Chapter 112: Tiger's Den (2)

What on earth is this situation?

Cheong-ho was absent, and in the place where he should be, his daughter Hyeon-ah was sitting like she was acting on his behalf.

Hyeon-ah wasn't the only one in this room though. However, it's not as if a huge crowd has gathered either.

Although it's called a conference room, it was actually a room that Cheong-ho used for critical secret discussions with his executives.

Therefore, only Cheong-ho's closest associates were allowed to enter this room.

It seems like everyone who is allowed in this room is indeed here.

I glanced around at the seven middle-aged heads gathered in this spacious conference room.

Including Chae Tae-won and Jeong Hyeon-ah, a total of 17 eyes were fixed on me.

Ah, the reason for the missing eye is because one of the executives was wearing a black eyepatch.

Anyway, it seemed like everyone was waiting for my response. But what do they expect me to do?

From the left, there was distrust, suspicion, discontent, the anger of the man with the eye patch in the middle, bewilderment, anxiety, and finally, an unpleasant smile at the far end.

Why is he grinning like that?

I turned my head slightly to look at Chae Tae-won, the eighth executive of the Cheong-ho faction. His face was a mix of complex emotions that were hard to describe with a single word. However, the predominant emotion on his face seemed to be guilt toward me.

Alright. Since I don't fully understand the situation, I'll have to probe a bit.

I felt a sensation similar to when I first encountered this game. A situation I had never seen before, an event I had never experienced.

I looked back at Jeong Hyeon-ah.

She was trying hard to appear confident.

She seemed to be straining her eyes to somehow make eye contact with me, but it was impossible to make eye contact with my four-eyed mask.

Her gaze was unstable, her fingertips kept twitching, and her complexion was pale. She seemed extremely nervous.

"Help you?"

"Yes. Please join us and fight. The book you mentioned will be given to you afterward. We will also provide the maximum reward you want."

Ah.

So it was within the predictable and boring development range after all.

"Well, I've heard various rumors about the Triad lately. It seems a full-scale war with Jeok-du has begun, right?"

"Th-that's correct. For the sake of loyalty to the chairman..."

Jeong Hyeon-ah trailed off. No one cut her off, and no one stopped her. She simply seemed unaccustomed to finishing such statements properly.

But, loyalty?

Sure, Cheong-ho and I had a firm alliance, but we weren't some old-time gangsters from the '50s. How exactly was I supposed to uphold loyalty?

"Miss. Do you actually have the book I'm supposed to receive? Or have you even seen it?"

"Dad! I mean, the chairman..."

Finally, the word "Dad" slipped from Hyeon-ah's mouth. Realizing her mistake, she stopped talking and bit her lower lip.

She's not in a state for a long conversation.

She had an awkward demeanor, like someone wearing clothes that didn't fit.

Despite her background as the princess of the underworld, she was still a high school student.

Though her exact age was never mentioned in the game, she didn't look like a first-year student. Maybe a second-year high school student?

Such a young girl was handling tasks that even adults found tough.

Why was it that a young girl, who was probably a third of these men's age, was stepping up instead of the older men gathered here?

"Where is the chairman? It seems he isn't in this building."

"H-how did you know that?"

In fact, before entering the conference room, I had already confirmed that there was no trace of Cheong-ho's magical power within the mansion.

Besides, it would be foolish not to know.

"You can pretty much tell just by looking at the situation."

With her face flushed red with anger and shame, Hyeon-ah mumbled in a low voice.

"D-Dad, because of you..."

"Well! This won't do."

Suddenly, one of the executives interrupted. He had a greasy voice that caused an instinctive feeling of displeasure just by hearing it.

Among the seven executives excluding Chae Tae-won, He was the one sitting farthest to the right and wearing that unpleasant smile.

That man...

"It seems there has been some misunderstanding. The young miss is new to this kind of work—."

As he said this, he glanced toward Jeong Hyeon-ah.

It was a very natural movement. All eyes in the room focused on Jeong Hyeon-ah, who bowed her head with a defeated expression.

"—She appears to be a bit nervous. We ask for your understanding. I will speak on her behalf."

He pretended to stand up for Jeong Hyeon-ah, but no one saw it that way.

This was just a cheap trick.

Seriously? Is he openly establishing the hierarchy at a time like this?

That man's name was Goo Jin-cheol.

It was that guy who had been provoking me with an outright annoying smile from earlier.

"As you know, we are currently in a very tumultuous situation, both internally and externally. There are many changes and disturbances. We certainly apologize for any misunderstandings on our part."

"..."

I turned to look at Chae Tae-won. He bowed his head to me with a troubled expression.

Hmm... this is a bit strange. This doesn't match his usual personality.

"We don't know exactly what book the chairman promised, but it's clear there was some kind of mistake. We're not sure if it's really our fault, though."

"Fault?"

"Well, didn't you say you received some message initially?"

"Are you referring to the message delivered through Vasilisa?"

"Yes, that one, that one. We didn't send that."

"Oh."

This was quite interesting.

Someone spent 200 million to send a fake message?

"But when we received the message about fixer-nim's visit, we had many discussions as well. Fixer-nim is highly talented and famous, right? Some people within our organization may have hastily thought of it as an opportunity."

Goo Jin-cheol then glanced at a few of the executives. The executives who met Goo Jin-cheol's gaze looked somewhat aggrieved but didn't react further.

