s see… If all the stock is absorbed at 300,000 won, how much is that?”
“Approximately 2.8 trillion won, Master.”
“2.8 trillion won…”
With this much, I could buy a mercenary company instead of just hiring mercenaries, build a prison, and do all sorts of things.
Not to the extent of becoming a major player in the market, though.
Just enough capital to enter and establish a certain level of foundation?
That’s about it.
“Did you narrow down the mercenary companies?”
“Ah, yes. There are a few promising ones, but there’s a problem.”
“What problem?”
“There are no companies that only have female mercenaries.”
“…”
“There are no companies that only hire female employees either.”
“…”
“Of course, there are no companies that only take female clients.”
“Hmm.”
All the conditions I requested.
When she received the order, Soo-ah stretched out her words, saying, “I don’t think there are any places like that…” but I ordered her to do it anyway.
The world is so big; there might be one.
But of course, there isn’t.
No such company exists.
It’s obvious that operating in such a way wouldn’t generate profit.
In the end,
“So, you’re saying I have to create one myself?”
“T-That’s right…”
But unfortunately, not just anyone can create a mercenary company.
Not just anyone can own one either.
Still, owning it through stocks is much easier and faster than creating it directly, so I was trying to promote mercenary hiring or acquisition…
“Give me the list for now.”
“Here it is.”
I looked through the list of mercenary companies that Soo-ah had compiled.
Most of them had very dark and unpleasant men confidently posing for the camera.
I don’t really want to see them.
“Tsk.”
I hand it back to Soo-ah.
“…Did you find the land?”
“Ah, yes… Uh… Ah! Here it is.”
She rummages through the document files and hands it to me.
“Well, as you said, I looked into the Namdong Industrial Complex first. But they have a surprisingly strong sense of solidarity, so if you touch one side without consulting them, the other sides are likely to react together.”
“You’re saying individual attacks won’t work?”
“Yes. There are five organizations that currently have a dominant character, and they all have some kind of alliance. It’s loose, but there are rules too.”
“What rules among themselves.”
I tap the documents and ponder.
‘I want to build it in the Namdong Industrial Complex…’
Incheon is a ridiculously huge city, taking an hour and a half, or even over two hours, to get from one part of Incheon to another. But paradoxically, there’s no land.
Considering various other circumstances, there’s really no place like the Namdong Industrial Complex. But to do that, I have to wipe out all the organizations in the Namdong Industrial Complex.
“Can’t your police handle them?”
“In terms of power, if we really put everything into it, it would be possible, of course. But there are a lot of people involved, and if they come out strongly, we don’t know how many casualties there will be. Considering the security vacuum that would be created during that time, I don’t think the higher-ups are likely to make such a decision. It would be difficult for the police alone.”
I guess so.
Would it be called Demon World Incheon if that were possible?
‘It’s a neighborhood where the police chief is selling drugs out the back door in the first place.’
“Well, how about an island, Master?”
“An island?”
“Yes. There are quite a few islands in the sea off Incheon. Some of them have a certain amount of plains. Even if they don’t, there are quite a few islands that can accommodate a prison.”
“An island…”
“If you build a prison on an island, it will be easier to hide it from the eyes of Incheon City, and it will also be easier to get out of the Korean Peninsula. There may be some disadvantages in terms of transportation costs and operating costs, but I think it’s worth it in the future. You’re not just going to do business in Incheon, are you?”
“That’s true.”
Her persuasion swayed me.
I’m not trying to make a profit from the prison anyway, so I don’t really need to worry about operating costs.
And I’m not the one doing the troublesome things, are I? The employees are.
If I can put up with those things, it’s good for hiding, good for confinement, I don’t have to go through the city when I go out, and I can just slip out to China or the sea.
I can even use it later if I get the urge to collect warships or something.
Build a port and park them there to use in case of emergency.
‘If that’s the case, I should look for a place where I can build a port.’
“Okay. Then let’s go with an island. Look for an uninhabited island with as much area as possible.”
“Understood, Master.”
“And organize what’s needed to create a mercenary company.”
“Yes.”
