/
What does it mean when he says he likes me with such a vicious tone? I turned my head, arms crossed; Seo Dawon glared at the innocent wall with his galling face.
Bang–!
Just then–half the door was suddenly ripped off with a huge explosion; I looked that way, startled.
Jung Garam was the one who broke through the door. The Assassin, with an expression that could only be described as wicked, looked alternatingly between us and shouted triumphantly, “What kind of suspicious things are you doin….Ara?”
However, soon, he felt that the atmosphere between me and the Mage was unusual, so he stood still and merely blinked. For some reason, he looked a bit embarrassed, as if he realized his rash entrance wasn’t the best course of action.
Seo Dawon almost growled, “You aren’t going to leave?”
“Umm… Were you two fighting?”
“Get out.”
At the Mage’s chilly instruction, Jung Garam turned his back without making another peep; however, his expression, which I saw when the Assassin glanced at me before leaving the room, was sparkling with excitement.
I sent a paranoid and frustrated look at the blameless Jung Garam, as if the Assassin were a twisted asylum patient. As soon as our eyes made contact, though, Seo Dawon reached out and gathered a golden light on the smashed door; the visible living room was soon blocked from view.
That’s where Garam’s voyeurism ended. The Mage walked up to me with a cold expression–I nearly felt chilly wind wafting from him. “Choi Lee-kyung.”
“…….” I stared back wordlessly.
He glared at my silent self before muttering to himself, “Why can’t servants see their master’s [current mood]?”
“……”
“How fucking unfair.”
However, I wasn’t looking at Seo Dawon’s [current mood] either. I had no particular desire to look at it. What use would it be to read his innermost thoughts that were sure to be filled with doubts and irritation?
“I don’t have anything to hide, unlike you; you don’t need it.” I retorted, bluntly. Seo Dawon raised his eyebrows at that response.
Just when our war of words was about to reignite, a sudden kick on the door echoed throughout the room.
“Just get it over and done with roughly and then come out.”
That was Woo Ragi’s voice.
Seo Dawon looked as if he were going to ignore it, but I belatedly remembered that we were in the middle of Geum Miyoung’s case and grabbed the Mage’s arm first. My touch stopped Seo Dawon in his tracks; his gaze fixated on my hand.
“…For now, let’s table this discussion until later,” I said.
“……” Seo Dawon didn’t answer, but he docilely turned his back away.
* * *
As expected, Bae Jaemin was totally distracted by Geum Miyoung. He didn’t even contact me even though the day he was supposed to meet me passed. He probably didn’t have to capacity to deal with me as well. As he was being swayed here and there by his current situation, he just couldn’t afford to care about me.
Even the news blaring from the living room TV intensively reported about Geum Miyoung’s horrific death and the terrorist attack on her residence. In particular, this case received a lot of attention not only from the hub but from the outside world as well, since it was unclear who the culprit was.
[Today’s Tax Corporation CEO, Geum Miyoung, who was suspected of tax evasion, was found dead in her home. Geum Miyoung was reportled found at her home the morning after receiving the prosecutions summons. In the midst of all these suspicions, any financial fraud findings must also weigh on the murder as well, right?]
[Yes, that’s right… Especially, what was found at the scene…]
Not only the news, but online communities like [Rank God] were also quite noisy. Geum Miyoung wasn’t a famous, widely-known ranker, but information on a certain ‘thing’ that was said to have been found in her ‘mansion’ was leaked. The daily bulletin board heated up as rumors began to spread.
.
<Geum Miyoung is also a part of Red Lotus *shiver shiver*>
Author: Biohunter
When I went to ‘Today’s Tax Co’s’ homepage, I looked through the CEO’s history. She’s connected to Red Lotus. *shiver shiver*
Honestly, what’s going on?
Also, the Jeju Island murder case as well.. People are saying that the unsub is the same. 1
Comments (Expand)
Lee Gu-hwang (Warrior): P H S 2 wasn’t part of Red Lotus though
└Strong Classes Only: Bae Jaemin, someone from Red Lotus, established Hahae, and PHS is an exec there.
└Beep Beep Beep: Well, if you say it like that, then the whole nation is related to the R L. You guys make all sorts of connections.
└Strong Classes Only: I’m just saying that it’s not totally irrelevant,  you r*tard lolol
<But, there’s no news articles about the discovery of the item related to the Red Lotus>
Author: Just A Lurker
There’s no proof?
Comments (Expand)
Diamond: (Photo)
└ Just a Lurker: *shiver shiver* Who took the photo?
└ └  Diamond: There was a User on the Free-chat Forum that identified himself as part of the investigation team. That post is deleted now, though.
└└└ Just a Lurker: Wow, that’s fucking scary
.
And, the reason why the news was so hot was… because of a few select items found within the [coffin] that Choi Kyung-sik had purposely left behind at the scene.
In fact, in addition to their own items the servants had each picked up, there were miscellaneous items that could not be identified as belonging to a specific owner. Choi Kyung-sik seemed to have taken a few of those keepsakes while clearing through the [coffin].
Among those items, Choi Kyung-sik utilized a button on a [Red Lotus] combat uniform. Most of the equipment was stained with hydrochloric acid, but some did not melt completely and retained their shape. Choi Kyung-sik had broken off a button before exploding the mansion. I had no idea he would do such a thing, so I was surprised when I heard his later explanation.
