Take Your Pick (3)

"A t-terror incident? What do you mean? You're not talking about that Neverland bombing from before, are you? What does that Jo Jin-hyun guy have to do with terror—"

"I said that was the last question, Min Ye-won."

"......Hup!"

At my irritated tone, she hurriedly read the mood and clamped both hands over her own mouth.

Training her did take some time, but even so, she had more than enough qualifications to become a slave.

"Seriously, stop making this a pain for me. Honestly, I'm the one taking a risk here trying to help you. I'll explain everything eventually, so stop interrogating me and just do what I tell you for now."

"......"

-Nod, nod.

"First things first, send me the money. You said you had about 80 million won left, right? I'll keep it safe and return it once this is all over."

"Okay...."

Only after I'd staged the atmosphere of terror several times did Min Ye-won finally seem willing to transfer money into my account. She opened her banking app, and not long after, an amount in the tens of millions of won landed in my balance.

...No way. Even now, she's skimming another 5 million off the top?

"Hey, Min Ye-won. You said 80 million was left just now. So why is 5 million missing—"

"I-I didn't skim it...! H-Here..."

"Hm?"

"...I th-thought I had 20 million left, b-but it turns out I spent a little more than that...."

...Fine. Let's think positively.

At the very least, I'd learned that she hadn't pocketed 5 million for herself even in a situation like this. Of course, it also reminded me, once again, of just how thoroughly demolished Min Ye-won's sense of money was.

Once her training is more or less done, I should start by teaching her how to live on basic, modest spending. Might even be better to confiscate any money she earns separately and let her live on an allowance alone.

"Good. Well, seeing as you've actually sent me the money, I can tell you're serious."

"I-I really am serious.... I absolutely refuse to go to p-prison...."

"I did let it slip by accident earlier, but anyway, this Jo Jin-hyun who sent you money is a rather famous terrorist. He's already well known among the police. Apparently he's been committing acts of terror all over the country before coming to Seoul and pulling off another one here."

"The N-Neverland terror incident from before... that was him? No way, seriously...?"

"...That's right."

"......"

-Gulp.

It was the kind of incident so dangerous that every newspaper and news program had milked it for all it was worth.

Even someone as indifferent to current events as Min Ye-won couldn't possibly have missed it.

"So the police right now are desperate to catch this terrorist, Jo Jin-hyun. The other terrorists besides him happened to be at the scene with me and my companions, so we managed to deal with them somehow, but this leader, Jo Jin-hyun, alone got away."

"...You dealt with terrorists, Lee Seonho? B-But you're in the Combat Support Department. How did you—"

"Going into detail would take too long, so I'll tell you later. Anyway, thanks to that, I've been in contact with the police chief in charge of the case. Those photos I showed you earlier came from him too. He asked whether I might be able to help with Jo Jin-hyun's arrest."

"I-I see...."

I could feel Min Ye-won's gaze shifting, subtly but unmistakably.

Until now she'd apparently seen me as nothing more than one Combat Support student, but hearing that this student had dealt with terrorists and suppressed a terror incident was bound to change how she looked at me.

And since I'd already shown her that I was in contact with the police officer in charge of the case, my words naturally gained that much more credibility.

"And yet, at this exact moment, the record of Jo Jin-hyun's transfer to you has come to light."

"I-I had absolutely nothing to do with the terror—"

"I know. From what I can see, you really didn't know anything about the terrorism. But the police aren't going to think that way, are they? Even if you claim you received the 100 million as payment for giving up your entrance exam, how many people do you think would believe you?"

"......"

"On top of that, plenty of people died or were injured in this attack, and the property damage is astronomical. And I happened to be visiting Neverland that day myself and got caught up in the terror, so I'm not exactly in the sunniest of moods about it either."

"Th-That's...."

"So you're going to have to talk straight. When it comes to the process of arresting Jo Jin-hyun."

Fear makes her obey me, but even so, I'll leave her a little corner to escape to, psychologically speaking.

