Yu Jitae gathered the kids of Team Lair into one place. Five superhumans thus gathered inside a small office.
After hearing that Yu Jitae was visiting them, Yong Taeha wore a suit despite his body being covered with bandages. Brzenk, who avoided contact with everyone except for his manager from Lair Agency, also came.
They shared some formalities and greetings, after which Yu Jitae revealed the purpose behind his visit.
“Frustrating, isn’t it? All of you.”
As expected, that seemed to be the reason for his visit.
Brzenk frowned. The fact that he had to receive someone’s help despite being in the field out of school was something that damaged his pride as a genius.
Meanwhile, Yong Taeha wagged his tail.
“You knew about that, sir…”
“It was impossible to not know.”
“It truly is very frustrating and all the swearing is hard to take. I think it is harder because we are already trying our hardest.”
“Of course.”
He had heard from Kaeul beforehand and already knew how zealously they were working. That was when Ling Ling, who had been stealing glances at his face, said with an awkward smile.
“But actuallyy, we are okkay.”
“What is okay.”
“We aren’t really lacking anythingg, and we will still be getting our ranks so you don’t have to helpp uss…”
Last night, Yu Jitae had talked with Kaeul over the watch, without mentioning anything about his visit. Ling Ling who had been crying her eyes out according to Kaeul was drastically different from the Ling Ling he was seeing.
The kids were smoothly growing up into adults, perhaps more maturer than some immature adults.
“I’m not necessarily trying to physically help you when you’re already doing fine.”
“Sorry?”
“You guys can continue working on what you were doing, as you have been doing.”
“Thennn…?”
The problem was simple. An attack through the media added to their circumstances where they couldn’t publicise their actions.
Since the problem was simple, the solution was also simple. They simply had to stop the attack over the media and publicise what was happening.
Unlike the other three whose individual communication to society was being restricted due to various complex reasons, Yu Jitae was the one stopping Kaeul’s communication. Therefore, he could simply say, ‘Kaeul let’s do SNS from now,’ and that would solve the problem.
He looked at Kaeul, who was still silent without saying a word. This was probably how she had been like the whole time. Her thoughts hadn’t matured yet and she didn’t have anything that could be thrown out as her own opinion.
Today, his plan was to ask Kaeul about her ‘own opinion’ about the matter.
But of course, there were things to do before that.
“You guys, have you ever found it strange?”
“Yes?”
“The rank prediction being given by the media. Team White has a higher rank than you and Team Mochi who are constantly repeating raids day and night, yes?”
“Yes sir.”
Turning his head, Yu Jitae looked at the son of Oscar Brzenk.
“Brzenk.”
“Yes.”
“Do you think you are weaker than Rank 971 White?”
“…I don’t think I’ll lose but objectively speaking, I think we are around the same level.”
“Then what about Kaeul.”
Brzenk hesitated slightly before opening his mouth.
“I believe she will be equal to rankers in 500s.”
“Right. That means your overall strength might be higher than White’s team.”
“…”
“But if you look at White’s SNS, don’t they appear to be raiding with quite the leisure? He’s meeting people, and having parties with his mates.”
“I did find it slightly questionable.”
“Good. I’ll show you something I’ve found first.”
Yu Jitae fidgeted with his watch.
“This is the raid record of the past 67 days since the start of the newborn superhuman competition. Have a look.”
He sent the data he took from the Association last night to their watches.
“Sorry? Uhh..”
“…Isn’t this illegal?”
They voiced their worries but Yu Jitae shook his head as it wasn’t illegal.
“Only requires some rights to view it.”
Ahh I see, thought the cadets but after realising what those ‘rights’ referred to in the Association, they were slightly surprised. In any case, they came to themselves and glanced across the data.
+++
Record on number of operations carried out in the last 67 days
– Team White: 85 times (D-)
– Team Lair: 21 times (B+)
– Team Mochi: 59 times (C)
– Newborn team average: 16.5 times (D)
+++
Currently, out of the 2300 newborn superhuman teams that were registered at the Association, Team Mochi was the one coming second with their number of raids. They were cutting down on their sleep and desperately working on the raids.
And that was 59 times.
“Team White, 85 times…!? What kind of. What is up with these guys?”
So Yong Taeha’s scream wasn’t anything strange.
“How diligently were they… no, wait. Is this even a possible number no matter how diligent they are?”
There wasn’t a big difference between 2nd place and 3rd place. There wasn’t a big difference between 3rd place and 4th place either.
