"Hey, babe. Mun Gyeongha reached out."
"Ah, Mun Gyeongha."
At my lazy reaction, Tudor arched a brow.
"Ah—Mun Gyeongha? Why is he barging in out of nowhere?"
Because back during the pasta incident, I promised to help once.
Thirteen was there then, so I figured Tudor would know... oh, that’s not it. This is because I made a contract with the wrong person.
After I sketched the gist, I added:
"...So I told him, if he has business, put in a request through the most beautiful woman in the world."
"Hmmm."
She was still giving me a prim little glare, but her mood had eased a bit.
Even so, Tudor let out a short sigh and shook her head.
"Babe, stop tangling up your relationships at Yeonam. No—tangle them if you want, but stop giving my contact to the Mun clan."
"Huh? Why?"
Why would a broker be reluctant to have lines to whales like them?
"Those Mun-Gyeong-whatever brothers. Same faces, similar names, same voices—it's killing me! I first thought the call was from Mun Gyeongjun!"
The one we met in Sokcho and fought and killed—the man who controlled Yeonam Construction—was Mun Gyeongnam.
The one I joined hands with for Mun Seunghee’s survival—the man who controls Yeonam Trading—was Mun Gyeongjun.
And the one we met this time was Mun Gyeongha of Ilsin Hotel.
For reference, everyone in the Mun family shares the middle syllable Gyeong—there aren’t only brothers, but if you count just the men you get Mun Gyeongcheol, Mun Gyeongmin, Mun Gyeongtak, Mun Gyeongo, Mun Gyeong, Mun Gyeong...
It’s not just the names.
Unusually tall, well-built frames; a thick, masculine vibe with—yada yada—and a surprising delicacy with—yada yada—broad, dense blah blah—
Austere yet feral charm—whatever whatever—
In short, striking, clearly defined pretty boys like morning-drama male leads.
But that’s only when you look at each one separately.
Line these handsome third-generation chaebol brothers up, and they look so alike you can barely tell them apart.
Follow the routes tied to Yeonam Group, and you’ll occasionally hit events where these guys swarm together...
Watching carbon-copy faces gather and try to out-handsome each other—it was so bizarre you could only laugh.
Well, it’s common for game NPCs to share models.
Besides, I already saw the mass-produced NPC crowd back in Ansan.
"Babe, what are you thinking about?"
The red-haired beauty had drifted up to my nose without me noticing.
"Nothing. I just pictured Yeonam Group’s heirs."
"Women? Or men?"
"...What kind of classification is that?"
She looped a long finger around my shoulder and head, whispering.
"If you were thinking about some woman that isn’t me—I was going to punish you."
"Hey—"
...Yeah, and if I say I was thinking about men, I know exactly how she’ll tease me.
"Most beautiful woman in the world, ma’am. Restrain yourself?"
"Aha, so I do need to punish you. Come here—I'll give you a kiss so fantastic you’ll never think of another woman again!"
Tudor’s lips came right up to mine—and her deft hand naturally tried to peel off my mask.
"Ugh, stop!"
[sfx: shrrrk]
I turned my left hand into a tentacle and pushed Tudor away.
"Yikes! Don’t touch me with that horrible tentacle!"
Tudor recoiled in horror.
Thank you, O Lord. At last You have granted me a weapon to fight this witch.
"Okay, broker ma’am. What did Mun Gyeongha say?"
"Tch—there’ll be a banquet at the hotel soon, and he says we should drop by."
A banquet?
Ah, right. Things over there must be getting busy too.
"Here, the invitations."
"There are two."
"Yup. The other one’s from Mun Seunghee. It’s hard for her to find an attendant right now, so she’s calling you."
It’s not just that she needs someone to stand beside her.
Lately, Mun Seunghee has settled into the core of Yeonam Construction now that Mun Gyeongnam is gone.
