A Girl's Revenge (4)

The second floor of the Magic Hall. Lim Sol's research lab.

Her work on the core spell formula was entering its final stretch. The finishing had to be flawless, so Lim Sol was concentrating harder than ever. And yet the research refused to move, as if she had run into a wall she could not see.

Just a little more. She was so close to completion she could taste it.

The fact that it ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠simply would not come together left her restless and frustrated.

"If only Ho-yeon were here..."

The fundamental concept had come from Lee Ho-yeon in the first place. If he had been around to help, the whole thing would have been finished in no time. But one crisis after another kept cropping up, and she had never been able to get his help properly.

"I do all the research myself and still put his name on the paper. Where else are you going to find a teacher like me. Hmph."

Praising her own character as a model mentor, Lim Sol slipped out of the lab.

She had taken off her smartwatch to focus on the paper, and messages had piled up in her absence. She deleted everything unimportant and checked the ones from people she actually cared about.

"An interview?"

Lee Ho-yeon's interview. She hadn't watched it yet, but Min Yeji's message made her unexpectedly curious. Of course, she had to reply to Ho-yeon first.

The Magic Expo. Even if it was a hassle, she figured she ought to at least try. A date with her disciple wouldn't be so bad.

After sending the message, Lim Sol opened the interview video Min Yeji had attached. The reporter on screen was Hayoung, a well-known face in the industry.

Lim Sol watched the interview and smiled, just a little.

"Help... when I'm the one who actually received it."

Their first meeting had been born from Lim Sol's own mistake. And then she had discovered that dazzling magical talent. Of course she had fallen for it — she had wanted, by any means necessary, to keep him working at her side. But if her blunder hadn't dragged Lee Ho-yeon into that accident, she never would have allowed things to go as far as they had. The whole relationship had been built on a foundation of guilt.

These days, she was grateful for it. That relationship had given Lim Sol more than her share of benefits, after all.

The day she met Lee Ho-yeon had been the turning point of her life. She had researched forms of mana manipulation she had never seen before. She had turned the new concepts he discovered into papers. She had found something even sweeter than the ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠chocolate she used to unwind from the stress of magical research, and now her disciple's fame had followed all the way to her own doorstep.

Lim Sol had never, in her entire life, had anyone she could truly exchange magical ideas with. She had been too far ahead of her peers, and the old men who could actually understand her magic had rejected her for being a child. In that sense, Lee Ho-yeon had been nothing short of a blessing. She had needed someone younger than herself who could still hold a conversation about magic.

Even after she grew close with Baek A-young and Min Yeji, that hunger for magic had not diminished in the slightest. Which was exactly why this particular disciple was so precious.

"...I should look up the Magic Expo, then."

The Magic Expo. She had no idea what fun there would be in going with someone who knew nothing but magic — but her disciple wanted it.

Lim Sol set her research notes aside and started browsing the expo.

"It's dark..."

The address Park Min-gyu had pinned was tucked deep inside an alley. The farther in they went, the more red lights appeared, and half-dressed women drifted past with increasing frequency. Ho-yeon watched a van unload a cluster of girls who filed into a single building — and a voice rose from his own shadow.

"It is, isn't it."

"Shh."

"No one will hear my voice except you, Ho-yeon."

"..."

So that was why her voice had mana woven through it. He gave a slight nod and pushed deeper in.

Among the cluster of buildings, the largest one was the location Park Min-gyu had marked.

They're selling themselves in a place this shameless?

It was so brazen it was almost disorienting. Not that it mattered. He had perception-dampening magic running, so he walked into the building without hesitation.

A man who looked like the floor manager approached him from an expensive-looking counter inside.

"Welcome. Do you have a reservation, sir?"

"I'm with Park Min-gyu. Is he inside?"

"Ah, of course. Hey — take this gentleman to Min-gyu hyung's room."

The manager smiled, rubbing his hands together, and barked the order at a man standing behind him.

"Yes, sir. Right this way, please."

Guided by the hulking figure who had been waiting behind the manager, Ho-yeon stepped into a private room — and found the kindly-faced middle-aged man he had met before already seated inside.

Park Min-gyu, guild leader of the Buyer Guild.

"Cadet Lee Ho-yeon. It's been a while."

"First time since the banquet, I think."

He had never been in a place like this. He wasn't actually nervous, but he sat down putting on a convincing show of tension.

