Chapter 51
The story continues off the page
Floaties for Everyone
Swim lesson at the water park, and she's demonstrating on you
‘……Did I just waste something?’
The back of my neck felt sticky with discomfort. If it had been the old me, I would’ve gone straight home, but I still came back alone out of basic courtesy.
It wasn’t as if I’d never been tempted by Taphon. The conditions Yoo Jihye laid out were pretty sweet, and the employees all seemed decent enough.
But once it diverged from the company’s guiding principles, partnership became an offer hard to accept.
Back in the central hall.
Under the grand aquarium scenery, people were gathered in small groups, chatting naturally.
They really had driven Rex out; it was obvious how much tidier it looked.
‘Mr. Juseon, we’re businesspeople.’
Yoo Jihye’s voice, drifting along with cigarette smoke, was still crystal clear in my ears.
Yeah, she wasn’t wrong.
That’s how a matchmaking agency is supposed to be run.
‘It just doesn’t suit me.’
I returned to my seat and sat down.
Seeing that everyone had gathered, the host immediately took the microphone.
“Yes, everyone. Please understand the little disturbance we had just now. I also apologize for the clumsy handling. But the day isn’t over yet, is it?”
His tone rose on purpose.
Whether his effort to change the mood worked, people slowly relaxed.
“We will now begin the one-on-one rotation conversations!”
* * *
“What?”
After Kim Juseon turned down the recruitment offer, Yoo Jihye, who had gone to the smoking area and smoked another cigarette, felt nicotine tugging at her head again.
“On the rooftop?”
“Yes, on the rooftop.”
“Are you sure it’s dead?”
“Absolutely. The staff who saw it are vomiting and in total chaos.”
“Fuck, maybe I should’ve at least picked an auspicious day with a shaman before doing this.”
Could luck really get this bad?
Yoo Jihye let out a sigh, cursing in a way she rarely did.
The clients in the one-on-one talks came into view. It had only just started, and the mood was just starting to warm up-.
“Ah, my head.”
Covering her face, Yoo Jihye asked for confirmation.
“It’s not our people, right? Because if it is, we’re really screwed.”
“Absolutely not. We also secured video evidence.”
She let out a deep sigh, exhaling like cigarette smoke.
“Video evidence? How? Did you pull a camera out of someone’s eye or something?”
“It was mounted on the retina, so that wasn’t possible. But even if the bastards from the 6th Floor were crazy, I didn’t think they’d go so far as to shove a camera into an eye.”
“To those guys, bodies are just components. So how did you check the contents?”
“We found the streamer’s name. They were broadcasting on the Cyber City platform, so we downloaded the replay left on that site from the Cyber City Taphon branch and sent it over.”
Inside the tablet the employee held out, a grotesque being stood there.
It was only visible thanks to the moonlight; otherwise, you might not have noticed it even if you walked right past.
‘The outfit is old Murim, the weapon is Cyber City…….’
Well, shit.
The being on the screen spoke in a noise-warped voice.
- Report, variable encountered.
- Observation, unrelated to operation target. Judgment, risk of exposure. Request, eliminate variable.
- Aah, aah-!
The video cut off there.
“Over there, they called it a snuff film…… meaning the site had blocked it because it would’ve been sold as gore or death footage. We barely managed to get it.”
The words went in one ear and out the other.
Yoo Jihye’s gaze was fixed on Cheonjong’s representative.
The only big shot who could have brought in an assassin here was Cheonjong.
“Did you look into this person?”
“No. It seems they ran.”
“I see-.”
They must have pulled out after confirming that Cheonjong wasn’t attending.
“I’m not normally someone who swears this much. I really almost got screwed.”
Having Cheonjong’s representative come was a stroke of genius.
“Guess I wasn’t worrying about assassination for nothing.”
Yoo Jihye ran a hand over her face and decided this was a relief, at least.
An event where they gained nothing and only lost things.
Still, she chose to find meaning in the fact that they hadn’t lost any more-.
“Right, then let’s explain it to the clients-.”
Call the police.
* * *
“Hah, seriously? This is ridiculous.”
“Ah…… what time is it.”
“This is truly grotesque.”
Late at night, after being questioned by the police.
Fourteen people ended up doing one-on-one rotation talks with the police because of the sudden murder case.
Since everyone gave the same statement, they eventually all came outside together.
“Like hell I’m ever joining a matchmaking agency again.”
“What, Taphon’s the industry leader? Bullshit.”
