Chapter 41

Chapter 41: State Secret (2)

"We have guests."

Ryu Jeonga spoke.

In appearance, she was unmistakably a child. Yet the aura she exuded was more seasoned than anyone else in the room.

When her eyes settled on the Association staff, their bodies went rigid.

This was the Witch who'd lived 150 years.

Their nerves got the better of them, and they swallowed hard.

"What business brings such lowly folk to this hallowed place?"

Laughter erupted around the room.

It was an unmistakable jab at the Association staff.

One of them bristled and shouted.

"That is disrespectful!"

But the staffer instantly regretted raising his voice.

—Who does that bastard think he's yelling at?

—Insolent little......

The killing intent radiating from the professors was in no way inferior to that of active-duty Heroes.

If anything, the sheer pressure surpassed that of most in the field.

The staffers' knees went weak.

"That's enough. No need to intimidate them."

At Ryu Jeonga's command, the deathly aura finally eased.

"That said—"

The relief was short-lived. The staffers realized—

They'd escaped the wolves only to face the tiger.

"You fools—your Hero Association strong-armed the Grand Library away from the Academic Council, and then you let it get hacked? What face have you got to show up here with?"

This must be what it feels like when your heart is about to stop.

The colossal pressure Ryu Jeonga unleashed rivaled all the other professors' combined.

No—it exceeded them.

The staffers dropped to their knees and apologized.

"We're sorry, so sorry......"

"We have no excuse......"

Ryu Jeonga retracted her power.

Only then could the Association staffers breathe again.

"It wasn't the young ones' fault, and here I am taking it out on the wrong people. Forgive me."

"Y-yes......"

"So then—my new professor has gotten caught up in something unsavory?"

When Ryu Jeonga made her displeasure known, the Association staff adopted the most subservient tone they could.

"Professor Cha Eunwoo, who was appointed this year, is under suspicion of paper fabrication."

"As you are aware, Chancellor, Korean law allows dissertation authors to request that their personal information be kept private. Their identities are stored solely in the Grand Library."

"However, upon searching the Grand Library, not a single paper authored by Professor Cha was found."

At their words, the conference room buzzed.

—That's a fair point.

—True. No matter how deep a NIS agent's cover is, their information should at least exist in the Grand Library.

—And yet this braindead Association let such a critical archive get hacked? What a shitshow.

The staffers flinched at the profanity, but it was a blunder they couldn't excuse away.

Ryu Jeonga thought to herself.

'Even if the Association is rotten, there's no way a mere hacker could've breached it... Taejin, it's you.'

Jeon Taejin. Once the most brilliant child she'd ever known.

That made the greedy monster he'd become all the more jarring to behold.

Ryu Jeonga's expression turned briefly bitter.

The staffers, oblivious to her feelings, continued.

"As you know, the Grand Library and the Academic Council have never exactly been on friendly terms. That's why there have been cases of individuals claiming anonymous dissertations as their own to fraudulently obtain degrees."

"It's never happened at Florian before, but it's an incident that crops up at least once a year elsewhere."

From her seat in the audience, Seo Dayun found the discussion baffling.

She whispered to An Seri.

"Isn't it weird that the Academic Council, which grants degrees, can't even properly verify dissertations?"

"That's politics for you. Irrational, stupid turf wars."

"Huh?"

"The Grand Library used to be managed by the Academic Council, but there were a lot of doubts about their security. Especially after the NIS changed its baseline requirement for agents to Heroes with doctoral degrees or higher—the government stepped in and transferred it to the Association."

"And now it turns out the Association's security was the one that failed, so the Chancellor's furious?"

"Yep. Good girl. Teach you one thing and you figure out two."

"Hehe."

The Association staffers had regained some composure since the beginning.

The conference room's mood was gradually shifting.

A creeping suspicion toward Cha Eunwoo was taking hold among the faculty.

Yun Seongyeop, the whistleblower who'd engineered this situation, was more elated than anyone.

'Professor Jeon, I did it!'

