Episode 69
069. Personal Protection
A lot had happened from the moment he entered the ‘Forgotten Giants’ City’. Moreover, even more incomprehensible things had occurred inside.
‘A little kid with horns? Was there a race like that?’
《Lepyon》 had a mix of dwarves, elves, various beast-folk, and many other races. Geumson had encountered many races while playing 《Lepyon》, but a shadowy little kid was a first.
‘Well, I’ll probably meet him again someday.’
Since he’d run away grinding his teeth and vowing revenge, he was bound to do something. The kid seemed to have meant it as a threat, but far from being scared, golden hand was actually looking forward to it. Because he felt he could learn more about 《Lepione》 that way.
“Let me sort this out.”
Leaning back comfortably on the sofa, Geumson began to mentally organize the items he had acquired this time.
‘First, I leveled up to 55… skill levels also rose quite a bit. Most importantly, of course, are the materials.’
Two items shone clearly in his mind.
‘Ancient Giant’s Heartstone, Fragment of the Seal’s Chains, and… Fragment of Kronos’ Crown!’
An item even the system wouldn’t disclose recklessly. Information about it came to mind.
[Fragment of Kronos’ Crown]
Grade: Mythic
Description:
A fragment of the crown worn by Kronos, the last king of the Forgotten Giants.
Contains his final will, regrets, and the desire to transcend time.
A whopping mythical grade. A material surpassing Ancient, finally in Golden Hand hands. It was a fragment of the crown the giant had used. The quantity was sufficient to make an item from that fragment alone. And he already had a use planned for it.
‘I need to repair my armor. Might even be at the level of making a new one?’
Golden Hand’s armor, almost destroyed while dealing with the giant, needed fixing. It seemed like a good opportunity to test the newly expanded hidden system, the ‘Giant’s Forge’ in the ‘Master’s Workshop.’
But the other items were a bit ambiguous.
‘Can’t get the Resonance Stone right now… but it’s perfect material for the Lich King, isn’t it?’
Golden Hand also had the Lich King in mind. As he pondered how to handle them, the smartphone he had left face-down on the desk began to ring loudly.
Bzzzzzt-
The caller was ‘Mirae Group, Team Leader Cha Yoo-kyung’.
— Mr. Geumson, it’s me, Cha Yoo-kyung. The preparations for the move are complete. You didn’t forget because you were busy opening the Giants’ City, did you?
Her voice over the receiver was as calm as usual, but somehow felt a bit subdued. Cha Yoo-kyung seemed to have seen the World Message too. But she was making a somewhat regretful remark to Geumson.
— It would have been nice if you’d given me a little hint when you had such a plan. Then the group could have done some promotion for you and held a special event for you in front of the Giants’ City. That’s a bit of a shame.
Cha Yoo-kyung, always thinking of Mirae Group, day and night. She seemed to see everything in 《Lepione》 as a promotional tool for Mirae Group.
‘It’s Mirae Group now… but later, the subject will become humanity.’
In the Age of Ruin, Cha Yoo-kyung needed to be active. Unlike last time, he had also made her start playing 《Lepione》 this time. So surely the future would change a bit.
“It happened so suddenly… I’ll do that next time. But the move, you say?”
*— Did you forget? When we signed the partner contract last time, we agreed to provide you with a high-end officetel in Gangnam, remember?
“What does that…?”
golden hand couldn’t help but be bewildered in his own way. He remembered there were various conditions when Cha Yoo-kyung first made the offer, like becoming a full-time employee and such. But he had refused.
Only a partner contract. The conditions were personal protection and Cha Yoo-kyung playing 《Lepione》. Just those two. And now Cha Yoo-kyung was suddenly bringing up an officetel.
— Ah, you did refuse back then, but regarding personal protection, the officetel we prepared is better in many ways. There are some difficulties with your current place.
Truly, Mirae Group was Mirae Group. It seemed they had prepared a house just because he requested personal protection.
‘Not bad.’
The reason he wanted to cash out 《Lepyon》 gold to Changsoo was also because of housing. After all, his current environment wasn’t great for focusing entirely on 《Lepione》.
“Well, then I won’t refuse. When is it?”
*— The officetel is already prepared, so you can come whenever it’s convenient for you. We’ll handle the moving preparations too, so you just need to bring yourself.
“Oh, really? Alright then.”
After the call ended, Geumson smiled contentedly. He was finally leaving this cramped, shabby studio for a new nest.
