Chapter 119
Halla Landing Operation (4)
“Three people did all this?”
Rachel clicked her tongue in disbelief.
“Target neutralized! All remaining forces have been apprehended!”
“We’re currently searching for evidence!”
“All clear! All clear!”
The situation had been wrapped up perfectly.
All personnel from the Halla community had been subdued, and even the leader had been restrained without much effort, ready for transport.
Who would believe that an entire organization had been completely neutralized by just three people?
“Senior… what exactly did you do?”
“That’s what I want to know,” Kyle muttered.
As the later-arriving Kyle looked baffled, Rachel herself shook her head, clearly incredulous.
At that moment, Sehyun approached.
“I told you it could be done. What’s so surprising?”
“…Hmph. Don’t get cocky,” Rachel muttered.
He clicked his tongue and, pretending to sulk, went over to the administrative personnel.
“Understand this. Senior doesn’t handle giving credit to others very well.”
“Well… I thought so,” Kyle said, offering an apologetic smile.
Biting into a piece of fruit, he felt the freshness burst immediately.
“But seriously… how did this happen? An entire community collapsed under just three people…”
“The circumstances aligned perfectly,” Sehyun explained.
It was rare for a community to be suppressed so cleanly. Especially a large one like Halla.
But the situation had made it possible.
“They were too careless with security. Or rather, they never even considered an intrusion.”
Even though a commotion had happened right in their own backyard, the leader hadn’t noticed.
“Maybe they trusted someone else to back them up?”
“Exactly. There are basically two reasons.”
First, they overestimated themselves, thinking Foundation wouldn’t arrive in time.
Halla was geographically distant from Seoul, located on an island, so they assumed they could handle any response that came.
“And the second?”
“They relied too heavily on this.”
Sehyun pulled out the Paljigyeong that had been confiscated.
It was an early artifact, somewhat crude, but for those ignorant of artifacts, it was a deadly weapon.
The Halla leader probably believed in it completely, pushing the community forward blindly.
Handing them something tempting while blinding them to other threats—that was a tactic he had often used in his past life.
“That’s why they thought they could manage it. They believed they had a winning chance with just themselves.”
Which made them completely vulnerable to Sehyun’s surprise strike using the rocket jumper.
“Hey, enough chatting. Come over here,” Rachel gestured to Sehyun.
When he approached, Rachel scratched her head, clearly troubled.
“What is it?”
“There’s no evidence.”
“It’s obvious that these guys are the suspects.”
“Yes. But there’s no clue proving that Halla community acted systematically.”
Even though the administrative personnel had turned the place upside down, nothing turned up.
No documents related to the operation, not even a scrap of a note.
“This is problematic.”
Rachel pushed the Foundation personnel into action, somewhat forcefully.
They were certain these people were the masterminds behind the terror.
But suspicion alone wasn’t enough.
Without evidence, it couldn’t be proven that the rebellion was at the community level. At most, it could be reduced to a few rogue members leaving the community, and the Foundation would have no reason to intervene further.
And there was always the risk of provoking the entire community.
The cursed rule: the Foundation could not interfere in personal disputes between players.
Rachel grabbed the leader by the collar.
“In the end, we’ll have to make him talk ourselves.”
“….”
But the leader remained clammed up, mouth shut like a clam.
Perhaps the shock of failure, or maybe he knew there was no advantage in speaking.
Remaining silent would ensure the terror incident would just be recorded as an internal dispute.
The Foundation would be labeled incompetent for failing to prevent even a minor dispute.
And then, everything would go according to that person’s plan.
Just like in the previous life.
“Can we really entrust our safety to them, everyone?”
It would become yet another excuse to oppose the Foundation, following the December 3 emergency mobilization.
“Still… we can’t exactly speak freely about it.”
Sehyun clicked his tongue in frustration.
Everything he knew had happened in his past life.
So the only option left was to use that knowledge to steer the situation toward their side.
He approached the leader, stopped Rachel, and made the Halla leader sit down.
“You think none of your subordinates would talk?”
Rachel frowned, not understanding. They hadn’t even interrogated the captured members yet.
“Wait… you…”
“Shh.”
This was just a bluff.
Sehyun stopped Rachel from saying anything further.
He tapped the leader on the shoulder and said:
“Think carefully. You’re not what we want.”
“….”
“At first, we had a hard time with you. But after that, there were many problems.”
“Problems?”
The Halla leader’s expression showed he didn’t understand, which was reasonable.
“Yes. At first, it may have seemed you were doing well. You shook the Foundation and the entire community with just your team.”
But their luck ended there.
