Chapter 31
Three days later, Jin Yu-Ri entered Yu-Seong’s hospital room looking very upset. She gave a light sigh and bowed her head. “I’m sorry. I couldn’t find them.”
“Huh?”
“I could not find the real culprit of the incident from a few days ago. I was looking for the mastermind but…my request was blocked by the Mercenary Exchange.”
“That would have made it even more difficult to chase after them,” said Yu-Seong.
“…” Jin Yu-Ri bit her lips and bowed her head deeper.
Yu-Seong smiled and patted Yu-Ri on the shoulder. “You said they are from the Mercenary Exchange. There’s nothing we can do about it. Don’t be so upset.”
The Mercenary Exchange was a global organization frequently used by players who did not belong to any particular group. Their commissions ranged from very petty errands, such as helping with housework, to large wars between guilds or countries.
The Mercenary Exchange was enormous and their capital was great. As such, many countries wanted to have government agencies take on the Mercenary Exchange’s role, but none of them had managed to do so. Although it was not clear whether they were also involved in trafficking and other similar things, most of the world’s leading countries allowed the existence of the Mercenary Exchange. Even China, which was practically a dictatorship, had accepted their existence.
Yu-Seong also did not know how the Mercenary Exchange had independently taken root in this world. This was because the novel did not describe the details of it in the first place. However, he knew who the real owner of the Mercenary Exchange was, which had remained a secret until now. According to current rumors, the owner was among the UK’s SS-rank hunters.
‘The rumor is not entirely wrong.’The identity of the Mercenary Exchange’s owner would be revealed in the future. He was a British man named James Rothschild. He wasn’t an SS but an EX-Rank hunter. In fact, he was one of the big wheels controlling the underground economy.
‘I remember that he and Kim Do-Jin have a bad relationship, but…’?
That was also a thing of the distant future.
“Just because it's the Mercenary Exchange doesn’t mean that it’s impossible to track them at all. There are several factions within the Mercenary Exchange and there are parts being kept in check by the country. But I couldn't find them. After I tracked them through the Mercenary Exchange, their traces disappeared like magic. There must be someone helping them. Otherwise, this speed is just ridiculous.” Yu-Ri clenched her fists tightly as if she was angry.
However, it didn’t matter. Yu-Seong had a rough guess as to who the helper was.
‘Fa… No, I mean Choi Woo-Jae.’?
In any case, if he continued tracking them down, he would eventually find one of his siblings at the end. It wasn't made specifically to keep Choi Yu-Seong in check, but rather made to keep everyone away..
“He didn’t want to spit while laying down.”
“Pardon?”
“Nothing. Let’s put that aside for now. It’s a waste of time and energy to keep looking for such a trivial thing.”
“That’s true.” Yu-Ri felt calmer after listening to Yu-Seong’s words. She touched her forehead before nodding in agreement. Then, she retrieved a file from the briefcase she was carrying. “You spoke of Yoo Jin-Hyuk, born in 2009 at Gwangju, Gyeonggi Province. There were several people with the same name, so I collected all of their data. Sorry, I was concerned about the other issue, so this took longer than I thought.”
“It’s okay.” Yu-Seong took the file and went through the names, faces, family relationships, and characteristics of the people. Then, he shook his head with a bitter smile. “These are not it.”
“Huh?”
“None of the people here is the Yoo Jin-Hyuk who I’m looking for.” Yu-Seong had known that it would not be easy from the start because Yoo Jin-Hyuk from the original story wouldn't easily reveal his traces.
“But oppa, based on the information of Yoo Jin-Hyuk that you mentioned, these are the only relevant profiles found.”
“That’s what makes it tricky. Maybe he is using an alias… Or…” Yu-Seong briefly tapped the file with his index finger. “Find out if there is any Yoo Jin-Hyuk whose resident registration has been revoked within the last 1 year… No, 3 years.”
“…Yes, I will look for it.” With a serious look, Jin Yu-Ri received the file from Yu-Seong. She then said, “These days, Do-Yoon oppa is basically stamping his attendance card in the Dungeon. I think he has been thinking a lot since the last incident.”
