Translator: Wan ED/PR: Personal Ghost
67. Gap (8)
It was late when I returned to my dormitory room.
While leaving Hwang Myeong-ho’s great mansion, I remotely turned on the dormitory heater, but was it because I set the desired temperature to low?
The air felt as cold as before.
Only after I decorated the room with the awkward paper crafts — created by Eun-ho’s descendants — which didn’t look much like tigers, did the heater seemed to work properly.
‘I should tell them that I decorated the room.’
When I turned on the device to take a picture for Eun-ho’s descendants.
Ding.
Hearing the device’s new message notification, I checked the hologram and found the name of a sender I have been waiting for.
Though I sent a message during the day, it seemed he kept on being busy and barely got time now.
[Hong Gyubin] Uisin-ah, sorry for late reply.
[Hong Gyubin] … Have you perhaps contacted me after hearing the news?
I didn’t know what kind of news he was talking about.
I didn’t exactly got any news related to the Association.
[Hong Gyubin] I and my subordinates were removed from all cases related to Namkung Group.
That was heavier news than I expected.
The case of service thugs involved with the Eungwang Brilliant Light Children’s Home.
The case of Gwangli Police Station’s Captain Kim’s suicide.
The revelation of the company employee from Namkung Products, who participated in the audition.
The otherworld simulator using Power of Earth, developed by Namkung Group and discovered underground at the time of broadcasting station incident.
Those were all the cases Hong Gyubin was investigating and were connected to Namkung Group.
‘Is it because of Hong Gyubin’s life as ‘Namkung Gyubin’? The timing is strangely off.’
It might be normal at the beginning of the investigation, but they cut him off like this when the work was in progress for a while and he caught the first tails?
Hong Gyubin stepping down wasn’t strange by itself, but the timing bothered me.
[Me] Is it a problem of team leader-nim’s birth?
[Hong Gyubin] Hahaha, I don’t think I’ve ever directly told you. As expected, you figured it out, huh?
He never directly told me, but I felt like he gave me many hints.
Hong Gyubin spoke with laughter, but it seemed he was laughing through bloody tears.
Hong Gyubin was probably furiously protesting against it until now.
Based on common sense, if his work decreased, shouldn’t he have been able to call me earlier?
He must’ve been busy putting in countermeasures and shifting the work.
But it seemed that all the effort went in vain in the end.
[Hong Gyubin] I plan to do what I can do right now. First of all, I’ll support the students involved in the TC Research Institute, so they can return to school.
Hong Gyubin jokingly said that if Eungwang School students continued to remain at the Association, employee Jeong wouldn’t be able to focus on work.
It seemed he did his best to change the atmosphere through jokes, so I decided not to question him about the Namkung Group any more.
[Hong Gyubin] We have succeeded in capturing all mercenaries hired at the request of the senior researcher at the TC Research Institute.
[Hong Gyubin] Looks like as they’re mercenaries moving for money, they have no reason to establish any loyalty. But it seems that the biggest reason is that they’re trying to reduce the punishment, because they will have to swallow the contract costs for failing the missions.
[Hong Gyubin] Thanks to that, I learned some fun things.
It seemed that the mercenaries taken down by Hwang Jiho negotiated with the Association.
Usually in such situation, the hired mercenaries wouldn’t be penalized or even receive money instead to keep their mouths shut, but I guess it didn’t happen here.
Though there was a chance that the association cut in the middle and disrupted the negations or manipulated information.
[Hong Gyubin] They said they were hired to fight against a certain Jin.
[Hong Gyubin] To be precise, they repeated combat training with the assumption they were going to be beating down an ‘expert of Bō martial arts with sealed superpowers’.
[Hong Gyubin] They received an order that if possible, they should capture them, but if it was impossible, they should kill them.
That Bō martial art expert probably referred to Qítiān Dàshèng.
It was certain that the mercenaries were hired to beat Qítiān Dàshèng when he was poisoned by the superpower poison.
‘They were probably preparing for when Qítiān Dàshèng came searching for Wúzhīqí. If they captured Qítiān Dàshèng they might have used him as another ‘energy source’.’
Even if the mercenaries were excellent, there was no way they could capture Qítiān Dàshèng, but the problem was in the existence of superpower poison.
Superpower poison didn’t kill by itself, but it prevented usage of superpowers.
