Free Web NovelAfter the meal, Song Hwayoung said she had personal matters to attend to and left.
"Well then, take care. You too, Sung Hunter, be careful going back. Oh, did you say your hotel was close?"
"Yeah. Just up ahead."
"Nice. I’ll call you."
With a final wave to me, Song Hwayoung got into a taxi and disappeared.
I stared at the back of Sung Uijae’s head, fighting off a violent urge to just bash it in.
'Should I really do it and call it an accident?'
Before I could act, Sung Uijae turned and asked,
"Then, should I get your contact?"
I looked at the phone suddenly thrust toward me and smiled faintly.
"Sure."
Guess I’d be changing my number again soon. Meeting Im Haekyung would be the perfect time. Less work for me—good.
I handed over my number to Sung Uijae, then excused myself with the line that I had another appointment.
"I’ve got something scheduled."
"At ✧ NоvеIight ✧ (Original source) this hour? Scheduled?"
"Yes."
"It’s not just that you don’t want to talk to me more?"
"See you tomorrow!"
Of course, Sung Uijae didn’t exactly look like he believed me.
On the way back to the hotel, my head was a mess. Correction—it should have been a mess, but my mood had hijacked all my focus and I couldn’t think straight.
'Did he get leverage on me?'
Until now, the only person holding something over me was Im Haekyung. Never expected Sung Uijae to join the club.
'Annoying as hell.'
I didn’t get why the original novel even bothered with an arc about them clashing. From the way they acted, they seemed perfectly suited for each other. Then again, the fact that Sung Uijae sniffed things out on his own, without me lifting a finger, was the part that pissed me off.
So from here...
'Tomorrow I’ll stick with him. I am curious what exactly he wants to ask me.'
If Sung Uijae was written true to his settings in the original, the part about keeping silent was genuine. That meant the real question was how well I could butter him up tomorrow.
No point wasting thought on him now. My talk with Song Hwayoung ended on a positive note, so...
It was time to return to the original plan.
'I need to look into Cheonmyeonggyo.'
I stripped off my jacket, sat on the bed, and went through the messages I’d missed.
A handful of useless ones, one from SH, one from Do Yehyun...
'Joo Seowon...'
That one, usually active for all sorts of reasons, was the quietest.
A guy useful in so many ways—resourceful, helpful, even good for advice. But an unexpected variable had been thrown into the mix.
I weighed a few things seriously about Joo Seowon.
'Was he always gay?'
If the original novel had given even a hint of who Seowon dated, I wouldn’t have to be thinking about this. But there was no mention—not whether he’d kissed a guy, kissed a girl, or if he was a virgin loser.
Well, to be fair, the original never delved into anyone’s love life.
Not that it would’ve made sense—who the hell cares about romance when the protagonist is dying nine hundred and ninety-nine times?
Honestly, I wasn’t thrilled. Relationships create unpredictable variables. If someone puts another person above their goals, that can only become an obstacle.
But it wasn’t a monastery. If Seowon was going crazy wanting to date, I wasn’t about to stop him. If he betrayed me for romance, I’d deal with him then.
But him pushing his lips on me? That I hadn’t seen coming.
He’d never given any signs before. Maybe it was because after Minha went missing he had no one else to lean on and got clingier about friendship. But still, who predicts a guy will suddenly shove his mouth at yours?
'Or maybe he just needed to blow off some steam.'
I hadn’t seen Seowon go out at all in the past months. Maybe he just snapped and used me as a release.
'But judging from his reaction, probably not.'
Since that day, he’d acted normal on the surface, but I noticed him trying to keep some distance. If it was because the kiss disgusted him, fine. But from experience, guys who acted like they hated something were usually hiding that it turned them on. That was the problem.
Well, I wasn’t about to let him keep spiraling alone. I brought him in for a reason—might as well make the most of it.
I stared at my phone for a while, then dialed Seowon.
"...Hello."
"You’re not asleep."
Sure, it was still a little early for sleep.
Seowon’s voice was low and husky.
"Why?"
"Nothing happened today?"
"Nothing...? No. Why?" ƒгeewёbnovel.com
"Just checking in."
