Chapter 36
Samra didn’t answer.
Not that it would’ve mattered if he had denied it.
If Kang Cheonseo was saying it out loud in front of Samra, it meant she was sure.
For once, I couldn’t keep my expression under control.
’The CEO of Paseong? After me?’
Paseong was the most famous of the private military companies founded by Adaptees.
They had a global reputation — a mission success rate of ninety percent.
All thanks to their CEO.
When a Paseong mercenary failed a clear, the company asked the client whether they wanted to attempt re-entry.
In that case, the client had to pay an additional fee, but if they accepted the re-entry, the CEO of Paseong personally entered the Trial.
He had never once failed a clear.
But unlike Je Hyun-oh, the Paseong CEO was a pure human — not infected with the BT Virus.
Yet his success rate was still astonishing, and no one could question that he possessed extraordinary ability.
The Paseong CEO kept every detail of his personal life a secret.
The only thing known to the public was his surname and title — "CEO Cha" — and even that might not have been real.
He also always wore a white mask that covered his face, an item that, along with voice modulation, caused cognitive degradation in those who perceived him.
So even Paseong’s own mercenaries didn’t know his face unless they were top-level executives.
’Chairman Cheon-gang is one of the few people who’s seen it.’
Meaning you had to be at least on Chairman Cheon-gang’s level for the Paseong CEO to show his face.
In the Archive, the Paseong CEO was a divisive character.
Because of his cold personality — cold enough to make people wonder if he was a psychopath or a sociopath.
He used everyone as tools, except for a very small circle of trusted people.
His actions were judged not by good and evil but by usefulness, and his arrogant speech often caused unnecessary conflict with others.
Even so, he was indispensable for dealing with the Trials occurring worldwide.
Those who found him charming and those who found him unpleasant couldn’t understand each other and traded insults.
I understood both sides, but in the end, I was on the Paseong CEO’s side.
You could call it biased judgment toward my favorite character.
And now he was tracking me.
The fact that my favorite character was paying attention to me felt both a little good and a little creepy.
Because I knew exactly how terrifying he was.
’In that sense, he’s kind of like Je Hyun-oh...’
On the other hand, I was also puzzled.
Considering the relationship between the TRA and Paseong, there was no reason for him to track me.
In South Korea, Trials and items were fundamentally all state property.
But the TRA alone couldn’t handle all the Trials hatching in Korea.
So the TRA had established cooperative relationships with private companies, and its main partner was Paseong.
In exchange for handling the TRA’s requests, Paseong got ownership of some Trials and items.
They also received BT Virus vaccines and treatments.
The TRA and Paseong prioritized exchanging or trading necessary information and items with each other.
They needed each other, so Paseong had absolutely no reason to antagonize the TRA.
Yet now they were tracking me — the person the TRA was currently watching most closely.
They had to know this was a move that could shake a well-maintained relationship.
"Goyo. Strange, isn’t it? Why hide something like that? I just don’t get it."
Kang Cheonseo looked at me and asked slyly.
"The TRA seems to be treating you badly, Goyo. Want me to take care of it?"
"Chairman Kang. Any further remarks would be an act against the Trial Response Agency."
"Oh my, how scary."
A faint sneer spread across her lips.
Her expression seemed to say: A fly-by-night organization putting on airs.
But she didn’t voice any more complaints.
No matter how young the agency was — only four years old — in the current situation, the TRA was one of the few means of stopping the Trials.
She surrendered cleanly to Samra.
"Fine. I’ll stop here."
Kang Cheonseo declared in a cheerful voice and turned to me.
"Goyo, you eating okay?"
She handed me a card. A black card — something I’d only ever heard about.
"Buy yourself something good with this. Think of it as allowance from an adult, okay?"
"Chairman Kang."
"The TRA doesn’t even appreciate it, so just let it slide. Goyo, because of Samra here, I can’t even give the kid pocket money."
Kang Cheonseo, whining about losing face, looked thoroughly playful.
But my blood ran cold.
It was easy to guess that her black card was a trap.
If I took it and actually used it, it would be used to track my location and movements completely.
’Does she want to push me toward Paseong?’
