Chapter 64
Chapter 64
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 64
Chapter Title: Surveillance Footage
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Tae-jun had no choice but to be flustered.
He'd given Aram a quick rundown of what happened afterward, made every preparation possible, and returned to the Bureau fully geared up.
And this was the scene that greeted him.
"Ah, I told you I'd keep it a secret!"
"That's exactly why no!"
"I-I'm back."
"Huh? Oh? Tae-jun, you're here?"
Se-jin's face, flushed as ripe as a tomato, looked more flustered than ever.
"So, did you confirm the Merchant's location?"
"Well, about that... When we tried activating it, Squad Lead—kuwek!"
As Woo-seok tried to say more, Se-jin jabbed his solar plexus with speed that made the title sound no joke.
"Eh? Squad Leader? Why Woo-seok..."
"Mm. It's nothing. Don't worry about it."
"But."
"Don't worry about it."
"Yes, sir."
Leaving Woo-seok rolling on the floor in agony behind him, Se-jin turned his attention to the dating game with Soon-i.
"That Tale's a shame. I don't know the exact reason, but we might need to find another way."
"You mean you didn't activate it?"
"Yeah."
"Not at all?"
"Yeah, not at all."
At that moment, Woo-seok painfully hauled himself back up.
"Woo-seok... did you activate th—kuwak!"
"Uh, uh?"
The moment Tae-jun blinked, Woo-seok clutched his chest from some external force.
But pain like that couldn't possibly halt Tae-jun's resolve.
"Do-hyun—"
Thwack!
"Jackp—"
Thwack!
"Great—"
Wham!
"..."
But pain like this was more than enough to break Tae-jun's resolve.
"Um... Woo-seok?"
Woo-seok lay there like a cold corpse.
A close look showed faint twitches, but whether that signaled life or rigor mortis was impossible to tell.
Se-jin expressed both admiration and curses for Woo-seok's tenacity that had worn him out.
"Squad Leader... what the hell is going on..."
"Mm, nothing."
"But Woo-seok said he did activate it."
"No, he didn't."
"But."
"He didn't."
As he spoke, Se-jin's fist slowly rose.
"It really doesn't seem like he did."
"Right?"
A brief silence followed.
"This is a problem."
"Looks like we need to confirm if the Merchant even still exists first."
Se-jin pondered.
In his mind, the Tales she knew paraded like entries in a dictionary, ready to reveal their uses.
"Let's see... then."
Ding.
At that moment, Do-hyun stepped out of the elevator.
Woo-seok's eyes regained their spark, and he rose soon after.
Tae-jun couldn't help but wonder if the title of chief researcher came from that sturdy body.
"I'm back."
"..."
"Why is everyone acting like that?"
The familiar pattern repeated.
Woo-seok opened his mouth, glanced at Se-jin, and slowly closed it.
"Nothing."
"Did it activate?"
"No."
"Ha... I see. Maybe the Tale Merchant is a non-human entity, so that's why."
After a moment of slump, Do-hyun, re-energized, returned to his seat.
"We'll need to find another method."
"Do you have any ideas?"
"Well... I thought that one had the highest chance."
"Woo-seok, what about you?"
"Kuhuk... I'm not in a state to speak right now..."
As Se-jin's eyes turned to those of a hunter, Woo-seok's pain miraculously vanished, manners flooding back.
"I think I need to think on it a bit too."
Of course, that didn't mean any surge in knowledge.
"Let's take a break then."
"Yes."
They returned to their seats, granting even their brains the right to rest.
"You not going back?"
Of course, Woo-seok's position as researcher meant his place was in the lab below.
"It's lonely down there."
"You're the 'chief researcher' with no time!"
At Se-jin's mockery dredging up times when he knew nothing, Woo-seok had no choice but to pull out his secret weapon.
"Squad Leader and Do-won."
"Aah! Got it!"
"By the way, what were you hiding earlier when I dropped by midway?"
Se-jin's question turned to Do-hyun.
"Pardon? I never returned midway."
"What, you messing around too?"
