Suddenly, Ninjas Appeared! #5
The assault by Ki Seung-jae and the Japanese ninjas was fully suppressed in less than half a day.
Apart from the soccer field grass being scorched or frozen over, there was barely any damage to speak of.
Pop—.
Seung-jae, bound hand and foot, was brought before Seo Yerim and forced down onto his knees.
Yerim clicked her tongue—tch.
"Do you really not understand that stirring up trouble like this because people don't remember you only makes things worse for you?"
Causing a commotion—that had been Seung-jae's goal all along. The very point of this attack was to make a big enough incident that it became an issue in the news.
Seung-jae spoke with his head held high.
"Now people are going to look into why I had to do this. They'll finally pay attention to us—the ones who got hurt, fell ill, broke down, and were forgotten—and to our families as well."
Even trussed up like that, Seung-jae sat with his back ramrod straight, looking for all the world like an activist or a martyr.
But Seo Yerim saw it differently.
"People really are naive. Korea isn't a country where things go the way you imagine. A first-generation awakener goes berserk and commits terrorism—when an article like that drops, all you'll get is regulation and ostracism."
I'd wondered if that could really happen, but thinking it over quietly, Yerim had a point.
Just imagine the news breaking that a first-generation awakener, tormented by PTSD and poverty, had attacked a chaebol and run amok.
The citizens would absolutely tremble in fear. "Wait—there's a first-gen awakener living right next door to us! He's been muttering strange things every day—could that be PTSD symptoms!?"
An Awakener Regulation Act would come out of the woodwork, and wouldn't that just make everything harder—more scrutiny, more inspections, less freedom to act?
"What will you do if people like Ha Ildo, who are living honest lives and working hard, end up suffering because of you? Are you going to commit another act of terror then, too?"
"So what, I should just keep doing things nobody will ever acknowledge? Seo Yerim. People like you—who lived from start to finish bathed in attention, wanting for nothing—will never, ever understand!"
Seung-jae flared up and shouted.
"What would an S-rank awakener treated like a VIP everywhere she goes know about us!"
"Excuse me?"
He seemed to have completely lost his composure, but to me it just sounded like nonsense.
Of all people, he was saying that to Seo Yerim—an S-rank awakener?
One of only two S-ranks in all of Korea.
Seung-jae clearly had no idea what that meant.
Probably because his view of the world had narrowed to a pinhole.
I grabbed Seung-jae by the body, hauled him up to his feet, and told him plainly.
"Hey. Ki Seung-jae. Watch your mouth! Who do you think is keeping this peace right now? Ordinary people might not know, but you—you, of all people, who's desperate to be remembered—have no business saying that to Seo Yerim!"
Humanity had advanced alongside the 5th Industry.
The odds of losing your life or getting maimed in a rift had dropped to almost nothing. Countless people's challenges and sacrifices had built the system up, layer by layer, into what it was today.
Even so, if there was any place left where you could still be gravely injured or killed in a rift, it was the T-rank rifts—the worst of the worst.
And the people facing those killing fields every single day—the very sites where Seung-jae and I had once been forced to stake our lives—were S-rank awakeners like Seo Yerim and Cha Yura.
If an R-rank (Ragnarok) rift, a tier beyond even T (Titan), were ever to open on Korean soil, the first ones deployed would be Seo Yerim and Cha Yura too.
No matter how hellish and treacherous that place turned out to be.
"It's because Seo Yerim exists that the rest of us can sleep easy every night. An S-rank awakener is people's hope, their lamp in the dark, their bulwark."
That was what I wanted to become, too.
At the moment I was woefully short on power and groveling my way there, but still!
"…"
Perhaps Seung-jae realized he'd misspoken, because he offered no rebuttal and simply shut his mouth.
Then Seo Yerim let out a scornful hmph.
"No, actually—well said. That's right, I'm a silver-spoon kid. So what? Is being born rich a crime? And you say nobody acknowledges anyone—but trust me, someone always will."
As she said it, Seo Yerim's face turned remarkably red.
Was she angry from getting chewed out by Seung-jae?
The temperature around us seemed to climb, too.
"Hyeeek…! This Coris's ice slushie is melting away again…! Global warming is a terribly serious matter…!"
As Coris shivered, Oinoi raised her hand.
"The master of the house teaches this Oinoi about computers every day…! And he helps tend the golden apple tree daily, and lets this Oinoi use as much water as she pleases…! This Oinoi knows this…! For nymphs never forget a kindness and always repay it…!"
It was a bizarre compliment.
Oinoi puffed out her chest as proud as if she'd delivered some magnificent tribute, snorting hmph! through her nose.
Soon Coris spoke up too.
"Pre-Kore Jina brushes this Coris's hair every day, walks with her, and teaches her how to work…! This Coris does not forget…!"
"And this Illinoi will never FORGET how Kore Yerim pinched my cheeks and slashed my allowance by eighty percent, down to a mere 20,000 won…!"
It was touching and strange in equal measure.
Tap, tap—.
Just then, footsteps sounded, and I looked up to see Seo Sang-yong approaching.
He looked down at Seung-jae as he spoke.
"Mr. Ki Seung-jae. I'm afraid nothing about this incident will reach the news or the media. We cannot allow word that Telos's security was breached to spread. It will all be buried."
"…!"
"None of it happened. On this island. To us."
Seung-jae was visibly shaken.