And this old man — who had supposedly arranged this meeting to recruit him — had taken the seat of honor like it was the most natural thing in the world. What good was a kind face when his posture already gave the game away?

A knock sounded at the door. Mid-greeting, the same manager cracked it open and slipped inside.

"Good evening."

"Ah, Manager Kim. This is a little brother I think very highly of, so bring in the good ones."

"I'm sorry — what is that supposed to mean?"

Conscious of Scarlet recording from the shadows, Ho-yeon launched into his performance.

"Now, now, Cadet Lee, just sit tight."

"Then we'll go with the usual full course."

"Yes, yes. Do that."

The manager bowed and left. Ho-yeon put on a startled expression and glanced down at his own shadow. He couldn't see her, but he could feel a faint trace of Scarlet's mana. If it was Scarlet, she would handle her end just fine.

He kept the act going.

"P-Park Min-gyu, sir. What exactly is going on here?"

"Hm? Is this your first time in a place like this, Cadet Lee?"

"I came here to talk about a contract..."

He trembled like a leaf, pouring anxiety into every word.

Am I laying the sucker act on too thick?

Even he thought he looked like a total loser. But that wasn't necessarily a bad thing. People liked a pure image — especially on a good-looking face. They ate that innocent-dork thing right up.

Another knock.

"Everyone's like that the first time. You know what's funny, though? The ones who try to back out are always the ones who come back the most excited later. Ah, Manager Kim. The girls?"

"Brought them. Go on — take your seats next to the gentlemen."

From behind the manager, women in hostess dresses and men in waiter uniforms filed into the room.

"Hi there, oppa."

"Hyung. Your little brother brought you some bokbunja wine."

"I — I'm sorry? Why are you doing that?"

These people were insane. The women glued themselves to his sides while the waiters poured drinks and started calling him hyung like their lives depended on it.

Waiters in places like this didn't draw a salary. They lived entirely on tips. Which was why they would cling to someone younger than themselves and call him hyung without a shred of shame. Ho-yeon, of course, pretended not to understand any of it.

"Uh, I think you might be older than me..."

"Not at all, hyung. This little brother of yours..."

"Oppa, oppa, what do you do for work?"

Waiters desperate for a tip, and hostesses who couldn't recognize him through the perception-dampening barrier. Caught between them, Ho-yeon kept up the flustered act.

"I — uh..."

He made absolutely sure not to lay a finger on any of the women. The last thing he needed was a scandal.

"Come on, come on. Pour him a drink."

Park Min-gyu seemed to think alcohol would solve everything, and ordered the women to keep the glasses full.

This should be enough, right?

If the evening went any further, he might start looking suspicious himself. The women seated on either side poured him drinks and set their hands on his thighs.

Disgusting.

Women who would do anything for money, putting their hands on his body — it made his skin crawl.

Then a finger emerged from his shadow and tapped his ankle.

Scarlet's signal.

"W-wait a second. I need to use the restroom."

The instant he got the cue, he bolted out of the room. The manager called after him as he hit the entrance, but that was hardly his problem. He even used Acceleration to put distance between himself and the entertainment district, then spoke down into his shadow.

"How was it? Did you get good footage?"

"Yes. Anyone watching would think you were a total loser who'd never set foot in a place like that."

"...Thanks."

"As expected, even your acting is excellent, Ho-yeon."

"Right. It was all an act. Yeah."

The truth was, he hadn't been particularly nervous or shaken. He'd just been embarrassed at how much of a sucker he looked. The women hadn't been bad-looking, exactly... but he was surrounded by so many beautiful women on a daily basis that ordinary ones barely registered anymore.

"Shall I edit the footage appropriately and leak it, then?"

"Ah... no. Let's start small. Something he can still throw a few people under the bus for."

At first, Park Min-gyu would try to cut off the tail and contain it. It wouldn't matter. Bigger things would keep dropping after that.

"Understood. I'll take care of it immediately."

"Yeah. As fast as you can."

Still wrapped in the shadow, Scarlet vanished toward wherever she was going.

If she can travel through shadows, she should have been doing that from the start.

Then he wouldn't have had to watch her crawling across the ceiling.

Once Scarlet detonated the scandal, he would need to prepare the next move. On the way back to the hospital, Ho-yeon turned over the problem of how to play the innocent so that people would actually believe it.

"Hah. A guy goes to the bathroom and just never comes back?"

"You can just have fun with us, oppa. Here, have another drink."

"Hold on, hold on. Unnie, call the manager for me."