That she could rise this fast—sure, partly because she’s incredibly competent, but mostly because the man who oppressed her is dead.
If there hadn’t been scheming and suppression, she would already have been higher.
It’s about time all the Mun-Gyeong siblings started seriously checking Seunghee.
If I don’t intervene, during this banquet—Mun Seunghee will be assassinated.
"How’s Curtain Call doing these days?"
At the mention of Curtain Call, Tudor sighed with a put-upon look.
"She only just managed to become friends with Seunghee. Babe, do you know how much I suffered?"
"Still, it’s good they’re close."
"Yeah. But it’ll be tough for Collie alone, no? Besides the Mun clan—it’s a banquet where rich people swarm. She could get worked up, crack some guy’s head, and get tossed out."
Even I have to admit, this event is a bad match for Curtain Call.
"I’ll scout the situation first. It’s not happening today anyway, right?"
"Suit yourself. But depending on whose invitation you use, the vibe’s going to change a lot."
Not just the vibe.
Depending on whose guest I am, this banquet can become a completely different event.
"Whatever. Whoever I stand with—I'll need an ID to enter the hall, so prep me a fresh one."
"Aha, you said the last ID I made got smashed by Yang Seoho, right?"
That was in Busan.
I presented my ID, and Yang Seoho just snapped it in half and charged.
"You said it was an ID good enough to take the civil service exam with, didn’t you? Paju’s top broker, Lady Tudor. Didn’t you half-ass it?"
"What are you talking about—after the havoc you caused, like he’d believe any ID."
Fair. There’s that.
[Deception Check: Critical Failure]
The situation was suspicious from the start—so even if my identity had been perfectly legit, Yang Seoho would have called it a fake, arrested me, and then taken his sweet time verifying it.
And if it turned out I really was Korean?
Yang Seoho would have apologized politely—and treated me like a courteous public official from then on.
"Anyway, forget the civil service. Just find me something I can passably ‘borrow’ to use for the party."
At my words, Tudor pressed her index finger to her chin for a moment and went "hmm—."
"Oh, perfect. A bunch of clean listings just hit the black market. I’ll pick a pretty name."
"A bunch just hit?"
"Yeah. There was a large-scale missing-persons case in Ansan—the dealers seem to have siphoned a few. Lots of unusual names; I remembered them. Kweok Hwejul, Babak Hyeon—"
They were Kweok Hwajeul and Park Bakhyeon.
The mass-produced NPCs from the House of Healing...
"Get me one from somewhere other than Ansan."
"Huh? Don’t tell me you’re tangled up in that too? Wow, you really make trouble nationwide."
"...Well, there won’t be much trouble for a while."
I’ve laid some groundwork just in case—but if the work with Gong Isu finishes cleanly, I won’t need to meddle further.
Evening, a bit early to call it night.
I moved to Paju Central Market and bought about a pallet of cat food.
"Doldol, you keep an eye on this for now."
Grrrrr-rrr
"Aww, you’re eating great."
Excited by my praise, Doldol started doing a glorious Doldol dance in the middle of the market—stop that!
The last batch of feed didn’t suit the refined palates of the noble cat lords, so I donated it to an appropriate animal protection group.
My next stop...
"Wow! Mask brother!"
The part-timer at Geumchon Pawnshop—Jeong Yeo-eun.
Wearing green school gym pants under her uniform skirt, Jeong Yeo-eun waved her whole body to show how happy she was.
"Hey. Long time no see. Where’s the old man—whoa! Careful!"
She managed to smack a precariously placed antique on the shelf—but before real disaster struck, I sent out mana and caught it.
"Wow! Superpowers!"
"Magic."
"Wow! Magic!"
I spun the antique a few times in midair, set it back where it belonged, and bowed.
"There are no tricks—no hidden devices."
clap clap clap—Jeong Yeo-eun applauded.
"Ugh, that masked lunatic. Thinks he’s all that, flinging magic around—ugh."
