NOVEL NEXT Chapter 281: Where There Is Light, There Is Darkness (5)
“I just suggested a possibility.”
Taejo threw the bomb and walked out.
As he closed the conference room door and stepped outside, intense reactions began to erupt from within.
“…….”
Of course.
No matter how open-minded people were about ability users, there were things they could accept and things they could not.
The bomb Taejo dropped was one of those things.
Baek Seol-hee and Tae Irin dating?
Not just dating, but Baek Seol-hee hiding her affair with Tae Irin by pretending to be married?
Baek Seol-hee getting pregnant, implying Tae Irin as the father?“Heh.”
The conference room was thrown into chaos in an instant, but Taejo suppressed his laughter and changed his expression.
Beep beep beep.
Then, he called someone.
He waited longer than expected, thinking it might be an important conversation, and strolled down the corridor with his smartphone, waiting for the other person to answer.
[Hello? What’s going on?]
“I said you were going to have a baby with Seol-hee noona.”
[What crazy nonsense are you talking about? What did you do?]
“Well.”
As Taejo explained the situation.
[I’m going to sue you. For defaming my unnie.]
Tae Irin immediately turned serious.
“Not you, but Seol-hee noona?”
[Of course. How could you make such a nasty joke? Are you crazy?]
“Yes, I’m crazy. But this covered up ‘my thoughts’.”
Taejo headed towards the bathroom.
“I think I know who the adulterer noona mentioned is.”
[…Who is it?]
“I’m only telling you. Listen carefully, little sister.”
As those following him guarded the bathroom entrance, Taejo placed his hand on the sensor in front of a toilet stall.
Whoosh.
“…Goblin.”
In a barely audible voice, Taejo whispered so that no one could hear.
[……Brother, are you out of your mind?]
“No, I’m sane. It’s not Tushin or Cheok Jun-gyeong. This is the conclusion I’ve reached.”
[No matter what, claiming that someone who always fights with you would be pregnant with Goblin’s child?]
“Shh. Lower your voice. Your voice is louder than mine and might leak out.”
Taejo moved to the sink and turned on the water to create noise.
“Have you ever talked about the Goblin with noona?”
[…Not really, except when we’re on a mission together?]
“Just watch her expressions and gestures when she talks about him. You’ll get it? Little sister, even though you’re a woman, I know more about women.”
Taejo pulled his hand back.
“When she talks about him, she tries to hide it, but her eyes are filled with hearts. If there was an ability user who could see emotions, they’d see heart-shaped auras around her every time she talks about him.”
[Sigh. So you think you’re an expert on women and figured out it’s the Goblin?]
“Of course. And there’s another clue….”
Soon, the stream of water trickled down.
“I’ll send you the data from today’s duel later. You might understand better if you fight directly, but if you still don’t get it, I can’t help it. I’m telling you this because you’re my sister.”
[…Isn’t this serious? Even if it’s S-class, planning to have a villain’s child might lead to her becoming a villain.]
“I don’t think so. Based on what I saw back then, it’s certain.”
There was conviction in Taejo’s voice.
[You’ve discovered something incredible. But you know not to spread it around, right?]
“That’s why I linked it to someone. Acting like I was joking.”
[You weren’t joking; you were serious about 30% of it to mess with me.]
“Not 30%, more like 50%.”
[Geez. Never mind. I’m going to meet Lee Sun unnie at the café now, so keep your mouth shut and don’t cause any trouble.]
“As if I would… Hey, hey!”
Click.
The call abruptly ended.
“Ah, damn. I had something to ask.”
Taejo scratched his head and walked out, heading straight to the break room.
Creak.
“…Huh?”
“You’re here?”
Baek Seol-hee was the only one in the room.
She was calmly using her smartphone, but Taejo sensed she hastily turned it off as he entered.
Was she watching a date video or something?
Even though it was in view of the CCTV, the angle of her smartphone wasn’t aligned with the CCTV camera, so she might have been looking at pictures.
“Where are hyung and noona?”
“Tushin and Raije went to fight my clone 2:1.”
“…Shouldn’t you go see it yourself?”
“I can control my clone well enough from this distance.”
“Wow, that’s amazing. Could I do that too?”
“You… I don’t know. You could create a clone with steel, but….”
“Hey, noona.”
Taejo thought about consulting Tae Irin but, seeing no one else enter the break room, clenched his fist.
“Could I meet that guy you’re planning to have a child with?”
“…Why do you want to meet him?”
“I just want to test my current skills.”
He wanted to fight with all his might if they met again.
“I haven’t even told you he’s an ability user, so how can-”
“…….”
“……What? Why are you looking at me like that?”
“Just because. Oh, right. I have a question, noona.”
“What is it?”
“About the Goblin.”
She remained calm.
“Yeah.”
“He defeated two of Pandemonium’s demons.”
