235. The World Outside the Box 3

A heavy silence fell in the room for a moment. Seeing Yoon Tae-ha, who had frozen stiff as if she had just witnessed a dead person come back to life, Seo Do-jin let out a light sigh.

“You don't have to react so violently. If we lure the enemy with the real-time surveillance cameras, we'll run away without looking back. Agent Jeong Ga-eul will act as you, and I’ll act as if I'm protecting Yoon Tae-ha under Lee Hae-kyung’s orders. A diversion is a basic, basic strategy.”

Yoon Tae-ha wanted to speak calmly, but she kept opening and closing her mouth several times. She wasn’t trying to argue about the efficiency of the plan. She just didn’t want to share the threat left for her with others.

“We have enough preparations. Ark’s well-known magicians will be with us, disguised as soldiers.”

“That woman won't hesitate to kill me. This is too dangerous a mission.”

Yoon Tae-ha looked back and forth between Seo Do-jin and Jeong Ga-eul, hoping that they would change their minds. Seo Do-jin seemed to have already made up his mind, no matter what she said. He turned his attention to the monitors with the surveillance cameras and watched the movements of the Chancellor and the Titans.

Thinking that it might be more possible to persuade the agent she had just met, Yoon Tae-ha turned her body toward Jeong Ga-eul.

“Ms. Jeong Ga-eul. If you were pressured by the higher-ups even a little, please tell me. No one can force you to do this.”

“I volunteered.”

“Have you ever seen a combat video of Kal? Or a video of me fighting? I'm not someone who can be easily beaten by anyone in terms of the number of monsters I've caught, but I lost to that snake every single time.”

“I know how capable Agent Yoon Tae-ha is. You were the one who brought the events happening at the Green Hive to light.”

Does this woman know more than I think? As Yoon Tae-ha was trying to deduce the unfamiliar woman’s background, Jeong Ga-eul closed the box containing the mask. She then told Yoon Tae-ha what she was curious about.

“There was a test subject that Dr. Palmer was specially managing at the Green Hive. It was a young girl born in Korea who was left at an orphanage with her older sister and was taken by Ark after she awakened as an Esper. She was a very rare type of Esper who could handle psychokinesis, bodily transformation, and even metal.”

“It's rare for more than three abilities to overlap, excluding physical enhancement.”

Yoon Tae-ha, caught off guard, helped Jeong Ga-eul with her story.

“Yes. That’s probably why my sister caught Geum Gang-seop’s eye.”

As the reason for her initial friendly gaze was vaguely revealed, Yoon Tae-ha couldn't find anything to say and lowered her eyes.

“Don't make that face. My sister is alive. Thanks to you, Ms. Yoon Tae-ha, she was able to come back to me. I wanted to meet you in person and say thank you.”

“I only moved for myself.”

“That doesn't mean that I getting to meet my sister again is something that never happened.”

Jeong Ga-eul said firmly, showing that she had no intention of reversing her decision. Yoon Tae-ha had failed to persuade her. Just then, another agent brought a tablet with a map of Jeong Ga-eul's route on it.

Jeong Ga-eul said she had already memorized the map. Helplessly, Yoon Tae-ha took the pad. A little later, Jeong Ga-eul, who had gotten up from her chair for a full-scale disguise, left after a short farewell.

“Let's meet again on the deck.”

As the competition began, the atmosphere in the arena grew hot with excitement and anticipation. But Baek Sang-ho, with a bored expression, just stared at the monitor next to his seat and felt no particular enjoyment.

Ahn Jung-seop, who was sitting next to him, was reading a report analyzing the combat power of the guild, Daphne, which was participating in the competition. Ahn Jung-seop, who was carefully looking at the description of the weapons Daphne used, noticed that Baek Sang-ho was glancing at his tablet and turned his head.

“Aren’t you having fun? This is a really big game.”

“It’s okay.”

“Even if it's just okay, wouldn't it be better to watch with interest? Daphne is a guild that’s in the top 10 in the world.”

“What’s the point of knowing about the kids who make a living from that stuff?”

“We also make a living by killing monsters. And Daphne has an image of being more capable than Ark these days. They even stepped in and resolved two gates that Gaia hadn't even predicted.”

“Aren’t they pulling some kind of a trick?”

At that moment, a bag of popcorn flew at Ahn Jung-seop. It was handed over by Choi Bo-mi and Shim Gyu-jong, who were sitting behind the two of them. Choi Bo-mi shook the bag and said.

“If you’re bored, watch while you eat.”

Baek Sang-ho took it and for several tens of minutes, he chewed on popcorn, following the movements of the agent who was destroying the shell of a six-legged insect monster with his eyes.

The hologram in the center of the arena was quite realistic, making it seem as if a fierce battle between a human and a monster was happening right in front of them. It was the moment when a Daphne guild member finally crushed the core in the monster's shell. Ahn Jung-seop, who had been looking at his tablet, called Baek Sang-ho urgently.

“Leader. Look at your personal monitor. Hurry. Put in your ear piece, too.”

