Chapter 81

“Ah… You’ll understand once you hear this.”

“What…?”

After revealing Chimera’s form, I played the evidence. The sudden appearance of Chimera startled them, but their expressions hardened as the sound played.

“Brother, but… what do you plan to do about that matter?”

“We need to proceed slowly. Yoon Yeon is very suspicious.”

“W-what…?”

As the recording of their conversation continued, their faces turned pale and stiff.

“Remember. Once the operation begins, we must capture Yoon Yeon alive.”

“Speaking of which… when does the operation start? The kids are probably eager… I heard there’s a truckload of people who can’t sleep from anticipation.”

“W-why is this…?”

“…Why? Do you still have excuses?”

“N-no, it’s a misunderstanding…!”

“Honestly, I thought they’d immediately go after Yoon Yeon. Given the situation, the only solution for them was to kill Yoon Yeon and me and escape from here.”

“Are they still denying it? Well, maybe they know they have no chance against Yoon Yeon anyway.”

The reason I can stay so calm is because I know how strong Yoon Yeon is. I can confidently bet my wrist that even if both of them attacked Yoon Yeon simultaneously, she’d finish them off in under three minutes. In this world, the power gap becomes more severe the higher you go.

Shin Joo-tae must have realized he had no chance in a fight, which is why he chose to deny everything.

Desperately, Shin Joo-tae continued to speak.

“Something, something is wrong! This is all manipulated!”

“…Shin Joo-tae. You know I hate excuses.”

“It’s not an excuse! That guy… are you really believing him?! After all the years we’ve been together, why are you trusting him over me?!”

“I, I swear, Brother Joo-tae and I are truly innocent! Please, believe us!”

“…Joo-tae, Jong-won. What do you want to do with me? What are the other outlaws expecting?”

“No! This is Eternity… the Eternity Clan’s scheme to divide us!”

“Hah! A scheme? Hahahaha!”

It seems their brains have frozen in this crisis, and their intelligence has declined. Listening to their nonsense, I couldn’t help but laugh.

Why would our clan even bother to sow discord within the Myth Clan? Frankly, even if we wanted to, we didn’t have the means.

“They don’t seem stupid… but I guess the pressure has messed with their thinking.”

“Don’t listen to this crazy bastard, it’s all Eternity’s plot…”

“This is how it starts, Mr. Shin Joo-tae.”

“What…?”

“I assume you’ve heard… that our clan discovered the Library of Records?”

“What does that have to do with…?”

“Shut up and listen, you brat. I’m talking here, okay?”

“You son of a…!”

“Swearing now, huh? Anyway, listen. Right after we left the Library of Records, we were ambushed by outlaws. After winning the fight, I personally interrogated one of them, and he said something unexpected. He said they had planted a spy in the Myth Clan.”

“What kind of nonsense is that?!”

It is nonsense. While the spy part is true, the outlaws who attacked us had no connection to Shin Joo-tae. It was just a lie to convince Yoon Yeon.

From his perspective, it must have been utterly bewildering.

“Well, so I stayed in the Myth Clan for a while, investigating who the spy was. Do you understand now?”

“Lies, it’s all lies! Clan Master, please believe me! It’s not true! He’s lying right now…!”

“Joo-tae… did you really hold such dirty feelings towards me? Did you betray me and the clan?”

“……”

Shin Joo-tae seemed to realize that no matter what he said, he couldn’t convince Yoon Yeon, and he fell silent.

*Clang.*

Shin Joo-tae immediately drew a dagger from his pocket and swung it at Yoon Yeon. The timing was perfect. An ordinary person would have been fatally wounded by that dagger.

“But Yoon Yeon is no ordinary person.”

*Thud!*

“Ughhh!”

In the blink of an eye, Yoon Yeon dodged the dagger and punched him.

“Ugh! Grr…!”

As Shin Joo-tae barely regained his composure and stepped back, Kim Jong-won immediately swung his sword at Yoon Yeon.

“Ahhh!”

‘What? Why isn’t she dodging?’

Just as I was puzzled by Yoon Yeon not dodging the sword, she threw a punch.

The result was shocking. The sword and fist collided, but instead of the fist being cut, the sword shattered into pieces.

‘Insane.’

Kim Jong-won is a top-tier player. Seeing him get utterly crushed like this was beyond shocking.

This is why the top-tier players are so highly regarded and treated as strategic weapons.

‘Damn… and she’s fighting both Shin Joo-tae and Kim Jong-won at the same time.’

She’s on another level. Kim Jong-won, stunned by his shattered sword, stood there dumbfounded.

“What… what…?”

“You idiot! Dodge!”

Shin Joo-tae urgently shouted at him, but…

‘Too late.’

*Crash!*

Kim Jong-won was sent flying by Yoon Yeon’s kick, crashing through the wall and knocking him out.

‘She must have held back to not kill him.’

There’s a saying in this world:

“The stronger the opponent, the harder it is to capture or incapacitate them rather than kill them.”

It’s astonishing that Yoon Yeon subdued a top-tier player in just two moves.

Immediately, Yoon Yeon’s adjutant, who had been waiting outside, entered and was shocked by the scene in the office.

“Unnie?! What is this…?”

“…Wait outside. I’ll explain everything later.”

The loud noise had caused a commotion inside the Clan House. It seemed the clan members were heading this way.

“Damn it… damn it…!”

