abcnovels
Chapter 223
Chapter 223
Chapter 223
Moon Ga-eun Riding a Fox (1)
A crevasse in Antarctica.
A special cave hidden in the deep darkness.
Into that darkness, which had become so familiar that he could find his way blindfolded, Hwang Seong-yeon lightly parkoured his way in.
Cang-
Gugugugu-
“……”
This place never changed no matter how many times he came.
The same cliff, the same darkness, the same entrance.
The scenery after entering was also all similar.
And….
“You’ve arrived.”
Even this desolate voice and the robe covering the entire body were exactly the same.
Hwang Seong-yeon slightly frowned as he answered.
“I feel this every time, but your greetings are always so dull.”
“My apologies. As someone born a researcher, I have no sense of humor.”
“That line was a bit funny. So they consider psychos like you as researchers too?”
Despite Hwang Seong-yeon’s sarcasm, the robed man did not falter at all.
Kukukuku-
He instead let out a deep chuckle.
A strange laughter sound, like that of an old man.
To an ordinary person, being called a psycho would be an insult, but to a true psycho, those words become praise.
Moreover, the robed man was a pure follower of evil, beyond what the word psycho could fully express.
It was only natural for him to laugh at the nickname he hadn’t heard in a long time.
“By the way, you’ve been visiting this place quite frequently lately.”
“Things keep coming up that require me to.”
Tak-
With those words, Hwang Seong-yeon threw a folded newspaper at the robed man.
The newspaper contained information about <Chamber of the Transcendent>, discussions on ‘Dragons’ and SS-grade monsters – contents that had recently set the Holder academia ablaze.
“Hmm?”
The robed man lightly caught the newspaper.
And he slowly read through the contents.
1 minute, 2 minutes, 5 minutes…
Time passed in silence.
Due to his entire body being covered by the robe, he appeared to just be reading the newspaper with no visible changes.
But having met him for a long time, Hwang Seong-yeon could sense it.
He was currently…
Showing slight signs of agitation.
This wavering was something he had never seen from him before.
“The information got out…much faster than expected.”
“Interesting. Is that all your impression is?”
Another sarcastic remark from Hwang Seong-yeon, provoking his feelings.
But this time, it seemed to have hit the mark…
Hwahreuk-!
Suddenly, black flames appeared and completely burned the newspaper gripped by the robed man.
Then, eerie glowing eyes turned towards Hwang Seong-yeon.
“Kkakkuk- Don’t worry. There’s no disruption to the plan.”
It was at that moment those words were uttered.
Kwaaang-!
Hwang Seong-yeon, who had suddenly drawn his sword, unleashed his magic to blow apart the left wall of the cave.
Then he coldly looked ahead with his signature expressionless face.
“Seems you’re getting the wrong idea. I’m your contract partner, not your subordinate. Since I’ve been quietly listening, you keep overstepping your bounds… It’d be better if you knew your place.”
“……”
The robed man, silently watching this scene, eventually bowed his head and reached out his hand first.
“My apologies. It was an unexpected situation, so I made a mistake. I have never seen you as a subordinate, only as my contract partner, Hwang Seong-yeon.”
“…….”
“And it is true that there is no disruption to the plan. Even if the humans have obtained information on the ‘Transcendents’, they still have no information on the ‘Defectors’.”
Hwang Seong-yeon nodded his head at those words.
From the beginning, their plan was focused on the ‘Defectors’.
Beings who preserve some memories like the Transcendents and are granted a space for reasoning…
But unable to remain in the derived space from the other world, they awkwardly assimilate into this world.
Just like the robed man.
“It will be difficult to find out about the Defectors unless directly confronted.”
The two’s plan was to ‘nurture’ these Defectors.
To nurture more Defectors, and eventually even turn a ‘certain Transcendent’ into a Defector.
That was their ultimate goal.
The core information about this has not been revealed to the world yet.
And even if it is revealed, unraveling such a complicated plan would not be easy.
“However, it is becoming quite vexing. I was already wondering about some unidentified Holder tailing our Ludenark…”
The robed man turned his gaze back to Hwang Seong-yeon.
“By any chance, do you know the identities of the Holders who uncovered this information?”
“An S-rank Holder named Yoo Eun-seol. And I’ve heard that Do Jae-hyun also greatly contributed. Rumor has it that Do Jae-hyun took the lead, and Yoo Eun-seol only assisted.”
“Do Jae-hyun…that guy again.”
The robed man had already received information about Do Jae-hyun before.
The Holder who made the biggest contribution in bringing down their allied clan, <Villains>.
A Holder who was rapidly growing at a frightening pace, to the point of representing the academy.
His name kept popping up time and time again.
Whenever it seemed he could become the slightest obstacle to their plan, his name would inevitably appear.
“An interesting fellow.”
As Hwang Seong-yeon thought about him, he let out a slight smile and nodded.
In Hwang Seong-yeon’s world, where the criteria for ‘interesting’ was quite high…Do Jae-hyun occupied a significant portion as an object of interest.
Even after a considerable amount of time had passed since the <Villains> eradication operation, Hwang Seong-yeon still occasionally recalled that day’s duel.
“I suppose we’ll have to assign someone to him soon.”
Hwang Seong-yeon asked in response to those words.
“To Do Jae-hyun?”
“Yes.”
“It will be difficult to assign anyone to the academy anymore. It’s not as lax as it used to be.”
