74 Meeting

- It's time to begin the Interfloor War! We must go! We must bring divine judgment down upon those wicked demons holding our dead hostage!

- The dead are crying out for help! Our family! Our friends! Our loved ones crying in that cold abyss! We have to bring them back!

“…….”

After watching the transmitted video all the way through, Yoo Ye-na, one of the Seven Apexes, fell into thought while staring at the darkened screen.

Interfloor War.

A word that had recently been popping up all over the place.

It had already been revealed that there was in fact an organization secretly working to start an Interfloor War.

Yoo Ye-na herself had arrested and detained Zhao Wiran, one of its members.

'Could I say it's a different sort of thing?'

That organization kept creating incidents in order to start an Interfloor War.

The Azure Dragon trying to descend to Earth, the assassination attempt on the son of an Old Murim minister, the unsealing of the demon at Silos Cathedral, and so on.

And besides those major incidents, a bunch of minor ones were happening all at once.

'This is the same kind of thing.'

Yoo Ye-na judged that Aranchino and the Yeo-eum Society might also have the same entity behind them.

She had heard that demons of the Abyss could actually revive the dead.

Even so, it was hard to believe that all souls were in the Abyss.

'I have to conclude the radio is lying.'

No matter how you looked at it, that was impossible.

What mattered was-.

'It's too big. Excessively so. Just how far, and what kind of picture are they drawing?'

3rd Floor, 4th Floor, 5th Floor.

Incidents were breaking out on multiple fronts, and their goal was clear.

Interfloor War.

'Just why do they want to start an Interfloor War so badly?'

There wasn't even any distinction.

For example, if the 3rd and 4th Floors went to war.

If there had even been an intention like that, there'd be at least something to infer their purpose from.

But that wasn't it.

'They only want the Interfloor War. Is the goal simply to plunge the tower into chaos? Why? What on earth do they gain by doing that?'

Tap tap.

While she was still thinking, a message came to Yoo Ye-na's phone.

It was once again about the Tower Administration Bureau holding a meeting with the leaders of each floor.

Yoo Ye-na, as vice president of the Seoul Hunter Association and one of the Seven Apexes, also had to attend.

'So they were keeping an eye on the Yeo-eum Society after all.'

Of course they were.

Thinking that, Yoo Ye-na was about to move.

“…….”

Suddenly, she stared blankly at her phone.

A flow that was proceeding far too quickly. Incidents erupting on multiple fronts.

Someone behind it all.

'Don't tell me…….'

Someone suddenly came to mind.

After a moment's thought, Yoo Ye-na let out a short sigh and moved her hand to contact him on her phone.

A little later, the call connected.

- Hmm? What brings you to call me?

“Seo-ram, are you busy right now?”

Ryu Seo-ram, one of the Seven Apexes and her classmate.

- Right now? I'm watching baseball.

“Yeah, then could you help me with one thing?”

- You're asking me instead of putting in a request with the company?

“Yeah, please. If you can take vacation, use it and move covertly.”

I could hear Ryu Seo-ram, who had been leaning back in her chair, straighten up.

- What happened?

“Could you go to Cyber City for me?”

* * *

An unexpectedly increased company dinner headcount.

I had only meant to treat Lenea and Kim Yang, but Veloa and Ophelia ended up joining as well.

“Sushi! Sushi! Sooooshiiii!”

The old lady was singing some strange song. Apparently she really liked the sushi I treated her to last time.

I hadn't intended to buy sushi for four people.

“Please take my car.”

Ophelia had parked her car in the parking lot beside the building. It was a clean SUV, a telling sign of the wealth of a single woman over thirty.

On the flip side, the fact that she was single and drove an SUV made me wonder whether some strange desire to settle down was seeping through.

“Sooobap! Soobababang!”

What on earth is she even saying?

As I sat in the passenger seat, I naturally asked Ophelia.

“How was the person I matched you with last time? It was Mr. Mu Cheong-baek, right?”

“He had a decent face and a good house. But that distinct Old Murim atmosphere just wouldn't go away... honestly, it felt a bit stifling.”

“I see.”

It might look like light small talk, but this was work in its own right. Usually, clients came to understand their own preferences in finer detail as they went through dates.

It was rare for someone to find a match after just one or two meetings.

I added one more item to Ophelia's preferences in my head.

“So where are we going?”

Smiling, I answered Ophelia, who was holding the wheel.

“You know Cheonra Mart over there, right? Let's go there.”

“Is there a sushi place near Cheonra Mart?”

“At this hour, they’ll already have clearance stickers on everything.”

“…….”

