Chapter 60

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Sponsored Chapter - 5/6...

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“Why is Chief Jang here…… .”

While I was muttering blankly, Jang Deok-Pil got up from his seat, staggering.

Perhaps it was my imagination, but he looked much more emaciated than he did in my memory.

“Ji-Hyuk, please do me a favor.”

As he opened his mouth, his eyes glistened nervously.

I could tell that it was due to emotions that did not fade over time.

“The Director has passed away."

Jang Deok-Pil told me in a calm voice.

"To be exact, he was murdered."

He was holding his emotions down, as if to keep the embers of the name of fury burning from the depths of his heart.

“He was an old and decrepit man, but he was still a professor at Urea. Even if it was because of artifacts before, he didn't slow down being wary because of what happened because of that bitch Lysnerger. That kind of director...… .”

He looked at me with hollow eyes and nodded.

“It’s Red Case. It's them, they're the only ones. To retaliate in this way, Ji-Hyuk. Can you believe it? Can you?"

He wiped the corners of his mouth that were dirty from not shaving on time, and his lips quivered.

“Please, Ji-Hyuk, please one favor.”

And with that, he fell to his knees as if he were collapsing on me.

And before I could react, he shouted as if hanging on.

“Red Case, please tell me about them. You know, right?”

At those words, I looked at Lee Myung-Joon reproachfully, but he only shook his head slightly.

And he sighed and spat out as if he were making excuses.

“I don't know if you will believe it or not, but I didn't say anything. General Jang had known it himself and had come to see me.”

He nodded his head in agreement with that.

“I had already known you were hiding something. But there was no malice at all, so I just pretended not to know. We had only been together for a few days, but I know you well, Ji-Hyuk. Even if you pretend to be indifferent, you are actually a kind child. right? So please, I'm begging you.”

He wasn't a human being now, he looked like a wounded beast crouching.

“Give me a chance to take revenge… !”

I looked around without saying a word.

Yes, I could finally feel it now.

To be honest, I was expecting Lee Myung-Joon to come into contact with me.

In such an emergency situation, Lee Myung-Joon couldn't stay still.

Moreover, I had sent him a letter with pictures of humans identified as members of the Thorns Cross Society, though anonymously.

Of course, he would have identified who I was and wanted to meet and get information.

Even so, I never expected that I would meet Jang Deok-Pil in a place like this...… .

I could roughly predict why he was brought here and made me meet him.

I just hoped it wouldn't come to that.

"All right."

I nodded my head and carefully raised Jang Deok-Pil, who was still on his knees.

“I will trust the people here and tell you all the information I know.”

Before I knew it, I had moistened my dry lips with my tongue and began to sort out information that I wouldn't mind saying, as much as I could.

“The notable groups in the Red Case are the Guard team, the Killer team, and the Infiltration and Espionage team.”

We were sitting around in chairs.

The other three were listening to me with calm expressions on their faces.

“There are a total of ten people in the Killer team. And except for the leader who leads them, they move in groups of 3 people, a total of 3 groups. It's safe to assume that least one has infiltrated here."

"Hm…… .”

“They have one thing in common, they all have one unique ability.”

“Unique ability?”

I nodded at Evangeline's words.

Is the Killer team at this point definitely the members that I know? 

To be honest, all I remember was the ability of the man who was the leader.

‘But I can’t say this.’

The only person who knows the man's abilities is the boss of the Red Case.

There were a lot of points that would be a problem later if I spoke out for nothing.

"Yes. And they move by combining and complementing their abilities with each other. If there are more than two opponents, the first priority is to find out what their abilities are. It's a really unique ability, and if you don't know it,  you might be killed without even being able to deal with it."

"For example, what?"

"I'm sorry. I don't know any more than that. In fact, the Killer team is only known by its name inside the Red Case, so personal information and abilities are not known.”

“Which means you have to experience it yourself.”

“Anything else you want to say?”

