At the entrance of the Requiem Guild building, which I barely found while searching on the map, a familiar person was waiting for me.
“Hey, Kim Woo-jin. Are you here to pick me up? I’m touched.”
“Don’t you ever shut up?”
As I smiled and waved at him, Kim Woo-jin quickly got worked up and spat out swear words. He was such a funny guy.
“Look at this guy. Ugly ass face… tsk.”
“Ah, this?” I said, touching my throbbing face. “Why? Are you jealous? Do you want me to do the same to you?”
“What? Crazy…”
Looking at me laughing, Kim Woo-jin twisted his face and shook his head, but in the end, he didn’t run over at me. At another time, I would have played around more, but I was too tired to bother with him.
“Okay, so what do you want?”
“Shit! If it wasn’t for his orders, I wouldn’t have anything to do with a bastard like you! Come with me!”
Even if he didn’t run at me, you couldn’t kill that temper. Following Kim Woo-jin, who was shouting and walking aggressively, I entered the guild building. Even though it was past 7 o’clock, there were still many employees working inside.
As I got on a private elevator to the top floor with Kim Woo-jin, I said quietly, “I’m sure you didn’t say anything unnecessary, Kim Woo-jin.”
“Shut up, motherf*cker. If you failed to kidnap Cha Soo-yeon, you’ll be dead meat. Don’t mess around too much.”
I looked at him with kind eyes, but Kim Woo-jin growled more fiercely than before.
So mean. Yeah, I guess that’s your charm.
Ding—
The elevator opened with a light beeping sound. The attendants in black suits looked at me in unison.
“Go in.”
As I stood in front of the large and colourful door across the corridor, the waiting attendant opened the door directly. Cheon Sa-yeon was waiting in the representative room, leaving Kim Woo-jin behind.
“You’re late.”
Even though someone came in, he was still concentrating on the documents. Not only that, he greeted me with ‘You’re late’. That was absurd. Anyone could tell you’d only been playing around until now.
Internally, I complained, but I couldn’t get it out of my mouth, so I answered politely. “I’m sorry. It took a while to get back.”
“Hm?”
Only then Cheon Sa-yeon raised his head and looked at me. The black eyes that met mine glittered with interest.
“There are no records of a person who could not only perfectly copy the appearance of others, but also their ability.”
“What are you talking about all of a sudden?”
“Before, you trembled; now you brazenly talk with no fear… This time, you are acting politely, so I don’t know which rhythm to follow.”
“……”
It was then that I vaguely remembered the first time I met Cheon Sa-yeon.
—Nothing.
That’s exactly what I said. At that time, I was taken away as soon as I became Han Yi-gyeol, so there was no sense of reality and I was out of my mind. If I had known it would be like this, I should have used honorifics properly.
Even if you regret it, you’ve already spilt water. I thought of making an excuse, but I just decided to act as shameless as usual.
“I’m sorry. I wanted to change up my life, but I don’t want to talk down to my superiors, so I changed the way I talk again. Do you like it now?”
“Haha, ‘superiors’?” Cheon Sa-yeon smiled with the expression that he heard bullshit. “I see. It doesn’t matter how you speak, so it's up to you. What bothers me is another thing.”
Although I was puzzled about how Cheon Sa-yeon easily fell for it, I accepted the change in topics for now.
“What is it?”
“Did you get punched by that woman?”
I belatedly covered my cheek with my hand as I licked my lips with my tongue. Maybe my lips were torn, but the taste of blood hung on the tip of my tongue.
I didn’t have time to look in the mirror because I was caught by Kim Woo-jin at the entrance of the building and came up immediately. If Cheon Sa-yeon pointed it out, it must have been pretty swollen.
“I wasn’t hit by the Empress of Red Flames,” I said bluntly. “I was beaten by Ha Tae-heon of the Roheon Guild. That was your goal anyway, so why ask?”
Cheon Sa-yeon narrowed his eyes and smiled brightly. “Yes. It was… That’s why I asked, Han Yi-gyeol.”
“…”
“You met Ha Tae-heon, and I’m surprised you suffered only that much damage.”
I swallowed my dry saliva and shut my mouth. I could not answer hastily.
“I thought you’d definitely be crawling around like a mop. That’s why I sent Kim Woo-jin down.”
“……”
“This was really unexpected. It’s very funny.”
I swallowed a sigh.
As he said, Han Yi-gyeol was originally facing Ha Tae-heon before he died.