Judging by the rattling of the seat, it seemed like Kim Yang in the back seat was protesting.

So what.

Did they think I could afford sushi for all of them?

“Even supermarket sushi tastes good these days.”

“Beloa and my share we'll pay for ourselves, so just go to a sushi restaurant.”

* * *

It was under the pretense of Lenea's welcome party, but in truth, it was also to talk with Veloa and Ophelia.

The reason Reichen had come looking for me, and the Yeo-eum Society.

I was curious what connection there might be between the two.

“Boss, one draft beer here!”

But the moment we stepped inside, Ophelia immediately ordered draft beer, so a proper conversation didn't seem likely.

“Two beers!”

You can't beat beer after work. Besides, lately I'd only been drinking canned beer, so draft was a rare treat.

“B-boss. Alcohol?”

“Yeah, it's not like I'm driving anyway.”

Ophelia would just call a designated driver.

“Th-then. Me too.”

“This one too!”

The staff member who came to take our order glanced at Lenea. I thought she'd say she couldn't drink because she looked like a child.

After seeing her elf ears, she gave a brief nod and immediately brought the beer.

A company dinner that had started before anyone knew it.

We all ended up drinking beer together, excluding Veloa, who was weak with alcohol.

Since it was a Japanese restaurant, it didn't just sell sushi but also chicken skewers and takoyaki, so I ordered some snacks that went well with beer as well.

“Hoo, so. What exactly does the Yeo-eum Society do?”

Leaving Ophelia, who was drinking one after another, alone, Veloa, who had been nibbling on boiled beans, abruptly looked up.

Maybe she thought the conversation had finally turned to her side, because her expression brightened.

“Well... it means the gathering of lingering sound. It's a place created by Aranchino, a necromancer from the Abyss Research Society...”

Abyss Research Society.

The club created by seven geniuses who had swept through the Magic Academy.

Even though they were academy alumni, their overly open and radical tendencies made them a thorn in the side of the conservative Magic Tower, which had them disbanded.

“A few days ago, Aranchino came to me and said she thought she'd made a radio connected to the afterlife.”

“The afterlife?”

This was rather unsettling.

After all, the sort of thing religions always talk about is the afterlife. To hear such a thing on the Razesta Continent, where the gods had been abandoned...

“If you take a dead person's belongings to the radio... and Aranchino connects them with magic, you can hear that person's voice. S-so—.”

It's rare for Veloa to talk this much, so she's a little out of breath. I was about to tell her to explain it calmly when a phone was held out from the side.

It was Ophelia, who had been drinking beer.

“Just look at this.”

“Hm.”

What was displayed on the screen was a replay of a live broadcast.

The live stream had been conducted in the form of a personal broadcast.

“I want to see too!”

“Oh, over here.”

“Ah, come on...”

It was annoying with Lenea and Kim Yang clinging to both sides of me, but after watching it I could roughly understand.

“So basically, the souls of the dead are actually trapped on the 1st Floor. And the demons are tormenting them and playing with them, so—”

“We have to wage war to liberate them. Is that it?”

Following that was Veloa's neat summary.

It was more interesting than I'd expected.

“This kind of scam is something else.”

I couldn't help thinking it was a strangely elaborate scam.

“W-well, yeah.”

Kim Yang agreed with me too, but on the other hand Lenea stared blankly down at the screen.

“If this were really true......”

The lingering reluctance in that hesitation.

Though I always joked that she was 1,900 years old, that also meant she had repeated many meetings and partings.

Did she have someone she missed?

Lenea laughed heartily and downed her beer, as if trying to take back what she'd just said.

“A scam... maybe?”

By contrast, Veloa hesitated.

Though her voice was a whisper, she clearly stated her opinion.

“Honestly, I'm not sure.”

“Do you believe the radio?”

“Not the radio... Aranchino.”

Tap tap.

A plate with chicken skewers on it was pushed in from the side during the conversation.

Kim Yang gestured with his eyes for us to eat while talking.

“Aranchino was... the friend who cried the most on the day our Abyss Research Society was disbanded.”

“That's surprising. It's a little awkward to say this, but from appearances, you don't seem like that type at all.”

There's nothing to say except that the image on the phone screen suits a necromancer far too well.

“At the time, the Abyss Research Society was working on harmoniously blending magic into items brought from the 6th Floor. Aranchino was at the center of it.”

Objects from Cyber City and magic from the Razesta Continent.

It's hard to imagine what kind of object would result if the two were blended harmoniously.

“We all said it wasn't your fault... and in fact, that was true. That one research project wasn't what caused the disbandment.”

“There were a lot more complicated things.”

