Chapter 290

Chapter 290

“Promise me you won’t cry again,” Hyde said, gently stroking Harkoen’s head.

Harkoen, who was crouching, nodded. “If you leave me again, I will kill you. Understand?”

“I understand.”

Only then did Harkoen slowly get up from her seat and sit down. “So? How are you going to give me Kim Chul-Soo?”

“It seems you used Levina Mineral Powder on him. Is that correct?”

“Yes. You know me so well.”

“Of course, no one knows you better than me. Levina Mineral Powder has always been a good choice, but unfortunately, it seems Chul-Soo has Traits like Imperial Resilience or Mental Barrier.”

“The Levina Mineral Powder I made can break through anything, including those Traits.”

“I am aware. But that alone is not enough.”

Harkoen frowned. Her mood began to sour rapidly. “So? What do you expect me to do?”

“That’s why I met up with Chul-Soo. Brainwashing alone was insufficient, so I added something extra to it.”

“Something extra?”

“I deliberately revealed to him that it was a trap. And that he was brainwashed.”

“Hyde! Are you mad?!”

“Because of that, Chul-Soo came to trust me. Sometimes, a giant hole is less effective than several small cracks in bringing down a dam.”

“But...”

“It doesn’t matter. Whether he knows he is brainwashed or not, Chul-Soo will come to your trap on his own. That remains unchanged.” Hyde calmly continued, “I informed him that he had Ludon Mineral Powder in his body, and I gave him Lumina Mineral Powder. The preparations to give you Chul-Soo are complete.”

Harkoen, who had been fiery with anger, opened her fan and hoarsely laughed. Her voice was dripping with coquettish charm. “As expected, you know what I want. You are my favorite in the whole world.”

Having completed his report, Hyde turned and began to walk away. A thin smile appeared on his lips.

“You are my favorite in the whole world.”

He lived to hear those words. Despite having to get on his knees, being at the receiving end of slaps, and hearing humiliating words from Harkoen, Hyde felt everything away when he heard that sentence.

Hyde stopped in his tracks. “However, we cannot discount the possibility that Chul-Soo has seen through all of this. He might pretend to fall into the trap knowing he is brainwashed.”

“I doubt that.”

“He is very crazy, after all. He might even be thrilled, thinking this entire situation is good content for his channel.”

“What should we do then?”

“In the worst-case scenario, I will deal with Chul-Soo myself.”

Harkoen yelled, “You cannot kill him!”

“I will try my best not to.”

“If Chul-Soo dies, I will blame and curse you for life, understand?”

***

Cha Jin-Hyeok was amazed because Han Sae-Rin had created a virtual space that connected Arvis and the Earth Server, allowing for communication between those two places.

“Oh, I heard that inter-Server communication is quite a complicated technology,” Jin-Hyeok said.

“Says who?”

“Huh?”

It wasn’t so much who had said it, but rather it was common knowledge that he had known even before his regression.

Yet, Sae-Rin spoke as if it was nothing significant. “Everyone can do this.”

“Hey, Miss Unauthorized. It would be best to stop doing things like this next time. Other members of Chul-Soo Land will not forgive you. Go back. If you are not an official member, I don’t sell unpublished photos or videos. This is agreed upon by all Chul-Soo Landers.”

“Wait.” Muenne became desperate. “My name is Muenne. I am the captain of the guard responsible for the security of the great city of Muren in the Helen Empire.”

The weight behind the name Muenne was tremendous. In a list of the strongest Players in Arvis, her name would surely be among the top ten.

“Yeah, I don’t care what your name is. I’m going to call you Miss Unauthorized.”

“I-I am Muenne from the Hel—”

“Yes, yes, I heard you, Miss Unauthorized.”

“Chul-Soo has recently entered Muren. I am also in charge of Muren’s security.”

Only then did Eun-Woo’s eyes sparkle with interest. “Then you could be a great convenience to Chul-Soo?”

“O-Of course, I can be of great convenience to Mr. Chul-Soo.” Suddenly, the form of address changed from Chul-Soo to Mr. Chul-Soo. If the administrators of Muren heard this, they would be grabbing the back of their necks in frustration. “I actually have quite a bit of power.”

Eventually, Eun-Woo walked over to his desk. “In that case...”

He pulled out a few printed photos. “These are top-tier photos I took with care. Do not leak them outside and enjoy them by yourself.”

“I promise!” Muenne’s gaze followed Eun-Woo’s hands, which were holding the photos, left and right, like a puppy desperately longing for a treat.

“And one last thing. Mr. Chul-Soo plans to deliberately fall into a trap,” Eun-Woo said.

“A trap?”

“Yes, here is the address. It is probably nothing to worry about, but just in case, I thought you should know.”

Muenne quickly nodded, and only then did Eun-Woo hand over the photos. She received them with utmost reverence and care, then soared high into the sky on a Wyvern.

Today, she felt as if she was the happiest person in the world.

***

Jin-Hyeok walked along the winding alleys. It was not a clean street.

‘I had no idea Arvis had such dirty streets.’

Essentially, this place was like the slum of Arvis. Trash was carelessly thrown everywhere, and drunk homeless people were sleeping on the street, snoring loudly. Whether out of wariness of outsiders or not, people closed their windows upon seeing Jin-Hyeok.

On Muren, 37th Street, at the corner of an alley stood a house with white bricks.

Fitting the role of a former Navigator, Sae-Rin had found the way very easily. “This is the palace.”

There really was a three-story house made of white bricks there. It was quite an old house, with clear marks where rainwater had streamed down.

“Shall we go in?” Jin-Hyeok asked.

“Let’s!”

Jin-Hyeok felt a strange sense of deja vu. ‘That expression... it’s like mine before entering a Dungeon!’

He could not shake off the feeling that Sae-Rin was increasingly going off the deep end of madness.

Creak!

They opened the wooden door and entered the house.

‘Huh?’ Jin-Hyeok was surprised.

[Communication status is unstable.]

[Connection with the System is unstable, and recording is not possible.]

He was just a step or two inside the house, and it had turned into a terribly dreadful space for Streamers. Someone was coming down the stairs from the second floor.

“Welcome, my lovely muse. My beautiful Kim Chul-Soo.

It was Lady Harkoen.