Chapter 18

Chapter 18

Crackle-crackle-crackle—!

Along with a roar that seemed ready to tear my eardrums apart.

The whole world flashed bright yellow.

I had taken it into account to some extent, but the tremendous flash was enough to make my eyes sting.

It happened the moment a single line of electricity touched fog so humid it was practically water.

To compare it to something, it was like running an electric current through a bathtub full of water.

“W-What in the world just happened?”

Seo-rin looked around with an expression that showed she could not hide her shock.

It was understandable.

After all, she had experienced something tremendous that ordinary people could not.

That was one thing, but.

Seo-rin added in a dazed voice.

“Also, are we fine again?”

The Boss Monster was one thing, but we had also been within range.

Normally, it would not have been strange if we had been electrocuted and burned to death, yet we had not been hurt in the slightest.

That was because I had taken measures in advance, right before we were electrocuted.

Electric current flowed around our bodies in the shape of armor.

Among Grade 3 magic, there was a spell called [Lightning Armor].

This was the result of my reinterpretation of it.

I had been in a hurry, and I was so inexperienced that compared to the original, its quality was crude beyond words. Still, we lived, so that was enough.

[Magic understanding has increased.]

[You have acquired Static Electricity Armor.]

Thanks to that, a new spell was stored in my Memory Book too, so I killed two birds with one stone.

[MVP reward will be issued.]

[Vitality Pill awarded.]

-Upon consumption, physical ability increases by one stage.

-Caution! For the full effect, before taking it, please use it with focus in a place where you will not be disturbed.

Oh!

I liked the reward too.

Because I had received the Lich King’s Terminal Curse, my stamina was as pathetic as it could be.

How bad was it?

Bad enough that I could not run even a few steps before collapsing on the spot.

Exactly what I needed had appeared.

Using it right away felt a bit much.

Next time I entered the Tower, I would ask Poing to protect me, then try using it.

That was when I was making plans in my head.

“Sung Ha-jin, no, Pingkkyu Gyongdyu….?”

I heard two words that must never be combined.

Was I hearing things?

At first, I thought I had misheard because of the ringing in my ears.

But it was not my imagination.

In the place where the fog had cleared, an unexpected person stood.

“Team Leader? How are you here, Team Leader?”

Seo-rin asked back with a pale face.

In front of us stood the team leader.

Seeing no signs of injury on him, it seemed he had arrived right after the situation ended.

“More importantly, how did you know that…?”

It was similar to the question from before.

However, the intention behind it was clearly different.

As an ordinary person, she had no way of knowing.

Only Chosen could see the System.

For me, the person who defeated the Boss Monster, it only displayed that I had achieved MVP.

But it was different for other Chosen.

Like when clearing the Tower, the nickname the person had set in advance appeared.

It seemed that the bastard had seen it.

“…Sung Ha-jin, your true identity was Pingkkyu Gyongdyu?”

Putting together the clues according to the flow of his thoughts.

In the end, he had found me out.

My nickname, which must never be known.

“Why did you hide that fact and work as a porter? If you simply announced it to the world, you would be sitting on a pile of money in no time. That nickname. Seems there is a reason you cannot let it be discovered. Is there not?”

I thought he was a dull bear.

But looking at him again, he was no different from a sly fox.

The corners of the team leader’s mouth curved like a crescent moon.

“Ah, I will keep my mouth shut. How many years have we worked together? You think I have no loyalty at all? In exchange, hand over the reward you received this time. How about it? I am only doing this because it is me, you punk.”

To think he was already planning to fleece me through blackmail. Even his footwork was on another level.

Enough to shock even Satan.

“You call that a proposal?”

“…What did you just say?”

At my words, the team leader’s eyes rolled white with rage.

Who did he think he was, telling me to hand over my reward?

Anyone watching would think I had left it in his care.

Sorry, but.

“Why should I? You should have graduated from the habit of shaking people down back in middle school.”

That kind of demand would not work.

I stretched my Wand toward him and activated the spell I had loaded.

Grade 2 magic, Electric Shock, fell over his head.

Crackle!

With the smell of burning, his body collapsed to the ground.

At the sudden situation, Seo-rin nearly stopped breathing.

There was no need to worry. He would not die.

I had adjusted the power.

Just enough so he would not die.

“Grrrrgh, you bastard!!”

The team leader gritted his teeth and forced himself up.

