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Yoon Tae-ha, who was putting the black spear Chertan had given her into its specialized weapon case, thought briefly before speaking.
“The good news first.”
Jeon Ye-rim put on a regretful expression.
“I think both are bad news, what do I do?”
“Then tell me the less bad news first.”
Jeon Ye-rim came closer and sat lightly on the bed.
“Vice Chairman Cheon Beom-jun is dead. To be precise, he committed suicide. He left a will admitting that all the illegal amplifiers brought into and distributed through the Esper training institutes for CH Pharmaceutical’s new drug development were entirely under his command.”
Yoon Tae-ha stated firmly.
“Someone did a neat job of cutting off the tail.”
“No matter how heavy, a tail is still a tail. And there’s one more piece of worse news.”
Jeon Ye-rim hesitated for a moment, then finished the sentence in one breath, as if it was something she hated to utter.
“It seems Yoon Jung-hoon has taken over Chairman Cheon Seong-beom’s body. Our hunch was right. That man was a coward who didn’t even have the courage to meet death in a natural way.”
Yoon Tae-ha’s hand paused in mid-air for a moment, then moved again. She closed the box, silently fastened the lock, then looked up and met Jeon Ye-rim’s eyes. Jeon Ye-rim gave a puzzled expression at her unexpectedly calm reaction.
“You should avoid him too.”
“What?”
“You said Yoon Jung-hoon is alive, didn’t you? And there were things he left behind in the basement of this mansion.”
“Of course, Yoon Jung-hoon has never been to this mansion. I stole those things secretly.”
“Then you should avoid him even more. He’ll be looking for you, knowing you’ve disappeared.”
“Are you saying, when your grandfather is alive, you’re worried about me first? There’s even a flower garden Seo-hyun left here.”
“You’re the person around me with the weakest power to protect yourself. I don’t want to see anyone close to me die because of my grandfather anymore.”
Jeon Ye-rim couldn’t follow Yoon Tae-ha’s thinking, which prioritized her own safety first. She argued,
“Don’t you hate me? I never thought I’d say this directly, but I knew you were probably rolling in the mud and still just hid. Giving myself absolution by saying you wouldn’t die because you have powers...”
“I don’t think you’re a coward.”
Yoon Tae-ha said sincerely. It was then that the corners of Jeon Ye-rim’s eyes began to redden.
“You did your best, didn’t you? And as a result, you returned something truly precious to me. If I hadn’t come here, I might have been stuck in the moment my mother died and ended up rampaging. So don’t say such things.”
Yoon Tae-ha, who had been fiddling with the pendant around her neck, got up.
She moved the weapon box onto the desk, then began to meticulously pack the clothes Jeon Ye-rim had separately prepared for her into her bag. Until she finished packing, Jeon Ye-rim sat on the bed, blankly watching Yoon Tae-ha’s movements.
Yoon Tae-ha finished packing by placing the box of emergency medicine on top of her bag and zipping it up.
Having finished her preparations to leave, she returned to the front of the bed. And she lightly held up the hem of the one-piece indoor wear that Jeon Ye-rim, with her consistent taste, had prepared. The area around her ankle, which had been discolored due to the curse, was now clean.
“I won’t be exposed because of my ankle, will I?”
Jeon Ye-rim, who barely parted her lips, replied.
“It doesn’t show. It’s so clean it’s dazzling.”
“It seems the mage you hired and I had good compatibility. My body wasn’t always responsive to magical healing.”
Soon after, Yoon Tae-ha looked around the cozy bedroom where she had stayed for a while. The fact that she hadn’t felt the slightest discomfort while living here was thanks to someone’s profound interest and care. She wanted to express her gratitude.
“Thank you for taking care of me all this time. I ate well, rested well, and now I’m leaving.”
Before her words even finished, a stream of tears flowed down from the corners of Jeon Ye-rim’s eyes.
________________________________________
White foam rose and disappeared around the small boat sailing through the evening twilight. It was a hazy day with a light fog making everything appear blurry, and often a sea breeze blew from the west, rustling hair.
Yoon Tae-ha, who had been standing at the bow, turned around at the sound of someone approaching her. Nox spoke, signaling her to prepare.
“We’ll arrive soon.”
He was the only one who could communicate with the captain of this small fishing boat. Yoon Tae-ha sighed, recalling the twists and turns that led her to ride this boat.
“That’s a relief.”
At midnight on the day she said goodbye to Jeon Ye-rim, a call came from Kwon Hyuk. He told her about a port near Pollux and advised her to move there. He added that since it was an improvised means of transportation, she should go as quickly as possible.
Yoon Tae-ha’s only companion was Nox. Jeon Ye-rim had suggested taking a mage, but Yoon Tae-ha refused, as it was clearly going to be too dangerous a journey. And the refusal was the right choice. Because as soon as they arrived at the port, they found low-ranking members of Orca.