“Tell him not to overdo it.”
“Has he ever listened to me? And by the time he gets back, I might be away for a while too.”
There was no way that the Jin siblings couldn’t think of what Yu-Seong had realized himself. He hadn’t been the only one who was jolted awake by this incident. “Good. And I have another favor to ask.”
“Just tell me what you need, oppa. Whatever it is.”
“I need some mana stone, at least orange. And…more than 50 pieces of them.”
“…That much?” Jin Yu-Ri sounded surprised.
“Yes, would it be possible?”
“It’s not a matter of possibility. It’s a matter of money.”
Yu-Seong momentarily recalled the remaining balance in his bank account.
‘I have a little over 130 billion.’?
There were 130 billion won of personal assets in cash alone, which he used to regard as a huge sum. But now, about one-sixth of it would be blown off if he tried to buy orange-colored mana stones, which had a ridiculous price tag of 300 million won per piece.
Nevertheless, what could he do?
“I really need them. If possible, I want some yellow-colored ones along with that as well.”
Yellow-colored mana stones were at least twice the cost of the orange ones because they were much harder to get… It was safe to say that the minimum transaction price would be around 800 million won.
“Oppa, then you’ll be penniless in no time.”
“You can always make more money,” Yu-Seong said, knowing that for a fact. He only knew that the same rule did not apply to people.
Jin Yu-Ri nodded after seeing Yu-Seong’s strong intention. She said, “How could I say no to you? But I still want to save some money if possible, so it might take a while.”
“You don’t have to rush,” said Yu-Seong.
“I’ve let you down twice. I won’t disappoint you a third time.”
“I’ve never been disappointed.”
Jin Yu-Ri was slightly embarrassed by Yoo-Sing’s sincerity. She avoided eye contact and scratched her cheek. “Ah, by the way. Chae Ye-Ryeong asked if she could come to visit.”
“There’s nothing to stop her. Rather, it’s good. I have something to tell her.”
“Then, what time…”
“Tell her to come by any time. It’s not like I have a severe problem to take care of right now.” Yu-Seong made a circling motion with his arms.
Yu-Ri smiled and nodded. “Then I’ll tell her that.” Now that she has organized her thoughts, she found that she had a lot to do.
***
The next afternoon, Chae Ye-Ryeong took the afternoon off and came to visit Yu-Seong. She talked with him for a short time before returning home. She left the hospital room with a determined expression on her face.
Three days later, it was December 13th. Just as Yu-Seong had officially gone through the discharge process, and left the main gate of the hospital…
"It's a gift. The Chairman told me to give it to you." Kim Pil-Doo approached Yu-Seong and handed him a round tube as he spoke with a blunt expression, “Honestly, I am not sure about this.”
Then, Kim Pil-Doo simply left after leaving such cryptic words behind. Looking at his retreating back, Jin Do-Yoon said, “Something is different from usual.”
Do-Yoon had taken a day off from the dungeon and his training to help with Yu-Seong’s discharge from the hospital.
“What the heck is this? What made that cold-blooded guy say such a thing?” continued Do-Yoon.
“I can't make any sense of it,” said Yu-Ri. She shrugged and looked at Yu-Seong with a confused expression.
In fact, Yu-Seong had thought that the gift was off the table after the first visit and he had been feeling bitter about it. He never even imagined that this would happen. Looking around, he then suggested, “Let’s get in the car first, then check it out.”
Whatever it was, there were a lot of wandering eyes around them. Since Kim Pil-Doo had acted unusual about the gift, they couldn’t treat the gift lightly and recklessly open it in a public place.
Jin Do-Yoon went out first to find the car that had been parked by the valet. Once Yu-Seong got into the back seat, the car headed out and Yu-Ri quickly looked back from the passenger seat. “You don’t have to rush me like that. I’m also curious.” Yu-Seong smiled at Yu-Ri. He slowly removed the lid of the tube.
