Chapter 186
Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 186
Chapter Title: Execution Sanctuary (1)
Seo Yu-ju decided not to grill Woo Seo-hyeon too harshly for the time being.
Of course, that didn't mean she fully trusted him.
'It's more like I'm just watching and waiting.'
Woo Seo-hyeon hadn't done anything too outrageous, but he had hidden his abilities, so from Seo Yu-ju's perspective, it was hard to trust him completely.
Especially since this attack by the outlaws(?) had happened right after he joined Eternity, and not long ago at that.
"... Alright, I understand what you're saying, Mr. Woo Seo-hyeon. I get the rough reason why you hid your abilities."
"Th-that's a relief. Thank you for believing me."
"... But I don't look kindly on you hiding your class. You don't have anything else you're hiding, do you?"
"No, really, I don't."
'Wow... He's lying without even batting an eye.'
His lying skills were on par with mine.
"Fine then. If there's nothing else to report... everyone except Yun-seong can go."
'Sigh...'
Looks like she had something to say to me privately.
'Well, I get it. To her, this is like a red flag going up.'
Nine times out of ten, she'd lecture me about my safety.
She was already freaked out from the last Execution Sanctuary attack. Now with a second one, she'd be dying of anxiety.
'... And the Execution Sanctuary isn't some pushover group either.'
At Seo Yu-ju's words, everyone started to leave.
Wi Ho-yeon bowed her head slightly to me before exiting the office.
Once even Wi Ho-yeon had left the office, Seo Yu-ju rushed over and threw herself into my arms.
"Yun-seong..."
'... Yeah, I knew it. Called it.'
"Yun-seong, you're not hurt anywhere, right? Huh?"
"I'm fine. I told you during the report. No injuries. If anything, Ho-yeon and the others..."
"To me, you're the most important. The most important to me."
"....."
Her eyes brimmed with obsession over me.
"The others? Of course they're precious. But you're my top priority...!"
"... Are you worried? Scared I might get hurt?"
"How could I not be worried? You got ambushed by those outlaws again! Inside a dungeon, no less!"
'Sorry. It was staged.'
... I didn't have the confidence to tell her the truth, even if it killed me.
For some reason, I always ended up pulling stunts like this with her—faking murder as suicide in the first round, and now this.
"If... if... if something happened to you, I couldn't live. I'd just die too... So don't get hurt. Okay?"
"Got it. See? I'm fine in the end."
Maybe my reaction came off as safety-insensitive, because her eyebrows furrowed in slight anger.
"... Don't brush it off. If something happened to you, if you died or got hurt... I'd..."
"......"
"I'd die to be with you."
'That's a bit scary.'
Her words didn't sound insincere at all—our eyes met for a moment, and hers looked so deep.
"... Seo Yu-ju."
"Yeah."
"I love you."
"Wh-what? Ah..."
The sudden love confession left her glitching out.
... Since things had come to this, our relationship with Seo Yu-ju was irreversible anyway. If we were destined to get closer, better to make her dependent on me.
'Can't back out now anyway.'
"But don't talk about following me in death in front of me. It makes me sad."
As I spoke, I slid my hands to her waist and hips.
"Ah... Y-Yun-seong... Hnng..."
Just a light touch, and she buried her face in my chest, flustered beyond words.
I could clearly feel her hot breath quickening.
And from the way her legs rubbed together, she seemed to be heating up.
"Got it?"
"Yeah... Got it..."
'That's enough.'
"Good. Anyway, if you're that worried, you can protect me. Right?"
"Yeah... I'll protect you. No matter what... So please..."
Seo Yu-ju seemed to be pleading for something, but I had no intention of doing it here in the office.
"No. That's as far as it goes."
"Come on... You're so mean..."
She wasn't giving up easily, so I kissed her.
"Mmph...!"
It was more than a simple peck—sloppy and deep.
"... There, hold it together. Be good?"
At my words, she nodded slowly with a dazed look.
... I'd discovered a good way to handle Seo Yu-ju.
"Damn it!"
Woo Seo-hyeon couldn't help but curse the moment he entered his room.
"What the hell happened?!"
Why had he been ambushed by other outlaws in that situation of all times?
'And who the hell was that woman?!'
The masked woman who attacked him.
Her power level surpassed a ranker—hardly your average outlaw.
'... High chance she's the one who wiped out Predator Clan.'
The Predator Clan massacre was already a huge mystery.
Anyone with a keen eye knew it wasn't the work of multiple people but one person acting alone.
Of course, they'd guessed it was an assassin-class job.
No one else could pull off such clean, traceless kills.
"Ha..."
Lee Yun-seong had suddenly suggested the dungeon run, pissing him off already. He never imagined he'd get jumped by fellow outlaws.
'Contact first.'
... Staying in Eternity any longer was dangerous.
