The Price of a Secret
The woman who introduced herself as Yoo Hyeyeon bowed her head in greeting.
"Thank you for helping one of our players. I came by today to properly introduce myself and express my gratitude."
"He didn't just help me once, Mom! He helped me twice!"
"Twice?"
"Hyeong-nim, don't you remember? Once with the car! And then at the end, when you sent me ahead first! That makes twice!"
Did I? Well, I had already received my two million Maetan Points, so it didn't really matter to me either way.
"Yes! So today, I personally—!"
"Kang Yeolchan."
"Hic."
Hyeyeon's icy voice cut Kang Yeolchan dead in his tracks.
How could a voice so quiet carry so much more weight than Yeolchan's booming shout?
"I told you not to get excited so easily, didn't I? Act like an A-class Player."
"Yes, ma'am!"
"Wait until I am finished speaking."
"Yes..."
Kang Yeolchan took a step back, deflated.
Yoo Hyeyeon, whose expression had been freezing cold just a second ago, approached me with a bright, warm smile.
Because of my Goblin avatar's short stature, her chest was practically right in front of my nose.
She leaned down slightly and spoke.
"I'm sorry. He's still young, so he lacks self-control..."
"Pardon? Ah, yes."
"You saw him, right? I heard you did..."
"Saw what, exactly?"
She leaned in close, whispering right into my ear.
"Yeolchan's real-world appearance."
"Ah... Yes, I saw him."
Once I admitted that I knew what Kang Yeolchan actually looked like, some of the tension melted from Yoo Hyeyeon's face.
"A few people know, but for now, it's a secret. The fact that an active Player is just a child... It causes a lot of complications."
Maetan did not hire employees under the age of fifteen.
Yet the Kang Yeolchan I saw looked barely ten years old, and he already had a **Neck-Hub** implanted.
There had to be some complicated reason behind it.
I had no intention of prying.
"I think keeping it a secret all the time is a heavy burden for him. Whenever he meets someone who knows the truth, like you, Juhyuk-ssi, he tends to open up way too easily. He shouldn't do that, but he's still so young that he doesn't know how to doubt people."
"And since you saved his life... Well, if what I heard is true, I'd probably open my heart to you too. But as a guild leader, my priority has to be the safety of my members. You understand, right?"
I had no intention of prying, but she was spilling everything on her own.
Honestly, it feels like she's the one opening up too easily, not Yeolchan.
And it wasn't like I was the only one who saw him.
"To be honest, he's a Design Child born during the war. That's why his computational power is so much higher than average... and how he ended up with a Neck-Hub so early. Maetan is perpetually plagued by a shortage of processing power, so they couldn't afford to let someone capable of high-level computation sit idle for years..."
The Design Child project was a military initiative launched midway through the war.
After losing physical silicon CPUs to the AI during the war, humanity realized they could use the human brain as a substitute. Thus, they genetically engineered children specifically optimized to function as CPUs.
Since the war had ended before they could even be deployed, this was my first time actually seeing one in person.
I only knew about it because my old commander had mentioned it like some urban legend. But wasn't that a top-secret project? I was under the impression it had been canceled even during the war because it was deemed too inhumane.
"Oh my, look at me. What am I saying? I'm sorry. So few people know the secret, and I guess I've been desperate to get it off my chest whenever I get the chance..."
"It's fine. I'll forget I heard it."
"...Can you really forget it?"
Whoosh.
The warmth instantly vanished from Yoo Hyeyeon's eyes.
"An A-class Player actually being a child? That's something that could be brushed off as a minor incident. But a Design Child under fifteen working as a Maetan employee? That is a massive problem. Especially the Design Child part... Can you truly forget that?"
Ah, so this was her play.
Only now did I understand why she had babbled all those secrets in front of me.
Yoo Hyeyeon was threatening me.
By wrapping a secret I already knew with an even bigger, more dangerous one, she had bound them together into an 'absolute secret' that could never be leaked.
She was piling secrets on top of secrets, making the shackles heavier.
But I genuinely didn't care.
"Forget what?"
I asked back, playing dumb.
A smirk played on Yoo Hyeyeon's lips.
"Good. I didn't mean to threaten you, so don't take it too seriously. Besides, I haven't even told you the biggest secret yet."
Suddenly, a faint, elegant scent drifted over on the virtual breeze.
It was a pleasant fragrance, the likes of which I had never smelled in Maetan.
Tracing the source of the scent, I saw Yoo Hyeyeon chuckling softly as she tucked a strand of hair behind her ear.
In that moment, she didn't look like a fierce warrior who could suppress a cold A-class Player with a single word, nor did she look like a worried guild leader fretting over a young member. She didn't even look like a calculating strategist subtly pressuring a stranger to protect her ward.
She just looked like a playful woman harboring a secret...
"Mom, are you almost done?"
"Hey!"
She was just a mother with a muscular, red goblin of a son.
