3 days later.
Jin Yu Ri, who entered Choi Yu Seong’s hospital room with a very upset look, sighed lightly and bowed her head.
“I’m sorry. I couldn’t find them.”
“Huh?”
“The real culprit of the assault incident a few days ago. We need to find the mastermind, but… It’s blocked by the Mercenary Exchange.”
“Then it’ll be harder to pursue.”
“…”
Jin Yu Ri, who bit her lips slightly, bowed her head deeper.
Choi Yu Seong smiled and patted her on the shoulder.
“You said the opponent is Mercenary Exchange, so we can’t help it. Don’t be so upset.”
The Mercenary Exchange was a global organization frequently used by Awakeners who did not belong to any particular group.
The commissions they responsible for ranged from very petty errands helping with housework, large guild wars, to country local wars.
As the scale was so large and the fund management was so vast, many countries wanted to operate the role of Mercenary Exchanges as government agencies, but none of them achieved that goal.
Although it was not clear whether trafficking or other similar things existed, most of the world’s leading countries allow the existence of Mercenary Exchanges.
Even China, which is no different from a dictatorship, has accepted Mercenary Exchange. So, that’s the end of it.
Choi Yu Seong also does not know how Mercenary Exchange independently took root in this world.
This is because the novel did not describe the details of it in the first place.
However, he knew who the real owner of Mercenary Exchange was, which had not been revealed until this point.
According to current rumors, it was someone from the UK’s SS-rank hunters.
‘It’s not entirely wrong.’
The owner of the Mercenary Exchange future revealed in the future is a British named James Rothschild, not an SS but an EX-Rank hunter, and was in fact one of the giants controlling the world’s underground economies.
‘I remember that he and Kim Do Jin had a pretty bad relationship, but…’
This is also something of a distant future.
“Just because it’s Mercenary Exchange, doesn’t mean it’s impossible to track at all. There are several factions inside and there are parts that are being kept in check by the country. But I can’t find it. After the Mercenary Exchange, the traces have disappeared as if something had been completely cut off. There must be a helper. Otherwise, this speed is just ridiculous.”
Jin Yu Ri clenched her fists tightly as if she was angry and Choi Yu Seong roughly guessed the helper.
‘Fath… No, Choi Wu Jae.’
In any case, if she dug all the way through, the name of one of Choi Yu Seong’s siblings would be revealed.
It was not to keep Choi Yu Seong in check but to make it difficult for anyone to approach.
“He doesn’t like to just lie back and got some spit.”
“Pardon?”
“Nothing. Let’s put that aside for now. It’s such a waste of time and energy for a trivial thing.”
“What you just said is right.”
Jin Yu Ri, who was somewhat calm with Choi Yu Seong’s words, hit her forehead then nodded.
Instead, she took a file out of the briefcase she was carrying.
“As what you said. Yoo Jin Hyeok, born in 2009 at Gwangju, Gyeonggi Province. There are several people with the same name, so I collected the data. I’m sorry. I was concerned about the other one, so this one took longer than I thought.”
“It’s okay.”
Choi Yu Seong received the file and looked at the names, faces, family relationships, and characteristics of the people inside. Then he shook his head with a bitter smile.
“It’s not.”
“Huh?”
“None of the people here is Yoo Jin Hyeok I’m looking for.”
He thought it would not be easy from the start.
If it’s Yoo Jin Hyeok from the original story, he won’t reveal his traces easily.
“But they are the only people based on the information of Yoo Jin Hyeok that oppa mentioned.”
“That’s what makes it tricky. Is he using an alias? Or…”
Choi Yu Seong briefly tapped the closed file with his index finger then opened his mouth.
“Find out if there is any Yoo Jin Hyeok whose resident registration has been revoked within the last 1 year. No. 3 years.”
“… Yes. I will look for it.”
Jin Yu Ri, who looked serious, received the file that Choi Yu Seong handed back.
“These days, Do Yun oppa is stamping his attendance to work in Dungeon. I think he has been thinking a lot since the last incident.”
“Tell him not to overdo it.”
“Is he someone who listens when told? And by the time he gets back, I might be away for a while.”
What did Choi Yu Seong think, couldn’t the two also think?
Choi Yu Seong was not the only one who was awakened by this incident.
“Okay. And I have another favor to ask.”
“You just have to say it. Whatever it is.”
“I need some mana stone, at least orange. So… More than 50 pieces.”
“… That much?”
Jin Yu Ri asked back in surprise.
