Free Web Novel"Ah, sorry."
But before I could say anything, the hand that had touched my back was quickly withdrawn. I silently turned my head toward Joo Seowon, and he hurriedly opened his mouth in a slightly flustered voice.
"Hey, I didn’t mean it was gross. Ah, I just thought it might hurt."
What the hell? I was the one who just woke up, yet he was the one rambling nonsense.
At first I didn’t even understand a word of what he was saying, but halfway through I caught the gist. Was he talking about the scars on my back?
"They’ve been there for over ten years. You think they still hurt?"
"...Of course they don’t hurt. Just saying."
"......."
I was still half-asleep, and the topic itself was so weird I couldn’t even think of a reply. So I just stared at him in silence, and the eye contact we’d been holding quickly shifted elsewhere. His gaze wandered back and forth, then he cleared his throat once and asked.
"...But, don’t things like this get healed with potions? I heard lots of scars disappear after Awakening."
"No idea..."
Even after taking a few of Do Yehyun’s healing skills, this still hadn’t gone away, so maybe not. And honestly, why the hell did he care about my scars anyway?
‘Didn’t he nag me about getting a tattoo once before?’
Joo Seowon went quiet for a moment, but clearly couldn’t suppress his curiosity. In a careful voice, he asked another question.
"Hey, then how’d you even get it? You said you messed up back then. What kind of accident leaves a burn this big? You said over ten years ago...?"
"Well... the response was a bit late."
"Response? You didn’t go straight to the ER? How’d that happen?"
First thing in the morning, and the guy wouldn’t stop firing off questions. I almost brushed him off, annoyed, but then thought better of it and dug through my patchy memories.
"I spilled water. Hot stuff."
"Hot water? Ugh... that must’ve hurt. You couldn’t go to the hospital right away? Weren’t there any adults arou—?"
As he spoke, Joo Seonwon’s expression twisted as if he himself was feeling the burn. I looked at him blankly, then let out a small laugh.
"My mother was there."
Not just there—she’d even grabbed my shoulder and lectured me about living properly. Even though most of my memories were blurry, her piercing gaze wasn’t.
"Ah... your mother must have been shocked."
"......."
All he could say was something like that, with a face full of unspoken words. Maybe because he’d never seen her, his comment was completely off the mark, and I couldn’t help but laugh.
"...What?"
"No... my mother doesn’t get shocked by things like that."
"Come on, even if she looked calm on the outside, inside she must have been worried."
"No."
I tilted my head slightly, locking eyes with him.
"I know."
"......."
With that, I stood up. It was about time to head out anyway.
***
4:30 p.m., a café near the Grand Carman.
About ten minutes after I’d ordered a drink and started waiting, a woman arrived. Acting pleasantly surprised to see us, she sat down naturally across the table.
"Sorry I’m a little late."
Her voice was light, not at all troubled, and Joo Seowon answered casually.
"No, not at all. We just got here too."
The woman looked him over carefully, then slowly smiled.
"Oh, I didn’t properly introduce myself to this gentleman last time... may I ask your name now? We’ll learn each other’s identities anyway once the invitations come out. Though, I did already tell you mine..."
She tilted her head and chuckled as if to remind me of that moment.
So she really had an invitation?
‘That means there really is one under the name Lydia Lin.’
The idea that the name displayed in the Status Window might be wrong never even crossed my mind. If it worked like that, whatever god set this up should be fired.
So she must’ve stolen someone else’s invitation too?
While I was lost in thought, Joo Seowon discreetly bumped my arm with his elbow. I turned my eyes back to the woman.
For the record, on the way here in the taxi, we’d realized a problem.
Our biggest problem was this:
‘...Ah, right. Seowon.’
‘What?’
‘Earlier, I spoke to her in English just to keep my being Korean hidden. I even lied that I lived two hours ➤ NоvеⅠight ➤ (Read more on our source) away.’
‘...You meant by plane, right?’
‘Yeah. But if the conversation drags, we’ll need the translator eventually. Better to just come clean about being Korean first.’
‘Wait. You’re seriously that bad at English?’ ƒreewebηoveℓ.com
‘I am.’
Should’ve studied harder. Back in school, the study-abroad options they gave me were basically deportation dressed up as opportunities, so I ignored them. Now I regretted it like hell.
Anyway, in the taxi we brainstormed possible strategies.