"But please understand that our intentions are sincere. As I mentioned earlier, we have gathered busy people here, so let's quickly reach a conclusion. It seems we cannot give you the book you wanted, but we can compensate you adequately. Will you perhaps help us?"

No one would be foolish enough to interpret those words as a genuine request for help.

Goo Jin-cheol is telling me not to bother busy people and to leave immediately.

"Oh, I see."

Now I clearly understand what has been happening among them.

Thanks to Goo Jin-cheol stepping up and performing that vulgar show, I understand very clearly.

"The person who promised me the book was the chairman, so there is no need for you to fulfill that obligation."

Moreover, they cannot use the rights that he possesses.

"Then what?"

Goo Jin-cheol's pressing question. Sir, have you ever been hit for saying one more unnecessary word?

Come closer. I really want to hit you.

I spoke, hoping Goo Jin-cheol would come deeper into the conversation.

"I am currently under contract with Vasilisa, so if you have a request, please consult with Vasilisa formally."

I said this as I stood up.

"Shin-hwa-nim...!"

Chae Tae-won stepped forward and spoke. I looked at Chae Tae-won's face for a moment, then turned my gaze back to Goo Jin-cheol.

He was still wearing that annoying smile.

He looked like he was thinking, "Yes, the plan succeeded!" Was he provoking me, hoping I would leave in anger?

That man had always been a character set up to betray Cheong-ho. Still, he was being quite blatant about it.

Creak!

"Wait a moment!"

Jeong Hyeon-ah stood up and shouted.

But she couldn't say anything more.

"Miss! Please stop now!"

Goo Jin-cheol interrupted and blocked her.

"Any more than this is just a disgrace. This incident and the misunderstandings are already more than enough. For the chairman's honor, you must not go further. Besides, aren't all these executives' time being wasted when every second is important?"

Goo Jin-cheol was now openly reprimanding her.

"That's right!"

Another executive chimed in.

His reaction was enthusiastic. It was as if he had been waiting for this moment.

"Am I not right? In the end, we have wasted our time for nothing!"

Before I could say anything, another executive spoke up.

"Miss, do you really think you can trust that suspicious mage?"

Even if I overlooked the inappropriate word choice, their tone was extremely rude. The roughness of their voices made it seem as though they were threatening Jeong Hyeon-ah.

Another executive followed suit. This one was looking flustered.

"Wait, what are you saying? Aren't you going too far?"

"Yes, leaving Jeok-du aside, we should ask about the chairman! Hey, mage! The chairman! Do you know where the chairman is?"

"No, why are you saying useless things to an outsider!"

"The guest, Shin-hwa-nim, is the most promising and reliable fixer here. Perhaps there is a way."

"Don't be stupid! Maybe it's because of him that the chairman ended up like this!"

"I agree that he seems very suspicious."

"I never understood what senior Tae-won was thinking from the start."

"Senior, what did you just say? Don't be stupid?"

"Look at those clothes! How can we trust someone dressed like that?"

"You say stupid things, so I call you stupid, you idiot!"

For reference, only sentences that can be remembered in a complete form are mentioned here.

The seven mouths excluding Chae Tae-won spat everywhere, 'What!', 'Exactly!', 'Jeok-du!', 'Do you know how much we!', 'Mage!', 'Fixer!', 'Grimoire!', 'Chairman!', 'Miss!', 'This!', 'Are you an idiot?', 'What did you say!?', 'Chairman!', 'Find them!' and so on...

In the end, it got to the point where it wouldn't have mattered if I just replaced their words with "Woof woof!" or "Bark bark" in my head.

What the heck am I supposed to do?

My head was pounding.

What is this chaos with me standing here?

The only reason I didn't curse out loud was because Jeong Hyeon-ah was trapped in this whirlwind of bullsh*t and she was looking at me with a completely dead expression on her face.

"Kim Shin-hwa-nim..."

I heard Chae Tae-won's quiet voice from behind me.

"I'm sorry. I thought there might be a problem, but I didn't expect it to be this bad."

When I turned to Chae Tae-won, he wore an expression filled with the utmost regret, shame, and embarrassment.

"You didn't expect this?"

"I thought there might be a slight problem, but honestly, I didn't expect them to act so disgracefully. I'm sorry."

Ah, he had genuinely believed the executives gathered here were responsible adults and brought me in based on that belief. I could blame him, but with such an honest apology, I couldn't bring myself to do so.

"Well, since you've put it that way, I'll accept your apology. Then..."

"Woof woof woof!"

"Bark bark bark!"

Ah, they're really noisy.

"We need to make them shut up."

No matter what conversation I had with Chae Tae-won, the seven idiots continued to spew colorful insults and nonsense.

First, let's rescue the young high school girl from these shameful adults' disgraceful behavior.

[Sound Wave Refraction]

"?!"

Jeong Hyeon-ah looked up in surprise. The sudden silence must have startled her. I winked at her—though she couldn't see it because of my mask—so I raised a hand and gave her a small wave.

Now, to expand the range.

I extended the range of the sound wave refraction to cover the entire room. Now, no sound from here would escape outside.

With this level of magic, they should have noticed by now, but they're all too agitated to act their age...

I sighed as I watched the executives still barking at each other, then took a deep breath and activated the next spell.

[Sound Wave Impact]

"Shut up!!!"

BOOOOOM!!!