The Count’s Youngest Son is a Player

「Whew~. News sure spreads fast.」

Bae Dohyun took only half a day to clear the A-rank dungeon and retrieve the guardian statue. Yet, during that time, the area around Pioneering Site A-07 had filled with players.

Aside from those inside the site, including Champion Overlord Guild and its allies, a crowd had gathered to spectate. Half were curious onlookers.

The rest were competitors from other guilds contesting Champion Overlord’s claim. Chaos erupted around the site.

Boom. Whoosh!

Being part of the Forbidden Zone, elemental traps triggered frequently. Players were busy dodging sudden natural disasters, causing further commotion.

Additionally:

“This is Champion Overlord’s territory! Leave if you’re irrelevant!”

“That’s a laugh. When did you stake a claim in the Forbidden Zone? Want to fight?”

Champion Overlord and its ally guilds guarded the site’s boundary, while rival guilds gathered, ready to storm in. Surrounding the area like an impending siege.

「What’s with all this chaos?」

「Indeed, quite the circus.」

Rabel clicked her tongue as Bae Dohyun chuckled. The bickering over territories without even completing quests was laughable.

‘Big guilds always manage to annoy me.’

Among the jostling guilds were familiar names from his previous life.

Korea’s Crown Guild, New Star Guild.

Japan’s Rakuen Guild.

America’s Drake Guild.

Russia’s Karchun Guild, among others.

A significant number of the larger guilds assembled were not affiliated with the First Knight Order.

“Hey, it’s Bae Dohyun!”

The bickering ceased the moment Bae Dohyun appeared.

Shing, bang! Thud!

The only sound around the now quiet site was Bae Dohyun’s psychokinetic weapons cutting down elemental monsters. But it didn’t last long. Among the cautious crowd, one brave soul stepped forward.

“Bae Dohyun, can we have a word—ugh!”

This person, probably the third team leader of Crown Guild, approached with a smile, despite having previously threatened the Purple Guild. Bae Dohyun found no reason to respond.

The man approaching flinched back as a psychokinetic dagger whizzed past his nose. And that was just the beginning.

“Bae Dohyun, how about selling that guardian statue to our Karchun Guild?”

“Bae Dohyun-san! Rakuen Guild will buy the guardian statue for the highest price!”

“Representing the Korean Guild! Would you consider donating the guardian statue to the nation?”

“Purple Guild already has enough with the Monster Forest! Get lost and mind your own territory!”

Numerous guilds wanted to buy the guardian statue, while some made absurd demands.

‘Annoying.’

Bae Dohyun’s method of dealing with such people was straightforward.

Shing.

Most of the weapons covering a significant radius to fend off the elemental monsters vanished into the subspace. Only a few remained close to Bae Dohyun, and anything that got past them was dealt with by his fists.

The problem then shifted.

“Whoa! Block it!”

“Mages! What are you doing?”

“Damn, it’s a B-rank Rage Boar!”

The elemental monster rush that Bae Dohyun easily managed now overwhelmed the surrounding players. While Bae Dohyun could handle them with ease, b and C-rank elemental monsters were a tough challenge for ordinary players.

Consequently, those who tried to approach him could only back away, sweating bullets. Negotiating with Bae Dohyun while dealing with the monster rush was no easy task.

“Bae Dohyun, you’ll regret this! Don’t think the Purple Guild can hog everything forever!”

A voice full of spite echoed in his ears.

‘Regret? If you’re so confident, why don’t you actually try me?’

Bae Dohyun scoffed and proceeded into the interior of the pioneering site.

*

“Hmph.”

Though he expected resistance, he hadn’t anticipated such an overt blockade. Seeing 2,000 players densely packed and arrayed in formation in the clearing in front of the Town Tree was intimidating.

At the forefront stood Liu Minghao, holding his crescent blade with a triumphant air.

‘Seeing him again… Still feels disgusting.’

Champion Overlord Guild, representing China with their massive membership, was a guild Bae Dohyun had frequently clashed with in his past life.

Despite their numerous encounters, he had only seen Liu Minghao’s face a few times. As a leader of a large guild commanding millions of players, this might be expected.

This was the first time he had the opportunity to have a close conversation with him.

“Welcome, Bae Dohyun. We’ve been waiting for you.”

The confident expression on Liu Minghao’s face was starting to irritate Bae Dohyun.

“Who are you? If you have no business with me, step aside.”

Seeing Bae Dohyun’s overt irritation caused Liu Minghao’s expression to twitch. It no doubt hurt his pride that Bae Dohyun didn’t even know who he was.

But, as befitting the leader of a large guild, Liu Minghao maintained his composure and spoke again.

“I am Liu Minghao, the guildmaster of the Champion Overlord Guild overseeing this pioneering site. We’re both busy, so I’ll get straight to the point. Hand over the guardian statue to me, and I’ll compensate you generously.”

Bae Dohyun became curious. Outside, others had made similar offers claiming they’d pay top dollar.

“You want to buy it? If the price is right, I might consider selling.”

Bae Dohyun pulled out the guardian statue, 『Branch of the World Tree』, from his inventory.

“Ohh.”

“Is that it? Did he really bring it back alone?”

Players’ eyes were filled with admiration, curiosity, and greed. Liu Minghao’s gaze clearly leaned towards greed.

‘As expected. Thinking he could chase all these people out and seize the site solo is absurd.’

“How much are you thinking? Ten thousand gold? Twenty thousand gold? Hmm. Since you’ve come all this way, I’ll add a bit for your trouble and offer thirty thousand gold. How about that?”

“Oh wow, Master, you’re so generous!”

