Fate

Refusing 200 million won was too much money.

There were other reasons too, but in truth, there was nothing wrong with what Yu Yena said.

The money I'd earn through the Yeoum Association would only be short-term.

I even agreed that we had to stop them from becoming war fanatics.

“Then when are you planning to leave?”

“Soon. As soon as possible, if I can.”

“Then I have Ms. Beloa’s contact info, so I’ll just-.”

As I left the consultation room, I looked toward the office and saw the lights were still on.

When I went inside to check Ms. Beloa’s contact info, the employees were still waiting and hadn’t gone home yet.

“Hm? Why hasn’t everyone gone home yet?”

“We heard you were buying a car, boss, so we were waiting.”

“A car? Are you interested in cars too, Reichen?”

“I thought it would be nice to have one when I travel with Dajeong.”

This is why couples are a problem.

At the slightest thing, they start talking about going on trips together.

“Ahem. I just decided. It’s not a company car—it’s going to be my own car, so keep that in mind. It’s none of your business, you uncivilized employees.”

I was just about to make the hierarchy crystal clear when Yu Yena tapped my back from behind.

“Do you normally treat your employees like that?”

“They treat me that way too.”

“Boss! I saw on NewTube that if you suddenly make a lot of money and start spending recklessly, it’s a shortcut to ruin!”

The wisdom of an old lady in the internet age, with nothing to do but watch Shorts on her phone all day.

She wasn’t wrong, but how could a person spend their whole life walking everywhere?

“Hah, look, Ms. Renea. What is my dream?”

“An apartment! Every time you drink, you just mumble and mumble nonstop. And you’re still so young, yet you repeat yourself like some old geezer—”

“Ahem! Right. An apartment, yes? But to get into an apartment, don’t you need, uh, at least some minimum qualifications? Like my dream car, the Argent S.”

“...Is that so? I didn’t know much about apartments. Are they something you need a car to live in?”

“Yes.”

Yu Yena tapped me again from behind.

“Hey. This is getting too long.”

“It’s worth dragging on. This is an important issue.”

“Haa…….”

After Kim Yang said it was a lie, Renea ran up and, copying Kim Yang, slammed a headbutt into my stomach.

“Didn’t you say it wasn’t necessary!”

“Then let’s think about it differently. Say I bought an apartment.”

“Bought it, my ass. At this rate, you’ll probably end up living in the apartment next door to me for the rest of your life.”

“Oh, you sure have a lot to say today?!”

I cut her off irritably and continued.

“Say I bought an apartment, but I worked so hard my legs got wrecked? Then wouldn’t I have to go into the apartment in a wheelchair?”

“......”

“Even if you live in an apartment, you still need to live healthily. The Argent S will keep my legs healthy too.”

As I patted my thighs and smiled kindly, asking if she got it now—

“What kind of bullshit is that.”

Renea answered, arms crossed, looking utterly flabbergasted.

“I’ve been climbing trees for 1,900 years and my legs are still rock solid, so if yours are going to break just from walking for a few years—”

“Ah, shit. Aren’t you going home yet?!”

I lost.

* * *

The next day.

Today, I wasn’t going to Meracle. I was going to meet the Yeoum Association.

In other words, I was on my way to earn 200 million won.

I told the employees I was taking leave, but—

- Kim Yang: Die.

- Renea: It gets difficult if there are fewer than three regular employees at the company!

- Renea: Make me a regular employee!

- Reichen: Have a safe trip, boss.

The group chat immediately flooded with the employees’ wails. Kim Yang spent an hour on the phone chewing me out for telling them only the day before my leave, especially when we’d been so busy lately.

The place I was standing was the entrance to the road leading over to the Tower. I could catch a bus here.

“Boss……!”

A woman with striking dark circles under her eyes, Beloa, was hurrying toward me from afar in quick little steps. The book she was clutching tightly to her chest looked as if it were her own heart.

She had agreed to help me meet the Yeoum Association’s Aranchino, so we were going together today.

“You seem to have a lot to carry?”

When I pointed to the large modern backpack on her back, Beloa looked flustered.