Ahn Jung-seop’s voice was secretive. Baek Sang-ho took his eyes off the hologram in the center and hurriedly put the ear piece in his ear. Looking around, he saw people similar to them hurriedly dropping their gaze to their personal monitors. The cheerful atmosphere in the arena instantly settled down as if cold water had been thrown on it.

“What… is this?”

From behind, Choi Bo-mi muttered in a flat voice. Baek Sang-ho also watched the video on the screen as if possessed.

• This is Lee Hae-kyung, in charge of the National Office of Korea.

The owner of the voice heard in the video was Lee Hae-kyung. With his voice as the background, images that Baek Sang-ho had never seen before slowly appeared.

A picture of the Chimera that had threatened him and his team members in the green sea, trapped in a cultivation capsule, a picture of researchers observing them in front of the capsule, and a picture of mercenaries with guns dragging children somewhere. Lee Hae-kyung revealed that those pictures were of an anti-government force called Orca, and that a man they all knew well was the leader of Orca.

• That is Chancellor Geum Gang-seop.

The three letters of the name sharply pierced his ears. Baek Sang-ho reflexively raised his head and looked toward the stands where the Chancellor and the VIPs would be sitting.

The agents sitting around him reacted similarly. With faces that couldn't believe it and eyes that said it couldn't be true, they turned their bodies toward where the Chancellor was sitting. It was blocked by glass that prevented people from seeing inside from the outside, but the Chancellor was definitely in there. Meanwhile, Ahn Jung-seop, after secretly looking at the tablet screens of foreign agents who were engrossed in watching the video, whispered to Baek Sang-ho.

“The agents from other countries are watching a similar video to ours. The center directors or Alpha Team leaders of each country seem to be saying the exact same thing Lee Hae-kyung is saying right now.”

Next, an interrogation video of a pair of men and women belonging to the special operations unit was released. They admitted that the special operations unit had been continuously getting rid of agents who were acting against the organization under the Chancellor's orders. The Alpha Team of Korea immediately recognized that the man and woman were agents from the special operations unit who had gone missing in the green sea.

Soon, the ID photos of Ark agents registered in the system appeared. Baek Sang-ho found Yoon Tae-ha’s name first. Lee Hae-kyung revealed that they were agents who had been framed by the Chancellor.

Upon seeing Yoon Tae-ha’s ID photo, Choi Bo-mi made a sobbing sound and buried her face in her hands. People who had been trained to cut the throats of monsters were greatly agitated in various places and twisted their faces. Groans and sighs of pain followed intermittently. Baek Sang-ho also tried to concentrate on the video, but it was impossible to calm his heart, which was leaping up to his throat and thrashing.

“This… isn't a manipulated video, is it? There aren't many people who can play a prank like this with Lee Hae-kyung’s face.”

One of the Alpha Team agents asked in an uncertain voice. Another agent sitting behind him asserted that the evidence from the video did not seem to be manipulated. Upon hearing that the Chancellor had wielded power in two worlds by giving orders to both Orca and Ark, Ahn Jung-seop removed his ear piece and muttered gloomily.

“We were Orca.”

The Alpha Team, which had reached a terrible conclusion, fell into silence. When the explanation about the Elysian Project that the Chancellor was planning began, a commotion broke out in the stands.

“Delete the video immediately!”

Men who appeared to be from the special operations unit came down the stairs and through the hallways to various parts of the stands, shouting at the top of their lungs.

“The system has been hacked! Before we can grasp the enemy's true identity, you must not open any information that has arrived on electronic devices and destroy it! Your identity is at risk of being exposed to the enemy!”

“Stop playing the video immediately and return to your residences!”

“Any agent who continues to watch the video will be considered to be in agreement with the enemy’s will!”

They threatened them menacingly, but no one believed them and turned off the video. At that moment, a question full of hatred flew from a corner of the stands like a dagger.

“Was it your doing?”

It was difficult to distinguish who had thrown the question. The special operations unit, who had been pulling out their weapons and threatening the people sitting around the hallway, suddenly became quiet as if they had realized that they were at a numerical disadvantage.

On the other hand, the anger of the people who had belatedly grasped the situation spread in an instant like a wildfire covering a dry plain.

“Where is Geum Gang-seop?”

“I need to hear an explanation from him directly about whether this is true.”

Such voices also came from the Alpha Team, who had been trained to protect the organization in any situation. Baek Sang-ho slowly got up from his seat.

“I'm going to the Chancellor.”

Hearing his words, Choi Bo-mi immediately got up from her seat. The other Espers also no longer wanted to sit still. As many people tried to take active action, the special operations unit disappeared from their spots with teleportation as if they had planned it in advance.

“Cowardly bastards!”

Starting with one man's curse, all the agents who had watched the video began to move.

Baek Sang-ho heard Ahn Jung-seop's voice saying that a message had come from Lee Hae-kyung and looked up at the ceiling of the arena, which was designed to show the sky.

At the edge of the dark sky, a thumbnail-sized crescent moon was shining faintly. It was the beginning of a particularly long and arduous night.