Past Life Returner

“For the price of my life…” Joshua hesitated.

I replied, “Not enough.
I just want your loyalty, so I won’t intervene in other things in your life.”

“So that was your purpose from the beginning.
I didn’t approach you; you clearly approached me first.”

I said, “Think whatever you want because that’s not the point.
The important thing is that you caught my eye.”

“I wonder…”

“About how things will go when we get out of the dungeon?” I asked.

“You must be aware of who I am and what my family is like.
Let me offer you something.
I admit that the dungeon is a hell which is more dangerous than the wild and that my life depends on you.”

Joshua was no longer bewildered.

“I will hire you and give you half the shares of Berlin Telecom.
We can be partners not only here, but also outside,” he continued.

I responded, “You said you will ‘hire’ me, so how does that mean we'll become partners? This doesn’t add up at all.
Get your act together.”

“…My bad.
Let’s be partners.
As you know, we are special.
Since I’ve seen your abilities in person, no further explanation is needed.
I know your family is quite rich, but let’s be honest.”

Joshua wiped his face with one hand without noticing that the blood on his hand made his face dirty.

“I believe today is a historic turning point.
Medieval explorers who opened up the New World had gone through a number of sacrifices, and we are now in the New World.
Sacrifice isn’t avoidable, but with that…” he continued.

“You are so long-winded.”

“We are doing all this to get more power, right? My parents and I can support you to become stronger.
I hope you don’t get carried away by your current ability.
Look at reality and think about the future when we head out from here.”

Joshua was trying so hard.

“We haven’t even started yet, but you're already talking about getting out from here.
Tsk, tsk,” I said.

“My offer presupposes that we manage to survive.
I guess you can make it happen.”

I asked, “What can you do for me?”

For the first time in a while, his eyes brightened.

“I’ll give you the partner stake in Berlin Telecome and one hundred million dollars in cash.
Also, I’ll introduce your parents’ business to Germany’s government, so that they can enlarge the scale.
If you want to manage it by yourself, I’ll give you a separate company to do so.
Of course, Berlin Telecom’s partnership will be included.
It’s easy for me to offer you all of this as they are under my personal business,” he said.

“Then, we should talk about your family business,” I replied.

“Yes, I’ll invite you to the club by convincing the elders in my family.
You might not have heard of it, but it’s called the ‘Bilderberg Club,’” he responded.

Unexpectedly, that name came out of his lips.
Apparently, he was quite knowledgeable about Bilderberg's authority and its secretive characteristics.

We moved to a more private spot, far from the others.
He began speaking again, “It’s a secret club that holds world-leading strategic meetings every year.
The current members are only from the financial, economic and political sectors, so you and I will be the first ones from other fields.”

“It will work, right?” I asked.

“Yes.
Only one senior member of my family is a member of the club now, but imagine the future after we survive from here and our group becomes more powerful.
It will be possible to join without any issue,” he replied.

I was about to open my mouth, but he stopped me hurriedly.

“Please keep listening.
I know it sounds like a fantasy, but Bilderberg is an actual club that exists.
If we get in there…you could be elected the next president of the United States despite your ethnicity,” he said.

I stared at his face.
The Awakened rarely aged, so he looked the same as he did in my memories.
However, compared to the Joshua in my previous life, his current ability to think had not been developed yet.

“You have been playing this game to get that kind of strength, right? Come with me,” he added.

“Is that why you organized this group?” I questioned.

“Let’s be honest.”

“You must be stupid.
We shouldn’t be exposed to society yet,” I said.

“That’s what I thought, but what you showed me was… Maybe, you’ll be able to become more powerful than that.
I’m considering the long-term.
If you, my family and I work together, we will be unstoppable.”

His eyes deepened, and great ambition began to fill them.

“So, how much can you support me? One hundred million dollars, a partner stake in Berlin Telecome, and strong support from your family, which might not be possible,” I listed.

“I can’t really do much with my family, but I’m offering the best I can.
If you want more money, I can dispose of my property to satisfy your appetite.”

“That’s why,” I murmured.

“Pardon me?” “That’s why you can never escape from me,” I answered.

“What are you talking about…”

I said, “Sometimes, money isn’t everything.”

“The world outside is dominated by capitalism, and we are considered ‘freaks’ in society for now.
Perhaps you don’t want to admit it, but I might be freer than you outside.
So think carefully about my offers,” he replied.

“Joshua.”

“Yes?”

I said sharply, “Shut up and keep my words in mind.”

