Chapter 16
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 16
Chapter Title: Competent Slave Yuna Wants a Reward ♥ (Part 1)
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Click. Click. Click.
In the long, empty corridor, only the sharp clicks of high heels striking the floor echoed.
Security Team Leader Kang Jung-hu listened to the approaching sounds, trying to calm his trembling heart.
"Please... please..."
He took a sip of coffee from the paper cup to steady his shaking nerves, but that bit of caffeine wasn't enough to quell the tremors.
The fate of Kang Jung-hu and the entire security team hung in the balance. It wouldn't be long now.
Click. Click. Click.
As the high heels drew closer, Kang Jung-hu began to worry. What if it's the security team's responsibility? What then?
The "truth" that Chae Yu-na was bringing could spell disaster for the security team. He pondered that possibility.
Most of the team members weren't exactly well-off financially. Team Leader Kang himself was drowning in debt.
He still had mountains of installment payments left: the house bought with a company loan, the oversized car he'd splurged on, and the latest learning aid devices for his kids.
They were barely keeping up with payments, so losing their jobs over a major screw-up would paint a bleak future.
It wasn't just Kang Jung-hu—most of his team was in the same boat.
"Hoo... please..." In this moment, all he could do was pray. He muttered "please" over and over like a madman.
Click. Click. Knock.
The heels stopped right outside the door. Kang Jung-hu wiped his dry face with his hands, feeling the rough stubble since he hadn't shaved.
"Hello? Security Team Leader Kang Jung-hu."
He stared at Chae Yu-na as she opened the door and greeted him.
Her eyes crinkled in a smile, but her mouth wasn't smiling at all.
She gestured for the fidgeting, half-standing team leader to sit.
"Ah, yes."
Kang Jung-hu tried to settle in comfortably, but he just couldn't.
He felt like a mouse before a cat.
A pathetic, wretched gray mouse.
Chae Yu-na's deep eyes seemed to pierce right through him, unreadable.
What schemes hid behind that eye smile? Even if he knew, it wouldn't matter.
"Relax, Team Leader Kang. I'm not some people-eating ghost~"
Chae Yu-na beamed as she opened her bag.
She soon placed a cute-looking USB drive on the table with a light tap.
"The 'truth' you've been looking for is right here."
Kang Jung-hu swallowed hard and pointed at the USB with a trembling hand.
"This... this is it...!"
"Yes, exactly. The truth that this incident wasn't the security team's fault."
All the tension drained from his body in an instant, and he barely held onto his dazed mind.
"A fatal error in the development team caused it," Chae Yu-na said, gazing at him steadily as she crossed one leg over the other.
"What happens if the nutrient tank for the test subjects and the tank containing the test subjects themselves aren't distinguished by code?"
"Uh...? W-well...?"
Kang Jung-hu, basking in relief, stammered in confusion at the sudden question.
"Hehe, that's the heart of the mystery. Why did the test subject vanish like it evaporated?"
"Because it actually did vanish—" she continued, explaining smoothly.
She took a clear glass of water and a sugar cube from the wall-mounted coffee shelf.
"Due to the development team's fatal error, the tank with the test subject was recognized as the nutrient tank. Normally, nutrients would feed the subject, but..."
"...if it was the other way around, the subject would break down into nutrients...!"
"Correct~"
She dropped the sugar cube into the glass. The white lump dissolved upon touching the water, vanishing as if it had never been, leaving the liquid clear once more.
"That's how the test subject disappeared. Just like it evaporated..."
"Sorry to disappoint Chairman Park, but this wasn't theft or anything like that. It was all the development team's fault." She smiled faintly, tapping the glass.
Her nail clicked against the glass, filling the room with a clear ring.
"Thank goodness... really... thank goodness...!"
Everything was the development team's fault—no responsibility for security. Team Leader Kang choked up, exhaling the sigh he'd been holding.
Remembering the anxiety he'd endured, all tension melted away.
That's why Chae Yu-na's next words stabbed like a dagger into his chest.
"...if this is the truth, that is."
She pulled another USB from her bag.
"...Pardon?"
To the dumbstruck team leader, Chae Yu-na spoke slowly and deliberately, like pronouncing a verdict.
"This is the conclusion from reviewing CCTV logs, movement paths, and more from the incident. The truth that it was the security team's responsibility."
"What... what do you...!"
"25 minor security procedure violations, 12 pieces of equipment running without updates, vulnerabilities exploited to disable the surveillance system."
