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Chapter 281
“I’m also in the middle of an investigation, myself. There are no signs of outside intrusion into the server… Yes. I’ll explain in detail when I arrive.” Geum Miyoung had to respond to each phone call that kept persistently coming even as she rode in the limousine. She hung up and clutched her throbbing head. Of course, as soon as she did that, her phone rang again three seconds later, but she was at her limit. She placed her phone into her inventory.
“Who did this…” Profiles of people who could betray her in the company floated around her brain.  ‘Han Jung-eun? ….No. They’re definitely capable of this, but this isn’t their modus operandi… Then, Director Kim? She’s supposed to go to Singapore in a month, though…”
However, no matter how hard Geum Miyoung wracked her brain, she couldn’t identify the culprit. Moreover, she couldn’t even go to work because of the exhausting reporters that had swarmed from the bait–the scoops–that had been spread around her.
Eventually, Geum Miyoung locked herself in the mansion while fending off the calls and complaints from customers who were essentially cursing and insulting her. However, she had been dragged out by this summons. She frantically expended all her stamina into deducing who had exposed all her scandals.
Because the inability to identify the culprit would end in her death, Geum Miyoung continued to think of profiles of various directors within the company and prepared answers to possible questions that may be asked.
‘First, I’ll need to find a congressman who can pressure the prosecution… I’ll need to find someone with high authority–someone who can cut off any investigations…’
However, she couldn’t continue her thoughts; her driver suddenly stomped on the brakes.
Screeeeech–!
“W-What’s going on?!” Geum Miyoung’s startled eyes opened wide. This had never happened in the two years since she had hired this chauffeur.
However, the driver didn’t say anything; Geum Miyoung anxiously pressed the button to open the separating screen, which was usually raised.
“What….?”
There was no one in the driver’s seat. Goosebumps raised all over her arms; she exited the car.
She dismounted onto a road in the middle of a tunnel, lit by orange lights. She stood on the lonely road, wary of her surroundings, but she couldn’t sense any signs of life.
She lived in a mansion located quite far from the Hub’s center, and this road was not often traveled. Geum Miyoung approached the driver’s seat carefully and looked inside. Terrifyingly, except for the open door, there were no traces left behind.
“…Who is it?” Geum Miyoung took out [Carmen], a weapon that she hadn’t used in a long while, from her inventory.
To be frank, as a User who wasn’t all that interested in dungeoneering or leveling, she had horrible fighting skills. However, she had commissioned [Carmen], a violin, paying a large sum of money to Master Blacksmith Lee Dojin; the weapon was Lee Dojin’s masterpiece when it comes to the User’s safety.
Just holding [Carmen] brought stability to her mind and body; after all, having the violin on hand would create a shield that could resist magic that was class 6 or below; delusions and curses would have their efficiency reduced by 30 percent.
However, as soon as she took out her weapon, she heard a husky voice behind her. “It would have been better for you to take out your phone instead.”
“Who are you!” Geum Miyoung thought the sneering voice was somehow familiar, but no face came to mind. Nevertheless, from the moment she heard that voice, she trembled; it felt as if some ancient, buried memory was slowly awakening.
Geum Miyoung placed her chin on [Carmen]’s chinrest to shake off the tension that squeezed her heart. And, when she raised the strings and fingerboard high…
“You forgot about me?”
She heard someone whispering into her ear. Startled, Geum Miyoung failed her first scale and instead made a discordant squeaking sound.
Then, when she turned her head in the voice’s direction–
[Graaaaaghhh–!]
The Chaueffeur, complete with his head split in half, appeared and jumped at her.
[The Shield is activating.]
[Gragghhh!]
Boom–! Thud–!
Fortunately, due to [Carmen]’s passive effect, the driver struggled to break through the translucent screen that appeared in front of Geum Miyoung’s nose; however, she was already panicking.
“W-What…?” She faltered before running away from the oncoming driver.
