## Chapter 190 – Rougegard
Isabel wants me to go with her to the Rougegard family.
I blinked for a moment, then asked back,
“Is this a proposal, by any chance?”
Lately, ever since the company started doing well, I’d been getting hit with trivial proposals, which was troublesome.
Me, Lee Tae-baek, age 42. No, wait a minute, now that another year has passed, am I 43?
Anyway, it was a pain because tycoons were throwing their twenty-something daughters at a forty-three-year-old man, wanting to marry them off.
Fortunately, Isabel twisted her body and said,
“If it were that kind of confession, I definitely wouldn’t do it so unromantically.”
“Then what is it?”
“Haven’t you noticed the West excessively blocking Tae-baek Distribution’s entry lately?”
“Yeah, that’s true. Wait a minute… could it be?”
Isabel nodded.
“That’s right. Rougegard intervened.”
I’d forgotten.
That the Rougegard family had a tight grip on the West.
That they were preparing to clean up the West and move on to the East.
Although the timing was delayed because the heir had vanished in an instant, 13 years was a long enough time to finish preparations again.
“But why our company?”
“Because your growth rate was too fast.”
“Ah.”
“Right now, not just in Korea, but wealthy people all over the world are watching Tae-baek Group. There’s no precedent for a company growing this rapidly.”
That would be the case.
We jumped into the distribution industry, which was practically a red ocean, and took care of most of our competitors in less than half a year. Our market cap was also approaching 200 trillion won.
“So, a part of the Rougegard family was keeping me in check.”
“To be precise, a part of Rougegard.”
“Huh?”
“Rougegard is a large family. There are many members. At its peak, there were said to be thousands of companies within the family alone. They’ve merged a lot now, so it’s not quite that many, but still, Rougegard has a lot of members.”
Let’s see. So, a part of the Rougegard family defined me as an enemy and attacked.
Why?
Because I’m a threat.
Because they’re worried that a rising powerhouse, suddenly appearing like a comet and sweeping through the Korean market, will invade their territory and wipe them out.
In fact, we were rapidly occupying neighboring Japan.
Russia as well.
“So, a part of Rougegard decided to keep me in check and moved those under their influence to prevent us from entering the US and Europe?”
“Exactly. They incited governments and corporations to block us thoroughly.”
That’s a bit chilling.
I vaguely heard somewhere that there are approximately 30 million companies in the US and Europe.
In other words, the moment we tried to enter the US and Europe, some of those 30 million companies were incited by them and massively opposed our entry.
‘No wonder we couldn’t get in, no matter how hard we tried.’
“But why are you asking me to go to the Rougegard family with you at this beat?”
It’s practically the heart of enemy territory.
Of course, I know I won’t be harmed there, and so does Isabel.
Isabel said,
“The head of the family has announced that they will hold a competition to officially select an heir.”
“A competition?”
“It’s an heir selection competition. All Rougegard members can apply.”
I see.
“So, you want me to help you win there?”
“Yes.”
“Sounds fun.”
Isn’t the most fun thing in the world watching fires and fights?
To think that the Rougegard family would be squabbling among themselves and having a mud fight.
…I suddenly want to see it.
“But, um….”
As I smiled brightly with interest, Isabel looked at me with a slightly uneasy expression.
“Hmm? Why are you looking at me like that?”
“I’ll say it again, not everyone in Rougegard hindered Woo-jin. The head of the family, my grandfather, and the butler, and many others have quite good character.”
“They’re good people, you mean.”
“Yes. So, please don’t annihilate the entire Rougegard.”
I tilted my head.
“Why would I annihilate Rougegard?”
That good place.
It’s a historic control tower that has dominated the Western world for hundreds of years.
It would be a waste to just destroy that organization, and from my perspective, as someone who will eventually rule the entire planet, it was an opportunity and network from which I could learn a lot.
“Rougegard is yours. It’s where you’ll be the master in the future, so I can’t thoughtlessly deal with that home and its members. So, don’t worry.”
I smiled and said that, but Isabel gave an awkward smile.
“Hmm. Isabel, who usually hangs on my every word, why doesn’t she trust me today?”
It was Maya, who was next to Isabel, who answered my question.
“…Woo-jin. You recently completely destroyed the families of Kang Seol-ha’s four friends.”
“Ah.”
All the mothers and daughters of those four families were handed over as playthings to my women.
The older men were all taken care of, and the twenty-something men were given as a gift to Lee Hyun-ji.
“Isabel was so shocked when she came to the settlement and saw that.”
She returned to ask for my help with her family’s problems, but if she saw that scene I had created… it was certainly enough to make her think.
I reassured Isabel, telling her not to worry.
“Then I’ll let you handle your family.”
Whether they lived or died, I didn’t really care.
Eventually, the Earth would become a colony, and I planned to pick out the ones I liked and take them to the other world to live.
If there were people I didn’t like, I could just leave them on Earth.
Only then did Isabel, who had been constantly anxious and watching my every move, smile brightly.
“Yes! If you do that, I’ll offer all the women of our family to Woo-jin!”
As expected, our Isabel is quick-witted and knows how to give and take, which is great.
I immediately started preparing to leave.
The women who heard my news all gathered in one place and envied me.
“I’m jealous. The Rougegard main family.”
“Tsk. I want to go too.”
“Me too.”
Everyone was envious. Some licked their lips and looked at Isabel with subtle eyes.
Among them were Im Ji-eun and Jang Seon-yeong.
Judging by the atmosphere, it seemed that none of them had ever been to the Rougegard main family.
‘I wonder if I should say it’s as mysterious and secretive as a family should be.’
Isabel smiled and soothed the people.
“I’m sorry. I can only bring one person with me during this competition. I’ll invite everyone later when I become the head of the family.”
