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Chapter 154
The childish quarrel quickly subsided. Afterwards, we discussed a few more details and considered possible future variables.
Throughout the whole meeting, I wondered what Jung Garam and Kim were doing. Perhaps because the servants always clung to me and hovered around me, the quiet made me anxious.
Therefore, I sneakily glanced towards Seo Dawon; he briefly caught my eye but did not say anything. Because we couldn’t speak about the other members in front of Koo Hui-seo and Kim sangyoon, I bowed my head
However, Seo Dawon suddenly asked in a kind voice, “Are you hungry?”
“……Huh?”
“Sorry. We talked for too long.” Seo Dawon said before turning to the other two, “Let’s organize everything else through email–send it to me.”
He acted as if I were hungry. I was so bewildered, I lost the timing to deny it. Even more ridiculous, Koo Hui-seo and Kim Sangyoon, who didn’t have much to say to me in particular, acquiesced and stopped their business.
“There’s a nearby restaurant I know well.” Koo Hui-seo had even naturally squeezed in that comment as he rose from his seat.
However, Seo Dawon hugged me, ignoring Koo Hui-seo’s outstretched hand. “Lee-kyung-ie likes the food I make.”
“W-What are you…”
“If Korean food is more to your taste, there’s a place 10 minutes away by car…”
“Hyung-nim, do you dislike sushi?”
Of course, Seo Dawon was in charge of my meals, but I wasn’t hungry enough to storm off so suddenly.
Flustered, I stared at Seo Dawon; his expression, though, was mysteriously flat. I was forced to nod after trying to read his eyes. It felt like he was entreating me to match his beat. “…I-I just…I want to eat the food…prepared by Dawon-ssi.”
“You’re eating now, right?”
“Yeah…” Faced with no choice, I nodded, feeling much like an immature child; Seo Dawon smiled contentedly. Soon after, he moved to immediately kick out Kim Sangyoon and Koo Hui-seo. “So, send the rest of the details to me by email. We’ll set the time for the next meeting there.”
“Wait a minute–we could at least have lunch with you…”
“Hyungnim! I also don’t have anything to do today. My schedule’s been cleared.”
“I’m only going to prepare Lee-kyung-ie’s share though? You guys find your own meal.”
The two were rendered speechless at Seo Dawon’s cold-hearted attitude and were finally kicked out of the home.
Pop–!
However, as soon as Seo Dawon closed the front door, I heard a strange noise–something, a bubble, bursting?–on the second floor. Startled, I looked towards the stairs; Seo Dawon clicked his tongue and hugged me from behind.
“Thankfully, we avoided some annoying issues.”
“W-What are you talking about?”
“Ah, we’ve almost reached my summon time limit.” As he said that, Seo Dawon brought the hand he used to hug my shoulders to my eye level. The hand that had been opaque until just a moment ago returned back to its vengeful ghost state. Did he send the others out urgently so they won’t witness him disappearing after time was up?
However, I was also bothered by the noise I heard from the second floor; before I could ask about it, Seo Dawon lifted me and carried me to the table. I was startled, but, since he acted so casual, I couldn’t find it within me to argue.
“First, let’s eat before talking.” Seo Dawon recommended, placing cups and utensils in front of me. Helpless in the face of his actions, I sat at the table.
* * *
Even as I ate the food that Seo Dawon made, I still heard concerning noises from the 2nd floor. Furthermore Jung Garam–when on earth did he appear?–suddenly came in through the garden side door. “Did Koo Hui-seo leave?”
“Yeah.”
“Mmmm…. the smell is rancid…”
“What smell?” I asked, wondering if he was talking about the grilled mackerel I was currently eating.
Jung Garam sat down next to me, wrinkling his nose. “…Lee-kyung-ie doesn’t smell anything bad from that bastard?” He leaned over onto the marble table and squashed his cheek on the surface as he talked. Rather than asking me, it sounded like he was directing his question to Seo Dawon who was calmly sitting to the side.
As expected, Seo Dawon replied, “Probably not. Lee-kyung-ie looks fine.”
“Haah… Can’t we just not invite that guy?”
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“He won’t be able to come over often since he’s under police surveillance.”
“That’s a relief. It was getting worse and worse–it made me really want to murder him.”
