“What do you mean by a place we need to go?”
At my words, Nam Ju-hyeon stepped back with a terrified face. Even after seeing me for several days, she’s still this scared? That’s impressive in its own way.
“I can’t just send you alone to that person.”
Nam Ju-hyeon is a non-awakener. Having been stuck at a desk her whole life, her physical strength is poor even for an ordinary person, and of course, her combat ability is rock bottom.
I can’t send such a person alone to face the mad dog Do Chae-hee. Since the opponent is Do Chae-hee, the options of me going together or attaching our people are gone, so there’s only one answer.
I tapped the mask and changed my face. It’s the face I showed to people inside ‘Serena’s Ice Palace’. Nam Ju-hyeon screamed at my face that changed instantly.
“I-I didn’t see! I didn’t see anything like your face at all!”
“It doesn’t matter. This isn’t my real face anyway.”
“Huh?”
Did she think she’d die if she saw my face? Of course, if my identity as ‘Kang Yi-sin’ was revealed, I’m not entirely against that thought, but for now, I’d try to handle it with ‘lies’ somehow. I don’t have the intention to just eliminate people unconditionally!
—But you do have the intention to eliminate them initially.
At my explanation, Nam Ju-hyeon sat down on the spot with a surprised face.
“What do you mean it’s not your real face?”
“It’s a fake made with holograms. My identity is a secret where we’re going from now on.”
“Suddenly using formal speech?”
“I told you, didn’t I? That I plan to hide my identity.”
Professor Geum might know, but Lee Hye-won doesn’t know my identity. Lee Hye-won is Jin Yeon-hwa’s person. Though she’s with us now due to circumstances, she’ll probably go back to that side when the situation improves.
I had to prevent information from leaking to that side as much as possible. It’s a point I particularly asked Professor Geum to be careful about.
“From now on, we’re a team gathered for the same cause of overthrowing Assemblyman Kim Seong-deuk.”
“U-understood.”
Nam Ju-hyeon nodded with a face that said she had goosebumps. I put Nam Ju-hyeon in the back seat of the car. She kept mumbling something from the back, looking unwell, but it should be fine.
Arriving in front of Professor Geum’s house, I called him out using the same method as last time.
The moment he saw Nam Ju-hyeon standing next to me, Professor Geum looked at me with an expression that said he was at a loss for words.
“Surely not?”
Professor Geum, who collapsed looking at me and Nam Ju-hyeon, was truly despairing.
“Where on earth do you keep bringing these women from?”
Finding his expression funny, I looked at Professor Geum with my arms crossed. Professor Geum, who was twisting his body like an octopus, shouted:
“My beautiful life as a single man in his 30s is being ruined!”
“With such a big house, how is it ruined by taking in one person?”
“Just someone’s existence alone tires me out! An introverted person like me gets exhausted just by the existence of other people! You extroverts wouldn’t understand!”
Introverted, extroverted. What nonsense.
“Let’s go inside and talk first.”
At the conversation between me and Professor Geum, Nam Ju-hyeon cautiously whispered to me.
“A-about bringing a woman before…”
Somehow the look in her eyes towards me is disrespectful.
“It’s not like that, so don’t misunderstand.”
At my words cutting it off, Nam Ju-hyeon stiffened. Then she started waving her hands and making excuses.
“M-misunderstanding! Misunderstanding, uh, in a good way! Y-you’re not as bad a villain as people say. In the first place, what the world is calling a villain is all! Misunderstandings piling up, uh, of course you did kill a lot of people! That wasn’t a misunderstanding!”
I wonder if she knows that the more she talks, the worse it gets. Nam Ju-hyeon’s face was turning pale in real-time.
—There were articles she wrote that severely criticized you too.
Moreover, lies don’t work on Ray with his perfect memory. I had no intention of arguing even if she thought I was a bad guy.
In reality, I am a murderer, a swindler, and a con artist.
