Chapter 248

“Ugh…”

Yoo Ju’s face, which I glanced at, was not just cold but downright indifferent.

‘I should stay still.’

Based on past experiences, I knew. It’s hard to stop Yoo Ju when she’s in that state.

‘…Staying quiet is the best move in times like these.’

It seems she’s still boiling with anger inside because of the life-threatening situation I was in.

“Excuse me, war? Are you crazy? Eternity Master, what on earth…”

The opponent seemed at a loss for words at Yoo Ju’s outburst.

“Why? Does it sound like I’m joking?”

“…….”

Perhaps sensing the unusual atmosphere around Yoo Ju, the master of the Thorn Rose Clan kept his mouth shut.

“If you’re not directly involved, stay out of it. And let me make this clear, Eternity is not the perpetrator but the victim in this matter.”

At Yoo Ju’s statement that they were the victim, not the perpetrator, the master of the Hwan-Young Clan opened his mouth in disbelief.

“What are you talking about?! Eternity Master, isn’t it because you attacked that our clan members suffered?!”

“Sigh…”

“And you call yourselves victims?! Even if Eternity is one of the four major clans, this is just ridiculous!”

His tone suggested that they shouldn’t play the victim card just because they’re one of the four major clans.

“Your point is a bit off. This incident has nothing to do with Eternity being one of the four major clans.”

“But you did attack with a spear, didn’t you?”

“Whew… Yes, I did attack.”

As Yoo Ju readily admitted, the master of the Hwan-Young Clan raised his voice.

“Ha! But how can you be so shameless…”

However, Yoo Ju cut him off and spoke.

“Isn’t it obvious? Your instructor was about to kill our clan member by holding a sword to his neck.”

“…What did you say?”

The room buzzed at Yoo Ju’s statement.

“Would I have attacked your instructor for no reason? Of course, there was a valid reason for the attack.”

‘…As expected, he didn’t even bother to listen properly.’

The master of the Hwan-Young Clan looked as if he couldn’t believe what he was hearing.

“…What, what are you saying? Hyun-soo pointed a sword at your clan member?”

“Ha, exactly. Your instructor was about to swing his sword at Yoon Seong here, so it was just self-defense.”

The reactions were of great confusion. No one had expected such a reason.

‘Of course, they might have thought there was a reason, but not this.’

“How, how can we believe that? And why would Hyun-soo point a sword at Lee Yun-seong?”

Before Yoo Ju could answer, I stepped in. It would be quicker and more accurate this way.

“Let me explain that.”

All eyes turned to me as I spoke.

Of course, I wasn’t nervous. After all, I had done nothing wrong in this matter.

“You all must have heard the rumor that Eternity made an offer to a trainee.”

It was a rumor that had been circulating around the training facility since Yoo Ju’s visit.

‘Of course, not many believed it.’

But still, it must have reached their ears.

“…What does that have to do with this incident?”

‘This guy, has no patience at all.’

I almost cursed. I was just starting to explain, and he cut me off.

“Just listen. You’ll understand the connection once you hear it all.”

I saw him cough uncomfortably, but I ignored it and continued.

“To explain, Instructor Jin Hyun-soo of the Hwan-Young Clan had been interested in trainee Shin Han-sol even before we at Eternity tried to recruit her.”

“…Interested?”

Most in the room reacted with confusion.

‘Well, you guys probably don’t even know who Shin Han-sol is.’

“While we at Eternity saw potential in Shin Han-sol, Instructor Jin’s intentions were different.”

Some seemed to catch on to what I was implying.

“Instructor Jin approached Shin Han-sol with the intent of making a backdoor deal. I think everyone here understands what I’m talking about.”

At my words, everyone sighed.

Those present here are at least part of the leadership in their clans. They couldn’t be unaware of such proposals or backdoor deals.

“…Is that true? How can you prove that Lee Yun-seong’s words are factual?”

‘Proving it is easy.’

“I heard it directly from Shin Han-sol.”

At the mention of hearing it directly, the master of the Hwan-Young Clan reacted.

“You heard it directly? How can we believe…”

“If you don’t believe it, then hear it directly from the person involved.”

Of course, the victim’s testimony is the most effective in proving the truth.

“If the master of the Hwan-Young Clan wishes, I am fully prepared to arrange a meeting.”

“……”

Perhaps sensing the confidence in my words, he closed his mouth with a stiff expression.

“….So, is that why the Eternity Master swung the spear?”

“No, of course, there’s another reason.”

“Another reason?”

“Now, think about where the incident took place.”

“That would be Instructor Lee Yun-seong’s office, right?”

“Yes, that’s correct. Which means Instructor Jin came to see me. Isn’t that right?”

“…What does that matter?”

“Instructor Jin came to me and said, ‘Are you targeting Shin Han-sol just like me?'”

Of course, the targeting I mentioned wasn’t for pure recruitment.

“I didn’t understand what he was talking about, so I just listened. Then he said, ‘Let’s split the payoff.'”

Everyone here must have understood what he meant by splitting the payoff.

“Instructor Jin seemed to be under a misconception. Shin Han-sol’s grades were mid-tier, so he thought I was interested in her for the same reasons as him.”

“…..”

“So I told Instructor Jin, ‘At Eternity, we recruited Shin Han-sol purely based on her abilities.'”

Everyone in the room looked incredulous.

