The Last Chance
“I hate lies the most. So answer carefully. Otherwise, I might really get angry.”
The air in the room sank heavily. Just Yoo Hanbeom glaring at Yoo Heeyeon spread a chilling aura that made one’s knees weak.
-Gulp-
Yoo Heeyeon swallowed dry saliva. She began to ponder.
‘Just how much does Father know…? Should I tell him everything… honestly…?’
Her father’s words carried an implied meaning.
-Why did you do such a thing just because you couldn’t take first place in the academy?
The documents Yoo Hanbeom had thrown on the floor listed the instances where Yoo Heeyeon had used the Artemis Guild’s authority. However, because the papers were stacked, it was difficult to confirm the exact contents. Looking through the papers in this situation was naturally out of the question. Therefore, Yoo Heeyeon was troubled.
‘Knowing he wasn’t a stalker, yet continuing to push him while ignoring that… Trying to eliminate him in the F-class representative selection… Attempting to intercept the traded weapons midway… Bribing the judges to bring in external artifacts… Just how much does he know…?’
There were far too many things that came to mind with just a little thought. She imagined her father’s reaction if she told the truth honestly.
-How disappointing. To think that the one who will become the next leader of the Artemis Guild would resort to such underhanded tricks due to lack of ability. I’ll remove you from the family register right away, so…
Her father’s expected reaction seemed vividly audible in her ears. She knew it too. Having lived as family until now, her father wouldn’t disown her over this one mistake. But still, she was anxious. What if he really did disown her? What if she lost everything she’d enjoyed until now? What if the solid fence called the Artemis Guild disappeared? What if he imposed an unbearable punishment?
Yoo Hanbeom was someone for whom any action wouldn’t be strange. He wasn’t a person within anyone’s predictable range.
‘Should I… lie…?’
She glanced sideways at Yoo Hanbeom’s eyes. He was looking at Yoo Heeyeon with unwavering eyes.
‘It would be impossible to deceive him completely…’
If she responded with all lies, it would only worsen the situation. But telling everything was also overwhelming. She had already crossed too many lines. How could she explain that she had interfered in ugly and despicable ways but failed?
Therefore, she resolved to choose the lesser evil, if not the worst.
-Thud-
Yoo Heeyeon knelt before her father.
“Father… I’m truly sorry.”
Surprised by Yoo Heeyeon’s unexpected reaction, Yoo Hanbeom showed a startled expression for a moment, but soon regained his composure and asked.
“Surprisingly, you admit it right away? Earlier, you acted like you didn’t know anything, so I thought you’d insist until the end that it wasn’t true. Good judgment. If you had continued lying, I wouldn’t have let it slide.”
Yoo Heeyeon inwardly sighed in relief. Judging that apologizing was the right move, she pressed on.
“Father, please listen to your pathetic daughter’s story. I wanted to take first place in the academy no matter what and make you proud. I wanted to prove that I am the daughter of the Artemis Guild Leader by taking the top spot in both written and practical exams in all fields.”
“Just for the academy’s top spot, you opened the Artemis artifact warehouse and even bribed the judges, using money to buy and use your fellow students? I won’t point out your methods anymore. I’ve done plenty of dirty things myself while living. It’s lamentable that my daughter, you, behaves similarly to my past self, but since I did the same, I won’t reproach you further. However.”
He looked at Yoo Heeyeon with an incredulous expression.
“It’s the academy. An academy where newly awakened rookies gather. You will soon enter society, explore dungeons, and face monsters far more terrifying than people. Monsters with overwhelming power that don’t even communicate, and criminal organizations like cancer cells distributed in the black market and the Labyrinth, like Hilleon. Those bastards are always coveting what we have and wanting to come out into the light. And yet—! If you do such despicable things from the very academy due to lack of ability, how do you plan to live from now on—!”
-Boom-!
His lamenting voice echoed through the room, and the table Yoo Hanbeom struck split in two. He caught his breath for a moment before speaking to Yoo Heeyeon.
“If your ability is lacking, think about improving your ability first. Underhanded methods should only be used when you’re willing to stake your life and everything else, when there’s truly no other way. Underhanded methods used just to take the easy way won’t help you grow. If you reach out without even learning to walk, how do you plan to run later?”
“I extremely detest those without ability. That applies even to you, my daughter. Don’t make me detest you.”