“By failing, it shows that your actual abilities are only this much.”
“Nonsense!”
“What’s nonsense?”
Sehyun narrowed his eyes, and the leader argued.
“The plan was perfect. We executed it exactly. The incompetent Foundation and weak communities collapsed helplessly under our attack, didn’t they?”
Rachel stepped in.
“If you thought that, you were mistaken.”
“What? You’re still looking down on us after getting lucky and winning once?”
“I know the flaws in your operation, so it’s understandable.”
“…!”
Strictly speaking, their attacks did cause chaos. But that was only during the initial assassination of branch leaders and sporadic attacks on communities to confuse the Foundation.
“That should have been the end. That achieved the purpose of paralyzing the Foundation. But you didn’t stop. That’s how we were able to identify you.”
If they had only caused chaos, the culprit couldn’t have been pinpointed, and the Foundation couldn’t have acted so decisively.
You can’t attack without knowing who your target is.
“Then… what should we have done?”
“What do you mean, what should you have done?” Sehyun shook his head.
“You should have taken out the central figure first.”
“The central figure…?”
“Baek Woon.”
Delaying the attack on a massive, Foundation-cooperative community like Baek Woon’s was their downfall.
“That…!”
“You probably knew that in theory, but doing it in practice is hard.”
It’s simple: people avoid difficult tasks, especially right after pulling off something huge.
“Scared, huh? To strike Baek Woon?”
“….”
Halla didn’t lack courage entirely—they knew how difficult this terror operation would be. They were even aware of Baek Woon’s lesser-known forces through the Samdo Inun Control Regiment.
Baek Woon was one of the few communities in the country rivaling Halla in scale. Including archers trained nationwide, their numbers were far greater. Nearly all player archers were trained there.
So they hesitated because they knew the risk of confronting Baek Woon.
“…Fine! But that’s purely a strategic decision!”
“Strategic decision, huh. Run away and call it strategic.”
Rachel interrupted, glaring at the leader with sudden realization.
“You expect someone with no guts to stage a coup?”
“…!”
“Speak honestly.”
“Wh-what…?”
Clearly, the Halla leader didn’t have the capacity for such a feat. A coup was beyond him; he could only worry about his own safety.
The subsequent moves after the first step of the plan were clumsy.
Meaning…
“Someone must have orchestrated this behind the scenes.”
Rachel muttered quietly, as if the puzzle had clicked.
To deduce the mastermind through reasoning alone—impressive.
“…Smart, indeed.”
Even Sehyun had to admit her intellect was top-notch.
But without knowing who the mastermind was, it meant little.
“Of course. Ha Il-hwan wouldn’t leave any evidence.”
So there was only one method left: hear it directly from the leader.
Rachel grabbed the leader by the collar.
“Who’s behind this?”
“….”
“You were abandoned anyway. No, they probably intended to discard you from the start, using you as a shield.”
“…!”
She hit the bullseye; his eyes widened.
“Forget everything else. Just tell me the name. I’ll handle the rest. If things go well, it’ll end with mere arrests.”
“…Ugh.”
The leader’s eyes flickered, revealing inner turmoil.
“Good. Just keep it that way, Rachel.”
Sehyun’s gaze focused on the leader’s shoulder.
A talisman was attached to it—the interrogation talisman.
It was similar to one Konoha had used to extract ridiculous confessions from the Yakuza before.
Unlike the original, this artifact only copied the function and had a short effect.
The engraved light on the talisman had already gone out.
It was only helping the leader involuntarily speak the truth due to residual momentum.
“…What I say, don’t tell anyone.”
“Don’t worry. The Foundation’s witness protection program is thorough.”
“Haah…”
The Halla leader closed his eyes briefly, then opened them with resolve.
“The operation details and the artifact… were given by—”
At that moment:
Fzzzt!
A red current surged from his body, sealing his mouth instantly.
“Rachel!!”
“This…!!”
It was undoubtedly the barrier of the Paljigyeong.
Damn it, Ha Il-hwan. Of course, he prepared a backup to seal the witness.
“Wait! I’ll—”
Sehyun ignited a blue mark on his arm, trying to dispel the Paljigyeong using [Mythic Imbuement].
“Argh…!”
“Hey, hey…!”
But he collapsed, expelling his last breath.
“Damn. The only witness…”
As Rachel pressed her temples in frustration, someone entered the leader’s office.
“Don’t worry.”
“I may not have everything, but I do have evidence proving Halla’s crime.”
A middle-aged man in a fedora and trench coat.
“First time we meet, Chief of Administration.”
Ha Il-hwan removed his hat, grinning.
