NOVEL NEXT Chapter 657
[ThisPatch=Reporter Gang Hwa-ryeong] ‘NoName’ High Wizard spotted departing, 2 million won luxury fashion catches attention.
[On February 27th, ‘NoName’ High Wizard took off from Incheon International Airport, located in Jung-gu, Incheon. An official from the Incheon International Airport Corporation stated, “We cannot confirm the destination of the passenger.”]
└ Suddenly off to an overseas trip?
└ Probably just a business trip. Must be tiring to be photographed like this.
└ It’s the middle of winter, but calling that 2 million won padding luxury fashion seems a bit much, don’t you think?
└ Media level is just;;
└ Na-me is always cute, haha.
└ If you’re going to mosaic it, do it properly. That silver-haired person is Cheon Saetbyeol, isn’t it? LOL.
Upon seeing the article about Na-me’s departure, Park Se-rip, the association president, felt relieved.
‘If they’re picking at something trivial.’
For the past five days, the Wizard Association had faced intense media scrutiny.
A hotbed of corruption, outdated administration, lack of leadership.
All kinds of portal sites and communities were ridiculing the Wizard Association and Park Se-rip while sporadic disclosures from former employees emerged.
But Park Se-rip firmly believed this would pass as well.
This so-called ‘pot mentality.’
“Are they saying we shouldn’t participate in the National Exchange Tournament again? Just three years later, we achieved first and third place, something no other country could accomplish. If we show results, nobody cares about the past.”
Even if controversies arise in the middle, what remains is just a single line in the career record.
Though Park Se-rip’s beliefs appeared solid.
“What’s going on…”
“Ah, is this President Park Se-rip? We’ve been waiting for you.”
After having lunch accompanied by executives, as he returned to the headquarters, more than fifty suited people were occupying the first-floor main building.
Eight years as the president of the association.
Just by their clothing, Park Se-rip could immediately tell they were tax investigators.
“Ahem. What brings you here…? You don’t seem to belong to the Investigation Division 1.”
Park Se-rip closely examined the faces of the investigators with side glances.
Not a single familiar face.
‘They must have received a regular tax audit two years ago, right?’
Just as he found it strange, a middle-aged man walked towards Park Se-rip.
“We are from the Seoul Regional Tax Office, Investigation Division 4. We request your cooperation for a smooth tax audit.”
“Tax audit… Ah, so you came from Division 4…! It’s been quiet lately without any significant incidents. You even came to this humble place.”
As Park Se-rip said this, he frowned.
With many other organizations, why pick the Wizard Association?
“First, please print the list of all department employees and seating charts, ten… no, twenty copies. Recent five years of records, corporate accounts, special relationship transactions, corporate vehicle logs, VAT details—”
“W-Wait a moment! I understand what you are saying, but we have the National Martial Arts Tournament coming up in April and need to prepare for the National Exchange Tournament’s training camp. The timing isn’t right, okay? Especially now that public interest in nurturing elite wizards is peaking.”
“Who conducts tax audits with considerations in mind? We investigate based on the emergence of suspicions.”
“What kind of suspicions could there possibly be! Is this how blindly you conduct investigations? Huh? Can you really act as if public sentiment doesn’t matter?”
Park Se-rip raised his voice, putting pressure on the investigator.
“Excuse me? What do you mean by that?”
“Didn’t you all stir up the Bio-Akashic incident in the past? There were talks of abolishing Investigation Division 4 after that, but it just got swept under the rug with the change of government, right?”
“What you’re misunderstanding is that we don’t act based on public sentiment.”
A cold, emotionless voice.
Being cornered by the investigator, Park Se-rip took a step back.
“I request your serious compliance with the audit. Let’s not make it harder for each other.”
The words ‘There’s no way this is happening, you crazy people’ nearly spilled out.
But Park Se-rip ultimately bowed his head.
Fighting with the investigators wouldn’t yield any benefits.
As the association president regained his composure, the headquarters had already become a chaotic mess.
Especially since the manager leading this tax audit was being humiliated right in front of him.
The officers from the Tax Office were handling the office supplies roughly, sweeping all documents inside the building.
