Chapter 63: ‘Ihae’
Who Is He? (2)
“This concludes my report on the攻略 (assault/strategy) of the 51st and 52nd floors.”
An Yeon-seo set down the tablet and chronicle he had been holding and lifted his head.
Despite the clean briefing, no one clapped.
Not a single person even nodded.
In the heavy, icy silence, An Yeon-seo glared at his superior, Seo Jae-hyuk, with a resentful look.
He knew Seo Jae-hyuk’s emotional expressions were generally sparse.
But wasn’t he being a little too sparse even in this situation?
His subordinate had finished the stiff briefing without breaking down, and yet… not even a single reaction.
“I just want to go home.”
An Yeon-seo swallowed the complaint he couldn’t bring himself to voice and quietly closed his eyes.
The reason An Yeon-seo, who normally never complained, was frustrated with Seo Jae-hyuk today was simple.
The guild meeting today had a terrible atmosphere.
It was a post-scenario briefing for “The Most Desperate Peace.”
Normally, only guilds that cleared a scenario could attend a Babel Kingdom meeting. Today, there were 11 attendees: the ten who participated in this assault plus Park Ji-woon from the Babel Administration Bureau.
Guild meetings are generally dry because they attract socially awkward people, but today it was particularly bad.
The atmosphere was tense, as if a disaster could strike at any moment.
And it made sense—the clearing of the 51st floor itself had been a bit questionable.
They had successfully completed the scenario without a single casualty.
But it didn’t seem like the assault team had found all the answers, so even though it was a success, it was ambiguous.
Everyone present probably felt the same lingering unease.
Five from Aegis, one from Take In, two from Shinrok, and two from Wolpae.
“The expressions are all the same.”
Of course, Chae Geun-dam, who hadn’t participated in the assault, sat with a displeased expression like a straw bag left aside.
“Guild master, please lighten your expression a little.”
“I don’t see a reason for me to sit here.”
“Then should I come alone?”
Chae Geun-dam and Lee Min-jung quietly conversed.
It was funny that their quiet conversation could be heard even by An Yeon-seo, who was sitting farthest away.
Of course, Min-jung must have been embarrassed too, having been rejected from joining the assault team from the very start.
But…
“There seems to be something bothering her.”
An Yeon-seo, experienced in analysis, sensed a subtle unease emanating from Chae Geun-dam.
While pondering the source of this unease, Park Ji-woon spoke, drawing everyone’s attention.
“Indeed, this time, clearing it would have been difficult without inter-guild cooperation.”
“If it weren’t for Han Romi’s field, the operation couldn’t have even been attempted. And if it weren’t for Jeong Min-gu, Seo Jae-hyuk wouldn’t have had the time to cast his skill.”
“Uh-hum.”
Jeong Min-gu cleared his throat awkwardly at Park Ji-woon’s neat summary.
As expected of the practical head of the Babel Administration Bureau.
“…I wonder if Park Ji-woon knows he’s called the Babel kindergarten teacher outside?”
“It would be best to continue promoting inter-guild cooperation. Of course, we can’t know what the scenario on the next floor will be.”
Until the scenario starts, there’s no way to know the details.
Once they enter a newly opened floor, they can check the scenario. But without the scenario’s blessing, once entered, they can’t freely exit.
In game terms, it’s like being stuck in a respawn zone.
Moreover, once inside, they lose the ability to communicate with the outside world.
So the usual approach is to enter knowing nothing, gather fragmentary information about the scenario, and roughly plan a strategy.
The 51st-floor scenario was unusually friendly compared to previous scenarios, allowing them to prepare thoroughly. Seo Jae-hyuk could thus decide to form an inter-guild alliance before the scenario began.
Of course, everyone sustained significant injuries in the process, but it was the best choice.
“Even if they teased me for playing it safe, it was the right decision.”
However, there was no guarantee the same approach would work next time.
In that sense, Park Ji-woon’s added concerns were valid.
Strictly speaking, it was lucky that the 51st-floor scenario’s limit was ten participants.
Previous scenarios had accommodated many more.
But if a scenario appeared with a limit of one or two participants?
They would have had no preparation and might have been caught unawares once the scenario started.
Starting with inter-guild cooperation in mind was a hundred times the right approach.
As An Yeon-seo was engaged in productive thought, a quiet voice spoke.
“I’ll send a formal request to the Seven Major Guilds and organizations under the Babel Administration Bureau for cooperation in the 53rd-floor scenario. As before, we should form the assault teams in various ways.”
“So, if a scenario requires going alone, it’s basically a death sentence?”
“…Let’s hope it doesn’t come to that. Babel isn’t that cruel to us.”
“There’s no guarantee for the future.”
As Jeong Min-gu’s sharp remark drew Seo Jae-hyuk’s dry response, Park Ji-woon blinked slowly, as if swallowing various emotions.
Then, acting as if he had heard nothing, Park Ji-woon continued calmly.
“Then, the last topic remains: the top contributor to the assault.”
“Huh.”
The first to react was Jeong Min-gu.
He furrowed his brows, clearly displeased, and slammed the table.
“What did that bastard even do? It’s absurd! We were the ones who killed that dark bastard!”
“Mr. Jeong Min-gu, please be mindful of your language. If the report is accurate, while you were killing Agemor, he solved another problem—the reconciliation of the two races.”
An Yeon-seo, about to nod absentmindedly, glanced at Seo Jae-hyuk.
Seo Jae-hyuk stared straight ahead with a firm gaze.
‘Good. He’s not particularly angry.’
“In other words, you didn’t attempt to achieve harmony between the two races during this assault.”
Crunch.
Seo Jae-hyuk ground his teeth.
An Yeon-seo quietly shut his mouth.