Ophelia, who had already emptied three glasses of beer by herself, added bitterly.

Back in school, brilliant talents gathered together and exchanged sharp, ingenious ideas.

Because they shone so brightly, they were stars of brilliance.

“This time, it seems like Aranchino wants to prove something... that she too can be of help to the world.”

“…….”

“That she carried out proper research.”

* * *

Tower Administration Bureau meeting room.

At the place where Kim Juseon had been interrogated last time, the representatives of each floor were once again holding a meeting over the screen.

“The 3rd Floor Administration Bureau judges that the radio is highly likely to have been manipulated.”

Director Mecklen stood before the podium and said firmly.

It was the conclusion reached after discussing it with the other Seven Apexes.

“To begin with, the device called a radio isn't native to the Razesta Continent. It has been identified as coming from Cyber City. In other words, it means information can be manipulated and reconstructed.”

- Director Mecklen.

On one side of the screen, clouds and holy emblems symbolizing the Pope flickered.

- If so, then how can you accurately reproduce a voice to match the target?

“If you look at the footage, the noise is extremely severe. That means the sound quality is unstable. At this level, we can't rule out the possibility that reproducing a voice is technically impossible either.”

- For one or two people, perhaps. But the number of confirmed cases so far is in the hundreds.

There was that much anguish in the Pope's heavy voice.

- Belongings of a nonexistent person, belongings of a living person... even after dispatching personnel directly from the Holy See to test it, the Yeo-eum Society noticed every single one.

A troubled sigh followed his voice.

- The Razesta Continent is... judging that we can't rule out the possibility that this phenomenon is real.

That meant, in the end, that they were considering the Interfloor War.

And this time, it meant going to attack the demons directly.

“What do Old Murim and Cyber City think?”

The shadow behind the folding screen on the screen replied without moving.

- Old Murim is opposed. The Yeo-eum Society doesn't even set foot in Old Murim.

The only place the Yeo-eum Society hadn't reached: Old Murim.

The reason was simple.

Because of the temperamental spirit beasts, electronic devices or transmitters couldn't be installed in Old Murim.

Since they were completely untouched by the live broadcast, there was no reason for them to know about it.

Next, Cyber City's screen lit up.

[AXIS] was written there, blinking calmly.

- Axis agrees with the Razesta Continent's opinion.

- Analysis results found no clear signs of forgery in the transmitted voice data.

- Regarding the unscientific domain known as magic, Axis finds it difficult to make a definitive judgment.

- At this point, we cannot rule out the possibility that it's real.

At Axis's unexpected answer, sweat beaded on Director Mecklen's forehead.

Frustrated, he loosened his tie and took a breath.

What I was about to say next was the method Yoo Ye-na had proposed.

'Is this really the right thing to do?'

The mastermind behind the Interfloor War.

If Yoo Ye-na was right, then its identity was—.

“We request direct confirmation from the 3rd Floor.”

A cold woman's voice cut into the flow of the meeting.

Yoo Ye-na, who had been watching quietly until now, stepped forward with the sound of her heels.

“I do not see this matter as a ghost, magic, or afterlife issue.”

- ...Then how do you see it?

The cloud and holy emblem flickered once more. He, too, hoped for an answer he could accept if possible.

After briefly steadying her breath, Yoo Ye-na declared firmly.

“A long-term, planned scam based on the leakage of personal information.”

The air in the meeting room seemed to lighten for an instant.

It was such a familiar term.

“The Yeo-eum Society absolutely demands a keepsake. Keepsakes are directly tied to an individual's living sphere, relationships, and records. In addition, when registering, the Yeo-eum Society also requests some personal information.”

Yoo Ye-na continued.

“We judge that they collect information through keepsakes and use the gathered data to reproduce the voices people want to hear.”

- I understand the hypothesis.

Axis's cursive script flickered.

It seemed to be organizing the flow of logic.

- However, the statements made by Seven Apex Yoo Ye-na involve excessive logical leaps.

- There is still insufficient evidence to identify the mastermind.

“That's right, there isn't enough. That's why I propose this: a verification of whether the hell the Yeo-eum Society talks about really exists.”

- In what way?

“...... Put a person whose information is completely unknown in front of the radio.”

She tightly clenched her cold hand.

With her eyes gently closed, Yoo Ye-na apologized in a low voice.

I'm sorry, Juseon.

“A person from the 7th Floor. Kim Juseon, someone who had no record on this side until a few years ago.”

- ....

“If the Yeo-eum Society is telling the truth, it should be able to call out a voice regardless of floor or whether there is information on file.”

But if it's false-.

“The radio will only emit static.”