Chapter 98.

“…Wow . ”

Milano, Italy .

Inside Colaion family’s Leolen Mansion, Vanessa and Paolo were watching the CCTV footage of Friday’s assassination incident .

“Perfection as expected . ”

Jeronimo’s workmanship was flawless . Siemens was instantly killed, and the assassin disappeared as though he never existed . He had escaped from Torino, which was deep inside Colaion family’s sphere of influence, without leaving behind a trace .

“But what killed him?”

Paolo asked . Vanessa rested her chin on her hand and replayed the tape . However, the CCTV’s low quality footage couldn’t capture exactly what happened .

“I’m not sure . ”

“I… think it was a bullet . ”

“No way . ”

Guns were indispensable weapons even in the current era .

Although they were called well-assembled toys compared to artifacts, in terms of market size, the firearm market was the same as the artifact market .

This was because cold weapon artifacts were mostly traded between two guilds, two individuals, or between a guild and an individual . Alternatively, they were traded in auction houses or special markets like the Violet Banquet .

On the other hand, guns were usable by even ordinary civilians, and high-class masterpiece guns were even capable of killing low-intermediate rank monsters .

In other words, the firearm trade was much more active and frequent than artifact trade .

“There shouldn’t be anyone in Jeronimo Mercenary who uses a gun . ”

But that was the extent of guns . A tool for self-defense used by ordinary people against weak monsters .

There was no reason for the powerful to use guns .

“But it looks like a bullet no matter how I look at it… . ”

“How would a magic bullet pierce through the barrier? Anyways…”

Vanessa’s expression stiffened intimidatingly .

“You better keep quiet about the whole thing . Don’t open your mouth no matter what happens . We know nothing of what happened, got it?”

This matter was a secret they had to carry to their graves .

Godfather Colaion cared the most about the safety of his family . He would surely be enraged by Siemens’ death . No matter how much of a fool Siemens was, it was Godfather Colaion’s unbreakable creed that the punishment of a family member be carried out openly .

“…Of course, I know . ”

Paolo nodded as if to ask why she would mention such an obvious thing .

“… . ”

However, Vanessa was worried . In movies, it was always someone like him who slipped up… .

Unable to trust her own brother’s words, Vanessa even took out a ‘magic contract’ .

**

[Sunshine Haven]

The retirement center that Fernin Jesus stayed in was located in the outskirts of Seoul . However, its name and appearance made it seem more like a comfy resting place than a retirement center .

I carefully walked up to the entrance and knocked on the door .

Soon, the door opened, and a middle-aged woman, who was likely a caregiver, appeared . She looked at me and smiled . Just when I was about to smile back and introduce myself, she spoke .

“Wow, it’s been a while, Hajin!”

“…Yes?”

Caught off guard, my head stiffened . A short silence descended as I felt like a hammer hit the back of the head . However, I quickly regained my composure .

Kim Hajin, or rather, Kim Chundong .

Chundong wasn’t a rock, but a person . It was entirely possible that he moved around and did things on his own accord .

Thinking about it now, this place was only 10 minutes away from Chundong’s original house .

“Ah… yes, nice to meet you . It’s been a while . ”

That’s what I said .

Thankfully, it must not have been too out of character, as the caregiver reacted normally .

“You must be busy with Hero training lately . What brings you here? Ah, come in . ”

The caregiver invited me inside, and I followed her in .

“… . ”

I took a full look around . The place was bigger than it seemed from the outside . In the living room were six people talking to each other as they played Go and Shogi . Then, they noticed me and laughed heartily .

“It’s been almost a year! How has it been?”

At that moment, the caregiver asked .

“Ah, you see… . ”

I hesitated to speak . I didn’t know how to bring up this topic .

“Yeah?”

“…Um, it’s about Agus ajusshi . ”

“Agus… Oh, that South-American man?”

I nodded .

It seemed Chundong had some sort of a relationship with Agus Benjamin . I wasn’t too surprised since Chundong’s past was completely in the hands of the co-author . He must have done something to make things difficult once again . But as far as I was concerned, this situation wasn’t too bad . The co-author probably didn’t expect me to arrive here so soon .

“Yes, I was wondering if there was anything he left behind . ”

“Let me think… I don’t think he specifically asked us to take care of it, but there was something . ”

“A letter?”

“Huh? Oh, yes, a letter . How did you know?”

My eyes opened wide .

A letter .

Thankfully, it seemed the plot device I put in was left unchanged .

“Where is that letter?”

“It’s in the memorial along with his ashes . Why?”

