The Protagonist Is Indeed the Protagonist
Han Yugyeong’s expression, which had been filled with worry as Jin Yongtae stepped out of the car, suddenly turned ice-cold. Even in death, Park Sangbeom was still causing trouble. Without hesitation, she placed a secure call to Lee Yeonju using a special app that prevented telecom providers or any intercepting hacker groups from eavesdropping on the conversation.
“You know that bomb we acquired from BS Defender, right?”
“I need you to detonate it at the address I’m about to give you.”
Lee Yeonju fell silent for a moment at Han Yugyeong’s order. Detonate a bomb inside a building…? That was no different from an act of terrorism.
“There were bloodstains near the main gate of Base Tech earlier, remember? That blood belongs to Park Sangbeom.”
“We were attacked. We had no choice but to fight back. We couldn’t just roll over and die. The body has been taken care of, so don’t worry about that. There should be data related to us on the computer at the address I gave you. Erase everything and then blow up the building. If a BS Defender bomb is found at the explosion site, it’ll create quite the effect.”
BS Defender was run by Park Youngbeom, the son of Park Ilman—the rival competing with Park Sangbeom’s father, Park Ilsu, for the BS Group chairman position. If a bomb from BS Defender was discovered at the scene, it would be the perfect way to sow discord between them.
Of course, if Park Ilsu had been calm and rational, he might have sensed something was off. But a father who had just lost his son would be in no state to think clearly.
Whether it succeeded or failed was uncertain, but if it worked, it would divert attention away from them and spark an internal power struggle within the BS Group. Even if it failed, all traces would have been completely erased, so Vanguard’s involvement would remain undetectable. That was Han Yugyeong’s assessment.
“There won’t be any casualties since the building is empty.”
“We need to establish an alibi, so have the Black Team carry it out. We’ll be in a meeting at that time.”
The Black Team consisted of Vanguard’s unregistered operatives. They handled the kind of missions that couldn’t be publicly acknowledged. Since Vanguard’s public image in Korea was that of a bodyguard company, the Black Team operated behind the scenes for many sensitive operations.
Han Yugyeong said she’d see her soon and ended the call. Dixon, who had been listening to the entire conversation, glanced at her through the rearview mirror and spoke.
“Boss, you’ve become much more meticulous than when I first met you.”
“Because our survival is on the line. It’s not just my life anymore. Vanguard’s, Dixon’s, and Yongtae’s lives are all at stake now. I have to do better.”
Dixon recalled the Han Yugyeong he had first met. Back then she had been nothing but a fragile girl, but she was gradually showing a colder, more ruthless side toward her enemies.
He couldn’t tell whether this growth was a good thing or whether it was unfortunate that the innate kindness she once possessed was fading.
“Please head to the headquarters quickly. We need to start the meeting before the bomb goes off.”
“Yes, Boss. I’ll pick up the pace.”
Dixon turned his gaze back to the road and focused on driving. In the end, Han Yugyeong hadn’t become cold-hearted for her own sake, but for the people around her. He decided that her kindness hadn’t disappeared—it had simply taken on a different form—and continued driving. From the back seat, her bright voice suddenly rang out.
“Ah! A message from Yongtae?”
After finishing the assassination at Club Z, I stood there for a moment, thinking. Where to now? I had zero interest in sitting through a boring Vanguard meeting. Going back to Han Yugyeong’s empty house didn’t sound appealing either. I’d come all the way to Korea—spending the whole time cooped up in her house felt wrong. Sure, today was technically only my second day here… but since it was already past midnight, I guess it was technically the third day now.
I pulled out my phone and sent Han Yugyeong a message.
I hadn’t decided on anything specific to do. An hour or two wasn’t really enough time to meet up with Ha Juyun… and knowing her, she’d already gone to bed early for health management reasons. She was extremely strict about her diet, so her sleep schedule was probably just as rigid.
Hmm… Well, since I’m already in Korea, maybe I should go check out one of the appearance NPCs—the youngest son of MegaCorp. Meeting a major NPC for no reason could change the story, so I should pick a relatively safe character…
Right, I’ve decided! I’d go see an NPC whose house was close to Han Yugyeong’s and who wouldn’t have any impact on the main storyline. I hailed a taxi.
“Please take me to Korea University Station.”
“Yes, we’ll be there shortly.”
I got in after giving the destination. Hmm, it’s 2053 and they’re still using those old-fashioned meters with a running horse animation…! But why is that horse galloping so fast? If a real horse could run like that, we wouldn’t even need cars.
Even though I had plenty of money, I found myself strangely mesmerized by the little horse galloping across the meter display. Before I knew it, we had arrived at the destination.
“That’ll be thirty-eight thousand won.”
I tapped my card on the reader next to the door, paid, and stepped out. Korea University Station entrance was right in front of me.
I immediately headed down into the underground station. I found a restroom tucked away in a corner. It wasn’t the men’s or women’s restroom—I entered the accessible restroom. I pressed the wall in the exact spot I remembered, and a scanning device appeared. I opened the Dark Merchant app on my phone, brought up the authentication screen, and held it against the scanner.
