Chapter 201. Nam Daeun (2)
The next day, in the Guildmaster's office of the Buyer Guild.
- I apologize. It's entirely my fault for not managing the guild members properly. There may be citizens who no longer trust me. However, I must say this one thing. I, Park Mingyu, have lived my life without a single stain of shame. I swear on my heart, I have nothing to do with the drug case...
"How's the reaction?"
As soon as he returned to the guild, Park Mingyu mobilized all his connections to release interviews and apology statements.
He maintained a consistent stance of having no involvement, while pretending to reflect and apologize to avoid suspicion.
And the public response wasn't bad.
"Very good. Since you have such a trustworthy appearance, people are saying your apology seems sincere."
"Good... Let's just get through this."
Park Mingyu had always been said to have a kind appearance, and this time, his looks worked in his favor again.
"Yes. I'll go manage the comments."
"Yeah. Let's endure this, thinking of it as the last hurdle before we move into the light..."
Park Mingyu suppressed his still-pounding heart.
And then, he noticed a letter on the desk.
"... What the? Chief?"
But the chief had already left the room.
In the empty room, a letter had suddenly appeared.
"...."
Must be seeing things.
It was probably always there, and he only now noticed it because he was tired.
Park Mingyu closed his eyes, shook his head.
Then, after clearing his mind, he opened the letter.
And his face turned pale as he read the contents.
There were photos of him drinking with women, and evidence of illegal acts he had committed in the past.
"W-what is this... I definitely destroyed everything."
Even the establishment he frequented had magic circles installed to summon security immediately if mana was used.
'An inside job?'
Gulp.
Swallowing hard, Park Mingyu noticed a back page in the letter.
[Today at 5 p.m. Come alone to this address. If you're late or bring anyone else, the evidence will be released.]
'I have to find them. Who the hell...'
Park Mingyu felt his lips drying up.
If he were still under the Shinyoung Guild, this wouldn't be a problem.
He could ask the Shinyoung Guild for help.
Even if he were cut off, he was at the bottom anyway. He could sacrifice a couple of members and start over.
But now it was different.
"Do you know how hard I worked to get here...!"
He was finally seeing the end of over a decade of toiling at the bottom.
He was finally experiencing what honor felt like.
He could never give up here.
"...."
As much as he wanted to use everything at his disposal to catch the culprit, there wasn't enough time.
And he couldn't even gauge the enemy's capabilities.
His only hope was that the opponent wanted something from him.
'Should I go alone for now? No, that's too dangerous.'
He had to go to the meeting place, but he needed some kind of insurance.
Park Mingyu took a dark sword out of the safe in the corner of the Guildmaster's office.
"Haah..."
This was his last resort. He never thought he'd have to use it here.
Park Mingyu tucked the sword inside his coat and stepped out.
*
The next day, after Scarlet delivered the letter, we were heading to the meeting location.
To meet Park Mingyu directly, as requested by Nam Daeun.
"Don't be nervous."
"...Okay."
Of course, we brought Nam Daeun along.
She was the one who said she wanted to see Park Mingyu, and today she was the main figure.
Even though I kept talking to ease her nerves, Nam Daeun controlled her emotions with deep breaths.
'She's really nervous.'
Better to leave her alone in times like this.
I spoke to Scarlet on the other side.
"He's not really coming alone, is he?"
"Look carefully at the people around us."
"People?"
I followed Scarlet's advice and looked around.
Nothing seemed out of the ordinary.
"There are people intentionally avoiding eye contact with us. Probably folks Park Mingyu sent. They're not low-tier, but the fact that they're noticeable means he's pretty desperate."
"Oh...."
Come to think of it, that seemed right.
Even though we had a perception-inhibiting barrier up, it was a weak one.
The barrier only made it hard to recognize me as Lee Hoyeon, not made me disappear entirely.
As expected of a professional information guild member.
"Let's enter through the back so Park Mingyu doesn't notice."
"Yeah. Let's go."
"...Okay."
We entered the warehouse.
'Well, I never expected him to actually come alone anyway.'
But since he doesn't know our strength, he probably won't bring a whole crew.
If more people show up than we can handle, we'll just run.
We hid in the warehouse shadows and waited for Park Mingyu.
As the meeting time approached, a rusty creak echoed as the door opened.