“Ah, well… . ”

I needed to think about how to answer this question . I knew nothing about Chundong’s personality, but from the caregiver’s soft gaze and the smiles of other retirees… I could surmise that he was amiable .

“He and I had a promise . ”

“Oh, did you? Right, you did like introducing yourself to retirees and listening to their stories… I think his ashes are kept inside Seoho Memorial . ”

“Ah, thank you . ”

I bowed .

After exchanging a few words of pleasantries, I left to the memorial the caregiver told me about .

[Seoho Memorial]

“…Hm . ”

It was also my first time coming to a memorial . Like going to foreign countries, I was experiencing many new things in this world .

I scratched my neck and walked inside .

There were thousands of urns stored inside the memorial, but my Thousand-Mile Eyes could quickly locate the name I was looking for .

Agus Benjamin, written in Korean .

His urn was placed inside a drawer along with a letter .

“Letter… . ”

Just like the caregiver said, there was an old letter placed next to his urn .

I walked up to the drawer . However, I withdrew my hand before I opened it .

I already knew what was inside the letter . It shouldn’t be me, but his daughter who opens it .

…But what if the content was different?

Because of this worry, I opened the drawer and took out the letter . It was written in squiggly letters that I couldn’t read . After translating it with my smartwatch, I saw that it was the same as what I created in my setting .

Feeling relieved, I placed the letter back and turned around .

Then, I entered Violet Banquet .

In this situation, the Truth Agency could only tell its client one thing .

[We have located Fernin Jesus . ]

[The price for the information will be 300 million won . ]

[If you’d like to hear the answer, please complete the payment . ]

**

Same time, Cube’s penthouse .

While Kim Hajin was reading Agus Benjamin’s letter at the memorial, Yoo Yeonha received a report from Team 3 of the Falling Blossom .

“…Volunteer work?”

Team 3 reverse-traced Kim Hajin’s past, and Yoo Yeonha managed to discover a new piece of information .

—Yes, from when he was 11 to when he entered Cube, he seemed to have volunteered often in orphanages, retirement centers, and nursing homes .

“Volunteer work… . ”

Yoo Yeonha pondered .

Being born an orphan, but realizing his talent and entering Agent Military Academy .

It was a beautiful rags-to-riches story .

If it was her, she would have thrown her shabby and ragged past into the trash .

However, Kim Hajin didn’t forget his past . In fact, he continued his volunteer work in order to not forget .

Yoo Yeonha remembered seeing someone like him . Of course, not in real life, but in a movie .

“…Hm . ”

She finally understood a few things . Kim Hajin was a cadet, but he often liked to leave Cube . Because of this, bad rumors about him had spread, but the truth couldn’t have been more dazzling .

“…Amazing . ”

Yoo Yeonha exclaimed in awe .

Not forgetting his past and trying to find it .

Not viewing his strength as a mean of gaining fame, but using it only when necessary .

His way of life, which was faithful to his beliefs and principles, was something Yoo Yeonha couldn’t help but admire, even if it differed from her own values .

“Rather than that, isn’t there anything more? Like about his birth . ”

—We’re looking into it as much as we can, but we’re at a complete standstill . There is no other trace of his past left .

“Dig deeper . ”

Although she was somewhat unhappy, she let it go .

“And next?”

—An incident broke out in Torino at the Colaion family’s mansion .

“Colaion?”

Yoo Yeonha raised her eyebrows .

Yoo Yeonha was planning on forming a partnership with the Colaion family .

Her goal was to smuggle artifacts .

The Italian Mafia had many ‘black artifacts’, which were artifacts that haven’t been reported to the central government . This was because artifacts dug up by the Mafia were prohibited from being exported, so that Italy’s government and numerous guilds could buy them for a cheap price .

What Yoo Yeonha wanted were such artifacts .

“What incident?”

—One of their executives was assassinated . But because they think the assassin came from Korea, they are asking us to search for the assassin .

“…Search, you say . ”

Yoo Yeonha pondered . Considering Team 3’s full force, finding a mere assassin wasn’t a difficult task .

“What do you think? Can you do it?”

—It’s not impossible .

“Oh? And why is that?”

—We just hired a rather useful recruit .

Yoo Yeonha frowned . Because of her deeply suspicious personality, she didn’t trust people who she didn’t handpick .

“…Is that so?”

—Yes, I will send you his profile now .

Then, Yoo Yeonha opened the profile with an unsatisfactory look .

===

[Kim Hosup]

—17 years old, 168 cm, 78kg

—Agent Military Academy graduate

—Gift: [Superhigh Speed Network]

□Connects his brain with a computer, showing incredible ability in information searching and tracking .