‘...How about flashing a fake document, like we did with Nagao? Even if the lie gets caught, she doesn’t know who we really are.’
‘Hmm. That’s a safer play.’
‘Not safe. Just... less bad.’
‘Inefficient.’
‘Hey!’
After a short argument, we scrapped all of Seowon’s cautious, intelligent suggestions.
So we settled on...
"Lydia, before we start, may I ask how desperate you are for this item?"
"Hm?"
‘Lydia’ stared at me, puzzled. I helpfully elaborated.
"I’m not asking what item it is. Just how badly you want it."
She narrowed her eyes, smiling faintly after a pause.
"Well... desperate enough to ask a complete stranger for help. Didn’t I seem desperate?"
"No, you did. But I need certainty beyond that."
"What kind of certainty?"
"Certainty about why you’d add a twenty percent premium to the auction price without knowing what I’ll even bid. It’s suspicious overall."
Her brows twitched, then smoothed again.
As the silence stretched, Seowon threw in a soft laugh.
"Just a quick question for reassurance, that’s all. Ha ha, no harm, right?"
That loosened her expression. She chuckled shortly, pulled her chair closer, and spoke quietly.
"I understand why you’d doubt me. But since we’ve come all the way here today... it should mean I’m pretty serious about this, shouldn’t it?"
"Yes."
"And from the way you ask, I guess the twenty percent premium isn’t all that tempting?"
"That’s true."
She sighed and leaned back with her arms crossed.
I looked at her briefly, then struck first.
"My English is limited."
Instead of putting the translator in my ear, I placed it neatly on the table. Seowon shot me a sharp look that said what the hell are you doing, but I ignored him.
The woman twisted her lips.
"If you’re Korean, may I speak Korean then?"
I’d considered the possibility she might be of Korean descent but unable to speak the language. Judging from her reaction, that wasn’t the case. That settled it.
"Hm... so you understood."
"......."
‘Lydia’ hesitated briefly, then gave up fast.
"My accent shouldn’t have been that off."
As expected.
The smiling, polite woman from a moment ago was gone. Seowon’s hand shifted from his thigh to his knee, gripping it tight enough to hurt. I could feel the simmering anger in that grip.
‘Going to grill me for not telling him?’
That could wait.
Lydia—or rather Kang Sojeong—leaned back, ran a hand through her hair, and scowled.
"Trying to scam some kids, and why the hell are you two so sharp? Is that one of those ‘hunter abilities’?"
Not exactly. More like my Status Window.
I answered blandly.
"I just poked at it."
"You poked with certainty. How long have you known?"
"Since the first meeting, something felt off."
"Ha..."
Even without the Status Window, the situation was weird.
Suddenly dumping her personal info, offering to add a premium, handing over a paper with a messenger ID then vanishing—it was all suspicious.
I’d thought maybe the sloppy delivery was intentional, but no... judging by how quickly she admitted it, she was just desperate.
As soon as I spoke Korean, Kang Sojeong dropped the act, crossed her legs like a thug, and tapped her foot.
"So... what, are you blackmailing me?"
I was so baffled I almost laughed. Why the hell would I need to blackmail her?
But instead of answering, I waited curiously for her next line. She smirked crookedly and went on.
"If I’m offering to add twenty percent to whatever you bid, that’s a damn attractive deal. But instead of biting, you pull this crap... you that rich?"
I calmly sipped my coffee.
"Yes."
"......."
Her brow furrowed, and Seowon’s grip on my knee tightened even harder.
‘What’s with him?’
He quickly cut in, panicked.
"Ha ha...! We really didn’t know you were Korean. You’re Korean, huh?"
"You didn’t hear our whole conversation just now?"
"Of course I did. Just... don’t be too upset..."
Seowon’s desperate attempts to smooth things over were admirable, but this wasn’t the kind of person you could soothe with words.
I cut him off.
"I’ll buy it for you."
"...What?"
"Without the premium."
"......."
"But there’s one thing you should know first."
I confirmed the suspicion in Kang Sojeong’s eyes, then pulled out Nagao’s passport and held it out to her.
"...What is this..."
"We’re using someone else’s identity to get in too. Just making sure you’re okay with that."
Travel abroad, running cons, only to run into another scammer from your own country. What were the odds.
Kang Sojeong looked back and forth between us, then drawled her conclusion.
"You guys... are fucking insane, aren’t you?"
