After coming back from the meeting, Lee Su-yeon said:
“There are a lot of people we need to kill.”
He didn’t know, but it seemed that many were added to Lee Su-yeon’s hit-list. Yoon-seok changed the subject.
“So, what about the person we’re looking for?”
“I found him. He’s the one.”
Lee Su-yeon replied with a bright smile. Did they make the right choice to come to the meeting? They still had seven days left before they returned, and they finally found the target.
“I’ll catch up with you after the meeting. Until then, it will be hard, but please bear with me. Not a single noise will be detected if we do it quietly….”
Yoon-seok laughed at her requesting tone. Put that way, didn’t it seem like he was a psychopath crazy about slaughter? Well, he held no regret for the b Planet Guardian}. They were doing what they had to do.
“I’ll be in the next meeting as well. There’s something I have to do now to catch him later. Just read this while you’re resting.”
Lee Su-yeon took a notebook out of her subspace bag as if giving a toy to a lonely child. When he opened the first page, he first noticed the cute handwriting. When he looked at Lee Su-yeon, wondering what this was, she smiled.
“I organized their weaknesses and characteristics. Do you know the names of the people on the list?”
He didn’t know their names; he only heard their last names and titles during the meeting. One by one, Lee Su-yeon recited the names of the people she saw at the meeting.
“If something goes wrong inside, we might have to fight, so please go through it once, okay?”
Was it that dangerous? He wasn’t sure, but Yoon-seok nodded. Somehow, it felt like he was becoming Lee Su-yeon’s killing machine, but that must be his imagination.
“Then I’ll be back.”
Lee Su-yeon and the Princess headed back to the meeting venue, and Yoon-seok went down to the banquet hall on the first floor. All the food was newly prepared, and perhaps because it was dinner time, the number of people enjoying the banquet increased from the morning. Instead of joining the Princess’s escorts, Yoon-seok sat on an empty sofa and read the notebook Lee Su-yeon gave him to kill time.
—Red Flame Wizard (late 20s)
First-class wizard of the country Fredden. Their main specialty is flame magic, and she is also good at fighting hand-to-hand. Mission challenger, floor number unknown. Weak to men. A shallow girl.
The first one that stood out was the Red Flame Wizard. She was the woman with a petite figure and an annoyed look. She followed as an escort, but she was wearing a colorful red dress that stood out.
‘I thought she was a ranker, but she was from missions.’
It was a little unexpected. The energy detected from her was comparable to a duel ranker, but she was a mission challenger? Well, if one actively participated in missions, the reward was comparable to duels so that he could understand how, but…
“But weak against men? A shallow girl? What does that mean?’
There were some confusing parts, but Yoon-seok skimmed through and checked the detailed description. Her Unique Skill was {Fire Dragon’s Heart}. Lee Su-yeon’s rating on this Unique Skill was A+.
‘It looks as good as the rating.’
Fire attributed to the magic that increased the power of flames. The only thing special was that she could fully recover by consuming one magic rank. Yoon-seok lost interest and moved on.
‘This is kinda fun.’
It became entertaining as he read on. Suddenly, while looking through the information of the challengers designated by Lee Soo-yeon, Yoon-seok found a different name.
—King of Steel (the 40s)
Kerixis Jagun, Bernille, the war hero praised as the king and guardian deity of the sword country Bernille and a master of bare-handed martial arts. He’s macho. If you speak too much, he will break your head first. Likes guys.
Recommend to become his subordinate or run away immediately if encountered.
Was it because it was a notebook Lee Su-yeon had never intended to show anyone that she wrote her thoughts in the margins? The word selection and form were very carefree. With a smile, Yoon-seok focused on the details below.
Come to think of it; he was always curious. What was his Unique Skill?
‘Rating is SSS+?’
The name was b Iron Man}, and it held the top rating. But that was all; there was no information that he wanted. Lee Su-yeon only guessed that it was a Unique Skill that gave the excellent buff to his fighting abilities.
‘How did she grade my Unique Skill?’
Yoon-seok rummaged through her notebook. She wrote it before they met, so he expected his name to be here if he looked it up. His prediction was right.
—Choi Yoon-seok (the early 20s)
Kang Hyung-woo’s underling. He has talent, but he never decides anything on his own. A pearl necklace on a pig’s neck. Tends to rely on others and is obedient. I want to get a man like this.
Assumption: Likes men?
Yoon-seok, who was reading slowly with half anxiety and half expectation, froze.
“…?”
Kang Hyung-woo’s underling? He had nothing to say about this. Before she rewound time, that was the life he was living. But he liked men? Yoon-seok reflected on himself for smiling while reading the King of Steel’s information. Still, since he searched for it, he also read the detailed description below. Fortunately, the rest was normal.
Unique Skillb Predator}. The rating is S+. It’s all or nothing, but he’s nothing.
At that, Yoon-seok closed the notebook.
‘I shouldn’t have seen it…’
For some reason, he felt shame blooming in his heart. It felt like he had opened Pandora’s box. Yoon-seok couldn’t hide his mixed feelings as he chewed on the sweet cookies next to him. Maybe because he was eating sweets, he felt a little better, but that was only for a moment.
‘It’s not as good as Elle’s cookies…’
The sudden reminder of Elle made his heart heavy again. Soon, Yoon-seok drank alcohol instead of snacking to clear his mind. He couldn’t get drunk, so it just tasted bitter.
