25
Chapter 25
'Who on earth sent this?'
Joohyun examined the envelope from every angle, but it was completely blank.
Inside, there were only three photographs.
One showed Yuna and Mina entering a restroom in their magical girl outfits.
Another captured them walking out after undoing their transformation.
And the final one was a group shot that included Joohyun, Chanhoon, and Suhyun.
Even if the photos weren't entirely explicit on their own, combined with the letter's contents...
...it was clear the sender was absolutely certain of Yuna and Mina's identity as magical girls.
'Why would they send this?'
Joohyun groaned as he racked his brain, but no matter how hard he thought about it, he couldn't figure out the sender's true intentions.
'For starters, it doesn't seem like they plan on leaking these photos right away.'
If they really wanted to expose the magical girls' identity, they would have just sent these straight to the press.
Had they done that, the news would already be buzzing about who the magical girls really were.
'But they didn't. So, what's the motive? It doesn't seem like they're after money, either.'
Letters like this were usually sent for blackmail, with extortion being the main goal.
The typical threat: send us money, and we'll delete the photos.
Yet, that didn't appear to be the case here.
'If that was their goal, they would have named a drop-off location for the cash or something similar.'
He concluded that this wasn't a play for money.
'Then, is this purely a warning to watch our backs because they know our identity?'
Joohyun just couldn't understand it.
What could the sender possibly gain from issuing a warning like this?
'Could this have something to do with the pursuers mentioned when we left the tower earlier?'
The thought briefly crossed Joohyun's mind, but he quickly shook his head.
'No. If it were those pursuers, they wouldn't have bothered with a letter; they would have attacked the moment they figured out our identity.'
Joohyun didn't know exactly what these pursuers were, but he highly doubted they would resort to blackmail like this.
Wouldn't it be ridiculous to track them down all this way, only to test the waters through the mail?
'Hmm. Well, it doesn't seem like they're going to go blabbing about our identity to anyone right now.'
No matter how much he pondered, there were no clear answers.
He didn't know the sender's identity, nor their motive for sending the letter.
Just as Joohyun let out a heavy sigh and vigorously scratched his head...
"CEO, what do we do? Is our identity going to be exposed?"
Yuna looked at Joohyun with an anxious expression.
"Hmm. I don't think that's going to happen anytime soon."
Yuna had never been keen on revealing her identity.
At first, her reluctance was simply due to embarrassment, but given how things had escalated, it was only natural for the pressure to weigh heavily on her.
The same was true for Joohyun.
Initially, he had hoped to go public and use their fame to spearhead the management's revival.
But foreign factions had moved much faster than anticipated, and with so many dangerous variables in play, he now felt relieved that their identity remained a secret.
"Don't worry. It doesn't look like they're planning to make a move right now."
Joohyun's assessment was spot on.
If the sender had wanted to harm Joohyun's group, they would have struck long ago.
The fact that they hadn't meant there was definitely an ulterior motive at play.
The only problem was figuring out what exactly that motive was.
"But still..."
However, Yuna's anxiety didn't easily subside.
She was deeply worried about her younger siblings.
The world had already been made aware that magical girls possessed awakened abilities.
Under these circumstances, if her identity were uncovered...
Yuna knew full well that her family could be put in danger.
There was no telling what lengths people would go to in order to capture her.
"Accountant Yuna! What are you so worried about when I'm right here!"
Joohyun hopped right on the shoulder of Yuna, flashing a reassuring smile.
Seeing his smile, Yuna gave a wry grin.
"Ahaha... I'll protect you with magic. Don't worry."
She had witnessed Joohyun's skills firsthand, but his appearance still made it hard to fully rely on him.
Joohyun let out a snort at Yuna and chuckled.
"Right. You and I can both use magic, so what is there to worry about? If things get dangerous, we just use our magic, isn't that right?"
"I suppose so..."
It was certainly true that an ordinary person would have a hard time beating two magic users.
Finally feeling somewhat relieved, Yuna's expression brightened.
