Chapter 58
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 58
Chapter Title: Analysis (1)
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Friday evening.
The Seeker of Truth's headquarters.
The six executives, including Unknown, had gathered once more.
"..."
In the chilling silence, Unknown scanned the newspaper.
It was the one Maestro had handed him.
[Yesterday, around 10 PM. Shinhwa Group and Bihon Guild joint operation! Villain 'Vagabond' of the Seeker of Truth, killed!]
The paper carried an article about Vagabond's death.
[The world was thrown into shock by the roughly one-minute video released by Shinhwa Group.]
[...Omitted. The villain known as Vagabond possessed a combat prowess that was indescribably immense. Despite the deployment of six S-rank superhumans, the battle lasted for a full 20 minutes. It was reported that all who witnessed it shuddered at his strength.]
[...Omitted. But in the end, it was the superhumans who emerged victorious. Though they suffered considerable damage, what they gained far outweighed their losses. Had they failed to eliminate this formidable villain now, the future damage would have been incomparable.]
Vagabond's power.
[We extend our deepest gratitude to Shinhwa Group and the Bihon Guild for luring such a powerful villain into a trap and eliminating him. - Crian Veriton, NY Times.]
Praise for Shinhwa and Bihon, who had perfectly trapped and dealt with Vagabond.
The article detailed these two points at length.
"David."
Amidst the suffocating tension.
Unknown called out to Maestro.
"...Yes, Boss."
"Jace is dead."
Jace Scarlett.
Vagabond's real name.
"...Yes."
Maestro and the other executives bowed their heads.
"I can understand him falling into a trap. I've always known Jace was a fool."
Unknown tapped his index finger on the armrest of his chair.
"But the fact that he's dead... I just can't comprehend it."
Unknown's expression was utterly vacant.
There was no sadness, no anger, no sign of any emotion at his subordinate's death.
"Jace was a battle-crazed idiot, but he wasn't foolish."
Vagabond's detection abilities were unparalleled among the executives.
He could detect all mana and life forms within a one-kilometer radius.
To think they bypassed his detection net, formed a perfect encirclement, and killed him?
And with just six S-rank superhumans from outside the top 100?
In Unknown's mind, it was simply incomprehensible.
"David. Why do you think Jace died?"
Silence fell.
"...That's..."
Maestro couldn't answer.
He had a suspicion, but it was difficult to voice.
A corner of Unknown's mouth twisted into a smirk.
"Right."
Vagabond's detection ability, combat strength, personality, the superhumans' response time.
Taking everything into account...
"There is a traitor in this room who gave Vagabond's information to the superhumans."
The Korean superhumans must have known every detail about Vagabond.
Otherwise, his death couldn't be explained.
"..."
"..."
A cold tension flowed between the six executives.
It was something they had all been thinking in the back of their minds.
With an expression of pure amusement, Unknown surveyed the executives.
"Answer my question truthfully."
A black mist shimmered around Unknown.
"Guh!"
"Kyah!"
At the same moment, the six executives clutched their chests and groaned.
The 'Oath of Absolute Obedience' coiled around their hearts had been activated.
"Is there anyone here who leaked information about Vagabond in any way? If so, answer now."
If they lied in response to Unknown's question, their hearts would twist, and they would die instantly.
"..."
"..."
But all the executives remained silent.
Not a single one answered.
"Hmm."
That meant there was no one who had leaked information about Vagabond to the outside.
Unknown withdrew his mana.
"It seems my prediction was wrong."
On second thought, it was unlikely any executive would be foolish enough to betray them with the Oath of Absolute Obedience in place.
The six executives let out a simultaneous sigh of relief. They had wondered, but were relieved to find there was no traitor among them.
'...Phew.'
Hermit's relief was particularly profound. Having a history of something akin to betrayal by siding with Kang Seoyul, he had been worried sick.
Thankfully, it seemed to have passed without incident.
"Hmm."
Unknown once again began tapping the armrest rhythmically with his index finger, lost in thought.
'There was no traitor.'
Then how did Vagabond fall into a trap, and how did he meet his end?
Unknown's mind spun like a top.
He formulated all possible hypotheses, then eliminated them one by one, searching for the best answer.
"I don't know."
But no answer came.
There was too little information.
If there had been any other plausible answer, he wouldn't have concluded there was a traitor among the executives in the first place.
'Did some transcendent being intervene?'
"...Boss. What should we do?"
Maestro broke the silence.
"About what?"
"About investigating the other races and avenging Vagabond."
"Hmm."
Unknown stroked his chin.
Honestly, he couldn't care less about avenging Vagabond.
Vagabond was stupid and weak, and that's why he died.
The word 'revenge' was a luxury for such a fool.
But investigating the other races was a different matter.
To achieve the goal of uncovering the truth of the 'Decade of Void,' investigating the other races was essential. Therefore, they needed to dispatch another investigator.
But sending another executive would delay the preparations for the national tournament too much.
Besides, there was no guarantee another executive wouldn't end up like Vagabond.
Unknown himself was busy searching for an item to replace the Root of the World.
"David."
Therefore, he wouldn't send any of the six executives. And he himself would not move.
"Send your subordinates. Geomryeong and Gwuiryeong, dispatch them to Korea."
"Yes."
* * *
"Taking all these reasons into account, there won't be an attack from an executive for at least four months."
I said, looking at Jia and Yuhwa in turn.
Just moments ago, their faces had been etched with worry, but now they looked a bit more relieved.
