Chapter 71
Chapter 71
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 71
Chapter Title: Sirutteok Newcomer
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Sirutteok.
In Korea, there was only one thing that sirutteok typically referred to.
"Did you just move in from downstairs?"
The place where Hae-jin currently lived was a standalone unit on the top floor.
Which meant that anyone coming to visit after moving in could only be from downstairs.
But something felt off.
"Why are you hiding your face?"
No matter how he looked at it, the person on the intercom screen seemed to be deliberately holding the sirutteok to conceal their face.
Hae-jin tried talking through the intercom.
"Who is it?"
[I just moved in downstairs~.]
"Hmm?"
The pronunciation was oddly peculiar.
It sounded like a foreigner speaking Korean.
As he tilted his head in puzzlement, Hae-jin thought.
'This voice sounds familiar...'
The first foreign woman who came to mind was Anna.
But there was no reason for Anna to pull something like this.
So who could it be?
Pondering for a moment, Hae-jin recalled a recent voice he'd heard.
"Ailet Mist?"
[Ehh?]
As soon as Hae-jin recognized her from the voice alone, the sirutteok filling the intercom screen was pushed aside.
And there she was.
Just as Hae-jin had said, the one holding the sirutteok was indeed Ailet Mist.
With her face now visible, Hae-jin asked.
"Why are you here?"
[I told you. I moved in~. Didn't I?]
"That's why I'm asking why *you* moved here."
[Do I need your permission to move, Hae-jin?~]
"Well, no, I suppose not. Anyway, thanks for the hard work with the move. See you."
Hae-jin had a feeling that getting involved with Ailet Mist would only lead to trouble, so he tried to end the call.
That was when it happened.
[W-Wait... just a second!]
As he moved to hang up, Ailet Mist urgently called out to him.
Hae-jin asked why.
"What is it?"
"You're not telling me to just throw away the rice cake, are you?"
"Leave it at the door, and I'll take it."
[But it's a gift from a person! Shouldn't you receive it personally?]
"..."
She wasn't entirely wrong.
He did wonder why an American would move all the way here, but it was awkward to refuse sirutteok from a new neighbor.
Hae-jin let out a deep sigh and reluctantly opened the door.
*Beep*-.
As Hae-jin opened the door.
Whoosh-!
"Nice to see you, Hae-jin!"
Ailet Mist went in for a hug.
Or at least, she tried to.
But Hae-jin didn't give her the chance.
Spotting her attempt, he swiftly sidestepped.
"Eek!"
Ailet Mist, expecting to be caught at such close range, ended up tumbling forward instead, nearly dropping the sirutteok container from her hand into the air.
Hae-jin caught the airborne container and steadily received the falling sirutteok inside it.
Not only that, he lifted one leg to catch the collapsing Ailet Mist as well.
After gently lowering the nearly fallen Ailet Mist to the floor, Hae-jin said.
"I've received the sirutteok safely. Congratulations on the move. Now, off you go."
At Hae-jin's response, Ailet Mist quickly got up.
Once on her feet, she yelled at him as if he were being unreasonable.
"That's too much! When a guest visits, shouldn't you at least offer a cup of tea?"
"You're not a guest I invited. I'll enjoy the sirutteok, so please leave."
"You're really too much! Do you have a woman hidden away or something?!"
Ailet Mist accused Hae-jin of chasing her away because he had a woman stashed inside.
That was when it happened.
"Uung, Brother Hae-jin?"
A beautiful young woman in a dress-like nightgown shuffled out from the bedroom, still looking half-asleep.
Ailet Mist freaked out at her appearance.
"Th-There's... a woman here?!"
She'd only said it in passing, but now that there really was a woman in Hae-jin's place, Ailet Mist was shocked.
Realizing her mistake, she hurriedly apologized and left.
"I didn't know you had a woman here. Sorry, I'll be going."
And with that, Ailet Mist departed.
Following her, the woman who had just called for Hae-jin approached.
"Uung, who was that?"
"No need to know. You look sleepy—why not get more rest?"
The woman who had asked about Ailet Mist was Kim So-hye.
She was Manager Kim's daughter.
Hae-jin had plenty of rooms, and since Manager Kim worried about his daughter, they decided to live together.
That's why she had come out of the bedroom.
But Ailet Mist had seen that and mistakenly thought Hae-jin had a girlfriend living with him.
Thanks to that, Hae-jin was spared some hassle.
Anyway, at Hae-jin's suggestion to go back to sleep, Kim So-hye giggled.
"Heehee, is that okay?"
"You start school next week, so you won't get much sleep then. Rest up while you can this week."
"Heehee, you're right. Then I'll go back to bed."
As Kim So-hye headed back to sleep, Hae-jin said.
"Yeah, thanks."
"Hm? Thanks for what?"
Kim So-hye, about to return to her room, tilted her head.
Wondering what he was thanking her for all of a sudden.
To the puzzled Kim So-hye, Hae-jin waved his hand dismissively.
"Ah, you know, stuff like that. Go on in."
"Okay!"
With that, Kim So-hye went back into her room.
Once inside, she closed the door, leaned against it, and placed a hand over her chest.
