The Empty House Burglary (2)
The catastrophe that struck Myeongga in a single day quickly dominated the domestic headlines.
“……What? What about Myeongga now?”
Camilla looked at her subordinate with a face heavy with exhaustion.
“Please look at this article.”
Camilla took the phone her subordinate offered with careful hands.
Crack.
Camilla clenched her fist so tightly the phone screen splintered.
“That insane bastard… He pulled that kind of stunt here and then went on to raid Myeongga’s headquarters?”
Contrary to Lee Hyun’s expectations, the reason the cartel’s Korean branch couldn’t immediately rush to Myeongga’s building was simple: the aftermath of what he had done was far larger than anticipated.
Camilla had done everything in her power to keep the black market dungeon from shutting down. She had tried desperately to persuade the non-human merchants to return, and she had nearly succeeded. As long as the merchants didn’t leave, the market could somehow be maintained.
But…
‘I never imagined those bastards would interfere right there…!’
The other key element of the market—the customers—had not returned. Unable to wait any longer, they had moved on to black markets run by rival organizations.
By then the rumors had already spread far and wide throughout the underworld.
-The City Cartel’s Korean branch supposedly gives preferential treatment to companies that pay them tribute.
-The cartel can’t control its lower organizations anymore, so the black markets are constantly in chaos.
-They aren’t even properly compensating the merchants who suffered losses this time.
The rival organizations that had been suppressed by the City Cartel’s dominance immediately sprang into action. It was as if they had been waiting for this moment.
Such coordinated movement would have been impossible unless someone had leaked information from behind the scenes.
‘Was this really Chairman Feng’s doing, that sly old fox? Or is there a third party hoping to profit from the clash between us…?’
In the end, the market closed. One of the eleven black markets operated by the City Cartel had been completely wiped out.
They had managed to salvage the most critical documents, but when factoring in the assets invested in market facilities and the total collapse of external trust, the damage easily reached hundreds of billions of won. Even for an organization called the king of the underworld, it was a staggering blow.
‘And then there’s Han Hyun-soo of Blue Dog. The only witness suddenly turned up dead. This whole board was meticulously designed.’
“Some of those comments seem to mention us. Contact the hacker team and have them clean it up. Silence the media outlets too. We don’t need rumors spreading and making things noisier.”
“Understood.”
A cartel that appeared weak would collapse. They could not afford to show any vulnerability to ordinary citizens.
“Um, and…”
“What else?”
“We received contact from the Boss’s side a moment ago… How should we proceed?”
The subordinate carefully studied Camilla’s increasingly sharp expression.
As expected, the crease between her brows deepened.
She had planned to clean up the situation as much as possible before reporting, but it seemed the suspicious movements of the other organizations had already reached the Boss’s ears.
“Huu…”
Camilla let out a long breath. When she opened her eyes again, the usual cold, calculating woman had returned.
“Give it to me. I’ll report to the Boss personally.”
Camilla refused to believe the masked man had acted alone. The article had even quoted what he said after destroying Myeongga’s headquarters.
-If something like this happens again, I will crush you all—regardless of who you are—until not even a blade of grass remains.
Those words had clearly been directed at them. In other words, this was a declaration of war. A declaration that he would tear them apart from now on.
‘Fine. Come at us with everything you have. Whoever you are, whatever you bring, I’ll snap every last neck.’
Once the cleanup was finished, she intended to head straight to Seoul.
Click. Beep.
“Yes, Boss.”
Camilla’s eyes burned with fierce determination as she answered the call.
* * *
After his probation ended, Lee Hyun returned to the company.
‘I got so used to wearing the Dokgaksi set that taking it off makes my body feel heavy again. The sensation is different.’
Back then he had been confident he could win even if he clashed head-on with rankers, but that was no longer the case. Still, the old combat instincts he had re-experienced remained in his body, filling him with vitality. It felt like he could reach the next level any day now. The critical moment was truly close.
While lost in thought, he overheard conversations around him.
“Hey, did you hear?”
“About the Myeongga guild master going missing? They still haven’t found him, right?”