“The Thorns Cross Society should also be here. But since there are so many of these guys, it would be easy to thin them out...… .”

“On the other hand, it would be hard to shake off everything. Because there are so many.”

Lee Myung-Joon nodded his head.

Then he looked at me and tapped his finger.

“I'll share the information with you. As you know, I've brought six guild masters and two of my most trusted lieutenants with me. As a matter of fact, as you mentioned, the fact that the three groups, the Red Case, the Thorn Cross Society, and the Big Watch, are probably colluding…… .”

“Wait, wait a minute.”

I quickly cut off Lee Myung-Joon's words at something I just couldn't overlook.

“Are you saying you were talking with the lieutenants in the conference room right now?”

"Yes"

“Damn, fuck… !”

When I heard that, I had no choice but to get up from my seat in panic.

I don't know how many of them there were, but at least there was definitely a mix of traitors and spies.

If so, it was no different than that they also knew all the things from the conference room.

"Don't worry."

Seeing me like this, Lee Myung-Joon raised his hand as if to say calm down.

But there was no way I could calm down.

“What the hell did you do… ! I should have been more careful, there might be some spies among them... !”

"Don't worry."

Lee Myung-Joon muttered quietly as if to say calm down once more.

There was something strange about the way he was smiling, so I looked around. 

Evangeline, who made eye contact with me, made a small kissing sound and winked, and Jung Deok-Pil nodded slightly.

When I turned my head again, my eyes met with Lee Myung-Joon.

He looked at me and said one more time, as if to comfort me.

"You don't have to worry."

Everything will be fine.

* * *

'Who the hell was that earlier?’

Lee Yu-Na thought while mixing the tteokbokki mechanically.

'She looked like a foreigner...… .'

At first, she thought she might have mistaken him for someone else, or that she was just an acquaintance.

However, when she saw that the woman was particularly sticking to him and her gaze that looked at him, she didn't think that they were simply acquaintances. 

Are they in a relationship?

Thinking up to that point, she thought that he was really capable.

'To be honest…… .'

Yoo Ji-Hyuk wasn't such an ugly face.

It was just that the people he went around with were so prominent that he looked ugly.

As a result of spending time with him and watching him, she found him to be a moderately funny and moderately attractive guy.

'Though he doesn't have a gag sense.'

Lee Yu-Na, who was smiling bitterly, suddenly remembered two faces.

It was Jin Ye-Seul and Han Soo-Young.

'Huh?'

Come to think of it, isn't he dating one of those two?

Or was he just looking at the tide?

'No way…… .'

It was Lee Yu-Na, who was secretly cheering for Jin Ye-Seul, who was close to her.

Once she started to have doubts, the next step was very quick.

And so in Lee Yu-Na's mind, Yoo Ji-Hyuk was becoming a rare piece of trash who spreads several legs over three women.

Lee Yu-Na was feeling so dirty that she moved the ladle roughly.

“Student, be careful! The rice cake is going to rip!"

"Oh, yes. I'm sorry!"

Lee Yu-Na shrank at the scolding that fell immediately.

She knew that she couldn't be kicked out of the part-time job she had managed to get on the day of the invitational.

Orhe Academy, in principle, does not require tuition.

In addition, a certain amount of money was paid every month for dignity maintenance, and in Lee Yu-Na's case, she even received a scholarship based on her grades, so there was no way she would be short of money.

But she was always pressed for money.

It was never for the inevitable equipment, supplies, and nominal administrative costs that came with taking classes at the academy.

Much less, isn't she the possessor of the ability to create weapons?

Compared to other students, if her maintenance cost was less, it should cost less.

It was just a simple story.

She owed a huge debt.

It wasn't a debt from her actions, but it was a debt she had to pay off.

It was also the very reason why she was working part-time, moving around early in the morning instead of enjoying herself, even though the festival was in full swing

“Well done, you've worked so hard...… I put in a little more. Study hard."

“Thank you, boss!”