‘Let’s just let it slide for now.’
I turned my gaze to Professor Geum.
“Then why did you come here today? Surely you’re not here to leave this woman too?”
“No, the opposite.”
“The opposite?”
“That person, is she here?”
“Y-yeah, she is?”
“Please call her. I have something to do with that person.”
“Huh? Alright! I’ll bring her right away.”
Professor Geum, whose face brightened, disappeared from his seat and soon appeared with Lee Hye-won.
Lee Hye-won looked a bit surprised seeing me. After a moment, her eyes began to fill with resentment towards me.
“Hello.”
“Yes.”
“I thought you’d never come back after abandoning me like that.”
Ahem, the resentment stings my chest! I threw words at Professor Geum, who was standing blankly.
“Don’t you have anything to drink? Your hospitality is really lacking.”
At my words, Professor Geum grumbled but brought out warm tea. Teacups were placed in front of us.
Meanwhile, Lee Hye-won and Nam Ju-hyeon kept silent while looking at each other with exploring faces.
“It’s Pu-erh tea imported from Yunnan, China. It’s the highest grade, so I’d like you to drink it when the aroma is best.”
At those words, the two reluctantly sipped the tea. I also sipped the tea. It’s certainly expensive tea as he said, it does seem a bit more fragrant. Actually, I prefer coffee to tea.
After putting down the teacup, I opened my mouth.
“Introduce yourselves, this is Reporter Nam Ju-hyeon.”
“A reporter?!”
Professor Geum suddenly exclaimed in surprise. His face said, ‘You brought a reporter to this underground mad scientist’s house?’ Ignoring his exaggerated reaction, I turned my gaze to Lee Hye-won.
“This is, um, Hunter Lee Something-or-other.”
“Lee Something-or-other… If you’re going to do that, I think it’s better if I introduce myself.”
Lee Hye-won, who said that, sighed and countinued:
“I’m Lee Hee-won. For your reference, I’m a 6-Circle hunter.”
From Lee Hye-won to Lee Hee-won. I wonder if there’s any value as an alias, but seeing Lee Hye-won glaring at me, I thought it would be better to just keep my mouth shut.
“6-6-Circle hunter!”
Nam Ju-hyeon’s mouth gaped at Lee Hye-won’s words. Though it’s a rank that doesn’t get protagonist treatment in Gate conquests, ordinary people don’t get to see 6-Circle hunters.
“By the way, aren’t you going to tell us why you came here?”
At Professor Geum’s words, the two women’s gazes also turned to me. Certainly, now that introductions are over, I should properly explain.
“It would be good for the two of you to act together for a while.”
“Huh?”
Both Nam Ju-hyeon and Lee Hye-won looked at me with surprised faces. I threw my gaze at Lee Hye-won.
“Aren’t you getting tired of being cooped up here?”
She would have never wasted even a single day until now. Though she’s hiding here for now because she can’t let people know she survived, she probably doesn’t like this life.
“It is boring indeed. But I can’t move for just any job.”
“You’ll change your mind when you hear it. This is quite a good cause.”
I gestured to Nam Ju-hyeon. It meant for her to explain the situation.
Seeing my look, Nam Ju-hyeon put on a grave expression and pushed up her glasses.
Nam Ju-hyeon slowly unraveled the story involving Bomnal Orphanage and Hyeonmu Pharmaceuticals. She really summarized well, perhaps because of her experience as a reporter.
Lee Hye-won, who listened to her story as if enchanted, clenched her fist and said:
“If it’s really such a matter, I do want to help. To think such things were happening at Hyeonmu Pharmaceuticals.”
For someone in a position equivalent to the right hand of Sirius’ Vice Guild Master, it wouldn’t be strange to be rotten to the core, but Lee Hye-won was a fairly good person in her own way.
That’s the reason Jin Yeon-hwa cherishes her in the first place. For various reasons, Jin Yeon-hwa dislikes people of her own kind.