‘Oh, that’s right. I didn’t see hers.’
Yoon-seok opened the notebook again as he was reminded of Cheon-ma. Lee Su-yeon appeared to have known about her, so she must have written in her notebook. What did it say about her?
“…?”
The moment he opened the first page of the notebook, Yoon-seok’s hands stiffened. He detected an unexpected change from the second floor.
‘What?’
An unusual wave of magic moved from beyond the boundary laid on the stairs. Yoon-seok felt it intuitively: something happened up there. It felt somehow related to Lee Su-yeon, so Yoon-seok quickly put the notebook away and headed to the second floor.
Drrrrrrrrrrrrr-!
The walls were shaking with intertwined magical powers. On top of that, there was a disturbance within the conference hall.
“Don’t kill her! We have to hold her hostage!”
Use her as a hostage? Who said that? Well, he would find out when he entered.
Boom-!
Yoon-seok kicked the door open and entered the hall. Ten strong players as good as rankers were waiting inside? That was great. Lee Su-yeon said it was best to finish their business secretly without using force, but that wasn’t because she was afraid of them.
“Damn it. How did you find out?”
When Yoon-seok entered, he first noticed the people’s disheveled faces. Then, Yoon-seok quickly moved his eyes to find Lee Su-yeon in the spacious conference hall. She was bleeding with her back against the wall and her weapon out. When their eyes met, Lee Su-yeon lowered her head in shame.
She was a talented person who reached the 21st floor, but it seemed too much for her to handle this many alone. It had been going well step by step, so how did it reach this point? He didn’t know, but now wasn’t the time to think about it.
Whooooosh-!
Yoon-seok drew his sword and raised his magic. If all of them were his opponents, Yoon-seok would also be a little nervous. Unlike before, when they were malicious toward him, everyone swallowed as Yoon-seok’s energy rose. Someone spoke.
“This is why I tried to end it quickly, but I’ll leave after killing some of them.”
They had already roughly checked each other’s skills. Although several powerful people from the continent were gathered, it was obvious that the damage would be severe if they faced Yoon-seok head-on.
‘Is that why you tried to hold her hostage?’
Up to here, he could understand at a glance. However, Yoon-seok was a little curious. Why were they hostile toward him and Lee Su-yeon? The questions were resolved directly through their mouths.
“This woman is a sinner. Geronian. Katlan. Ewin. Bernille… she killed people at random.”
It had nothing to do with {Planet Guardian}. It was just that Lee Su-yeon’s past in Seheranbad held her back.
“We don’t know you. If you don’t have much to do with her, why don’t you step down from here? No matter how strong you are, you won’t be safe.”
Was it Cardinal Nephren? The muscular priest in a white robe gave Yoon-seok a choice as if to warn him. It was a little funny. If they thought their power was greater, they wouldn’t suggest such a thing. But did they even know?
Such contradictory behavior made them look like prey in Yoon-seok’s eyes.
“…”
Yoon-seok looked to Lee Soo-yeon wordlessly. She was desperately glancing at something, apparently asking him to leave her be. Only then did Yoon-seok realize she only knew the rating of SS+ given by the Tower. She had never seen him fight. So, as a result, she thought that it would be over if they fought head-on.
‘It hurts my pride.’
He admitted it. The enemies they were facing were strong. It was natural as Seheranbad was a huge dimension and a front-runner in the Tower. But…
“I refuse your offer. She’s important to me.”
Yoon-seok flat-out rejected the proposal, receiving a mixed reaction. Lee Su-yeon made a strange expression that seemed happy yet extremely worried while Cardinal Nephren’s lips twisted coldly.
“…Your voice is much younger than I thought.”
He focused on his voice rather than the fact that he was rejected. When he realized that Yoon-seok was younger than expected, he smiled dejectedly. Of course, it didn’t matter to Yoon-seok how he felt.
“I have a suggestion.”
They flinched at Yoon-seok’s words. No matter how different their skills were, ten infamous talents from the different continents were gathered here. Of course, some would die, but their victory was already pre-established. In the midst of that, he was proposing another idea?
“It’s a suggestion, so let’s hear it first. What is it?”
Cardinal Nephren asked Yoon-seok. But was it difficult to tolerate even that? The man who was humiliated while belittling Princess Orlene on the first meeting day shouted.
“What’s there to listen to? No matter how strong he is, he can’t deal with all of us!”
“…Will you shut up, Duke?”
“S-shut up? What kind of diplomatic disrespect…!”
“If you talk again, I’ll pull out your throat, so stay still and hide behind like before.”
The man shut his mouth while trembling and stepped down from Cardinal Nephren’s murderous look. Yoon-seok smiled. Looking at his face, physique, and tone, he didn’t look like a priest at all.
“So, what’s your proposal?”
When asked by the Cardinal Nephren, Yoon-seok spoke without hesitation.
“Let my colleague go and leave.”
“What’s the benefit of that?”
The benefit of accepting his proposal? If he had to put it in words, it was simple.
“I’ll spare you.”
Regardless of their union, wouldn’t they have to live to face a new tomorrow? At Yoon-seok’s suggestion, Cardinal Nephren raised his brows.
“…Is that a threat?”
Yoon-seok didn’t answer. He didn’t mean to threaten them. But if the other person felt that way… well, that would be correct.
It was logical to be more aware of such things the weaker they were.
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