Choi Kyung-sik’s intended bewilderment scheme worked better than expected. The combat suit wasn’t one that would match others found in Geum Miyoung’s mansion, and a close examination of the button would reveal that this was a true keepsake used by the [Red Lotus] guild. Still reeling from being shocked by Geum Miyoung, this would cause double the pain for Bae Jaemin.
Choi Kyung-sik, after raising his glasses with a finger, turned to my surprised self and said, “I wanted to see Jaemin-ie turn deep blue with fright–what a shame.”
“He’s completely absent from the public these days. Articles related to the [Red Lotus] seem to be blocked through the use of money for now, but it’s only a matter of time.”
“Oh~ There’s Bae Jaeminie right now~”
Speak of the devil, the news channel filmed Bae Jaemin getting out of his car. On the screen, the Priest looked very pallid, surrounded by dozens of cameras. I checked Bae Jaemin’s nervously blinking eyes and the rigid corners of his lips.
‘I suppose he’s tasted a bit of death, hasn’t he? By now, he must have realized that, not only the contents of the coffin but also the slush funds Geum Miyoung was in charge of, have now all been stolen.’
With a wry smile, I stared at Bae Jaemin entering a building.
That building he entered was the prosecution’s investigation quarters. OF course, he was simply there to supplement the investigation as a witness and wasn’t a suspect, but I quite like how he walked away from the reporters with their outstretched mics like a sinner.
After watching until that point, Kim Olim told us, “Lim Jisoo is currently staying at the XX hotel. It seems she’s meeting often with Ryu Hyerin.”
At those words, Woo Ragi tilted his head and asked, “Hey. Rather than Lim Jisoo, but… Who is it… That Assassin. Have we heard anything about him?”
The veiled assassin who stole Woo Ragi’s last breath had yet to be identified nor was it easy to find information about him. However, Kim Olim made a fairly optimistic prediction, “That will be revealed as we monitor Lim Jisoo. According to Park Hoseok, all the culprits agreed to gather and meet up if the [Red Lotus] case becomes a bigger issue.”
Jung Garam was the one to respond. He held his chin and smiled happily, as if he were recalling something pleasant. However, the words that tumbled out of his mouth were pretty awful. “That’s right. Also, that meeting is a little… Compulsory? At least that’s what Park Hoseok said when I asked him; his words were a bit short since I cut off his tongue in the middle of his confession. They must have signed a contract with a huge risk for breaking secrecy. Like a vow of obedience or something.”
Kim Olim, after listening to Jung Garam, smiled and looked back at Seo Dawon, “I guess Lim Jisoo is still making a living using your skills.”
“Hm.” Seo Dawon didn’t show much of an expression; I couldn’t understand what that meant, so I continued to look alternatingly between the two.
Choi Kyung-sik, who had been silent all this while, also gave his two cents, “I’m saying this because you mentioned it: aren’t Lim Jisoo and Guildmaster’s skill combo and chains quite similar?”
“Lim Jisoo was the one who copied Seo Dawon quite diligently. Perhaps even half of Lim Jisoo’s skill base utilized skill trees devised by Seo Dawon. [Retrograde] has so many skill branches, so two skill trees can’t be that similar by chance. The probability is similar to getting first place in the lottery.”
I looked at the Mage while listening to Kim Olim’s cynical tyrade. Though he was the one being plagiarized, that seemed to have no significant impact on the Mage.
However, when he met my gaze, Seo Dawon’s words did not hide his ridicule, “Lim Jisoo is a little too…simple to be a Mage. She has no sense of aesthetics.”
As he said that, he unfurled a golden magic circle over his hand; after calling forth another magic circle within, he began to draw all sorts of different patterns.
I had no idea if that was some great feat or not, but Choi Kyung-sik suddenly sighed deeply and flinched a little, “You’re able to use another subclass’s magic simultaneously? Don’t you usually summon several low-class magic circles before moving onto another high-level spell.”
I had no idea what he was talking about, but Choi Kyung-sik’s tone clearly conveyed his feelings of respect for his guildmaster.
I stared at Seo Dawon’s palm, wondering if those two spinning magic circles were really that great. I couldn’t understand, no matter how hard I stared.
In anycase, Seo Dawon shook his hands a couple of times before answering, “That’s impossible for Lim Jisoo. [Logic] or something simple like that would have been better for her than [Retrograde].”  3
Jung Garam, giggling, added, “Because of Hyung, there were reams of Mages that rushed forward into your skill tree path. After all, after you debuted, the [Logic] subclass was utterly demolished.”
Footnotes
unsub = Unknown subject. The forums are using slang for criminal/culprit. Unsub is a common slang used in true crime…so I thought it was appropriate. PHS is, ofc, Park Hoseok. Logic, here, really means “obeyeing the laws or rationality of the world.” I couldn’t really figure out which was snappier: logic or physics…lmao. I went with Logic. This is in direct conflict with Retrograde, which, in turn, means going back on logic. Aka backwards rationality. Logic, in this scenario, means that the magic ‘makes sense.’ I’m assuming that Retrograde is a magical subclass that defies conventionality.