"Alright then~ First off, since we've gathered our thoughts, should we go get some food?"
"Sounds good~."
With the situation temporarily settled, another day passed.
Still without knowing the true nature of the letter.
* * *
Time passed, and a new day dawned.
Today, without fail, the three of them cleared the 5th Floor of the tower.
"Phew."
"Ugh... I'm exhausted."
"You just find moving in general exhausting!"
"...Bingo."
Joohyun sighed as he looked at Mina, who was giving a thumbs-up while lying face down on the floor.
'With stamina that weak, how has she even managed to survive until now?'
She was seriously weak enough to be featured on a TV show or Ntube.
Yesterday evening, Joohyun and Mina had run laps around the Playground together, but Mina collapsed before even finishing a single lap.
They didn't know the Identity of the person who sent the Letter, but they couldn't just stay cooped up inside out of fear.
Even after searching Thoroughly around the area, they hadn't spotted anyone suspicious.
Since an attack didn't seem imminent, they figured it would be alright.
Besides, they could always use their Transformation if things went south.
Of course, it was frustrating not knowing who their opponent was.
More importantly.
'Still no response, as expected.'
Joohyun had tried talking to the tower the moment they entered, but only silence returned.
Just in case, Joohyun waved his hand high at the tower and spoke up again.
"Hey, tower! You wanted to see me, didn't you~ Even though I didn't want to see you~"
"CEO, what are you doing...?"
"...What's wrong with Joohyun."
The two girls slowly backed away, looking at Joohyun as if he were a weirdo.
"Ahem! I just wanted to try imitating a famous movie line."
Joohyun cleared his throat and quickly changed the subject.
"Anyway, let's take a look at the rewards."
[Defeat all the Groomore! 15/15]
[Basic Reward for a Magical Girl : Groomore's Stump (Recovers a small amount of Mana every 10 seconds while seated!)]
[Reward : Groomore's Root of Silence]
The Groomore were small, wooden monsters.
Their waddling walk was cute, but they possessed the strength to crush their targets with a powerful grip the moment they caught them.
The problem was that they were too slow for anyone to actually get caught.
All these guys could really do was catch and crush swords that were thrust at them.
Furthermore, Yuna and Mina had a favorable matchup this time, making them relatively easy opponents.
'I should put those basic material rewards to use later.'
Joohyun wore a wicked smile as he looked at Mina, who was sprawled out in Depletion again.
Since they had the manpower to craft artifacts, he couldn't just let the materials go to waste.
Just as he was plotting how to put Mina to work, it happened.
[Grade Measurement Complete!]
[SSS Rank]
[A Magical Girl appearing in the tower with a Mascot! The Magical Girl has descended upon the tower to fight the forces of evil! The Magical Girl has defeated the forces of evil and cleared the 5th Floor. A Global Reward will be distributed!]
[Global Reward : 5% increase in Stats for South Korea Awakeners.]
"Eh...?"
"Huh...?"
"Oh...?"
As soon as the notification popped up.
The three of them instantly felt their stats increase.
"Isn't this incredible...?"
"...I'm revived."
Yuna and Mina each showed their own reactions.
'What the. Wasn't the Global Reward supposed to be gone by now?'
Joohyun thought that the Global Reward had ended after the magic stone Concentration increased back on the 1st Floor.
However, suddenly receiving a Global Reward left him with a strange feeling.
'Don't tell me they give one out every 5th Floor?'
For now, he couldn't help but assume that a Global Reward was given every 5th Floor.
It was too early to be certain; they would have to climb higher in the tower to find out.
'Things are going to get noisy again.'
Just yesterday, there was a huge uproar about the Magical Girl being able to use her Awakener Ability outside.
But with a Global Reward dropping on top of that, it was bound to get even louder.
'This makes going to register Mina as an Awakener a bit awkward.'
Joohyun was more of a stickler for the rules than he looked.
He had been deeply moved by an old movie where a character yelled about not living a life of sin.
His ironclad rule was that in order for a business to succeed, it first had to be operated without any legal issues.
