Chapter 130.

[Yoo Jinwoong’s daughter, Yoo Yeonha . Arrogation Scandal… The guild leader’s daughter is running the guild?]

Yoo Yeonha bit her fingernails as she watched the news .

Because a monster outbreak occurred in the middle of Seoul when the report first came out, she thought it would be buried under the more important news . However, that wasn’t the case .

On the contrary, more news articles regarding Essence of the Strait came out starting from the second day, and even false rumors began to circulate from the third day .

Her smartwatch was on fire because of all the calls and messages she was getting, and she was also getting attacked on her social media account .

She was on the receiving end of all sorts of derisive comments, saying that she was undeserving of her place or that she used her appearance to coax people .

“Auu… . ”

The amount of stress she was under gave her a strong headache . Yoo Yeonha closed her eyes and pressed her forehead .

She usually noticed such attacks before they happened, but she was caught completely off guard this time . That was how meticulously organized it was .

“I’ve been too relaxed . ”

Yoo Yeonha criticized herself with bitterness . She had only used her information guild to watch out for outside threats, letting internal threats go undetected .

“It’s not looking good… . ”

Although most of Yoo Yeonha’s money came from her mother, it was still Yoo Yeonha who used the money to invest in various businesses . Although it wasn’t illegal in any way, it was true that Essence of the Strait’s money was used to invest to her businesses .

As Falling Blossom was an information guild that was active in Violet Banquet, she wouldn’t be able to avoid being expelled from Cube once the public found out . That would also have negative impact on the guild as a whole .

However, what worried her the most was how disappointed her mother would be .

“Who is it…”

Yoo Yeonha bit her lips .

Too much of the guild’s internal data became public . Clearly, the perpetrator was a member of the guild and likely from the vice-leader’s faction . The only problem was that no one from the vice-leader’s faction should have so much information on her .

“Argh, my stomach . ”

Yoo Yeonha’s stomach churned from the stress . She buried her head on the desk as she squeezed her stomach .

The timing just wasn’t good .

Kim Hajin’s past .

Chae Jinyoon’s death .

Creator’s Sacred Grace’s Tower of Miracle campaign…

“Argh, my stomach!”

This time, Yoo Yeonha’s stomach hurt for a different reason .

Creator’s Sacred Grace was currently in the middle of conquering the Tower of Miracle . If they succeeded, Essence of the Strait would only be chasing after their shadow, but now with this scandal, Essence of the Strait could possibly fall below their rank 2 position .

“Argh, aaang…”

Yoo Yeonha rolled her feet as she cried .

For the past four days, she had trouble sleeping and eating . It wouldn’t be strange if she fainted at any moment .

—Excuse me, Young Lady .

Yoo Yeonha raised her head .

“What is it now?”

—Someone has come to see you .

Annoyed, Yoo Yeonha shot up and stomped to the interphone .

“I told you to kick all the reporters out!”

—Ah, well… he’s not a reporter, but a cadet . He keeps saying that he’s Young Lady’s ally .

“…Ally?”

Yoo Yeonha furrowed her brows .

Ally .

There was only one person who could call himself her ally .

“Is it… Kim Hajin?”

—Yes, he says he has something to give you . Should I let him enter?

“Ah… tell him to wait . I’ll go out myself . ”

Yoo Yeonha left her room and came out to the lobby of her family mansion .

Although it took some time to get there, it couldn’t be helped considering the sheer size of the mansion .

“Ehew . ”

Yoo Yeonha let out a small sigh as she opened the front door .

The outside air rushed in like a tide .

She breathed in fresh air for the first time in a while .

She could see Kim Hajin waiting by the main gate beyond the mansion’s garden .

When Yoo Yeonha gave the sign, the guard opened the gate .

Kim Hajin walked towards her .

“…What’s up?”

Yoo Yeonha asked when Kim Hajin arrived at the front door . Kim Hajin held up a plastic bag .

“You weren’t picking up my calls or responding to my messages, so I came here myself . ”

“Ah, well, as you know, things haven’t been going so well… . Anyways, what’s that?”

Yoo Yeonha pointed at the plastic bag . Kim Hajin opened it and showed what was inside .

Spicy rice cakes, sundae, fish cakes, hamburger, fried chicken… it was filled with all sorts of food Yoo Yeonha loved .

“I, I told you I don’t like these things . ”

Yoo Yeonha almost fell to the temptation, but quickly snapped out of it and reacted sharply .

It was because of her old habit . To not appear weak in such situations, she had to reveal her thorns .

“This is just a present . ”

However, Kim Hajin forced the plastic bag onto Yoo Yeonha’s hands .

“Auu, really . ”

Although Yoo Yeonha really wanted to refuse, the smell of food rising up from the bag prevented her from doing so .

