Chapter : 42
Seeing Suhyun openly suggest using Jindo Dog, Jo Seunghyun let out a dry laugh. Of course, if Suhyun’s prediction was correct, bringing in a company as sizable as Jindo Dog would be the best approach. But to suggest it instantly, without a moment’s hesitation, was a different story.
“What a ghost of a guy.”
Jo Seunghyun had no intention of rejecting the idea either. What he needed to protect were the people in his company. An overt attitude like the one Suhyun displayed might be irritating, but it wasn’t something he would outright refuse.
“How do you plan to use them? The situation isn’t like before. If you say the wrong thing to those guys now, it’ll backfire.”
From Jindo Dog’s perspective, Uncle Jo Company wasn’t exactly a pretty sight. Sure, they had lost last time, but that didn’t erase the resentment of being robbed of what they coveted. In such a situation, suggesting cooperation to protect the Redwood Forest could easily backfire.
“Honestly… if I had known it’d be like this, maybe I should’ve acted a bit closer to Choi Jaeho.”
“Were you scouted separately?!”
“Don’t worry, I refused. Cooperation might be a bit difficult, but mobilizing them isn’t really that hard. The team protecting the area around Redwood Forest right now is the Jindo Dog team, right?”
“They’ve got so many teams; they probably put teams other than the main two in charge of guarding it.”
That was more of a token guard than a serious defense. Suhyun nodded.
“So, they don’t expect an attack.”
“Right now, you’re probably the only one worrying about that.”
“People are still too naive. Even if something seems off when a non-human is present, they just let it slide. Non-humans think and act similarly to humans.”
Since their first encounter, non-humans had integrated fairly deeply into human society. Elves were obvious, but dwarves, orcs, and beastfolk could often be seen moving among humans as well.
“Right now, things are urgent… should we request their cooperation?”
“What? They won’t agree to cooperate.”
“Of course I’m not hoping for that. Just let the Jindo Dog team know: ‘Non-human terrorists are targeting the newly discovered Redwood Forest.’ They’ll refuse to cooperate, but they won’t just stay idle.”
“…!”
“They won’t ignore such a warning. They’ll act somehow.”
“You’re a ghost of a guy!”
“What did you say?”
“Ah, no. I just blurted that out in admiration.”
When Suhyun stared at him, Jo Seunghyun quickly changed the subject.
From Suhyun’s point of view, whether they cooperated or not didn’t matter much. Of course, Jindo Dog, having lost their reward right in front of them, wouldn’t consider working with Uncle Jo Company…
Ultimately, they would be dividing resources in the same area. Even if they refused cooperation, any incident would force them to unite. They weren’t foolish enough to let pride get in the way.
So all Suhyun had to do was draw Jindo Dog’s forces toward that area. Once that happened, things would resolve themselves.
“You mean they’ll put more of their forces there?”
“And they won’t be stupid enough to fail. If a company like Jindo Dog prepares to block them, the conflict will likely be resolved at their level. Honestly, that’s the easiest outcome.”
“When you say ‘likely’…”
“It could fail. As you know, attacking is easier than defending. They can choose when and where to strike, destroy the Redwood Forest without touching us, and run… anyway, our team will move there first.”
“Is that okay? Redwood Forest is definitely a valuable resource, especially now. But if it gets too dangerous, we might have to pull back. We don’t even know who we’re facing.”
One large mountain area destroyed—imagine the profit potential. But Suhyun had no intention of risking his team’s lives for it. There were faster alternatives, like selling elsewhere. At heart, Jo Seunghyun was a businessman, not a soldier.
“Don’t worry. The opponent thinks the same way.”
Suhyun had no thought of failure. He replied with bright determination.
“And it’s not just about Redwood.”
“?”
“If we can identify who they are, we can create some leverage with the Korean military. You know how useful that can be.”
“…!”
