Chapter 114: Tiger’s Den (4)
“One day, the chairman suddenly disappeared, and somehow, Jeok-du went berserk, is that right?”
It was a very convenient timing. The disappearance of Cheong-ho was definitely treated as top secret, but it was as if the information had leaked. I glanced at Goo Jin-cheol again before continuing.
“In the midst of such a difficult situation, a fixer who was saying something strange showed up.”
That fixer is me.
“I don’t know exactly what that fixer fellow was talking about, but in your desperation you concluded, ‘Let’s use him’ and called me.”
This is the polite version. The reality is more complicated.
If it had been a straightforward discussion about whether to “use me” or “not use me”, this chaotic mess wouldn’t have happened.
It probably all started with the ridiculous situation where Jeong Hyeon-ah was acting in Cheong-ho’s place.
All of this was because of Goo Jin-cheol’s foolish attempt to seize power while Cheong-ho was missing.
Of course, after being humiliated like that, Goo Jin-cheol would never be able to use the same method again.
“Isn’t that right, Branch Leader? Ah, there are too many branch leaders here. Branch Leader Chae Tae-won.”
“That’s right.”
“I understand your difficult situation, but you should have at least said something.”
“I’m sorry. It was a decision made in the meeting, so I couldn’t go against it.”
He was really inflexible, which was troubling. Even if the conclusion decided by majority vote was different from his opinion, he seemed determined to carry out the assigned task to the end.
Well, fine.
Originally, I had visited to receive the grimoire
But not only did I not get the book, I didn’t even meet Cheong-ho.
And in the midst of all this, I heard a lot of nonsense.
According to my initial plan, it was right to just leave.
Moreover, judging by the atmosphere, before setting out to find Cheong-ho, I would have to deal with Jeok-du first. Considering all that, should I really help this man?
I briefly looked at Jeong Hyeon-ah, who stood in the center of the men with a desperate expression on her face.
Ugh, come to think of it, Cheong-ho’s disappearance might be my fault.
Ugh, don’t look at me like that.
Well, considering that Cheong-ho’s disappearance might be my fault, it would be wrong to ignore it completely.
Besides, if I leave now,
I wouldn’t be able to know how this event which I was experiencing for the first time would unfold.
I had similar thoughts in the past and followed Jang Hyeon-deok. And that led to a lot of trouble.
Anyway, in the end, that hardship turned out to be beneficial for me. Wait, really? Was it really beneficial? No, let’s not think about that right now.
Although I deliberated for a long time, the one who finally made the decision was not Kim Shin-hwa the mage or Kim Shin-hwa the fixer, but Kim Shin-hwa the gamer.
I’m curious to see how this event will unfold after all.
“Anyway, let’s find the chairman. That should resolve all the troubles in this household.”
“Do you know the chairman’s whereabouts?”
“Incredible! You’re not an ordinary fixer after all!”
“See, I told you we should’ve just been clear from the start! Why did we have to beat around the bush and create this mess?”
Wait, hold on. Calm down! Why are you getting ahead of yourselves?
The executives’ expressions changed dramatically. Most looked relieved, but some who had chosen the wrong side turned pale.
In particular, Goo Jin-cheol’s expression was priceless; he looked like I’d just made him eat a worm.
What should I do about Goo Jin-cheol?
In one of the Triad routes, there’s an option where Goo Jin-cheol betrays you.
It’s funny to talk about this in the current situation, but in the game, if you have to deal with Cheong-ho, using Goo Jin-cheol to undermine Cheong-ho’s power is almost the standard play.
Maybe it’s better to leave him alone for now?
Originally, when playing on Cheong-ho’s side, everything would be taken care of as long as you reported to Cheong-ho. But in a Cheong-ho team without Cheong-ho like now, what should be done?
Oh, before that, calming down the executives who were already acting like the game was over and they’d seen the ending was more important.
“Just a moment, everyone. I didn’t say I knew the location.”
Even though I said that, the excited atmosphere didn’t easily settle down.
Well, there are a few places I can guess.
Cheong-ho often disappeared saying he’d go to the main house to fetch something, but in reality, he had a secret stash hidden in a completely unrelated location.
There’s a high probability he’ll be there.
It’s a secret place known neither to Cheong-ho’s subordinates nor his family. Not only the location but even the existence of such a place is a secret.
Only one person besides Cheong-ho knows its location.
And the place is completely random. Without asking that person, even I wouldn’t know where it is.
Well, I’ll ask about that slowly.
Goo Jin-cheol who was standing in a corner and watching me didn’t look too pleased.
Since I’m wearing a mask, he probably doesn’t realize I’m looking at him.
Judging by that guy’s expression, he’s going to cause another problem tonight, isn’t he?
Fine. If you’re going to make trouble, make it big. I’ll make sure to hit back three times as hard.
I spoke to Jeong Hyeon-ah whose expression had brightened considerably.
“First of all, aside from my help, please make the request officially through Vasilisa. As I mentioned earlier, my job is to find the missing chairman. Expecting more than that would be difficult.”
“Thank you, mage-nim!”
“And one more thing.”
This was really important.
“Keep this in mind. The chairman, or rather your father, might be in a completely different state from what you imagine.”
Jeong Hyeon-ah’s face turned pale. Was she thinking of Cheong-ho’s death?
Regrettably, she needed to worry about a situation far more dreadful.
“For now, it would be best to tidy up here. I won’t do anything until the process with Vasilisa is complete. Please handle that first.”
And could someone please get Shim Young-hwan, who is still sitting there, out of here?