"No?"
"..."
Do-hyun never lied, even in jest, so his words carried no tremor—impossible not to believe.
"Surveillance cameras."
"Pardon?"
"Check the surveillance cameras now!"
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ "Th-this!"
"The Tale Merchant..."
"But why didn't anyone notice?"
Do-hyun nodded at Tae-jun's words and looked to Se-jin.
"It looked like you to our eyes."
"Like Do-hyun?"
"Yeah."
"Yes, that's what it looked like to me too."
"If both of you say so, it must be true. But how..."
Se-jin played the footage to the end.
"The important thing now isn't 'how', it's 'why'."
"The Merchant clearly came back saying they'd left something behind."
The footage captured the Merchant's every minute movement in stark detail.
"And as said, they went back to their seat..."
"Doesn't look like they took anything."
"Keep watching."
"Huh? Huh?"
Soon after, footage showed them peeling open a blue tissue pack.
"Why the tissue? Did the Merchant forget something too?"
"How would the Merchant even know what a blue tissue pack is?"
At that instant, the same doubt hit everyone except Tae-jun.
"Where did the blue tissue even come from in the first place? Tae-jun?"
"My acquaintance..."
"How'd your acquaintance get tissues?"
"I'll contact and ask..."
"Mm. Got it."
Even the clumsy trip was shown.
"Does this have some meaning too?"
"Nah, that just looks like a regular fall."
"Right?"
Elevators being tough for cameras, the footage ended as the Merchant boarded one.
"..."
No one opened their mouth easily.
Doubts piled up endlessly.
From how they mimicked Do-hyun, to knowing which floor the New Tale Investigation Squad was on, to why take the blue tissue.
Countless questions ravaged the poor staff's minds.
"The dating game with Soon-i worked perfectly, though."
"Yeah... that's right! Hey, check it!"
Woo-seok bolted to the dating game with Soon-i like a one-man derby, feet a blur.
"20, 20 kilometers!"
The mood peaked briefly, but Se-jin seethed with fresh injustice from moments ago.
"I told you! No!"
"Haha... sorry."
"Didn't you say it didn't activate?"
Tae-jun voiced the obvious doubt, but Se-jin pretended not to hear and brushed it off.
"Gear up now! We're going after the Merchant!"
Of course, the four of them suddenly leaving the Bureau bordered on dereliction of duty.
They might face reprimand, but justice like theirs couldn't be stopped.
Not even Tae-jun's question could halt them!
"So why lie at first!"
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ They rushed out in a hurry, only to come right back.
"I thought I'd die from the tension."
An experience he never wanted to repeat.
"You have no idea how nervous I was about getting caught—half my body felt soaked in sweat."
Haha.
But from the moment of infiltration, wasn't exposure inevitable someday?
"There are surveillance cameras inside, so yeah, we'd get caught eventually."
Not getting caught at all would be best, but perfect stealth was impossible.
"Can't be helped."
The real priority now wasn't such side issues.
Wasn't the tissue in my hand begging me to use it?
Rip.
The tissue tore, and memories generated like data overwriting.
A strange yet familiar sensation.
"Oh... so my name really was Shin Jin-seong..."
Let's see, anything else?
"..."
What's this?
Rip.
"?"
Rip.
How many tissues do you plan to rip?
That many memories to recover?
Rip.
"What...? Nothing new comes to mind besides my name?"
I half-expected this.
Your memory loss was just circumstantial evidence to begin with.
"But you really forgot my name."
Beats me.
Well, anyone could forget a name.
Not likely.
Who in the world forgets their own name?
Besides, it wasn't forgetting—it was more like never registering it as mine.
"Feels like my efforts went to waste."
They really did.
Still, now you know you didn't forget something.
True, the Shop was right.
Your memory loss isn't simple forgetfulness.
"Ha..."
Can't help feeling deflated, huh?
"Just let's do business."
Right.
Customers arrived about two hours later.
Four of them, no less.
"You fucking Merchant bastard!"
Not the customers I wanted, but.