Min Young-Hoon thought that arranging an informal dinner with Yu-Seong wouldn’t be difficult. However, with everyone being quite wary these days, it might draw others’ suspicion for him to directly contact Yu-Seong.

In fact, Choi In-Young had secretly been given a warning by Choi Woo-Jae from the time she had made Young-Hoon kidnap Yu-Seong.

'Well, I don't have to do it myself.’ 

Fortunately, Choi In-Young was smart. She could already think of a plausible plan. There were quite a few men, such as Min Young-Hoon, around her who would work for her. They acted as if they were bewitched by her.

"Okay, let’s do it. So, let's see. After you set up the Time Bomb through Bomber, you’ll go into dungeon racing and explode the bomb at an appropriate time…” In-Young said.

"The extent of damage is…?"

"As I said before, please don't kill him. He's still my cute little brother. It would be perfect to handicap him to the level of Ji-Ho oppa so that he wouldn’t recover again."

Min Young-Hoon nodded at Choi In-Young's cool smile. "I'll make that happen.”

After the serious conversation, Choi In-Young smiled like a flower in full bloom. She lowered herself and kissed Young-Hoon's mouth and cheek while he was in her arms. She cooed, "Young-Hoon, such a competent man. You’re so lovely. When did you make all those connections? Huhu.”

Min Young-Hoon was called the crazy dog of the dungeon. Hearing In-Young say that, he sulked and said, "I refuse to be treated like a child.”

"Huhu who said that that’s all I’m going to do with you?”

Young-Hoon blushed, looking shy. Others would be surprised if they saw this particular expression of his.

Choi In-Young smiled with her eyes, patted Young-Hoon’s cheek softly, and kissed him with her hands holding his face.

"Mmm..." Young-Hoon wrapped his arms around Choi In-Young.

‘Choi In-Young really is a bitch.’ 

However, could Young-Hoon refuse her?

‘But what can I do? I like her so much that it drives me crazy.’

Young-Hoon jumped In-Young’s bones like an eager dog. His mind was soon overtaken by a fog of desire.

***

The next day, after he had made some progress, Yu-Seong went to the Korea Player Association to receive the D-rank certificate. Then, he was looking at the Han River with a serious expression while sitting at the back of the car which Jin Do-Yoon was driving.

Do-Yoon remembered that Yu-Seong’s serious expression had first appeared when he left the room this morning. Curious, he asked with caution, "Hope you don't mind me asking, but sir, do you have a concern?"

“Oh, it’s not a serious concern, but I'm just worried that things are getting more and more twisted. This situation gives me a complicated feeling,” said Yu-Seong.

"Hm…?” Jin Do-Yoon tilted his head in confusion.

"I forgot to tell you, but I received my father's call as soon as I woke up," said Yu-Seong.

"From the Chairman?" asked Do-Yoon.

"Yes. He asked me when I would be promoted to D-rank."

"Since you've already been promoted, he must have been happy to hear the news," said Do-Yoon.

"He loved it a lot. He said it was much faster than he thought, and now, he could take Chairman Yoo down a peg or two."

"When you say Chairman Yoo, do you mean the Cheon-Ji Group's…?” asked Do-Yoon while he continued to drive.

Choi Yu-Seong nodded. In fact, he wouldn't have thought much about it if that was it. In a way, it was ordinary for any father to want to brag about his children. In this case, the father was Choi Woo-Jae, and that made the situation slightly strange. But still, it wasn’t too odd. The problem was the backstory.

Choi Yu-Seong briefly explained the situation to Jin-Yoon regarding dungeon racing and Bernard Yoo with a quick summary. He then added, "Oh, I'll have to call him to say that I'm done reporting my promotion. Haha…”

Choi Yu-Seong gave a humorless laugh, then called Choi Woo-Jae. There wasn't much to say aside from him having gotten the D-rank certificate. However, Choi Woo-Jae did mention a point after Yu-Seong had thought that they were done talking.

-You should already know this, but I hate losing fights very much.

Then, he hung up immediately.

"Isn't Bernard Yoo the Korean rookie who is famous in the US?" asked Do-Yoon.

"Yes," answered Yu-Seong.

"You don't have to worry too much. He's a pretty good talent, but I think you'll definitely win," said Do-Yoon.

"Thank you," Choi Yu-Seong answered lightly, but complicated thoughts still filled his mind.

The reason was simple.

Although Bernard Yoo was currently a player known by this name, according to the original novel, he would globally be known by a different nickname after he completely returned to Korea for two years.

‘The Fast Star.’

Then, another five years after that, he would be known as ‘the Starlight Flash’ to the world. However, there was another impression that stood out more intensely in Yu-Seong's mind.

‘He is the character who’s Kim Do-Jin's best friend—his right arm.’ 

As could be seen from the nickname ‘Fast Star’, Bernard Yoo was commonly referred to as a ‘Cool Guy’ kind of psychic-type player.

‘In a way, he's pure and extremely competitive.’

So, after this entire process, Bernard Yoo would reach A-rank two years later. He would return to Korea and bet on a dungeon racing match with Kim Do-Jin. This occurred in the original novel’s Chapter 3, and because Bernard Yoo did not like his nickname as ‘Kim Do-Jin of the United States’. However, he would lose the match in a close fight, because the main character of a novel would always win and that was Kim Do-Jin.