Even if she starts questioning my orders or something feels off, the moment she believes there's a greater cause behind it—catching a terrorist—she'll be that much more willing to swallow it and push through.

"First of all, this man Jo Jin-hyun is a guaranteed death sentence the moment he's caught—a dangerous individual for whom hunters with Retribution Authority are even permitted to shoot on sight. And now he's pulled off a terror attack on this scale, so everyone is probably scrambling to bring in this one man.

Right now they're focused on the terror case and tracking him, so they don't have ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠the resources to extend the investigation to you. But if the manhunt starts dragging its feet, the investigation will reach you too. And that would put you in a very difficult position. Understand?"

"S-So... you're saying we just need to catch that Jo Jin-hyun person somehow, and fast...?"

"Right. Once he's caught, the 100 million he sent you can quietly slide under the radar too. After all, once he's dead, he can't exactly testify about what his intentions were in sending you money.

My goal is to catch this man, Jo Jin-hyun, and honestly, I don't hold much of a grudge against you. Sure, I think what you did at the entrance exam was trashy, but you didn't do anything bad enough to deserve getting tangled up in a terrorist crime."

"...Y-Yeah. C-Certainly, I didn't do anything that bad...."

She really didn't do anything that bad. The real mistake was thoughtlessly stepping into something she knew nothing about.

You'd better be thankful I exist, truly. Instead of getting strung along by a villain organization and shot dead, I've given you a new life as my slave.

"Let me ask you something, then. Did Jo Jin-hyun ever give you any kind of mission?"

"He told you... to."

"Sorry?"

"He told you to meet me and lure me into a dungeon he'd prepared.... O-Of course I would never actually do that...! I would never betray you, never...!"

"Calm down, I get it. ...And that operation of his—handled well, we might actually turn it against him."

"Turn it against him...?"

"If they don't know that you and I are cooperating, that means you can play the double agent. If your contribution to Jo Jin-hyun's arrest turns out to be significant, you could get back not just the money he gave you, but additional rewards as well."

"...A-Additional rewards...."

"I already have something in mind, so today, go home and report to Jo Jin-hyun that you made contact with me. Talking over a call risks your voice giving you away, so use text messages if you can. And then, in three days...."

Wow.

Just... unbelievable.

This Jo Jin-hyun guy really was a dangerous terrorist, wasn't he?

Crime articles, one, two, three, four.... Wow. Wow. Lee Seonho was right, he really was a dangerous villain. If it weren't for him, I would've been completely taken in, without even realizing it....

"Wait, does that mean the order to seduce Lee Seonho and bring him to the dungeon... was it because he was getting in their way that they planned to kill him inside the dungeon...?"

Probably. Hold on—wait, then that girl back then, that Kim Isabel...?

Wh-What do I do. I really, really never meant for anything like that to happen.... Why does this kind of thing keep happening to me? I really didn't do anything that wrong....

They're not suddenly going ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠to break down my front door and come to arrest me, are they? Couldn't I just tell them I didn't know anything...? Ah, but I already sent the money to Lee Seonho, so that excuse wouldn't work anymore, would it....

'Whether you really were involved in something strange or not, if you handle it well, I may be able to help you.'

Still, Lee Seonho said he'd help me somehow, so it'll be fine, right?

I don't fully understand it yet, but if I just do what he says, things will probably turn out okay.

I only met him for the first time today, but he seems pretty smart, and seeing him talk with someone as high up as a police chief, he clearly has connections.

If I have to trust someone anyway, it should be Lee Seonho, not a terrorist. Yeah.

"Ah, r-right. He told me to go home and report to Jo Jin-hyun."

...Still, thank goodness. That someone like Lee Seonho is on my side.

That nasty Jo Jin-hyun—we have to catch him soon.

I'm not going to be stupidly fooled ever again. Idiot.

The trap to snare Min Ye-won was somehow complete. Now all that remained was to wait for the date two days from now.

I planned to progress things with Min Ye-won far faster than I had with the other heroines. Unlike the main heroines, whose hearts falling completely for me is what matters, a girl of Min Ye-won's caliber doesn't really need anything beyond her body submitting.