Lee Yu-Na politely received the envelope from a middle-aged woman with both hands and bowed her head flatly.

Then she quickly got out of there and opened the envelope.

As she said, it did contain more than the original amount she was supposed to receive.

The original amount she was supposed to receive was 38,400 won, but what was in it was 40,000 won.

“…… .”

Lee Yu-Na silently put the envelope in her pocket.

While she was still wondering where she should go, whether she would go back to the dormitory to sleep or not.

“Yu-Na?”

“… Oh, Ivan.”

Seeing Ivan approaching from afar, Lee Yu-Na pretended to know with a subtle look.

In fact, it was because her feelings against Ivan were literally subtle.

If she talked badly, she would go from joint first place to second place, and the amount of scholarship money she would receive would drop significantly. [Note: '막말로'- Speaking bluntly or disrespectfully.]

Therefore, she had a strange competitive spirit and uncomfortable feelings toward him.

"What a coincidence. Are you enjoying the festival?"

"Well, I'm enjoying it in my own way...… Who's the person next to you?"

Beside him was a woman who looked exactly like Ivan.

Except for the fact that she had longer hair than Ivan and was shorter, she looked exactly like him.

Nevertheless, she was a very beautiful woman even to Lee Yu-Na, who is the same woman.

The inexplicable, dreamy atmosphere as if she was not of this world made her feel that way even more.

“Ah, this person…… .”

“Hello, nice to meet you.”

Before Ivan could speak, she approached her with a careless gait.

It was when Lee Yu-Na was about to back away, startled by her sudden close proximity.

At some point, she held Lee Yu-Na's hand, which made her unable to move, and smiled at her.

“I'm Belluna. You may affectionately call me Bell.”

"Ah yes. Nice to meet you, Belluna.”

“Can you call me Bell, Elizabeth?”

Belluna smelled, making a sniffing sound.

“It smells good.”

"Ah."

At that moment, Lee Yu-Na realized that she smelled like food.

Her face turned red, but whether she knew it or not, Belluna murmured in her dreamy voice.

“Unique mana. You are a beloved child.”

“… Yes?"

“Stop it, mother. It's rude behavior anymore.”

At those words, Lee Yu-Na could not help but be surprised in many ways.

One was that she was actually his mother, even though they looked like an older sister and younger brother, and the other was that even that man could make such a nervous expression.

"Oh, I see. That's right. I'm sorry, Miss Isabella. Can you please forgive me?”

“Uh, no. Actually, I didn't feel too bad, I was just a little surprised, ma'am."

"Oh, my. You're so sweet."

Belluna muttered so in an ecstatic voice.

And then she carefully pulled Lee Yu-Na's hand, which she was still holding. 

“I like kind people. So stay with me for a while, Casey.”

“Yes, what…… There's nothing wrong with that...… But, my name is Lee Yu-Na, Mrs. Belluna.”

“I asked you to call me Bell…… There's nothing we can do. We're not close to each other yet."

Belluna muttered as if she was sad, and took Lee Yu-Na's hand.

It was when Ivan opened his mouth as if to say something again.

“I don’t want to see good people get hurt. Son? You come to this mother, too."

Suddenly, Ivan's one hand was also held by Belluna.

Belluna blushed as if embarrassed as she held both Lee Yu-Na's and Ivan's hands.

"It's so nice to be between my son and a kind person. It's so nice."

"Mother…… .”

Ivan let out a deep sigh.

How many times did he sigh from yesterday to today?

With that in mind, it was when he was about to open his mouth to say something.

"My son and good people shouldn't get hurt."

Kwaaaang!

As soon as Belluna finished speaking, a loud noise was heard in the distance.

It was so loud that it echoed through the air.

In fact, people around them fell while grabbing their ears, and there were people who bled as if their eardrums ruptured.

However, Lee Yu-Na and Ivan were unhurt.

For the two of them, it was just that there was an explosion in the distance.

Ivan turned his head as if he knew the reason.

Belluna was still smiling.

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