LIGHTNOVELONLINE [Translator – Pr?ks]
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Chapter 179: Symposium (1)
When Liang Xiaojun first met Kim Minwoo and knelt before him, he thought his life was over.
An irresistible command.
Not only his body but also his soul recognized him as his master.
Wasn’t this just slavery?
His future seemed as bleak as if he had fallen into a vast ocean.
But as they say, a disaster can turn into a blessing.
Not only did he gain the trust of Hong Tao, the leader of the Nine Dragons Guild, as a true patriot.
But he also found a lifeline through his encounter with Kim Minwoo.
—Good. Write down the names of all your competitors within the party. And write down any of the higher-ups you don’t like.
The so-called execution list.
Liang Xiaojun wrote down countless names on that list.
From competitors who threatened him to his superiors, all of them.
‘Most of them were from the He Guoqiang faction.’
He Guoqiang, 5th in the Chinese Politburo Standing Committee.
In other words, one of the five most powerful people in China. They had a negative view of him.
Naturally, he wanted to get rid of them.
He had been living quietly, as he didn’t have the ability or the power to do so.
To be honest, he didn’t have high expectations when he wrote the list. But reality was different.
The change began three days after he returned home. A burner phone suddenly appeared in his accommodation. A text message arrived on the burner phone.
Ding!
[An incident will occur tomorrow morning. Don’t panic and act as usual.]
[…Who is this?]
[Information team.]
The next morning.
—Wei Ziming. You need to come with us.
Wei Ziming, a senior member of the guild who had always looked down on him and was a lackey of the He Guoqiang faction.
He was arrested for a corruption case, and the incident spread like wildfire, causing the He Guoqiang faction to be completely destroyed.
He heard there was an anonymous tip-off. For the upper levels to move so quickly, the information must have been accurate and fatal.
It was obvious who sent the tip-off.
After that, Liang Xiaojun’s life changed. The competitors who had threatened him were all involved in incidents and were naturally demoted.
The magic even reached He Guoqiang, 5th in the Chinese Politburo Standing Committee.
Immense information power.
The terrifying power of the Death Lord.
And the audacity to even consider replacing the President.
At first, he was just afraid of everything.
‘But…’
It was different now.
Every night, a secret text message arrived on Liang Xiaojun’s burner phone.
It was a text message advising him on how to act.
At first, he was instructed to “accidentally” run into Zhao Ziyang at a golf course.
Zhao Ziyang, 3rd in the Politburo Standing Committee.
After making an impression on him through connections (guanxi), he was to leak information about gold smuggling in Henan Province.
The meeting was not difficult, as the exact time and place, along with the gift for establishing guanxi, were enclosed in a parcel.
Zhao Ziyang’s value greatly increased as he handled the smuggling case.
Naturally, he was also able to gain a golden connection by passing on the information.
At the same time, he was instructed to provide some help to Hong Tao, the guild leader who maintained neutrality, so as not to lose his trust.
Following the instructions in the text messages, everything went smoothly like magic.
He could truly become a model of a beautiful bat.
A golden bat shining all over.
“Phew…”
Liang Xiaojun’s thoughts were inevitably complicated.
Collaborating with Kim Minwoo was definitely beneficial to him.
This could be seen just by looking at the guild members around him.
Before the He Guoqiang faction was destroyed, he had always been subjected to unkind glances.
But now it was different.
Who would dare to oppress him now that he had the golden connections of Hong Tao and Zhao Ziyang? It was now others who were wary of him, not the other way around.
He had come to realize the sweetness of power.
If things continued to go smoothly like this, he felt that becoming the President of China someday might not be just a dream.
Now, every night when a text message arrived, he felt more excited than afraid.
Therefore,
[Kim Minwoo enters the world rankings! At 157th place…]
Seeing Kim Minwoo’s endless growth, his thoughts became complicated.
“Huh…”
A world ranker!
The same SS-rank as him?
That was absolute nonsense.
Liang Xiaojun was certain.
Kim Minwoo was not just some SS-rank Awakener.
He was positioned far above that.
If Kim Minwoo had oppressed him with the power of the Death Lord, he might have dreamed of rebellion in his heart.
But Kim Minwoo was different.
He only asked for one thing.
Not to reveal anything about him.
‘That’s what I should be doing anyway.’
The hope of China, a hero, but actually Kim Minwoo’s lackey?
Would he be crazy enough to reveal that?
Unless he was shot in the head, it was something that would never come out of his mouth for the rest of his life.
Objectively speaking,
Kim Minwoo was a very good master.
At least so far.
And there was no need to feel any resistance to the idea of having a master.
The structure of China was like that anyway.
There was a king called the President.
There were nobles called the Communist Party.
And the ordinary people were just commoners.
That’s how dictatorship worked.
He was also just one of the slaves under President Li Zemin.
If he had to serve a master anyway,
“…Isn’t it the right answer to serve the emperor who will make me king?”
As the saying goes, even slaves in a noble house have a different look. This was just a part of it. Who would be standing tall in 10 years, President Li or Kim Minwoo?
The answer was already out.
Just then,
News came on the TV.
—Breaking news. Kim Minwoo, who recently entered the world rankings, has announced that he will hold a symposium with SS-rank necromancers from around the world…
Ding!
[Translator – Pr?ks]
[Proofreader – Pr?ks]
[Come if you saw it.]
Instead of fear, he felt a strong pull at the text’s call.