“…Huu, I’m going to throw them in the trash . I can’t just have them lying out here . ”

“Sure, do whatever . By the way, are your parents home?”

“They’re outside dealing with what happened . I don’t know if it will be recoverable though . ”

Suddenly, Kim Hajin grinned . After rummaging through his pocket, he pulled out a large envelope .

Yoo Yeonha tilted her head and asked .

“What’s that?”

“Bullets . ”

“Bullets…?”

Kim Hajin handed her the envelope .

Though confused, Yoo Yeonha received the envelope and opened it .

[Truth Agency]

□Thank you for using Truth Agency, the center of trust and honesty .

□The information you wanted has been summarized below .

□The following is the list of individuals related to the Yoo Yeonha Arrogation Scandal .

On the first page was a logo of a half-bitten apple with the words ‘Truth Agency’ .

“What’s this?”

“Truth Agency . You haven’t heard of them? They’re the hottest information agency right now . I splurged quite a bit of my money . ”

Kim Hajin sounded like he was acting .

Dumbfounded, Yoo Yeonha asked again .

“What’s up with the half-bitten apple?”

“It’s their logo, I guess . ”

“Why is something like this their logo?”

“I’m sure you’ll get addicted to it if you stare at it long enough . ”

“…It looks bad though . ”

Yoo Yeonha glanced at it once again .

□The following is the list of individuals related to Yoo Yeonha Arrogation Scandal .

The final line caught her attention especially .

“…It’s fine, I can deal with it on my own . I’m not so shameless as to receive help on such a private matter . ”

“Who said it was free?”

“Eh?”

Yoo Yeonha tried to return the envelope, but Kim Hajin snatched it out of her hands before she could do so .

“You make armors too, right?”

“Um, yes, of course . ”

“What about armors for beasts?”

“…Why would we make that?”

“Try it . ”

He then gave the envelope back . Yoo Yeonha took the envelope as though she was enchanted by a spell .

“And read that carefully . ”

With that, Kim Hajin turned around and left .

“…What was that?”

Yoo Yeonha watched him leave with a blank face .

Once he was gone, she remembered the envelope in her hands and peeked inside .

===

[Perpetrators]

[1 . Park Sangho]

▷Kept secret records of Yoo Jinwoong’s dealings in his personal database .

▷Greedy for money . Has participated multiple times in the vice-leader’s illegal Dungeon campaigns .

===

Yoo Yeonha widened her eyes . The list inside the envelope didn’t just have the names of perpetrators, but also definitive proofs of their wrongdoing .

“W-What is this?”

Yoo Yeonha quickly raised her head . However, Kim Hajin was already driving away on his bike .

Yoo Yeonha’s eyes chased him in a daze .

**

The tide was quick to reverse . Although Yoo Yeonha was at the center of the scandal at first, that quickly changed when the wrongdoings of the vice-leader’s faction were brought to light .

Smuggling, illegal hiring of mercenaries, unreported Dungeon conquests and tax evasion…

Of course, as they were still members of Essence of the Strait, it was impossible for the guild to avoid a temporary fall in rank and loss of public trust .

However, only growth and prosperity awaited them with all the rotten roots pulled out .

Yoo Yeonha would undoubtedly lead Essence of the Strait to the world’s rank 1 position .

[Thank you so much . Please convey the message to Truth Agency as well . ]

[Thanks to you, guild members from the vice-leader’s faction are groveling at my feet ^^]

[Oh right, what did you mean by armors for beasts?]

[We’ve never made them before, but we can make as many as you want of the highest quality . Just give us the details . ]

[(emoticon of a squirrel clasping its hands and thanking)]

Today was February 13th .

After replying to Yoo Yeonha’s message in detail, I checked the announcement Cube just released .

[Cadet Rankings]

[Kim Hajin: rank 334 → rank 121 (213↑)]

Cadet rankings had changed .

I climbed 213 ranks and was now at rank 121, reaching the top 10% of cadets in my grade . It was a drastic change, considering I was at rank 934 a year ago .

Curious about how people were reacting, I logged onto Cube’s cadet community .

—Damn, Kim Hajin;; he’s shooting up in the ranks .

—I mean, he’s a god in theory . Apparently, he got perfect scores on all PRAII tests . I don’t think anyone can deny that he’s a genius .

ㄴI heard the professors say that he can easily win a Nobel Prize if he focuses on theory .

—But isn’t there a rumor about him wanting to become a mercenary?

—Why would he do that? Even with his gun-related Gift, many high-intermediate rank guilds are after him .

—Um, I heard he might enter the English Royal Court guild…

ㄴEnglish Royal Court guild? ㅋㅋㅋㅋ Wait, is this Rachel?

ㄴNo;; I don’t know what you mean by that ㅋㅋ;;;;

Just as I expected, my name was all around the cadet community . For the record, PRAII was an acronym for Phenomenon Realm Analysis II .

