Chapter 24
Chapter 24
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 24
Chapter Title: What an Easy Woman
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Having politely turned down the offer from the beauty in the suit, I quickly made my escape.
What a scary world. These days, they're even using honey traps for recruitment?
Twenty years after the tower appeared, weird new cults worshiping it have popped up.
The biggest one in our country is, of course, the 'Pillar of Heaven' Church.
It's your typical deranged group of this era, believing the tower is a divine gift sent to save humanity.
Since the leader is a Korean hunter, that's why they've gained so much traction here.
The founder and leader of the Pillar of Heaven is Lee Chun-hee, a high-ranker known by the moniker 'Prophet.'
She's a notorious scumbag hunter who squeezes massive donations out of her followers and uses the cash to gear up fully while climbing the tower.
She goes around spouting nonsense like she met a divine messenger in the tower or received messages from it... and shockingly, plenty of people buy it and become believers.
Even at our construction site, there was this poor guy whose ex-wife got brainwashed by a cult, handed over the house deed, and divorced him, leaving him in a real mess.
Not just poor folks who fall victim to cults—professors and celebrities were believers in the Pillar of Heaven too.
Hell, just recently, there was a scandal about lawmakers and high-ranking officials being members, and the whole country was in an uproar.
It's weird how even educated people fall for this stuff... but I guess knowledge and wisdom aren't the same thing.
Even intellectuals can get duped. Sad, really.
That woman seemed normal too. What a shame.
"Chit. Chit chit chit."
"This guy..."
I nodded along while Thunder kept chattering that nonsense.
He's right, sure... but hearing it from a damn squirrel pisses me off.
What, am I that bad? I'm not some heartthrob at first sight, but honestly, I'm upper tier.
I was grumbling to myself, nursing the common male delusion, when...
"E-excuse me! There's some misunderstanding... huff... I swear I'm not suspicious or anything!"
The suit beauty—who anyone could see looked shady—had frozen at my flat rejection but chased after me anyway.
I kept my polite demeanor toward her as she huffed and puffed.
"Oh, of course. I never thought you were suspicious. For the record, I'm not interested in insurance, and I don't need any easy money schemes that pay hundreds of thousands a day."
"Y-you do think I'm suspicious! No, wait... Y-you're the squirrel hunter, right? From the Hunter Daily article. I recognized you by the squirrel on your shoulder."
"...And?"
What the hell is with this person?
She caught her breath, seemed to choose her words carefully, then dropped something even shadier.
"I-I'm a fan! I read the article and started rooting for you!"
"Wow, that's so flattering. Nice meeting you."
I turned to leave.
This is shadier than a cultist or MLM hustler.
Who becomes a fan from that kind of article?
She's gotta be mentally unstable.
The suit woman chased after me again.
She thrust a business card at me, pleading.
"I-I'm really not suspicious... I'm a civil servant in the Hunter Department!"
"Here, have some."
"Thanks. Thunder, you first."
"Chit."
I'd stopped at a cafe, where I made Thunder try the sweet potato latte Park Min-ah had bought first.
Thunder sniffed it, then devoured it happily.
I took a sip next, and Park Min-ah stared at me like I'd lost my mind.
"Um, what are you doing...?"
"Oh, my pet loves this drink. Any problem?"
"...No, not really."
I'd teased her pretty openly, but the business card confirmed her identity.
That's why I'd come along.
Hunter Department... attached to the Trial Tower, no less.
Meaning she's hunting for who 3026 is—and she suspects me a little.
Running away there would've just drawn more attention.
Better to chat here and throw her off.
Plus, this sloppy woman might spill some useful info.
Park Min-ah forced a smile and spoke up.
"Wow, I run into the squirrel hunter by chance on my way home... Um, may I have your name...?"
"Kim Ji-woo."
"Nice to meet you, Hunter Kim Ji-woo. I spotted the squirrel on your shoulder. I read your article in Hunter Daily—it really stuck with me..."
"Oh yeah? That's surprising. It wasn't exactly flattering."
"Psh, I know what kind of paper Hunter Daily is. Total fabrication."
Park Min-ah waved her hands dramatically.
"But you do juggle hunter work and construction, right? Wow... that's impressive. Mind if I ask the real reason?"
"Ah, it's a long story..."
I explained about my parents and why I do manual labor on sites.
Stuff they could dig up anyway, so better from me.
Of course, I artfully hid my abilities and current floor.
After hearing it all, Park Min-ah dabbed at her tears.
"Th-that's how it is... Your parents had to be penalty victims..."
"Here, tissue."
"Th-thanks... Sniff!"
She cries at the drop of a hat. Empathy demon, basically.
Park Min-ah, eyes still misty, double-checked.
"And your first skill was 'Foresight Eye'...?"
"Yeah. Lets you see one second into the future... but it's useless offensively if that's your only skill. I scraped by on low floors, repeating for magic stones, but it wasn't enough, so I did labor."
"Aah..."
"Lately, I finally cleared the next floor and am climbing again, bit by bit."
"That's a relief..."
Her eyes welled up again, moved by my fabricated tale of human triumph.
Too easy to fool—it's worrying.
I even demoed Foresight Eye briefly, and she bought it hook, line, and sinker.
"S-so, the squirrel...?"
"The article twisted it, but I just found him in the mountains. Weirdly, he follows me well and I've raised him."
"He must sense you're a good person, Ji-woo."
"Thanks for seeing it that way."
She'll probably check my magic stone cash-ins later, just in case, but this chat's solidified my alibi.
I got the good intel, though.
From talking to her, the Hunter Department doesn't even know Mountain Squirrels on Trial Tower floor 1 drop magic stones at 0.1% odds.
Sure, urban legends float around, but no one's verified it. No hunter chases a single stone.
So, no risk of me getting exposed.
They'll think 3026 had zero cash-ins for 1,000 days.
Checking mine—steady small cash-ins for three years—will rule me out.
But did she approach me with that faint suspicion despite knowing all this?
...She's sharper than she looks.
The chat dragged on; she whined about her boss pressuring her to find 3026 fast.
I sympathized: "Public servants have it rough, huh?"
As we parted, Park Min-ah clenched her fists and said,
"Ji-woo, hang in there. Don't give up."
"Thanks. You too, Min-ah! Hope you catch 3026 yourself."
"Yeah! Thanks! Take care of... Thunder!"
Park Min-ah left with her innocent smile, clueless to the end.
Watching her go, Thunder shook his head pityingly.
"Chit. Chit chit..."
[Orange Light has entered.]
With White Light's message, the coordinators' meeting began.
Last time, they'd tabled what to do with Korea's 3026. This time, it was a progress report.
Red Light kicked things off.
Orange Light was still pro-3026.
The reason was obvious: goodwill from Korea's gallery stabilization.
But Blue Light remained cold.
They shelved the inconclusive candidate debate, and White Light asked Blue Light,
Then, the silent Gray Light spoke.
Another inconclusive meeting.
These beings had dealt with this irregularity—3026 and Truth's meddling—multiple times, but it remained a headache.
White Light broke the deadlock.
Gray Light took heat from the others.
Unable to push further, White Light coaxed,
Gray Light fell silent.
The coordinators' meeting ended.
The next one would be after the Golden Key's true nature was revealed.