Chapter 66
Chapter 66
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 66
Chapter Title: Tiger's Daughter (3)
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I got out of Chae Taewon's car and did some light stretches, loosening my wrists and ankles, before setting down the skateboard I'd brought with me.
No need for explosive propulsion boosters.
[Fox's Agility]
[Invisible Hand]
Intricate patterns of light began to shimmer across my black hoodie. Since I'd prioritized practicality over visibility or uniformity, the magic circle looked like a chaotic scatter of random doodles or graffiti.
The spells to enhance my stance control and compensate for my lacking agility stats were complete. I hopped onto the board and gave it a cheerful kick. In an instant, it shot forward with ferocious acceleration.
Then, [Leap].
A silver magic circle resembling cracks spiderwebbed across the ordinary-looking board. With no other warning, it launched into the air like a springboard, carrying me silently through the cool night air over the towering wall.
Whoosh—thud!!
The scenery around me blurred by in a rush.
Beyond the oppressive wall, inside was a impeccably manicured garden straight out of an old estate manor.
And there, three broad-shouldered bruisers in pitch-black suits stared at me in shock.
They seemed momentarily at a loss for words... Ah, they probably weren't expecting someone like me to show up.
"Excuse me, I'm here through Vasilisa's referral. You gonna show me in or what?"
"W-What?"
An incredulous snort burst from one of the bruisers. Clearly, they weren't prepared at all. As I opened my mouth to repeat myself, the baldest one—who looked a cut above the others, like a mid-level enforcer—yelled at his loose-lipped subordinate.
"H-Hey, hold up! Move aside!"
He flashed an awkward smile and gave me a slight bow.
"We've been expecting you. Forgive the surprise—just a little startled, you know?"
"Yeah, sure."
"This way, please."
I wordlessly tucked the still-glowing board under my arm and followed him.
Cheongho's place was a sprawling, opulent mansion whose square footage was impossible to guess at a glance.
But right now, the interior was every bit as chaotic as the situation itself... a total wreck.
For starters, a massive display cabinet lay toppled over.
It must've held plates, judging by the shards scattered beside it—shattered into a million pieces, as expected.
The fragments suggested they were fancy, ornamental collector's items rather than everyday dishware.
Every piece of furniture small enough to throw had been flung about, broken and strewn everywhere.
This living room, once no doubt filled with expansive luxury decor, now looked like the aftermath of a rampage by a deranged gorilla with eight arms.
Passing the mansion's staff hovering anxiously outside the living room, I stepped inside to find, smack in the center, a madman as disheveled as the room itself.
He was wearing what you could generously call a suit. Buttons torn off, left shoulder seam completely ripped—but a suit was a suit. Even in this state, his feet were shod in dress shoes.
He looked insane, but this mid-50s man was Cheongho, one of the three heads of the Triad.
It resembled the scene of a brawl with kidnappers, but that wasn't the case. As if reading my mind, the bruiser who'd escorted me leaned in and whispered.
"This wasn't the kidnappers. It was our boss who did this."
"So the guy who trashed the place and beat up the boss... is the boss himself?"
"Yeah. He couldn't hold back his rage..."
Yeah, I could picture it. Cheongho, having his daughter snatched from broad daylight in the middle of his mansion, must've snapped and gone berserk, refusing to accept it.
"Who the hell are you?"
Cheongho roughly raked back his disheveled hair, glaring over at us.
Revealing a massive scar slashing across his forehead and around his eyes, previously hidden by his locks.
Now that I looked closer, his torn shirt exposed a torso crisscrossed with long horizontal scars—like vicious tiger stripes.
"I'm the fixer who came through Vasilisa's referral."
The escorting bruiser answered.
"A wizard?"
"Yes."
"...Goddamn it. You any good?"
After two rounds of this reaction, I was starting to miss the polite, refined Chae Taewon. While I was reminiscing about him, Cheongho fixed his bloodshot eyes on me and began advancing slowly.
Ah, screw up here, and I'd trigger that dogshit event.
"Cut it out."
"What?"
"You're in a hurry, right? This isn't some old kung fu flick—why waste time testing me with an attack when you could be finding your daughter?"
"You little shit..."
But Cheongho didn't stop. His menacingly surging mana and killing intent made the air prickle. I even heard someone collapse behind me. But it wasn't enough to faze me.