After that, Bernard Yoo would accept Kim Do-Jin and become a member of the Eclipse Guild. He would gradually become a popular character and participate actively in many chapters of the novel.

‘Of course, he’s a major figure who’s indispensable for Kim Do-Jin and his crew.’

This time was different from the original novel. Bernard Yoo had come to Korea two years earlier and was going to compete with Choi Yu-Seong himself, and not Kim Do-Jin, in dungeon racing.

‘It could be a useless worry, but what if I win and Bernard Yoo wants to become my party?’

It may be an exaggerated idea, but the original novel’s Bernard Yoo was such a character. He had a simple and cool idea that ‘no matter who wins the battle, we are friends!’. Also, he had a preference to stay by the person who defeated him due to a strange admiration. That was the character’s traits that the writer had chosen.

‘Okay, let's think about it.’ Yu-Seong tried to think of Kim Do-Jin without Bernard Yoo and the Eclipse guild without the ‘Starlight Flash’. He already had concerns about the changed attitude of Baek Chul, who was currently with Choi Ji-Ho.

'I think there will be a lot of dangerous incidents as the future comes closer.’ 

Yu-Seong wanted to believe that it wouldn’t happen, but another variable had just occurred and this was regarding the planned events coming faster than expected. The upcoming battles in the future showed similar patterns of occurrence as dungeon hunting and the many strong heterogeneous invasions.

"It shouldn’t be like that. It's not even enough just to preserve Kim Do-Jin's manpower as it is in the original novel..."

At a time when variables were increasing, there was no guarantee that even the enemy invasions in the future would happen as planned. Of course, Yu-Seong couldn't force himself to be defeated.

‘Then my father wouldn't sit still. That's also a problem, but... The threats from the other siblings would start right away.’ 

Yu-Seong heard that it was the guild business that got them caught up in this game. If he lost, the falling out with Choi Woo-Jae would be a problem. Another concern would be Choi Mi-Na’s plan of attracting the other siblings’ attention and buying Yu-Seong more time being disrupted.

If defeated, Yu-Seong would face plenty of immediate risks. On the other hand, Bernard Yoo's behavior after Yu-Seong beat him was likely to be adjusted to some extent.

Actually, Yu-Seong had no other way to step back no matter how hard he thought about it.

"So, in the end, I have no choice but to win," said Yu-Seong.

"Of course. But don’t worry too much, young master. As I told you, you are by far the best D-rank hunter I know. I am confident that there will be no problems even if your opponent is a C-rank opponent,” said Do-Yoon.

"Even if Bernard Yoo is C-rank?" asked Yu-Seong.

"...of course," answered Do-Yoon.

"This time, your answer was a second late," said Yu-Seong.

Jin Do-Yoon was speaking without knowing exactly how Yu-Seong felt, but the conversation felt quite comforting.

'Okay, let's win.’ 

In fact, this wouldn’t be as easy as Yu-Seong wanted. Bernard Yoo was such a strong opponent that even Do-Yoon, who had blind loyalty toward Yu-Seong, also was concerned for a while. In the original novel, he was even called Kim Do-Jin's right armed man.

In fact, in the distant future, Bernard Yoo's combat power would rise to the level of the ‘Judge’, a level that could confront a serious disaster alone. His talent was enough to have him be considered as the main character of certain scenarios. Even at this point when the rank was still relatively low, he was obviously very strong. He would have no clear weakness.

Nevertheless, Yu-Seong was still concerned because the increasing variables and the situation that was supposed to occur around Kim Do-Jin were happening to him.

‘At this rate, one day, I might be the one messing with the devils.’

Yu-Seong really hoped that that wouldn't be the case. He sincerely hoped and hoped.

***

Yu-Seong received the official D-rank certificate and immediately challenged the third-rank dungeon.

‘Actually, with my condition right now, I think I could also do a level 4 dungeon....’

There were many similarities between the games and the dungeon in the real world, so stronger monsters appeared farther away from the entrance… Simply put, it was the case with an elite monster.

Therefore, currently, it might be the most efficient for Yu-Seong to hunt closer to the level 4 dungeon’s entrance. The experience points from the level 4 dungeon’s monsters would probably be higher than the level 3 ones.

Unfortunately, it was not possible at the moment. The barrier between the level 3 and level 4 dungeons were like the difference between D-rank and C-rank. There was an exponential difference between the two ranks, so the Player Association had set a manual to prevent the entering of parties with less than five players. However, Kim Do-Jin did enter the level 4 dungeons alone after reaching D-rank level 50. How was this possible?

‘Well, it's because he is a main character and became close to the Player Association’s president.’

The Korean Player Association regarded Kim Do-Jin as a national treasure. The potential of Kim Do-Jin, who was still treated as a great super rookie abroad, was already a monster close to completion in the eyes of the Player Association’s quick-witted president.

Do-Jin was like a hero who would represent the country if his rank and level were raised. In fact, the Player Association’s president was not wrong because that was also one of Kim Do-Jin's roles in the novel.

‘That's why he helped Kim Do-Jin a lot. He wanted him to grow up.’

The main character, taking up the novel’s key position, was rather cliche most times. And at this point, there was no point of contact between the Player Association’s president and Yu-Seong himself. No, if the story went according to the original novel, the point of contact would never exist in his whole life.

‘In the end, I have to create a contact point on my own…’