Well, if what I said was true, then Jin Hyun-soo had just made a huge blunder on his own.

“Then…”

“Yes, realizing his mistake, he tried to kill me. That’s when Yoo Ju came to find me and saved me.”





“I quietly observed the reaction of the Hwan-Young Clan Master.”

“Well, what are you gonna do?”

There are two options on their side.

The first is to accept it as it is and back off.

Of course, from the Hwan-Young Clan’s perspective, the loss wouldn’t be small.

Not only would the clan’s image be tarnished, but the probability of not being able to participate in recruitment when the training facility opens next time is high.

“Must be hard to give up, right?”

The second option is, of course, to not accept my words and argue back.

If that happens, it would be a hassle for me, but honestly, it wouldn’t really matter much.

“There are plenty of ways to prove it.”

In a situation where I have the power to pin crimes on them even if they didn’t commit any, the side that actually committed the crime is clearly the other party.

“What are you gonna do?”

Everyone in the room was waiting for the Hwan-Young Clan Master’s answer.

This is no longer an issue that can be ignored. It’s a problem that needs to be answered right here, right now.

As I calmly waited for the answer, a voice was heard.

“…First of all, I understand what Eternity has said. I also understand the situation.”

Seeing him bite his lip and take a step back…

“I’m sorry. It seems we made a mistake on our side.”

“Oh, that’s unexpected.”

I naturally expected the Hwan-Young Clan to resist.

Because if they bow their heads here, they stand to lose a lot.

“Did they anticipate they had no chance?”

If he knew about Jin Hyun-soo’s usual behavior, he would have confirmed that our side is telling the truth.

“Or maybe it’s just cutting ties.”

This is just speculation, but I thought there’s also a possibility that the Hwan-Young Clan itself was involved in shady business from the start.

“However, I would like to correct one thing. I had no idea such a thing happened, and this incident is clearly the independent action of Hyun-soo, no, Player Jin Hyun-soo.”

“Well, in the current situation, that’s the best they can do.”

Cutting ties and shifting the blame to an individual is the better choice in this situation.

“But it’s not like the Hwan-Young Clan is without fault, right? Isn’t that so?”

“That is…”

“You’re not planning to say there’s no fault, are you?”

A face like he’s chewing on poop.

‘At least if you tried to drag us into this, you should take responsibility. Right?’

If they had admitted it from the start, it might have been different, but resisting and then accepting doesn’t look good.

“…That’s not the case. Certainly, there is fault on our clan’s side… as well.”

It seems they’re having trouble managing their expressions.

It’s no exaggeration to say that Jin Hyun-soo’s life is effectively over.

After all, aside from the aftermath, the fact that he tried to mess with a trainee has already been proven.

Even the Hwan-Young Clan has already abandoned him, so all we can do is offer condolences for his future.

‘Tsk, that’s why you shouldn’t draw your sword.’

The people who were subtly pushing Eternity just a moment ago are now keeping their mouths shut and maintaining silence.

Wondering why they look a bit pale, I took a closer look…

‘What the.’

Given the current situation, upon closer observation, Ha Yu-ri and Yoon Yeon were scanning the room with strange looks.

‘…It’s reassuring, but there’s no need to go this far.’

As if warning other clans not to talk nonsense anymore, the atmosphere was tense.

‘Well then, let’s see the reaction.’

“In that case, may I ask how the Hwan-Young Clan plans to take responsibility?”

“…Responsibility?”

Responsibility. A very scary word.

Whether on Earth or here, the word responsibility is never light.

‘Did you think you could just get away with it? You’re not that stupid.’

“Yes. It might be a bit rude, but I suddenly had this thought.”

“What…”

“I don’t think Instructor Jin Hyun-soo has done this just once or twice.”

“What do you…”

Seems like he had a bad premonition, as he started sweating.

“By any chance, has the Hwan-Young Clan had a history of messing with trainees in the past?”

The room fell silent at my words.

Given that an instructor sent by the clan tried to do such a thing, it’s entirely possible.

“W-what are you talking about!”

As expected, he flared up and hastily checked the reactions around him.

‘Kick, I don’t know how many times, but it seems his back is dirty.’

“Ah, please calm down. I apologize if my words were unpleasant. I’m just raising a question.”

“Of course it’s unpleasant! I can’t understand on what basis you’re making such statements!”

“The basis is, of course, Instructor Jin Hyun-soo’s track record. It’s hard to believe the clan was unaware of it.”

‘It’s strange, isn’t it?’

“Making dirty demands to trainees while offering to let them join the clan, isn’t it a bit strange that the clan was unaware of this?”

“Well…”

“Of course, this incident might be unknown, but assuming Instructor Jin Hyun-soo had a history of messing with trainees in the past.”

In fact, my words are speculation to others.

And no matter how strong the suspicion is, without concrete evidence, there’s nothing we can directly do to them.

‘But they’ll feel guilty. If they’re involved, that is.’

A thief naturally feels uneasy.

I simply threw out a statement, but from the Hwan-Young Clan’s perspective, it must be quite chilling.

After all, it’s not just Eternity and Hwan-Young Clan members here.

Honestly, I had no intention of doing anything. I hate troublesome things.

The purpose of saying this was simply a warning.

‘If you don’t know your place and act out again… you know?’

It’s just a friendly hint to be careful in the future.