Chapter 33

Chapter 33

A Visit

Headquarters Director Park Gang-seok and the team members examined the list displayed on the monitor.

“Team Leader Kim Se-yun. Are you sure this is narrowed down? Why are there so many?”

Even at a rough count, there were well over three hundred names.

It did not seem as if anything would change just because he stared holes through it.

“As instructed, I pulled every person who may have held a grudge against the company. The list beside it consists of people who have never belonged to Kronos, but are presumed to harbor hostility.”

The list beside it was even worse.

There were at least a thousand names.

“You have got to be...”

Park Gang-seok clicked his tongue.

Irritation surged within him, but he could not say anything to Kim Se-yun.

Because he knew better than anyone.

After the Regression, Kronos had used its overwhelming capital and authority to seize whatever it could get its hands on.

“Then let me change the question. You are the HR Team Leader, so you must have interviewed all the people who resigned. If you had to choose just one person among them, who would it be?”

Everyone’s gaze turned toward Kim Se-yun.

The reason she had become famous within Kronos was not simply because of her exceptional appearance.

Kim Se-yun possessed an excellent eye for people, and her ability to freely handle people according to the company’s needs was outstanding.

Her handling of other work was also machine-like in its precision and excellence, so she had earned the complete trust of the executives.

Kim Se-yun quietly exhaled and dragged one name.

At the same time, the conference room began to stir.

It could not be helped.

The name Kim Se-yun had chosen was Ryu Jin.

It was a name no one from Kronos could possibly be unaware of.

“Hah.”

Park Gang-seok let out a hollow laugh and looked at Kim Se-yun.

“Are you serious? Have you forgotten who Ryu Jin is? This bastard is the only Non-Regressor in the entire world. He alone doesn’t know what everyone in the world knows, and you are saying that kind of guy is a suspect?”

“I know it lacks realism. I also know it makes no sense. Perhaps that is exactly why it keeps drawing my eye.”

Kim Se-yun pointed to Floors 1 through 10 of the Labyrinth in order.

“Is there anyone here? Someone who has heard of the concept of Labyrinth destruction, whether before or after the Regression?”

There could not be.

Even now, people were arguing back and forth over whether it was a temporary error in the System or something else.

“The very concept of Labyrinth destruction itself is a phenomenon that makes no sense. Even the Constellations, the masters of the Labyrinth, call it impossible. Yet it occurred. Not once, but ten times.”

After steadying her breathing once, Kim Se-yun continued.

“Since impossibility is continuing so casually, I changed the flow of my thoughts. Who is the farthest from this? Who is the least suitable person to carry out this madness?”

“I can accept that you reversed your thinking. But even so, it is too unrealistic.”

“I think the same as you, Headquarters Director. Simply being the farthest away is not enough to mark Ryu Jin as a suspect.”

Perhaps she had expected that reaction.

Kim Se-yun’s finger moved toward the question marks filling Floors 1 through 10.

Normally, this was where the real name of the player who held authority over the relevant floor should have appeared.

“There are a total of three possible cases where this phenomenon can occur. Either there is a bug in Ariadne that we have not recognized, Labyrinth destruction as a new concept has caused some kind of side effect, or if neither of those is the case, the person is someone who is not registered in Ariadne. As a result of confirming with the development team, I received a definite answer that the first two are unlikely to—”

BANG!

Park Gang-seok slammed the table and opened his mouth.

“Team Leader Kim Se-yun, stop there. How long am I supposed to listen to such absurd hypotheses?”

Park Gang-seok’s eyes moved to the name Ryu Jin.

Non-Regressor Ryu Jin.

A filthy uncomfortable name. More precisely, a name no one with a position in Kronos wanted to hear.

He could not report that sort of name to the higher-ups as the result of a meeting.

“Delete Ryu Jin from the list. He is not even worth considering. Leaving aside the fact that he is a Non-Regressor, you should know well that the Class he awakened to is garbage, shouldn’t you? You are saying he is exploring the Labyrinth with that, and without Ariadne? Far from destroying anything, he would already be dead. Team Leader Kim Se-yun, do you understand how ridiculous your claim is?”

Kim Se-yun inhaled.

However, she did not say anything more.

She knew better than anyone what kind of human Park Gang-seok was.

Even if she said anything more here, she would only buy Park Gang-seok’s anger.

“I apologize. I will delete him immediately.”

“Good. I am saying we should not waste time on useless things and focus on the rest. And what happened with Yoo Si-yeon?”

“We have contacted her several times, but it seems she will not reverse her decision.”

“Ha, would you look at this? We spoon-fed her everything until now, and she betrays us? Cut off every bit of support immediately and use the media to destroy her! Do not think of letting it pass vaguely. Make a proper example of her!”

“Yes. Understood.”

“Distribute this list to all relevant departments. Tell them to dig through every last one. What they have been doing recently, who they are contacting, whether they have done anything that could harm Kronos, everything!”

A thunderous response filled the conference room.

Meanwhile, Kim Se-yun, who sat in her seat, chewed over the name Ryu Jin.

‘Ryu Jin... Ryu Jin.’

The two syllables were a name that would not leave her mind easily.

Since Park Gang-seok was making such a scene, receiving support from the company would likely be difficult.

But separate from that, she had to confirm it.

-I’ll also hope everything you do fails, Team Leader.

Whether the man who had cursed her until the very moment he left truly had nothing to do with this matter.

---

The Racecourse Park shop, “Oh My Goddess.”

The shop owner, Noh Cheon-jang, looked back and forth between the item placed before him and the man beyond it.

After doing that for a long while, Noh Cheon-jang barely managed to open his mouth.

“Are you perhaps insane? Or is this some advanced form of t-bagging?”

“Pardon? It’s neither.”