Nox explained that they were of a rank that didn’t even know that Ark and Orca were one entity. However, the fact that the Director-General’s subordinates had come all this way looking for someone was enough to heighten the tension. The Director-General must have been relentlessly searching.
They avoided the search, boarded the small boat Kwon Hyuk had informed them of beforehand, and sailed for three days and nights into the open sea. The waves grew rougher the closer they got to the heart of the ocean.
Even Yoon Tae-ha, who didn’t get seasick much, felt relieved that the moment to transfer to a larger ship had come. Yoon Tae-ha retrieved her bag from the cabin and slung it over her shoulder.
Meanwhile, the captain exchanged a short conversation with Nox in words she couldn’t understand, then pointed east with his finger. Soon, a long ship appeared on the eastern horizon. It was an enormous container ship that transported cargo.
The small boat they were on approached the side of the massive, stopped ship. The container ship floating on the sea looked like a building lying on its side. Nox informed her of the captain’s communication.
“They said they’ll lower a rope ladder from over there, and we should climb up. If we directly teleport to the deck, they’ll consider it an act of aggression from our side.”
“It’s unavoidable for them to be scared, encountering two powerful runaways.”
As the ladder became close enough to grab, the captain turned off the engine. After exchanging a brief farewell with Nox, he jumped into the sea without hesitation. Yoon Tae-ha, who was preparing to climb the ladder, was surprised to see that.
Nox, who approached after confirming there were no traces left by them inside the boat, glanced at the shimmering water and said,
“He’s someone who’s more comfortable in the sea than on land. He plans not to return to human society for a while for safety.”
At that moment, a streamlined dolphin leaped out of the water where the captain had jumped in. The dolphin showed its fins, circled for a short time, then disappeared towards the distant sea.
“So he was a mer-person.”
Yoon Tae-ha, calming her surprised heart, climbed the ladder and lightly landed on the deck.
Contrary to her expectation that soldiers would be aiming guns at her, the person waiting for her was an unarmed woman.
“Yoon Tae-ha!”
The woman wearing a life jacket suddenly jumped into her arms, causing Yoon Tae-ha to stagger backward. She fumbled at the shoulder of the life jacket, doubting her eyes.
“Hong Eun-soo?”
She couldn’t possibly think of a plausible reason why the Esper she had met at school was here. Fortunately, Nox, who had just landed on the deck, caused Hong Eun-soo to step back. Seeing Nox, she fussed as if remembering what she had to do.
“Let’s go inside first. Standing on the deck for too long isn’t a good choice.”
The two followed her, passing between containers and reaching the Deck House, the crew’s living quarters.
As they walked, Yoon Tae-ha noticed suspicious black holes drilled in various places on the containers. They looked like holes for surveillance cameras or for snipers to poke their rifle barrels through.
At the entrance of the Deck House, Hong Eun-soo authenticated herself and opened the door. Following the tightly enclosed corridor, they came to another door blocked by a password. Hong Eun-soo scanned the card hanging around her neck there, then grinned.
“Welcome in the early morning.”
Artificial lights stung their eyes as they streamed in. Passing through the automatically opening door, Yoon Tae-ha immediately understood the meaning of the welcome. This was not an ordinary crew living area.
“After I got the job, they told me to report to a different address than my registered one. The company was in Seoul, but they told me to go down to Busan and get on a ship, so I thought I was being scammed. I wouldn’t have gone if the money hadn’t already been deposited in my account.”
“If that’s the case, shouldn’t you have gone even less? It sounds suspicious.”
Hong Eun-soo chattered beside her. Yoon Tae-ha responded appropriately, examining the five-story interior space.
“Too much money to run away from... And the conditions were good. It was also something I wanted to do. Anyway, that’s not the point I’m trying to make.”
The interior, decorated like an open library reading room, was filled with monitors of various sizes. Some employees wearing headsets seemed to be sucked into the monitors. The holographic screen on the opposite wall was of a massive size that even she had never seen before, and the movement paths of specific monsters were being displayed on it as red dots.
“The first floor is used by information gatherers. The designers, meaning the employees who create programs, use the second floor. The third floor is used by managers and people who came from outside.”
Hong Eun-soo, who had been explaining, pointing to each floor, suddenly stopped speaking.
“Speak of the devil. The person coming down the stairs now is one of the managers. Look at his face. He’s incredibly young, isn’t he? He’s about my age, but I have no idea how old he was when he started building his career.”
A man who looked to be of similar age to her came down the stairs connecting to the upper floor. He approached with a light gait and extended his hand to Yoon Tae-ha first for a handshake.
“I’m Jin Ki-won. Nice to meet you.”
Jin Ki-won also politely introduced himself to Nox. Even without the background knowledge of him being a manager, he exuded an aura of knowing a considerable amount of information.
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