Even rotten, a prized shad remained prized.

No, was it because he was still a Chosen?

Rumble-rumble-rumble!

At the same time, the ground trembled as if an earthquake had struck.

It was a sign that the Dungeon was collapsing.

Once the Boss Monster died and the Dungeon lost its core, it spat the Chosen and porters inside back into reality.

I had wondered what he was relying on to act so tough.

He was a bastard whose head worked rather quickly.

Was he planning to make his next move after getting out of here?

“Sung Ha-jin! Once we get outside, I will give you exactly five minutes. Five hundred million won into my account. Take on debt or do whatever it takes to deposit it. If you do not, I will reveal your identity to the whole world. Got….”

Flash!

Before he could finish his sentence, he suddenly disappeared.

“M-Mr. Ha-jin! That poisonous toad of a man….”

At that sight, Seo-rin’s eyes went wide.

She was worried.

Worried that the bastard who had returned to Earth would spread my identity far and wide.

But.

“You do not need to worry about it.”

There was no need to worry that much.

It was not as if I had predicted things would turn out this way.

But before entering the Dungeon, I had already made a move.

***

“Urgh, it hurts like hell. Damn that insolent bastard! Who was the one who indulged him all this time? How dare he bare his claws in front of me!”

Choi Gyu-nam cursed while chewing painkillers.

Because of Pingkkyu Gyongdyu, in other words, that bastard Sung Ha-jin, his achievement had been stolen.

However, he had obtained an even greater achievement than that.

‘To think that brat was Pingkkyu Gyongdyu.’

It had deviated from what was planned, but rather, this was better.

Based on their conversation, Sung Ha-jin clearly wanted to hide his identity.

That meant.

If he could grab that weakness and shake it, he could gain the upper hand over the mighty Pingkkyu Gyongdyu.

“Phew, this is no time for this.”

After chewing the painkiller, the pain subsided somewhat.

“Shall I start contacting people?”

Pingkkyu Gyongdyu’s true identity.

This was top-class information.

If he could sell it anywhere, he could earn a fortune.

Just as he was about to take out his phone.

“Choi Gyu-nam, Team Leader of Team Two, Eunhye Co., Ltd.”

A woman’s voice came from somewhere.

‘A woman?’

She was wearing a green jacket.

He thought she had unusual taste, but when he looked closely, it was a civil defense jacket for public officials.

“A former Chosen. Highest Tower floor climbed, the ninth floor. You lacked ability, so you changed careers and became a manager at a porter company. Oh, not a bad choice. I think quickly recognizing your own place is a skill too.”

“……?”

For a moment, his brain froze.

Unlike her leisurely tone, the content was anything but ordinary.

“Ten years ago, after awakening as a Chosen, it seems you were recognized as a fairly decent rookie at the time. But you quickly hit your limit… Your will must be quite weak. Well, with that kind of personality, no wonder your wife left too. You divorced four years ago, did you not?”

“What the hell are you, bitch? Where do you think you are playing games?!”

“Do I look like I am joking?”

She did not even blink at his roar.

Instead, she asked back with a cold look.

Just as he was thinking she was not ordinary, something that should not have come from the woman’s mouth came out.

“Leaving that aside, you are quite bold. Considering how much you helped yourself to the company after quitting as a Chosen.”

“….What do you mean?”

“One hundred million won three years ago, three hundred million two years ago, seven hundred million last year. Wow, amazing. Added together, you ate over one billion won. And that is only in cash. A famous foreign sports car received as a bribe, and even sexual favors at Gangnam King Salon.”

“……”

“By any chance, do you have a certified criminal tattoo on your forearm too?”

At Han-sol’s mockery, Choi Gyu-nam lost it.

He immediately tried to silence her, but she was faster.

Whoosh!

Just as his field of vision seemed to shift, he came to his senses and found himself subdued.

With both hands in handcuffs.

Those were not the movements of an ordinary person.

“N-No way, you are a Chosen too….”

“Yes, yes, that story is stale, so that is enough. If you have something to say, go say it to the judge in court.”

“A… trial…? I was wrong! Fine, I was wrong. Ah, right! You are from the government too, are you not? Pingkkyu Gyongdyu! I know who Pingkkyu Gyongdyu is!”

“……….!”

Choi Gyu-nam’s desperate shout.

“How about it? I will tell you that bastard’s personal information, so this matter can—”

“Ah, stop.”