Pathetic. He thought so. But Yoo Hanbeom considered it his own karma. He had always been too busy to spend time with Yoo Heeyeon. Even finding an hour once a week was difficult, so he had left all her education to Kim Heera and the nannies. It was the parents’ fault for not noticing earlier that the child was going astray, so he spoke while suppressing his anger as much as possible.
Still, she was family. His one and only daughter, so he tried to understand as much as possible.
What Yoo Hanbeom detested most were people without ability. Yoo Hanbeom treated such people as equivalent to leeches. Anger welled up at the thought that his own daughter was a leech-like existence. His chest felt stuffy at the thought that she was repeating the mistakes he had made in the past. But thinking there was also his own responsibility, he endured and was patient once more.
This could be seen just from Yoo Hanbeom’s reaction. If the person involved in this incident hadn’t been his daughter, Yoo Heeyeon, she would have been immediately subjected to massive punishment and expelled.
However. As if not knowing Yoo Hanbeom’s consideration, Yoo Heeyeon sobbed and shouted.
“Father—!”
She looked into Yoo Hanbeom’s eyes and shouted.
“Why are you doing this to me, Father! I only tormented one F-class guy from the academy. Yes, I did despicable things. You must have investigated everything, but beat Lee Hyunseung? Do you know what the difficulty of Broad Academy’s written exams is like? For years now, no one has even gotten a perfect score. But that guy Lee Hyunseung hasn’t missed a perfect score even once since entering the academy. How on earth am I supposed to beat him? How am I supposed to beat him through normal means? I tried. I tried like crazy—! I did my best without sleeping, even bleeding from my nose. But you’re telling me to do something impossible…!”
She spoke with tears flowing.
“What do you want me to do… I just wanted to be acknowledged by you….”
The position of the Artemis Guild Leader’s daughter had brought her everything in the world, but there was something that even such immense power couldn’t obtain. Her father’s attention and love. And acknowledgment from her father. She wanted to be acknowledged. That was all. The only thing lacking in her was her father’s acknowledgment.
To Yoo Heeyeon, her father was both an object of fear and an object of admiration.
“Haah….”
Yoo Hanbeom looked at the sobbing Yoo Heeyeon and spoke softly.
“Your method was wrong. I don’t know how desperate you were. But you should have thought that as desperate as you were, others could also be wronged.”
He took out a document from the drawer and handed it to Yoo Heeyeon.
“Lee Hyunseung. He’s a capable person. Honestly, he’s an outstanding talent that even calling him the top priority to recruit into the Artemis Guild wouldn’t be an exaggeration. Though he seems to have gone astray quite a bit now, awakening as a Gunner and engaging in brawls, do you know what his dream was?”
Years before Lee Hyunseung entered the academy, a real-time career aspiration survey on the streets. The information gathered by the vice guild leader included Lee Hyunseung’s survey response like this.
Q: What kind of job do you want to have when you become an adult in the future?
A: I want to become a member of the Magic Tower.
Q: What made you think that?
A: Because learning is enjoyable. Just looking at magic studies makes me happy.
Yoo Heeyeon trembled as she looked at the paper.
Yoo Hanbeom spoke while watching her.
“Do you know why that guy could get perfect scores on the written exams? That guy had been voluntarily researching magic studies years before entering the academy, because his dream was to enter the Magic Tower. It’s not because he had some great talent like you think, nor because he had something outstanding. At that time, Lee Hyunseung was in a non-awakened state. He just worked himself to death.”
“But you know this too, the Magic Tower disqualifies applicants who have records of suspension from the academy. Because of you, Lee Hyunseung’s dream from childhood has been shattered.”
Soon, Yoo Hanbeom handed Yoo Heeyeon another sheet of paper.
[Representative Selection Match Bracket]
A-class vs F-class
B-class vs C-class
“This is the result of your actions. If F-class, to which Lee Hyunseung belongs, loses in this representative selection match, due to additional penalty points, you’ll finish the practical exam not even in second place, but around the middle-upper ranks. So this is the last chance I’m giving you. Compete fairly in this Class Annihilation Match. And win. Then I’ll forgive your actions. It won’t be difficult. There’s a big difference in overall strength between A-class and F-class. However.”
Yoo Hanbeom looked down at Yoo Heeyeon and said.
“If you lose this time as well, I will reconsider the successor to the Artemis Guild.”
-Grit-
Yoo Heeyeon muttered with venomous eyes while listening to Yoo Hanbeom.
“Something like that won’t happen. This time, I will definitely… win.”