‘…A bad smell?’ No way, did Jung Garam escape our home because of a smell I couldn’t perceive?
While thinking about that, I placed my spoon on the table and poked Jung Garam’s cheek. He closed his head as if he were suffering a migraine before turning to look at me.
“What’s the bad smell? Did you leave the house because of it?” I asked.
“Yeah… After all, he carries around that ‘garbage.'”
“Garbage?”
Although Koo Hui-seo was gaunt and a little pale, his attire was always immaculate. As soon as I wondered what the Assassin meant, I recalled the balck shadow that curled up beneath his sofa seat. When he says garbage…was he talking about that?
“You’re…talking about that shadow thing?”
“Yeah. Don’t you find it gross?”
Well, I did find it a bit threatening since I saw him destroy Koo Kyungman with it. However, I couldn’t smell it nor could I see its shape properly; I hadn’t thought much of the shadow. Furthermore, since Seo Dawon never reacted to it, I never realized…
While the two talked, I felt a presence approaching from the second floor; Kim Olim had walked down the stairs. It seems that the noise I had heard earlier was made by her–though I had no idea what she was doing.
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Anyway, as she came down to the first floor, Kim Olim frowned slightly and crumpled her eyebrows before soon adopting an expressionless face.  She approached the table where I sat, “Did you have a good meal? There’s something I have to say to you.”
“Ah, mnn. Okay…” I quickly cleared the dishes and sat back down again.
Kim Olim began to speak in a patient tone, “I wanted to share important information I just obtained. The Jeju Island case will be jointly investigated between the police and the Dungeon Association. And Moon Issak is the front person put forth by the Dungeon Association.”
“Moon Issak?”
“Hmmm…”
“Kek… That crazy bastard?”
Moon Issak was someone whose name I heard in passing at the Ahn hospital. To be exact, I heard that name while searching for the hidden room in the VIP ward–when I encountered Bae Jaemin, and he took me back to his room for an interrogation.
There, I learned that Bae Jaemin conducted a background investigation on me. He was suspicious of the fact that I, a doomed Necromancer and a low-level User, would suddenly sell a large amount of Barnasiums. It was as if I had risen from the ground out of the blue.
I understood Bae Jaemin’s suspicions; the Barnasiums weren’t readily available items. Though, I had no idea what exactly tripped his wariness and what specific information he had uncovered.
In any case, Bae Jaemin finished his background check, and, as a result, he suddenly thought I had teamed up with a ranker named ‘Moon Issak.’
Seo Dawon later said that Moon Issak’s and my movements have recently overlapped, and Bae Jaemin seemed to have reached a hasty conclusion based on that information. In addition, Bae Jaemin must have been very sensitive since he was in a position where he needed help from Moon Issak and was at his mercy.
At that time, since Bae Jaemin found me suspicious, I had to march to his beat in order to turn away his doubts. As a result, we had even set up a nearly impossible dinner meeting between Bae Jaemin and Moon Issak.
Of course, we had no relationship with Moon Issak, but, in order to lure him, we baited him with Jung Garam’s ability. Moon Issak responded to our call in order to receive a [black market] invitation, and we were able to deceive Bae Jaemin.
At that time, we sent Kim Sangyoon to the two’s meeting, so Moon Issak and I had never actually met. I guess though he didn’t know me, I one-sidedly had some information on him?
“If we’re talking about Moon Issak… We’re talking about that Paladin who has a horrible relationship with evil-attribute Users…” I began.
“That’s right.”
“Is there a reason why he’s in charge of this case?”
“People say he volunteered.”
“He wanted to do it?”
Though I’ve never personally experienced an encounter with Moon Issak, I turned pale–he’s someone who’s rumoured to have such a nefarious character.
Wasn’t it possible for our relation with Bae Jaemin to be dragged out if we continue to be entangled like this? Furthermore, I was an evil-attribute User–the subject of Moon Issak’s hatred.
TL: I did a really quick once-over to proof-read! If you guys see any mistakes, feel free to tell me in the comments (Or @ me on the discord!) Speaking of which, there’s some readers that have been brought this way by the webtoon! Feel free to talk to me in the foxa discord~ I’m happy to talk about this with anyone!
Are ya’ll ready to meet Moon Issak officially?