Chapter 182
Chapter 182
Chapter 182: The True Culprit (4)
Translation: godtl
[Chairman Lee Sun-cheol's Murderer: Desperado?!]
[The Executioners of Desperado's Core Member: The Sword Saint and the Night Hunter!]
[Daniel the Void Strider, One of the Top Three Assassins, Buries His Bones in Korea]
The front pages were plastered with headlines.
Every single one focused solely on Daniel.
And rightfully so.
As one of the world's top three assassins and a core member of Desperado,
Daniel's name carried truly global weight.
Amidst these reports, a sharp-featured middle-aged man frowned at his screen.
"This doesn't make sense."
Kim Mu-yeol tore his gaze from the news-filled display.
"Why would they hand the credit to those two?"
He turned toward the handsome man checking the same news on his phone.
The sharp-featured beauty shrugged without looking up.
"Didn't want the hassle."
Kim Mu-yeol snorted in disbelief.
"Even if you're exceptional, you're still just Platinum."
"I know."
"If a Platinum-rank took down a Ranker—let alone a core member of Desperado—the world would acknowledge you. You'd just throw away that glory?"
Uncharacteristically verbose, Kim Mu-yeol watched as Si-mun raised a single eyebrow.
"Uncle, what exactly are you curious about?"
At his nephew's blunt question, Mu-yeol's expression turned grave.
"How did you defeat Daniel?"
"Oh! That's what you're wondering?"
As if finally understanding, Si-mun nodded lazily.
Mu-yeol's eyes twitched.
"Kim Si-mun. This isn't a joke. Daniel isn't some ordinary assassin."
"I know. He's one of the top three in the world."
"Is that all you think? His stealth is unparalleled. Even I couldn't detect him, so how—"
Mu-yeol barely swallowed the rest: How could you?
But Si-mun seemed to have heard it anyway.
"We just had good compatibility."
His casual reply came with a faint smirk.
"Compatibility?"
Mu-yeol's brow furrowed deeper at the curt answer.
No matter how he looked at it, Daniel had no reason to lose to Si-mun.
The logic was simple.
Even if Daniel is the weakest in combat among the top three assassins, that's only relative to the other two.
Only three existed worldwide.
Being the "weakest" among them meant nothing.
Especially when an assassin's stealth is the perfect tool for crushing the weak...
That peerless concealment would be overwhelmingly effective against anyone weaker.
Moreover—
Maybe a Diamond could handle it, but a Platinum wouldn't stand a chance against the Void, right?
Wasn't Daniel's trait SS-rank Void Shaping?
Platinum-rank players rarely encountered the Void, making him practically tailor-made for slaughtering lesser opponents.
And yet—
He won just because of 'good compatibility'?
Even setting aside stealth and Void attributes,
a Ranker like Daniel should overpower a Platinum like Si-mun in every aspect.
Was this some kind of joke?
As Mu-yeol's disbelief radiated from him, a calm voice cut in.
"Kim Mu-yeol, you're truly impossible to figure out sometimes."
A middle-aged woman standing behind them clicked her tongue in disapproval.
"Si-mun gave the credit to Si-hyeok and Jin-uk to divert Desperado's attention, obviously."
She scoffed.
"'A core member got killed by a Platinum'—that would deal a massive blow to the egos of those arrogant bastards, wouldn't it?"
Desperado, the world's strongest villain organization.
Despite being nothing more than international criminals,
their collective pride was immense.
"Of course they'd go to insane lengths to clear that disgrace. But if it's pinned on Si-hyeok and Jin-uk, they won't bother, right?"
At those words, Kim Mu-yeol's face also twisted into a deep frown.
"Don't act so high and mighty, Lee Yeong-hui. I didn't ask because I didn't know."
His glare shifted toward Lee Yeong-hui, who had somehow moved close to Si-mun's side.
One.
"Oh? Then if you already know everything, what's with that nasty habit of testing people~?"