This meeting with Ha Tae-heon was not safe even for me. Human emotions were always unpredictable, so no plan was perfect. In fact, I trusted Ha Tae-heon and got hit for it.
It was only thanks to Cha Soo-yeon that I was able to be in such good condition. If I had used force against Cha Soo-yeon like Han Yi-gyeol originally did, Ha Tae-heon would have pummeled me.
‘There is only one thing that Cheon Sa-yeon has missed.’
‘I’ possessed Han Yi-gyeol.
If it wasn’t for me, Han Yi-gyeol wouldn’t be where I was today. He would have been taken in an ambulance to be treated.
And Cheon Sa-yeon, who ordered Cha Soo-yeon to be kidnapped despite all of that, was really an…
‘Annoying bastard.’
Even when I read the novel, I didn’t really like Cheon Sa-yeon. In terms of how frequently characters showed up, he was second only to Ha Tae-heon, but I was not particularly fond of him.
“Anyway, thanks to your hard work, I got a great opportunity.”
Cheon Sa-yeon’s voice was heard through the tangled gap with thoughts. I hurriedly pushed the useless thoughts to the back of my head.
“Tell me what you want,” Cheon Sa-yeon said while organizing the documents. What I wanted. I was about to ask for it anyway, so there was no reason to refuse.
“I know that you will be directly involved in the gate-clearing work you’ve got this time.”
“And?”
“Please bring me two low-level items that can be obtained from inside that gate.”
At my request, Cheon Sa-yeon leaned against the back of his chair, crossed his long legs with a very strange expression. Cheon Sa-yeon thought about something while tapping the table with his fingers and then opened his mouth.
“Two low-level items… That’s the price.”
“Yes.”
“Hmm.”
Cheon Sa-yeon stared at me without saying anything. An uncomfortable silence filled the room.
‘What is it?’
The atmosphere was very bad. An ominous feeling climbed up my spine. I instinctively realized.
I just made a mistake.
What was the problem? The low-level items? Why?
‘…no. The items can’t be the problem. I didn’t even tell him what the items were yet.’
Swallowing dryly, I continued to look into Cheon Sa-yeon’s cool eyes. It was inevitable. I felt as if I was facing a wild beast that was ready to rush at me. It felt like I would be swallowed up if I relaxed even for a moment.
“Okay. Then let’s do this.” The sound of tapping stopped suddenly as he said with a lazy tone, “Let’s go together. Clear the gate.”
“…but—I…”
“It’ll be a week from now. I’ll send someone on time, so stay on the 23rd floor until then.”
“……”
I opened my mouth to retort but closed it again without saying anything. What I wanted to say was stuck in my throat. I am not a member of the Requiem Guild. No way, I don’t want to go to the gate. That is a price you have to pay, so why am I going there myself, you swindling bastard…
But I couldn’t spit anything out. As I stood blankly, Cheon Sa-yeon smiled.
“Now leave.”
“……”
When I came to my senses, I was already outside the representative room. I couldn’t see where Kim Woo-jin had gone, and instead, another attendant approached me.
“Follow me.”
Yesss… I followed the attendant with a soulless answer. My body sagged even more than before. I had to come to my senses, but I had a headache because I had been through so much all day. Ha Tae-heon and Cheon Sa-yeon, I didn’t know why they all had such personalities. I hoped that a bird would poop on them in the street.
“Please, rest well.”
The room on the 23rd floor, which Cheon Sa-yeon ordered me to stay in for a week, was so well equipped that it was hard to believe it was inside the guild building. I quickly took off my clothes and went into the bathroom.
Checking in the large mirror, my body was relatively fine, but there was a dark bruise on the right pelvis and around the knee, probably from falling to the floor when Ha Tae-heon hit my face. The unusual size and colour looked like it would last quite a while.
“Wow.”
When I checked my left cheek, I was amazed. Looking at it straight on, anyone would say it was the face of someone who got beat up. I sighed as I touched the tip of my chapped lips. It hurt a bit when I washed it.
After washing as carefully as possible, I put on a bathrobe and scrambled out of the bathroom like a zombie and dived straight into bed. The only thing I ate all day was lunch, but sleep was more important than being hungry. Even with the simple act of turning over and looking up at the ceiling, my whole body ached.
‘Well done, me…’
It was a dynamic day, kidnapping Cha Soo-yeon, persuading Ha Tae-heon, deceiving Cheon Sa-yeon. I felt my consciousness becoming hazy as I prayed to God.
What’s wrong with the difficulty level here? Please make some adjustments.
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