“Huh. Is it possible?”
“It’s not a matter of possible or impossible. It’s about the money.”
Choi Yu Seong recalled the remaining balance in his bank account for a moment.
‘It’s a little over 130 billion.’
130 billion won of personal assets in cash alone.
He thought it was a lot, but when he tried to get an orange-colored mana stone with a ridiculous price of 300 million won per piece, about a sixth of it would fly away.
But what can he do?
“It’s necessary. I would like to get some yellow colors mixed as well if possible.”
Yellow-colored mana stones are more than twice as expensive as orange ones as they are many times harder to get.
It was safe to say that the minimum transaction was around 800 million won.
“Oppa, then you’ll be penniless in no time.”
“If it’s money, you can make more of it.”
But not people.
Jin Yu Ri nodded after seeing Choi Yu Seong’s strong will.
“Who am I to say no to. But I still want to save some money, so it might take a while.”
“You don’t have to rush.”
“I’ve let you down twice, so now I’ll show you how truly good I am.”
“I’ve never been disappointed.”
Jin Yu Ri, who was slightly embarrassed by Choi Yu Seong’s sincere voice and avoided looking, scratched her cheek.
“Ah, by the way. Chae Ye Ryeong asked if she could come to visit.”
“There’s nothing to forbid. Rather, I had something to say, which is good.”
“Then the time…”
“Tell her to come any time. It’s not like I have a big problem somewhere.”
Seeing Choi Yu Seong opened his arms wide, Jin Yu Ri smiled and nodded.
“Then I’ll tell her that.”
When she put her mind in order, she had a lot to do.
***
Afternoon next day. Chae Ye Ryeong, who took a half-time break, came to Choi Yu Seong and talked for a short time before going back home.
There was a certain determination on her face under her long hair as she left the hospital room.
And three more days later, December 13th.
It was when Choi Yu Seong, who had officially gone through the discharge process, left the front door of the hospital.
“Chairman said it was a gift.”
Kim Pil Du, who had a blunt expression, approached Choi Yu Seong and handed him a round barrel.
“To tell you honestly, I really do not know.”
Then, unlike usual, he left with words that left questions.
“Something is different from usual.”
Said Jin Do Yun, who took a day off from dungeon and training he used to go out every day according to the discharge date, while looking at Kim Pil Du’s back.
“What the hell is this, that made the cold-blooded guy doing that.”
Jin Yu Ri also shrugged as if she did not understand and looked at Choi Yu Seong.
“I don’t expect anything, though?”
In fact, Choi Yu Seong only knew what is the gift and had been thinking about it after that day.
But, it was true that he never imagined that this would happen.
“Let’s get in the car first then check it out.”
Whatever it is, there’s a lot of eyes.
As Kim Pil Du showed unusual appearance, it was difficult to open the barrel casually.
Jin Do Yun went out first to find the car that had been parked by proxy, then Choi Yu Seong got into the back seat.
The car started and Jin Yu Ri, who was in the passenger seat, quickly looked back.
“You don’t have to rush me like that. I’m also curious.”
The smirking Choi Yu Seong slowly pulled out the lid of the barrel.
“At least it’s not a bomb. Let’s see.”
Choi Yu Seong joked and put his hand into the barrel before taking out the contents.
A rolled-up paper.
“Map?”
Asked Choi Yu Seong, who opened it while tilting his head.
Jin Yu Ri, who turned her head back from the passenger seat to take a look, sparkled her eyes.
“Is it a treasure map?”
“I’m not sure, but I think it’s similar.”
The map, which clearly depicted South Korea, had a circle in a location slightly outside of Seoul, and letters were also written in rough and hard handwriting.
“Asking to go here? And the writing… It looks like Chairman’s handwriting.”
Choi Yu Seong nodded at Jin Yu Ri’s words.
“It’s not far. Goyang city. Shall we go?”
“Right now?”
Choi Yu Seong nodded at Jin Yu Ri, who asked back.
***
The car that was supposed to return to Hannam Apartment changed direction, got on the Gangbyeon expressway, and speeding to the freeway.
The map was not detailed.
It was drawn awkwardly enough to say that it was rough and the circle marked the location was quite large.
Thanks to this, they wandered for more than 3 hours over a distance that would have taken an hour and a half to arrive.
That’s how the three arrived at their destination and got out of the car.
“No matter how hard I look at it, this is the right place…”
Said Choi Yu Seong, who looked at the map handed over to Jin Yu Ri, with a wry smile.