“From what I heard, the entire leadership vanished even before the headquarters collapsed… There’s definitely something going on.”
“No kidding. It’s terrifying.”
“Ugh, that bomber scares me more. Some weirdo in a strange mask blowing up buildings…”
Most of the chatter was about the “Myeongga Headquarters Bombing Incident” from a few days ago.
“They say over ten mafia-related operatives were arrested this time too.”
“A demon appeared and was killed on the spot.”
“Is this even Korea anymore? Why is everything so brutal?”
“Idiot. It’s because it’s Korea that they all got caught. They’re weeding them out. I heard several underworld organizations got wiped out too. Sounds like they’re busy killing each other.”
“Well, that’s at least some good news.”
The secret war that should have stayed in the shadows had grown so large that even civilians were talking about it.
‘Just what kind of moves did you make, General?’
Lee Hyun stepped off the subway with a wry chuckle. Lee Gun-san had said that since they were going to enlarge the board, they might as well push it relentlessly until the very end.
For the past several days, both domestic and international media had been flooded with stories about the bombing and its ripple effects. Thanks to that, baseless speculation and personal information about the “Goblin Slope Masked Man” spread nonstop. He had even gained a nickname.
Guiroe—meaning “Ghost Thunder”—for the way he wielded white lightning like a phantom.
‘To think the first nickname I receive in this life is something like that. I don’t know whether to laugh or cry.’
The name “Zet” had only been a codename. This was essentially his first real alias.
The narrative of the Snow Queen is revealed!
“How about it? How does it feel to wake up and find yourself a superstar?”
Sun Wukong grinned mischievously, wagging his tail.
‘I’m not sure if it’s good or bad. Still, at least the stuff about Brother Jin-woo has been buried, so I suppose that’s fortunate.’
“Katkatkat. My apostle, please enjoy this moment. After all, notoriety is also a form of fame.”
Even at Sa Oh-jeong’s words, Lee Hyun could only scratch his cheek awkwardly.
The fame he had gained during his Cheongroe days had come while his body was falling apart, so he hadn’t had the luxury of caring. His personal information had also been classified, making it feel like something from a distant world.
But this time was different. He could see people discussing him in real time.
‘Thank goodness I moved while wearing the mask.’
Even as he let out a relieved sigh, he couldn’t help but admire how skillfully Lee Gun-san had manipulated the media.
‘He really didn’t just retire quietly.’
Lee Gun-san treated it like a hobby, but during the few days Lee Hyun had stayed at the bunker, he sensed the old general was preparing something. If the first basement level was a military sector filled with firearms and ammunition, the second and third floors housed an alchemy laboratory and an archive of classified documents he had secretly taken before retiring.
Lee Hyun had asked why such things existed, but the only answer he ever received was laughter. Eventually he stopped asking.
‘He really is an impossible man to read.’
Still, thanks to him, Lee Hyun had received tremendous help. Go Jin-woo had finished treatment and regained consciousness.
‘And I gained this.’
Whoooosh…!
White frost floated gently above Lee Hyun’s palm.
The legend ‘When the Tiger Smoked’ displays powerful competitive spirit!
With Lee Gun-san’s help, he could now wield the power of the Snow Queen—originally awakened through the Snow Sapphire Heart—far more freely. He had even entrusted the enigmatic fossil egg to the general for further research. Without Lee Gun-san, he wouldn’t have known where to begin with so many tasks.
‘He said he’d share more results after researching the Snow Queen and the egg a bit longer, so I can leave that to him…’
Lee Hyun looked up at the White Burn guild headquarters that had come into view.
‘Time to go burglarize this empty house, then.’
Though both were called one of the Five Major Guilds, White Burn was on an entirely different level from Myeongga—not just in headquarters size, but in the caliber of active hunters as well.
‘Well, the other side was basically a corner store while this place operates on an international scale, so it makes sense.’
Roughly combining three or four of White Burn’s raid teams might reach Myeongga’s level. Of course, if Mo Jeong-gyeon stepped forward, even that comparison became meaningless.
“You’re back, sunbae?”
When Lee Hyun arrived at his seat, Kim Min-jung raised a hand in greeting.
