Never Follow the Secretary
Cha Jiyun turned her gaze toward the auction hall.
“Kyaaaak!”
“Help me!”
An intruder who had broken into the auction house was killing the spectators one by one. Everyone was in complete panic.
Bang! Bang!
At that moment, a knock sounded on the VIP room door. Cha Jiyun narrowed her eyes as she stared at it.
“...Who is it?”
“Miss, it is I.”
“Ah. Secretary Kim.”
Cha Jiyun let out a sigh of relief.
“Yes. Miss, more urgently, you must escape right now. The intruder this time is no ordinary foe. He will likely reach this room soon.”
“...Understood. Please wait a moment.”
Cha Jiyun placed her hand on the door handle.
At that instant—
Cha Jiyun stared at the message in silence.
He had suddenly declared that Secretary Kim was a Demonic Human. Secretary Kim had been with her for more than ten years. Yet now, without warning, he was claiming the secretary was a Demonic Human?
Cha Jiyun’s expression darkened.
She wanted to ask. She wanted to demand whether the Demonic Human wasn’t actually the one sending the warning.
But she could not bring herself to send it.
She wanted to believe that Nam Doyun’s kindness in helping her had not been false. Above all, it was not certain that he was a Demonic Human. She refused to drive a nail into someone’s heart based solely on her own speculation.
“...Hoo.”
Cha Jiyun deleted the message she had been composing.
Creak—
She opened the VIP room door.
“Miss Jiyun. I have a car waiting at the rear entrance. Let us go quickly.”
Secretary Kim smiled brightly.
“...Yes.”
Cha Jiyun soon climbed into the car parked behind the auction house.
“Then, miss, I will depart.”
Just as Secretary Kim reached to start the engine, Cha Jiyun spoke.
“...One moment.”
“Yes? Is something the matter?”
Cha Jiyun gazed toward the auction house entrance. Countless people were pouring out, fleeing for their lives. But Nam Doyun was not among them.
Was it right to leave him behind?
If he truly was a Demonic Human, then leaving him was correct. But if he was not…
“...By the way, Secretary Kim.”
Cha Jiyun looked at him.
“Yes? What is it?”
“...Who have you been texting with since earlier?”
Ever since joining her, the secretary had been continuously sending messages to someone. Cha Jiyun had been watching closely.
“Pardon?”
“...I know you are not the sort of person who would be texting in such an emergency, Secretary Kim.”
“Ah… that is…”
The secretary fumbled for words.
“Ah! I contacted the guild. Since you are in danger, miss, I instructed them to come and provide escort.”
Cha Jiyun narrowed her eyes and studied him. She sensed something wrong.
Having spent many years with the secretary, she knew. His fumbling was an old habit—one that appeared when he lied.
“....”
At that moment, the text Nam Doyun had sent rose clearly in her mind.
“...Then would it be all right if I called the guild master myself?”
“Pardon?”
The secretary flinched in surprise.
“...You said you had already contacted them. I asked whether I could confirm it.”
“.....”
The secretary gave no answer.
Beep beep beep—
Cha Jiyun began dialing the number. The guild master answered almost immediately.
“...Nothing special. Are you currently coming to escort me?”
Cha Jiyun quietly placed her hand on the car door handle.
Click—
The moment she tried to open it, the door refused to budge. It had been locked from the driver’s side.
Hiss—
Acrid gas began pouring from the front of the vehicle. Cha Jiyun’s consciousness started to blur.
Consciousness fading…
“Hey. Did you steal the sword successfully?”
Secretary Kim was already on the phone.
“Good. Well done. Bring it to the location I mentioned.”
****
By the time I reached the VIP room where Cha Jiyun had been, it was already too late. The door stood wide open. She was gone.
“......”
It appeared Secretary Kim had already taken her. This had gone completely wrong.
If things continued this way, Cha Jiyun would fall under the sword’s special ability, becoming a puppet with no will of her own. She would move only according to the secretary’s commands. The Samhwa Group would fall into the hands of the Demonic Humans.
That outcome had to be prevented at all costs.
I looked at the mastermind of today’s attack as he fled outside. In his hand was the sword he had stolen from the auction. I followed him.
He climbed into a parked car. With a roar, the vehicle sped away.
“....”
I glanced at the motorcycle parked beside it. The key was already in the ignition.
****
Cha Jiyun’s hazy consciousness slowly returned. She looked around. She was in a remote, deserted abandoned factory.