“Well, they’re books I’m going to read after I go back to the library.”

“Ahh…….”

There should be plenty of books there too.

I didn’t know what books she’d bought, but judging from how her round bag had turned angular, she must have stuffed it full.

“Isn’t it heavy? Want me to carry it?”

“Yes…….”

“By the way, where’s Yena?”

I immediately called Yu Yena on my phone. What if she was the one late after saying she’d come pick us up?

“Boss? You said you’d carry it…….”

“Hello? Yena? Ah, you weren’t on the line yet.”

“Um, boss…….”

“Hello? Oh, Yena! Ah, what? It’s the ringback tone. You hadn’t answered yet.”

“Boss—”

“Yena! You finally picked up!”

While I ignored Ms. Beloa tugging at my sleeve, the call finally connected.

But it was kind of noisy around her.

“Hey, Yu Yena. Where are you? You were the one who moved up the appointment.”

- Ah, Juseon. Sorry. I should’ve contacted you, but the situation got a bit urgent.

“...Hm?”

- I haven’t been able to reach Seoram since yesterday. Because of that, I think I need to go to the 6th Floor.

“Then what about us?”

- I sent a guide separately. Just follow that person. Where are you now?

“At the bus stop in front of the road leading over to the Tower.”

- Someone will go there.

And with that, the call ended.

I briefly explained the situation to Ms. Beloa.

A little while later, a van arrived.

“Kim Juseon and Ms. Beloa, correct?”

“Yes, that’s correct.”

“I’m Telliman from the Tower Administration Bureau. We’ll take you right away.”

The black suit and sunglasses were the classic look. Still, he was the sort of person whose background you couldn’t easily place.

He could be from the 3rd Floor, the 4th Floor, or the 6th Floor. I didn’t like that air of mystery much.

After giving Beloa’s bag a push from behind and getting into the car, I took a seat.

The car glided smoothly forward.

We slipped into the VIP lane, passed the tollgate, and the Pacific immediately came into view.

I’d seen the scenery many times, but the feeling of passing through a gate in downtown Seoul and having everything completely change was still novel.

I was looking out the window, breathing in the salty smell that stung my nose, when Beloa caught my eye.

After fidgeting around for a bit, she pulled out a book and started reading. The anime character on the cover and the title jumped right out at me.

[How am I supposed to endure this?! I was just an unremarkable loner at school, and now out of nowhere the most popular guy in the province is coming on to me?! No way, no way! ※And no way really meant no way?!]

‘What the fuck is that.’

The title felt like it started by punching the reader in the face. I checked to make sure my teeth hadn’t been knocked out.

“Is it interesting?”

“Huh? Ah, yes, it’s pretty fun…… Want to take a look?”

“No. I get motion sick if I read in a car.”

“The library…… doesn’t have books like this.”

She muttered softly to herself and started reading again. If she could focus again that quickly, it must be pretty good.

We followed the road all the way and arrived at the Tower.

As I got out of the car, I waved to Telliman, the employee who had driven us.

“Come help me with the bag.”

“...Understood.”

Telliman took Beloa’s bag with a reluctant expression.

“There’s still some time, right? I’m going to the bathroom for a bit.”

I dumped it on him and ran straight to the bathroom. There was no way I could really carry that thing myself.

It’s not like we’re on a forced march.

I stepped into the men’s restroom.

A panda beastkin happened to be washing his hands, so I greeted him with a friendly smile.

“Hello.”

“Huh? Uh…… yeah.”

“Sorry, but could I borrow your phone for a second? I left mine behind.”

“Huh? Um, here you go.”

The panda beastkin handed over the phone with a reluctant expression. Thanking him, I took it and immediately called Yu Yena’s private number.

I’d memorized it back when we were dating, and it came in handy.

- Hello? Who is this?

Yu Yena sounded suspicious because it was an unknown number.

Unlike before, there was no background noise around her.

“Oh, Yena. It’s me, Kim Juseon.”

- Juseon? Why are you calling from this phone? No, more importantly, why aren’t you answering? Where are you right now?

