Chapter 30
# Negotiation (2), Camp Roberts
“…What do you mean?”
“Don’t pretend you don’t know. 「Winter Alliance」 has just been established. It’s been only a few days since I’ve been recognized as a leader, and we’re planning to recruit more people soon. Do you really think there won’t be any insubordination?”
“…”
“The Triads is known for its strict code of conduct. And if I’m not mistaken, there’s one that goes like this: ‘We will not regret joining Heishehui. Those who violate this rule will pay with their lives.’ Well, that’s gonna kill a lot of us, don’t you think?”
Ailing’s face clouded over as the conversation went on.
“It’s a leader’s duty to punish those who fail to comply with the rules, which applies to you too, Mr. Han. Exemplary punishment is the basis for establishing discipline in an organization.”
“The idea of sacrificing a few for the greater good, I guess there are some places that work like that. But killing someone for their complaints… that’s not exactly my way. It doesn’t matter whether they’re loyal or not. Unless they’re an imminent threat, I’m going to carry them along with us so that they can grow to be loyal to the alliance. Not like the fake loyalty you can buy with a death threat.”
“Fake? Is that an insult to our faction?”
Gyeoul’s 「Survival Instinct」 displayed a red warning sign. The type of threat, however, was different from what he expected. It didn’t mean they were about to pounce at him and stab him right away, but rather that he should worry about getting stabbed in the middle of the night. ‘I suppose that’s who she is. After all, she belongs to a criminal syndicate.’
The warning, however, soon began to fade away. It was proof that she was controlling herself.
“The U.S. is not interested in saving refugees. They don’t take us for human beings. If they did, we wouldn’t be here talking about this. There would be order, peace, and hope in this camp.”
Ailing paused to collect her breath for a moment before continuing onward.
“Are you proud of your reputation and position? I’m sorry but that’s nothing but a worthless piece of trash because you are nothing but livestock to them. You’ve merely drawn their attention because you’re a sturdy breed. How long do you think you can stay under the breeder’s protection with that? All they need is strong and obedient livestock. If they find a stronger and more obedient breed, you will be abandoned.”
Gyeoul remained silent and listened to what she had to say.
“There is strength in numbers, and we need that strength to survive. We are offering you the chance to join the strongest faction in return for just a little bit of help. If you do, your contribution will be greatly appreciated and will always be remembered. But if you don’t, that’ll also be remembered for the rest of our lives. And let me tell you, we can be cold-blooded, heartless brutes to those who aren’t with us.”
After another deep breath and pushed for an answer.
“Now to your answer, please.”
Ailing glared fiercely at the boy. The five men beside her also glowered at him as if they would pounce at him at any moment. The room was filled with enormous pressure.
The Control AI sensed their murderous intent and displayed the assessment of each of the henchmen’s battle capability based on the linkage of 「Combat Eye」, 「Survival Instinct」, and 「Insight」. Each was a force to be reckoned with. Of course, it wasn’t something that Gyeoul had to worry about.
The boy spoke quietly.
“Well, I would have agreed if it was an alliance, but not subservience.”
“Such a weak and undependable bond will hardly be of help to either of us. We will lose our place in Heishehui and you will not be under our great nation’s protection. And above all things, an alliance can only be made between equal forces. What we need is you, Mr. Han. Not your faction full of weak and pathetic people.”
“What if I try hard enough to make up for it?”
“Then I’d say you should learn to be humble. One person’s capability cannot equal a whole faction.”
“Is that so? Then I’ll have to ask you to leave.”
Gyeoul immediately let go of the conversation without hesitation. Ailing was dumbstruck by the boy’s nonchalant attitude.
“What… Did you just say?”
“I told you to leave. I’ve had enough of your rudeness. I don’t know if you realize this, but this is how your promise sounds to me: ‘You submit to us first and we’ll see if you deserve to be treated as family.’ You presented me practically nothing that would guarantee your end of the bargain, but you just pushed me to make a choice. So I told you I can’t trust you, and you then began to threaten me, saying that we’ll end up being trampled if we don’t accept.”
“I didn’t… I was just telling you the reality of the situation!”
“Then it’s even worse. Because you didn’t even know you were being rude.”
Ailing bit her lips. She seemed very upset. The bulky men scowled at the boy horrendously as though they were about to start a knife fight, but Ailing stopped them with a wave.
The original owners of the tents were shaking due to the strained atmosphere. Meanwhile, two people’s reactions caught Gyeoul’s eyes. They were Jinseok and Yura. Jinseok quietly gathered some people around him, preparing for a possible fight. Yura, on the other hand, was slowly hiding a fruit knife under her hips even whilst shivering in fear.
“I’ll tell you one more thing.”
Gyeoul opened his mouth again as he lifted a finger.
“I have the ability. And because of it, I’m confident that the breeders won’t be able to abandon me. So, as long as I’m around, I won’t let anyone look down on Winter Alliance. If you think it’s just a bluff, you’re always welcome to try me.”
“You’re too sure of yourself.”
“I was just telling you the reality of the situation.”
The boy returned the woman her own words. She was once again dumbfounded by his attitude, clenching both her fists that were laid on her knees. Then she flinched a few times, as though she would storm out of her seat, but it never happened.
“You’re going to need some outside help… Things like information…”
She was becoming petty.
“And that’s just been taken care of, thanks to your visit. I’m sure your other faction mates are aware of your visit, aren’t they? Don’t you think they’ll give me some information in exchange for not cooperating with the Triads?”
She kept her mouth shut for a long time again. To the point where it was getting harder to wait any longer. But to those who were watching this from afar, it must have been a stifling silence. The boy thought he’d show them a smile but he soon shook away the idea. It might be good to set their hearts at ease, but it would also needlessly provoke the one sitting in front of him.