He'd gotten away unscathed this time, but he'd caught the faint suspicion in Seo Yu-ju and Sword Queen's eyes.
'Speed up the plan or change it entirely.'
Click.
- What's this? The scheduled date hasn't come yet.
"... Emergency. First off, one question. The ones who attacked this time—did you send them?"
- ... Attacked? What are you talking about?
'As expected.'
He'd asked just in case, but they weren't from their side.
"Suddenly had to go on a dungeon run, and we got ambushed by other outlaws there."
- Dungeon run? Why no report?
"Ha, no time for that. And it's not that I didn't report—it was that I couldn't, you bitch."
- ……
"Got it? And because of the attack, my abilities got exposed here!"
- Exposed?
"Yeah. One of the attackers was on another level."
- I don't get it. You're saying someone at your level couldn't handle it?
"... You wouldn't believe it unless you saw her yourself. Bad matchup since she was assassin-class, but all I could do was hold on."
- Strange. A free agent that strong? Not among the ones Execution Sanctuary knows.
"No idea. Masked, attacking Eternity in a dungeon—has to be outlaws, right?"
- ……
"Eternity's suspecting Execution Sanctuary instead. They're on high alert now because of this."
- Ha... What a mess.
Execution Sanctuary hadn't even done the attack, yet here they were, misunderstood.
"If you're annoyed, imagine how I feel. At first, I thought it was some plan I wasn't briefed on."
- ……
"Anyway, I want to change the plan."
- Change it?
"Obviously? You expect me to keep this up in this situation?"
- Woo Seo-hyeon, don't be hasty...
"Shut up! I'm in the heart of enemy territory! Seo Yu-ju and Sword Queen's suspicion is ramping up. Staying in Eternity is risky."
- Because your abilities got exposed.
"Yeah. Not fully pegged as Execution Sanctuary, but..."
- I get it. But you have to stay in Eternity.
"What? You joking right now? What do you take my words for?"
- Calm down and listen. If you vanish from Eternity now, it's like announcing an outside force hit them.
"Ha..."
Woo Seo-hyeon was pissed but understood.
To Eternity, they'd been ambushed by mystery forces. If he disappeared right after? Might as well abandon the plan.
He swallowed his irritation and spoke.
"So what now? Keep going as is?"
- ... We'll advance the plan.
"... How?"
Silence for a moment, then the woman beyond the crystal orb continued.
- First, what about this Lee Yun-seong guy?
"No clue. Seems half on board... but he's definitely a playboy."
- ... Playboy?
Her voice sounded puzzled at "playboy."
"... Whatever. Anyway, Lee Yun-seong seems half-swayed. Grinning like an idiot around every woman."
- Not bad. Here's the play.
Woo Seo-hyeon waited quietly.
- We have the deal with Demon Spear, but rescuing Sword Queen too in this situation is impossible. Just target Lee Yun-seong alone.
"... What about Sword Queen? Demon Spear won't sit still. That lecher will go berserk demanding her. He's the one who killed Jo Yeon-ju over it."
- ... Not abandoning Sword Queen. Postponing. Lure Lee Yun-seong out alone first.
"... And then?"
- Obviously. Drag him to the boss.
"... Doesn't make sense. All this bullshit for just this one guy?"
- ... Boss wants to test something.
"Test what?"
- Can't say details.
"Ha, what the hell? Drawing a line now?"
- ... Boss's orders.
"Ha... Disconnect."
He cut the comm without waiting for a reply.
"Fucking bitch..."
Right after the call with Woo Seo-hyeon ended, the woman knelt on one knee to the man beside her.
"... Forgive me, Boss. This test you mentioned..."
"... It's weird."
"Pardon?"
"The group that attacked, as Woo Seo-hyeon described. Especially the masked woman."
"... Who?"
"High probability she's the one who massacred Predator Clan."
"... May I ask why you think that?"
"Assassin-class job. Power surpassing Woo Seo-hyeon."
"....."
"That's ranker-level strength guaranteed... Could be wrong, but she seems like the mastermind behind Predator Clan's wipeout."
"... Impressive. Just from that info..."
Despite her admiring gaze, the man's face remained grim.
"No, there's a problem with this conclusion."
"Pardon?"
"I was sure Lee Yun-seong's backer was behind Predator Clan's massacre. But then there's no reason to hit Eternity."
"Meaning..."
"No idea why they hit Eternity, but that woman can't be his backer. If she were, no reason to attack Eternity."
"... So what will you do?"
"We'll thin out Eternity and our side's forces. Demon Spear included."
"But... Demon Spear won't comply without Sword Queen."
"Doesn't matter. Trick him cleverly."
"You mean..."
"Sword Queen's Lee Yun-seong's guard anyway. Capture him, she'll move, then feed that to Demon Spear. He'll flip and charge at her."
"....."
"That's the kind of guy he is."