The usually kind-looking face was filled with tension.
After confirming Park Mingyu's entry, I stepped out of the shadows.
"Hello, Mr. Park Mingyu."
"...Cadet Lee Hoyeon?"
Seeing me suddenly appear, Park Mingyu frowned slightly, then clenched his teeth.
"You son of a bitch... You were aiming for this from the start."
He cursed at me while darting his eyes around, scanning for others.
"It's not really like that... Anyway, let's assess the situation first, shall we?"
As Park Mingyu began drawing mana, I pulled out a document from my pocket.
It was a set of double books from the Buyer Guild.
"W-wait... Just tell me what you want. Cadet Lee Hoyeon, you must want something from me, right?"
Park Mingyu controlled his mana and gestured with his hand.
"There's a client. Come on out, Daeun."
"Daeun? Wait, don't tell me..."
Step. Step.
Nam Daeun stepped out from the shadows beside me.
"...Uncle Mingyu. Long time no see."
The expression on Park Mingyu's face as he looked at us was full of humiliation and disgrace.
"...Daeun."
Seeing Lee Hoyeon and Nam Daeun standing side by side made Park Mingyu tense up.
At this point, he understood everything.
Nam Daeun told Lee Hoyeon everything and asked for help.
'How the hell did she do that...?'
Park Mingyu had observed Nam Daeun for a long time.
He knew her personality and speech patterns well enough to predict her behavior.
She was never the type to ask for help.
She'd rather suffer alone than ask for help—how did she do it?
'That's not important now.'
Park Mingyu cleared his thoughts.
This wasn't the time to dwell on the cause.
What mattered now was what the opponent wanted.
He had to comply with their demands and escape this situation.
Just then, Lee Hoyeon spoke.
"Mr. Park Mingyu. I saw your recent interview. You're really good at apologizing. That'll be useful, since you'll have plenty more to apologize for."
"...What do you want."
He had just barely calmed the media uproar over the drug scandal.
Some were still making noise, and if something else broke out now, it'd be hard to contain.
"Well, I want a lot. Let's see... Money?"
"How much? Our guild isn't that big yet, so even if not much..."
"Everything."
"...Huh?"
Lee Hoyeon smiled inwardly.
As expected, shaking him up with the drug scandal showed results.
Once someone gains honor, they cling to it desperately.
"All the dirty money you earned doing filthy things. I want it all."
Park Mingyu was visibly shaken by Lee Hoyeon's calm demand.
"W-what are you... saying."
"Mr. Park Mingyu. You can always earn more money. But if this evidence spreads, you won't even have the chance. I promise, money is all I want."
"...."
Park Mingyu hesitated.
But no matter how he thought about it, there was no better answer than to comply.
He thought of using force, but even if he beat the two, there was no guarantee the evidence wouldn't spread.
"You still don't get the situation?"
Lee Hoyeon waved the documents in his hand.
"...I don't have it with me. It's in the guild building. If you give me time..."
"We'll take care of that. Just tell us where in the building it is."
"T-there's a safe in the Guildmaster's office."
"The password?"
"...."
"The password?"
"4856... But it's set to open only for me."
Park Mingyu sighed in relief as he revealed the password.
It was an expensive magical artifact that only opened with his biometric data.
Even if someone broke into the Guildmaster's office, the safe wouldn't open—
"You heard that? It's 4856. Did it open?"
- Yes. It's open. There's about 5 billion won in artifacts and cash.
Of course, such tricks didn't work on a top-tier agent from the world's best information guild.
"Five billion, huh..."
Hearing the voice on the call, Park Mingyu broke into a cold sweat.
The number was too precise to be a bluff.
"T-that's impossible."
"Mr. Mingyu. Is that all?"
"Y-yeah. That's all. It's the money I've saved up my whole life..."
Park Mingyu trembled and dropped to his knees.
As if everything about him had been denied, he sighed deeply.
But Lee Hoyeon just let out a small laugh.
"Mr. Mingyu. Do you think I'm an idiot?"
"W-what...?"
"There's no way that's all the money you've saved."
Lee Hoyeon shook his head.
What a pathetic, predictable old man.
I'm not stupid. There's no way I'd go this far without knowing the Buyer Guild's financial strength.
Then he tapped the documents with his finger, pressing him for the next answer.
"Where's the rest of the money."