Lee Kiyoung’s Secret Camera Prank (3)
The psychopathic murderer, Jung Jinho.
In a way, he had been the second round’s greatest victim. If the future had followed its original course, Jung Jinho might even have founded the Murder Brigade of the Murderer Clan by now.
Maybe he even would’ve become Yuliena’s true master….
Of course, the idea that Jung Jinho would have used Yuliena was nothing more than the sort of brain-dead fantasy you cooked up when two people seemed bizarrely well matched, but the fact that he had founded the Murder Brigade was undeniable.
The answer to why I knew that was obvious.
Because I saw it.
Not literally, of course. From the conversation between Lee Kiyoung and Park Deokgu in the first round, it had been easy enough to infer that I’d been loosely tied to the Brigade at the time.
It looked as though I hadn’t joined because Park Deokgu had stopped me, but on a personal level, I’d apparently gone so far as to build some kind of relationship with Jung Jinho.
The Murder Brigade of the Murderer Clan that he would create was an unofficial clan that would be formed a year or two later.
I didn’t have any detailed information on it, but there was one thing I knew for certain.
The Brigade was a clan built around Jung Jinho, and it didn’t appear in the second round without him.
I was only borrowing the name of the Murder Brigade from a hypothetical Murderer Clan, but for some reason it fit so snugly it almost felt inevitable.
Even if he’s not around, the members don’t just disappear, so it’s not like the chance of it being formed is zero….
Still, even if it were founded, I doubted it would have much impact in this round.
While I was lost in thought, An Gimo kept his face rigid and continued his story.
Maybe because of the tension in his expression, Park Deokgu was watching him intently as well, ears pricked.
“The Murderer Clan?”
“That’s right.”
“You’re saying there are people like that causing trouble even near Lindel?”
“Yes. The city does conduct regular patrols, but the Murderer Clan’s methods are so discreet and closed off that… as far as I know, even our guild hasn’t managed to get hold of their tail yet. Of course, some time has passed since then, but it never hurts to be careful.”
“Wait, are you saying they’ve shown themselves recently?”
“If that were the case, we wouldn’t have come all the way out here to the dungeon, would we? Hahaha.”
“Well, that’s a relief….”
He’s really good at dragging this out.
It was a little old-fashioned, but it was a standard horror-movie cliché. It hadn’t been in the script, but it seemed he’d added his own ad-lib.
He’d ratcheted up the tension as high as it could go, and now he was trying to smooth things over by saying nothing would happen after all. It was pretty amusing.
If you think about how the protagonists usually get into trouble right after that sort of setup, then he’d pulled off the opening hook remarkably well.
First you scatter the bait, and only then do you catch the fish.
While I’d looked away for a moment, Jung Hayan and Kim Yeri were putting on their own ridiculous performances with lines like, “Ah, I see?” and “I-it’s scary,” so I had no choice but to jump in quickly as well.
“Don’t worry too much, Deokgu. It happened a long time ago anyway… He’s probably only saying it so we’ll stay careful, just in case. Isn’t that right, Mr. Gimo?”
“Yes. Ha-ha. Well, yes, that’s about right. It was a long time ago. Though I can’t say I’m not concerned….”
As the one responsible for the safety of the party, Park Deokgu hurriedly picked up the thread.
“What’s there to be concerned about?”
He bit the bait properly.
Without a doubt, he’d taken it.
Seeing that, An Gimo seemed to realize it too and began signaling me with his eyes.
I didn’t need those looks to know exactly how the situation was unfolding.
“Ah. It’s nothing serious. Really, you don’t need to worry about it, Deokgu.”
“I’m asking because I’m really curious, Mr. Gimo.”
“The number of disappearances has increased a bit recently.”
“Disappearances?”
“Yes. Though it’s not exactly a noteworthy figure. Missing-person incidents in the forest are the kind of thing that happen every year—it’s practically a courtesy at this point.”
“Something like that?”
“Yes. The newcomers who came in last quarter are probably just about reaching the point where their confidence starts to swell, too. I mean the recruits who came in at the same time as you and Kiyoung, Deokgu. In the first year after entering, their abilities usually improve explosively….”
“Ah.”
“The city does advise against unnecessary expeditions, but people usually don’t listen. And thanks to the two of you being chosen as members of the Empire’s Eight Seats despite having entered the continent less than a year ago, last quarter’s recruits were especially full of themselves. Hahaha. Of course, I’m not blaming Kiyoung. The accidents that happened were entirely their own choice.”
“You’re sure that’s the only reason?”
“It really isn’t something you need to worry about. Of course, the frequency was a bit higher than you’d expect if it were just the new recruits being full of energy, but the Red Mercenaries already finished investigating that matter. We’ve already searched the area several times, and there wasn’t so much as a trace of the Murderer Clan staying there.”
“If it’s the Red Mercenaries, they’re reliable enough….”
And yet he still looked suspicious. I’d thought he was the sort of guy who lived without a care in the world, but seeing him crease his brow like that, it seemed he was organizing the information in his own head.
I wasn’t sure whether it was because Hyunsung wasn’t here, or because his instincts were better than I’d expected, but he’d bitten the bait rather roughly.
It seemed he was uncomfortable with the fact that he alone had to be responsible for our safety.
Of course, there was Kim Yeri up front, but she was an assassin through and through.
If she had to start worrying about the rear during combat, that would mean things had already gone terribly wrong.
For a simple outing, his expression was so grave it was almost funny.
“Then let’s get moving.”
“Hyung-nim.”
“Hm?”
“Ah, nothing.”
He must have been about to say that maybe we should turn back.
