Chapter 54
Shin Shawol pondered deeply.
‘Why am I here again?’
Why was he in the territory of the 1st rank faction yet again?
At this point, he was starting to wonder whether he was truly the leader of the 5th faction—no, now the 2nd faction—or if he was just Yoo Yi-joo’s lackey.
Just then, Yoo Yi-joo sat across from him.
“You came quickly?”
At this unexpected question, Shin Shawol leaned back on the sofa discontentedly and said,
“I’m busy right now. I need to go quickly.”
“The third stage is still far off, but you’re already busy?”
“The faction members were fighting and broke one of the mirrors there.”
Mirror? As Yoo Yi-joo tilted her head, Shin Shawol nodded.
“Yeah. It was a mirror in the former 2nd rank faction leader’s room. I told them to move it because I didn’t like the design. But they couldn’t wait and started fighting while moving it.”
They’re always fighting there. Yoo Yi-joo let out a hollow laugh. In a way, it was impressive how Shin Shawol was managing such people well.
“Was there anything unusual in the 2nd faction?”
“It’s so damn spacious that I couldn’t hack everything individually. Ah, but they do have quite a lot of good stuff.”
Even a single pen had a skill on it. Yoo Yi-joo nodded, recognizing the significance. She couldn’t forget how she had been kidnapped according to their plan because of the pen used to sign the contract.
“They had weapons with good skills too. I saw some really great guns and shields there.”
“Really?”
“Yeah. One of the guns had a transformation skill, but I couldn’t tell exactly how it worked. I didn’t bother using it in case it was dangerous.”
Blinking her eyes twice at this unexpected good news, Yoo Yi-joo said,
“Then can’t you just give me that gun? You can have the rest.”
“Well, I don’t see why not.”
After all, the reason she became the 2nd rank faction leader was because of Yoo Yi-joo. Looking at Shin Shawol shrugging her shoulders, Yoo Yi-joo smiled with satisfaction and said,
“Then I’ll keep that in mind. Well, shall we get to the main point now?”
Yoo Yi-joo had no intention of wasting time either. She raised her head straight and faced Shin Shawol.
“Try hacking me.”
Suddenly saying that, Shin Shawol blinked in confusion and scratched his head.
“As you know, I couldn’t hack you.”
“Please try just once more.”
Surprised that it had come to a request, Shin Shawol pointed at Yoo Yi-joo with her finger.
“More than that, it’s been bothering me for a while, but either speak casually or politely. Pick one.”
You were speaking casually before, why the politeness now. As Shin Shawol muttered this, Yoo Yi-joo watched her quietly and said,
“Hack me.”
“I didn’t tell you to speak in commands though.”
Shin Shawol let out a small laugh as if it was ridiculous, then slowly closed and opened her eyes.
[SYSTEM] Skill ‘Hacking (A)’ has been used on target ‘Yoo Yi-joo’!
Zzzzt!
[SYSTEM] Skill ‘Hacking (A)’ is blocked by something external.
[SYSTEM] The Hacking attempt has been canceled!
Soon, the spark that had flown between the two subsided. Shin Shawol’s eyes, which had turned blue, returned to normal as she shrugged her shoulders.
“As you can see, it doesn’t work.”
Yoo Yi-joo fell into thought.
‘Nothing special appears. I thought there might be something I missed, like with Jin So-yul.’
Just like how Jin So-yul’s ‘deactivation’ had a reason. Although she had expected it wouldn’t work, seeing the same result made her feel both uneasy and relieved at the same time.
Watching Yoo Yi-joo’s complex expression, Shin Shawol stood up first.
“Well, anyway, I’m busy so I’ll go first.”
“I don’t need to see you out, right?”
“You never did before, so why now.”
With a chuckle, Shin Shawol was just about to leave Yoo Yi-joo’s room when—
“What did she say?”
“Ack!”
Someone who had been leaning against the wall came forward and spoke. Startled, Shin Sa-wol clutched his pounding heart and looked at the man who had addressed him.
‘Cha Si-hyeon?’
It was the S-rank, Cha Si-hyeon. How many times had he seen this man, who he’d only seen on TV before, in person now?
“You should at least make some noise when you approach….”
“That doesn’t matter. What did she say?”
Although Shin Shawol wasn’t exactly his fan, he was still a celebrity of sorts, but Cha Si-hyeon waved his hand as if he had no intention of fan service.
“Nothing much.”
“There’s no way she’d call you for nothing.”
“……”
It was accurate, but it annoyed him for some reason.
“She just asked me to check something with my skill.”
When he told the truth, Cha Si-hyeon nodded as if he had no more business and turned around.
“I have something to ask too.”
And it was Shin Shawol who stopped him.