Taking ordinary people, not Players, as an example, they would be put in a state where they couldn’t use a part of their brain and right arm.
However, as the Jin people, including Qítiān Dàshèng, ate Hyangrok’s antidote, in exchange for having to recover their melting insides, they didn’t have a penalty on their superpower waves.
[Hong Gyubin] They complained that their opponent’s superpower wave wasn’t sealed and that his mainly used skill wasn’t a Bō martial art.
The mercenaries faced against Hwang Jiho, not Qítiān Dàshèng.
According to what Hwang Jiho said about himself, his Bō martial art was decent, but physical attacks weren’t his specialty.
After Hong Gyubin mentioned about the situation beyond that investigation, he finished the conversation.
[Hong Gyubin] I’m tracking the source of TC Research Institute’s funds, so I’ll contact you when I find something.
[Hong Gyubin] If something happens to teacher-nim, contact me right away. If an automatic message comes up, call me ^^!
Even when crazily busy, Hong Gyubin didn’t forget to ask about Jegal Jaegeol.
But I also didn’t forget.
‘Does he mean I should contact him when Jegal Jaegeol is in danger?’
During the Eungwang School’s festival, the 2nd year class 0 planned to hold Jegal Jaegeol 3D photo book — should I tell him about it?
After contemplating whether to tell him or not, I decided to postpone it.
As Hong Gyubin was busy, if I mentioned an important event that he may not be able to attend, it would only make it mentally difficult for him.
The next message I checked was in the group chat of the Newspaper Club.
[Mun Saeron] Here is the link to the final materials of my overseas coverage I published today!
[Mun Saeron] I rally quite a lot~!
After generously sharing her feelings and afterthoughts of the delightful coverage trip, Mun Saeron spoke with a somewhat saddened tone.
I guessed she was bothered that she didn’t find anything in particular about her official goal of the coverage trip — Phantom Thief Neon.
[Mun Saeron] … I didn’t learn even a bit about Phantom Thief Neon.
[Mun Saeron] If they’re a national level attention seeker, shouldn’t they have caused a few more incidents by now? Why are they so quiet?
As expected, worthy of PMH’s best informant, Mun Saeron’s insight was great.
That attention seeker caused incidents as normal.
If I was to add to that, he joined forces with another attention seeker and was now causing incidents to become the center of the 1st year class 0.
They repeatedly appeared and fled, while circling around our class, and not a long ago, didn’t they bounce with attendance books?
I worried they were causing incidents in some unseen place somewhere I didn’t see.
[Mun Saeron] I failed to gather information about Phantom Thief Neon, but I met with Prince Yeom Junyeol’s master-nim, so that’s fine!
[Mun Saeron] I didn’t expect they would come all the way to the Newspaper Club’s room though ㅎㅎ[1]
Under it, Mun Saeron attached the transcript of the interview she held in the Newspaper Club’s room.
… You mean Yeom Junyeol and his Yong master visited the Newspaper Club’s room when I was away?
What Yeom Junyeol said during our meal yesterday wasn’t for nothing.
Checking Yeom Junyeol’s messages, an answer came.
[Yeom Junyeol] Uisin-ah, actually, I visited the Newspaper Club’s room today. Saeron-i wanted to do an interview with my Yong master-nim and me, so…
[Yeom Junyeol] I wanted to introduce you to master-nim, so that’s a pity. If I knew it would turn out like this, I would have just made an appointment with you beforehand.
[Yeom Junyeol] Let’s meet on the next opportunity.
[Yeom Junyeol] (stamp)
I guess Yeom Junyeol planned a sudden appearance in the Newspaper Club’s room.
Even if he made an appointment beforehand, it might have been difficult to meet, because of the Ho tribe’s Garden’s case, but it was a pity anyway.
‘He was talking about seeing me tomorrow, but…’
At the end of the message, a stamp with Hongryong making a regretful face was attached.
He also sent a message with similar key context to ‘that word’ master, not junior Jo Uisin.
I sent a reply to Yeom Junyeol as a junior and as a master, and after that, I checked small messages asking how I was doing besides it.
‘I didn’t take a picture yet.’
I took the picture of the three paper tigers placed in my dormitory room and sent the picture to Eun-ho’s descendants.
Seeing how happy they were, while thanking for using them for decorating, I felt sorry I couldn’t take proper care of descendants.
I looked at the paper tigers placed in my room for a while, then turned on the device again.