Hwang Seong-yeon, who had directly involved herself through those past lax openings, knew this.
From the faculty to the students and even the operations staff.
The academy that <Villains> could freely manipulate, was different now.
After going through that bout of measles, they underwent a major transformation, making it almost impossible to infiltrate spies like before.
But the robed man paid no heed to Hwang Seong-yeon’s negative response.
“It’s fine. We just need to make an opening.”
At those confident words, Hwang Seong-yeon nodded solemnly.
While the robed man had some ominous aspects, he was no ordinary Defector when it came to ability.
He had always shown results beyond expectations, which was why Hwang Seong-yeon had unhesitatingly formed a contract with him.
This time too, he surely must have his own methods.
However…
“Don’t kill him. He’s the main dish I purposely left behind.”
As much as he enjoyed the thrill of facing Do Jae-hyun, Hwang Seong-yeon didn’t want to miss out on it.
***
Ippotranslation
***
After successfully finishing the ‘greeting from the senior’ as intended.
I returned home and was packing my bags.
It would be nice to meet the new main characters who will open the next chapter, but I had quite a busy schedule during the vacation, so I had to move around a bit busily.
“I guess she’ll be surprised?”
This time, the plan was to visit Japan.
It was to see Moon Ga-eun, who would be diligently training with Akiba in Nagoya by now.
Moreover, since I hadn’t told her yet, I was thinking of surprising her.
“Ah. Jae-hyun is too much. Right after playing with Juyeon, he goes to play with Ga-eun.”
Kim Chae-eun, who was next to me, grabbed my arm and said with a sulky expression.
Of course, she probably wasn’t really upset.
Ever since coming to Seoul, I had been with her all the time, and last night too… We spent it together.
Knowing that she was just playfully grumbling, I hugged her waist and kissed her.
“Why are you like that again? We were together yesterday and today.”
“Um- Hehe. My anger melted away with that kiss just now.”
“I knew it.”
I smiled and stroked Kim Chae-eun’s head, then continued packing my bags.
Apart from a few business meetings, this visit was really just to see Moon Ga-eun, so I didn’t need to pack a lot.
“Ah, right. You should visit the Master too.”
At those words, I looked up.
“Master Jeong Seon-young?”
“Yes. I mentioned it to the Master. Then she said she really wants to have a meal together with us.”
Suddenly, memories of Jeong Seon-young came to mind.
During the time when I failed to understand Kim Chae-eun’s heart, she subtly gave me signals.
It seems she had been enthusiastically cheering for us to become a couple ever since Pohang.
‘…There seem to be many such people around us.’
Not only Jeong Seon-young, but also Seong Na-yeon from before.
There were quite a few people around us who enthusiastically supported our relationship.
“Sure. Let’s see her once. I’ve received a lot from the seniors as well.”
After making an appointment with Jeong Seon-young, I finished packing all my luggage.
Then, after receiving one more kiss from Kim Chae-eun telling me to go and come back safely, I left the house.
…
…
Since I had been to Nagoya before, it wasn’t too difficult to reach my destination via the [Warp Gate].
Atsuta Shrine in Nagoya City.
As I set foot in this place where I had previously come for dungeon investigation, a familiar face came to welcome me.
“Long time no see, Jae-hyun.”
“Wow… How long has it been? I’m really glad to see you, Akiba.”
Her well-groomed posture and trademark miko outfit.
Even from a distance, I could easily recognize her as Akiba.
“I’m honored to see you again as well. By any chance, your luggage…”
“Ah, I left it at the accommodation. I have some other things to do too. More importantly, can I see Ga-eun first? I came without telling her, so I wanted to surprise her. Haha.”
Since Akiba was also an old acquaintance I hadn’t seen in a long time, I wanted to have a cup of tea with her as well.
There was still a lot we hadn’t had a chance to talk about.
However, time was plentiful, and the purpose of my visit today was to see Moon Ga-eun first.
So I immediately looked for Moon Ga-eun, but…
Akiba’s expression seemed a bit strange.
“Ah, about Ga-eun…”
Akiba, who had a slightly troubled look, eventually nodded at me.
“I see. Let’s go together. But please don’t be too surprised.”
“…Huh?”
What did she mean, don’t be too surprised?
Did she mean that Moon Ga-eun had become much stronger than before or something?
‘But it couldn’t be that, since the training period was too short.’
The time Moon Ga-eun had been in Japan was too short for that.
I was puzzled, but…
Nonetheless, I followed Akiba into the shrine.
After passing through a few doors, we arrived at the <Shadowy Ghost Lair>.
It was a dungeon I had experienced raiding when I came to investigate it before.
I thought we would have to go in deep, but fortunately, I was able to spot Moon Ga-eun not far from the entrance.
But….
“…What is that?”
Unfortunately, I couldn’t follow Akiba’s words of not being surprised.
And for good reason.
With its nine tails and shimmering crimson fur.
It’s quite large body that could almost cover the entire dungeon.
The aura swirling around it, enveloping everything.
Something I had never seen during the previous dungeon raid…
A giant fox.
More precisely, a nine-tailed fox was directly carrying Moon Ga-eun.
“Jae, Jae-hyun…?!”
Moon Ga-eun, who finally noticed me, exclaimed in surprise.
But I was the one who wanted to exclaim in surprise.
I sent her to Japan to improve her archery skills…
But what is this about taming a nine-tailed fox?
What on earth happened?
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