Everything that had happened just moments ago dissolving into nothing—the shock of that must have hit him hard.
But it was only natural.
Telos was a megacorp with quasi-legal authority. Erasing what had occurred on the island wasn't exactly a difficult feat.
Seung-jae's face darkened in an instant.
That proud, straight spine sagged like a wilted plant.
"So you're telling me… it was meaningless. That everything I did meant nothing—"
"No. It wasn't meaningless. At the very least, it was excellent self-promotion. With your skills and your help, I believe Telos's newly launched pet industry could gain considerable momentum."
Swish—.
Seo Sang-yong undid the bindings on Seung-jae and raised him to his feet.
Then he told him:
"Among the nonprofit programs Telos had shelved, there was a pension and welfare initiative for first-generation awakeners and their bereaved families. I think it's worth revisiting and discussing."
Startle—!
Seo Yerim flinched in surprise.
"You're going to do that? Since when does Telos thoroughly refuse anything that doesn't turn a profit? Last time you cut it off without a second thought. What's gotten into you?"
"The company motto stays the same. What we pursue is not charity. But as long as Mr. Seung-jae cooperates with us, we will return the favor. Isn't that a win-win?"
I thought it was a good proposal.
So that's what being a megacorp executive takes, huh.
Could I have pulled proposals like that out of thin air if I'd been sitting in that seat? I doubted it.
"The act that ruined this Illinoi's soccer betting…! I will never FORGET it…! Though the media and the news will record nothing, this Illinoi does not FORGIVE…!"
Illinoi clenched her fists tight.
She shouted:
"You shall come and receive a beating from this Illinoi and the nymph sisters once a month, in a spirit of daily reflection…! It is unknown whether taking our punches freely will soothe this ANGRI-ness…!"
…I genuinely couldn't tell what was what anymore.
Anyway, Seung-jae was led away by the Telos security team like that.
Then, abruptly, he planted his feet and stopped.
"Hey. Ha Ildo. You said my operation was amateur, didn't you?"
"…?"
"If that bag you took from me had still been mine, you'd never have gotten away with that line. I'm not a man who fights battles he can't win. Count yourself lucky."
The bag.
Come to think of it, I had seized an absurdly expensive, ultra-durable bag off Seung-jae.
Just as I was wondering whether I ought to return it, Seung-jae spoke.
"It's a gift. Keep it."
Apparently so.
"So the Telos executives' retreat has ended in more ways than one. I wonder what happens with the shareholding ratio, or the engagement question?"
Ari, busy checking over anyone who might've been hurt, yawned wearily.
Just as she said, the retreat was well and truly over, and what would come of it all remained anyone's guess.
Pop—.
Just then, Reiko raised her hand.
"Hooray! If there's no result, then the engagement fizzles out too!"
Did it work like that?
I looked at Tsubaki.
Our eyes met, and her face flushed a deep, deep red.
Only then did the events of last night come flooding back.
How I had one-sidedly tormented Tsubaki—a woman—in the bathhouse (though not a single shred of it was intentional)!
If she so much as said, "That man violated my honor!" I'd without question end up splashed across the newspapers in headlines even bigger than Seung-jae's act of terror!
The news articles unrolled before my eyes in a dizzying rush.
And not only that—relations between Japanese awakeners and Korean awakeners would sour, they'd sever ties, and before I knew it a third world war might break out.
Was I, in the end, more dangerous and more despicable than Seung-jae, the man who'd planned an act of terror?
Before things spiraled, I had to apologize and beg for leniency somehow!
I marched straight up to Tsubaki with big, resolute strides.
Tsubaki was in the middle of chatting with the others.
"We'll take custody of the captured ninjas. From the look of them, they were just hired for money. But anyway—Ha Ildo? What is it?"
"Um, Tsubaki. About what happened in the bathhouse yesterday…. I'll take whatever responsibility is within my power. So please, I'm begging you, be lenient with me…."
If a scandal of any kind blew up around me—a man dreaming of becoming an S-rank awakener—it would be the end of everything, in every possible way. And treating Tsubaki, a woman, the way I had a man made me feel pathetically ashamed of myself.
I mean—.
Yerim was the one who told me not to treat her as a woman, so I'd just assumed she was one—
I had plenty I wanted to say, but in the end I was the one who'd acted, and the fault was mine.
"…Responsibility?"
Tsubaki wore the expression of someone who couldn't begin to understand my behavior.
Then she slapped me on the back—wham!
"Well, people make mistakes in life! Besides, nothing happened between us, did it? So don't you go around telling anyone anything weird. As far as anyone's concerned, nothing happened."
Nothing happened—.
At those words, the stale weight that had been sitting on my chest lifted all at once.
She'd make it as if it never occurred?
What boundless generosity was this?
Truly, she possessed a heart bigger and grander than any man's.
No wonder they called her 'Prince.'
"Also, the word 'responsibility' isn't something you throw around lightly. For us Japanese, responsibility must always be proven through action. Like seppuku. Or cutting off a finger."
Seppuku?
Cutting off a finger!?
Cold sweat broke out all over me from several directions at once.
But Tsubaki just burst out laughing—pahahaha!
"Still, you've got real guts, don't you? Even S. Ninja seems to have taken a liking to you. Before long, I'll be inviting you to the Kangeki Alliance headquarters in Japan. Refusal—I will refuse on your behalf."