“Then this will be the last offer.”
Ailing’s voice was shaking.
“If it is the guarantee that you need… Then what about me?”
Gyeoul couldn’t help but give a bitter smile at her suggestion. It wasn’t because he wanted to ridicule her. Rather, it was due to the flurry of Viewer Quests after her proposal. Every message he received started with the word sex and ended with the word sex. The number of unread messages was also growing exponentially.
‘Ha… This is just great.’
But for the woman who didn’t know his situation, it was enough to be taken as mockery. Gyeoul apologized before she could say anything.
“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to laugh at you. But there’s something I can’t understand.”
“…What is it?”
“Why are you so desperate?”
“…”
Ailing didn’t answer Gyeoul’s question.
“Is the ownership of Heishehui that important? Even if you lose, the boss is still just one of your comrades. You can try again next time, can’t you?.”
“…”
“Or perhaps there’s a reason you can’t?”
“…You are worse than I imagined. Please stop asking questions you already know the answer to.”
Gyeoul nodded at the response that eventually came out.
“Looks like you’ve done some bad things to your comrades, haven’t you? I thought you were all ‘brothers’ or something.”
“I told you to stop.”
“Hey, no need to be angry. We, Koreans, do the same to each other. We’re so bent on killing and robbing each other, I bet we’re even worse than the Chinese.”
The boy went on in a flat tone.
“They say a person has most of the things someone else needs. It’s easier to take what others have than to go out there and risk your life. I understand. It’s always your own kind that is the easiest to prey on. And I’m sure you also played a part in it.”
An angry denial burst out of her mouth.
“I tried to stop them!”
“Oh, so you did do it?”
Ailing kept falling for Gyeoul’s traps once her composure broke. Her lean shoulders quivered slightly. Her eyes were gleaming venomously at the boy. But Gyeoul was unperturbed by her glare. Rather, having dug up a lot of information from her, he was satisfied. Not to mention the stars he earned through this conversation.
“I’m not staying here any longer.”
The executive of the Triads finally rose from her seat. Just before turning away, she glared at the boy with raised eyes for one last time.
“You are going to regret this.”
“Was that an opinion of you as Ailing, or as the universal agent of the Triads?”
To Gyeoul’s knowledge, the system was fair to every character existing under its control. Even if she was an NPC, a character of her caliber should’ve been given a certain level of 「Insight」 and 「Survival Instinct」. And those skills should analyze the words and emotions he showed her and provide her with a notion of threat.
Indeed, Ailing shrank back in fear. She managed to read the boy’s meaning hidden behind his words—that if it was a declaration of war, he would choose to get rid of her on the spot and deal with the Triads.
Ailing stammered out an apology.
“I’m… Sorry. That was just my opinion.”
And in the end, her pent-up tears finally burst forth.
“You’re an asshole, you know that? You didn’t have to put me through such a meaningless interrogation.”
“I didn’t mean to make it meaningless. It was sort of a warning.”
“A warning?”
“Yup. So that could reassess whether or not you got carried away by your emotions and said something wrong. Because if we start a war, it’ll only kill both of us. Besides, what kind of ill feelings would I have against you to mock you? We never know how things will turn out in the future.”
“…”
“I still think we can be allies. So if you change your mind, you’re always welcome to visit us. I’ll be waiting.”
Then for a long while, Ailing didn’t budge an inch. As if time around her had stopped.
It was a very long sigh that made her time start flowing again. Her eyes softened a lot.
“I feel like I’ve been swindled.”
“Since we both were rude to each other once, I say we should call it even and forget all the grudges.”
All sorts of emotions flashed through her face, and the last emotion left was a hollow laugh.
“You’re a great talker, Mr. Han,” said Ailing in a feeble voice.
“I know.”
Ailing once again became dumbfounded at Gyeoul’s attitude.
“How am I supposed to react to this?”
“What can you do other than to laugh it off? If things don’t turn out the way you want, just give it a good laugh.”
Ailing then burst into laughter. Her guards still had a fierce look on their faces.
“Take care.”
“Thank you and take care too. I hope we’ll be on the same side the next time we meet.”
Gyeoul watched their retreating figures from the tent’s entrance.
When Gyeoul came back into the tent, the people crowded around him.
“That was great.” The first one to talk was Wangi.
“You could speak Chinese?”
“It’s nothing compared to you, little boss. I can understand a bit, but can’t speak it.”
It seemed Wangi was even more talented than Gyeoul imagined.
“I knew you were a good fighter, but I didn’t know you’d be an expert in negotiation too. Not just how you speak, but also the way you grasp the truth and falsity in her words, it was almost flawless. And how did you even manage to appease her in the end? I still can’t understand. I think you’re a talented negotiator.”
“Haha, you always overpraise me.”
But the more heated their conversation became, the more pitiful the people’s look became.
Gyeoul asked Wangi for an explanation.
“We can’t keep them waiting like this, can we? Since you have the grasp of the situation, could you please explain what happened?”
“With pleasure.”
Wangi then began telling Gyeoul’s story after a dry cough.
While Gyeoul was looking over the people focused on Wangi’s story, he noticed Yeonchul walking up to him with halting steps.
“What’s the matter?”
After mumbling out a few times, Yeonchul spoke in a barely audible voice.
“I can understand Japanese…”
“What was that again?”
“…I, I can converse in Japanese!”
“…”
Amongst the loud ooh and aah of the crowd, an awkward silence settled between the boy and Yeonchul.
“I-I’m sorry!” Shouted Yeonchul, with his face reddened.
“Haha, that’s okay. I’ll be looking forward to it.”
But Gyeoul’s words didn’t seem to have comforted him. He slowly walked away with his shoulders drooped.
‘I didn’t know he could be so silly at times.
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