“Yeah, yeah.”
But the moment he mentioned Goblin.
“It’s pretty amazing. Eliminating demons immediately when they do bad things.”
“…Well, Pandemonium’s demons are a bit of an exception.”
“Right? Should I try mimicking the Goblin’s appearance this time? Like when he entered the island sanctuary. It was really cool.”
“What’s cool about that?”
Look at the moment he praised Goblin.
“Why don’t you seriously explore that thing you copied during the battle earlier, Hesed Dragon or whatever it’s called?”
“Eh, it’s better to steal from the Goblin than those unidentified guys claiming to be from the future. He’s like a complete ability user package.”
“……Well, I can’t deny that. But don’t you hate the Goblin?”
“I hate him as a villain, but I personally think he’s amazing as an ability user.”
It might be just a guess, but Taejo tried to subtly probe Baek Seol-hee’s feelings towards Goblin.
“…Right. He would be a decent human being if he weren’t a villain.”
Though she spoke nonchalantly, everything was clear to the romance expert, Armored Taejo (17 years old).
“If I ever meet Goblin, I want to ask him what kind of techniques I need to train to be recognized as a real S-class evaluator.”
“Would a villain teach you that?”
“Um… Should I offer him money?”
The more they talked, the more Baek Seol-hee spoke about Goblin than usual.
A woman.
If she didn’t like someone, she wouldn’t even open her mouth.
“Oh, by the way, I heard you made weird comments linking me with Irin?”
“…….”
“Don’t say such things carelessly.”
“I’m sorry. It just seemed like it was giving the elders a headache.”
“If you say things like that, you’ll hear similar things back.”
“…….”
Taejo felt a chill down his spine but bit his lower lip, trying to ignore it.
“…Right? I’m sorry, noona.”
“……Why? Ah, do those kinds of talks make you uncomfortable? Sorry, I didn’t know.”
“No, it’s fine. I deserve it for saying those things. Hahaha….”
Taejo gave an awkward laugh.
“But noona, I have another question.”
“What now?”
“…If Goblin and Gwang Ik Gong fought, who do you think would win?”
“……Who do you think would win?”
“Um, Goblin?”
“…….”
Seeing that Baek Seol-hee did not show any displeasure at his choice, Taejo quietly drank his coffee.
As if suppressing something rising from within.
After finishing the skill transfer to Yumir to some extent.
I headed to Busan to meet Gwang Ik Gong.
“Oh, you actually came?”
“We’ve been meeting quite often recently. Why do you keep summoning a busy patriot?”
“I’m curious about the progress, and there’s something else I want to discuss.”
“You’re barely recovering your mana and practically dying in real-time, and you still want to meet me?”
“Meeting you for a day is worth spending three days of my life.”
“…….”
Should I just not talk?
I knew what he’s saying wasn’t meant in that way, but my ears and brain kept interpreting it differently.
My brain might be rotten, maybe from too much exposure to such thoughts, but Gwang Ik Gong also has a problem for making me think this way.
“How’s the teaching going with Yumir?”
“Of course. With about three more months of training, she’ll be able to mimic Gwang Ik Gong perfectly.”
“Three months… You can barely make it in time.”
“Is it because of the World Cup?”
“Not exactly.”
The Ability Users World Cup.
It’s also known as the national competition, a setup for the protagonist to show off his power to the world, defeat male heroes, and win the attention and love of female supporting heroines.
“Even Snow White wouldn’t want to replace Gwang Ik Gong in a world event.”
“It’s not like I asked you to replace Gwang Ik Gong for that reason.”
“But still, you’d want me to, right?”
“…That’s true.”
There, Gwang Ik Gong must show his ‘presence.’
“So, why did you call me today?”
“Here, take this.”
Gwang Ik Gong handed me something from his pocket.
“What’s this?”
“A burner phone.”
“……What?”
“It’s a smartphone registered under my name. Since I haven’t been declared dead yet, it’s my secondary phone.”
“Why are you giving this to me?”
“Well.”
Gwang Ik Gong continued.
“I want you to help correct ability users under my name. For the development of ability users.”
He was sincere.
“If Gwang Ik Gong advises on abilities, people will take it seriously. If the world’s best gives advice, even if it’s annoying, they should consider it an honor.”
“…So you want me to be an advisor for the country’s ability users?”
“Yeah. You’re raising Yoon Iseon, and in less than half a year, you’re making Yumir like Gwang Ik Gong. Become an ability consultant for this country’s ability users.”
“…What’s in it for me?”
“The more S-classes there are, the sooner Seol-hee nuna can retire, right?”
“That’s not enough.”
“One more thing.”
Gwang Ik Gong tapped his smartphone.
“I deposited 200 billion won in a Swiss account I created with this phone. It’s your starting fee. Take it.”
“…….”
I accepted the request.