Chapter 84
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 84
Chapter Title: Ameris's Night
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Director Yeo scowled and kicked her desk in frustration.
"What the hell did I even do!"
She muttered to herself, still fuming, and gnawed at her nails.
Just then, a connection tone began ringing inside the control room.
Director Yeo snapped irritably at her subordinate.
"What's that noise?"
The subordinate replied in a trembling voice.
"Th-the academy's hotline is calling..."
At her subordinate's words, Director Yeo panicked.
"What? From where? Which department?"
"You should probably take it first."
Director Yeo's face paled in an instant, cold sweat trickling down her skin.
She unconsciously brought her hand to her mouth and thought.
'They couldn't possibly know anything, right?'
She'd dismissed it as nothing serious and ignored her subordinate's advice.
Now the incident had snowballed beyond control, leaving her scrambling.
But no matter what, she couldn't let this leak outside.
She pulled her mangled nails from her mouth and thought.
'If it gets out now, I'm done for. Better to wait until everything's wrapped up... even the vice principal...'
A plan to save herself restored her smile, and she casually reached for the receiver.
She answered leisurely.
"Ghoul Field Training Control Room, Training Oversight Department Chief Yoon Mi-hee speaking."
Yoon Mi-hee knew that without going through the control room, no Ghoul Field intel could reach anywhere else.
So she believed nothing had leaked.
At least, that's what she thought.
— ....
"You may speak."
—G-give me... the... chief...
But for some reason, only garbled noise came through the receiver.
Amid it, a woman's sharp voice pierced through.
Yoon Mi-hee tensed up without realizing it.
'No way, right? It couldn't be...'
And her fears came true.
A sharp, stinging voice emanated from the receiver.
She knew that voice.
—Put the person in charge on the line right now!
The elite among the elites of Seoul Hunter Academy's instructors.
The woman with the greatest influence in the current instructor system.
The moment Yoon Mi-hee heard that voice, she froze like a mouse before a viper.
'Why is Lee Dok-sa calling me?'
Yoon Mi-hee knew all about her.
Lee Dok-sa held the highest authority among instructors, wielding completely independent investigative powers within the academy.
Even the heads of various academy departments feared her.
And the cases she handled were always massive incidents tagged with words like 'terrorism, accident, disaster, catastrophe.'
'But why me!'
Yoon Mi-hee forced herself to stay calm as she replied.
"What's this about? During training, we refrain from external communications..."
—Refrain?! Are you out of your mind? Send over all the recorded data right now.
"What are you talking about..."
—I already know everything.
She tried to play it off naturally, but Lee Dok-sa's voice from the receiver was cold fury itself.
Yoon Mi-hee could sense it instinctively.
'She already knows the rough situation.'
Her words failed her as she stammered incoherently.
"This can't be happening. No way..."
But then she recalled Lee Dok-sa's demand and thought.
'She asked for the data, so she doesn't know the exact details yet. If I delete all our data and stall for time...'
But a shout came from the receiver.
Lee Dok-sa was barking orders at someone.
Her words sliced through Yoon Mi-hee's thoughts like a blade.
—Check for support teams right now! No? This isn't just training. Get contact going immediately!
At Lee Dok-sa's words, Yoon Mi-hee snatched up the dropped receiver.
"W-wait a second."
—Why wait? Every second counts!
Lee Dok-sa was right.
Her own mistake had delayed the initial response.
But Yoon Mi-hee knew better.
She was a talent who'd clawed her way up through fierce competition for over a decade.
She knew full well about quasi-S-rank dungeons.
Even if they intervened now, the students were probably already dead. The professors caught in it too.
That's why this absolutely couldn't leak outside.
To Yoon Mi-hee, preventing the news from escaping mattered more than the students' safety.
She said to Lee Dok-sa in a trembling voice.
"Even if this blows up, can you take responsibility?"
—What are you talking about? How could it get any bigger than this!
Lee Dok-sa bristled at Yoon Mi-hee's absurd words.
But Yoon Mi-hee couldn't back down.