Park Min-gyu had been drinking with a woman on each arm, but after a full hour with no sign ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠of Lee Ho-yeon, something felt wrong. He buzzed the manager on the intercom, and the man appeared in the doorway shortly after.

"You called for me, sir?"

"Manager Kim. My guest went to the bathroom and hasn't come back. Check on him."

"Your guest left the building a while ago, sir...?"

"What?"

Park Min-gyu shot to his feet. He had gone to all the trouble of bringing the kid here, and the brat had just run away?

Was he actually that nervous because it was his first time?

It happened now and then with first-timers. But every man Park Min-gyu had ever brought here loosened up the moment the alcohol hit and spent the rest of the night grinning.

His smartwatch chimed. The Buyer Guild's operations manager was calling.

"I'm in the middle of entertaining a guest. Why the hell are you calling."

The guest in question had already fled, but he had given strict orders not to call him during business. Irritation flickered through him as he answered the subordinate who had ignored those orders.

"The news?"

The manager's voice was raw with panic. Keeping the call open, Park Min-gyu pulled up the internet on his smartwatch. The top search terms were already flooding the screen.

"...What the hell is this. Drugs?"

"Son of a bitch..."

Park Min-gyu clenched his teeth.

"Oppa, what's going on?"

"Shut up. Tell the manager I'll settle up later."

"Oppa, the bill? Oppa!"

Park Min-gyu all but ran out of the building and headed straight for the Buyer Guild.

It's still fine. I can cut off the tail and walk away from this.

All he had to do was pick out a few guild members who had been involved in the trafficking and throw them to the wolves. He had spent years building his public image. A tearful national apology would offset a decent amount of the damage. At the very least, he wouldn't fall all the way into the abyss.

"I am not going down like this..."

He had only just started climbing into the light. He was not about to let it end here. Already mapping out the next move, Park Min-gyu charged into the Buyer Guild building.

Click. Click. Click.

The sound of heels echoed through a darkened building.

"Huh? Did the boss call for a girl?"

"Why would he call ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠a gir—"

Dozens of men in the middle of their work looked up as a mysterious blonde woman stepped into the warehouse, and their expressions turned puzzled.

"Miss, I think you took a wrong turn. Want a cup of tea?"

"Of course, it's the kind you don't wake up from."

The men roared with laughter, never pausing in their work as the harassment piled on. From a corner of the room, a massive man lumbered toward Scarlet.

"I'm not picking up any mana... I think she really is just some girl."

"Deok-gu. Restrain her and dose her. I'll come fuck her when we're done."

"Yes, sir."

"...Drug dealers who don't even recognize my face. This country's public safety is genuinely concerning."

Scarlet clicked her tongue, shook her head, and stirred her mana so quietly it barely existed. It was not the kind of power low-rent narcotics dealers could detect.

"The fuck did this crazy bitch just—"

The man called Deok-gu raised his fist — and in the same instant, black talons slithered out of every shadow in the warehouse. Like eagles snatching fish from the water, they punched through the men's throats all at once.

A wet crunch. A spray of blood.

In the space of a heartbeat the warehouse became a slaughterhouse, and the only people Scarlet judged worth keeping alive were a handful who looked like they sat near the top.

"Gh. Ah... ahh..."

The man the others had called boss stood with his mouth hanging open, staring at Deok-gu, who was still on his feet and vomiting blood. Dozens of people collapsing in a fountain of gore in a single second would rattle anyone.

Scarlet gathered her mana with the ease of long practice and put the question to him.

"Choose. Turn yourself in to the police, or..."

"I'll turn myself in. I'll turn myself in. Please — just let me live..."

He slammed his forehead into the floor over and over, desperate to stay alive, blood running down his face in sheets. Scarlet did not so much as glance at it. In her line of work, this much was a familiar sight.

"The Buyer Guild. You've worked with them before, haven't you?"

"Y-yes. But I don't know anything. We just did a few small deals. I swear..."

"I'm not interested in that. Take every record of every transaction you've ever made with the Buyer Guild and turn yourself in to the police. Right now. As fast as you can."

"I understand. I understand..."

Scarlet brushed the dust from her clothes and walked out of the building.

"Hah. Where else are you going to find talent like me."

Who else would work this hard for a boss who didn't even pay her?

One job finished, Scarlet headed back to Lee Ho-yeon in high spirits.

Ten minutes later, the internet was flooded.