Chapter 43
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 43
Chapter Title: Meeting (2)
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'Why is Hong Yu-ra here?'
I hurried to the office due to her sudden visit, trying to guess the reason for her unexpected appearance.
Since the video incident, I hadn't been in touch with Hong Yu-ra at all.
Unlike Im A-rin, who had come to me on her own, or Seol Ju-hee, who got tangled up by chance, there was no special connection between us, so I only heard bits of news about her from time to time.
'Is it because of Seol Ju-hee...?'
The most likely reason was that she'd come about the argument with Seol Ju-hee.
The three of them had always relied on each other and stayed close, so it was highly probable that news of the fight with Seol Ju-hee had reached Hong Yu-ra's ears.
But...
Im A-rin hadn't mentioned anything about Seol Ju-hee.
If Hong Yu-ra knew, Im A-rin would definitely know too, but she hadn't brought it up even once.
'Then what the hell is it...?'
As I racked my brain, I arrived at the office I'd been directed to, where a familiar face greeted me at the door.
"Producer! Long time no see!"
It was the manager who'd been handling Hong Yu-ra all this time.
"I wondered who my sister was here to see... It was you, Producer!"
"Long time no see. How have you been?"
After a light handshake and exchanging greetings, I subtly pointed toward the inside of the office and asked her what was up.
"What brings you here so suddenly?"
"Huh? You don't know either, Producer?"
She reacted as if she had no idea either, then explained that she'd just stopped by briefly before heading to a schedule...
'Schedules again?'
A bit worried if she even had time for personal training, I probed casually to learn about the guild's internal affairs.
"Do you have that many schedules?"
"Ugh... It's no joke. Ever since you left, Producer, they've completely let loose."
She eagerly spilled all about the guild, as if she'd been waiting for the chance.
I learned that Cheonhwa Guild had suddenly started talking about diversifying their business and overhauled their existing methods to run the team in a whole new way.
It felt like they'd just been waiting for me to leave.
'Suspicious...'
It's not strange for direction to change when the system does.
But starting to change so drastically right after I left? That looked off.
"...You've had it rough."
"Nah, what hardship do I have?"
With suspicions about Cheonhwa Guild piling up once more, I returned to my original purpose and knocked on the office door.
Knock knock—
As I carefully opened the door and peeked inside...
"Have you finished talking?"
I locked eyes with her as she elegantly sipped her coffee and glanced my way.
"...Yu-ra."
It was Hong Yu-ra.
"......"
The office had a heavy atmosphere.
For some reason, it felt like Hong Yu-ra was on guard against me...
At the same time, it also felt like she was appealing to me.
'...Am I imagining it?'
Her red hair was loosely down, and she wore a beige dress that perfectly accentuated her curves, paired with strappy sandals.
It was a style she'd never wear, since she usually hated outfits that showed off her figure and preferred loose, baggy clothes.
"You look good."
That's when Hong Yu-ra spoke up first.
"How are the new kids? They keeping up?"
She smiled faintly, acting casual, but she couldn't hide the subtle displeasure seeping through.
It seemed her emotions were still lingering.
"...Thanks to you, we're managing somehow."
Even though bad feelings remained, I couldn't quite grasp why she'd come all this way acting like nothing was wrong, so I decided to play along with her tune for now.
"How about you lately? I heard your public schedules have piled up."
"Yeah, the broadcasting ones have increased a lot. But it's manageable. No injuries, no danger..."
She spoke as if she were pretty satisfied with her recent life, which was closer to that of a celebrity than a hunter...
'That's a lie.'
I could tell it wasn't true without much effort.
The Hong Yu-ra I knew was the one person who didn't suit the celebrity life more than anyone.
Hong Yu-ra was Queens' unrivaled fighter.
Among Queens' members, she had the most mature and elegant image—and she was like that in reality too—but deep down, she was a battle addict who was happiest swinging her sword on the field.
For someone whose hobby was swinging her sword in the training grounds whenever she got bored, was she really satisfied with the fake smiles and schmoozing of showbiz?
It was a blatant lie, plain as day.
"What about training? Do you have time for personal sessions?"
Hong Yu-ra stiffened slightly at my question, as if I'd hit a nerve, but then flashed an elegant smile like nothing had happened.
"Sadly, no time for the training grounds. Schedules are so packed, I'm barely squeezing in workouts these days."
"...Pilates?"
"I quit Pilates. ...No reason to do it anymore."
I nodded quietly at her words laced with thorns, then shifted the topic appropriately to get to the point.
"So... what brings you here in person?"
"...I have a favor to ask."
"A favor?"
Hong Yu-ra pulled a small envelope from the luxury bag she always carried and slid it toward me.
"What's this?"
"My diagnosis. Ju-hee's and A-rin's are in there too."
'Diagnosis?'
A doctor's opinion on a patient, right?
Confirming the name of the church-affiliated hospital stamped in the corner of the envelope she handed over, I quietly took it and asked,
"...Feeling unwell somewhere?"
Then.
"...A little."