With a soft mechanical sound, the wall slid open smoothly. This was the Seoul branch of the Dark Merchant. As I stepped inside, I saw a modest number of people moving about. Most were either purchasing items at the counters or heading off to collect their orders.
To be able to conduct offline transactions like this, one had to raise their rank in the invitation-only Dark Merchant app by spending a certain amount of points. The extra layers of complexity made sense, since this was the Dark Merchant—literally a black market. They sold goods that governments refused to allow, and of course, no taxes were paid on any of it.
Thanks to my recent bulk purchase of the ruin glasses, I had spent enough points to upgrade from a regular member to a Plus member, which allowed offline trading. Since I had come straight to Korea right after, this was my first time using the offline service.
The next rank was Diamond membership, which granted access to the Dark Merchant auctions. Rare items appeared frequently there, so becoming a Diamond member quickly would be ideal. If I found anything good during today’s offline trading, I’d buy it aggressively to raise my rank.
Of course, I wasn’t going to buy useless things just to level up… but there were so many fascinating items that I tended to make impulse purchases without realizing it.
I walked up to one of the counters. Behind it sat a beautiful woman with pink-and-white hair and a glowing angel halo floating above her head. Her name was Eve. She was the AI NPC I had come to see. Because she was a single artificial intelligence connected across the entire world, she would recognize me whether I met her here or back in Tokyo.
"Hello, Ryu-ta-nim. This is your first time using offline trading, correct?"
She must have scanned me at the entrance. That’s why she knew my name right away. Her voice was incredibly natural—bright and cute, like a young girl’s. Although she looked extremely lifelike, Eve’s current form was a hologram. Naturally, that meant she wasn’t a romanceable character. Users who were into her often complained that the youngest son of MegaCorp was a shit game because they couldn’t pursue her.
Of course, there were also plenty of people who mocked the small minority desperately screaming “Please let us romance Eve!” by calling them machine-fuckers.
“Yes. I’d like to see the Seoul branch catalog.”
"Of course! I’ll display the catalog for you, Ryu-ta-nim."
A catalog screen unfolded right before my eyes. Wow, the Seoul branch really had quite a lot of items. Let’s see… what would be good to buy? There’s so much that I might run out of time just flipping through pages.
"Having trouble choosing?"
“Yeah. Could you narrow it down to elixirs, weapons, and valuable books?”
"Understood! Please wait just a moment!"
As expected of a high-performance AI, “just a moment” was literally 0.01 seconds. The moment she said “Please wait,” a filtered catalog appeared instantly.
“Hmm…!”
I immediately tossed the first thing I saw—the Juangua—into my cart. It was so popular that it usually sold out the second it appeared, so finding two here was pure luck. I added both of them to my cart.
In Dark Merchant offline trading, once you put something in your cart, no one else could buy it. That’s why it was crucial to add items as quickly as possible.
"You're very lucky. Those two Juangua are the last ones left in all of Korea."
“It really is lucky that two were still available.”
"A certain herbalist recently discovered a whole colony of Juangua trees. It was a huge jackpot. The Korean branch was incredibly popular for a while. Wealthy women from all over the world came flooding in."
Until now, I had been a regular member, so I couldn’t access information like this. But now that I was a Plus member, I could gather useful intel just by chatting with Eve. The only downside was that I’d have to meet her often, but she was well-known for providing high-quality information.
After the Juangua, the next thing I selected was a sword technique manual called the Goksan Wave Wind Sword Art. From what I remembered, it was a fairly high-grade swordsmanship book. I added it to my cart so I could give it to a future ally or subordinate who used swords.
There weren’t any particularly impressive weapons. Probably because Korea had such strict legal restrictions, the market itself was small, making good weapons hard to find. Of course, since this was the black market, regular firearms were available, but nothing I felt the need to buy.
“Oh!”
There was a martial arts book! I had been hoping to get one for Kiyohira or Mimata Chieri, and here was a fist technique manual. Today really was my lucky day.
Eight Extremes Immortal Form Fist… Even the name sounded powerful. I’d have to check the item window after purchasing it to be sure, but it looked like a considerably high-grade martial arts manual.
I added the Eight Extremes Immortal Form Fist to my cart as the final item.
“I’ll pay now.”
"How would you like to receive the items? Should I ship them to your registered address, or would you like to take them with you?"
Hmm. Carrying ancient books through airport security could cause problems about cultural artifact smuggling. Better to have them delivered through the Dark Merchant route.
“I’ll take one Juangua with me. Please ship the rest to my registered address.”
"Understood! The total comes to 1,507,237 points!"
It was a good thing I had topped up my points when I bought the ruin glasses in bulk. Otherwise I would’ve been seriously short. Since one point equaled one dollar, the total was roughly two billion won. Looking at the receipt, the Juangua accounted for the vast majority of the cost, as expected.
"Please collect your items at counter number 3~! Thank you for using our service!"
Eve smiled brightly and waved at me. Watching her, I could suddenly understand—at least a little—how the machine-fuckers felt.