"No, this is—" Stammering in panic, Kang Jung-hu was cut off as she pressed on.
"Vacations taken all at once, as if planned, creating an intentional manpower shortage."
"No one reported that the CCTV footage during the incident was the same scene looping for an hour. Or were they unable to?"
She pulled out a tablet and showed a video. A leaf fell in the corner of the frame, repeating endlessly every 15 seconds.
"What the hell is this? S-so you're saying it's all the security team's fault?" Kang Jung-hu spat in outrage.
"Who knows? That depends on you, Team Leader."
"...Pardon?"
"I decide what's true." She flashed a confident smile.
"I won't bother asking which truth you prefer. No point wasting time on the obvious answer."
"What matters... is what you can do for me."
"I just... want the truth about the incident."
"The truth? Ha! You really think that's what matters?" Her smile vanished, replaced by a sneer.
"Think about it. Truth has no power on its own. It gains power when someone defines it and uses it properly."
"Just know I could march to the development team leader right now with this USB." She waggled the two drives mockingly.
"What... what do you want from me?" Kang Jung-hu bowed his head and replied.
"...Now we're talking." Chae Yu-na smiled like a crescent moon.
"My Server Room Zero. Can I slip in for a bit?"
"Absolutely not!" Kang Jung-hu exclaimed in horror.
"Hmm... really?" As Chae Yu-na raised an eyebrow indifferently, he launched into a frantic explanation.
"I mean it! If I did that, getting fired would be the least of my worries...! Besides, I don't even have the authority. Please, isn't there another way I can help?"
"...You're making this difficult, Team Leader Kang." Chae Yu-na sneered unpleasantly.
"I'm not asking for anything grand. No one would know. If you're that worried, fine. Server Room Five should be easy enough for you to inspect on your own discretion."
"And having one trusted technical advisor tag along during that inspection? That should be within your discretion too." She pointed at herself.
"Of course, if you do... I can give you a lot in return."
Chae Yu-na persuaded him. This time, not with threats, but bribes.
"Your employee loan interest payments are seriously overdue, right?"
"...Yes."
"Help me out a little, and that debt vanishes."
"Your security team's reputation stays intact too."
"Just open the door for a moment."
"That's all it takes."
A spider.
The woman before him was a spider.
She had her prey ensnared tightly in her web, preventing escape, and now forced a choice.
An utterly wicked spider.
Like helpless prey bound in the web, Kang Jung-hu could only nod slowly.
"...Thank you for your cooperation, Team Leader Kang." The sated spider departed with haughty steps.
Having gotten everything she wanted...
"Master♥ I'm back♥" Chae Yu-na threw herself into my arms and said.
Like a puppy reunited with its owner, she rubbed her face against my chest and hugged my waist tightly.
"Good. Did you find a way into the server room?"
"Yes! Just as you ordered, Master. I found a way into the server room!"
'Didn't expect her to be this quick.'
Chae Yu-na was more capable than I'd thought. To wrap up my instructions in half a day...
She tiptoed closer, eyes seeking praise. I lightly kissed her forehead and stroked her hair, waiting for her explanation.
"...?" But she pouted and grumbled softly.
"Um, Master... before I explain, can I get my reward first...?"
Her sparkling, expectant eyes met mine, stirring my desires anew.
"Sure, I did promise to grant your wish... What do you want?"
"Yuna wants... with Master...."
Chae Yu-na whispered shyly in my ear.
Her lewd desire.
"...This is really your wish?"
"Yes!" Chae Yu-na beamed in response. In the room she'd led me to, a high-end camera pointed at the bed.
"I vividly remember the videos we filmed together, but maybe I'm scatterbrained—I searched everywhere and couldn't find them..." Chae Yu-na said with a pout.
"They're such precious memories to me, but nowhere to be found."
"So, this time... I want to refilm dedicating my life to you, Master... Is that okay...?"
Her anxious gaze, seeking belated permission, only heightened my excitement.
"...Why wouldn't it be?"
She was willing to film a video that would ruin her life, all for a nonexistent memory.
I wanted to give my hardworking slave the ultimate reward.
To lock her life's distortion in place, so she could never escape the pleasure I gave her.
Gazing at the camera, Chae Yu-na spoke in a shy, sweet voice laced with tension.
"GK Executive, Chae Yu-na....♥"
Staring into the lens, she removed her hand from her eyes and added one more line.
"I'm 24 years old...♥"