* * *
The number of SS-rank achievers was increasing over time. As a result, the number of Necromancers also increased.
This was because the Necromancer class had been rapidly rising as a mainstream job thanks to Kim Minwoo in the past six months.
The total number of SS-rank Necromancers identified so far was 13. Excluding Kim Minwoo, there were 12 in total. Invitations to the symposium were sent to all of them.
Kim Minwoo, who became a world ranker in just six months as a Necromancer.
It would not be a loss at all if they could learn even a single know-how from him. Therefore, no one refused.
Liang Xiaojun was no exception.
When he entered the Money Talks Guild building (which was the venue for the symposium) after receiving a translator at the entrance,
He saw familiar faces.
Starting with the Necromancer from the arrogant United States.
Japan, Canada, India, and so on.
12 people excluding Kim Minwoo.
11 of them were gathered.
But one thing was different.
The Russian Necromancer, Mikhail Korpusky. Arriving 30 minutes late, he grimaced and said,
“What, it hasn’t started yet? I’m so busy.”
“…Isn’t it because you’re late that Mr. Kim Minwoo isn’t here yet?”
“Did he do it on purpose? He’s probably busy hunting.”
The attention of the others was drawn to Mikhail’s grumbling.
He sat down on a chair with an arrogant attitude and continued to complain.
“I didn’t even want to come to this kind of gathering in the first place. What makes a guy who just got lucky and awakened early so great that he calls all the busy people together?”
“…?”
The rest of the Awakeners tilted their heads. They wondered if he had a brain or not.
“…He became a world ranker in 6 months, and you’re saying that’s just luck?”
Mikhail smirked at the question from Sakura, the Japanese Necromancer and the only female Awakener present.
“I don’t know what kind of skills you guys got, but my skill is pretty awesome. World ranker? I could do that in 6 months and still have time to spare.”
Mikhail said, shrugging.
He had a shaved head and a muscular physique.
Mikhail, who already had a fierce impression, naturally exuded arrogance. Nevertheless, the other Necromancers did not strongly object.
No, they couldn’t.
If Kim Minwoo was at the top, Mikhail was the second most successful Necromancer.
This could be seen just by looking at the time it took to clear the level 1 gate.
The level 1 gate challenge that had spread like a trend.
It took Liang Xiaojun 48 hours.
The other Necromancers also had similar records.
It usually took them about 46 to 49 hours.
In contrast, Mikhail was different.
He took 43 hours, only 3 hours behind Kim Minwoo.
Because he had set such a noticeable record, Russia continued to support Mikhail consistently.
That’s probably why he was so arrogant.
At that moment,
Liang Xiaojun smirked as if he found it cute.
Mikhail’s face immediately turned grim.
“What, you? Are you laughing at me right now?”
“No, well. I think I know how you feel.”
“…What?”
Liang Xiaojun shrugged.
He had also been like that once.
Until he awakened, he felt like he owned the world.
He had obtained an SS-rank skill, after all.
World ranker?
At best, those guys had started with an S-rank skill.
He thought the world was at his feet. At least, that’s how he felt until he met the true sky above the sky.
Mikhail Korpuski seemed to be the same. He hadn’t yet faced the true sky.
And he was probably so arrogant because he was doing well with his SS-rank skill.
As Russia’s hero.
As the next generation Awakener.
He was probably in the midst of being praised.
But, he was curious.
“Then why did you come? You seem to be wasting your time.”
“Who wants to come? The country forced the schedule on me. Damn it. All my gate reservations were canceled because of this damn child’s play.”
Mikhail said, munching on peanuts on the table.
Seeing that, the American necromancer, Andrew, frowned and said.
“That’s enough. Kim Minwoo is our senior, after all. He’s clearly skilled. If your arrogant attitude causes problems in this symposium, you’ll be in trouble later.”
The necromancers all nodded in agreement. Not everyone had a positive mindset when they joined this discussion.
There were certainly complaints.
However, one thing was clear.
Since they had come anyway, they had to gain something from it.
But if Mikhail acted like that, it would become problematic.
They all shared at least that much of a thought, which made the necromancers’ gazes sharp.
“Ha, this is terrifying. We are going to tear someone apart at this rate? We’re not even some low-level grunts.”
“But, you know.”
“What is it?”
Mikhail turned his head towards Liang Xiaojun’s words.
“By any chance, is it a skill?”
“…What?”
“I’m asking if it’s a skill.”
“Are you crazy? Do you think I’ll tell you just because you asked?”
“Then let me guess. Are you perhaps a follower of the Death Lord?”
“…!”
At that moment.
Mikhail’s eyes shook violently.
Even with the same SS-rank skill, the details were always different. Naturally, Awakeners were bound to hide their skills thoroughly.
But just now, Liang Xiaojun had guessed his skill.
And that too, accurately without missing a single word. It was a situation where he couldn’t help but be flustered.
“This damn bastard… Chinese bastards are always like this! When did you steal my information!”
Mikhail shouted fiercely.
Seeing that, Liang Xiaojun grinned.
It was then.
The door burst open.
Kim Minwoo appeared.
“Hello. I’m Kim Minwoo.”
Liang Xiaojun also smiled brightly.
‘This arrogant bastard.’
You’re screwed today.
The scary senior who would teach Baldy a lesson had arrived.
[Translator – Pr?ks]
[Proofreader – Pr?ks]