“Does Young Master really want to go on a treasure hunt?”
“Suddenly it’s a mountain. I have never even heard of a mountain here.”
Jin siblings’ reactions were also not much different.
“To say it’s an unknown hill… But it’s too big for that kind of thing.”
The bushes are also dense.
“First. We need to check it out a little bit, but…”
It was when Choi Yu Seong, who tilted his head, approached the mountain to take a look.
“Young Master!”
Jin Do Yun rushed to take away the map in Choi Yu Seong’s hands.
Soon the sparked map was engulfed in a huge flame and burned up.
“Are you all right, Young Master. Your hands?
Asked Jin Do Yun, who held the blazing fire with one hand and did not budge, while looking at Choi Yu Seong.
“Of course I’m fine. You…”
In response to Choi Yu Seong’s question, Jin Do Yun stretched out his hands.
The hard hands full of calluses showed no scratches.
“As soon as it got near the mountain, a special ability was suddenly activated on the map.”
Jin Yu Ri, who followed behind, spoke with a serious expression.
“So, it seems this is really the right place?”
“I suppose so.”
“Hm… Then what else can we do. We have to go up there.”
Jin Do Yun prevented Choi Yu Seong, who stroked his chin, from walking ahead.
“I will take care of the front. Yu Ri will take care of the back.”
“Please take care of me.”
In a potentially dangerous situation, Choi Yu Seong did not refuse the protection of the two.
***
It was a quiet hanok1 mansion.
Considering that there are several buildings inside, there are not many signs of people.
Precisely, most of them were moving quietly while pressing down their presence.
In the backyard of such a mansion, a man was sitting on a seat in front of a pond where carps were swimming.
The man had tightly closed eyes, long flowing black hair, and wearing a neat white improved hanbok. Then a man in a black suit approached and lowered his head in front of him.
“Master, intruders have entered the mountain.”
The long-haired man shook his head without opening his eyes.
“Not intruders. Rather, they are guests.”
“Ah, perhaps. Whom Master spoke of before, the destiny’s…”
“No. It is not him.”
The man shook his head and scratched his cheek.
“Even so, it is true that it is a guest with a deep destiny with me.”
“Is it possible…”
“It is my brother. Father probably sent him here.”
3 days later.
Jin Yu Ri, who entered Choi Yu Seong’s hospital room with a very upset look, sighed lightly and bowed her head.
“I’m sorry. I couldn’t find them.”
“Huh?”
“The real culprit of the assault incident a few days ago. We need to find the mastermind, but… It’s blocked by the Mercenary Exchange.”
“Then it’ll be harder to pursue.”
“…”
Jin Yu Ri, who bit her lips slightly, bowed her head deeper.
Choi Yu Seong smiled and patted her on the shoulder.
“You said the opponent is Mercenary Exchange, so we can’t help it. Don’t be so upset.”
The Mercenary Exchange was a global organization frequently used by Awakeners who did not belong to any particular group.
The commissions they responsible for ranged from very petty errands helping with housework, large guild wars, to country local wars.
As the scale was so large and the fund management was so vast, many countries wanted to operate the role of Mercenary Exchanges as government agencies, but none of them achieved that goal.
Although it was not clear whether trafficking or other similar things existed, most of the world’s leading countries allow the existence of Mercenary Exchanges.
Even China, which is no different from a dictatorship, has accepted Mercenary Exchange. So, that’s the end of it.
Choi Yu Seong also does not know how Mercenary Exchange independently took root in this world.
This is because the novel did not describe the details of it in the first place.
However, he knew who the real owner of Mercenary Exchange was, which had not been revealed until this point.
According to current rumors, it was someone from the UK’s SS-rank hunters.
‘It’s not entirely wrong.’
The owner of the Mercenary Exchange future revealed in the future is a British named James Rothschild, not an SS but an EX-Rank hunter, and was in fact one of the giants controlling the world’s underground economies.
‘I remember that he and Kim Do Jin had a pretty bad relationship, but…’
This is also something of a distant future.
“Just because it’s Mercenary Exchange, doesn’t mean it’s impossible to track at all. There are several factions inside and there are parts that are being kept in check by the country. But I can’t find it. After the Mercenary Exchange, the traces have disappeared as if something had been completely cut off. There must be a helper. Otherwise, this speed is just ridiculous.”
Jin Yu Ri clenched her fists tightly as if she was angry and Choi Yu Seong roughly guessed the helper.
‘Fath… No, Choi Wu Jae.’
