Selection (3)
Selection (3)
After Baek Woo-jin left.
"......."
"......."
The atmosphere in the conference room was razor thin, precarious enough that the slightest shock might shatter it entirely.
A rubber band stretched to its limit.
In that space, one breath away from snapping, Kim Seong-won pushed his chair back and rose.
For a moment the professors' eyes tracked him, but Kim Seong-won didn't so much as blink. He gathered his bag and turned away.
'That insane bastard...!!'
Watching his colleague act like he alone inhabited a different world, Head of Academic Affairs Choi Min-sik hastily crammed his laptop and papers into his bag.
"It seems you have matters to discuss privately, so we'll take our leave."
He gave the professors a quick nod, then hurried out after Kim Seong-won. Despite his shorter legs, he rushed to catch up with the man already some distance ahead.
"You son of a bitch!!"
"Gah?!"
A heavy impact to his back sent Kim Seong-won stumbling forward several steps.
"Agh—!! Hey, you jackass!!"
Every day he felt himself getting older, and now this bastard was striking his aching back.
For a man aging right alongside him, that crossed a line.
"Don't be dramatic."
"You wanna take the same hit and say that again? Then I'll admit I'm being dramatic! Come on—try it!!"
"Tch. The older you get, the touchier you get. Whatever!!"
"Whatever my ass, you little shit!!"
"Have some shame... keep it down."
"There's no one here, what—"
This floor was empty except for the two of them, and they were still waiting for the elevator. There was no reason to worry about anyone overhearing.
"Anyway, ahem. More importantly...."
"More importantly what."
"Let's just get in."
Choi Min-sik spotted other department heads trickling into the corridor and quickly hauled Kim Seong-won onto the elevator.
Whirr.
Once the doors closed and the drifting sensation of descent set in, Choi Min-sik spoke.
"You call yourself my colleague, and you didn't think to give me a heads-up if something like this was coming?"
"What would change if I did?"
"Well... nothing, I guess."
If he'd done nothing but sit around drinking grain tea and made zero preparations, that might be one thing, but the clipboard he'd pulled out during the meeting had held a remarkably thick stack of documents.
-Ding.
The doors opened, and Kim Seong-won and Choi Min-sik stepped into the lobby.
It was the weekend, but as the main building, it was bustling with students and teaching assistants milling about for various reasons.
"So how did you dig up all that material?"
"What material."
"The material you gave to Professor Baek. It looked like it covered everything—from the founding to the present, personnel changes, financial flows, all of it."
"Oh, yeah. I guess it did."
"......?"
As they stepped out of the busy main building, the warm spring sunlight greeted them at once.
"Ahh~ perfect weather for fishing."
"Don't change the subject, you prick!!"
"See? See this? Push the right buttons and the swearing just slips right out, doesn't it?"
'Touchy bastard.'
No wonder he was losing his hair.
"...Fine. I'm sorry, okay? Happy now?"
"Buy me lunch, too."
"Shameless bastard."
"Oof, my back...."
"Alright, alright! Just stop it already... you're embarrassing me, seriously."
Under the sidelong glances of passing students, Choi Min-sik finally raised the white flag. He jabbed Kim Seong-won in the side and muttered quietly.
"So. How did you get all that material?"
"Get? I didn't get anything. Someone handed it to me, so I just compiled it."
"...Handed it to you?"
"Yeah."
Did he really have the connections and skill to investigate all that himself? Thirty-seven guilds, no less.
Even if the entire Finance Department worked together, tracking financial flows over the last three years was the best they could manage. All the way back to the founding? Absolutely impossible.
Kim Seong-won nodded to himself, and beside him, Choi Min-sik's brow furrowed.
"If you're gonna talk, spit it out already, you son of a bitch!"
"You'll burst my eardrums... you're the one who needs to keep it down."
"That's because you keep picking at me! So who gave it to you?"
"Loud. Let's just go eat. I barely had any of that grain tea and I'm starving."
"...You little shit. I really want to tear you open."
**
[ Alchemy Department - Research Building ]
Kim Seong-won had brought Choi Min-sik to Yoon Do-sik's lab, half for the quiet space, half to snag a few useful potions while Yoon Do-sik was working a weekend shift.
"If you have business, come in."
"Ah, well...."
And there they met Baek Woo-jin, seated across from Yoon Do-sik and drinking tea.
"Leave them be. They probably came to see if there's anything worth scavenging."
"...Ha, haha. I'm not some sort of thief... what do you mean, scavenging...."
Kim Seong-won grabbed the collar of Choi Min-sik, who had been quietly trying to escape, and shot Yoon Do-sik a furious glare for spouting nonsense in front of Baek Woo-jin.
"Am I wrong?"
"You're wrong. Obviously."
"Then what. You came to ask for another favor?"
"Well, the thing is...."
As Kim Seong-won trailed off, Yoon Do-sik clicked his tongue.
"I don't know what it is, but just get in here. This guy told you to, anyway."
