Chapter 119
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 119
Chapter Title: The Intruder (1)
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"...You all set?"
"Yes, boss. Should we do it today?"
"...Yeah. I can't just let the bastard who fucked over our clan's business walk away."
Crunch.
Lee Yun-seong. Not content with screwing over their clan business, he'd somehow bewitched Yanagiya Riki in a way that defied explanation.
Today would be his funeral. Of course, there was no intention of killing him right away. First, they'd grab him and make him suffer every torment imaginable.
'Riki... I'll make that bitch regret it too. That damned woman, daring to choose some punk like him over me...'
"Today's the day that guy's heading back to the neutral nation, right? How many of those outlaws are we sending?"
"Yes, boss. And the outlaws are drifters with no ties, so no loose ends. It'll be fine."
"We have to keep it from Riki. From the way she's protecting him, it'd be bad if she found out it was us."
"Don't worry, boss. It's just him and one woman—what could go wrong? The Sword Master might be tricky... but no one's invincible to an ambush, Sword Master or not."
"True enough."
"The outlaws are even fighting over who gets to do it. When we offered the Sword Master as a bonus, their eyes lit up..."
"Really?"
"Yes. And there's some really shocking news."
"Shocking news?"
"Get this—the Spear Master Baek Si-hoon wants in on it."
"What? Baek Si-hoon?"
Spear Master Baek Si-hoon. By all accounts except his personality, he had it all.
Looks, power—nothing lacking. He was a ranker especially idolized by women in Eras.
Until he turned outlaw.
Baek Si-hoon's infamous tale of becoming an outlaw and slaughtering a marquis's wife in Tyos Kingdom to sate his lust was well-known.
"Why the hell would Baek Si-hoon want in? A big shot like that?"
"Yeah. Seems the Spear Master has his eye on the Sword Master. You know how he used to pester her before turning outlaw."
"I see..."
"The Spear Master's infamous as a lecher, after all."
"Heh... Yeah, fits his personality. Anyway, be careful. Send a few of our good men too."
"Got it, boss."
"Can't wait to see that bastard beg in front of me. Fucking prick—ugly as a dog, isn't he?"
"......."
Kim Nam-gi bristled when his subordinate didn't answer, his voice turning harsh.
"Hey, isn't he?"
"......."
'What the...?'
A sudden chill made him whirl around.
"Indeed."
Kim Nam-gi's hackles rose at the voice behind him.
Terror flashed for an instant, but as a seasoned player, he drew his sword and thrust backward.
"Gaaah!"
He screamed at the sight.
His subordinate, moments ago chatting away, lay dead with eyes gouged out.
"What...! Who the hell are you!"
Beside the corpse stood a hooded figure, dagger in hand.
"Predator Clan Master Kim Nam-gi, right?"
'A woman?'
The intruder's voice was unmistakably feminine—and alluring.
"Who... who are you! You know who I am and you still...!"
Man or woman, the terror choked Kim Nam-gi's words.
His dead subordinate was a top-tier player, worth at least one in this continent. Not someone to die without a sound.
Whoever it was had killed silently in seconds—minimum ranker level, or higher.
'Wait. How'd she even get in here? What about the clan members outside...?'
"Who am I? You're the one running guns on the surface and slaves in the shadows, aren't you? Must've hurt bad, losing that stake in Silan black market in the neutral nation."
"What are you... How do you know all that? You're no ranker—no female dagger rankers. Who the hell...?"
"Death breathing down your neck sharpens the mind, huh? Humans are fascinating. Stronger than any race in crisis."
"What...? Talking like you're not human..."
"I'm no outsider—I'm a native. And today... Predator Clan ends."
"What bullshit! My clan gone?!"
"Clan master dead, business gutted—no clan survives that."
Cold sweat beaded on Kim Nam-gi; her words rang true.
"Why... why me?!"
"Because you touched someone you shouldn't."
"...What?"
"Guns, slaves, even Training Facility trainees—I don't care. But touching their owner? That's different."
How she knew about the slaves and trainees, he couldn't fathom, but her words baffled him.
"Owner...? What're you talking about? The target's Lee Yun-seong..."
"Don't utter his name so casually."