In any case, if she dug all the way through, the name of one of Choi Yu Seong’s siblings would be revealed.
It was not to keep Choi Yu Seong in check but to make it difficult for anyone to approach.
“He doesn’t like to just lie back and got some spit.”
“Pardon?”
“Nothing. Let’s put that aside for now. It’s such a waste of time and energy for a trivial thing.”
“What you just said is right.”
Jin Yu Ri, who was somewhat calm with Choi Yu Seong’s words, hit her forehead then nodded.
Instead, she took a file out of the briefcase she was carrying.
“As what you said. Yoo Jin Hyeok, born in 2009 at Gwangju, Gyeonggi Province. There are several people with the same name, so I collected the data. I’m sorry. I was concerned about the other one, so this one took longer than I thought.”
“It’s okay.”
Choi Yu Seong received the file and looked at the names, faces, family relationships, and characteristics of the people inside. Then he shook his head with a bitter smile.
“It’s not.”
“Huh?”
“None of the people here is Yoo Jin Hyeok I’m looking for.”
He thought it would not be easy from the start.
If it’s Yoo Jin Hyeok from the original story, he won’t reveal his traces easily.
“But they are the only people based on the information of Yoo Jin Hyeok that oppa mentioned.”
“That’s what makes it tricky. Is he using an alias? Or…”
Choi Yu Seong briefly tapped the closed file with his index finger then opened his mouth.
“Find out if there is any Yoo Jin Hyeok whose resident registration has been revoked within the last 1 year. No. 3 years.”
“… Yes. I will look for it.”
Jin Yu Ri, who looked serious, received the file that Choi Yu Seong handed back.
“These days, Do Yun oppa is stamping his attendance to work in Dungeon. I think he has been thinking a lot since the last incident.”
“Tell him not to overdo it.”
“Is he someone who listens when told? And by the time he gets back, I might be away for a while.”
What did Choi Yu Seong think, couldn’t the two also think?
Choi Yu Seong was not the only one who was awakened by this incident.
“Okay. And I have another favor to ask.”
“You just have to say it. Whatever it is.”
“I need some mana stone, at least orange. So… More than 50 pieces.”
“… That much?”
Jin Yu Ri asked back in surprise.
“Huh. Is it possible?”
“It’s not a matter of possible or impossible. It’s about the money.”
Choi Yu Seong recalled the remaining balance in his bank account for a moment.
‘It’s a little over 130 billion.’
130 billion won of personal assets in cash alone.
He thought it was a lot, but when he tried to get an orange-colored mana stone with a ridiculous price of 300 million won per piece, about a sixth of it would fly away.
But what can he do?
“It’s necessary. I would like to get some yellow colors mixed as well if possible.”
Yellow-colored mana stones are more than twice as expensive as orange ones as they are many times harder to get.
It was safe to say that the minimum transaction was around 800 million won.
“Oppa, then you’ll be penniless in no time.”
“If it’s money, you can make more of it.”
But not people.
Jin Yu Ri nodded after seeing Choi Yu Seong’s strong will.
“Who am I to say no to. But I still want to save some money, so it might take a while.”
“You don’t have to rush.”
“I’ve let you down twice, so now I’ll show you how truly good I am.”
“I’ve never been disappointed.”
Jin Yu Ri, who was slightly embarrassed by Choi Yu Seong’s sincere voice and avoided looking, scratched her cheek.
“Ah, by the way. Chae Ye Ryeong asked if she could come to visit.”
“There’s nothing to forbid. Rather, I had something to say, which is good.”
“Then the time…”
“Tell her to come any time. It’s not like I have a big problem somewhere.”
Seeing Choi Yu Seong opened his arms wide, Jin Yu Ri smiled and nodded.
“Then I’ll tell her that.”
When she put her mind in order, she had a lot to do.
***
Afternoon next day. Chae Ye Ryeong, who took a half-time break, came to Choi Yu Seong and talked for a short time before going back home.
There was a certain determination on her face under her long hair as she left the hospital room.
And three more days later, December 13th.
It was when Choi Yu Seong, who had officially gone through the discharge process, left the front door of the hospital.
“Chairman said it was a gift.”
Kim Pil Du, who had a blunt expression, approached Choi Yu Seong and handed him a round barrel.
“To tell you honestly, I really do not know.”
Then, unlike usual, he left with words that left questions.
“Something is different from usual.”
Said Jin Do Yun, who took a day off from dungeon and training he used to go out every day according to the discharge date, while looking at Kim Pil Du’s back.
