‘Jeong Cheongun…….’
Baek Yulheon glanced at the man sitting across from him.
Dark sunglasses and a slouched, carefree posture.
Unlike Baek Yulheon, who was tense beneath the oppressive atmosphere, Jeong Cheongun looked completely at ease.
‘So this is your home turf, is that it?’
Baek Yulheon grinned.
‘It’s not like I came here unprepared.’
From this point onward, he had to deceive the man before him.
The Director of the Seoul Awakened Management Bureau.
That was the first step.
The first means of proving his trustworthiness to Jeong Sohyeok.
‘Failure is not an option.’
“Hmm…….”
Jeong Cheongun stared at Baek Yulheon as though looking down at him from a great distance.
After deliberately letting the silence linger, he spoke.
“Why don’t we start with a little personal conversation, Mr. Baek Yulheon?”
“……Excuse me?”
‘Personal…… conversation?’
Baek Yulheon could not hide his surprise.
This was not a scenario he had anticipated at all.
He noticed the corners of Jeong Cheongun’s mouth rising.
“Wow∼ You must be feeling great. Your star Awakened was climbing smoothly, only to hit a wall at the 50th Floor, and then she managed to break through it with her own strength. Impressive∼!”
“Haha…… Yes, well.”
“Wasn’t she the first in Korea? An Awakened who failed to climb even a single floor for a whole year, then suddenly started growing again. I don’t think cases like that are very common overseas either, are they?”
“……I’m simply glad that the Awakened in question belongs to White Lotus.”
Even while focusing on the conversation—
Baek Yulheon tried to discern Jeong Cheongun’s true intentions.
He already knew the Director was not an especially formal man.
But he had never expected him to suddenly open with casual conversation like this.
‘What are you scheming……?’
First, Baek Yulheon needed to identify exactly what Jeong Cheongun wanted.
In a situation where even a single careless word could be dangerous—
he needed to keep the purpose of this conversation firmly in mind.
As Baek Yulheon saw it—
Jeong Cheongun’s first objective was—
‘To uncover Jeong Sohyeok’s identity.’
The unidentified S-Rank the Management Bureau believed existed.
Jeong Cheongun was trying to pick up clues through what looked like an easygoing, casual conversation.
‘I need to erase Jeong Sohyeok from my mind entirely.’
Next came the second objective.
‘This one is a little less certain…….’
Most likely, he wanted information about the unidentified S-Rank’s ability.
Considering that Jeong Sohyeon’s strength had increased so dramatically, they had probably already deduced that the person was a Buffer.
But how did the ability work?
What kind of buff was it?
‘That makes sense. A simple buff couldn’t possibly revive an Awakened who had already been defeated twelve times.’
Baek Yulheon met Jeong Cheongun’s gaze.
Behind the dark sunglasses were eyes like a snake’s.
‘He’s probably dying of curiosity inside.’
The appropriate response was obvious.
“I’d really like to meet her myself∼ Jeong…… Sohyeon, was it? I’m curious how she managed to grow like that.”
Like practicing a defensive technique—
Baek Yulheon smoothly let the question flow past him.
“Haha, our Awakened is rather shy. Even I don’t get to see her face very often.”
“……Is that so?”
The question-and-answer exchange disguised as casual conversation continued.
Jeong Cheongun struck at the heart of the matter while pretending to know nothing.
Baek Yulheon maintained his poker face and skillfully avoided every answer.
“……Tsk.”
No matter how many questions he asked, he could not find a worthwhile clue.
In the end, Jeong Cheongun was the first to give up.
“My goodness∼! Look at the time already. My apologies! It’s been so long since I had such an enjoyable conversation that I got carried away.”
“Haha, not at all. It gave me a good chance to relax as well.”
‘I won.’
Baek Yulheon inwardly celebrated.
But his satisfaction lasted only a moment.
“Then shall we get to the main point?”
“…….”
Every trace of amusement vanished from Jeong Cheongun’s face.
As though everything until now had merely been a game, he began pressing Baek Yulheon in earnest.