After seeing Vagabond's immense power with their own eyes, they were worried about future retaliation from the Seeker of Truth, so I explained why they didn't need to be.
That they'd be too busy preparing for the national tournament terror plot.
That in this mysterious situation, Unknown would choose to 'observe' rather than act directly.
That if they did send another villain, it would likely be a regular one, not an executive.
For these reasons and more, I told them they didn't need to worry about immediate retaliation.
"So don't worry needlessly. Instead, focus on how to maximize the benefits we gained from dealing with this executive."
This incident had greatly boosted the brand reputation of Shinhwa Group and the Bihon Guild.
They received worldwide acclaim for completely eliminating one of the Seeker of Truth's executives, a group they previously had no leads on.
...Well, who wouldn't applaud after seeing the released battle footage?
"I'm not sure how to put it. If anyone else had said that, I would've scoffed and asked how they could be so sure. But since it's you, Seoyul, I feel incredibly relieved."
Yuhwa said with a relaxed expression, stretching out her legs.
"Thank you, Seoyul."
Jia also thanked me, her face much more at ease.
"No need to thank me. I'm the one who should be grateful. Thank you too, Yuhwa."
Without these two, I wouldn't have even considered taking on Vagabond.
It's thanks to their complete trust in my words that we were able to deal with him.
Long live connections.
"By the way, you two. I heard today was your last written exam. How did it go?"
Yuhwa grinned, looking between Jia and me.
She looked like she was praying we had failed.
What to do about this?
"I got a perfect score."
"I got three wrong."
We both did ridiculously well on the exam.
"..."
Just as expected, Yuhwa's expression soured. Her eyes seemed to say, 'Wow. How annoying.'
I did my best to ignore her glare and stood up.
"Anyway, you both worked hard."
"...You're the one who worked the hardest."
Yuhwa looked at me with a listless gaze.
"More importantly, that lie you told me. I'm keeping it locked away in my heart. You know that, right?"
"...Mm."
Yuhwa seemed convinced that I was the superhuman who acted as the bait.
I never thought I could fool her in the first place.
"You know I hold a grudge more than you'd think, right?"
"Yes, I know that well."
It made sense. The person who acted as bait was [an unidentified acquaintance known only to Jia].
It was only natural for her to think of me.
"I'll help you out next time something comes up. Call me if you need anything."
With those words, I left the room.
* * *
"Nyaaa!"
As I entered my home, Geumho greeted me.
"Aww, my Geumho. Were you waiting for Hyeong?"
I scooped up Geumho and flopped onto the bed.
"Ugh. It all worked out somehow."
I'd succeeded in dealing with that perverted battle maniac, Vagabond, with his overwhelming power, this early on.
It was something to be very happy about, but...
I wasn't entirely happy.
"...Even with an A+ rank Ancient Relic, I got my ass kicked."
Even with control of the skies, all I could do was hold on.
And that was against a Vagabond who hadn't even activated [Red Vow].
"Haaah."
As expected, the wall of stats was too thick and too high.
Well, to be fair, the fact that a mere E-ranker like me lasted even a minute against an S-rank superhuman was a miracle in itself.
It was all thanks to the Disterion Ring, the Heavenly Wings, the Path of the Wind, and all my other racial traits.
I was once again reminded of how broken my abilities were.
"...Tsk."
But on the other hand,
it meant that even with all those broken abilities mobilized, lasting just one minute was my limit.
"This pathetic body of mine."
I could only sigh.
"Nyang?"
Was he bothered by my self-pity?
Geumho looked at me with a worried expression.
Then he lifted his paws and kneaded my cheek.
Ah, so healing.
"My Geumho. Are you kneading me to cheer Hyeong up?"
"Nyaa."
I ruffled Geumho's head a little roughly.
He purred, enjoying it.
"Okay. Hyeong will cheer up."
Thanks to Geumho, I felt my strength returning. And well, there was no need to think of it so negatively.
My physical abilities had plenty of room for growth.
Even though I was just a lowly E-ranker using an A+ rank Ancient Relic, I had survived for a full minute against the S-rank villain, Vagabond.
This meant,
that once my physical stats reached D-rank, then C-rank...
and further, if I used an Ancient Relic after reaching S-rank, no one would be able to stand against me.
"...Dealing with Vagabond has bought me some time, too."
As I told Yuhwa and Jia earlier, Unknown probably wouldn't be able to intervene actively in Korea for a while.
No matter how interested he was in the other races, he couldn't abandon the national tournament terror plot he'd been preparing for so long.
He would never split his already-lacking manpower again.
Considering Unknown's personality, there was no chance he'd act emotionally to avenge Vagabond.
I was almost certain of it.
Taking all the circumstantial evidence into account...
I concluded that there wouldn't be any major problems for a while.
"...I need to grow as much as I can during this time."
One month before the national tournament.
That would probably be the cold war period.
In the original story, all preparations for the attack were finished by then.
"Nyaaa."
I thought to myself while gently scratching the scruff of Geumho's neck.
The goal is to get all stats to B-rank one month before the national tournament.
If I'm being greedy, A-rank.
It would be tough, but not an impossible goal.
"And if luck is on my side, things could get even easier."
...Just like this time.
I placed a hand on the center of my chest and smiled.
I was touching the crimson Celestial tattoo.
"I never thought this would show up here."
The trait that all Celestial Heretic Inquisitors possessed.
[Heavenly Punishment ()]
I raised my right hand.
"...So I've become a dual attribute user."
Bzzzt
Lightning crackled in my hand.