Even under his murderous gaze that seemed ready to cut her down any second,
"If those psychos run wild in Korea, it won't be good for you either as Association President, right? Isn't that so?"
Lee Yeong-hui merely met Kim Mu-yeol's eyes with unshaken composure.
"You should be thanking me instead of asking how I handled it. Have some conscience."
"Lee Yeong-hui!"
Bang.
Kim Mu-yeol slammed the table as he stood up.
Though the gap between him—a current Ranker—and Lee Yeong-hui, who had only recently recovered to Gold-tier, was considerable,
"My, how scary~. The same guy who only talked big when I was a Ranker. Now that I've lost some strength, he's even hitting tables?"
"Stop being so insolent!"
"Right. An Awakened's strength is everything. Si-mun, I should join your guild too. How can anyone live with this humiliation?"
Lee Yeong-hui merely met Kim Mu-yeol's aggression with shameless composure.
'Auntie... She really doesn't get along with Uncle.'
This unfamiliar side of Lee Yeong-hui, who had always been motherly to him.
Feeling awkward, Si-mun interjected between the two middle-aged adults with an embarrassed smile.
"I'm fine, so please both calm down."
"Hmph. You should consider yourself lucky."
"Oh my~ What bullshit."
Had they just grown older?
If this reminded him of watching 24-year-olds Si-hyeok and Yu-jeong bicker, was it just his imagination?
That was how Si-mun calmed the two elders down.
"Look at me wasting time on this rude bastard when I should be..."
Lee Yeong-hui shook her head and looked at Si-mun with eyes that had grown deeper.
Then.
"Si-mun."
Holding his hand, she hesitated for a moment before finally speaking.
"...Thank you. For everything."
Her voice trembled faintly.
"No, Auntie. I just..."
Si-mun immediately denied it, but
Lee Yeong-hui shook her head with a quiet laugh.
"I heard from Yu-jeong... about what your father did ten years ago."
Though her eyes and mouth were smiling,
To Si-mun, they somehow looked the complete opposite.
Lee Yeong-hui gently brushed his shoulder.
"You've always been such a clever boy. You probably figured out long ago that your father was involved in the incident ten years ago."
"Auntie..."
"And yet, you tried to handle things with that bastard without saying a word to me or Yu-jeong."
"Auntie, that's not—!"
"Si-mun. I'm not blaming you."
Biting her lip slightly as if swallowing something,
She closed her eyes tightly and fell silent for a moment.
Then.
"It's because you were worried about me and Yu-jeong, wasn't it? I understand everything. I'm just... just so grateful for all of it."
Lee Yeong-hui smiled warmly.
"I know too well what hardships you endured because of that day. And that's why I feel so sorry..."
In the end.
"I should have been the one taking care of you instead of Eun-hye... But I collapsed instead..."
A clear teardrop rolled down her cheek.
For a moment, Si-mun was flustered, but he soon smiled gently.
"Auntie. I'm fine now. I'm perfectly healthy, and everything from back then has been resolved."
He soothed the weeping Lee Yeong-hui.
It wasn't an empty reassurance.
'No more Mana Disability, no lingering effects from that incident ten years ago.'
He had fixed his trash-like body.
He had even restored his strained relationships with his siblings.
On top of that, he had uncovered the truth behind the incident from ten years ago.
And hadn't he even achieved vengeance?
Though, admittedly, it wasn't Si-mun himself who had dealt with Chairman Lee Sun-cheol.
'But I never intended to let Chairman Lee Sun-cheol live anyway.'
The only difference was whose hand struck him down.
For the sake of vengeance for the past ten years and for Yu-jeong,
He had never planned to spare Chairman Lee Sun-cheol.
Perhaps sensing the sincerity in Si-mun's eyes,
"...Really. I don't know who you take after to be this noble."
Lee Yeong-hui shed tears but wore a warm smile.
"Tsk. You little bastard."
A chilling voice whispered at her ear.
