"I've received intelligence that there are people targeting you at the academy."
"…Me?"
No, what is this from the start?
"There must be more than a few people who are after me at the academy. Is this related to my current mission?"
When I asked Farnello with a purely curious tone, he shook his head.
"Of course, if it were just that, neither you nor Callione would have taken action personally. You would have thought it was just the mischief of some immature kids. But if a request to target you comes to an organization under Callione, wouldn't the situation change?"
A request to target me has come in.
"Is it from an academy student?"
"Yes. The content of the request is to 'inflict injuries requiring at least 12 weeks of recovery on Han Yujin, a student at Seoul Hero Academy.' It seems you've made quite a few enemies at the academy."
Farnello looked at me with a smile, as if he were proud, which made me feel a bit strange.
I had resolved to walk this path, and I was prepared for this kind of life, but I didn't expect it to make someone else proud.
"The request came from a Gangbul Office in Jongno. While it's not directly under our Callione, it's a kind of detective agency that operates by paying us protection fees."
Given that Callione is the master of the underworld.
Most of the organizations in the underworld of South Korea, even if they don't belong to us, have established cooperative relationships with Callione.
And it seems the ones who took this request this time are also in such a relationship with us.
"Since the request targeted a student at the academy, it was fortunate that Callione was informed and could help."
"Then what should we do? It's not like I should just let them make me out of commission for 12 weeks, right?"
Farnello burst into laughter at my joke.
"Unfortunately, that's not possible. The moment a request targeting you came to Callione, it became a matter of 'that' Callione dealing with an assault on their successor."
In other words, Callione will handle this matter. And the reason they called me here is...
"Originally, this request would have been to kidnap the person and interrogate them, then educate them to prevent them from revealing anything. But it seems you have your own plans, so that won't be necessary."
Education... The thought made me shudder.
For now, all I can do is hope that they will give up on the request on their own.
* * *
Four days have passed.
Over the past four days, the kids have undergone intense training, filling in their weaknesses by training in the club's training room, sparring room, and the dungeon.
As a result.
"Ah... Boss, I don't think I'll lose to anyone now."
"Even yesterday, you were just getting beaten by the vice president. Still, today wasn't bad."
Today, I trained with the kids in the dungeon.
Despite only a few days since our last visit, the dungeon had already respawned with countless bugs.
Unlike the initial confusion and clumsiness, the three of them, including Youngje, successfully cleared the first floor of the dungeon very smoothly.
"Yujin, how about it? Do you think we have a chance?"
Seo-a asks.
There are only three days left until the all-out battle with the other club.
The kids have done their best, but they still seem a bit anxious.
"Chance? We have plenty. If we keep this up, we won't lose."
After observing the kids over the past four days, I was confident.
If we keep this up, we can definitely win, and we won't be forced to our knees.
After all, over the past four days, I didn't just train them normally.
I applied all the training methods I knew from the game, turning them into elite members of 'Familia.'
When the kids were tired, I had them eat food that would help their healing, thanks to 'Regae-dong,' and even gave them a few elixirs from the mansion.
It would be ridiculous if they lost to just a Bronze Club.
"Take a rest at home until Monday to avoid any injuries. We'll have a lot of physical work starting next week, so it's best to rest well."
"Next week?"
Jin-woo tilts his head at my words.
Right, the academy hasn't announced the 'Class Ranking Battle' yet.
"If we crush the Ranger Club, everyone will come looking for us."
Since it wasn't officially announced by the academy, I brushed it off and ended the conversation.
An all-out battle on Monday, and the Class Ranking Battle starting on Tuesday... It was a crazy schedule, but what could I do?
This is all my karma.
After finishing the usual schedule, I got into the car driven by Han Se-joon and headed back to the mansion.
"Sir, it seems we're being followed."
"…Again?"
"But it seems a bit different from usual. Until now, it was always a sedan... but today it's a van. No, it looks like other vehicles are following us too."
In other words, the number of people following us has changed.
"First, let's head to the abandoned factory owned by Callione instead of home. If they're following us so openly, there's no reason for us to avoid them."
"Yes, Sir. I'll make a U-turn."
Han Se-joon answered and turned the car.
As the number of people around us decreased, we finally entered an industrial area filled with factories and warehouses. The van that had been quietly following us pulled up alongside us and rolled down the passenger window.
A man gestured for us to roll down our window. When Han Se-joon complied, the man pointed a gun at us.
"Park the car over there."
"Understood."
It was amusing to see someone trying to intimidate us with a gun, especially since we were Callione's successor.
Han Se-joon let out a hollow laugh and glanced at me.
"Do as they say."
"Understood."
Han Se-joon parked the car in the rundown parking lot of an abandoned factory, as instructed by the man.
The vehicles that had been following us parked in front and behind us, blocking our escape.
"Amateurs. If I were them, I would have parked the car perfectly and pushed us with their car so we couldn't move."
Han Se-joon shook his head, assessing the situation just by how they parked.
"Get out."
One of the men, apparently deciding we couldn't escape, got out of the car and pointed a gun at us.
"Who are you to order us around? This car is──"
Two gunshots were fired at the driver's side window.
The sound was very quiet, as if the gun had a magical silencer.
"Ha, these guys. Bulletproof glass? Are you really relying on this?"
The bullets were clearly aimed at the window to intimidate us.
Even though it was an old-fashioned gun that wouldn't really work on an Awakened, they seemed to believe it would scare us.
"Interesting."
"…Sir?"
"Except for the academy, this is the first time I've been intimidated by someone with a gun."
The idea of Callione's successor being intimidated by a gun was laughable.
I tried my best to suppress my laughter as I got out of the car.
"Are you really carrying a real gun?"
I touched the cube to show them a 'real' gun.
Sensing something was off, the man with the gun quickly aimed it at Han Se-joon.
"Hey, kid. Don't you understand the situation? If you pull out your unique weapon or do anything funny, your driver will be the first to go. Got it?!"
As the man shouted, people armed with various blunt weapons began to surround us.
The weapons seemed to be infused with mana, indicating they had brought Awakened to capture me, an academy student.
They were even laughing and joking among themselves, confident in their overwhelming advantage.
"Still kids, huh? This is too easy."
"Hey, we don't want anything big. We'll just break one arm and one leg, and that's it. How about it, clean and simple, right?"
A man standing behind me approached with a bat slung over his shoulder and stated their demands.
An arm and a leg... So they were planning to injure me before the all-out battle to ensure they could win.
"No response? Well, silence means consent..."
The man swung his bat in the air and approached me.
I sighed and looked at Han Se-joon.
"Han Se-joon."
"Yes, Sir."
"Let's start."
At my words, Han Se-joon grabbed his in-ear device and said,
"Security team, start."
Dozens of black cars began to race towards us from a distance.
For now, it was time for me to be Han Yujin, the heir of a conglomerate, rather than Han Yujin, the successor of Callione.