You arrogant bastard. It's over for you.

This is what happens when you mess with someone you can't handle.

If you hadn't mouthed off at that man in the Mage Tower, you wouldn't have been backed into a corner like this.

No.

He'd obtained his position through fraud to begin with.

Even without this, he would've lost everything eventually. If anything, having it come to light early was a stroke of luck for him.

All eyes in the conference room were on the Association staffers.

They made their request to Ryu Jeonga.

"Therefore, please disclose Professor Cha's papers. Comparing them against the Grand Library records should settle the matter."

—That sounds reasonable.

—We should be thorough about something like this.

—It's a chance to prove the Professor's innocence.

The consensus leaned toward agreement.

If the papers were disclosed, the truth would come out.

The Association staff sought permission from the person in question.

"Professor Cha, would you be willing to disclose your papers?"

"Gladly."

A decisive, unhesitating answer.

His demeanor was so confident it made the Association staff wonder if they'd been the ones who were mistaken.

—That's not the attitude of someone cornered.

—Could there have been a misunderstanding?

—Some punk hacker could only do so much. There's no way he fully cleaned out the Grand Library.

Yun Seongyeop inwardly scoffed at the professors chattering beside him.

Clueless fools.

You don't know Jeon Taejin.

Once that man has you in his web, Professor Cha is nothing but prey caught in a spider's thread.

That attitude is pure bluster. Bluster and nothing more.

"......!"

But just then, Yun Seongyeop felt a chilling sensation.

His body went cold, shivers running through him.

He quickly identified the cause.

Chancellor Ryu Jeonga was staring directly at him.

"Hkkh!"

Yun Seongyeop stifled a startled gasp.

The professors around him glanced his way briefly, then lost interest.

'Our eyes met. Why......'

Ryu Jeonga smirked, then addressed the Association staff.

"In exchange, hand over the one who's been running his mouth about my boy Cha. Otherwise, there will be no cooperation."

"E-excuse me? We can't do that. The informant has the right to protection......"

"How amusing. The boy Cha, whom that man accuses of being a criminal, stands here without shame—so why is that man hiding in the shadows? Bring him out this instant!"

The conference room erupted in murmurs.

Within Florian, Ryu Jeonga's word was absolute.

Public opinion shifted to follow her lead.

—She's right. What's that guy doing?

—Let's see the face of whoever had the nerve to touch the Grand Library.

—If Professor Cha really is a fraud, there's no reason for his accuser not to stand tall.

"Um, excuse me......"

The Hero Association staff could only wring their hands.

The Association had a duty to protect informants.

Not even the fact that they were dealing with Ryu Jeonga excused them. They couldn't reveal Yun Seongyeop's name here.

But if Ryu Jeonga refused to cooperate, they had no means to investigate.

If the Association tried to force an investigation, it would trigger a massive conflict that would rock the entire nation. The Association's higher-ups did not want that.

Provoking Ryu Jeonga carelessly could damage the Association's public image far worse than betraying an informant.

'Tch!'

Yun Seongyeop realized how things were unfolding and clicked his tongue internally.

At this rate, the whole thing would fizzle out.

If the Association went all-in and tore Florian apart, it could be resolved—but the time required was the problem.

That would throw a serious wrench into his arrangement with Jeon Taejin.

'No other choice.'

The Hero Association couldn't hand Yun Seongyeop over—but Yun Seongyeop stepping forward on his own was a different matter.

He rose from his seat and walked to the front.

STEP— STEP—

—Who's that?

—What?

—What's happening?

Every eye fixed on Yun Seongyeop.

Right. Think of this as an opportunity.

This might actually work out.

It was a chance to make himself known as the protagonist who'd exposed a corrupt professor.

"It's me. I'm the one who reported Professor Cha."

Yun Seongyeop's confession sent a ripple through the conference room.

He wasn't a particularly prominent professor at Florian, but the faculty from related departments all recognized him.

A handful of other professors who knew him were there as well.

Everyone reacted with surprise.