And in truth, if they really thought about it, everything would be solved if only Joohyun, the actual Awakener, went to get evaluated.
Anyway.
The scale of things was steadily growing.
To the point where it was beyond Joohyun's control.
'Should I just tell the Association?'
Revealing their Identity to the Association was one possible method.
If they did, they might be able to prevent their Identity from leaking out elsewhere.
Plus, even if their Identity was exposed, they would have the Association's backing.
'I need to think about this some more.'
It hurt his Pride to show himself to the Association and ask for help, but he couldn't put Yuna, Mina, and the kids in danger.
They still hadn't resolved the issue with the Letter, after all.
They had no way of knowing if such unknown entities would continue to threaten them from the shadows.
'Let's put off registering Mina as an Awakener for now. We'll just have to sell off the magic stones little by little.'
With that decided, they exited the tower.
As expected, the news buzzed about the Magical Girl all day long.
Time continued to pass.
The 6th Floor. The 7th Floor.
The days went by as they steadily cleared the tower floor by floor.
They also piled up plenty of magic stones and rewards.
Just thinking about the money quickly washed his worries away, bringing a natural smile to Joohyun's face.
This peaceful streak of clearing the tower without a hitch was interrupted the day before they were set to tackle the 8th Floor.
Ding-dong-!
The doorbell to Yuna's house rang.
"Huh? Who could it be at this hour?"
It was early morning on a weekday.
It was rare for them to have guests at this time.
Tilting her head in confusion, Yuna checked the Peephole to see who was outside.
"Eheeeeng!"
Then, she let out a bizarre sound and recoiled on the spot.
"Accountant Yuna! What's wrong!"
Joohyun, who had been rubbing himself against the mountain of magic stones in his room, grew worried and frantically rushed over to her.
With a face full of absolute shock, Yuna pointed at the door with a trembling hand.
"At, at the door!"
"What about the door! Is there an Assailant standing there or something?"
Could it be the guy who sent the Letter?
Saying that, Joohyun immediately went on high alert.
Seeing him gather blazing flames in his hands, Yuna shook her head vigorously.
"That's not it!"
"Then what is it! What's going on!"
Joohyun was too short to look through the Peephole, which only added to his frustration.
"That person is here!"
"That person? Who?"
"Choi Seoyeon!"
"What!!"
Unable to believe it, Joohyun jumped up and down to peek through the Peephole, but it was no use.
No matter how high he jumped, he just couldn't reach it.
Seeing this, Yuna hastily lifted Joohyun On the Shoulder and stood up.
Only then was Joohyun able to check outside through the Peephole.
He could clearly see Seoyeon's face, smiling elegantly.
"What the? It really is her! Why is she here!"
"I don't know either!"
Behind Seoyeon was a Gigantic shadow.
Joohyun looked at the shadow more closely.
And he couldn't help but be shocked all over again.
That's because the shadow belonged to a massive man with a face covered in scars.
"Wait, Choi Kanghyun is right behind her too?"
"What?!"
At Joohyun's words, Yuna checked through the Peephole once more and spotted Choi Kanghyun standing next to Choi Seoyeon, just as he said.
"Why on earth are they here!"
"What do we do, what do we do!"
It was while the two of them were Stomping in Place anxiously in front of the door.
"...Yaaawn. You two are being so loud."
Mina came trudging over from behind, letting out a massive yawn.
"We're in big trouble right now! Choi Seoyeon and Choi Kanghyun are outside!"
When Yuna said that, Mina blinked for a moment before opening her mouth to speak.
"...Oh, I guess they're here?"
"No, Choi Seoyeon is here... Wait, what? What did you just say, Mina?"
At Yuna's question, Mina vigorously scratched her messy hair and replied.
"...Huh?... Oh, did I not tell you? I'm the one who called Choi Seoyeon."
"Whaaaaaat!!!"
"You treacherous Spy!!!"
Looking at the two of them, Mina simply continued to yawn nonchalantly.