"Hrrrngh...."
Kim Seong-won, who had wanted to run, had no choice but to drag Choi Min-sik inside.
"There's way more room on that side—why the hell are you squeezing in here?"
"...I didn't want to make Professor Baek uncomfortable, that's all."
"Ahem, excuse us."
Kim Seong-won and Choi Min-sik wedged themselves onto the couch, Yoon Do-sik sandwiched between them.
Baek Woo-jin watched the three middle-aged men bicker for a moment, then addressed the Head of Academic Affairs.
"Choi Min-sik."
"Ah, yes, Professor."
"Did you receive the documents from Kim Seong-won?"
"...Sir?"
Choi Min-sik blinked. He and Baek Woo-jin turned almost simultaneously toward Kim Seong-won, who had been sneaking sips of Yoon Do-sik's tea.
"Pfft—!!"
Caught off guard by the sudden attention, Kim Seong-won spat half the mouthful of tea back into the cup and hastily wiped his mouth with the back of his hand.
"I, uh, thought I'd discuss it over lunch, since it's around that time. Yes. I absolutely was not procrastinating."
"Kim Seong-won."
"Yes!!"
A simple name call, and Kim Seong-won shot to his feet, snapping to attention.
"When you're given a task, handle it immediately. Don't put it off."
"I, I apologize."
Vrrr—!!
Baek Woo-jin was about to add a word when a faint vibration hummed from his pocket.
He reached into his jacket, pulled his smartphone out just enough to glance at it, then tucked it back and rose from his seat.
"I'll come back another time."
"Do that. It's nothing urgent."
Baek Woo-jin regarded the still-standing Kim Seong-won for a brief moment, then turned and left the lab.
"Hoo...."
Only then did Kim Seong-won exhale in relief and collapse onto the couch.
Yoon Do-sik and Choi Min-sik shook their heads at the sight of Kim Seong-won, sweat beading on his shiny, broad forehead.
"So. What's this material you're supposed to give me?"
"Am I allowed to see it too?"
"...You heartless bastards."
Grumbling at the pair who didn't show even a speck of concern for him, Kim Seong-won pulled a file from his bag and handed it to Choi Min-sik.
"Pretty thick."
Choi Min-sik took the file and flipped it open immediately.
『Name: Park Hyeon-su.
Age: 41.
Ability: Psychokinesis.
Details: Served as a dealer in Taesan Guild's 2nd Raid Party, part of the Top 10 Guilds. Retired three years ago after losing his left leg in the 8th Stage Rift, Black Cradle. Currently.......』
The documents in the file contained profiles of retired Awakened—details on their careers and their current livelihoods.
"Hm, so this guy retired, huh."
"You didn't know?"
"If people don't bother to call, how am I supposed to know?"
"...It was in the news, though."
"And?"
The list included more than a few Awakened who had earned some renown.
"So. Why this?"
"What do you mean, why. In a few days, heads are going to roll in bunches. Don't you need to fill the empty seats?"
"...So the list I'm supposed to compile and submit—you mean."
"Obviously this."
Kim Seong-won drew his thumb across his throat in a slicing gesture.
"If we don't filter them out properly, even folks like Jaden and Lee Hyeok will get chopped."
"......."
Unlike the somewhat playful Kim Seong-won, Choi Min-sik wore a serious expression as he scanned the list again.
Just then, Yoon Do-sik, who had been reading over Choi Min-sik's shoulder, lifted his head and asked,
"Something happen today? That those two might really lose their heads?"
"Ah, about that."
Kim Seong-won chattered away, filling Yoon Do-sik in on everything that had happened during the meeting. After hearing the full story, Yoon Do-sik let out a derisive snort.
"I knew something like this would blow up eventually. Damned fools. The only 'field experience' those bastards have are training exercises—what would they know about the real horrors of a Rift?! And that's why they pull that kind of shit to line their pockets."
"Heh~ The look on Jaden and Lee Hyeok's faces when they went bright red—I can't tell you how satisfying that was."
Kim Seong-won and Yoon Do-sik were busy shredding the professors who had attended the meeting, going on and on, when—
"Seong-won."
"Kickbacks... uh. What?"
Choi Min-sik raised his head, his expression dead serious, and asked,
"Hypothetically."
"Yeah. Hypothetically what."
"We don't... have to personally meet and persuade every single person on this list, right?"
Over ten people.
Not just any retired Awakened, either—these were ace-level fighters from the Top 10 Guilds or just below them.
The title of Arena Academy professor carried serious weight, both domestically and internationally, but even that could only do so much, depending on the person....
"Nah~"
"Right? That's what I thought?"
Choi Min-sik was just about to exhale in relief when—
"That's my colleague for you."
Choi Min-sik's eyes flew wide open and locked onto Kim Seong-won.
Kim Seong-won held his colleague's fierce stare and continued,
"Really, your instincts are no joke."
Choi Min-sik squeezed his eyes shut.