—Yun Seongyeop was the one who touched the Grand Library?

—Did he investigate a colleague because something seemed off......?

The Association staff felt a mix of relief and concern.

Yun Seongyeop's volunteering to come forward had eliminated one problem, but created another.

Ryu Jeonga's fury was now directed squarely at him.

"Is that sooo? Child, you dare tell me you touched the Grand Library?"

"Ngh!"

The earlier display of power looked like child's play compared to the overwhelming force she unleashed now.

The Association staff were beginning to wonder if it was possible to kill a man with killing intent alone.

Yun Seongyeop, the one on the receiving end, felt that pressure many times more acutely.

"Kh, urgh......"

The colossal killing intent crushed his body until he felt he might die.

Ryu Jeonga spoke.

"Child, was it truly you who touched the Grand Library?"

Yun Seongyeop couldn't answer.

Ryu Jeonga continued.

"No. There must be another behind you. Who put you up to this?"

The staffers regained their wits and intervened.

"That's enough! He has the right to protection as an informant!"

"Any further interrogation may result in repercussions."

Ryu Jeonga relented.

"Fine. Let us change the order. If Professor Cha is found innocent, then that wretch loses his right to protection, does he not?"

"Huh? Um, yes......"

"Hear me, all!"

Ryu Jeonga raised her voice.

"Children, do you know why I have gathered you here? Did you think I convened this assembly just to publicly execute a couple of brats?"

"What, all of a sudden......"

"Have you asked why the boy Cha's papers are absent from the Grand Library? The Grand Library is protected under the Class 1 Security Act. Papers classified under what is known as the Special Security Act—state secrets—are not stored in the Grand Library."

At Ryu Jeonga's words, the conference room erupted into its greatest commotion yet.

—S-state secret?

—What is the Chancellor talking about?

—Did I hear that right......?

Everyone was equally stunned, but no one more so than Yun Seongyeop.

'State secret?! What the hell is she talking about?'

Things were veering in a direction he hadn't anticipated.

He couldn't tell what was happening anymore, but one thing was crystal clear: something had gone catastrophically wrong.

Yun Seongyeop's face went ashen.

It felt as though every drop of blood was draining from his body.

An Association staffer asked.

"S-state secret... is it really appropriate to discuss that here?"

"We were planning to announce it sometime this week anyway. Since we already have the venue, there's no harm in bringing it up now. Especially given the circumstances."

The sudden revelation left everyone struggling to keep pace.

Only Ryu Jeonga's voice resonated through the conference room.

"The boy Cha's papers were groundbreaking. They challenged everything humanity had built and proposed models that were far more efficient and complete. We needed to verify them, so we kept them under wraps for a time."

An Association staffer asked.

"If you're saying all that, then that means—!"

"Indeed. All Heroes—all of humanity—will advance ten years, no, half a century forward!"

The advancement of humanity.

The scale was so immense that no one could follow.

Yet no one doubted it.

If Ryu Jeonga said so, then so it was.

Only one person—Yun Seongyeop—refused to accept it.

"That's absurd! How... how can you say something so outlandish? You're lying!"

Ryu Jeonga let slip a contemptuous smile.

"What's absurd is that you violated the Grand Library. Now, I shall make you pay the price."

"Ngh, urgh......"

The emergency meeting reached a conclusion no one had foreseen.

Lastly, Ryu Jeonga addressed Cha Eunwoo.

"Boy Cha, you will recall that I said your papers were groundbreaking but required verification."

"......"

"The government, Florian, and Dangun Guild collaborated on research and have accepted your papers. It will be on tonight's news."

Cha Eunwoo's reaction was dry and unremarkable.

Ryu Jeonga didn't find that strange.

He would have known from the start, of course.

After all, he was the author who'd written the papers himself.

More than anyone in the world, he understood exactly how monumental an achievement they represented.

Right now, Cha Eunwoo was the most authoritative scholar on the planet.

The one fact that no one managed to notice—

The most bewildered person in the room was Cha Eunwoo himself.