□Search speed increases with higher computer specs and internet speed .

===

**

Late night, Tuesday . I left my room and came outside Dorm 1 .

“Ah! Kim Hajin! Over here~!”

The person who called me outside shouted as she waved her hand .

When I stopped near her, Chae Nayun ran up to me, smiling .

“Ah, is this it? The study guide?”

“Yeah, so stop texting me . ”

I gave her a study guide she had been pestering me about . I wasn’t the one who wrote it, as I just copied what I found by hacking Yoo Yeonha’s personal database . Yoo Yeonha had a habit of saving everything she wrote .

“Ah~ Thank you so much . I’ll pay you back for this favor for sure . ”

“You don’t need to . Just study harder . ”

I stared fixedly at Chae Nayun . Lately, Chae Nayun has been looking more and more pitiful . I just felt like helping her . I didn’t even know what was right anymore .

In the past, I wasn’t able to look straight at her face when I thought about the ‘day’ that would inevitably come . But now… I just had to not be found out . Just like how I assassinated that Mafioso, I just had to kill him and escape unnoticed .

But because of this thought, I kept…

“Okay! But again, thank you sooo much! I’ll go study immediately!”

Chae Nayun smacked my arm, then ran off to her dorm, hugging the notebook I gave her .

“…That hurt . ”

I rubbed my arm as I watched her leave .

Why did she always hit me so hard?

*

Because Cube was so empty during the written exam week, time seemed to fly by . Before I noticed, Friday came around .

“Hey~”

1:30 P . M . after the end of the final written exam .

Chae Nayun appeared in front of me with a bright face .

She was practically living in the library for the past couple days . It seemed everything went well .

“Thanks, I survived because of you . ”

“…Really?”

“Yeah, I must have gotten at least five problems I wouldn’t have gotten otherwise . That’s a big difference, right?”

“I guess so . ”

Next week was the combat exam week . Naturally, I was a bit nervous . My goal was to bring my ranking up to about 200 .

But what was more important was what came afterwards .

The ‘incident’ that would happen after the combat exam .

“Oh right, do you want to go there after the combat exam? It’ll be on me . ”

“…Where?”

“Han Jung Gak . It’s a really famous Korean restaurant in Ganghwa Island . You’ve heard of it, right? It’s just as famous as the restaurant you took me to in Paris . Kim Suho and you…”

Han Jung Gak . It was the highest class restaurant I had in my setting . I was curious what the food there tasted like . It would undoubtedly be the pinnacle of Korean food .

However…

“I’m not going . ”

“What, why?”

“I don’t have the time . You can go with Kim Suho . ”

“…What, are you jealous?”

Jealous? That was a word I couldn’t just gloss over . Naturally, I frowned .

I glared at Chae Nayun and snapped back .

“Are you crazy?”

“Uh, fine, if you don’t want to come, don’t . I just wanted to pay you back for treating me in Paris… . ”

“I’m not going . ”

After cutting her off resolutely, I headed back inside .

“Ah, wait! Just the two of us can’t go even if I wanted to! My dad will get mad if he finds out~!”

Chae Nayun kept talking nonsense until the end .

**

The weekend flew by and Monday came around .

The combat exam week had begun .

The first combat exam was a team challenge .

It had similar rules to the first semester’s duels, but was done between two teams .

“Team Rachel will be on offense, Team Yohei will be on defense!”

Our opponent was Team Yohei[1] . Team Yohei’s leader was Miyamoto Yohei, a top-class warrior from Cultivation class . Apparently, Yohei’s ancestor was that famous Miyamoto Musashi .

For the record, this wasn’t a part of my setting .

“Ready!”

There were many spectators watching the battle . Of course, it was practically empty compared to the previous midterm exam, but many cadets still came by to watch . It was to be expected as Rachel’s team and Yohei’s team were participating .

“Get into formation . ”

Rachel spoke . We got into a formation we prepared for beforehand . The two warriors, Rachel and Jin Hoseung, stood in the front, and the supporter, Yi Bokgyu, stood in a protective position between me and Tomer .

I raised my cadet handgun and spoke to Yi Bokgyu .

“You don’t need to protect me . Focus on protecting Jamer . ”

“What? Why?”

“I’m gonna go take their magician’s head . ”

It was about time for me to display my strength .

And just as always, my strength operated by the principle of Strong Against Weak, Weak Against Strong .

Now that I had Curve Shot, a magician hiding in the backline was nothing but a prey .

“Wait, shouldn’t you…”

While Yi Bokgyu was worrying, the judge shouted loudly .

“DUEL, BEGIN!”

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