‘I said all that, but…’
Honestly, it was hard to overestimate Uncle Jo Company’s power. They were competent soldiers, but the battles on Planet Cameron weren’t fought by conventional logic alone.
‘Where can I find a few more psychics?’
They weren’t impossible to find, but usually people with that talent didn’t join companies like Uncle Jo Company.
‘Where are they at this time? Kwak Hyuntae won’t be here yet, Choi Jieun might be at the lab, Koo Joongcheol isn’t here, Moon Seoyeon probably is… finding her will take time.’
When Suhyun served in the special forces, his team members were exceptional. Getting them back would leave nothing more to wish for.
But…
‘I should have researched their backgrounds earlier.’
Suhyun didn’t know their histories well. People who joined the special forces all had their reasons, and Suhyun didn’t probe unless it interfered with missions. What mattered was how they worked now.
Except for those who spoke freely in private or had grown close to Suhyun, it was impossible to guess their current locations.
This meant Suhyun had to handle this entirely on his own.
‘I hope the Jindo Dog team sends usable forces.’
It wasn’t completely hopeless. The soldiers themselves were capable, and they had power armor. The attackers wouldn’t have brought power armor, which meant stealth would be impossible.
With Jindo Dog’s forces added, it would be enough. Suhyun had confidence in his abilities. Whoever was hiding and planning an ambush wouldn’t be accounted for.
“Ah, found you.”
“?!”
Suhyun spotted the person he was looking for and waved. An elf grilling skewers in an alley flinched, remembering him. He had a good memory and couldn’t easily forget someone who performed like Suhyun.
“I don’t know who you are… I’m an elf. Hard to recognize humans.”
“Why not just use a translator and speak in Elvish? No need to stammer.”
Realizing he couldn’t escape, Franzo sighed and turned on his translator. It was easier than his rudimentary Korean.
“Well, this is the best way to sell, you see.”
“…”
“You’d be surprised how few customers actually appreciate an elf learning Korean diligently instead of using a translator.”
“Yeah… incredible, you little rascal.”
His adaptation to human society was impressive.
“Anyway… I’ll give this to you for free…”
“What? Ah, the skewers? Never mind. That’s not why I came. I just thought of you while passing by.”
“I don’t like navy blue…”
“What are you talking about? You’re the kind to scam with Earth Dragon meat. You’re definitely not a normal guy, huh?”
Franzo’s eyes darted, trying to read Suhyun’s intentions. Suhyun pulled out a crisp bundle of bills and threw it at him.
“?!”
“Introduce me. I need to get into the black market but have no connections. You probably know a few people.”
“…!”
Franzo quickly counted the bills. Just an introduction in exchange for this money? That was more than profitable.
“By dollars…”
“Want to get hit first? Last time you scammed with pork and tried to use your backers to catch me.”
“…I’ll guide you immediately.”
“Even the black market, I don’t know everything. Can’t risk getting caught…”
“I know. It’s run like a cell network.”
The illegal market couldn’t be fully mapped; it ran on connections.
“What exactly do you want? Need to know what to find to guide you.”
“Start with poison.”
“Poison, you say…”
“If you don’t know, just say so. And you’ll pay.”
“Luckily, I know someone who handles it!”
“Good. Let’s go.”
Beyond the upcoming fight, Suhyun was also interested in magic. Expanding the magic he could use was thrilling to imagine.
But learning magic was never easy. Even relatively simple spells required rare ingredients or unknown items, and it wasn’t worth the trouble to learn. Suhyun already had psychokinesis.
Suhyun’s psychokinesis was top-tier. In his past life, its weakness was output, but now even that was resolved. Few psychics had such versatile, limitless abilities. Most were fixed forms or had limited conditions.
Suhyun’s was versatile and almost unmatched. With the power issue resolved, there was little need to learn attack magic requiring rare materials. Healing or utility magic was appealing, but…
‘Materials are always the problem.’
It was more realistic to choose spells based on materials obtained during missions.
“Here we are.”