He responded, “That I’m your guy? The outside world doesn’t work that way.
I’m not trying to be difficult, but that’s the reality.
Everyone is afraid of you right now, but… there are laws and social rules out there.
I sincerely hope you don’t contradict yourself.
I’m telling you from the bottom of my heart.”

“We will see how futile your belief is.”

“So, that’s a ‘no’ to my offer?” he asked.

“What an idiot.
You should never ask so flatly in business.
You wouldn’t have done that if we weren’t here, but you must be hectic now.”

Joshua sighed loudly.

“The group’s survival depends on you, and don’t ruin the reputation you gained from outside,” I continued.

“What’s your stance?”

“Don’t ask me and think for yourself instead.
I’ll only teach you the basic stuff,” I replied.

“So why…”

I said bluntly, “You’re just an amateur who needs my help.”

He shouted agitatedly, “Why are you so adamant!”

Joshua would fully realize the stark difference between us, even more, when we got out of the dungeon.

“Shut the fuck up and figure out how you’re going to use everything that I’ll be teaching you now,” I said.

“All right… Thank you, Lee.”

“I’ll explain to you the concept of the ‘attack squad’ first.”

***

According to the System, five parties with five members could form one attack squad.
When the party leaders elected a captain, the group received a buff[1].
The captain had more authority than party leaders as they could not only expel members, but also determine the method of gaining trophies.

The means of collecting trophies in parties were based on the order of completing quests or killing the boss monsters, but the attack squad had one more choice, which was rolling dice.
Of course, such methods were meaningless in the past since we killed each other to be the last one to survive and receive all the rewards.

There were twenty-five Awakened total in this dungeon.
The mercenaries were left alone, not knowing what to do.
The mercenary captain squatted on the ground, fumbling around under the dim glow of a lighter.

Meanwhile, the Awakened began forming into groups of five under Joshua’s instruction.
His orders were simple as he told them not to care about skills or insignias and that he would reorganize the groups again in the future.

However, the Awakened kept approaching me, begging me to join their group.
They all spoke in German, so I couldn’t comprehend a single word.
Braun Nase had to calm them down again.
He had run towards me immediately instead of Joshua, and Joshua had stared at him with a sense of betrayal.

“I did it.
Make them quiet.
Choose me.
Please,” Braun Nase said.

On the other hand, the Fourth Virtue… No, Michael approached Joshua.
The current groups were meaningless as Joshua kept saying that he would reorganize later, but no one listened to him.
I chose four people, who then gathered around me.
When I pointed at Braun Nase, he smiled brightly as if he had gained the entire world.
He looked to have forgotten the fear of the dungeon for a moment.

My party was formed, and I was the party leader and captain at the same time.

[Congratulations.
You are the first one to form an attack squad.]

[You have received a ‘bronze box’ for being the first one to form the squad.]

[Your Strength has increased by 3, but the increase has been canceled.]

I expected a higher-class box such as platinum, but I got a worthless bronze box.
Then, a buff message popped up.

[You have gained the blessing, ‘Toughness.’]

[Toughness (Blessing)

Effect: Resistance to negative effects like Restraint slightly increases.
The skill Night Eyes increases by one class.

Class: F]

[Warning: If you leave the squad, the blessing will be removed.]

“This is how you arrange attack squads.
You’ll be able to do it by yourself now,” I said.

“This is…amazing…”

Everyone, including Joshua, was delighted as their visibility expanded due to their upgraded Night Eyes.
However, when I disbanded the squad, there was a little disturbance as their visibility narrowed again.

“Would you like to reorganize your team, Lee?” Joshua asked.

“Put Michael, Braun Nase, and two of the most useless ones in my team.
The party leader will be Michael,” I replied.

“Okay.
Could you do me a favor?”

“What is it?” I asked.

“Please stand next to me,” he looked at me.

Joshua was holding profile documents in one hand and a pen in the other.
He began calling the Awakened one by one and compared them to the information on the file.
There were quite a few who had lied to him.
Although he was unable to distinguish lies, people confessed the truth when they looked at me standing beside Joshua.

After a while, Joshua looked at the mercenary captain with the revised profile, but he didn’t call him in.
When he called Michael instead, the captain and the mercenaries had become the outsiders of the group.
They were just porters from now on as Joshua handed everyone’s backpacks to them.

When Joshua was almost done reorganizing the parties, I looked at him.

“The next captain will win a gold box as a reward for being the second person to form a squad.”

“There is such a thing like that?” he asked.

“You can get it, but if you think there’s anyone else who can use it better, you can hand it over to the person.
I mean… if you really wish to survive, you would have to do it.”

1.
An increase in the power or stat of a hunter. ☜