“At least it’s not a bomb. Let’s see.” Yu-Seong made a joke and put his hand into the barrel before taking out the contents. It was a rolled-up piece of paper. “A map?” asked Yu-Seong. He unfurled the paper while tilting his head in curiosity.
Yu-Ri turned her head back from the passenger seat to take a look. Her eyes sparkled. “Is it a treasure map?”
“I’m not sure, but I think it’s similar.”
The map clearly depicted South Korea and had a circle around a location that was slightly outside of Seoul. There were also letters written in rough and hard handwriting.
“It says to go here. And the writing… It looks like the Chairman's handwriting.”
Yu-Seong nodded at Yu-Ri’s words. He asked, “Goyang City… It’s not far. Shall we go?”
“Right now, oppa?”
Yu-Seong nodded at Yu-Ri.
***
The car which followed the route of returning to Hannam-dong Apartment changed its direction. It got on the Gangbyeon expressway and sped toward the highway.
The map was not detailed. It was drawn awkwardly, and the circle marking encompassed a rather large area as well. Thanks to this, they wandered for more than 3 hours over a distance that would have taken just an hour and a half to arrive at. When the three finally arrived at their destination, they got out of the car.
“No matter how hard I look at it, this is the right place…” said Yu-Seong. When Yu-Ri handed back the map, Yu-Seong looked at it with a wry smile.
“Did he really want the Young Master to go on a treasure hunt?” asked Do-Yoon.
“It’s a mountain. Oppa, I have never even heard of a mountain being here.”
The Jin siblings’ reactions were also not much different from Yu-Seong’s.
“It's an unnamed hill... But it's too big to be called a hill.”
The bushes were also dense.
“First. We need to check it out a little bit…” Yu-Seong tilted his head and approached the mountain to take a look when…
“Young Master!” Jin Do-Yoon rushed to seize the map from Yu-Seong’s hands. Right after that, the map sparked and burned up with a huge flame. Do-Yoon asked urgently, “Are you all right, Young Master? And your hands?” He held the blazing fire with one hand and did not budge, and looked at Yu-Seong.
“Of course, I’m fine… How about you…?”
In response to Yu-Seong’s question, Do-Yoon stretched out his hands. His tough hands full of calluses showed no scratches. He then said, “As soon as the map got near the mountain, a special ability was suddenly activated on the map.”
Yu-Ri followed them and asked with a serious expression, “So, we should say this is the right place?”
“I suppose so.”
“Hm… Then what else can we do? We have to go up there,” said Yu-Seong as he stroked his chin. When he started to walk ahead, Do-Yoon blocked his path forward.
“I will take care of the front, and Yu-Ri will take care of the back.” Do-Yoon nodded.
“Alright, then I’ll be in your care.” In a potentially dangerous situation, Yu-Seong did not refuse the siblings’ protection.
***
It was a quiet hanok mansion Considering that there were several buildings inside the compound, there were not many signs of people. To be exact, most of the people inside were moving quietly while suppressing their presence.
In the mansion’s backyard, a man was sitting in front of a pond where carp swam. The man had tightly closed eyes, long flowing black hair, and wore a neat, white hanbok.
Then, another man in a black suit approached and lowered his head in front of him. The man in a black suit reported, “Master, there are intruders who entered the mountain.”
The long-haired man shook his head without opening his eyes. “They are not intruders. Rather, they are guests.”
“Ah, perhaps. Is he the one you mentioned the other day… Your destiny…”
“No. It is not him.” The man shook his head and scratched his cheek. “Even so, it is true that he is a guest who shares a deep destiny with me.”
“Is it…”
“It is my brother. Father probably sent him here.”
. It means that the consequences of your bad behavior come back bad to you
. A traditional korean structure “A hanok is a traditional Korean house. Hanok were first designed and built in the 14th century during the Joseon Dynasty. Korean architecture considers the positioning of the house in relation to its surroundings, with thought given to the land and seasons. The interior of the house is also planned accordingly.” - wikipedia.