“Ah, what a waste of money.”
“Ugh! I feel nauseous. The person I saw earlier-.”
Amid all the reactions, I glanced at Cheonjong’s representative.
I didn’t know whether it was another coincidence, but it felt like our eyes met dead on.
Just in case, I dipped my head, and sure enough, he strode straight toward me.
“Kim Juseon-ssi, you said you run a matchmaking agency, correct?”
“Yes, that’s right.”
“May I have your business card?”
At the representative’s words, the others’ gazes turned this way.
Among the people watching as if it were a scene from a drama, I took a business card out of the case I’d always kept on me and handed him one.
“We find miracles for you, Meracle.”
“Miracles…….”
When he saw the business card, the representative’s smile deepened even more.
“I’m sure Young Master Cheonjong would quite like that slogan.”
“I’m glad you see it favorably.”
He might have been trying to move from Taphon to Meracle, or he might not.
Matchmaking agencies are like dentists; plenty of people shop around, checking prices and getting consultations.
But Taphon’s showing today must have been a clear disappointment.
“Ah, give me one too.”
Starting with the mage Ophelia, the others also took business cards from me.
Of course, most people refused, saying they were sick of matchmaking agencies-.
“I’ll call you if I get the chance.”
Prism’s Seo Hajin.
“…….”
The disciple of the great mage Gellerwind, Reichen.
The heavy hitters took Meracle’s business cards.
I didn’t know whether they’d contact me or not, but recruiting potential clients of this caliber was clearly-.
‘A pretty big result.’
* * *
In the car on the way back to the lodging.
Thanks to the manager who came to pick him up, Seo Hajin was sitting comfortably in the back seat.
These days, cars had massage functions in every seat, making them ideal for loosening up a tired body.
“Seriously, everything that happens to you is spectacular. Hajin, couldn’t you use this as a funny story on a variety show?”
“How am I supposed to use this, oppa? Going to a matchmaking agency is already a problem, and it’s a story about someone dying.”
Replying in bits and pieces to the immature manager’s chatter, Seo Hajin put his hand in his coat pocket and felt a hard rectangular shape.
It was the business card he’d been pushed into taking because everyone else was taking one.
<Across countless worlds, we find your miracle.>
Hunter-specialized matchmaking agency, Meracle (Meracle).
‘Hunter-specialized…….’
Since he used to be an aspiring hunter, was he targeting a certain customer base?
He seemed decent enough.
“Oh right, don’t worry about the banquet video, Hajin. The boss tried to retrieve it right away, but the Sangseoryeong side had already paid the site a fortune and had everything deleted. No one knows you went to a matchmaking agency except the people involved.”
“Sure…….”
What did it matter?
He was going to retire soon anyway.
Looking out the window, a young idol on a giant building billboard was showing off his freshness while holding soju.
It had been a CF he used to handle exclusively.
‘I thought it’d last forever.’
No matter how brilliant the light, it was bound to go out eventually.
In this line of work, though, it was a brutally natural process.
Sometimes he thought the world was too harsh, already calling a twenty-seven-year-old a has-been.
With a bitter feeling, Seo Hajin pulled out his phone because he felt gloomy for no reason.
“And about the goodbye concert this time, the boss-.”
“Oppa, sorry. Let me take this call for a bit.”
“Ah, okay! I’ll lower the music.”
The volume dropped, and a moment later.
Ryu Seoram’s voice flowed out of Seo Hajin’s phone.
- Hello?
“Seoram unnie, long time no see. Are you busy now?”
- No, I was working out. What’s up? Another request?
Ryu Seoram and I were in a client-contractor relationship through Blackline Risk, but.
After talking a few times, we’d also become friends privately.
“No, it’s nothing much. I met someone you know today, so I called because it made me think of you.”
- Hey, there’s someone I don’t know on the 3rd Floor?
A confident declaration.
Seo Hajin let out a snort.
Talking with the dependable, badass Ryu Seoram was always fun.
The sound of lifting weights faded, as if she’d paused her workout.
- So who was it? An actor? An idol? I haven’t been taking jobs in that area lately because of that Owl incident the other day.
“Ah, that person was-.”
I glanced at the name on the business card.
“Mr. Kim Juseon.”
- …….
“Unnie?”
- Ah, haha. Juseon? Ahh?
What is this.
Her voice seemed to tremble a little.
Then it quickly dropped again.
- Where did you meet him?
