Seol-Hwi ran along the red line with a worried expression. Heuk Bi was not far away—close, quite close. She was the Supreme Pavilion Lord’s guard, skilled in moving in the shadows, and had a talent for chasing people. Seol-Hwi didn’t dare run in a straight line lest he winds up with a throwing knife in the back of his head.
…Hm?! In the middle of dodging, Seol-Hwi was startled to find that the red line wanted him to change directions. First… I follow this. He faithfully followed the path and discovered something written on the ground along the way.
<Incognito Ghost Technique>
“…What? Ah!” Seol-Hwi didn’t have time to think about it; he just followed the instructions.
When he used the next technique the system told him to, he felt his body flying in the right direction.
And then the Hidden Truth Corps’s footwork technique.
He was going faster now.
After that, the red line turned to the left and then zig-zagged.
<Incognito Ghost Technique 3rd Level, Vertical Road>
“Huh!” He dodged to the side around the buildings, then again through the trees.
“What?”
“Who is it?”
Seol-Hwi landed in a crowd of flustered warriors.
“Who—Oh, you.”
Seol-Hwi knew who it was without looking. The system had told him that following the path would bring him face-to-face with the captain of the Private Guards, Bigun.
“…Uh. Huh… Phew.” Seol-Hwi patted his chest and began to cancel his techniques.
“You! Reveal your identity!”
Seol-Hwi’s continued silence prompted Bigun to advance aggressively on him. Had this happened earlier, Seol-Hwi would have been pretty nervous.
“Long time no see, Bigun.” He slowly removed his mask and smiled at Bigun.
“…Vice Commander?”
“Yup.” His smile was as bright as Yong Jin’s was.
Bigun stared at him for a moment and then opened his mouth to speak, but something caught his attention.
- You lost him? You couldn’t have made a mistake…
- Well, catching him without attracting attention would’ve been difficult.
- It was. With that said, we might have to use different methods.
It was the Supreme Pavilion Lord’s voice.
[Where would you like to go?]
▶The Fourth Disciples House
Last choice? Seol-Hwi eyed it. Perhaps this was the last option to increase favorability.
<Moving to “The Fourth Disciple’s House.”>
[Three days pass.]
The light enveloped him.
It was bright, but from daylight.
“Well…” Seol-Hwi blinked at his unfamiliar surroundings.
“Haaa.”
“Um.”
There were two men and women there, surrounded by masked men. It looked like they’d been ambushed.
Seo Ryeong? Yorim? Why are they here?
The masked people were covered in black clothes from head to toe. If it weren’t for the status window, he’d never know who they were.
[Status]
Jogwa [Supreme Minor Tasks Group No. 1]
Health: 2.85 million/3.3 million
Internal Energy: 2.05 million/2.2 million
Grandmaster
Combat Power: 4.4 million
[Status]
Yang Guk [Supreme Minor Tasks Group No. 2]
Health: 2.77 million/3.1 million
Internal Energy: 1.84 million/2 million
Grandmaster
Combat Power: 3.95 million
…Supreme Minor Tasks Group!? They were the Supreme Pavilion Lord’s ten best secret agents. How did this happen? Seol-Hwi had heard rumors of them, but wasn’t certain that they were real until now.
“You people,” Yorim said, “where did you come from—” He coughed blood. “Ha… ha…”
He stood back to back with Seo Ryeong. She looked pale, and one of her knees was bent weirdly, making it difficult to even stand.
“You don’t need to know. Just answer the question: where is the new vice-commander?”
“Fuck, how are we supposed to know?”
“You aren’t one to talk.”
The masked men looked at each other and raised their weapons. The air began to swirl with energy.
“Damn it, I just found out that the Earth Demon was looking for some good martial artists,” Yorim grumbled.
“This must have been planned from the start. You had no intention of listening to us, did you?”
“Well, that’s true enough.”
No more was said. The enemy began to act; each one moved to weird positions, befitting their unique skills.
“Ah!”
Two or three tried to corner Seo Ryeong.
“Ugh!”
Yorim stepped back and bumped into the wall.
Both of them were struggling till the end. Even when their stances had collapsed, they gave it everything they had.
“Ahh!” Even when Yorim was wounded, he kept dodging.
<What will you do?>
▶ Go fight
▷ Wait
Seol-Hwi didn’t take the same stance he’d done with the others.
These people are definitely here to kill them, aren’t they? They let the battle run on, though, dragging out their suffering, despite every enemy outclassing Seol-Hwi’s subordinates. Why? There must be some reason for it… That idea ate at him. There was something very strange about the way they were attempting to corner his people. It made him reluctant to intervene.
For now… let’s watch for a little longer. He could feel their killing intent, but they were restraining themselves for some reason. Seol-Hwi needed to figure out what that reason was.
<You have selected “Wait.”>
And time resumed.
Seo Ryeong and Yorim stopped fighting—or rather, they couldn’t fight anymore.
“…What is it?”
Out of nowhere, all five of their black-clad assailants were ripped to shreds.
“Ah—?!”
In their place was a single old man. Seol-Hwi’s subordinates stared at him curiously.
“Hmm. It seems you’ve been through much.”
Sama Gwi! Why did he kill his own people?
Yorim stared at him, shocked. “…Why is the Lord of the Supreme Pavilion here?”
“I came to see the Earth Demon this morning.”
“I-Is that so?” Yorim struggled to his feet and bowed.
“But who are those people?” Sama Gwi asked, looking around. “Why were they attacking you?”
“We don’t know, either. They appeared out of nowhere and demanded to know where our captain is…”
“Is that so?” The Pavilion Lord’s brow wrinkled. “Well, I’m glad I came here. We almost lost the Earth Demon’s precious people.”
“…Ah, thank you!”
Yorim and Seo Ryeong were grateful for the Supreme Pavilion Lord saving them, despite his bad relationship with the Hidden Truth Squad.
“Well then, good work.” Sama Gwi walked away, but he didn’t get far before he stopped and turned around. He looked at them with an odd expression and a strange calmness in his eyes. “But where is the vice-commander’s residence?”
Time stopped.
<Returning to home.>
He found himself in his residence.
“How did this happen?” Why was he back here without even a choice?
“Well, I was in no position to intervene anyway…”
Seol-Hwi thought there was some trick afoot, but his caution prevented him from taking the chance to raise his affinity with the two. Was that meant to happen, or did he miss something?
“Or maybe nothing changed at all?” He had no idea what the big picture was.
But the problem is…
The Supreme Pavilion Lord had asked them where Seol-Hwi was.
“I just don’t know…”
He was anxious and wanted to save, but it was not meant to be.
<Someone is outside. You cannot refuse them.>
What?! His anxiety peaked.
The door opened, and the Supreme Pavilion Lord came in.
“Heheheh. So you were hiding here like a mouse?”
There was no dialogue. The old man was surely angry and here for a fight.
[Warning! The Supreme Pavilion Lord has discovered a weakness in Seol-Hwi. How would you like to respond?]
▶ Counterattack
▷ Defend
▷ Run Away
Choosing to wait last time had backfired on him.