Crack!
"Gaaah! You bitch!"
In a flash, she'd closed in and snapped his arm.
Pain exploded, but screaming meant death—he counterattacked instantly.
"Oh...?"
She seemed surprised he'd strike through the agony.
His swing missed her but sliced her hood.
In that glimpse: pointed ears. Not human.
"You... those ears... Elf? No, dark elf...?"
"......"
"How's a dark elf...? Elves and dark elves are extinct, I heard..."
"You learned something you shouldn't."
"Wha...?"
Stab!
That was Kim Nam-gi's last gasp.
Three days since returning to the neutral nation from the Eastern Alliance.
Everything there had been gained.
Fate worked in mysterious ways.
Dragged there by Riki, he'd thought it was over. But becoming her benefactor and things unfolding so perfectly? Unimaginable.
'And I got the drugs too.'
Before leaving, he'd asked her for a suitable amount of narcotics.
He still remembered her expression and words when he first asked.
Imagining he'd use them? Crazy? Coming from the Eastern Alliance's drug queen—it nearly made him laugh.
He knew it was concern, but still...
Thankfully, explaining the purpose convinced her. She was shocked, but he got them.
'Anyway... drugs aside.'
Seo Yu-ju had sighed in relief at his safe return.
She couldn't help worrying.
Leaning back in his office chair for a break, Wi Ho-yeon entered.
"Mr. Lee Yun-seong. Care to read this...?"
"Oh, Ho-yeon. What's this?"
"...Think of it as Eras's unified paper. A whole clan in the Eastern Alliance vanished."
"What?"
He snatched the paper and read.
Eastern Alliance's Predator Clan Crumbles Overnight.
Only a handful of regular members survive. Clan Master Kim Nam-gi and executives all assassinated...
Predator Clan's atrocities revealed, shocking Eras. Front: arms dealing. Back: slave trade—even selling Training Facility trainees.
Spotlight on Predator's crimes. Who dismantled them in one night? Investigation yields nothing—shock widespread.
Suspicions point to a ranker. Only a ranker could erase a clan like Predator so cleanly.
Experts: Perpetrator has at least ranker-level power...
"Whoa..."
Kim Nam-gi—the man from the banquet.
'...What happened?'
Not long since meeting him—a week at most.
'Clan master and execs all dead?'
Incomprehensible. Even rankers couldn't wipe out a mid-to-large clan overnight.
No—even if it was possible, silently? Impossible.
Not even Yoon Yeon or Riki could erase Predator without a trace.
'Clan vs. clan friction, maybe. But one person vs. clan? No way.'
"Ho-yeon, does this make sense? Silently killing a clan's key figures overnight...?"
"...Impossible for a typical ranker."
"Typical meaning...?"
"Not Myth Clan masters or fighters like Yanagiya Riki. It's not raw power—it's the silence."
"....."
"But a ranker-level assassin? Possible."
"Ranker-level assassin? No rankers have assassin jobs, though?"
As far as he knew, no top rankers were assassins.
Wi Ho-yeon nodded.
"You're right. No ranker assassins. But non-rankers can have ranker power."
"Ah..."
"And no guarantee the perp's a player."
"...True. But a native attacking a player clan? Unlikely."
"I lean player too. Natives have no reason."
"Hm..."
'Same flow as Round 1?'
He wondered if this happened in his first timeline.
'Should ask Seo Yu-ju.'
Not his business, but something nagged.
'...Paranoia? Why right after meeting me?'
He'd have ignored it before.
But Kim Nam-gi dead so soon after?
'Something's off.'
Since the outlaw ambush, events kept diverging from his expectations.
An eerie dissonance.
"...Ho-yeon, I'll step out to see Yu-ju."
"Ah, yes. Go ahead."
He left for Seo Yu-ju's office.
Knocking and entering, he saw her reading the paper.
"Yu-ju."
"Ah... Yun-seong."
Glancing at her paper—same as his.
"What brings you? Here for me...?"
No sweet response came.
"Came about that paper you're reading."
"Oh... I see..."
Disappointment flickered, but now wasn't the time.
"Yu-ju, know anything about the Eastern Alliance incident?"