However, there was a gap of 44% between 1st place and 2nd place. Average rank of D- was extremely low and meant that they were undertaking easy dungeons on average. But even then, 85 raids within 67 days was still a number that was completely impossible to understand.
“This means they’re only sharing a portion of it on their SNS right?”
“Yeah! Their followers were saying they only completed 60 missions or so till now right!”
“That’s what they themselves told their followers… to the 30 million followers they’re so proud of,” said Tyr Brzenk.
Yong Taeha’s eyes twitched after hearing his words. Cutting down on their accomplishment and only publicising a portion of it?
It was strange.
Operations weren’t given out everyday at every hour of the clock. There were a set number of operations each day and the time slot was also random. Because Yeorum’s team had 59 completed missions after diligently carrying out everything that was allocated to them, 85 missions appeared comparatively abnormal.
“Are there more detailed records?”
“There is. But thereon it will be illegal.”
“Damn it…”
Their faces turned dark.
One of the children had belonged to the top ever since his birth and had his eyes set on the far-off distance. After immediately grasping the situation, Tyr Brzenk bitterly opened his mouth.
“I guess they are accepting failed missions from minor squads.”
‘Minor Squads’ here referred to superhuman squads that were not supported or sponsored by superhuman agencies.
Yu Jitae showed his agreement through silence.
He was right.
“What do you mean? You mean they added 20 missions to their name like that? But failed missions don’t even happen that often though.”
No superhuman entered a mission ready to fail. All superhumans readied themselves as much as possible and because of that, it was quite rare for missions to fail.
“Or do you mean the Association dumped all the failed missions to Whitee…?”
“No. There’s no way that’s the case. That’s impossible.”
It was impossible for someone within the Association to hand over a failed mission to a specific squad and therefore, the current situation was like the following.
1. A minor squad fails a mission.
2. They alert the Association of their failure.
3. The Association looks for a team that could undertake the failed missions in a fair manner.
4. But for some reason, Team White always happened to be there and takes all the failed missions into their wings.
5. That was why they were able to increase the number of their missions without sacrificing much of their rest time.
6. And despite that, they publicised only a portion of what they had done.
“Does this even make sense? Brzenk. Maybe White has an informant hiding inside the Association?”
“No. That won’t make sense either…”
Although the Association wasn’t a clean organisation by any means, they also weren’t a group that would allow something this ridiculous happening from within them. Thus, it was safe to assume that this wasn’t based on things that were happening inside the Association.
Everything was happening outside the Association.
The kids thought to themselves. What kind of team was Team White? They were the team under White McDonald who was getting explosive support from the Tower of Mages, whose reputation and fame was starting to dwindle in recent times due to Lair’s uprise. They also had Team Coin who was supporting them via media… and due to 30 million followers, they also had a lot of verbal influence.
Finally realising something, Ling Ling struck the table with her fist. Kong! Her fist was small, and so was the sound.
“I, I think I get itt.”
“Why? What is it?”
“Why do you think minor squads actually failed their missionss? That’s why it wasn’t making sensee!”
“What? Then what if they didn’t fail?”
“What if they pretended like it failed?”
Yong Taeha and Kaeul twitched their eyes. As Yu Jitae had planned, the smart group of children found the answer by themselves from a simple trace.
1. Minor squads would fail missions – sometimes they won’t
2. But they will alert the Association of a failed mission
3. After getting contacted by the minor squids, Team White would accept the failed missions for themselves.
Of course, the process couldn’t be done for free. Raid squads that fail missions will have to shoulder the blame. The Association’s trust in their ability will plummet and therefore, there had to be a bigger profit for them.
“And there is the Tower of Mages behind White.”
And the Tower of Mages had a lot of money.
“So 20 of the 85 missions they have done are very likely to be ‘false missions’ that were done by them simply entering an empty dungeon.”
0. Team White buys out the minor squads.
It all now started to make sense and Yong Taeha and Ling Ling raised their voices from the frustration.
“These evil trashes…!”
“We should report to the Associationn. This is unfairr!”
“We must screw them over or something! Oi, Brzenk! Can you get some help from your father in situations like this?”
“I could.”
“Then let’s screw them up! These bastards! I will also get some help from my household!”
It was then. Right when they were about to start formulating a plan, Brzenk poured a bucket of cold water above them.
“But how would you make this a problem?”
“What?”
“The newborn ranking competition only lasts 4 months. A few of the people already know about minor squads earning some money through this but it’s hard to make this into a big issue.”
“How is it hard?”
“Most of the raid failures would probably be at the boss raids, which really are dangerous. There are a lot of situational elements that could force the group into retreating.”