Hong Yu-ra nodded with a subtle expression,
and as I stared at her blankly, I opened the envelope to check the diagnosis.
And...
"!"
As I scanned the diagnosis, I was shocked by the completely unexpected content.
[The above patient exhibits symptoms of brainwashing suggestion-type mental interference, manifesting as strong disgust toward a specific individual...]
It stated that Queens' members had fallen victim to mental attacks—specifically, mental interference targeting a 'specific individual.'
"What... is this?"
It was hard to believe that Queens' members, of all people, had been hit by mental attacks.
All three were S-rank hunters considered among the strongest in the world right now.
They weren't half-trained to fall for trivial mental attacks, nor did they have the weakness for it.
So who the hell dared to attempt mental interference on them—and succeeded?
"...The suggestion is too deeply embedded, and the brainwashing too strong, so the church experts say they can't fix it."
Hong Yu-ra calmly relayed what the church's specialists had told her.
They'd likely been under brainwashing for a long time, and it manifested at some trigger point...
"...That trigger is you."
Me.
"......"
My head was in chaos.
Chaos turning into dizziness.
Taking slow, deep breaths to calm my tangled emotions, I forced myself to regain composure and sorted through this messy situation.
Someone had planted suggestions in Queens' members,
a series of events caused those suggestions to surface,
and the suggestions were highly likely to involve hating me.
'Why?'
No matter how I thought about it, I couldn't understand.
It meant a top-tier expert had moved, one they couldn't even perceive,
so who benefited from sowing discord between us?
'Cheonhwa Guild?'
"So... I want your help."
Having been asked by Hong Yu-ra, I let out a heavy sigh and carefully asked back.
"...What can I do?"
Then.
"...Well..."
She hesitated, as if it was hard to say, before dropping a bombshell.
"...Let me confirm your purity."
"W-what?"
What the hell was I hearing?
Purity?
"The reason we think badly of you now is because we believe you betrayed us. If we realize you didn't betray us, the suggestion might break."
"No, what kind of..."
"...We all know you've been deliberately keeping distance from us."
"...Huh?"
"We knew. That's why we waited until you sorted out your feelings. To be honest... we'd even considered sharing you."
Purity followed by polygamy.
Stunned by the successive bombshells, I blinked blankly at her.
'Are they crazy...?'
As a guy, I wasn't against the idea of a so-called 'harem,' but this was bewildering.
No, downright scary.
"...So, I want to check your purity."
At Hong Yu-ra's decisive remark, I instinctively squeezed my eyes shut, clutching my forehead against the faint headache, and cautiously spoke.
"Okay. No... putting all that aside. How do you plan to check?"
"...I prepared a purity check kit."
"...What kit...?"
Hong Yu-ra calmly explained the purity check kit.
It was a deranged item made from unicorn blood—who even makes something like that?
"I know it's shameless, but... please."
Facing her earnest plea, I felt a dizzy spell, but pulled myself together, pushing aside the mountain of problems, and began searching for a reason to cooperate with them.
'If it can break the suggestion... I should help.'
I was confident in my own purity, so that purity kit or whatever would surely give a positive result.
Besides, now that I knew the reason my friends abandoned me was all due to the suggestion, there was no reason not to try.
However...
It was regrettable that things had already gone too far.
I was in charge of a new team, and cooperation with Black Rose—Queens' rivals—was already in the works.
Too much had happened to go back to how things were.
'...I realized too late...'
Biting my lip in regret for not suspecting mental manipulation sooner,
I slowly opened my mouth, thinking of it as a golden chance for a happy ending.
"...What do I need to do?"
"......"
After seeing Hong Yu-ra off like that.
Sitting alone on a bench, gazing out beyond the training grounds, I was going over the problems I'd put off, one by one.
'...What a headache.'
There were just too many issues to solve.
The suggestion that hit Queens, and figuring out who was behind it.
'Definitely... related to that video.'
The video I'd seen wasn't some clever composite or fake—it had been confirmed as actually filmed footage.
At first, I hadn't suspected such an ability user existed, but reviewing the brainwashing incident, it seemed plenty possible.
'Illusion close to reality... plus brainwashing...'
It wasn't an ability from the original novel, but if it appeared in reality, it'd be extremely dangerous.
But...
'Wait. Can't A-rin create illusions too?'
The darkest place is under the lamp—turns out there was someone handling something similar right beside me.
"...Nah, probably not."
For a fleeting moment, I wondered if maybe Im A-rin was behind it, but I quickly dismissed the suspicion.
There were far more reasons to think she wasn't than evidence suggesting she was.
She was a clear good character from the original novel.
Sure, you never really know people, but this was Im A-rin, someone I'd known for 10 years.
She wasn't the type to do something like that.
More than anything...
Having closely observed and mimicked Im A-rin's magic over years of close association, I knew why she couldn't be the culprit.
She had no brainwashing magic, and her illusion magic could only replicate simple movements.
The idea that Im A-rin was the one who slandered me didn't hold up from the start.
'Unless she reaches like 10th circle.'
I could confidently say she absolutely wasn't the culprit.