She's like one of those souvenirs you inevitably buy on a trip abroad because coming back empty-handed feels wrong. Nice enough to have around for the mood, but nobody boards a plane overseas just to buy a souvenir.

In terms of the value of my time, this morning workout spent with Choi Marie was far more important and useful than any date with Min ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Ye-won.

"Man, our junior. Saw the news—you're practically a celebrity now, huh?"

"...Whew, whew. Sorry, what?"

"There was that bombing at Neverland a while back, and apparently our junior here helped wipe out the terrorists. That purple-haired girl we saw at the church seemed to be with you too. Am I wrong?"

"...That's right. How do you keep recognizing me?"

"Obviously I'd recognize your face. It's one I saw every single day right up until the entrance exam."

The truth was, it was such a famous incident that there was no way it hadn't reached Choi Marie's ears.

I knew that too, which is exactly why I'd deliberately waited for her to bring it up first, so I could play dumb in my answer.

"When I heard you got knocked out by a lesser orc at the entrance exam, I figured you were all show. Turns out you had a surprising punch in you after all, huh?"

"...I know this is coming late, but that wasn't a lesser orc."

"Hm?"

"Cheonmu Academy released an Owlbear into the practical exam as a boss monster. And at the time, our party just happened to have no vanguard, so I was filling in as the front line when I got hurt."

Clearing up an unnecessary misunderstanding while I was at it.

Back when I was hospitalized, the entrance exam still hadn't fully wrapped up, so I'd held my tongue—but by now, revealing it shouldn't knock the story off its rails.

"An Owlbear...? Why would an Upper-Tier Monster be in a practical entrance exam?"

"How would I know? We somehow managed to take it down, so I guess that's why I passed. Though it wasn't me who caught it—it was my friend."

"You're not just talking big because catching terrorists has gone to your head, are you?"

"Check for yourself at the entrance ceremony. My friend, Han Sora, is enrolling as the valedictorian after hunting down that Owlbear."

"You sound confident enough that it doesn't feel like a lie...."

Choi Marie kept running with a slightly puzzled expression, but she apparently decided to take my word for it, and gave a small nod.

"Well, fair enough—if you can take down an Owlbear, no wonder you could sweep up some terrorists too. Our diligent junior isn't the type to tell pointless lies anyway."

"I am, in fact, the very icon of trustworthiness."

"You started off all wobbly, but you've gotten surprisingly reliable as time's gone on?"

"All thanks to you, sunbae. If you hadn't drilled me, I couldn't have fought properly in the practical exam."

"Our junior has a real talent for making even obvious flattery feel good."

Still, the praise itself seemed to please her, because Choi Marie's tone turned soft and warm.

Having been treated as the Shield Department's problem child—the one who couldn't even hold her own position properly because she found it suffocating—her need for validation was probably spilling out in moments like this.

"Anyway, that Owlbear hunt left my practical exam score with a pretty big spread. I came in second along with Han Sora, who I hunted it with, and Eunju—the one you saw at the church—should be third."

"The Combat Support Department, second place? This year's freshmen are going to have it rough. The professors are definitely going to ride them—'how do a bunch of body-slinging brats let a Support kid beat them to second place,' that's exactly what they'll say."

"What can I say? Their opponent was me."

"Pfft! True enough. Can't be helped when it's you, huh? Heh heh...."

Choi Marie burst out laughing, apparently unable to hold it in—my carefully aimed joke had landed.

And once she'd had her fill of laughing, the words she came out with next were more than enough to catch me off guard.

"Then we'll just have to train even harder from today, won't we? It'd be a shame to get into the academy as second in your class and then get looked down on by the other departments as a Support kid, no?"

"...Sorry, what?"

"You said you couldn't make evening training today, remember? Which means we do double this morning before you go. Right?"

"......Yes. Of course we do."

...The entrance exam was over, so I thought the brutal training would let up for a while.

Powered by the sight of those pink tights flickering before my eyes, I was once again wrung out by Choi Marie today until I collapsed for good.