However, she couldn’t run for long. While she frantically retreated, the lights in the tunnel slowly began to extinguish, one by one, starting from the lights closest to her exit route.
Poof– Poof–
Between the sounds of the fuses exploding and the shadow falling upon her, Geum Miyoung realized that someone was running towards her.
She was conflicted, stuck between the driver chasing her with its floundering body and an unidentified person, who was running at a fierce speed. But, she continued to place her faith in her violin.
‘Even if they run into me…!’
She clenched her teeth and tightened her grip on [Carmen].
However…
“[Rho-Aias].” The runner whispered and stretched one arm out; a shield shaped like an inverted triangle materialized on her arm. After witnessing the person’s silhouette, Geum Miyoung’s face paled. She instinctively tried to deny what she saw. “N-No way! Impossible…!”
“[Dash].”
Bang–!
[Carmen]’s shield shattered to pieces in one blow. The shield did not stop there; it hit Geum Miyoung across the face. Geum Miyoung rolled across the floor, suffering terrible pain. “Aaaack!”
“Do you remember me now?”
Geum Miyoung opened her eyes wide–unable to believe what she had seen despite vomiting blood from her nose and mouth. Her shock was greater than her pain. She shook her hands and head in denial, “No–hnngh… It can’t be… Ackk!”
Her opponent slowly approached Geum Miyoung, who struggled and made great efforts to retreat. The accountant tried to push her body backwards with her hands, crawling along the floor, but the back of her head eventually met the cold wall of the tunnel.
“……”
“Hnngh–Hnrrk… Cough…” Illuminated by the sole light remaining in the tunnel, Geum Miyoung met ‘that person’s eyes.
She thought she might be suffering from a terrible nightmare. Blood bubbles dribbling down from her mouth, she muttered in a frenzy, “B-But she died…”
“……”
“I-Impossible…”
However, as time passed, her pain served as a reminder that this wasn’t a dream; she could not shake off the long arm that reached out to her. Geum Miyoung thought she’d rather faint. So, she closed her eyes before the hand touched her body, but…
Crrunnch–!
“Arrrrgh!”
“It seems you lack basic conversational manners.” As soon as Geum Miyoung closed her eyes, Kim Olim drove her shield through Geum Miyoung’s left index finger into the ground, amputating the accountant’s digit.
In extreme pain, Geum Miyoung opened her eyes and, in her writhing, hit the back of her head against the tunnel wall. However, when she saw Kim Olim raise the shield again, Geum Miyoung could only release a groan, no longer able to wriggle about. Her fear tamped down her pain.
However, that frozen moment lasted for just a few seconds. Geum Miyoung quickly crawled towards the Paladin’s feet, clutched onto her ankles, and begged, “I-It’s not me.  I’m not… Someone…Someone else…! I can…tell you who did it! I was threatened! P-Please…”
“……”
“I’ll do anything if you spare me! Anything! I’ll tell you everyone who was involved!” Recalling Kim Olim’s gentle personality in the past, Geum Miyoung rubbed her blood-stained face on the Paladin’s boots. The accountant hoped that somehow she could make it through this ordeal.
However, Kim Olim didn’t respond; the Paladin neither criticized nor questioned the accountant. Geum Miyoung looked up cautiously because she couldn’t comprehend what that extended silence meant.
After meeting the Paladin’s gaze face-on, though, she couldn’t move one inch.
Kim Olim looked down at Geum Miyoung as if some bothersome trash had been dumped on her foot. The look in her eyes–the way she regarded the accountant as something worthless or the way in which the Paladin looked vaguely curious at how far the accountant would go to beg for her life–shattered Geum Miyoung’s shallow hopes.
“You’re going to die, Geum Miyoung.” Maintaining eye contact, Kim Olim declared, as if this were a foregone conclusion.
“……” Geum Miyoung felt as if her hands and feet froze.
However, Kim Olim did not end there, “However, if you answer my questions docilely, I’ll give you a quick death.”
“……”
“That’s the only mercy you can hope for.”