I was curious about her goal.
If this was bait to shake things up between Paseong and the TRA, the situation made some sense — but I couldn’t see how that would benefit Cheon-gang.
Especially knowing how much Kang Cheonseo valued Cheon-gang.
In the past, she had gone by the name Kang Seoyoung.
She had trampled countless people on her way to the chairman’s seat, and on the day she finally reached the top of Cheon-gang —
Kang Seoyoung changed her name to Kang Cheonseo.
A name change declaring that she was Cheon-gang.
If someone like that was starting to walk a tightrope that might affect Cheon-gang, there had to be a reason.
"I’ll bring you the Good-Looking item instead of pocket money. I have to go get it myself, so — hold on a moment?"
"Thank you, Chairman."
I stopped thinking and answered with a quick smile.
Getting the Good-Looking item from Cheon-gang was the most important thing.
Since I wasn’t sure why Paseong was looking for me, I didn’t want to lose the TRA’s trust by showing too much interest in them.
And while I liked the Paseong CEO, honestly — even with my favorite-character filter on — his personality was pretty terrible.
Compared to him, Samra was a gentleman.
’Besides, I need Samra more right now.’
For now, staying with the TRA was my best option.
Kang Cheonseo saw Samra and Han Goyo out to the front door.
She watched Han Goyo bow his head politely, her expression warm — until the door closed. Then it went cold.
Staring at the closed door, she turned and walked down the long hallway.
Her phone rang. She answered immediately.
"Oh my, look who it is."
As if the coldness from moments ago had been a lie, she launched into banter the moment she picked up.
"CEO Cha! To what do I owe the pleasure of an old woman getting a call from you?"
But the response on the other end was frigid.
"Chairman Kang. I’m hurt."
He threw out the words without any explanation. Kang Cheonseo grinned.
"You have someone watching me? That’s terrifying. How are you getting information so fast?"
"I can’t help but be hurt that you handed over the item I procured for you to the TRA instead of returning it to Paseong."
"Hmm, couldn’t be helped. And I didn’t give it to them. I lent it."
"Tell me why."
"A bit hard to do over the phone. How about we see each other’s faces for the first time in a while?"
"..."
Irritation radiated from the silence. Kang Cheonseo let out a silent scoff.
’Kids these days, no manners at all.’
But she wasn’t angry. Because the situation was turning out quite interesting.
"You’ll be satisfied when you hear what I have to say. I guarantee quality. Our CEO Cha is a busy man, so I’ll match your schedule. Anytime."
"It’s difficult to visit in person. If you could just tell me now—"
"I met Han Goyo."
Kang Cheonseo smiled broadly — a smile he couldn’t see — and said,
"So how about we talk in person?"
Then she hung up. Because her granddaughter came running over like a foal.
Kang Byeokrin, who had been locked up on the third floor and only just gotten permission to come downstairs, looked like the sky was falling.
"He’s... gone...?"
Kang Cheonseo shrugged.
"Left a while ago."
"Grandma!"
Kang Byeokrin cried out, full of grievance — how could she do this when she knew Byeokrin was Goyo’s fan?
Of course she knew. The only reason Cheon-gang sponsored the gaming team was because of Kang Byeokrin.
"That’s why I didn’t let you meet him, Rin."
"What?"
"Do you think it’s appropriate for someone who’s going to be the heir of Cheon-gang to act like such a fool? I went through the trouble of inviting Han Goyo just so you could see him, and the moment you met him, you just fell apart."
"...I’m sorry."
"Good, as long as you know you messed up. Always remember — you are Cheon-gang. Don’t do anything that makes you look ridiculous, Rin."
"Yes, I’ll keep that in mind."
Finishing the brief scolding, Kang Cheonseo shook her head.
"Honestly, you... Han Goyo’s only twenty-four, but he’s surprisingly mature."
"Right? Goyo’s got depth. He’s really adult for his age."
"Oh dear."
Kang Cheonseo shot her granddaughter a tired look as Byeokrin beamed at the comparison.
Still, she couldn’t help but smile.
Her granddaughter had never disappointed her.
And she allowed her granddaughter small indulgences — one of which was Han Goyo.