“Yeah. It’s been a while.”
“When you say it like that, it really does feel like we haven’t seen each other in months. It’s only been a week…”
Kim Min-jung sighed.
“You look pretty tired.”
“You heard about the Myeongga situation, right?”
“Only through the news. Are we involved too?”
“Compared to us it might look small, but a Five Major Guild is still a Five Major Guild. When a guild of that size disintegrates overnight, there’s no way things won’t get busy.”
From what he understood, Myeongga’s board members and six raid captains were currently fighting over scraps. With Myeongga’s collapse, the rights and interests they held had become fair game, so guilds both domestic and foreign were swarming in.
He had thought a giant like White Burn wouldn’t care, but apparently that wasn’t the case.
“Team Leader Lim has been suffering the most because of it. She’s barely gone home… Our team got a call for help too since they’re short on manpower. The winner of that draw was you, sunbae, who was on probation.”
Lee Hyun scratched his cheek with an embarrassed expression.
“You’ll never be able to tell her that you’re the one who actually caused the incident, will you?”
‘…Absolutely not.’
Lee Hyun had no intention of revealing his identity as Zeus’s apostle anymore.
“By the way, where is everyone? I don’t see the others.”
Lee Hyun glanced around, smoothly changing the subject. The team members who should have been in the Z-team sector were nowhere to be seen. Their break period should have ended by now.
“Ah, that’s—”
Just as Kim Min-jung started to answer, Lim Won-young’s voice came from behind.
“Team Leader Jang.”
Lee Hyun turned reflexively. Just as Kim Min-jung had said, Lim Won-young looked extremely tired. But… Team Leader Jang?
He wondered if she was calling someone else, but Lim Won-young was clearly looking at him.
“Ah, the official appointment hasn’t come down yet… Please forget I said that. I haven’t slept properly for over three days, so my mind isn’t working right.”
Lim Won-young lightly tapped her cheeks a couple of times with both hands.
“Anyway, Manager Jang, could you follow me for a moment?”
Sensing it had something to do with the team’s collective absence, Lee Hyun followed her into an empty conference room.
Click.
“You look very tired,” he said.
“Yes. Because of the Myeongga matter… Our company ended up taking over the dungeons Myeongga used to manage.”
Lee Hyun nodded.
“More importantly, the reason I wanted to see you separately… Wait, Manager Jang, did you go into a dungeon during your probation?”
Lim Won-young paused mid-sentence and looked him up and down. Even though he had suppressed his aura as much as possible, his presence felt different from five days ago. It was strong enough to stimulate even a ranker like her.
Lee Hyun smiled without answering.
“That can’t be. Maybe it’s just a growth spurt.”
“……I’d like to experience that kind of growth spurt myself. Just what…?”
Seeing Lee Hyun’s silent smile, Lim Won-young shook her head, knowing he wouldn’t give a proper answer. He had probably been training relentlessly again somewhere. Even when he couldn’t use his magic power properly, he had never neglected his training.
“Anyway, let’s skip the small talk. In a few minutes, an official personnel notice will appear for you, Manager Jang.”
Lee Hyun’s eyes sparkled.
“Then perhaps…”
“Yes. You will be appointed to the vacant Z-team leader position. It will have the word ‘temporary’ attached, though.”
It was an absurdly fast promotion for someone who had only joined a month ago, even if he was a career hire. Lim Won-young must have pushed hard for it. Lee Hyun bowed his head in gratitude.
“But it might not be something to unconditionally celebrate.”
“There are conditions, I assume.”
“Yes. While your ability has been acknowledged, there was still that incident. Executive Director Jeong is watching as well.”
Lim Won-young spoke carefully before her expression hardened.
“As the temporary Z-team leader, you will be given your first official mission in three days. Unfortunately, it’s a rather troublesome one.”
Three days. Lee Hyun figured he would have a lot to organize in that time.
“What is it?”
“There is an item inscribed with an extremely severe SS-rank curse… The mission is to deal with it.”
While Lim Won-young’s face darkened slightly, Lee Hyun continued to smile, his eyes unreadable.