A new environment, a new start. And a new nest prepared by Mirae Group, South Korea’s representative conglomerate. A situation he hadn’t even dreamed of in his previous life. It felt strange.
‘If I make the armor and then go to Aertos to meet Astrid before moving, that would be perfect? The schedule is a bit tight.’
As Geumson pondered what to do with the remaining time, the outside began to get noisy.
“Let go! I said let go! Who do you think you are, blocking me? Huh? You won’t let go? You won’t let go?”
The commotion coming from outside the door. The voice was familiar.
“Hey! Golden Hand! What is this! Hey! Golden Hand! Come out here quick!”
“Changsoo?”
Geumson headed to the entrance with a puzzled look. But before he could even open the door, an unfamiliar, imposing voice from outside made him stop.
“Sir, we are dispatched for Mr. Geumson’s personal protection. We cannot allow entry to unidentified individuals.”
“No, I told you I’m his friend! Geumson! Hey, Geumson! Come out and do something about these people!”
“If you continue to cause a disturbance or attempt to enter, we will have no choice but to respond physically according to regulations.”
A tense atmosphere was brewing. Only then did Geumson grasp the situation and hurriedly opened the door.
“What’s going o… huh?”
The moment he opened the door, Geumson doubted his eyes. Filling the shabby studio hallway were giant men straight out of a movie.
They looked at least 2 meters tall, and the muscles bulging tautly under their fitted black suits were clearly not ordinary. Muscles honed through long practical experience—true combat-compressed muscles.
Somehow, their skill level seemed visible to Golden Hand’s eyes. Like instantly estimating a monster’s strength upon first meeting in 《Lepione》.
‘But… I think I could win?’
A strange thought crossed golden hand mind. Maybe it was a side effect of playing 《Lepyon》 for too long. But there was no time to think deeply. Between them, Changsoo was struggling, shirtfront grabbed, sending a pitiful look. He couldn’t ignore those eyes asking for help.
“Hey! golden hand! What is all this! What kind of trouble did you cause? Are these guys gangsters? Should I call the police?”
The moment Changsoo saw Geumson, he shouted as if meeting a savior. But golden hand was equally bewildered.
“Um, excuse me… who are you, and why are you… my friend…?”
When Geumson cautiously asked, the giant man holding Changsoo gave a slight bow and spoke.
“Park Cheol-min, head of the security team, Strategic Planning Department, Mirae Group. We are currently on a personal protection mission for Mr. Geumson under the instructions of Team Leader Cha Yoo-kyung.”
“Mirae Group… Ah!”
Only then did golden hand picture what was happening. But he never dreamed personal protection meant coming right to his doorstep and setting up an ironclad guard.
“For now, please let my friend in.”
At Geumson’s words, Team Leader Park Cheol-min briefly checked something via the communication device in his ear, then released Changsoo. Changsoo then shot into Geumson’s place like an arrow. He raised his voice unnecessarily.
“Hey! What on earth are you doing! And who are those thugs! I thought I was being kidnapped by loan sharks. And what’s this nonsense about Mirae Group?”
Once inside, Changsoo poured out questions while casually grabbing a can of beer from the fridge and downing it in one go. Looking at Changsoo, Geumson sighed and began explaining from the beginning.
“So… you made a partner contract with Mirae Group, and one of the conditions was personal protection, right?”
After hearing Geumson’s explanation, Changsoo finally nodded. However, he seemed thoughtful for a moment before cautiously speaking up.
“Hey, but… personal protection is good, but isn’t this just confinement? Since when is security this tight?”
Changsoo looked at Geumson with worried eyes. Geumson chuckled and shook his head.
“On the contrary, it’s good. Thanks to this, I can focus on the game without worrying about annoying people.”
For Geumson, it was actually a good thing. His real goal wasn’t money or fame. It was time—time to prevent the coming catastrophe. That was all he needed.
“By the way, what happened with the 300,000 gold exchange?”
“Huh? I took care of that ages ago. Didn’t you see the text?”
“Huh? You sent it? Wait a sec!”
[Balance: 301,132,025 won]
Checking the text message on his phone, golden hand froze for a moment.
“It’s real. Wow…”
An amount that didn’t feel real. Just numbers, oddly lacking a sense of reality. Seeing Geumson like that, Changsoo chuckled.
“What’s with you over 300 million won? You need to think bigger now. Mirae Group has latched onto you, right? Then things are going to be on another level from now on.”