“What the hell is this, that made the cold-blooded guy doing that.”
Jin Yu Ri also shrugged as if she did not understand and looked at Choi Yu Seong.
“I don’t expect anything, though?”
In fact, Choi Yu Seong only knew what is the gift and had been thinking about it after that day.
But, it was true that he never imagined that this would happen.
“Let’s get in the car first then check it out.”
Whatever it is, there’s a lot of eyes.
As Kim Pil Du showed unusual appearance, it was difficult to open the barrel casually.
Jin Do Yun went out first to find the car that had been parked by proxy, then Choi Yu Seong got into the back seat.
The car started and Jin Yu Ri, who was in the passenger seat, quickly looked back.
“You don’t have to rush me like that. I’m also curious.”
The smirking Choi Yu Seong slowly pulled out the lid of the barrel.
“At least it’s not a bomb. Let’s see.”
Choi Yu Seong joked and put his hand into the barrel before taking out the contents.
A rolled-up paper.
“Map?”
Asked Choi Yu Seong, who opened it while tilting his head.
Jin Yu Ri, who turned her head back from the passenger seat to take a look, sparkled her eyes.
“Is it a treasure map?”
“I’m not sure, but I think it’s similar.”
The map, which clearly depicted South Korea, had a circle in a location slightly outside of Seoul, and letters were also written in rough and hard handwriting.
“Asking to go here? And the writing… It looks like Chairman’s handwriting.”
Choi Yu Seong nodded at Jin Yu Ri’s words.
“It’s not far. Goyang city. Shall we go?”
“Right now?”
Choi Yu Seong nodded at Jin Yu Ri, who asked back.
***
The car that was supposed to return to Hannam Apartment changed direction, got on the Gangbyeon expressway, and speeding to the freeway.
The map was not detailed.
It was drawn awkwardly enough to say that it was rough and the circle marked the location was quite large.
Thanks to this, they wandered for more than 3 hours over a distance that would have taken an hour and a half to arrive.
That’s how the three arrived at their destination and got out of the car.
“No matter how hard I look at it, this is the right place…”
Said Choi Yu Seong, who looked at the map handed over to Jin Yu Ri, with a wry smile.
“Does Young Master really want to go on a treasure hunt?”
“Suddenly it’s a mountain. I have never even heard of a mountain here.”
Jin siblings’ reactions were also not much different.
“To say it’s an unknown hill… But it’s too big for that kind of thing.”
The bushes are also dense.
“First. We need to check it out a little bit, but…”
It was when Choi Yu Seong, who tilted his head, approached the mountain to take a look.
“Young Master!”
Jin Do Yun rushed to take away the map in Choi Yu Seong’s hands.
Soon the sparked map was engulfed in a huge flame and burned up.
“Are you all right, Young Master. Your hands?
Asked Jin Do Yun, who held the blazing fire with one hand and did not budge, while looking at Choi Yu Seong.
“Of course I’m fine. You…”
In response to Choi Yu Seong’s question, Jin Do Yun stretched out his hands.
The hard hands full of calluses showed no scratches.
“As soon as it got near the mountain, a special ability was suddenly activated on the map.”
Jin Yu Ri, who followed behind, spoke with a serious expression.
“So, it seems this is really the right place?”
“I suppose so.”
“Hm… Then what else can we do. We have to go up there.”
Jin Do Yun prevented Choi Yu Seong, who stroked his chin, from walking ahead.
“I will take care of the front. Yu Ri will take care of the back.”
“Please take care of me.”
In a potentially dangerous situation, Choi Yu Seong did not refuse the protection of the two.
***
It was a quiet hanok1 mansion.
Considering that there are several buildings inside, there are not many signs of people.
Precisely, most of them were moving quietly while pressing down their presence.
In the backyard of such a mansion, a man was sitting on a seat in front of a pond where carps were swimming.
The man had tightly closed eyes, long flowing black hair, and wearing a neat white improved hanbok. Then a man in a black suit approached and lowered his head in front of him.
“Master, intruders have entered the mountain.”
The long-haired man shook his head without opening his eyes.
“Not intruders. Rather, they are guests.”
“Ah, perhaps. Whom Master spoke of before, the destiny’s…”
“No. It is not him.”
The man shook his head and scratched his cheek.
“Even so, it is true that it is a guest with a deep destiny with me.”
“Is it possible…”
“It is my brother. Father probably sent him here.”