Lee Yeong-hui cleanly ignored it and instead straightened the disheveled collar of Si-mun's clothes—mussed from when he'd embraced her.
"Anyway. Si-mun? I won't let this matter end with just words."
"Auntie. I didn't do this expecting any reward. Besides..."
I was the one who tried to kill your father.
Si-mun swallowed the rest of his words with effort.
Yet Lee Yeong-hui nodded silently with a bittersweet smile, as if she already knew.
A brief silence settled between them.
Si-mun quietly took both of Lee Yeong-hui's hands in his.
'Right now, Auntie must be suffering the most.'
From childhood.
Having heard stories about Lee Yeong-hui from his father several times, Si-mun knew.
'Before her marriage. She and Chairman Lee Sun-cheol had been a harmonious father-daughter pair.'
In the conservative society of that time.
The efforts Chairman Lee Sun-cheol had made to place his daughter in the chairman's seat.
'For that very father to later try to cripple her...'
Though their relationship had soured after Lee Yeong-hui's marriage.
In her younger days.
The memories shared with her father wouldn't have simply vanished.
The shock of learning the truth about the incident ten years ago must have been tremendous.
'And then her own daughter Yu-jeong tried to kill her grandfather over it...'
Father and daughter.
He couldn't even begin to imagine how Auntie must have felt, caught between them.
That's why.
Rustle.
Before he realized it, Si-mun gently embraced his aunt—who now felt smaller than in his memories.
And thus, the Ranker who once commanded the First Generation.
"Hngk...!"
Crumbled silently into his wordless comfort.
"So."
A graceful yet clear voice spoke.
"Si-mun, you're saying I just need to testify to corroborate Yu-jeong's confession?"
At Lee Yeong-hui's question, Si-mun nodded.
"Yes. We've already secured both the evidence and the perpetrator, so there shouldn't be major issues. But it'd be cleaner to establish the full motive behind the voluntary confession."
"But wouldn't testifying that I was blackmailed by Daniel be difficult? I've been perfectly fine going to work and the Arena all this time."
"Right. That's why I've prepared this."
Si-mun opened his inventory and retrieved something.
A small orb shimmering with violet energy.
"What's that?"
"A poison refined from Void energy."
"Void-refined poison? Void can be purified into this kind of energy?"
"It's possible."
If you happen to possess several cheat-like elements, that is.
Swallowing those words, Si-mun smiled gently.
"Taking this will cause some pain and stat reduction."
He offered it to her.
"But the antidote I'll give you afterward will provide immediate recovery. No need to worry about aftereffects."
"My! How resourceful."
Lee Yeong-hui accepted the proffered poison.
"So if I take this and get examined at an Awakened hospital, that should do it?"
"Yes. With Void detected in your system, Yu-jeong's testimony about Daniel's blackmail will carry more weight."
"That's why you sent Yu-jeong straight to a press conference as soon as you arrived?"
"Yu-jeong and I already settled everything beforehand."
As Si-mun nodded, Lee Yeong-hui let out a hollow laugh.
"Suddenly... I find myself grateful you turned out to be such a good kid."
"Pardon?"
"Hoho! Never mind. Just talking to myself."
With an amused glance, Lee Yeong-hui pocketed the poison.
"I'll take this properly and testify, so don't worry."
"Worry? As if I'd doubt you, Auntie."
"Hohoho! The whole world calls me a has-been, but you still acknowledge me?"
Her playful laughter came effortlessly as she saw him off.
"Then go carefully, and make sure to bring the antidote later, alright?"
"Yes, Auntie. Rest well, and if you need any Growth Buffs, just call anytime."
"Oh my~ How reliable~ Si-mun, you really mean I can call?"
"Whenever you wish."
As Si-mun stepped out of the Association President's office.
Click.
The door closed behind Lee Yeong-hui as she turned.
"Kim Mu-yeol."
Her expression was now so icy that one couldn't imagine she'd just warmly bid farewell.
"We need to talk."