She didn't know much about Lee Dok-sa as a person.
So she figured that no matter who Lee Dok-sa was, she'd listen once she learned about Yoon Mi-hee's backers.
That was her fatal mistake.
"There are people who want this kept quiet. If another major incident erupts on top of the recent ones..."
—Who exactly?
Lee Dok-sa asked coldly.
Yoon Mi-hee relaxed, thinking it was working.
"Someone higher up in this academy than you can imagine."
Lee Dok-sa fell silent at Yoon Mi-hee's words.
Yoon Mi-hee smirked, believing her threat had landed.
"The media's already watching the academy after the string of recent events. If we send support to the Ghoul Field, they'll rip us apart. Just buy enough time, and we can clean it up and bury it..."
Contract season with private companies and clans.
Hundreds of renewals coming up, worth trillions of won.
No scale worthy of the academy's name.
Equivalent to a small nation's monthly output.
Naturally, some was slush funds flowing into high places.
Including the ones who put Yoon Mi-hee here and could elevate her further.
Yoon Mi-hee couldn't imagine what would happen if trust in the academy shattered again.
And that's why she was here—to prevent that.
Yoon Mi-hee thought.
'Handle the cleanup first. Delay rescue as much as possible, keep it out of the media's eyes...'
Relieved that her intimidation had succeeded, Yoon Mi-hee caught her breath.
Smiling, she spoke into the receiver.
"If you understand, just handle it discreetly..."
—So you're the bitch behind this.
"Wh-what?"
Lee Dok-sa's words made her doubt her own ears.
"Hey! What did you just say..."
Lee Dok-sa cut off Yoon Mi-hee's shout.
—I don't need you anymore. We've secured all the data. Training Oversight Chief Yoon Mi-hee. Get ready.
"W-wait! You think you can get away with this?"
Yoon Mi-hee clung to the receiver and yelled, but all she heard was Lee Dok-sa shouting at others.
—Hurry and line up support! Contact the academy response team, Inferno side too—no, just post an emergency public call! Reach out to all major clans. For Snow Mountain, tell them 'Miss Baek A-rin' is caught up in this. Their top hunters will come running.
Lee Dok-sa was escalating it into a snowballing crisis.
Yoon Mi-hee panicked and screamed.
"Are you insane? When we need to cover this up, what the hell are you doing? You want helicopters from the media, live broadcasts, special reports?!"
—Shut up. Let them launch helicopters or planes or whatever. Listen closely. If even one student gets hurt from now on, I'll stake my 15 years as an instructor to destroy you.
"What the..."
Yoon Mi-hee chattered her teeth and yelled at Lee Dok-sa.
"You think you can handle the fallout? The higher-ups..."
But from the receiver came Lee Dok-sa ordering her subordinate as if struck by a sudden thought.
—Oh, and notify the government immediately. Issue travel bans on all the top brass... No, keep everyone from the academy leadership from leaving the premises.
—Y-yes? Specifically who...
—Just bar everyone above me!
Yoon Mi-hee had no way of knowing.
That Lee Dok-sa's favorite protégé was about to die in this filthy scandal.
Or that once Lee Dok-sa snapped, she could fuck over anyone—even herself.
Yoon Mi-hee slumped in the corner, dazed, chuckling hollowly to herself.
"What the hell did I mess with..."
Support wasn't something I could count on.
In the original story, external aid arrived long after 'Ameris's Night' unfolded.
'There was a total asshole in the control room, after all.'
What could I do? Personnel wasn't my domain.
Whatever I tried there would draw massive attention.
The cons would outweigh the pros.
So for now, there was no choice.
Breaking through with my own power was the best bet.
Come to think of it, no one actually died in the end.
'Not a coincidence, probably.'
Not because the students were skilled enough.
Ameris hadn't entered the dungeon intending to kill them, after all.
'Did she really just want to die herself?'
Whatever the reason, I had no time or reason to dig into it.
Clearing this dungeon within a dungeon came first.
I shook off the nagging thoughts.
Turning to Sellus sitting beside me, I said.
"So, shall we talk now?"