Chapter 40
Chapter 40
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 40
Chapter Title: ACT.7 Eliminating Variables (6)
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The building itself was quiet.
I was immensely grateful that the sound of the downpour, like the beating of a drum, would drown out any footsteps.
‘A seven-story building.’
Cha Eun-ha had said Jeon Do-jin was imprisoned somewhere in here.
She wasn't sure of the exact floor.
I had just managed to shake her off after she threw a fit about wanting to sneak into the building with me.
Cha Eun-ha had another job to do.
For a moment, I suppressed the impulse to just smash my way through and get it over with.
I had to be patient.
I had to endure this hassle and get everything I could now to save myself trouble later.
Swoooosh...
CRASH!
Thanks to Extreme Eye, I could see the building's interior clearly even in the darkness.
The occasional flashes of lightning also helped.
I walked quickly toward the stairs leading to the second floor.
If you want to know how to bake bread, you go to a baker.
To find out where Jeon Do-jin was, all I had to do was find one of Yang Gyu-hyeok's underlings who couldn't defy me.
“Damn it. This wasn't how things were supposed to go...”
A familiar voice came from a room where light was leaking out.
I crept closer and peeked inside through a crack in the door.
Im Gyeong-jun was at his desk, deep in thought about something.
“Because of this...”
He fiddled with his neck where the dark collar had been, then, seemingly annoyed, he flopped onto the bed.
“Damn it. I can't even see it, so I don't know how to deal with this collar. But if I just stay like this, I can't move freely! If I'd known that bastard was that powerful, I wouldn't have done this!”
As expected, he seemed to be keeping his promise not to talk, valuing his own life.
He must have seen me annihilate the monsters in the arena by myself. And there was the Death Worm incident.
Then again, the traps played a big part in the arena, and Han Hyeok-jun had dealt most of the damage to the Death Worm.
It was understandable.
‘Though in reality, it disappeared because its duration ran out.’
If it lasted forever, it'd be too overpowered.
Telling them that the collars would become invisible after a certain amount of time had worked wonders.
But even if they were suspicious, they couldn't test it.
To find out if the collar was gone, they would have to betray me.
But what if it wasn't gone?
If the experiment failed, they would lose their lives.
The psychological pressure would make them give up on testing it.
I beckoned to Im Gyeong-jun with my finger.
“Ugh!?”
Im Gyeong-jun let out a short groan, his face contorting.
On the surface of his neck, the shape of the dark collar had clearly appeared.
“Wh-why is this suddenly...”
“You seemed to have a lot of complaints, so I just gave you a little reminder of your situation.”
“...”
Im Gyeong-jun, pale as if he'd seen a ghost, moved his lips without a sound.
I walked up to him and stated my business.
“Where Jeon Do-jin is. Do you know?”
Im Gyeong-jun's face hardened.
“I’ve only just joined this family, there’s no way I’d know such important information…! Keuk!”
Red blood trickled from Im Gyeong-jun’s neck.
Thorns sprouting from the collar had slightly pierced his skin.
He probably wouldn't imagine I'd just made a new one.
“Really?”
“I-I don't know! I don't know!! Think about it logically! If you were Yang Gyu-hyeok, would you tell me!?”
“Someone has to guard Jeon Do-jin. Those assigned to watch that floor would know.”
“That’s true, but… anyway, it’s not me, damn it. I really don’t know.”
Im Gyeong-jun adopted a 'do what you want' attitude, as if giving up.
Judging by his reaction, he probably really didn't know.
I crossed my arms and thought for a moment.
My deliberation didn't last long.
“Then I guess I’ll have to go to Cheon Nam-gi.”
“...You’ll have to get past the guards on several floors to meet him.”
“Guards?”
“Of course. There were sentries at the entrance... Ah, damn it. Then again, the guys here are probably nothing to you.”
I looked up at the ceiling.
Using Extreme Eye, a cross-section of the building appeared in my vision, revealing the locations of the people inside.
Just as Im Gyeong-jun said, there were one or two people standing guard from the third floor up.
Two on the fifth floor... with another one further away. I can't see the floors above that.
Perhaps because my magic stat is low, this is the limit even with an S-rank skill.
Well, once this is over, I'll be getting a large amount of coins, so I just need to hold on a little longer.
‘So Jeon Do-jin is on the 6th floor at least.’
As an S-rank player, Jeon Do-jin's mana source should be quite large.
The fact that I hadn't spotted it meant he was on either the sixth or seventh floor.
Assuming Jeon Do-jin is locked in a cell on one of those floors, I'll need a key to rescue him.
Either Yang Gyu-hyeok or Cheon Nam-gi would have that key.
For now, I decided to find Cheon Nam-gi.
“Let me rephrase. From the way you're talking, it seems you know where Cheon Nam-gi is.”
“Well… most reports go to him.”
Im Gyeong-jun answered reluctantly.
He had sensed the danger.
Even so, he had no way out.
“Good. Then you lead the way.”
“M-me!? Can’t I just tell you?”
“Do you have a problem with that?”
“I’m not as agile or fast as you, I’ll definitely get caught by the guards! And I don’t have an excuse for when I get caught…”
“I’ll put the sentries to sleep.”
When they wake up, they'll remember Im Gyeong-jun, not me.
Could there be a better shield?
Speechless, Im Gyeong-jun hung his head.
“Fine, I’ll go.”
I slowly followed behind the resigned Im Gyeong-jun as he climbed the stairs.