“There was a wedding party at Taphon. I met him there. But you have a good memory, unnie. He said he only met you at the training center.”
- Hah, haha…… ah, a wedding party?
“Unnie?”
What is this?
The voice was laughing, but there was something eerily chilling about it.
- Haha, you little bastard…….
“Uh?”
- No, no. So, what did you do there?
“Uh…… he just introduced himself normally. He was fairly popular, too-.”
Crunch.
“Unnie?”
- Ah, sorry Hajin. Unnie’s phone seems to have broken a little, huh?
‘Why?’
The question rose to my lips, but I didn’t voice it. For some reason, it felt like I shouldn’t ask. Years of living as an idol had taught me to read the room.
- I’ll call you again next time.
“Ah, yes…… unnie. See you next time.”
But even after waiting, the call didn’t end.
“Unnie?”
- Sorry, could you hang up for me?
“……?”
- The touch panel’s broken, so it won’t respond?
* * *
“Report, mission failed. Reason: assassination target absent.”
- Absent?
“Affirmative.”
The woman who had cut down Rex, Zhao Wiran, passed beneath a streetlight and sank back into the darkness.
- So Sangseoryeong really does have a good eye for reading the flow. Not wrong. This means there’s no immediate opening to go after the 5th Floor. Still, the last Blue Dragon incident keeps bothering me.
“…….”
Zhao Wiran walked without a destination.
She didn’t know how many hours she’d been walking, but she just kept walking.
- The 4th Floor should work out if the timing’s right.
Question, success?
- Yeah, the 4th Floor succeeded. The seal has been broken, and the demon’s revival is certain.
Demon.
In the past, during the floor-to-floor war.
Those from the 1st Floor, the Abyss, were collectively called demons.
The traces from that time still remain throughout the tower; they were scars that could never truly be erased.
Confirmed.
- You should head back soon too.
The call cut off.
To return, she had to meet the go-between.
But before that-.
Grrrumble.
She was hungry.
Even if parts of the body had been replaced with prosthetics, hunger didn’t disappear.
A dim dawn.
Walking aimlessly, Zhao Wiran spotted a sign shining alone in the street.
‘Convenience store.’
24-hour operation.
Back in her hometown, the old Murim she could barely remember now, such a thing would have been unimaginable.
She opened the door and went inside.
Jingle-jingle.
Welcome.
A pink-haired elf, apparently on register duty, was staring at a triangle kimbap with her eyes half-open.
How is an elf like me supposed to see something written this small……?
Grumbling to herself, Wiran casually swept up all the food on the shelves and placed it on the counter.
Eek.
The flustered elf scanned each barcode one by one. She was somewhat clumsy, so it took a little while, but she still managed it.
Whew! Altogether that’s 72,000 won!
The elf looked proud, as if she’d done something impressive.
She held out her hand without a word.
She was about to pay with the card chip on her wrist-.
Uh, our store doesn’t accept that.
Flustered and wavering, the elf asked for something else.
Card or cash! These days there are even cards made separately for tourists-.
Answer: no payment method available.
…….
…….
The elf, still staring at her, quietly nudged the products toward Zhao Wiran.
Take them back and put them where they belong.
Zhao Wiran stared at the food.
She was hungry, and she didn’t have time to spare here.
Then-.
‘Judgment.’
Should I just kill her?
The moment she hesitated.
Let’s seeee-.
The elf went into the staff room beside the counter and came back out carrying a bow she had propped beside a mop.
Ugh, it’s dusty.
…….
I didn’t like your clothes being all dark and dreary either. It’d be best for you to put them back where they belong right away. I am not very merciful for my age, after all.
At the sudden appearance of the bow, the built-in simulation installed in Zhao Wiran sprang into action.
‘Observation.’
Whirrr!
Calculations raced through her mind.
And then-.
[Defeat.]
[Defeat.]
[Defeat.]
[Defeat.]
[Defeat.]
[Defeat.]
[Defeat.]
[Defeat.]
[Defeat.]
.
.
.
Amid countless simulations, only the two letters meaning defeat blocked her path.
When the result of victory never appeared-.
[Combat Unapproved]
[Escape Impossible.]
[Surrender Recommended.]
Zhao Wiran stared at the result and asked the elf again.
Question.
Mm, speak.
First in, first out?
Ah, why are you asking something so obvious? Hurry up and do it.
Zhao Wiran promptly gathered the products into her arms and started putting them back on display.