Chapter 96 …
A Civil Servant Who Hid Their Power Is Too Good at Possession
When Director Han first saw that background, what did he say?
“Is that… some kind of dungeon accessory or something? Does it make any money?”
“I tried collecting sap, checked the leaves, but nothing came out. Should we log it?”
“Just leave it for now. Only clear the spots where we’ll put containers.”
Even when Director Han poked at the tree trunks, there was no reaction at all.
It was hard to say they were alive.
Sometimes they looked like dead trees, and at other times, they seemed like mere dungeon scenery, a fake backdrop in some dungeon.
But now, these things were definitely alive.
And even more—
“Those are druids…!”
Probably B-rank or higher. If skilled, maybe even A-rank. These beings easily restrained Director Han and the others, whose strength was fading, and finally reached out to one woman.
Specifically, it was the smallest tree, the one with few leaves and thin branches.
It picked up Lee Yuji and the slime.
As if holding something precious.
Then, cradling them, it slowly walked over the soil using its roots.
The tree headed toward a wall inside the cave.
The wall shook, and moss-covered stones that had been stacked there tumbled down.
From them, a massive tree root emerged. The root bent sideways, forming a round hole.
The tree holding Lee Yuji and the slime looked upward.
As if thanking the root’s owner.
Then the tree entered the hole.
And I opened my eyes.
The place where I woke up was a dark, even colder space.
I exhaled white mist and looked down at the Jiangshi room I was holding.
The Jiangshi spat out a ledger as if it could no longer endure.
[Uwaaah!]
Along with the sticky slime juice, the ledger came out, relatively well-preserved.
I muttered to the Jiangshi as I looked at it.
“Thank you… Jiangshi…”
I feel like I’m about to faint.
No, I had already fainted once.
The sensation in my fingertips hadn’t returned due to the neurotoxin.
I should be glad I’m conscious at all.
I found myself staring again at the blocked wall and the tree standing as if blocking it.
That was me.
As I observed it, a light suddenly shone from behind, and I turned my head.
At the edge of the dark space, where it seemed a building or sewage pipe had split, with iron rods, concrete, and rusty pipes, a man was walking toward me.
And behind him, an old, ruined car pierced with rebar was visible.
It was so old that dusty grime had accumulated on the broken windows.
The man glanced at the car and said,
“Looks like there was some kind of accident here.”
With his words, I realized who he was.
Actually, I already knew.
I knew this man would come here.
I knew he would find me.
“But why did Investigator Lee Yuji come here?”
For a moment, the light shining toward me obscured his face.
I took out my lantern and aimed it at him.
Then, sharp eyes, distinct facial features, and a face without a trace of a smile appeared.
The playful, fox-like impression was gone, leaving only a cold, indifferent beauty.
Choi Woojin.
Even the lantern’s beam did not faze him.
I looked at him and said,
“Maybe for a similar reason?”
I knew exactly where we were.
This was the place.
The place where Choi Woojin’s parents were killed under the guise of an accident.
And—
“Can I… save him?”
Where the young Choi Woojin had asked my mother that very question.
And where my mother, holding the lantern like this, had answered him:
“Yes.”
The faint hope and deep guilt the five-year-old child once had when looking at Han Seong-ye are now gone.
Here stands only an adult man, ravaged, consumed by revenge.
He asked with a rotten smile:
“‘A similar reason,’ huh… What does that mean?”
I clutched my trembling hands, numbed by the neurotoxin, and said,
“…Could you help me up for a moment… it hurts so much…”
At my whining voice, the expressionless Choi Woojin slowly lowered the lantern to look at my state.
Honestly, his eyes seemed more drawn to the ledger than my hands first, but what can you do? That’s just him.
I extended my intact hand to Choi Woojin with the most harmless expression possible.
He hesitated slightly, then grabbed my hand.
And in that moment,
I cuffed him.
Click.
…?
Choi Woojin furrowed his brow.
“What are you—”
“What do you think it means? It means there’s something to find.”
I freed my trembling hands from the cuffs and said, calmly:
“You came because there’s something to find too, didn’t you, you bastard.”
“…”
“Gamer. It’s you, isn’t it?”
I spoke in a cold voice, staring at the window before me.
Congratulations! Quest ‘Catch the Gamer (S)’ has been completed. Reward has arrived!
Damn.
I’m no longer in sudden death.
I survived, Mom.
I considered two possibilities.
One: Choi Woojin doesn’t know about the relationship between my mother and me.
Two: Choi Woojin does know.
Clearly, the latter was overwhelmingly true.
So that’s why he spoke as if he already knew me when he first saw me.
And it’s highly likely he recognized me even in his past life.
But he probably wasn’t desperate to save me.
He likely just thought, “She’s the daughter of my benefactor. Might as well save her this life.”
‘Which means that in Choi Woojin’s first life as a reincarnator, I must have died somehow.’
Sadly, it seemed I was always fated to die.
Either way, this explains what Kwon Ik-seong said to some extent.
The gamer is interested in me.
The daughter of his benefactor survived this life, unlike the previous one, and is actively creating variables different from before.
“He’ll want to use that somehow.”
That’s why Choi Woojin kept tracking my movements and Kwon Ik-seong’s.
It’s more than just watching me at the company.
“He definitely used his skill.”
So all the materials I see, the locations I move—he’s hacking them in real time.
Meaning, from the moment I started this undercover investigation, Choi Woojin has been monitoring me.
In some way or another.
Even if it’s hard to enter the dungeon connected to the sacred tree, now that he knows my location, he would have figured out how to reach me.
That leads to this enormous sinkhole-like dungeon break pit.
The place where Choi Woojin’s parents died once serves as a warehouse connected to the sacred tree dungeon.
After the incident, the pit was closed for potential dungeon breaks and used as an item storage by the scrap collector.
I confirmed that from the scrap collector’s data and left hints on my work PC so Choi Woojin, who monitors it, could see.
So Choi Woojin had no choice but to appear in this pit.
He had to find me.
The biggest variable in Choi Woojin’s life, ‘Lee Yuji,’ couldn’t just be left to die.
That was my gamble.
The stake was the completion of this quest.
A perfect chance to talk to Choi Woojin alone in an empty place and reveal that he is the gamer.
Expressionless, Choi Woojin let go of my hand.
“Evidence?”
I nearly collapsed but used the cuff connecting my wrist to his to steady myself.
My wrist ached as if it would break, but he felt the same.
I didn’t fall and stood up.
Breathing heavily, I said,
“You found me. That’s the evidence.”