[Congratulations! ★ Rank 100 ★ (๑□◡□)!]

At that moment, Rachel’s message arrived .

[Thank you . ]

After replying back, I checked Rachel’s rank as well .

[Rachel: rank 3 → rank 3 (—)]

She was still at rank 3 . It couldn’t be helped since Kim Suho and Shin Jonghak were rank 1 and rank 2 .

Chae Nayun was also still at rank 4, while Yoo Yeonha had fallen to rank 9 . It wasn’t too surprising, since I knew she only cared about staying in the top 10 .

[Oh right, when will you be coming to England? Winter break is ending soon . ]

Rachel must have sent it without much thought, but it made me ponder .

The new school year began a bit late for second-year cadets . Not only would classes be reassigned, cadets had to formulate their own schedules like in colleges .

At the moment, I was thinking about dropping out .

[I don’t think I’ll be able to go . I just don’t have the time . ]

[Ah… really? That’s a shame ㅜ . ㅜ]

Peebeebeep—

“I’m home~”

“Meow~”

At that moment, the door opened, and Evandel and Hayang walked in .

“Oh, welcome back . ”

I got up and greeted the two kids .

Recently, Evandel has been going out more frequently . However, I wasn’t worried . As I was in a rich neighborhood, there were plenty of safe playgrounds and cafes around .

“Hajin, I went on a slide today!”

“Oh yeah? How was it?”

“It was like a cave! I went down like shooooong~”

“I’m happy you had fun . Now, it’s time to study . ”

“… . ”

Evandel put on a sour face .

Although it was great that she was having fun playing outside and making friends, training intelligence was necessary to grow her potential as a witch . After all, Evandel would become a great boon for humanity in the future .

“I’ll do it after I eat . ”

“Really?”

“Un . ”

Evandel jumped out of my embrace and began to text someone on her smartwatch . It was probably the friend she said she made .

“Evandel . ”

“Un?”

I wanted to ask her .

“Do you want to keep staying here?”

Even if I didn’t drop out, I could ask to commute starting from the second year . Although it would be a bit cumbersome since I’d have to go to Seoul Portal Station every morning, it wasn’t a big deal if it was for Evandel .

“…Uun, no . ”

But to my surprise, Evandel shook her head .

“Eh? Why?”

“…Hajin, are you leaving?”

Evandel replied to my question with another question . She sounded afraid and worried .

Realizing why, I smiled brightly .

“No, both of us, no… all three of us will stay together as long as you want . ”

“With Hajin?”

“Yep . ”

“Then yes!”

Evandel happily nodded .

**

Baekdu Mountain’s [Yoo Sihyuk Martial Art School] .

As soon as her hellish, 12-hour-long training ended, Chae Nayun ran to the mailroom .

“Ajusshi, is it here today?”

The man at the counter grinned and took out a letter .

“…Here ya go, kid . ”

“Ah! Thank you!”

Chae Nayun took the letter .

Today was February 13th . Almost two weeks had passed since she last received a letter .

“What is he even busy with?”

Ever since the first letter, Kim Hajin slowed down in replying . From four days to a week, then to two weeks .

But now that she received it, she felt a surge of joy .

Chae Nayun left the mailroom with a big grin on her face .

“Hm? What are you two doing?”

Outside, Kim Suho and Shin Jonghak were waiting .

In truth, Chae Nayun told them what happened . That her older brother died .

“Hello? Can you hear me?”

“…No, it’s nothing . ”

“Yeah, it’s nothing . ”

They both glanced at each other and scratched their cheeks .

‘Ehew . ’ Chae Nayun sighed .

“…If you want to help me, just treat me like you always do . Got it?”

On the outside, Chae Nayun also acted the same way .

But when she was alone, she couldn’t hide her sorrow and practically cried herself to sleep every night .

The only reason Chae Nayun put on a strong front was to resist being devoured by sorrow . She knew her Oppa would want the same thing .

“Still…”

Kim Suho sighed with an uncomfortable face .

Shin Jonghak suddenly stepped up .

“Chae Nayun, you can lean on me whenever you want . ”

“Are you mad? I’m leaving . Also, don’t follow me around . It’s gross . ”

Chae Nayun pushed the two away and ran to her room . As soon as she got inside, she slammed the door shut and opened the letter .

[I’m glad that you’re doing well .

It’s almost time to come back, so make the best out of it .

Don’t get hurt .

I’ve been busy lately, so I won’t be able to write often . Sorry . ]

“…That’s it?”

Chae Nayun murmured in a daze .

Was she being pranked by her masters?

She checked the back of the letter, but there was nothing there .

The letter only had four sentences .

Chae Nayun was confused . She didn’t want to believe that this was it .

“…Did I do something wrong?”

Chae Nayun suddenly got a strong urge to leave the mountain .

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