“Thirty thousand gold! That’s around three hundred million yuan (roughly 5 billion)!?”

Chinese players around him looked at Liu Minghao in awe, impressed by his willingness to offer such a large sum for something he could take for free.

However, ‘Does he think I’m an easy mark?’

Fifty billion would be a jaw-dropping sum for an ordinary person. But this was an A-rank pioneering site. The first foothold and a key to controlling the Elemental Jungle.

With proper development, it could yield gold worth hundreds of billions, yet he was offering merely thirty thousand gold.

Amused by the audacity, Bae Dohyun asked, “Are you serious? You really want to buy this statue for thirty thousand gold?”

“Of course! Thirty thousand gold is indeed a significant amount, but if you desire, I’ll pay you gold right here.”

His boastful tone made Bae Dohyun burst out laughing.

“Hahaha! This is hilarious, truly hilarious!”

“You bastard! How dare you mock the Master’s generous offer?”

“Do you laugh at our guild master’s proposal?”

“Master, let’s kill him immediately!”

Liu Minghao’s subordinates were more enraged than he was.

“What’s the problem? Thirty thousand gold for a mere branch is more than enough. Don’t you know excessive greed leads to downfall?”

Suppressing his rising anger, Liu Minghao spoke, while Bae Dohyun finally stopped laughing and looked him in the eye.

“If you genuinely thought that amount was appropriate, you’re a fool who doesn’t know the value of things. If you knew and still offered that price, you’re trying to scam me, thinking I’m an easy mark. Either way, your judgment is skewed. Not that I ever intended to sell it in the first place.”

“What?! You mean to tell me you were toying with me?”

At last realizing he had been mocked, Liu Minghao exploded in rage. But Bae Dohyun was equally furious.

‘If I didn’t have power, he wouldn’t even have made that proposal. Just like in my past life.’

He didn’t expect ethics and morals in a game, but there was a limit. Even now, as an outcast guild, Liu Minghao was trying to strong-arm him. Some things never changed.

“If your business is done, get out of my way. Or are you planning to take this by force? Surely, the proud master of a major guild wouldn’t stoop to banditry, right?”

As he spoke, Bae Dohyun waved the Branch of the World Tree mockingly.

“You bastard! For your insolence, I’ll take that as payment. If you put it down now and leave quietly, I might spare your life.”

Creating an excuse on the spot, Liu Minghao wasn’t entirely a fool. But the problem was that such empty threats didn’t work on Bae Dohyun.

“What a novel justification for robbery. If you can take it, go ahead and try. You’re nothing but a thief using numbers to intimidate.”

Liu Minghao’s patience snapped.

“Attack! Get the guardian statue from that loud-mouthed brat!”

With his command, 2,000 players rushed at Bae Dohyun.

Clang!

In response, over a hundred weapons emerged behind Bae Dohyun.

‘These guys always get on my nerves.’

While Liu Minghao was the strongest of the group, he stayed back and let his subordinates do the dirty work. Regardless of the reasons, sending only his underlings into the fray while he stayed safe was irritating.

And Bae Dohyun no longer needed to tolerate the irritating ones.

Shing! Swish!

Drawing his sword and creating an aura blade, Bae Dohyun cut down dozens of players in an instant. Then he extended his hand towards Liu Minghao.

“Kuh, what is this…?”

With a whoosh, Liu Minghao, who had been standing merely twenty meters away, was abruptly yanked towards Bae Dohyun as if pulled by a magnet.

“Master!”

“The guild master is captured! Free the master!”

Startled by the sudden turn of events, champion Overlord guild rankers charged at Bae Dohyun, but they couldn’t close the distance.

Clang. Thunk!

“Kuhk!”

“This is insane. How can the weapons he controls with psychokinesis have aura?”

Their weapons were sliced by his telekinetically controlled, aura-imbued weapons.

Some of the rankers, even those within the top thousand, lacked the skill to avoid Bae Dohyun’s attacks and were instantly game over. Those whose weapons were shattered stepped back with fear and shock in their eyes.

“Even so, he’s just one person! He can’t keep up controlling that many weapons for long! Push forward!”

“The Master will compensate for any death penalties! Don’t fear death!”

Whether it was due to their training as elite members of a large guild or simply because they treated it as just a game, the players continued charging despite being cut down by Bae Dohyun’s weapon army.

Watching the scene with indifferent eyes, Bae Dohyun clicked his tongue.

“An idiotic guild master leads his subordinates to their deaths. Do you still think you can buy this guardian statue for thirty thousand gold?”

“Uh, uh!”

Liu Minghao, trembling and trying desperately to break free from Bae Dohyun’s psychokinetic grip, stilled. He had realized he was facing an opponent far beyond his capacity.

Seeing this, Bae Dohyun loosened his grip slightly on Liu Minghao’s neck.

“Why? Was the western Forbidden Zone not enough? Does your Purple Guild really need to hoard everything to feel satisfied?”

It was amusing to hear him talk as if he were the victim.

“Well, I have no reason or loyalty to tell you, but since you’re so pathetic, I’ll indulge you. It’s just that I felt sorry for you all. Watching you bicker and fail even to secure the entrance, I couldn’t ignore it.”

“Hah. So, you mean to take everything for yourself, you selfish bastard! You might be on top now, but soon your pathetic guild won’t have a place left!”

Liu Minghao’s curses fell on deaf ears. Who was he to call someone selfish?

“Selfish, huh. Maybe. But shouldn’t you be more concerned with your predicament?”

“Hmph! It’s just a game; life means nothing. Kill me if you dare!”

“Oh, really?”

Crunch.

(To be continued)

TL’s Corner:
Ask and it shall be given.