“Yeah, they sent someone ahead. They called pretending to be you and made me board something else.”

- What……?

It had seemed strange ever since yesterday, when they suddenly sent a message asking to change the schedule.

Even Yu Yena, who’d called me while all that background noise was around her?

It was way too similar to Radio’s tactic.

- So where are you now?

“At the Tower. For now I’m moving according to their plan, so I think we’ll be leaving soon.”

- Haa…… all right, I understand for now. I’ll follow behind too, but at this rate they’re probably keeping my location under constant surveillance as well.

“Mm, probably.”

I shrugged and answered, and Yu Yena continued her explanation calmly.

- Juseon, remember this. Never use the Law.

“......”

- If you overuse the Law and your existence becomes known on the 7th Floor, that’ll lead straight to an inter-floor war too.

“I guess so.”

It really was a devious scheme.

They’re trying to start a war with the Abyss on the 1st Floor, but if I use my power, the risk of the 7th Floor coming down is also high.

Then it would be another inter-floor war.

- I’ll chase after you for now, but…… will you be okay?

“I’m fine. Ms. Beloa is with me, and I have someone else I can call.”

After hanging up, I smiled at the panda beastkin and asked if I could make one more call.

Maybe because it was from another floor, the ringback tone took a little longer.

- ……Hello?

Hearing that thick, greasy voice again, I felt a strange sense of relief and called out to him.

“Mr. Deokgu, what are you doing right now? Let’s meet up and catch up for the first time in a while.”

* * *

At the same time.

A dark, damp back alley in Cyber City.

The members of Dead Packet, along with Ryu Seoram, were fugitives being chased by Cyber Pol, the police of Cyber City, and they caught their breath.

“Haa! Haa! Damn it!”

“I knew it was dangerous, but now that it feels like I’m really risking my life, I’m about to piss myself.”

“I already pissed a little.”

“No wonder it smelled like piss.”

The Dead Packet members laughed bitterly among themselves.

They’d survived thanks to Ryu Seoram getting them through situations where they’d already nearly died several times.

They were already thinking of themselves as half dead.

“Anyone able to get on the net?”

“No…… Fuck, in Cyber City we can’t even post a single thing online anymore.”

All their electronic devices and accounts had already been blocked. They were like chimpanzees in a city with superior technology.

Watching Cyber Pol pass by outside the alley, Ryu Seoram rolled her shoulders.

“Phew, isn’t there anywhere we can hide?”

“We only hang out among ourselves.”

“If they were connected to us from the start, Cyber Pol would already be all over them.”

“Yeah, figures. Those guys just sit around glued to their computers.”

Though Ryu Seoram herself was actually the type to sit around at the baseball stadium, there was no one who could call her out on it.

‘If only there were somewhere I could hide.’

Even if they stayed in an alley like this, they couldn’t really rest.

The chase that had continued since yesterday was dragging on more stubbornly than expected.

‘I’m fine, but these guys are already at their physical limit.’

While she was thinking, Ryu Seoram sensed someone’s presence at the alley entrance.

“Shut up, all of you.”

After silencing the Dead Packet members, Ryu Seoram clenched her fist.

If they ran into someone in an alley like this, battle was unavoidable.

Steeling herself, she stepped forward.

“You saw it, didn’t you, young lady! I was right, wasn’t I! My father even praised me for having an exceptional nose for qi!”

‘Young lady?’

A familiar voice.

He was wearing Cyber City clothes, but his manner of speech and demeanor were straight out of the old martial world.

As they drew closer, their faces began to emerge from the darkness.

“Ah, it really is. Thank goodness.”

The two people who emerged from the darkness were Jessica and Namgung Yeon, tightly holding hands.

“How?”

Ryu Seoram was flustered, wondering how the two of them had found her.

Jessica smiled and explained.

“This morning, a wanted poster was delivered to the company. Your face was on it, Seoram.”

“So we came looking for you. The Namgung clan never forgets a kindness and always repays it!”

At the sight of Namgung Yeon making the martial salute, Jessica blushed bright red and added,

“I…… am now a member of the Namgung clan too.”