It wasn’t that he wasn’t angry; he was just restraining it well.
Despite Seo Jae-hyuk’s fearsome expression, Park Ji-woon calmly examined the documents.
“Still, since he helped with the assault, it’s highly likely he’s not an enemy. His true intentions are unknown, but he is certainly Korean.”
His dry, emotionless tone didn’t show any anger.
‘Well, that’s true.’
He didn’t hinder the scenario—he actually helped.
The problem was that he quietly helped and disappeared without revealing himself.
Even now, no one here knows “how to achieve harmony between the two races.”
Strictly speaking, he orchestrated everything from behind the scenes.
‘It’s like he subtly pushed us to defeat Agemor.’
Had he openly offered help, it might have been clear—but since he didn’t even show his face, his intentions were hard to discern.
While he was likely an ally, they couldn’t be certain.
Fiddling with his glasses, Park Ji-woon asked in a low voice,
“Have you met him before?”
Of course not.
The assault team had never let outsiders in and had never met anyone suspicious.
Then,
“Um…”
At the quiet voice, everyone turned to look.
Han Romi, who had been silently staring into space throughout the meeting, blinked, her face pale.
“I have… met him.”
From the way she raised her hand and her feeble tone—it seemed like a mirage.
Park Ji-woon’s pupils constricted, and Seo Jae-hyuk’s face glimmered with subtle menace.
Frowning in confusion, Seo Jae-hyuk irritably asked,
“Why are you telling us this now?”
There had been plenty of time.
When the 51st-floor scenario completion alert appeared, the assault team had been murmuring about who ‘Ihae’ was, yet she had kept her mouth shut.
Han Romi slowly lowered her hand and replied,
“Just… no one asked?”
“Are you kidding me?”
‘Seriously, are you kidding me?’
Even An Yeon-seo agreed with Jeong Min-gu’s rude reaction this time.
Recovering from her astonishment, Park Ji-woon looked at Han Romi with a slightly serious gaze.
“What kind of person was he?”
“He was tall… um, handsome.”
“……”
Park Ji-woon was lost for words.
“You mean you saw his face. Guild Master Han Romi, do you draw well?”
“I majored in chemistry…”
“That doesn’t matter. May I read your memory? I have a skill that allows me to read memories.”
“What? You had that skill? You didn’t mention it at the press conference!”
“Revealing all the skills you have is something only a fool would do.”
Jeong Min-gu, made a fool of, slapped his chest repeatedly in frustration.
Ignoring him, Seo Jae-hyuk slowly stood and approached Han Romi.
Summoning Legato, the dimly lit meeting room filled with brilliant golden light.
Seo Jae-hyuk, titled “Performer of Memories”, had a hidden skill he had never revealed: Silhouette, which allows him to read memories.
He had usually used it to extract information from hunters attacking Aegis.
“Do not resist the skill.”
Even for another S-rank hunter, this was Seo Jae-hyuk’s first attempt.
As expected, he couldn’t read Han Romi’s memory in detail, but he could identify a vaguely familiar man in her recollections.
Seo Jae-hyuk examined the man’s faint features from Han Romi’s fragmented memory.
Then, controlling Legato, he began to draw the silhouette in midair.
“He had a mole under his left eye. Two of them…”
Including Han Romi’s gentle additions, the montage was completed. An Yeon-seo murmured in admiration,
“He’s handsome.”
Startled at her own honesty, she quickly checked around.
Fortunately, no one seemed to have heard.
The golden threads drawn by Legato depicted ‘Ihae’ as gentle and kind.
To illustrate, he looked like an elementary school teacher popular with both students and parents, or a newscaster you wouldn’t want to meet at a major corporate final interview.
Several Aegis guild members were genuinely impressed.
Meanwhile, Lee Min-jung, vice-guild master of Wolpae, shifted her gaze nervously.
The stranger drawn from Han Romi’s memory…
Though it was their first meeting, she felt uneasy.
Lee Min-jung had seen a woman, who wore a deep hood and whose face she hadn’t fully seen, but…
The name of that person…
‘It was Ihae.’
Recalling it now, the reactions were distinctly Korean, and the nuance seemed exactly Korean.
Lee Min-jung hid her trembling hands under the table.
At the same moment, she noticed Chae Geun-dam also hiding a tightly clenched hand under the table.
She instinctively understood.
The wandering merchant Ihae she had met—unknown to anyone, had secretly cleared half the 51st-floor quest.
“Damn it.”
Lee Min-jung steadied her breathing and maintained a calm expression.
Only two people here knew Ihae was female: Lee Min-jung and Chae Geun-dam.
Should they reveal it immediately? No. Lee Min-jung kept her mouth shut.
The mysterious merchant who had saved them from death and helped clear the 49th floor—
If her gender remained unknown, she would be completely off the suspect list.
At that moment, Park Ji-woon closed the file and said,
“First, we should look for any registered Awakened individuals with a name starting with ‘Ihae.’”
“Since nothing like this has happened before, we should prioritize those recently registered.”
“Agreed. Han Romi, please share any additional information with Babel, and Seo Jae-hyuk, register the skill you just demonstrated with Babel.”
“…I’d rather not disclose it.”
“Seo Jae-hyuk, Awakening information is strictly managed under security, so no need to worry. And… we’ll tighten the entry checks for the Babel Tower in the future—”
“Ah… um.”
Han Romi slowly raised her hand. She seemed to have recalled something.
“But when I saw that person, the beast child called her ‘Unnie’…”
…At Han Romi’s innocent remark, Chae Geun-dam squeezed his eyes shut.
Lee Min-jung and Chae Geun-dam thought simultaneously:
‘Ihae… you’re caught….’