Shin Joo-tae, realizing he was finished, continued to curse.

“Dieeeee!”

Even if he had stayed calm and composed, his frantic attacks had no chance of hitting Yoon Yeon.

“Sorry, Shin Joo-tae.”

*Thud.*

“Ugh…!”

Thud.

“Gasp… Ugh… Ugh…”

‘…I underestimated her.’

Not even three minutes—Yoon Yeon took only one minute to deal with the two. Even though Shin Joo-tae was an assassin and couldn’t fully use his strength in a head-on fight, the gap was overwhelming.

After a while, quite a few clan members gathered in the office.

“C-Clan Master. W-What’s going on? What is this…?”

“…There’s a spy planted by the Outlaw Clan within our ranks. Shin Joo-tae and Kim Jong-won are suspected of being spies, so detain and lock them up. And from this moment on, no one in the Clan House is allowed to leave until the interrogation of Shin Joo-tae is over. There might be more spies, so everyone, bear with it for a while.”

Everyone was visibly stunned by Yoon Yeon’s sudden announcement. The mention of Outlaws and spies out of nowhere left everyone bewildered.

“A… spy?”

“Yes. And Seohwa.”

“Yes, yes! Unnie!”

“You, search Shin Joo-tae and Kim Jong-won’s quarters. Report back if you find anything.”

“Yes, unnie.”

“Everyone, return to your posts. A few of you, take those two away.”

“Yes, yes!”

‘Her charisma is insane…’

Not just me, but everyone else seemed overwhelmed by Yoon Yeon’s charisma.

‘As expected, the master of a large clan is different.’

“Phew… You… come with me.”

Since Yoon Yeon’s office was wrecked from the earlier commotion, we headed to the room where I was staying.

“Ha… Damn it…”

Yoon Yeon, clearly mentally exhausted, sighed and plopped down on the sofa. Seeing her almost lying down on the sofa, I got worried and asked.

“…Are you okay?”

“…Yeah. Don’t worry about it.”

‘…You’re the one making me worry, you jerk.’

“You should sit too. Why are you standing there making people uncomfortable? Just sit down.”

“Yes…”

As I sat down at her suggestion, she spoke up.

“Anyway… you did well. Practically, you handled everything alone.”

‘Well… honestly, that’s true.’

Still, I wasn’t stupid enough to say “Yeah, you’re right” in this situation.

“Not at all. It wasn’t that much of a struggle…”

Honestly, I was mentally tense, but physically, I didn’t struggle at all. In fact, I was treated quite luxuriously. The Myth Clan had been overly generous to me.

“Your fake humility doesn’t suit you… If it weren’t for you, our clan would’ve been in trouble soon.”

“If you think so, I’m just grateful.”

“…Hmm…”

“…Is there something wrong?”

I cautiously asked, sensing her displeasure.

“No… it’s not a problem, but aren’t you being too formal with me?”

“Huh?”

“I told you at the training facility, didn’t I? Call me unnie. It was a joke back then, but from now on, just call me Yeon unnie.”

“That’s a bit…”

“Just call me comfortably. It’s weird getting so much respect from you. Frankly, you’ve helped me more than I’ve helped you, so it’s strange to be treated so formally.”

‘No, that’s not the point. It’s not about who helped whom—it’s about the difference in seniority…’

“Even so, it’s weird…”

“Ah, whatever. If you don’t drop the formalities, I won’t talk to you.”

‘What the…’

“Come on, you’re not a kid…”

“Ahhh—I can’t hear you, I can’t hear you.”

‘Crazy woman…’

“……”

“I know your personality… Honestly, you’re probably uncomfortable with being so formal too. Just speak comfortably. It’s easier for me too.”

“I’m uncomfortable, though…”

“Ah, you’re so stubborn. It’ll feel weird at first, but you’ll get used to it.”

‘Sigh…’

“…Fine, I’ll drop it.”

Reluctantly, I gave in, and Yoon Yeon finally looked satisfied as she spoke.

“Good. Now, let’s talk about your reward. First, the alliance between Eternity and the Myth Clan will proceed as you suggested. The details will be announced after discussing it with Eternity’s master.”

“Got it, Yeon… unnie.”

“An alliance is a given, but is there anything else you want? I’m willing to grant most reasonable requests, so don’t hold back.”

‘Something else I want…’

Honestly, I didn’t have anything in mind. My top priority was saving Yoon Yeon, so I hadn’t thought about receiving a reward.

‘If I can get something, it’d be nice.’

The problem was figuring out what to ask for.

“…Honestly, nothing comes to mind right now.”

“If you think of something later, just let me know. Like I said, don’t feel pressured.”

“…Alright.”

“…You’re too stiff.”

‘Damn, I’m honestly scared.’

After seeing those two guys turned into bloody messes by Yoon Yeon, it was hard not to be nervous around her.

“Well, I just saw two guys turned into bloody messes, so of course I am.”

“Ha… You’re more scared than I thought. You sometimes act fearless, so I thought you weren’t scared of anything. Surprising.”

“…I’m not crazy enough to lose my mind after seeing something like that.”

“Dropping the formalities is good, but… I don’t like being feared. I’m not the type to attack someone who’s friendly to me.”

‘Damn… that’s obvious.’

If Yoon Yeon were that kind of person, I wouldn’t have helped her in the first place.

“Anyway… when do you plan to start the interrogation?”

“…I’ll do it after sorting things out a bit.”