And so, I alone followed Isabel to the main family of the Rougegard family.
***
‘Well, so I somehow arrived at the family, but.’
I raised my head and looked around.
A scene that could only be seen in the Middle Ages.
The antique walls and ceilings, full of Gothic architectural style, were looking down at me.
I sank deep into the chair and rocked back and forth.
Creak. Creak.
The place I’m in now is the reception room.
A space for entertaining guests, and I was the only one there.
-Miss, the head of the family is calling for you. The person you came with will have someone sent for them soon, so please go quickly.
Isabel disappeared with the butler, and thanks to that, I was enjoying endless boredom, waiting for the person who I didn’t know when would come.
‘They said they’d send someone soon, but why hasn’t anyone shown up after 20 minutes?’
A space with no one.
Waiting alone was boring, and being bored was starting to make me fidget.
Normally, 20 minutes was nothing, I was always living a busy life because of the women who wouldn’t leave me alone for 5 minutes and were always climbing on top of me. Now, this kind of leisure.
‘Should I play a smartphone game?’
With that, I took out my phone, installed a game, and quit right away.
It was too boring.
If I returned to the island settlement right now, I could enjoy virtual reality.
Perhaps because I had already enjoyed that, these games now felt boring and like a waste of time.
‘That’s why the development of technology and culture is scary.’
The moment you taste a new world, the existing one becomes too bland and uninteresting.
The reason why the whole world is going crazy over the electronic products introduced by our Tae-baek Distribution is probably the same.
‘Hmm. Is there anything to do?’
After thinking hard, a good idea suddenly flashed through my mind.
After confirming that there were no watching eyes around through [Danger Detection], I opened the [Store Window].
Then, I moved my gaze and focused on one item.
+
[Random Box]
Grade: Common
Price: 1 million won
Description: A mysterious box filled with all sorts of junk. No one knows what will come out. Single use.
+
‘This is the best for killing time.’
The so-called Gacha.
In other words, speculative gambling.
By nature, there’s nothing better than this for passing the time quickly.
Even one pull costs 1 million won.
The money I have… uh, um. Anyway, it’s filthy rich.
I haven’t counted separately since it exceeded trillions, but I had enough to open boxes and play all day.
‘Okay. I have a lot of money, let’s spin the Gacha.’
[You have purchased 10 ‘Random Boxes’.]
I bought 10 random boxes at a time and opened them one by one, like peeling candy wrappers.
[‘Toilet Paper’ has appeared.]
[‘Slippers’ have appeared.]
‘It’s still only useless things coming out.’
10, 20, 50, 100….
Even after opening that many, nothing useful came out. It was truly insane luck that I got the [Duplication] ability from opening these things.
It was the moment I had such thoughts.
[Exceptional Luck has been activated.]
Huh?
[You have purchased 10 ‘Legendary Random Boxes’.]
At the sudden notification, I forgot to open the boxes and stared blankly at the notification.
I clearly bought just [Random Boxes], but due to exceptional luck, it was showing that I had purchased [Legendary Random Boxes].
Just in case, I kept buying [Random Boxes] instead of opening the boxes.
10 at a time.
[You have purchased 10 ‘Random Boxes’.]
[You have purchased 10 ‘Random Boxes’.]
As a result, 10 million won was flying away at once, but I didn’t care. Money was rotting away for me anyway.
[You have purchased 10 ‘Legendary Random Boxes’.]
It came out again. Legendary boxes.
I kept pressing the purchase button repeatedly. In an instant, thousands of boxes began to pile up in the purchase list.
[Exceptional Luck has been activated.]
[The purchased items will be tripled.]
It wasn’t always changing the boxes to higher-level boxes.
With a very high probability, it would increase the number or reduce the purchase price.
[You have purchased 10 ‘Legendary Random Boxes’.]
But occasionally, the ordinary boxes would turn into blue boxes.
[You have purchased 10 ‘Random Boxes’.]
[You have purchased 10 ‘Random Boxes’.]
[You have purchased 10 ‘Mythic Random Boxes’.]
‘Oh. This time, Mythic?’
Following Legendary, Mythic boxes also appeared.
As a result, one strong desire arose in my mind.
‘Maybe that will come out too.’
Transcendent Random Box.
A treasure box obtained by chance as a special perk, containing abilities that literally transcend eras.
After I was able to purchase [Fragment of God], I had tried again to obtain that box, and the result was unfortunately a failure.
[You have already received a special perk.]
I couldn’t use the Fragment of God because it said I had already received a special perk.
So, I had regrettably given up on the Transcendent Random Box.
But now, a way to obtain it was unfolding before my eyes.
[If you want to obtain the ‘Transcendent Random Box’ with Exceptional Luck, you must purchase them one at a time. Only then will the trigger be activated.]
Even [Encyclopedia], which had been my helpful advisor for 3 years, had figured out the trick inside.
I immediately adjusted the quantity and frantically spammed the [Store Window] purchase button.
Random Box 4,122
Random Box 4,123
Random Box 4,124
…….
[You have purchased a ‘Legendary Random Box’.]
[You have purchased a ‘Random Box’.]
[You have purchased a ‘Mythic Random Box’.]
In fact, I could have just been satisfied with Legendary or Mythic.
It was clear that those would also produce good things.
But if you’re human, if you’re a human who lives a life captivated by greed and avarice, then it’s only natural to crave the best.
I held my breath and, forgetting the passage of time, only kept pressing my finger in the air.
As a result, astronomical amounts of money were spent, and when the number of ordinary Random Boxes exceeded 10,000-
[Exceptional Luck has been activated.]
[You have purchased a ‘Transcendent Random Box’.]
Finally, the item I had been so desperately wanting appeared.
It was the moment I held the second Transcendent Random Box of my life in my hand.
