Chapter 161
Chapter 161
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 161
Chapter Title: Deceiving Elrin
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They might even think I experimented on the clan and consider me an enemy instead.
Rather than that, wouldn't it be better to just play along with her?
"Ahem. So he's dead. What a shame. He was a sturdy fellow."
"But wasn't Douglas a woman?"
"...She was as familiar to me as any man."
"...Ah, I see."
Fortunately, Elrin nodded without suspicion.
"By the way, from what I overheard earlier, it sounds like you've already taken down one of Jaun's members. So, are you seeking revenge for the clan?"
"...Let's say that's the case."
"Th-then I want to join you too!"
Elrin shouted at me passionately.
Elrin using formal speech. It still felt unfamiliar no matter how many times I saw it.
"You're not ready yet. Anyway, I'm busy, so I'll be going."
The Association would arrive soon. I needed to get out of here quickly too.
As I hurriedly turned to leave, her voice called out again.
"Wait! At least show me your face!"
"No face. Oh, and today's events are a secret. See you."
I squeezed out my remaining mana and bolted outside.
The 'mana exhaustion' from the mana elixir I'd chugged during my initial assassination attempt on Baek Eun-seong was approaching.
If I ran into another villain, it'd be a headache, so I had to hide fast.
That was when it happened.
A barrage of messages popped up before my eyes.
Elrin's interest jumping two levels at once was one thing.
But what was this 'Scammer' achievement?
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 163
Chapter Title: Aftermath and Suspicions
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I stashed Kim Jin-woo's hat, mask, jacket, and the rest in my subspace, then stepped out as Kim Seon-woo.
"Hoo."
My body felt heavy and exhausted from the mana exhaustion.
I slowly scanned the surroundings.
Even in the late dawn hours, tons of people were outside. They all stared blankly at the sky.
More precisely, at Jaun's escape vessel—the airship.
"Whoa..."
I couldn't help but gasp in admiration the moment I saw it.
It looked even cooler up close.
Its outward shape resembled a standard airship, but it was clad in a golden, special metal alloy.
Probably some magic tool for protection against external impacts. It almost looked like a jet fighter—pretty wild.
Jaun's airship spewed mana and vanished from sight at high speed.
I stared blankly at the now-empty dawn sky.
Jaun had ultimately achieved their goal and escaped successfully.
In a way, it could be called a total defeat.
Well, I'd saved Elrin from near-death, so it wasn't a complete loss.
That's when a commotion broke out somewhere. Dozens of people boarded the ship. They looked up at the sky with dazed eyes before speaking.
"...One step too late."
"Send one airship first to track where they fled. The rest of you, check the injured and clean up the site."
"Got it!"
They were Association special agents. The emblem on their chests—a sail and sword—marked the Maritime Special Forces.
They rushed to treat the wounded and handle the aftermath.
I watched them blankly when someone suddenly popped into my head.
Lee Seo-jun.
Where was this guy?
With Elrin in crisis right in front of me, I hadn't kept tabs on Lee Seo-jun.
I slowly walked the deck, searching for him. The guy loved showing off, so he had to be out here somewhere.
As I strolled along the deck, I spotted shattered decorations.
Traces of fierce combat.
This must've been from the clash between the subjugation squad and Jaun.
Their fight hadn't been confined to the underground.
"Ugh! Hey, easy with that!"
"Quit whining... But damn, those guys live up to the hype. I never thought we'd win, but I figured we could hold 'em till the Association showed."
"Yeah. Now I get what they mean when they say the younger generation who missed Jaun ten years ago underestimates them."
Nearby, Elrin's comrades—Alex, Jeong Kyung-won, and others—were treating wounds with grim expressions.
They were pissed about letting Jaun slip away right under their noses.
They had injuries but no fatalities, it seemed.
I ignored them and resumed hunting for Lee Seo-jun.
That's when I spotted a crowd of students gathered together.
Familiar faces. Looking closer, the entire Special Class was here.
"Kim Seon-woo?"
Lee Seo-jun called out to me from the group.
All eyes turned my way. Even the teachers in front of them.
"Dude! Where the hell have you been?"
"...Huh?"
"There was an emergency evacuation order on the student handbook. You didn't know?"
I'd turned off my smart student handbook, so I hadn't noticed.
"Uh, no clue."
"How'd you miss that? The update made the alarms blare like crazy."
"Oh."
I had heard them. They'd added features lately to prep for ongoing terror activities.
That's why everyone was gathered here.
With the timeline shifting, predicting future events was getting harder.
"I had my handbook off. I turn everything off when I sleep."
Lee Seo-jun nodded, seemingly accepting it. Then he looked me up and down.
"But why the long face? You look drained."
The fatigue was from mana exhaustion. I forced a casual smile to play it off.
"It was so damn noisy, I barely slept."
"Sleep?"
Lee Seo-jun eyed me curiously and was about to say something.
Then the teacher who'd been watching quietly, Park Jung-wan, spoke up.
"Kim Seon-woo. Any injuries?"
"Nope, as you can see, I'm fine."
Park Jung-wan inspected me and nodded.
"So where were you this whole time?"
What should I say? I hadn't expected everyone to be clustered here—it was a pain.
"...Sleeping in my quarters."
"You weren't in your quarters."
Lee Seo-jun chimed in.
"I was. Sleeping."
"Sleeping my ass. I pounded on your door hard."
Oh, right—he was across the hall from me.
"...I sleep like a rock."