An empty office, rattling drawers, fluttering A4 papers.
“This is such a damn…”
In the experience of a near-apocalypse scenario, curses involuntarily fell from Park Se-rip’s mouth.
With only about a hundred employees in the organization, a staggering sixty investigators had been dispatched.
That’s big corporation level.
“The tax audit is set to last about one to three months. If you need any materials during that time, please visit the Tax Office to have them copied yourself.”
“Is that child NoName?”
“Due to confidentiality clauses, I cannot disclose any information.”
“Even if it were true, they would just deny it anyway. How can a national institution be swayed by a child—”
Knock knock
“Director? You might want to come down to the first floor for a moment.”
“Uh, why? What’s going on?”
“Some prosecutors are outside.”
““Prosecutors?””
Park Se-rip, the association president, and the director of Investigation Division 4 looked at each other.
“Why?”
“Uh… that’s…”
“Speak quickly, don’t stall.”
“Here, President Park, there’s a search warrant issued requesting the materials we’ve collected. Should we just give them everything they ask for?”
“Hey, we can’t just hand that over without question! What the hell is this situation? I’ll go, so don’t touch anything and wait here.”
The director of Investigation Division 4 scratched his head and dashed for the emergency exit stairs.
Park Se-rip quietly stood up and looked out the window.
‘How did things end up like this?’
Knock knock
‘How the heck did Park Se-rip end up in this situation!’
“Uh, President?”
“Are you with the prosecutors?”
“No, no, we’re from the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism’s Sports Ethics Center… It seems like today’s investigation might be a bit difficult?”
“…”
“We’ll visit you again later… Sorry for the intrusion.”
Click
The Ministry staff inadvertently turned off the indoor lights as they left.
The scene unfolding before Park Se-rip felt as bleak as the future approaching.
*
[Real-time Best]
[Seoul Central Prosecutor’s Office vs. Seoul Regional Tax Office, fiery verbal battle scene] [851]
(Argument in front of the Korea Wizard Association headquarters.mp4)
I took this while going to the mart across from the association headquarters.
I was scared thinking it was a gang fight in the middle of Gangnam, but everyone turned out to be not that big.
Turns out, they were prosecutors and tax office employees, LOL.
Some kind of material distribution? They seem to be squabbling over something, but listening to it is quite thrilling.
It seems reporters are flocking there like crazy, expecting an article soon?
[Comments]
– There’s a ridiculous amount of people, wow.
– If there’s any conscience, get live coverage.
– What is this again? LOL
– Another peaceful day in the park… uh, I mean Republic of Korea~
– Are they controlling their hunting grounds?
└ Ah, LOL, that explains the familiarity. LOL
└ Right now, the wizard association is quite a goldmine, LOL.
[Prosecutors & Tax Office both Targeting the Wizard Association, NoName Departure… ← If you get it, upvote it LOL] [113]
(Concerned Na-me.jpg)
I’ve never seen a national institution move this quickly in my life.
The whole world is now Team Na-me…
[Comments]
– They reported and ran!
└ So this was it, LOL.
└ Na-me’s specialty is to light fires and watch!
– I’m going to the prosecution tomorrow; if I say I’m a Na-me fan, will I get a lighter sentence? Please…
└ Haha, good luck!
└ Pedophiles deserve death sentences.
– Just one side coming would be seriously suicidal.
– But why is the tax office talking back to the prosecutors? Especially now with a warrant?
└ Seems the investigation scope is limited to Park Se-rip personally, not the entire association.
└ Oh, so they’re arguing over what materials to cover.
└ Can’t they just all copy it and see together?
└ Do copies just fall from the heavens?
[Exclusive) Love Kim Donates 3 billion each to 8 Academies, totaling 24 billion]
“Magic Battle player Love Kim (real name: Kim Isabel Love) donated 2.4 billion won to the Korean Academy Federation as a development fund on the 25th.”
She’s reportedly paid off her debts and donated the rest.
Clearly, she’s got the mindset to extract every last drop from the association, wow.
[Comments]
– They’ve cut the last justification for the association!