"I told you not to call me Mom when we're outside!"
"Aren't we telling him everything anyway?"
"No! How many times do I have to tell you that there are things you say and things you keep to yourself?!"
The elegant office lady who smelled so nice vanished, replaced by a mother completely at her child's mercy.
She whipped her head around to face me, letting out a sigh as if giving up.
"Fine. Well, since you've heard it all, there's no helping it."
The mother, determined to protect her child, spoke firmly.
"Keep this a secret. I will do absolutely anything to protect my child."
"Yes. Understood."
"And..."
Yoo Hyeyeon knelt down in front of me.
Bringing herself down to my eye level, she bowed her head.
"Thank you so much for saving my boy."
She lifted her head and took my hand.
"Our Sprout Guild offers you our deepest gratitude, and we promise to cooperate with you in any way we can. Once again, thank you for saving my child."
I could feel the warmth of her hand as she held mine.
And then, a message popped up that felt even warmer.
> Yoo Hyeyeon has transferred 30,000,000 Maetan Points to your account.
Thirty million.
Thirty million?!
It was an amount of money I had never even seen in my entire life.
"This is...?"
"It's your reward."
Looking at Yoo Hyeyeon's smiling face, I once again thanked my lucky stars that I was wearing a Goblin avatar.
Because right now, there was no way I could control my facial expression.
I could feel my cheekbones practically bursting through my skin from grinning so hard.
Thirty million.
That was two years' worth of my salary.
With this, I could pay off my Neck-Hub installment plan immediately.
Even if I ate nine portions of food every single day, this would last me for years.
"Ah, let me return this to you."
I unequipped the Earrings of Dueoksini and held them out.
"It's fine! You keep them, Hyeong-nim! I have plenty of other items and skills besides those!"
"But I heard you lost a lot of gear on the Internet..."
"I have tons of other stuff! Right, Mom?"
"It's fine, Juhyuk-nim. You should keep them. He has more than enough strength-boosting items to make anyone jealous."
"Well, if even his mother says so... I will accept them with gratitude."
*Flinch.*
A sudden chill swept over me. It felt like a dagger had just pierced my chest.
For a brief second, my danger-sensing instincts flared.
"M-Mother...? ...Could you just call me by my name?"
"Mom, hurry up!"
The muscular red goblin nudged Yoo Hyeyeon, clearly still having business to attend to.
"You tell him."
"Yes! Hyeong-nim! The reason we came today is to ask you for a favor!"
"A favor...?"
"Yes!"
Kang Yeolchan spread his arms wide.
"Hyeong-nim, come join our guild and become a Player!"
"A Player?"
"Yes! A Player!"
The kid was too excited to have a proper conversation.
I turned to Yoo Hyeyeon, my eyes silently asking for an explanation.
"Our Sprout Guild has many Players with low computation grades. We believe that even if your grade is low, you can perform exceptionally well if you coordinate with other Players and cover for each other's weaknesses."
"Team up with me! Let's go to the Deep Web together! The Deep Web!"
"That's how we grew our guild to be the largest in Maetan. The number of people directly correlates to the number of possible combinations. The more options you have when choosing teammates, the better, right? It's hard to predict when and what kind of combination will create the best synergy..."
"Hyeong-nim, do you happen to know a server called Junior Naver? There's so much fun stuff there."
"But even so, you still need a high enough grade to obtain a Player License."
"Ah, Hyeong-nim, you said you like sun bears, right? Then what was it? There's a server called... Affini-something, and there are tons of bears there! You'll love—Ow!"
Yoo Hyeyeon smacked the back of Kang Yeolchan, who kept interrupting and cutting her off.
Kang Yeolchan shrieked and jumped, a clear handprint indented on his back.
"Ahem. The problem is, I heard your computation grade is E, Juhyuk-nim."
"...That is correct."
As expected, the computation grade was the bottleneck.
"No wonder you were using a Goblin avatar on the Internet. To even get basic access permissions, you need to be at least a C-grade."
"But Hyeong-nim has a strength that can't be measured by grades!"
"No matter how strong he is, an E-grade is going to struggle. The connection time to the Internet is too short, and even rendering an avatar is a burden. He wouldn't even be able to get a Player License in the first place—"
"Ah, Mom, that's only because you haven't seen Hyeong-nim fight! He fought a **Debugger** all by himself and won!"
"Alright, alright. Just quiet down for a second."
I appreciated him defending me, but I was pretty sure Yeolchan hadn't actually seen me fight either.
My clash with the bearded man had happened after Yeolchan went through the portal.
"...I know it's a bit rude to ask this of our savior, but would you mind if we did a quick test?"
"A test? What kind...?"
Yoo Hyeyeon tossed her jacket aside and spoke.
"How about a quick spar?"
*Yep, she's definitely Yeolchan's mother.*
Yoo Hyeyeon was highly confident in her abilities.
