Unknowingly, I looked at Cheon Sa-yeon’s eyes at the shocking remark that made my mouth open automatically. Cheon Sa-yeon watched the amazing scene with his chin at his backhand, then clicked his tongue.
“I knew it would be like this. Is that what you say as soon as you arrive?”
“You bet. Did you think I came all the way here to see you?”
Hearing Cheon Sa-yeon’s critism, Alice answered by lowering her eyebrows. Cheon Sa-yeon looked like a bad guy who bullied innocent people with such an expression on his face.
“Stop coveting Secretary Woo Seo-hyuk and sit down. Let’s proceed the meeting.”
“I was going to sit down right now even if you didn’t tell me… you still have an impatient personality, Master Cheon Sa-yeon.”
Alice, who sat side by side with her secretary named Theo, looked at Cheon Sa-yeon with pity. It was like, ‘Sorry… you have a foul temper.’
Cheon Sa-yeon, who noticed it like me, raised the corner of his mouth and answered.
“No matter how impatient I am, I will be as good as Deputy Master Alice though? How urgent are you to offer a transfer to be your secretary in front of me?”
“Oh, if Secretary Woo Seo-hyuk was living a happy life in a good guild, I would have been polite too. But… no. I don’t think I need to add an explanation.”
The air in the meeting room suddenly became chilly at the actions of Cheon Sa-yeon and Alice swearing at each other. Looking at the two, I sighed inwardly.
‘They didn’t have a good relationship even though the guilds have been interacting with each other.’
Cheon Sa-yeon was the type who didn’t just pass over the disputes he had been through so much, so it was clear that Alice was very sorry for Requiem. It must be because of Woo Seo-hyuk.
Still, I didn’t know that she would make it so obvious. It seemed that the Leo Guild wanted Woo Seo-hyuk more than I expected.
“We will proceed with the meeting.”
Woo Seo-hyuk, who seemed uninterested in whether Cheon Sa-yeon and Alice growled, proceeded the meeting with a calm attitude. He explained the detail the correlation between recent gate illegal transactions in Australia and Korea and the Praus Cult.
“Hmm…”
Alice, who was watching the meeting hosted by Woo Seo-hyuk with interest, opened her mouth immediately after the explanation.
“Now I understand a little bit. Praus Cult. Our guild is well aware that such a pseudo-religion was born. I didn’t know they would approach the gate.”
“It’s still in the speculation that the gate illegal transaction is related to the Praus Cult. It will become clear as more evidence is gathered.”
When I added to Woo Seo-hyuk’s explanation to avoid any misunderstanding, Alice’s black eyes turned to me. I was a little taken aback by the way she stared at me with a strange smile.
“I see. If there is evidence, we might be of some help.”
Alice, who naturally turned her head away from me, opened her mouth with a powerful voice.
“It was exactly 25 days ago that we first confirmed that strangers had approached the gate. As soon as we found out, we caught the gatekeeper and all people of the group that entered the gate.”
Alice’s face changed into a cold face and hard tone unlike before. Her powerful voice, which conveyed only her core content accurately, also made it clear that she wasn’t in the position of deputy master for nothing.
“Other guilds who experienced the same incident said that the gate manager opened the gate for money. But we are different.”
“What part is different?”
“The gate that was targeted was an A-grade, one of the gates we take care about very much. Master Cheon Sa-yeon, you should know. The monster that appears at the gate in D157 Area, Australia.”
When I looked back at Cheonn Sa-yeon, he pondered for a moment with a hard expression on his face.
“It’s a gate where B-grade monsters called Dark Hyper (다크 하이퍼) appear. They are monsters that emit a liquid full of poison and it’s a difficult monster to deal with because the liquid spreads at a wide range and is fast.”
“That’s right. The gate grade is A, but the clear team is carefully selected because of the Dark Hyper. It’s embarrassing, but I’m also cautious as there has been one casualty in the past.”
“If it’s a gate that manages that much, you would have hired someone trustworthy as a manager.”
“Correct. The guild member who actually managed it was an early member of the Leo Guild and one of the few talented people that I and Master trusted. He was a bit older, so he hoped to move on to a management position himself. That’s why we left it to him…”
Alice’s expression, which continued her words without interruption, faded with sadness for a very short time. She must be caring that person as much as she cared of the gate.
“At first, I thought he betrayed us, too. Because there were other guilds that went through similar things. But the manager didn’t get paid back. Rather, he was also a victim.”
“That means…”
“It means he had been affected by mental ability.”
Surprised by the unexpected words, I asked back.
“Are you saying that he opened the gate to others because of mental ability? What was the manager’s rank, by any chance?”
“He’s an A-rank. Of course, he has the ability to transform as well.”
A person who could control the mental of an A-rank talented person. A white mask passed through my head. No way…
An ominous feeling rushed over me and slight goosebumps ran down my spine.
“More importantly, it’s not only the manager who had been affected by mental control. The three men who entered the gate themselves also had no idea why they entered the gate. They said that their memories of several days had completely disappeared.”