***
I sat alone in a quiet reception room provided specifically by Cheong-ho’s faction and finished the process with Tudor.
– See? What did I tell you? I knew those guys would try something.
“Anyway, since we connected it to an official request, it worked out well for you, right?”
– Awww, I love you, my sweet dear! But why are you still there?
“It would be troublesome if the person funding us disappeared while we’re off looking for Cheong-ho.”
– I was wondering why you attached so many strange special conditions to the request. So, you’re planning to clash with Jeok-du after all?
“Well, I just found a guy I legally want to beat up.”
– Huh? Who do you want to beat up? Jeok-du?
“No, not Jeok-du. I think tonight, I’ll have to beat someone up once more. Plus, there are definitely some other things to clean up along with it.”
– Geez, I don’t get what you’re saying. Anyway, don’t work for free! Let me know whenever you need to get something done! I’ll make sure to get the money back for you!
“Got it. I’ll leave the related procedures to you. Handle the payment and everything else according to the standard rates.”
At this point, the agreed-upon payment isn’t of great importance. If my prediction is correct, we’ll need to renegotiate the payment terms before dawn.
After finishing the call with Tudor, I fell into thought for a moment.
Is it really my fault after all?
I mean Cheong-ho’s disappearance.
Someone went missing.
But it turns out there was someone who had mentioned a “certain grimoire” to that person.
If this were a scenario in [Cthulhu World], the truth would be obvious.
A grimoire plus a missing person.
It must be a story where he was enchanted by the grimoire, right?
I didn’t know exactly what kind of grimoire Cheong-ho was supposed to give, but the information contained in the grimoire, the magic cast on it, or traps would have been the problem.
During my gameplays, there had never been an event where Cheong-ho was enchanted by a grimoire, but this sudden disappearance couldn’t be explained otherwise.
If I hadn’t asked for the grimoire, Cheong-ho wouldn’t have gone missing and things wouldn’t have deviated from the game’s set scenarios.
While I was deep in thought, a message window suddenly popped up and blocked my view.
[You’ve accepted the quest!
<??????? Quest: Find ??>
??? /Null? ???
Remaining Objective: 0/1
Reward: ???XP + ??? Won
Failure: Cheong-ho ???]
What was that?
That message fellow really did a sloppy job. It seemed like it was indeed a quest that didn’t exist in the game.
I had never seen an event where Cheong-ho went missing and had to be found. Forcing it into a quest form seemed to have caused a weird bug.
“Hey, Nyarla, you bastard. At least provide the quest window properly!”
That way, I could check the rewards and monitor the current status. What would happen to Cheong-ho if I failed?
[Not Nyarla.]
“……?”
Huh? Come to think of it, didn’t that guy act like this before?
He had ignored everything I said up until now, but could it be that he only reacted to this? I got up from the sofa in the drawing room and punched the message window while shouting.
“Hey! Nyarla! Nyarla! Nyarlathotep, you bastard!”
“Kim Shin-hwa-nim?”
Oh no, it’s Chae Tae-won. I must have looked like I was having a seizure.
“No, it’s nothing.”
Despite everything, Chae Tae-won maintained a strict, solemn, and serious expression. How touching. Yes, I’m not crazy. There is really an unavoidable reason for my actions.
Chae Tae-won was looking at me with a strange gaze. But to be clear, it wasn’t the gaze one gives a crazy person.
“Uh, what is it?”
“What happened just now—.”
His gaze was almost uncomfortably intense.
“—is all my fault. I’m sorry for not informing you in advance.”
“Oh. No. It’s fine.”
Honestly, it was something I wasn’t really concerned about anymore, so I was a bit taken aback. So I decided to change the subject quickly. Fortunately, there was something I needed to ask.
“Oh, Branch Leader. Come to think of it, this is perfect timing. Could I ask you for a favor?”
“Yes? What is it?”
After a while, I was guided downstairs to the first floor by Chae Tae-won.
Inside the wide walls of the mansion, the henchmen of the Cheong-ho faction were gathered.
Although they were wearing suits, their muscular builds looked ready to tear through the fabric at any moment, and the reliable-looking thugs seemed like they could turn into murderers if someone said, “Now!”
“Why are there so few?”
The number of people had decreased since earlier.
Now, the group gathered here barely seemed to reach about thirty.
Including those who couldn’t leave their assigned areas and the executives, there might be around fifty people in total.
“…. Some of the directors and branch leaders returned to protect their businesses.”
“Ah, I see.”
It seemed they had taken a significant number of people with them. Probably, Goo Jin-cheol had intentionally diverted a considerable portion of the personnel during that time.
“I urgently called the members from my branch. They will arrive within three hours, as soon as they finish organizing the surrounding area.”
“No, there’s no need for that.”
“No need?”
“I thought I might try something different if there were more people, but if this is all we have, it’s better for me to change my plans.”
It seemed Chae Tae-won sensed some underlying meaning in my words.
“Is something going to happen today?”
“Well, probably.”
“I’ll assemble everyone immediately. If we move quickly, we can gather within thirty minutes.”
“No, no. Don’t do that.”
At this point, the number of people didn’t really matter. After I explained roughly what I intended to do, Chae Tae-won nodded, half-believing and half-doubting.
Alright. I felt sorry for the friends who had gathered here, but it was time to disperse. I spoke to the assembled thugs.
“Alright, everyone, sorry, but the task I was going to ask of you is canceled. Please return to your original positions.”
Isn’t it good that you don’t have to do unnecessary work?
However, contrary to my expectations, voices of protest erupted from an unexpected direction.
“What? Are you messing with us?”
Huh?
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