Implanting the Debt
Father pulled a small box from his pocket and flipped open the lid. The instant a sweet fragrance wafted through the air, Yoo Min-jeong recognized the white pill nestled inside.
White Spear.
An incredibly expensive item laced with lyrium.
Kim Jun popped the White Spear into his mouth and swallowed it down.
"This stuff's seriously good. Mind if I grab a few for the next raid?"
"Buy them yourself if you need 'em."
Yoo Min-jeong blinked in shock, glancing back and forth between her father and Kim Jun. An act? Playing their parts to the hilt?
She had a pretty good idea what was going on.
Yoo Min-jeong glared at the two men, her stare especially venomous toward the one she'd shared a home with for decades—like she wanted to devour him whole.
"Ahem. Forgot about some urgent business. Catch you later."
Yoo Wan-seop launched himself into the air, vanishing dozens of meters away in a blink. Cheongmyeonggeom streaked after him.
There was no catching up to her father once he picked up speed. Yoo Min-jeong planted herself in front of the second man instead.
"What the hell was that?"
"You didn't know? Guild master didn't fill you in?"
Yoo Min-jeong closed her eyes. Kim Jun was pinning the blame on her absent father.
Men are all the same.
"Spit it out properly."
"Well..."
Kim Jun explained it all in his usual style—short, clear, and to the point.
The mini-movie starring Yoo Wan-seop as director and Kim Jun as lead was designed to saddle Hwang In-su with a psychological debt. That mental IOU would make him choose and act differently than usual in the Sokcho Dungeon.
Whatever decision he made, the fight here today—and Yoo Wan-seop's parting shot with Cheongmyeonggeom—would flash through his mind.
"How'd you know Hwang would show up here?"
"Beats me."
Meaning her father had foreseen it and cooked up the plan with Kim Jun ahead of time.
"Why didn't you tell me?"
"He said keep it from you."
"Dad did?"
"Yeah."
"Why?"
"...So Hwang would buy it hook, line, and sinker."
With her raging like a madwoman, hurling fireballs left and right, Hwang wouldn't have dreamed it was all a show.
Yoo Min-jeong fell silent for a moment.
"Pissed?"
"Not at all."
She crossed the street to her Ferrari, slid into the driver's seat, fired up the engine, and peeled out.
Seeing the flustered look on Kim Jun's face eased her anger a bit. She remembered his car was in the shop but brushed it off.
The Ferrari roared to life with a throaty growl and shot forward.