Lee Seo-jun gave me a baffled look. He started to argue but glanced around and shut up.
"Alright, enough. We're all safe now, even if it's late. That's what matters."
Park Jung-wan stepped in.
"The Association says the terrorists have fled and it's safe now. No need to worry."
"Yes, sir."
"You've all been through a shock. Spend the rest of the time resting and calming down. Oh, and today's morning and afternoon training is canceled."
"Figured as much..."
The students nodded, as if they'd half-expected it. Officially unconfirmed, but they'd probably sensed something was wrong with 'Poseidon,' Atlantis's main power source.
"They're working on cleanup and restoring key facilities, so just wait for that."
After talking for a while, Park Jung-wan chatted with someone via communicator.
"The Association confirms it's safe. Alright, keep your smart handbooks on you at all times, and you're dismissed."
"Yessir."
The students replied in tired voices and dispersed.
Left behind were me, Lee Seo-jun, and key characters like Choi Seo-yoon and Yoo A-ra.
Silence hung for a moment. They were all eyeing each other when Yoo A-ra spoke to me.
"What, you pull an all-nighter doing something shady?"
"With all this chaos, what could I possibly do?"
Yoo A-ra glanced around and clamped her mouth shut.
Everyone had questions for me but was holding back.
What's their deal?
Then Yoon Ha-young smiled and said,
"It's still early dawn. Let's call it and head out."
"Yeah. Yawn. I'm beat."
I yawned, and Lee Seo-jun looked at me.
"You say you've been sleeping this whole time, yet you look the most wiped out."
I just shrugged instead of answering.
"You guys not sleeping?"
"...Yeah, we should."
"I'm off to bed."
With that, I headed to the quarters. I felt piercing stares on my back.
Vrrr...
The floor shook, and a powerful mana engine roar filled the space.
In the massive airship's interior.
Jaun members gathered around the belatedly returning Baek Eun-seong.
"Look at you, late as hell and in rough shape. Where'd you leave your arm? Heh heh."
Baek Eun-seong glared at Natasha's teasing.
"Fuck off! Quit picking fights!"
"Opponent must've been no joke if you lost an arm. Not some scrub, huh?"
"...I'd win a rematch. Not that I lost or anything. I just got careless."
"Arm chopped off means you lost."
Natasha cackled again.
"And what carelessness? You'd slip up the same way. So who was this guy? Spill it."
"When we went to fetch you since you were late, he was fighting 2-on-1."
Bert spoke up from the back, where he'd been quiet.
"The redhead was there from the start, but who was the hatted guy? One of their crew?"
Baek Eun-seong shook his head at Bert's question.
"Probably not. Even the redhead seemed clueless about him."
"So the hatted one took your arm?"
Baek Eun-seong nodded.
"Yeah. And that guy's the one."
"The one? Who's that?"
"The bastard who snatched the Cup of Life. The Rune clan survivor who nabbed Teresa."
Everyone's faces lit up in shock at Baek Eun-seong's words.
"Whoa, no way. For real? What'd he know to show up here?"
"Dunno. Wild, right? Felt like he was waiting, knowing we'd come."
"But it's weird. Alex and the redhead crew who blocked us first were also lying in wait. What's their deal?"
"Han Se-jin's mercenaries, maybe. Word's spreading among sorcerers already."
Jin crossed his arms and said.
"Han Se-jin's mercs... Thought they'd fizzle out, but he assembled some real talent. Annoying."
"How'd they know we'd target Atlantis?"
"...Did our info leak?"
Tension rippled across faces as Baek Eun-seong muttered.
As things grew serious, Bert stepped up.
"No traitors. We don't doubt comrades. That's our pact."
"Hmph. Then how'd they know we were at Atlantis?"
"They pulled some trick. Tricky, but there are mysteries with 'prophecy' powers. Or ability users with prophecy."
Everyone pondered at the word "prophecy."
Despite plundering countless mysteries, they hadn't snagged any prophecy-related ones yet.
"Prophecy ability. Pain in the ass."
Baek Eun-seong grumbled.
"Still, prophecy powers come with huge costs. They can't use it often."
"True. So the bearded guy has prophecy-related powers?"
"Probably."
"Makes sense."
Then Baek Eun-seong spoke up as if remembering.
"Oh, right. That bearded dude seemed older than he looked."
"Really?"
"Turns out the redhead's Rune clan too, and she called him 'elder.'"
"Huh? For real? A Rune clan elder's gotta be tough."
Natasha blurted in surprise. They'd once clashed with a 'clan elder' while looting Rune treasures.
Bert thought for a moment and nodded.
"Yeah, Teresa used a clan secret technique, so he was probably pretty old."
"Whoa, opponent was a grandpa."
"Grandpa makes it scary somehow."
The terrifying grandpa 'Kim Jin-cheol' flashed in their minds.
After the underground incident and Association questioning, Elrin met her comrades.
Thankfully, none had died; all were intact.
"What, you take a solid hit? Puked blood?"
Jeong Kyung-won eyed the blood on Elrin's lip and opened with that.
"Shut up. And it didn't hurt that bad."
It might sound like bravado, but Elrin meant it.
Sure, it hurt, but not as bad as the full-body magic circle agony.
Pain like this she could tough out without meds.
"...Is that so? You're one tough cookie every time."
Jeong Kyung-won looked defeated.
Elrin didn't reply and rummaged in her coat pocket.
She pulled out a blue potion and downed it.
"Ahh..."