By stepping at the exact same time, we made it sound like only one person was moving.
The higher-ups were likely residing on the upper floors.
Even if I had moved alone, they might have sensed my presence, so it was better to openly show that someone was moving and blend in with that.
‘The sixth floor.’
At some point, Jeon Do-jin's mana source came into view.
It was a place that looked like a storage room, with all sorts of things piled up.
But at the same time, there were some annoying things set up.
Electronic security devices.
I clicked my tongue briefly.
I had planned to use the darkness to disintegrate the door or lock if necessary, but this meant a siren would go off unless I passed through legitimately.
Since I never had a reason to enter this building when playing the game, there were some things I didn't know.
Messing with the generator... no. That would be just as easy to get caught.
“Is Yang Gyu-hyeok on the seventh floor?”
“Probably...? Cheon Nam-gi-nim is on the fifth floor. We just need to get to the fifth floor.”
“I see.”
Yang Gyu-hyeok trusts Cheon Nam-gi quite a bit.
I wonder what kind of face he'd make if he knew Cheon Nam-gi was under my control.
“Who’s there!”
The moment we reached our destination, the fifth floor, we were spotted by a guard with uncanny timing.
A startled Im Gyeong-jun lowered his voice and protested.
“See! I told you we’d get caught!”
“I know, just make something up.”
After shooting me a resentful glare, Im Gyeong-jun immediately changed his expression and approached the guard.
“It’s, it’s me. Im Gyeong-jun, the new guy.”
“What is it? You scared me, I thought you were an intruder.”
The man on duty grumbled and lowered his pistol.
“So, what's your business here?”
“...Uh, I have something to report to Cheon Nam-gi-nim...”
While Im Gyeong-jun racked his brain for an answer, I silently moved up behind him.
Then, before he could react, I struck the back of his neck, knocking him out.
Having a puppet really makes things easier.
“What, what’s going… Keok!”
I quickly subdued the other guard who was pacing a short distance away.
From what I remembered seeing with Extreme Eye, there were two guards on the fifth floor.
“Is that all of them?”
“I… think so?”
It was quiet.
After a slight commotion, someone else might have appeared, but since no one did, it seemed we were fine for now.
“Can I go back now?”
“No.”
“B-but I’ve done everything I can, right? There’s really nothing else I can help with!?”
“No more talking.”
I emphasized my point by tapping his neck with my fingertip, and Im Gyeong-jun, with a sour expression, nodded.
Cheon Nam-gi's room wasn't far.
I'd come without any prior notice, but for some reason, I had a feeling he'd be awake, waiting for me.
And I was right.
A faint light was leaking from under the door to Cheon Nam-gi's room.
“I knew you’d come.”
“You knew?”
“No. I just had a feeling you would find a way here around this time.”
“I guess what you asked me last time wasn't for nothing.”
Cheon Nam-gi laughed casually.
The strangely warm atmosphere between Cheon Nam-gi and me left Im Gyeong-jun bewildered.
“Wh-what’s going on? Why are you two so friendly? Sir?”
“It’s not so much that we’re friendly, but rather that our interests align, so we’re cooperating for now.”
“...Not a relationship where one's life is held hostage and forced to obey orders?”
“It depends on how you look at it. Once I decided to cooperate, I realized that collar on my neck might as well not be there.”
Im Gyeong-jun wore a look of incomprehension.
No, it was more like a look of suspicion.
He wasn't an idiot; he must have guessed what Cheon Nam-gi and I were up to.
“Do you guys really think you can beat Yang Gyu-hyeok…?”
“A moment ago you were regretting betraying us for Yang Gyu-hyeok, and now you’re asking the opposite?”
“Th-that’s... right. I’ll be honest. You’re incredibly strong. Seriously. It’s hard to believe how big the gap is when we all started at the same time. But Yang Gyu-hyeok is no pushover either. I saw it. While you guys were out hunting goblins, I saw Yang Gyu-hyeok single-handedly defeat all the monsters that flocked here.”
I crossed my arms, unimpressed.
The 'flock' of monsters were all D-rank or lower, and Yang Gyu-hyeok’s stats were around C-rank.
He was obviously under the effect of 'that trait'; it would be strange if he couldn't pull off such a feat here.
To others who didn't know about the trait, it might have seemed amazing.
When I showed no reaction, a dumbfounded Im Gyeong-jun let out a deep sigh.
I turned my head to Cheon Nam-gi.
“It seems I need to get past a security system to rescue Jeon Do-jin.”
“That’s right. You need a key card. I’ve already prepared it.”
Cheon Nam-gi reached across his desk, picked up something that looked like an ID card, and handed it to me.
I had wondered if Yang Gyu-hyeok, trusting no one, might be the only one with a key card, but that was a needless worry.
“It seems Yang Gyu-hyeok trusts you quite a bit.”
“Not necessarily.”
Cheon Nam-gi continued with a bitter smile.
“That key card literally only allows you to enter the sixth floor. Rescuing Jeon Do-jin is a separate matter.”
“Does the cell where Jeon Do-jin is being held require another key card?”
“Not a key card. We don't have enough power to run multiple electronic security systems at once. It’s a simple lock. However, you need to get through six of them to reach Jeon Do-jin, and all the keys are different, so shortcuts will be difficult.”
A simple lock.
For some, that might be more troublesome, but for me, it was a different story.
“Then it doesn’t matter.”
I grinned and slipped the key card into my pocket.