“Do not lie. If it is not one of the two, how could you bring back equipment you cleaned me out of through a draw? And not even because you feel sorry and want to return it, but because you want me to dispose of it for a good price?”

“I can’t just give it to you. It’s worth more than 100 million won.”

At that utterly calm answer, Noh Cheon-jang pressed a hand to his forehead.

His head was throbbing.

“If you won it, you should have gone somewhere else and sold it. Why come to me, of all people? I barely shook it off over sundae gukbap and soju, and now my blood pressure is rising again. I am already old, so if I die of hypertension, will you take responsibility?”

“I cannot take responsibility. But I am giving you a high commission.”

That was true.

Generally, a consignment sale commission was 3 percent.

Yet Ryu Jin, standing before him, had proposed a full 10 percent.

On top of that, he said he would entrust future Magic Stone sales to him as well. So separate from how infuriated he felt at being t-bagged, Noh Cheon-jang could not help but salivate.

“If you don’t want to, then it can’t be helped. Thank you for your time.”

“Wait! Wait a moment! Why are you turning away so coldly? Sit down and have some coffee.”

After swiftly pulling out a chair for him, he presented him with a sweet mix coffee.

He could not let him leave.

Because under such absurd conditions, people in Racecourse Park would line up to do it.

After sipping the coffee a couple of times, Ryu Jin opened his mouth.

“To be honest, I was surprised. During the ten draws, you never cheated even once. In truth, even if you had put up nothing but bad items, I would have had no way of knowing.”

“Do not lie. I do not know how, but you would have noticed.”

“That is true, but still. For some reason, I thought I could trust you with consignment sales.”

“What are the conditions? You are not giving me this level of commission because you were born generous, are you?”

Ryu Jin smiled and nodded.

“I don’t want my name exposed under any circumstances. Not even to a close acquaintance of yours. The only person who knows the name Ryu Jin should be you, President Noh Cheon-jang.”

Noh Cheon-jang glared at Ryu Jin with a low groan.

“Do you perhaps have a criminal record? Or are you a spy who came after receiving orders from North Korea? At this age, I do not want to go to the National Intelligence Service and be waterboarded.”

“You can look me up. I have never even stolen a piece of candy from a stationery store. Ah, I did steal Deok-man’s mechanical pencil and pen once, but that was legitimate revenge, so please exclude it.”

“Who is Deok-man now?”

“There is a friend you are better off not knowing. If you learn about him, your head will only hurt more.”

“Then I will choose not to know. In any case.”

Noh Cheon-jang held out his hand.

“Let us work together. I will make sure your name is never exposed.”

“That sounds good. I look forward to working with you.”

We clasped hands and shook up and down.

With this, I no longer had to worry.

Where I should sell Magic Stones today, how many divided deposits I needed to make for this damned cash, and so on.

“Grandfather. How much cash do you have on hand? I want to hand over as much as possible.”

“Do you need money?”

“Yes. I’m trying to move. I live somewhere with no sunlight, so my health is getting worse by the day.”

“I can manage up to 500 million.”

“One moment, please.”

I left the shop and walked to the restroom I had gone to last time.

Then I entered the Labyrinth Lobby and took out the equipment.

“Ugh.”

Noh Cheon-jang placed his hand on the equipment spread before him.

Ryu Jin had brought back every piece he had won through the draw.

His chest ached.

When Ryu Jin stared at him, Noh Cheon-jang formed a question mark.

“What is it now?”

“You need to give me the money.”

“Ah, right.”

Noh Cheon-jang scratched the back of his head and opened his banking app.

“I sent it.”

“Thank you. I’ll come again when I get Magic Stones.”

“Do that.”

He waved at Ryu Jin, who bowed.

Ryu Jin disappeared like an arrow, just as he had arrived.

Noh Cheon-jang, who had been staring blankly at the entrance, let out an “Ah!” and slapped his forehead.

He had meant to ask what Ryu Jin’s job was, for him to draw so well, but he had forgotten.

He would ask when Ryu Jin came later.

“Haaah.”

Looking at his bank account, which had become empty, and the equipment spread out before him, he could not help sighing.

Equipment that recalled painful memories. He needed to sell it off quickly.

---

A villa somewhere in Sillim-dong.

Ryu Jin, who had gone up to the roof of someone else’s villa, carefully poked his head out.

Then he lifted the binoculars from the Beginner Backpack.

‘She really is there.’

I slowly hid myself again.

Why was I doing this instead of going home now that I was finished with my business?

I wanted to go home too, more than anything.

I simply could not because a sudden gatekeeper had appeared.

Beside me, the miniature steamed bun poked her face out.

“Boss. Who is that person? Is she a debt collector? Should I go and say something to her?”

“What are you going to say, steamed bun? Are you trying to get caught and dragged to a laboratory?”

While I had been at Racecourse Park, Aris and Poporu had been rolling around at home.

When I entered the Labyrinth Lobby earlier, the two who had been dragged in had told me someone had come to visit.

Since there was no one in particular who should come, I had scouted from the villa across the street first.

If I had gone without caution, it would have been a truly big problem.

‘What brings that person here?’

Kronos HR Team Leader, Kim Se-yun.

She was someone I had thought I would never meet again after resigning.

I quickly retraced my recent actions.

There was not really anything that might invite suspicion.

If there was one thing that bothered me, it was only that I had paid off my loan in one shot.

Had she smelled something from that?!

Rubbing my chin, I looked at Poporu and Aris.

“Listen carefully, friends.”

“Give your command, my lord, du!”

“What is it?”

“Tonight.”

With a solemn expression, I clenched my fist.

“We will carry out a night escape.”

I had already been intending to move anyway.

Now that Kim Se-yun had visited, there was no reason to delay further.

We were leaving immediately.