"Goddamn it."
What the hell? Even a simple check-in gets this kind of reaction.
He sighed and dropped news I already knew.
"Do Yehyun’s entering a dungeon tomorrow."
"I heard."
"...Yeah."
Silence. That was his new thing lately, this weird subtle behavior. I clicked my tongue, and he coughed before changing the subject.
"Why call instead of using a comms item?"
"I thought you might be asleep. A ringtone is better than my voice blasting in your head, isn’t it?"
When he went quiet again, I cut to the chase.
"You’re still tracking Aquarion’s Heart?"
"Yeah. I am."
Not long ago, Seowon had told me he’d found the sword Tae Hyunjin used to wield. That was the most promising news I’d gotten in a while, and I had high hopes.
'The sooner I secure it, the sooner I can tie up at least one loose end.'
Too many things kept getting delayed, and it was irritating.
"It’s part of a collection auction, so it’ll take some time. But they’ve already set a location."
"They set the location?"
"Yeah."
Which meant the date was practically confirmed.
"It’ll be held in Shanghai."
Damn, so it got smuggled out of the country. That’s exactly why I’d wanted to secure it early.
'No helping it.'
I paused, annoyed.
"If people find out it’s Tae Hunter’s, the price will skyrocket, won’t it?"
"Of course. Tae Hunter’s insanely popular."
"Then I’ll need to secure it fast. The date’s fixed too, right?"
"Third week of January. Three-day auction."
So I’d have to leave the country. Better wrap up anything else before then.
"Then keep that week clear. Make up something for SH."
"Got it."
One down. Time to move on.
"What about Cheonmyeonggyo? Looked into them?"
"Knew you’d ask."
He groaned, and I heard rustling on his side. Maybe flipping through notes. His voice lowered, serious.
"I haven’t found their exact base yet. But I did trace some links with Infinite Guild."
"Yeah?"
"There’s definitely a connection."
Not surprising. I hadn’t thought Infinite Guild was Cheonmyeonggyo’s money source, but looking back, their performance was suspiciously good for a group that never showed up in the original. ƒгeeweɓn૦vel.com
Seowon continued.
"Turns out Cheonmyeonggyo was recruiting low-rank hunters. Some got lured in with promises their ranks would be raised, some were bought straight from Infinite Guild’s shops."
"Why put so much effort into low-rank hunters?"
"Not sure. But supposedly there was a way to boost their skills. Could all be bullshit, but I found a lot of testimonial posts."
Did they have a support-type in their ranks?
That would explain why hunters thought being around them made their skills stronger.
'So the real reason was likely Jinhaedo’s skill.'
A guy like him needed lots of puppets.
"The other thing is Infinite Guild funneled them steady cash. Looked like a funding pipeline."
"Not shocking."
"Right. But not every guild member was a believer. Probably mixed it up on purpose to avoid suspicion. So interrogating them won’t get much."
Most of them were in prison anyway. And Na Seokgyung was dead.
I cut in.
"So why do you think Na Seokgyung was killed?"
"Probably disciplinary. Infinite Guild got wiped out, so from Cheonmyeonggyo’s perspective, it was like losing a limb overnight. They made an example of him."
"Disciplinary?"
"Yeah."
For fuck’s sake, discipline is for the living. Killing someone isn’t discipline. Talk about cult-like behavior.
'Wait. Did he say they made an example?'
"What do you mean by ‘example’? Who were they warning?"
"Their own believers, obviously. Seems like they’ve got people embedded everywhere. So yeah, probably a show killing."
"Hmm..."
Crazy bastards.
Still, pulling this much intel in just a few days was impressive. Even if he hadn’t pinned down Jinhaedo’s location.
I praised him, a bit indulgently.
"Smart thinking. You’ve done well in a short time."
"......"
"I’m genuinely impressed sometimes by how sharp you are. I like intelligent people. Mm... good work."
"Don’t praise me like that... Forget it."
Normally he’d have snapped back at me, but now he was oddly subdued.
I noted how quiet he’d gone, then asked directly,
"Seowon."
"...What?"
"Are you going to keep acting like this?"