+++
Nonsan, Goryeo Military Academy Training Center.
Trainee knights who had finished their simulation tests poured out into the hallway.
“Is Baekseol number one again this time?”
“Can’t beat her.”
Everyone shakes their heads at one woman.
“Being number one isn’t just being number one. She’s overwhelming. Whether it’s martial arts, shooting, or mecha, she doesn’t lack in anything.”
“Then is she immediately appointed as a general?”
“Hey! Show some respect and call her ‘General’!”
“Whatever.”
After successfully completing the 15-year knight course and becoming a ‘knight,’ they are basically treated as ‘colonels,’ the highest rank for field officers.
Among them, a few particularly outstanding individuals can be immediately assigned to each army headquarters with a star, according to an agreement between the Republic of Korea Ministry of National Defense and Goryeo Military Academy. But they can’t increase the number of generals indefinitely, so it wasn’t always the case.
But what if someone like Baekseol achieves overwhelmingly excellent results?
Then she would be appointed as a general in most cases.
‘General… It’s just being a slave, no matter what.’
Baekseol smiled cynically as she passed by the whispering voices.
Whether it’s being treated as a colonel or a general, the essence of a knight lies in obedience.
Genetically and with a chip implanted, they are destined to obey the orders of the commander.
It’s about putting a leash on those with strong power, which is practically slavery.
It’s fortunate that she was destined to be a knight from birth. If it wasn’t and she could have chosen, she would never have walked this path.
“Seol-ah!! Baekseol!!”
While heading to the dormitory, a man ran up.
With his hair cut short like a soldier, he was a head taller than Baekseol.
He was also a trainee knight.
He ranked second after Baekseol.
“I don’t want to.”
“…I haven’t said anything yet?”
“You’re just going to confess again, aren’t you?”
The man had been confessing to her for a while now.
He asked her to work together after graduation.
To rely on each other and walk this path together.
About 30 times, if you count the number of times?
But every time, she refused.
“We’re slaves. There’s no point in enjoying such luxuries.”
“There you go again.”
“Why don’t you just live according to the natural order without having vain hopes? Advice as a friend.”
Baekseol leaves those words behind and walks forward.
The man followed.
“You don’t hate me either, do you?”
“…”
“We used to eat together in the old days. Hey, we’ve known each other for years. Do you think I wouldn’t know that? I’ve been looking at the back of your head for 15 years.”
“…”
Still, she ignores him and keeps walking.
Eventually, the man stopped.
“In the end, you’re just scared, aren’t you? Right?”
“…What?”
Baekseol also stopped.
“Scared?”
“You’re scared that if you have something good and then can’t have it anymore, it will hurt too much, so you can’t do it, right? Isn’t that right?”
He approaches.
And reaches out his hand-,
“Don’t touch me.”
“Ahem… Baekseol-ah. I really like you.”
“…”
“You don’t think of me badly either, do you? I don’t know what will happen later, but can’t we just enjoy the present? Can’t we just enjoy the future as it comes and the present as it is?”
“…I,”
Baekseol bit her lip.
She didn’t think of him badly either.
He was the most outstanding trainee other than herself, and he was also handsome.
And she wanted to do what everyone else was doing.
But just like the man said… she was just scared.
The sense of loss when she felt happiness and then lost it.
“Let’s start. Huh? You won’t know unless you try! Are you going to be so scared from the start? For the rest of your life?”
“…”
He continued to persuade her.
Eventually,
“Then… starting tomorrow.”
“H-Huh…?”
“…”
“R-Really??”
She left those words of acceptance and walked away.
Much faster than usual.
“R-Really? No taking it back tomorrow??!!”
The man was excited and ran to his dormitory.
Baekseol also smiled faintly.
Yeah.
Being scared from the start without even trying,
It’s not like a knight.
The next day.
The training director summoned the trainee knights early in the morning.
“Trainee Knight Baekseol, come forward.”
“?”
What’s going on?
Tilting her head, she goes up to the platform.
“Trainee Knight Baekseol is graduating today, September 22, 2076.”
“Excuse me?”