Han-sol raised his hand and stopped him.

“I do not want to hear any more than that. I have no intention of hearing it either.”

Pingkkyu Gyongdyu’s true identity?

Of course she wanted to know.

They were the person turning the whole world upside down, so there was no way she would not be curious.

However, she must not try to find out.

-There must be a great reason why Pingkkyu Gyongdyu, that person, does not reveal themself. If we step in needlessly and incur their anger, that would be an even bigger negative. Understood?

That was something Team Leader Kang Han-seok had once said.

There was no need to rush.

When the time came, they would naturally find out.

She gagged him with practiced movements.

“Mmph!!”

“You will probably be going to an underground solitary cell in prison, so if you want to talk about Pingkkyu Gyongdyu’s true identity, go chatter away there.”

Just as soldiers were referred to military law when they committed crimes.

Chosen went through a separate trial process when they committed crimes too.

Naturally, the level of punishment was several times heavier than that of ordinary people.

“Well, even if you do, I doubt there will be anyone to listen.”

“M… mmph!! Mmph!!”

He struggled to escape somehow, but it was all meaningless.

“Ah, hello. We have captured that person. We will hand him over to the police now. This person developed delirium at a young age. Well, he kept saying someone he knows is Pingkkyu Gyongdyu… yes, yes, how pitiful. He is still young too. Anyway, he keeps rambling about Pingkkyu Gyongdyu and whatever else, so you can just ignore him appropriately.”

At Han-sol’s ensuing call, Choi Gyu-nam had no choice but to squeeze his eyes shut.

Because he sensed his own end.

***

“Whew, I am back from the field.”

Han-sol tossed her jacket aside carelessly and sank down with a thud.

While doing so.

Kang Han-seok, who stood before a mirror and adjusted the fit of his suit, entered her sight.

“Huh? Did the sun rise in the west today, sir? You always dress so casually, so what is with the sudden suit?”

He had never even worn a suit when meeting the Minister, saying it was cumbersome.

“No, wait… now that I think about it, I think this is the first time I have ever seen you in a suit at work, Team Leader.”

“Why do you think so? Because today is an important day.”

“You are someone who did not even wear one when meeting the Minister… what, is the President coming?”

“The President? Why would the President come to meet me? If something like that happened, I would have already handed in my resignation.”

“Then who in the world are you meeting?”

“Pingkkyu Gyongdyu.”

“………!!”

At the answer that followed, Han-sol’s eyes flew open.

“Holy crap, is that for real?”

“Yes. We finally got in contact.”

Some might think, “So what?” merely because they had made contact.

But anyone who knew the internal situation would understand.

Until now, they had sent dozens of messages, including contract proposals, but not once had they made mutual contact with Pingkkyu Gyongdyu.

In fact, among the messages they had sent, the only one that had even shown a read receipt was the first contract proposal.

The rest had not even been read.

This was not only true of the Committee.

Among famous domestic guilds… no, even across the entire world, the Committee was practically the only one whose message Pingkkyu Gyongdyu had personally read.

And yet, Pingkkyu Gyongdyu had contacted them first.

This was no different from a national red-letter event.

“Wow, is this not something that should immediately appear on the nine o’clock news?”

“Perhaps.”

He did not particularly deny it.

Because he could not say for certain that it would not.

They were pushing it forward secretly, but the news might actually break.

News outlets were terrifyingly good at sniffing out this kind of scent.

“Then can you see that person in person? If the time is set, where are you meeting?”

At Han-sol’s question, Kang Han-seok silently held up his cell phone.

“A cell phone? Why that?”

“We agreed to contact each other through this.”

“So you are not meeting offline, but contacting them online, and you still put on a suit?”

Kang Han-seok nodded.

“Well, if it is a video call, I suppose that could happen.”

“It is not.”

“Eh? What does that mean?”

At the conversation that followed, question marks floated in Han-sol’s head.

He was wearing a suit while contacting someone online.

But it was not a video call.

Once she excluded that, there was only one thing that came to mind.

No way… surely not that?

“Uh… then, by voice call…?”

She asked back with a sour expression, and Kang Han-seok nodded.

An awkward silence flowed.

“So, you are contacting them by phone, and you wore a suit? Even though you are not facing each other?”

What kind of situation was this?

It was absurd, yet ironically, she could understand it.