– Riveting laugh, LOL.
– Rather than suing, it’d be quicker to oust the president and get the money!
– But since the warrant is out now, it seems the prosecution has been watching for a few days now.
– Love Unni, please do endorse me, pleaseㅠㅠㅠ.
[Breaking News) Luxembourg Grand Duke Guillaume V, Welcomes ‘NoName’ High Wizard with Protocol… “I want to appoint her as the Head Coach for the first-ever National Exchange Tournament”]
“Grand Duke Guillaume V expressed great expectations for the inaugural National Exchange Tournament, stating, ‘I wish to appoint High Wizard NoName as the head coach for the Luxembourg national team.’ He further emphasized, ‘This tournament will solidify the relationship between our two countries and open new horizons in magical sports.’”
└ ???????
└ ????
└ What the hell is happening?
└ Please don’t do everything you want to…
└ What the hell is the Wizard Association?
*
[Are you feeling lonely?]
One day, in a blood-soaked grove.
Luri asked her mother, teacher, and mistress.
Atop a mountain piled high with corpses.
The back view, sitting cross-legged and gazing at the horizon, looked terribly pitiful.
[Once, I read a book that said, having just one lifelong friend you truly connect with is a successful life. Wouldn’t I consider myself successful enough?]
[Do you mean the Emperor Hiasen by lifelong friend?]
[Are you out of your mind? The one who’s trying to kill me and tearing apart the world? If I get caught, I’ll certainly end up as a specimen. My skin will peel off like tree bark.]
[As far as I know, you haven’t had any personal friends.]
[Regardless, there is someone. Don’t underestimate it. You look bored, so let’s go record that paulownia tree over there.]
[Let’s, record…]
The price of such unnecessary questions was brutal.
Since they were still within the region of erosion, Luri’s hands would never reach the paulownia tree.
Yet, one truth remained:
‘My mother had no friends until her death.’
Despite having many friends among the erosion, Esha was merely using their bodies to perform for a moment.
‘Not the damn Emperor, certainly.’
Hiasen had thoroughly exploited Esha.
What remained was just one, oneself.
“Ughhhh…”
Seeing Na-me deeply asleep in the private jet, Luri smiled.
It’s only after dying once that one can find out the truth.
Slither
Out of the blue, a silver cat golem slinked up next to Na-me.
“Phew. Phew.”
Every time Saetbyeol blew air, Na-me’s bangs fluttered back and forth.
Bam
“Don’t do that.”
Luri flicked Saetbyeol’s wrist to stop her.
“Why? It’s fun, hehe. Don’t you think Na-me Unni is cute?”
“While aesthetically cute, she deserves to be respected by everyone.”
“I do respect her! I respect her cuteness very much.”
“What sort of wordplay is that—”
“Luri? Oh, Saetbyeol is here too… What are you all doing over there?”
Na-me, rubbing her eyes with both hands as she woke up.
“Nothing at all!”
Saetbyeol waved her hands and retreated.
“Wow, we’ve almost arrived. Yawn! I feel good; I slept just the right amount—neither too much nor too little.”
“That tickles.”
“Eeeek! You come here!”
“Ahhahaha! You’ve got sweat under your armpit!”
“I do not!”
With her arms crossed, Luri looked at Na-me and Saetbyeol tersely.
‘I’ve known mother much longer than you guys.’
From Luri’s perspective, Cheon Saetbyeol was just a golem with human consciousness implanted.
Pouring excessive affection into a creature is, in a way, natural.
Luri decided to stop thinking too deeply about it.
Moments later, the private jet touched down on the ground.
“You all wait here. I’ll just go down for a quick greeting and then come back inside.”
“Okay, Unni.”
As the plane door opened, cheers erupted that echoed like those heard at the stadium.
Luri slightly opened the window shade and peered outside.
‘There are so many people…’
The scene reminded her of the Imperial Harvest Festival.
As Luri watched Na-me bask in the cheers from the countless crowd, she kept her mouth tightly shut.
She reflected on how having 200 million supporters now was less fulfilling than when they were just the two of them together in her past life.