“And?”
“Let’s say we do report it to the Association. Would the minor squads come out and obediently say that they had received some dirty money? That they got paid to do so? They won’t. So we don’t have any evidence or witness. What are we going to do if all the minor squads group up and claim that they really did fail their missions?”
And what if Team White just coincidentally happened to monopolise them?
“But! How can there be such a coincidence? That’s impossible!”
“But on the other hand, we don’t have any evidence to claim that it wasn’t a coincidence right?”
After calmly thinking about it, they realised that Brzenk was right.
“I also feel like shit, but we have to be calmer in a situation like this. We only have circumstantial evidence right now.”
That was the problem.
The minor squads were the ones claiming that they had failed the missions while the transaction was between minor squads and Team White. It was simply structurally impossible for there to be any evidence or witness.
It was a smart move by Team White.
“Should we just do the same thing!?”
“Taeha. Don’t say that even as a joke.”
“Yeahh… I would rather stop being a superhuman than do that…” said Ling Ling.
False mission completions like this would always be carried out in the shadows based on connections so 30 million followers of theirs must have come in handy. However, Team Lair didn’t even have such a connection in the first place so they couldn’t even do the same thing even if they wanted to.
Yong Taeha awkwardly gave a frown.
“I was just saying it. It’s just freakin’ frustrating…”
Naturally, the eyes of the young superhumans gathered towards Yu Jitae.
Despite the abysmal situation, they thought Yu Jitae might have the answer to this issue. It was the same feeling as all the other cadets of Lair who saw the actions of the Yu household. The guardian of Yu household always made possible, the seemingly impossible – including ridiculous things at times.
“What did they move for again?” Yu Jitae, who had been quietly watching them, opened his mouth.
“Wouldn’t it be money sir?”
“Right – money. But there is more. Newborn superhuman competition only lasts 4 months. They can’t ruin their whole superhuman career from some momentary cash can they.”
The kids nodded in return.
“I guess there is their trust in the Tower of Mages…”
“Exactly.”
“That’s all the more hopeless then. Because there is both money and trust between them.”
“That’s why I met them yesterday,” said Yu Jitae.
“Sorry? What do you mean sir?”
Opening his wallet, Yu Jitae threw a bunch of papers onto the table. There were around 10 business cards each with a name and a phone number. The kids glanced across them, curious as to what they were.
“Those are the business cards of the minor squad captains.”
The kids widened their eyes in shock. Startled, Ling Ling hurriedly picked up one of the business cards she dropped on the ground.
“Did you go meet them personally?”
“Yeah. All through till morning.”
“But would they obediently open up considering all the money and trust they have, sir?”
“They weren’t very willing indeed.”
“Damn it… I guess so though. Because admitting that would ruin both their life and their connection with the Tower of Mages.”
As expected, there won’t be any witnesses… or so they thought.
“That’s why it wasn’t that easy,” Yu Jitae said, shattering their thoughts.
‘Sorry?’ asked Yong Taeha with his voice cracking in the middle. Ling Ling’s red eyes widened and even Tyr Brzenk appeared bewildered.
No matter how much he intimidated them, they didn’t try to admit anything so it was a bit difficult but in the end, he forced their mouths open by using the skills he was good at. Naturally, there was no reason for him to share this part of the story with the children.
In any case, the evidence was with him right now. Yu Jitae unfastened his watch and gave it to the children.
As if it was the legacy of his household, Yong Taeha carefully received it before clicking on the [1. Minor Squad Cobras Wing_Testimony] from the list of recordings.
– Yes. T, that is correct. 2 weeks ago we received money related to the false missions from the Magicians Tower Agency (MTA).
The voice of the ‘witness’ flowed out from the watch. Ling Ling’s expression turned dark in real time.
– In cash?
– Ye, yes sir.
– And any insurance? If the Tower of Mages goes back on their word, it’s just you falling into ruin.
– T, the things is, we have a non-disclosure agreement. In, in paper…
– Pass it over.
A rustling sound escaped from the watch as the recording soon came to an end.
While the expressions of the kids were changing eccentrically in real time, Yu Jitae took a small piece of paper from his pocket and placed it on the table. When Tyr Brzenk opened up the folded piece of paper, the kids let out shrieks of awe.
“T, this!?” “Hukk…!”
They guessed what it was from the recording but actually seeing it with their own eyes gave them a different feeling altogether.
[Non-disclosure Agreement_Cobras Wing]
There was ‘evidence’ before their eyes now, following the witness’s testimony.