“What should I do from now on?”
“Ah, first…”
Leaving the two people who started to talk actively, I got up from my seat. I tapped Professor Geum’s shoulder as he was sipping tea and tilted my head.
“Professor Geum, let’s have a chat for a moment.”
“With me?”
Professor Geum said, pushing up his round glasses.
“Why me?”
“Follow me.”
This guy just doesn’t listen when you tell him with words.
After dragging Professor Geum to a quiet corner, I immediately got to the point before he could say anything strange.
“However this matter unfolds, the landscape of pharmaceutical companies in Korea will be turned upside down.”
Hyeonmu Pharmaceuticals is a thriving pharmaceutical company not just in Korea but globally. To the extent that there’s a saying that the potions exported from there feed Korea.
Such a company being shaken will give a huge shock to the stock market.
Even if Hyeonmu Pharmaceuticals doesn’t completely collapse because of this incident, they’re bound to take a hit.
“Now is the time to invest in stocks.”
“Certainly, that’s true.”
“Ah, if you’re going to do it, please take care of mine too.”
At my words, Professor Geum’s eyes lit up.
“Right! How much?”
Money to put into stocks…
I don’t have any.
“Since I gave you the information, please invest my share on my behalf too.”
“What?”
The pigs of capitalism taste best when you fleece them.
—Somehow you seem to use the expression ‘pigs of capitalism’ at any time. Isn’t this case just extorting money?
‘What’s wrong with extorting money from a rich person? Besides, isn’t it wrong for him to try to get such high-quality information for free!’
I said to Professor Geum, who was making an expression of disbelief at my words:
“Isn’t this all because the Silver Moon Society isn’t paying me!”
—You also only did work that didn’t make money.
I’ve been living diligently in various ways, but certainly, there hasn’t been any work that makes a lot of money. Even the items obtained from ‘Serena’s Ice Palace’ ultimately have to be handled as stolen goods, so I can’t sell them right away.
“So, how are things going with the Silver Moon Society?”
“Hmm, I heard that side is almost back to normal too. Well, I only know half of what’s going on there.”
He says work resumption was delayed because they suffered almost devastating damage from the Anti-Society. Certainly, that’s understandable. Since Xie Haozhu blew away most of it. It will take more time since it’s work that requires raising people.
“Anyway, I’ll tell them. To properly pay you money, that is.”
I nodded at those words.
The more money, the better. I need to earn as much as I can while I can.
“By the way. Coming like this from now on is a bit…”
“Did Director Baek tell you to keep your distance?”
At my words, Professor Geum looked at me with a shocked face.
It’s obvious. Professor Geum is a bundle of curiosity. There’s no way he would drive away someone like me who becomes interesting just by looking at, if it’s fun enough he’ll do anything.
If his attitude suddenly changed, Baek Do-san must be behind it.
“Well, certainly the things you guys are doing are getting out of hand even for me. Being associated with ‘that’ Weltschmerz is also a big risk.”
“Certainly. I’ll be careful from now on. But I’ll need your help for a while.”
At my words, Professor Geum just scratched the ground with his foot while watching my reaction. Seeing a man in his 30s who isn’t even cute doing that made me nauseous.
“Still, let’s try not to come to the house like this from now on if possible.”
“Thanks for understanding.”
After finishing the conversation with Professor Geum, I returned to Lee Hye-won and Nam Ju-hyeon. They must have talked quite earnestly while I and Professor Geum were away, as the atmosphere was much more comfortable than before.
“Then you two come this way.”
“Alright, take care everyone!”
Professor Geum, not knowing my intentions, saw us off with just a bright face. He seems to think we’re leaving for good like this…
—When are you going to tell him that you’ll leave Nam Ju-hyeon with him too after this is over?
‘Let’s let him be happy for at least a few days.’
Isn’t it fine as long as I don’t come to his house myself?