Chapter 111: Tiger’s Den (1)

Chapter 111: Tiger’s Den (1)

“Once we arrive, it might get a bit noisy. Please understand.”

Haven’t I heard this exact same line before?

I was now sitting in the back seat of a car driven by Chae Tae-won once again.

“Noisy? There was a similar incident before, wasn’t there?”

This wasn’t just an offhand comment. I continued with as much sarcasm as I could put into my voice.

“I didn’t choose today as the date, but coincidentally, is the same problem happening again?”

“I’m sorry. It’s a situation beyond my control, so I ask for your understanding.”

Chae Tae-won was like a middle boss, or rather, the head of a branch in the organization.

Regardless of his position, he’s more than twice my age. Seeing someone like him hurriedly apologize made me lose the will to be sarcastic.

Haaah, it’s not Chae Tae-won’s fault either.

Well, I expected this.

I asked Tudor to contact Cheong-ho’s side. After all, it wasn’t a place to visit as casually as a friend’s house.

But I received an unexpected reply.

They said an unfortunate circumstance had arisen and asked to postpone the date a bit. They added that I could come anytime if I had the time.

Regarding this reply, Tudor commented as follows.

“Ha, I know what they’re up to. Cheong-ho, that fellow, I thought he was a straightforward man, but he’s a sly fox, isn’t he? He’s definitely going to cause some trouble on the day he agreed to meet you.”

“A sly fox?”

“Yeah!”

Tudor raised her fist with an exaggerated gesture.

“He’s going to stage a confrontation, a fight, an attack, or a terror event on the day you visit! At the very least, he’ll show off his strength to other guys! And you’ll get caught up in it because you went to his house. Isn’t that a classic development?”

“Well, it is pretty classic.”

“Don’t do anything for him, no matter what! It’s all a scheme to cut out an honest broker like me and cheat me out of the commission!”

“As long as I get paid well, I don’t really mind.”

“It’s a breach of contract!”

My ears still seemed to ring from Tudor’s yell that day.

Tudor’s analysis was reasonable, but who knows?

Would a guy who spent 200 million won just to deliver a single message really bother with petty schemes to cheat both the fixer and the broker out of a few pennies?

Anyway, it was only today, that is two days later, that I found myself in Chae Tae-won’s car.

This guy was probably a highly qualified person too, so it felt embarrassing to keep using him as a chauffeur.

“Hmm...”

I turned my head to look out the car window.

There was nothing to discuss with Chae Tae-won that wouldn’t put him in a difficult spot.

– I heard that Cheong-ho is going around using my name these days?

– I heard he’s recently raided five prime business locations?

– They say it’s because one of the other heads of the Triad betrayed him?

– But there’s no evidence that guy is the culprit, so you can’t even take revenge?

Whatever I brought up would only end up bothering this middle manager, who is already in a tough situation.

Oh, of course, I didn’t mind getting involved in Cheong-ho’s fight with Jeok-du. If I got paid, I could take down Jeok-du or anything else.

But anything beyond that, and I would have to refuse.

There could be all sorts of other schemes too, right?

I had encountered the Triad in many ways throughout the game. Sometimes, I fought on Cheong-ho’s side, and at other times, I sided with others against Cheong-ho.

Depending on the route, I could even fight against the entire Triad or experience events where I would unite them to combat an even larger criminal organization.

So, I could somewhat anticipate the tricks Cheong-ho might pull. Since Cheong-ho was the opponent, my choices were relatively straightforward.

Anyway, if he tried something weird, I would just refuse and help out in a few fights.

The nighttime scenery of Paju in the game swiftly passed by outside the car window. Even though it had been months and I should have grown accustomed to it, the view was still fascinating.

The real Paju was nothing like this.

The dark night sky, shadows cast everywhere, flashing neon signs, skyscraper-like buildings, unfamiliar store names, thugs firing rocket launchers at buildings, foreigners of unknown nationalities wandering the streets, and enforcers wielding deadly weapons.

It was a bizarre street filled with extreme glamour and strange madness. It was more reminiscent of Hong Kong at its peak than a city in Korea.

“Wait? A rocket launcher?”

Come on, that’s too much.

Boom!

“Hahaha! How do you like that?”

“I’ll make sure you never act up again!”

Ratatatatatatatata!!!

They’re machine guns, aren’t they?

Something was definitely off.

My keen sense could pick up the radio waves from walkie-talkies transmitting all around. Even at that moment, simultaneous radio communications were occurring from all directions.

This wasn’t just a simple security measure.

Cheong-ho, that crazy old man. Is he preparing for a siege?

It seemed a bit early for such a major event, but it wasn’t impossible.

“Are you preparing for a war?”

“...It’s embarrassing.”

I didn’t know what exactly he found embarrassing or how, but Cha Tae-won suddenly felt embarrassed.

“Is it related to why the chairman called me at this particular time today?”

“To be honest—.”

Cha Tae-won briefly looked like he wanted to say something more.

“—Even if something happens that angers you, could you please hold back just once, for my sake?”

“So, there’s something unpleasant waiting for me?”

“I’m sorry.”

Since Cha Tae-won was the type who would never speak if Cheong-ho told him not to, it was better not to ask further. Anyway, I would find out soon enough.

In any case, this is getting really interesting.

I was prepared for a proposal to join him or for a request to fend off an imminent attack from Jeok-du today.

But judging by the situation, something even more outrageous was waiting.

I had to pass through security checks at the checkpoint, the main gate, and the front door inside the walls.

Only after three rounds of checks could I enter Cheong-ho’s mansion.

Of course, since I was entering with Cha Tae-won, I wasn’t questioned or inspected, but everyone we encountered looked extremely tense.

And that was the extent of the commotion.

What? Is that it?

It was strange to refer to machine guns and guard posts as “Is that it” but the mansion’s security felt off.

There were indeed concentrated sources of powerful magical power here and there, but there were too few personnel.

Ugh. It was all just for show.

The number of people visible outside the mansion was almost all there was. Aside from that, the entire mansion was practically empty.

There had been many more people when Jeong Hyeon-ah, Cheong-ho’s daughter, had gone missing.

It looks like they deployed everyone to defend their external business sites.

And to conceal the fact that the main base was empty, they had set up such an excessive display outside.

Did they evacuate all the regular staff like cleaners and cooks?

When I deliberately extended my senses to check, it indeed seemed to be the case. No, there was someone after all.

I glanced up at the ceiling.

One person. There’s one person upstairs with a vague magical power. Who is it?

I found out who that person was soon enough.

I met them in a conference room on the third floor where I was escorted.

“You’ve come.”

“......?”

Someone else, not Cheong-ho, was seated at the head of the table and greeted me.

There was someone in this building after all.

Someone with a normal level of magical power.

I hesitated for a moment to choose my words, then spoke.

“It’s been a while. Have you been well?”

“Thanks to your help, I’ve been doing well.”

Now that we exchanged pleasantries, I could ask what I was curious about.

“I came because the chairman asked to see me. Can I meet him?”

“Hmm...”

She looked at me silently for a moment.

“No. I was the one who called for fixer-nim.”

Cheong-ho was not in the place where he should have been.

Instead, the one who was sitting in Cheong-ho’s seat was his daughter, Jeong Hyeon-ah.

Jeong Hyeon-ah continued speaking in a somewhat difficult manner.

“Please help us.”