With a relieved expression, Kim So-hye took a deep breath and murmured.
"Phew, at least that woman wasn't close to him."
She was relieved.
Moments ago, she had pretended to have just woken up, but in truth, she'd been awake for a while.
Then suddenly, she heard a woman's voice, and wondering if that woman had some relationship with Hae-jin, she came out to check.
But seeing Hae-jin send Ailet Mist away like an unwelcome visitor allowed her to relax.
And with that, Kim So-hye thought.
'So my rivals are just Unnie Na-ye and Anna-unnie?'
Unbeknownst to Hae-jin himself, a three-way rivalry was unfolding.
*
"What?! He's living with a woman?! That playboy!"
Ailet Mist, who had given Hae-jin the moving-in rice cake and returned home, threw a fit the moment she arrived.
As she fumed, she pulled out her smartphone.
She was continuously checking job listings on the metaverse side.
The reason was simple.
Biting her thumbnail, Ailet Mist muttered.
"Argh! If only a spot would open up, I could get closer."
No matter how she looked at it, simply moving downstairs wasn't enough to get close to Hae-jin.
He gave her no openings at all, and on top of that, he even had a woman living with him.
So Ailet Mist was looking into a Plan B: getting a job at the metaverse company her father had handed over to Hae-jin.
She'd heard that Hae-jin was reorganizing it with a Korean branch in Seoul.
Since Hae-jin was in Korea, he was probably planning to make the Korean branch the metaverse headquarters.
That meant they needed staff for the Korean HQ, and Ailet Mist intended to seize that opportunity.
And then.
"Ah! It's finally up!"
When the metaverse company posted a job opening, Ailet Mist saw it as perfect.
At that point, she had no idea.
That Hae-jin didn't even go to the office.
*
A few days after Ailet Mist's visit, Park Jong-pal came by.
Bringing his subordinate employees, Song Seung-hun and Jung Soo-jung.
"Here are the documents you requested."
They spread out the materials Park Jong-pal mentioned on the living room table and discussed them.
About the villains.
"So, these are the villains you haven't been able to catch lately, and this is an emerging villain group, right?"
"Yes, that's correct. But, Leader."
Park Jong-pal confirmed that Hae-jin's classification of the documents he'd shown matched.
And he, too, called Hae-jin "Leader."
Manager Kim called Hae-jin "Leader," so Park Jong-pal and his group followed suit.
Hae-jin extended his hand to Park Jong-pal, who had come at his call.
"Let's talk."
"You can speak casually to us..."
Park Jong-pal suggested speaking informally now that Hae-jin was Leader.
But Hae-jin replied as if that wouldn't do.
"We don't know how long we'll be working together, so casual speech feels off. Besides, I'm not older than you all."
"Ah, if that's the case..."
Park Jong-pal found Hae-jin's reasoning understandable.
The youngest among them, Hae-jin, speaking casually might make others uncomfortable.
Plus, as Hae-jin said, they didn't know how long they'd stay together.
By now, those in the know all knew.
That the number of survivors halved with each Trials' Arena.
So as each month passed, the number of Players overwhelmingly decreased, meaning fewer villains causing crimes over time.
Moreover, the fewer Players there were, the more advantageous it was for nations to have more under their control for national defense, so they treated them well—leading to more state-affiliated Players than villains.
Naturally, dedicated anti-villain crime units would dissolve.
Thus, Hae-jin had no intention of getting too attached to this organization.
He'd take what he could and part ways when the time came.
Anyway, as they talked, Hae-jin picked out two items from the stack of villain files.
'We should deal with this guy and this group quickly before they cause bigger crimes.'
Looking through the documents Park Jong-pal brought, Hae-jin identified the villains and forces to handle first.
'Still, since I took out those two in advance, we can start here.'
He'd taken out two in advance.
Referring to Jung Nam-gil and Kang Hee-soon.
They were practically Korea's strongest villains.
Which was why Hae-jin had dealt with them.
If he hadn't, the death toll from those two would have been at least dozens by now.
Excluding those two, the individual villain Hae-jin was looking at was named 'Jo Jun-hee,' and the group labeled as a faction was 'Boss Clique.'
Unlike the solo villain Jo Jun-hee, the Boss Clique was a villain group formed by those who fancied themselves as "the bosses."
Looking at them, Hae-jin said.
"I'll take care of Jo Jun-hee personally. You and Manager Kim handle the Boss Clique. If I finish first, I'll join you."
"Hmm, the Boss Clique is in Gangnam, and Jo Jun-hee is in Ungam-dong."
Hae-jin's place was closer to Gangnam.
So naturally, it seemed Hae-jin heading to Ungam-dong would take longer than the group handling the Boss Clique in Gangnam.
At Park Jong-pal's words, the only one smiling was Manager Kim.
'You still don't fully grasp Leader's abilities, Jong-pal.'
Manager Kim knew well.
Hae-jin's capabilities.
He knew because they'd worked together in America.
In any case, judging from Park Jong-pal's reaction, Hae-jin asked since they seemed to think he'd catch Jo Jun-hee later than them.
"You think I can't catch Jo Jun-hee first because she's farther away?"