“Not only the manager, but also the group who entered the gate were under mental control. That’s why they couldn’t figure out why they went in?”
“They didn’t quite remember that part. But…”
Alice stopped her words there and crossed her arms, showing signs of distress. Lost in her thoughts for a moment, she soon opened her mouth.
“They said that they saw Dark Hyper. That’s the only thing left in their memories.”
That meant… the monsters could be the purpose.
‘The purpose is to be a monster that exhales poisonous liquid… Are they trying to make something out of the liquid?’
I was worried because there were so many things made by the Praus Cult.
Even if it was a liquid from a B-grade monster, if it was combined with other high-rank monster ingredients or it contained Kali’s blood… I didn’t know what kind of dangerous things it would turn into.
“Everything I explained before is true. Because we checked it directly with the experts.”
Alice let out a small sigh and smiled again.
“Originally, I didn’t intend to tell you this in detail… we also get something from the Praus Cult, so we give back that much. I knew about the Praus Cult, but there were so many rumours going around. And I never imagined that this incident would be related to that pseudo-group.”
Cheon Sa-yeon leaned back on the chair with an expression of understanding.
“We’re working in cooperation with Roheon, so as soon as if you find out more, let us know. I know that you will be in Korea for two weeks and then go back, right?”
“That’s right. Since I’m coming here, I want to spend a vacation together. I’m already excited to go sightseeing. Is Hongdae still popular these days?”
“…well.”
Cheon Sa-yeon avoided answering the Hongdae remarks that came out of nowhere. Then, all of a sudden, he pointed at me.
“Young people know this well. Han Yi-gyeol, how is Hongdae these days?”
“Pardon?”
Hong… what? Hongdae? I was very taken aback and shook my head.
“I don’t even…”
No, but wait. Recalling Cheon Sa-yeon’s words, I was stunned and questioned.
“Young people? Master Cheon Sa-yeon is also 29 years old, that… anyone who sees you will think that you are 39 years old.”
“Still, a 24-year-old would know better than me. If you’re 24 now, shouldn’t you be familiar with Hongdae?”
Cheon Sa-yeon rested his chin on his backhand and smiled. As expected, he was asking me on purpose.
The guests were watching, so I couldn’t say anything openly. Alice interrupted as she was staring intently at him with annoyed eyes.
“Talented Han Yi-gyeol seems to be quite different from what I thought.”
“Do you know me?”
“Of course, I know. From the Gangnam incident to the SS-rankers in both hands, it became a hot topic.”
“……”
SS-rankers in both hands. I didn’t know how long it had been since I had heard that creepy nickname.
When I glared at Cheon Sa-yeon, who was the cause of the nickname, he lowered his head and giggled. Really annoying.
“I thought you would have a brighter personality. It’s different from what I expected, so I like it even more. Although it’s rude for me to say things like this because we haven’t talked a lot and haven’t had much time to face each other.”
“No. Thank you for taking a liking to me.”
“If you don’t mind, could you set aside time to meet me later?”
“…pardon?”
I hurriedly shut my mouth after almost replying to the suggestion that came out like water.
‘What was it since before?’
Hongdae came out of nowhere before and this time she asked me to meet separately. What kind of conversation changed so quickly?
The corner of Kim Woo-jin’s eyes, who was sitting next to him, went up in real time. Fortunately, other than Kim Woo-jin, the other members of the team watched the situation with interest and there seemed to be no signs of interfering or being offended.
“Ah. Did I speak too bluntly? Don’t get me wrong. I don’t mean it that way because I really want to talk about your ability purely.”
“Ability?”
“Talented Han Yi-gyeol has the wind ability, right? It’s strong enough to lift several people. You’ve already seen the information about me, so you know that I can fly too. It will give me new wings on my back.”
I remembered the photo attached to the material I had seen before coming to the conference room. Huge white swan wings reminiscent of an angel.
“But I can only fly alone. That’s my limit. It’s not just me, but everyone with the ability to transform into a bird is the same. I’m looking for a solution to break through that problem.”
Alice smiled mildly and brushed back the black hair that covered her shoulders. Her white earrings, revealed through her hair, glistened in the light.
“I really want to talk about my ability, so don’t worry. And I have very definite preferences.”
Min Ah-rin, who had been sitting quietly the entire time, asked with a curious expression.
“What are your preferences?”
“A tall, well-built man. I wish he has a kind personality that seemed indifferent. Although he looks cold on the outside, he actually has a kind and caring personality. And he must be handsome no matter what. From my experience, black hair is sexy.”
Was there really such a perfect perseon? More than that, I had never seen a case where not only appearance but also personality were included in the ideal type.
While looking at Alice in a curious mood, I belatedly noticed the gaze reaching my skin. When I turned my head to see something, I saw the team members paying attention to me.
‘What…?’
Come to think of it, the atmosphere was very different from just before. I couldn’t figure out the reason, so I scratched the back of my head for no reason and Cheon Sa-yeon said with a cold expression.
“Let’s end the meeting here.”
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