“I reviewed Ms. Jeong Sohyeon’s clear records. Against the Lycanthrope on the 50th Floor, she was always overwhelmed in contests of strength and abandoned the challenge before suffering a fatal injury, correct?”
“……That is correct.”
“Haha. It’s not as though an Awakened can suddenly bulk up through weight training. I simply find it fascinating that someone who always lost the same fight suddenly won one day.”
“…….”
FLAP!
A pile of documents spread across the metal table.
‘These are…….’
The guild’s financial records.
Training records.
Detailed personal information on the Buffers affiliated with the guild.
“Haha, surprised? We’re not called the Awakened Management Bureau for nothing.”
“…….”
Jeong Cheongun pointed through the documents one by one.
“There’s nothing particularly unusual in the financial records. Neither the expenses nor the income. Aside from the profits earned from the recent 50th Floor clear, everything has been steadily declining.”
“……Haha. It’s been a difficult period.”
“The training records don’t seem especially noteworthy either. Aside from the graph suddenly shooting upward recently, it looks much like the financial chart.”
“……I’m simply grateful that everyone has been working hard in training.”
“And finally…… the buff-type Awakened affiliated with the guild.”
Jeong Cheongun glared at Baek Yulheon.
“There’s something worth looking at here.”
“……Is there?”
“Half of them have gone through the process of leaving the guild within the past year. Haha. Did they realize there was no point buffing an Awakened whose growth had already stopped?”
“…….”
“The Buffers leave, training produces no results, and yet somehow, in a situation like this, she suddenly becomes stronger?”
“…….”
“……Are you not going to answer?”
It was true.
The guild members had tolerated the first three failures.
But as the fourth and fifth failures followed, they grew exhausted and began leaving the guild.
Recruitment and departures repeated endlessly.
No results appeared.
The situation had been bleak.
Even the fact that he was now sitting in this so-called underground prison, having a one-on-one interview with the Director—
was practically a miracle in itself.
‘……I suppose some sacrifice is unavoidable.’
Without saying anything, Baek Yulheon reached into his pocket.
“……Mr. Baek Yulheon?”
The Director looked at him suspiciously.
‘Does he have something capable of getting him through this?’
But what came out of Baek Yulheon’s mouth was completely different from what he expected.
“You win. My pathetic lies aren’t enough to get me through this situation.”
“……You win? What do you mean?”
“I mean I’m going to confess the truth.”
Tap.
Roll, roll.
“……A cherry tomato?”
What Baek Yulheon took from his pocket—
was a single cherry tomato.
“……What is this? Are you trying to play a joke on me?”
“That’s it.”
“What?”
“The trump card you’ve been so desperate to uncover.”
Jeong Cheongun frowned as he stared at it.
He cautiously picked up the cherry tomato.
A trump card?
‘This is the secret behind White Lotus that I’ve been searching for?’
“……Mr. Baek Yulheon.”
“Yes.”
His tone was firm and intimidating.
Yet Baek Yulheon did not so much as blink.
At the very least, he did not appear to be plotting something or joking around.
‘What the hell is so special about a cherry tomato?’
Jeong Cheongun held it beneath the ceiling light.
Then gently pressed it between his fingers.
“Try eating it.”
“……?”
“You’ll understand once you do. You’re an Awakened too, Director. And one with particularly keen senses.”
The tiny fruit was barely the length of the first joint of his thumb.
Judging by its smell and texture, there was nothing particularly remarkable about it.
Even the instincts honed over countless years gave him no warning whatsoever.
In other words—
it really seemed like an ordinary cherry tomato.
‘He wants me to eat it?’
Jeong Cheongun knew perfectly well that eating it now offered him no advantage.
He should send it to the Forensics Team and wait for the results.
Then base the evaluation on those findings.
‘That would be the correct choice.’
And yet—
there was something strangely compelling about it.
And he was curious.
“Haha. It would be rather embarrassing if I ate this and collapsed, wouldn’t it?”