She was the leader of Sprout, the largest guild in Maetan, and an S-rank Player.
On top of that, she was one of the city's premier infighters.
Armed with close-quarters skills and gear, her trademark style was a fluid, relentless assault. Once a fight began, her specialty was a continuous barrage of attacks that left her opponent with absolutely no time to breathe until the match was decided.
Once caught within her range, very few people—even among S-ranks—could escape.
*Roll.*
Huh?
*Roll.*
Initially, she had only intended to test his skills lightly.
But without realizing it, her pace was gradually accelerating.
For Yoo Hyeyeon, this was a completely novel sensation.
Usually, her relentless strikes disrupted her opponent's rhythm and dragged them into her own tempo. To find herself being pulled along and forced to speed up instead was entirely unfamiliar.
I have a few of my skills turned off, but even this should be more than enough to handle an A-class or S-class...
A stubborn pride began to swell within Yoo Hyeyeon.
A creeping sense of frustration took hold as she realized she hadn't landed a single blow on the opponent before her.
The fact that she wasn't fighting at full strength was no excuse.
She was an S-rank, a top-five powerhouse, and her opponent was...
Just a Goblin!
To her astonishment, the Goblin before her was dodging her attacks with the absolute bare minimum of movement.
She even evaded strikes that clearly came from outside his field of vision.
Of course, he had that broken skill, the 0.2-second invincibility Roll, but his evasive maneuvers went far beyond what a single skill could explain.
As her continuous assault crossed the five-minute mark, Yoo Hyeyeon's patience finally reached its limit.
If I use an area-of-effect attack that deals continuous damage right now... I can definitely hit him...!
She possessed several skills capable of dealing sustained damage over a wide area.
Skills that could not be dodged, even with a Goblin's mobility and a 0.2-second invincibility window.
The moment the Goblin slipped past her decisive sixteen-hit combo, she instinctively prepared to activate one of those skills.
Ah, wait, no!
But just before the skill could trigger, her reason barely managed to halt it.
This was a test, not a deathmatch.
Besides, using such a move against a Goblin was far too cheap.
She forcibly cancelled the skill, plastered on a refreshing smile, and looked up.
"Phew, shall we call it there...? Huh?"
She couldn't believe her eyes.
The Goblin had retreated far into the distance.
He was still technically within the range of the skill she had almost activated, but that was only because her skill's area of effect was abnormally massive. Had it been any ordinary skill, he would have been well clear of it.
Did he know I was about to use an AoE skill? How?
"Why did you back off so far?"
She asked, her curiosity getting the better of her.
"I got a bad feeling."
"A bad feeling?"
"Yes. Well, it felt like I'd die if I stayed there... To be honest, I don't feel entirely safe here either, but this was the furthest I could get."
This is insane.
She quickly analyzed the strengths of the Goblin before her.
First, his eyes.
His dynamic vision was terrifyingly sharp.
No matter how many feints she threw into her attacks, he dodged them with minimal movement. He countered as if he could see the trajectories of her strikes, and even the attacks that bypassed his vision were evaded purely by instinct.
And above all, his miraculous survival instinct.
She had heard that phrase, "got a bad feeling," a few times before.
It wasn't something a mere soldier could say. It was a phrase reserved only for veterans who had crossed the threshold of death dozens, if not hundreds, of times.
An inexplicable judgment that mapped out the shortest path to survival, defying all logic.
A reaction speed that made it seem as though every single part of his brain was operating with maximum efficiency under a single, absolute directive: *survive.*
...His computation grade doesn't matter. I have to recruit him, no matter what.
"Now that we've fought, I understand. You are truly incredible."
"Hardly anyone can dodge my mom's continuous attacks!"
"Thank you."
"So, Mom! What's the verdict?"
Kang Yeolchan pressed, looking eagerly at Yoo Hyeyeon.
How long had it been since she had seen her son look at someone with such sparkling, adoring eyes?
Of course, to anyone else, it just looked like the burning, fiery eyes of a red goblin.
But she couldn't bring herself to scold him.
Because right now, Yoo Hyeyeon suspected her own eyes looked exactly the same.
"You pass. I would be honored if you joined our guild."
"Really?"
"Ohhh! Hyeong-nim! Let's go right now! Where should we dive first?"
But as much as she wanted him, Maetan had its laws.
"However, this is strictly an invitation to join the guild. Becoming a Player is a completely different matter."
Maetan enforced strict regulations on its Players.
The Internet was a treasure trove of knowledge and information that Maetan lacked.
To ensure that those entering didn't harbor ulterior motives, or that an inexperienced Player wouldn't accidentally expose Maetan's physical location, the corporation had established numerous safeguards.
"Making you an official Player is not something within my power. Of course, since you've agreed to join our guild, I promise to provide you with the maximum support possible, but..."
This was one thing even Yoo Hyeyeon could not bypass.
"What do I need to do?"
"You need to obtain a Player License."