If this hadn’t been a reconciliation outing, he might have said it out loud. He really was getting more and more ominous.
I like that.
Personally, I found it very satisfying. Worrying all the time and imagining the worst was genuinely one of his more appealing qualities.
Of course, I docked him some points for not actually acting on it, but for now I wanted to call it a pass.
Even as we kept walking, the whole party seemed to be affected by the fact that he was the only one getting seriously worked up.
He seemed to think we needed to be even more on guard than usual.
By the time we were close to the dungeon, he’d started asking me questions again—about the dungeon’s origin this time.
“Hyung-nim. This dungeon came from where…?”
“Who knows? I never checked the original source, so it was bought and sold through a few guilds. The last one to hold it was Black Swan.”
“I see.”
“Why? Think there’s going to be a problem?”
“No, not really. I just wondered whether the Black Swan Guild might be connected to that… Brigade or whatever.”
“They were probably connected in one way or another. Back when those guys were active, Black Swan was still one of the major guilds representing Lindel. You’re still worried about the Brigade?”
“Not exactly. It just feels a little ominous….”
“You can relax your face a bit. I was careful enough when I bought it. That was years ago already, and there’s no reason for the Brigade to target Lindel at this particular time. Not that they’re the sort to act only when they have a reason, either….”
“If you say so, hyung-nim, then I’m sure it’s fine… But for some reason it just keeps bothering me. Well, I’m a little like that myself, but you’re an important person in the city now.”
“Hm?”
“Being one of the eight strongest people representing the Empire carries a symbolic meaning too, doesn’t it? I don’t know, I just keep worrying that something bad is going to happen. Ugh. Even when I try not to think about it, it keeps nagging at me.”
His hunch was dead-on.
He wasn’t explaining it very well because he wasn’t good with words, but I could understand what was making him uneasy.
He probably thought the timing of my position as one of the Empire’s Eight Seats and the fact that something was happening now were too suspicious.
Honestly, the timing couldn’t be called safe.
The big guilds and mid-tier guilds were letting their guard down as they prepared to receive the new recruits, after all.
If some group were targeting an unspecified number of people—or targeting me in particular—this would be a pretty ideal environment to make a move.
Rumors had softly spread through Lindel that Blue Kiyoung had purchased a dungeon, and one of the Brigade’s informants inside the city had picked up that information.
The death of the Honorary Bishop of the Holy Empire and one of the Empire’s Eight Seats could be used as a signal for the Brigade’s revival.
From Park Deokgu’s perspective, of course, that could all be dismissed as imagination.
After all, the only piece of information we’d thrown to them was about the Brigade, and with nothing else to go on, there simply weren’t enough clues to solve the puzzle.
That was why he kept asking questions.
He must have roughly sketched out the completed puzzle in his head and was trying to find the rest of the pieces.
I had no way of knowing whether the piece he was looking for matched the picture I’d drawn, but honestly, I almost wanted to applaud him.
You bastard, you’ve grown up.
He was completely different from the old days, when he’d just trailed after me with no thought in his head at all.
Park Deokgu was growing—mentally as well as physically.
It wasn’t much of a trigger, but I could tell that much for sure. In any case, the unease he felt kept swelling.
An Gimo’s role in scattering bait along the way, like a trailer for a horror movie, had been crucial.
Jung Hayan and Kim Yeri wisely keeping their mouths shut had definitely helped too.
The longer it went on, the more suspicious Park Deokgu became, so I kept trying to calm him down while Jung Hayan and Kim Yeri also insisted that everything would be fine.
If An Gimo had casually brought up the Brigade for no reason at all, he would have had the perfect picture of a nervous laugh and a group of horror-movie protagonists sticking their heads right into a tiger’s mouth.
Usually, in these kinds of films, it’s obvious when the first accident will happen.
It starts the moment the thought This should be safe settles into someone’s head without them realizing it.
And at this point, when Park Deokgu was chewing over that inexplicable uneasiness over and over in the back of his mind, this was clearly the best timing.
It should be about time for them to show up.
The timing and the position were both perfect.
It could start with a surprise attack, or with someone approaching as though they’d gotten lost on the road. Either way seemed fine.
This part had been planned entirely by Lee Jihye, so even I found myself getting curious.
We had nearly reached the dungeon and were doing our final preparations, just about ready to enter, when I saw a woman with a cold expression in my line of sight.
Is that her?
I thought it probably was.
It was a strange sight no matter how you looked at it.
From any angle, it looked as though she was blocking our way.
“Uh… who… are you? Are you here alone?”
Even when Park Deokgu carefully addressed her, there was no answer.
Unlike the increasingly anxious Park Deokgu, I felt a little deflated.
One person?
Lee Jihye had confidently said not to worry, that she’d definitely prepared everything properly, but instead of the elite from Black Swan I’d been expecting, she’d sent just a single person.
I sent mana outward just to be safe, and sure enough, the woman was all Lee Jihye had prepared.
Of course, since this was all acting, it didn’t really matter who showed up, but the situation still felt a little short on urgency.
Tsk.
It was right then that an explosive killing intent suddenly flooded the area.
Huh?
My hands and feet started trembling, and before I knew it I was taking involuntary steps backward.
It was the same sensation I’d once felt when Cha Heera hit me.
Ah….
The instant that overwhelming mana wrapped around the area, it was only natural that I realized who Lee Jihye had sent.
Another powerhouse in Lindel, judged equal to Cha Heera.
One of the Empire’s Eight Seats.
The Black Swan guild master, the woman utterly obsessed with Hyunsung.
Park Yeonju?
Before I could even finish collecting my thoughts, Park Deokgu’s booming voice rang out.
“Run!!!!!”