“Who knows? If that happened, White Lotus would disappear, and I’d probably be hauled off to prison.”
“……Hmph.”
That final response from Baek Yulheon—
made Jeong Cheongun decide.
Gulp―.
“……You’re not even going to chew it?”
“Haha. My teeth aren’t what they used to be.”
‘All right. What’s going to happen?’
Jeong Cheongun remained seated and waited.
The secret that had dragged an Awakened past a wall she could not overcome.
He would finally learn what it was.
And then—
“Urgh……?”
He understood.
“Th-This is……!?”
CRASH!
Startled, Jeong Cheongun kicked his chair back and shot to his feet.
As though he had expected this reaction, Baek Yulheon stepped closer.
“Did that answer your question?”
“You…… Where the hell did you get something like this……!?”
“The Community.”
“……?”
“What you people call the underworld.”
The underworld.
The moment Jeong Cheongun heard that word, he could no longer maintain his expression.
“Hahaha! The underworld? The underworld, you say?”
It was a possibility he had never even considered.
A completely unexpected answer.
If anything, Jeong Cheongun laughed in relief.
“And here I thought you’d brought in some foreign mercenary or an unidentified S-Rank. So in the end, you went that route?”
“No more polite speech?”
“Oh, please! Why bother speaking politely to someone I’ll never see again once he gets arrested?”
Jeong Cheongun laughed wildly.
Then he pulled a crumpled bundle of papers from his pocket.
“Here. Your guild promotion application.”
And then—
BANG!
“Take it.”
A large green stamp covered the document.
“……Thank you.”
“For what?”
Baek Yulheon gathered the approved documents and moved to leave the underground prison.
“Mr. Baek Yulheon.”
“Yes?”
Jeong Cheongun, now seated and repeatedly clenching and unclenching his fist, stopped him.
“There are no CCTV cameras or listening devices in here. I’m the only one who knows you people dealt with that side.”
“Yes. That’s why I told you. I’m not that much of an idiot.”
“Heh. Even if there’s no direct disciplinary action, you’re going to have a lot of eyes following you from now on. I’ve never seen a guild last long after getting involved with that world.”
“…….”
“Let’s meet again soon?”
“……All right.”
THUD.
“Whew…….”
Baek Yulheon leaned against the firmly closed door.
Then he finally released the breath he had been holding.
“Somehow, I got through it…… Things will become a little troublesome, but that’s my problem to deal with.”
Tap, tap-tap.
Baek Yulheon took out his phone and typed.
“Evaluation…… passed…… send.”
Meanwhile—
at the rooftop room.
A cheerful notification rang through the dark, silent house.
“Yawn…….”
I was tired.
I moved my stiff body and picked up the phone that had been charging.
One message.
“Mmm…… It’s Sis.”
The message was from my sister.
It said White Lotus had officially become a Major Guild.
“Nice∼ First step, succeeess…….”
I was genuinely happy.
But I was still half-asleep, so my voice barely came out properly.
I had screamed so much because of my sister yesterday that my throat seemed a little hoarse too.
“Ugh…… I’m thirsty…….”
Step, step.
I walked toward the kitchen.
I figured some ice water would help wake me up.
“Oh.”
Then something caught my eye.
Sitting on the table—
were the remaining pieces of Azure Breeze, carefully wrapped in plastic.
We had left them untouched after my sister’s episode.
“Hmm…….”
Peel.
The moment I removed the plastic wrap—
a fragrant aroma spread throughout the house.
Grrrrr―.
“……Can I eat this?”
My mouth was already watering.
But one thing worried me.
The image of my sister writhing in pain.
“Ugh…….”
Holding the plate, I hesitated for quite some time.
Then—
Grrrrr―.
“……I’ll probably be fine, right?”
Eating the cherry tomatoes had not caused even the slightest change in my body.
This probably would not be much different.
With that thought, I took a bite.
CRUNCH.
“Chew, chew…….”
At that moment—
[Individual Name: Azure Breeze]
[Buff Type: Mana]
[Compatible with your body.]
“!?”
What the hell is this?