“What is it?”
“Do you like Yoo Yi-joo-ssi?”
“Huh?”
As if he had heard a strange question, he raised his eyebrow.
“I thought it was something important. Forget it, what’s that got to do with you?”
“Well, it seems you’re overly protective for someone who’s just a colleague.”
Cha Si-hyeon, who was trying to ignore Shin Shawol’s meddling, paused. Then he stepped forward, standing in front of Shin Shawol.
“Did you see it?”
Shin Shawol hesitated at the closeness, barely a fist’s width apart.
“Did you see her almost die in my place?”
Cha Si-hyeon, looking somewhat agitated, moved his lips, then stepped back and sighed. Then he said,
“Look, I’m telling you in advance, I don’t like you.”
At this aggressive response, Shin Shawol also slightly furrowed his brow.
“It seems it’s not me you don’t like, but Yoo Yi-joo who increased her companions while you were away.”
Such a childish mentality, Shin Shawol said, turning away without waiting for a reply. This guy. Cha Si-hyeon, frowning deeply, thought about following and grabbing him, but decided against it, thinking that would only make things worse.
Suddenly, Shin Shawol’s words about him being childish echoed in his mind.
‘…Nonsense.’
Whether she increased her companions while he was away or not wasn’t important.
The only important thing was just one.
“It’s just that I don’t like that she has more people to protect now…”
💎
After the second stage, a peaceful daily life returned to us.
“They say someone’s been killing women late at night.”
Or so I thought.
‘Killing women?’
I frowned at the news Baek Doha brought.
“Since the day before yesterday, they say women’s bodies keep appearing in the corridors every night.”
It’s still before the third stage starts. If so, the probability of it being a person rather than a monster is higher…
I stroked my chin, turned to look at Gi Da-in and Jin So-yul.
“Both of you, let’s stay within the faction area until the third stage starts.”
Jin So-yul nodded.
“If you need to go out, make sure to go together or let someone know.”
“Okay.”
I don’t know who’s doing it, but they won’t be able to infiltrate this place. As long as they don’t go out, safety is almost guaranteed, so I wasn’t too worried.
As I was thinking lightly of it and about to pick up my teacup again, Lim Yuchan looked at me.
“…What?”
I blinked at the burdensome gaze, and he opened his mouth.
“You be careful too.”
And here I thought it was something serious….
“Don’t worry, I will.”
I already planned to. Originally, I don’t even like going out unless it’s absolutely necessary.
There are still some guys who ask to join the faction whenever they see me, which is annoying.
I thought this was a good opportunity to have the S-ranks go out for a while instead…
Exactly two days after having this thought.
“This time it’s a man.”
“A man?”
What’s this about now?
“Yeah. This time they found two male bodies.”
Now it’s men because the women stopped going out at night? As I was frowning, Shin Shawol asked.
“By the way, are you allowed to be out? Don’t those people say anything?”
It wasn’t hard to guess who “those people” were.
“I came out secretly.”
“Those people tend to be overprotective of you.”
“Well, that’s because I’m weak.”
They worry because I’m weak, that’s all. I shrugged my shoulders lightly.
“What are you talking about? It’s rare to find someone as strong as you.”
…And then came an unexpected response.
“Me?”
“Yes.”
He answered firmly.
“You’re someone who cleared [Forgotten Forest] not only snatched the 1st rank faction leader’s mark, but also escaped from the 2nd rank faction leader’s kidnapping and took their mark too.”
Saying that, Shin Shawol added one more thing.
“Rank isn’t everything when it comes to strength. You may be C-rank, but you’ve shown that you’re strong.”
Is that so? After being looked down upon for my rank so many times, hearing this suddenly made me feel strange. Seeing Shin Shawol’s firm gaze made me feel awkward, so I hastily changed the subject.
“Anyway, give me what I asked you to prepare.”
Oh right, that. Shin Shawol, who stood up saying he’d bring it, left the room for a moment.
In the meantime, I looked around the room.
It was the place where I fought with the former second faction leader, Kim Ha-neul.
The atmosphere had changed a bit, probably because Shin Shawol had decorated the room as she pleased.
Suddenly, seeing a broken mirror in the corner, I stood up.
‘Is this the mirror that the faction members broke while moving it before?’
As I picked up a piece of mirror scattered on the floor.
“Ah.”
The tip of my finger stung.
‘I got cut.’
The mirror piece must have been very sharp.
As I blankly stared at the red blood rising drop by drop, a voice came from behind me.
“What are you doing? I brought what you asked for.”
Belatedly putting down the mirror piece, I turned towards Shin Shawol.
“It’s nothing.”
💎
Thank you for reading! ♡