She had to escape immediately.
She tried to put strength into her legs, but they would not move. Looking down, she saw both her hands and feet were tightly bound.
Creak—
The factory door opened. Secretary Kim walked toward her, grinning with satisfaction as he looked at her bound form.
“You look rather pleasing like that.”
“....”
“Just wait a little longer. I won’t kill you, after all.”
“..Why are you doing this?”
“I have no obligation to answer you. Simply remain comfortable.”
“....Secretary Kim, we have been together for more than ten years. I believe I at least deserve to know the reason.”
The secretary gave a short laugh.
“Well. Fine. Knowing won’t change anything anyway. Simply put, it is because of that damned succession culture.”
“.......”
“No matter how outstanding my achievements, no matter how hard I work, the position of next chairman is reserved exclusively for those with the bloodline.”
“.......”
“I would have to spend my entire life cleaning up after the owner’s family. But I hate that.”
“.......”
“I am a man of great ambition. A life spent cleaning up after others? I would rather die. Since a person only lives once, I should at least sit in the chairman’s seat once.”
“.......”
“Does this explanation suffice?”
“...No matter what you do to me, the chairman position will never pass to you, Secretary Kim.”
“Puhahahahaha—”
The secretary burst into loud laughter.
“Ah. Do not worry about that. Soon Miss Cha Jiyun will become my perfect puppet.”
Creak—
The factory door opened once more. It was the man who had attacked the auction house. In his hand was the old sword from the auction.
“Here it is.”
“Yeah. Thanks.”
The secretary took the worn blade.
Vrrrr—
The sword began resonating with demonic energy. A sinister aura poured out instantly and surged toward Cha Jiyun.
“Ugh…”
The strange energy flooding into her body made her mind grow hazy. She had felt this sensation before—when she had been subjected to hypnosis.
“...It can’t be.”
Cha Jiyun clenched her teeth.
“Yes, exactly. Your consciousness will fall into eternal sleep through hypnosis. Afterward, only a perfect puppet that obeys my every word will remain.”
Cha Jiyun tried to bite her tongue. She could not allow herself to be controlled and hand the Samhwa Group over to the Demonic Humans. It would be better to die here.
“Heh. That won’t be possible.”
But her body no longer obeyed her will. Her consciousness began sinking deeper, growing blurrier. It felt as comfortable as falling asleep.
Just as her awareness was about to vanish completely, the secretary’s movements suddenly froze. At the same moment, the hypnosis gripping Cha Jiyun stopped.
“Why are you stopping?”
The man who had delivered the sword asked with a puzzled look.
“......”
The secretary broke out in cold sweat. His body refused to move, as though someone else were forcibly controlling it.
The instant he barely regained control, a tremendous roar shook the factory.
HEADSHOT — INSTANT DEATH
The head of the man who had just handed over the sword exploded. He disintegrated without leaving a trace.
“....”
The secretary swallowed hard and looked at the newcomer.
It was Nam Doyun—the man who had ridden in the car with Cha Jiyun.
WEEEOOO WEEEOOO—
Police sirens wailed outside.
“Going to keep going? The police are already heading this way. Hunters will probably be with them.”
Nam Doyun stared at the secretary.
“.....”
“Want to fight before the Hunters arrive?”
Had it been any other time, the secretary would have sneered and charged. But not now.
The Demonic Human the man had just killed with a single strike had not been weak. Yet he had erased him in one blow.
WEEEOOO WEEEOOO—
The sirens grew steadily closer.
Even if he used full power, he would not lose. But given the strength just displayed, a quick resolution was impossible. He would certainly sustain injuries. And if those injuries were severe, the arriving Hunters would capture him.
WEEEOOO WEEEOOO—
The sirens grew louder. Time was almost gone.
Retreating now was the correct choice.
Yet the secretary turned his gaze toward Cha Jiyun. He had to take her with him.
“!!!”
But Nam Doyun was already standing in front of her. Distracted by the sirens, the secretary had missed his movement.
WEEEOOO—
The sirens were nearly upon them. Killing the man before the Hunters arrived was impossible.
“I’ll withdraw here. I’ll remember your face.”
With those final words, the secretary fled the abandoned factory.
“.....”
Cha Jiyun looked at Nam Doyun standing before her. She could not find the words. Gratitude and guilt, along with countless other emotions, surged up inside her all at once.