Back when Kang Byeokrin had been going crazy over him, she’d only received reports through her secretaries.
Today was the first time she’d actually met him, and she could see why he’d captured her granddaughter’s heart.
His personality was bold and audacious without being rude, and he seemed to have a decent head on his shoulders.
Good-looking too. If it had been possible, she would have kept him close as one of her own.
’But Paseong makes that difficult.’
Even the all-knowing Samra probably hadn’t expected the relationships to get tangled like this.
She smiled at her chattering granddaughter while simultaneously planning how to get the maximum benefit from the situation between the TRA and Paseong.
CRASH!
A sound that could never come from the Cheon-gang chairman’s mansion.
Kang Cheonseo’s eyes flew open at the tremendous noise of destruction.
The person who had sent the front door flying off its hinges stepped inside.
This time, Kang Cheonseo couldn’t smile.
"CEO Cha..."
A voice modulated into mechanical tones came from the man in the matte white mask.
"I came to hear the story, Chairman Kang."
After returning to the TRA with the Good-Looking item, I headed to the Special Mission Team office in the afternoon.
For the next mission briefing.
Je Hyun-oh wouldn’t be attending the meeting — he was set to join directly at the mission site.
Kwak Hanmuk and Mo Haein, whom I hadn’t seen in a few days, were sitting in the office. They stood up so violently their chairs nearly tipped over.
"Trainee!"
Mo Haein ran over first and checked me over. After confirming I was fine, she bit her lower lip, then released it.
"They wouldn’t even let me visit your hospital room."
"I’m okay."
I meant it as a reassurance — that she didn’t need to worry — but Mo Haein snapped back immediately.
"Yeah, you’re okay. You’re so okay you crawled out again pretending to go on a mission instead of lying in a hospital bed."
As I bowed my head apologizing — "Sorry, sorry" — Kwak Hanmuk chimed in from the side.
"Thought you’d gone from roasted chestnut to shelled chestnut there."
He crossed his arms and looked down at me, having created a new chestnut series.
"Next time, let’s agree before you pull some crazy shit, yeah? Got it, Goyo?"
"Yes, sir."
I answered quickly to his warning tone, and Mo Haein let out a heavy sigh beside me.
Just as I was getting roasted to a crisp by the Captains, Samra rescued me.
"We will begin the Special Mission Team meeting."
Thanks to Samra, I finally managed to sit down and start the meeting.
Samra began the briefing.
"The second Trial the Special Mission Team will enter is <Clean! Clean! Clean!>. The Trial grade is four stars. Lieutenant Colonel Je Hyun-oh will be entering for the first time. Captain Mo Haein and Captain Kwak Hanmuk have cleared this Trial multiple times."
Clean3 was a game where you were hired as a short-term cleaner for a massive mansion and had to clean it for a week.
You had to clean the mansion to a level that satisfied the butler NPCs — but despite the straightforward clear condition, the gameplay was trickier than it sounded.
Because it wasn’t just about cleaning the mansion. You also had to eliminate the monsters called "Creatures" hiding inside.
And there was one decisive factor that made things even harder for players.
The roulette.
The player’s outfit, the tools used for cleaning, even the weapons for killing monsters — everything was decided by spinning a roulette.
If you got unlucky on that roulette spin, you could end up starting with nothing but a single lollipop while practically naked. That was Clean3.
And here was the part that made you want to tear your hair out even more: the two butler NPCs in the mansion scrutinized whether the cleaners suited the mansion.
If you were dirty and unsanitary, or wearing clothes that didn’t match the mansion’s atmosphere — immediate eviction.
If you spun the roulette and got a shabby cleaner’s uniform?
You couldn’t even set foot inside the mansion.
"Clean3? Clean3? Clean3 of all things?"
The moment they heard the second mission was Clean3, Kwak Hanmuk and Mo Haein’s faces turned grim.
Kwak Hanmuk, muttering "Clean3, seriously" over and over, looked at me with hollow eyes.
"I had to clean wearing a maid outfit before..."
He recounted his experience of spectacularly failing the roulette, but I couldn’t exactly sympathize.
Because I’d never failed to pick what I wanted.