I looked at the device code that had not even one record of sending or receiving a message.
‘… Let’s contact them.’
After a few dozens of seconds of attempted call, the other party responded.
I hid my nervousness, and greeted them as calmly as possible.
“Hello, this is Jo Uisin, who had an honor of making You acquaintance today.”
I heard a fading-like voice over the device.
[We heard from Hwangho-nim that benefactor asked for our device information. Hello…]
The couple’s voice was a bit more subdued than when I heard them in the bamboo forest[2].
Perhaps after the couple parted with us, they wandered aimlessly in the cold winds.
Imagining it, I couldn’t easily open my mouth.
‘… wouldn’t my request be just digging up old wounds?’
I was thinking of meeting that couple and making a request to them.
Even if my request was to lay groundwork to ultimately capture the Dark Mastermind, I couldn’t say it was for the sake of the couple.
Because even if we block the Dark Mastermind, the couple won’t be able to find what they lost again.
Thinking that, I felt heat surging in my head, but my fingers turned cold.
[… Jo Uisin?]
Was it because I stopped talking for too long?
I heard a voice calling my name.
Perhaps because they sounded concerned about me, my fingers turned even colder.
I should make one proper resolution to the couple when I directly meet with them to talk.
I barely opened my mouth:
“… Can we meet for a moment and talk?”
* * *
Next day.
I slept late yesterday, because I met with the Ho couple, but I went to school and spent my time at it as usual.
Bang Yunseop delivered cookies to Choe Yeong-hui as I ordered him, through my delivery I mean that he just threw them in front of her and fled.
I gave him an opportunity to talk with her, but it might have been still too early for that bastard.
Then, after classes.
“… Jo Uisin, WHAT move are you playing this time? I didn’t think you would contact that couple right way.”
I and Hwang Jiho skipped the Newspaper Club for two consecutive days for similar reasons.
One thing was different from yesterday though.
Our destination today wasn’t the bamboo forest, but the Gwangrim Researcher no. 4 building located in the Eungwang School’s research zone, Silver Shadow (Eunyeong) Building[3].
“The couple asked to meet with Kim Sinrok. They said they would think about agreeing to the torture depending on Kim Sinrok’s actions.”
“Are They meeting with teacher Kim Sinrok-nim right now?”
Hwang Jiho shook his head at my words.
“No, we decided to meet with me there.”
As he said, underground of the Silver Shadow (Eunyeong) Building, Kim Sinrok was alone.
I thought that Jeok-ho may be there, but I didn’t see him.
‘No, he might be using the Red Smoke like yesterday.’
The last time I saw Kim Sinrok yesterday, he looked a bit restless, but today his expression was calm, as if he organized his mind.
No, he might be just pretending to be calm.
‘… they came.’
About ten minutes after I and Hwang Jiho had arrived, the couple we’ve been waiting for appeared.
With Hwang Jiho standing between them, Kim Sinrok and the Ho couple greeted each other.
As if it was a very long time since they met with Kim Sinrok, the Ho couple tilted their heads and stared at Kim Sinrok.
“That child grew up so much, huh?”
“The last time we saw you, you were really small and naive[4]…”
“…”
Excluding the first greeting when he met the couple, Kim Sinrok wasn’t able to open his mouth.
“We have heard that you have an ability to torture anyone, regardless of their bloodline.”
“So that’s probably why Hwangho-nim wants to leave the torture of that dirty animal to you.”
The couple might attack Kim Sinrok.
Anyone who knew about the couple and Kim Sinrok’s history would think so.
But the couple made an unexpected suggestion.
“Then try to torture us.”
“If you’re truly the outstanding torture expert, prove it us.”
*~*~*
[1] ㅎㅎ — ‘haha’
[2] bamboo forest — I forgot to mention it in the previous chapter, my apologies. Word for bamboo ‘죽 (juk)’ also means ‘to die’ or ‘to fade out’. So you could read 죽림 (juk-rim) as forest of death or dying forest, haha~
[3] Silver Shadow (Eunyeong) Building — author-nim put hanja here (usually they only do it when they introduce the location for the first time) so I guess a reminder for what its name means was needed here for some reason ^^(smiling eyes emoji).
[4] naive — or immature, referring to someone being like a child. Not yet understanding a lot of things.
Translator’s note: I honestly forgot they made that request and was hit by it like a truck.
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