I could've stood there impassively forever, but that'd take ages. Reluctantly, I amped up my mana just enough to shove his aside. Veins bulged blue on his forehead as he ramped up his mana in earnest.
'This won't do.'
I extended my mana and influence in full, wedging it between the mana rising from his body. I could've twisted his mana core outright... but he's the client, so I neutered his surging power with an opposing wavelength, calmly and gently.
Effortless control, flowing like water without focus. Even though it was his mana, not mine, perfect resonance let me steer its flow... Ah, but this crap was getting annoying too.
On impulse, I blasted my mana in one burst, seizing and twisting his in a single go.
"Gyaaaah!"
Thud.
Cheongho paled and collapsed backward. From his expression, you'd think I'd crushed his nose or balls instead of his mana.
"W-What the hell are you?!"
"As introduced earlier, a wizard. And the fixer Vasilisa sent."
"No, fuck that! How'd you do that just now?!"
"Ah, come on... I came here because I heard your family was kidnapped. If I've got the wrong place, I'll be on my way."
"N-No! Wait! Wait! Sorry! I'm sorry! Find my girl, our Hyeona! I lost it over my daughter and was rude to you!"
I'd half-considered just walking out or trashing the place for real, but I held back for the sake of future developments.
"If you want anything beyond the stated request, pay accordingly."
"Y-Yeah, got it! Please, I won't do it again! I'll beg! Sorry!"
Cheongho crawled toward me on his knees from where he'd fallen.
A seasoned legend in his world, groveling on the floor... It was satisfying, kinda awkward, mixed bag.
"Enough begging. Let's talk business."
But Cheongho couldn't stand right away. After some commotion with his men helping him up, we could finally have a normal conversation.
Or not—Cheongho grew frantic again, words tumbling out incoherently.
"Find my daughter, please! This is kidnapping! Those bastard sons of bitches...! How do you snatch a kid from her own room in broad daylight...! How does this even happen?! We had over 40 guys guarding the place!!"
"I haven't got a clue what you're saying..."
At my words, Cheongho started slamming his own head.
Thwack! Thwack-thwack! Crack! Wham!
Not some self-harm shakedown. That's just how he was. Only after beating himself senseless for a while could he string together coherent sentences.
"What do you want? Anything to help. Men? I'll give you men. Advance payment? Name it."
"First, I'd like to see your daughter's room."
"Right, this way."
Cheongho's daughter Hyeona's room was upstairs. If memory served, she was a high schooler, and the decor matched that age—though now it was quite the mess, if not as bad as the living room.
Especially eye-catching: the completely shattered window.
"What did my Hyeona ever do to deserve this?!"
Well, no fault of the daughter. But if she weren't Cheongho's kid, she wouldn't have been targeted.
I approached the window slowly. This quest had a time limit, so unlike others, it featured fixed clues placed in randomized patterns by location. The culprit and kidnapping site changed accordingly.
The player had to scour the room like an escape game, piecing clues together within the time limit to deduce Hyeona's location.
"First off, it was an inside job."
"What?"
Boring detail, but the window shards were scattered outward, not inward. No external intruder broke it.
I could've dragged it out with dramatic reveals for a sleuth show, but it'd be cringey, so I cut to the chase.
"Look for anyone who vanished in the chaos."
"No way... One of my own men is the kidnapper? What the hell for?!"
Eh... Explaining that would be a hassle.
"Anyway, I'll locate your daughter with magic soon enough. Just wait a bit."
Magic or memory—it'd be quick either way.
I picked up a lone sheet of paper from the clutter on the floor, oddly out of place. It looked like a book cover, but no book—just the single sheet.
Good, one of the closer possible sites.
"Got it."
"What? Where? Just tell me the spot, and I'll handle the rest!"
Sure, that could work. Take the pay and bail... I'd have it easy, Cheongho storms in with his goons, causes a ruckus, botches it, and Hyeona dies.
There goes long-term trust from a useful Cheongho, plus mission bonuses.
I'm not here putting up with his bullshit for pocket change.
"Too many people will backfire. She'll end up a hostage."
"Please...! Then what the hell am I supposed to do?!"
I pulled up the quest window to check remaining time.
[! Time Limit: Jeong Hyeona dies in (2) hours. !]
"The request is to find and safely retrieve your daughter, so I'll handle it. Just lend me a driver."