Grumbling, Jeong Euntaek stuck his head out.
"Harsh, sir. I just saved the life of this expensive-looking porcelain."
"Yeah, benefactor of porcelain. Here for the gold?"
"Yes. You’ve got it ready, right?"
"Ugh—some crazy bastard’s been hoarding gold—ugh—my back—my legs—I thought I’d die."
Jeong Euntaek started priming the price hike.
"Right, right. Tough on you. But I’m thrilled you still managed to get it."
"Hmph. You’re going to eat it too, aren’t you? These so-called problem-solvers and mages keep eating gold like it’s sugar—no wonder it’s so hard to find."
"Who’s eating it?"
Though yes, I am going to make it into a golden hairpin and pop it—so it will be gone.
Gold in this world is a consumable.
Jeong Euntaek only mentioned fixers and mages, but even the cultists melt down dozens of tons of gold in one go for rituals and spells and such.
Even so, prices match my old reality pretty closely. I haven’t dug deep, but I’d bet entities of the Abyss or some administrator type are artificially tuning things.
At least for gold, that’s true.
There’s abyssal gold the Deep-sea folk circulate, and gold provided by Heavenly Gold Hall. ~Nоvеl𝕚ght~ Gold generated by surreal means and gold consumed by surreal means seem to keep a rough balance.
Anyway, I’ve got the gold now.
Considering the minor reagents and fine-tuning I still need—I can’t exactly declare, "I depart on X month, X day!"
But I’m really almost done.
Of course, for this plan I...
"Mask brother."
"Yeah?"
Jeong Yeo-eun snuck up to whisper where Jeong Euntaek couldn’t hear.
"Could you teach me magic too?"
"...What kind of magic?"
If I did that... the once-glorious fixer and terrifying former head of the Geumchon Market Merchants’ Association, Jeong Euntaek, would come after me.
"Well, so—in our class! A gangster transferred in! A gangster!"
"Huh? A gangster?"
At that odd combo of words out of her mouth, I went blank for a second.
What is she even saying? Since when do gangsters transfer to high school?
But I soon thought of someone who fits those keywords and sighed.
"I think I know. Her name’s Jeong Hyeona, right?"
"Wow! How did you know?"
"I’m a mage."
Looks like Hyeona decided to attend school again. I didn’t do anything for that, so it must be Chae Taewon’s triumph of humanity.
"Ahhh—right! What do I do? Our school’s going to run red with blood!"
"Mm... Don’t. She’s a good kid. Try becoming friends. You might actually get along."
Last stop: Wollongsan, Geomsan-dong, Paju.
These days, people just call it Tanhyeon.
"Magus, what’s the plan today?"
"Pick me up when the moon sets."
"Don’t people usually say ‘before sunrise’?"
I was mildly shocked by Jang Hyundeok’s comment, but managed to keep a straight face.
"Don’t trust the sun."
No, that’s not it.
"Huh?"
"That’s their conspiracy."
"Wh—whose?"
"They’re hiding the truth that the earth is flat."
"What? The earth is flat!?"
...
Jang Hyundeok’s shout snapped me out of it.
"No. That’s not the point. Anyway, come around four. If I have to move earlier, I’ll call."
"What if something comes up and I can’t?"
"Then I’ll sleep here and go tomorrow—or move by magic. It’s fine. Follow your schedule."
"Aha. Got it."
Once I confirmed he was gone, I turned and opened the door camouflaged as rock.
Screeeech—
A gloomy metal shriek as the secret door opened.
My second residence—and the place Cheongho died.
The underground bomb shelter.
"You’re late."
"Had a lot to prep."
"The gold?"
"Brought it. I heard someone’s been stockpiling lately?"
Just meaningless small talk.
But at that, Gong Isu seemed to mull something over—he tilted his watch slightly and spoke slowly.
"Helistic’s collecting it."
"Hmm, Helistic?"
"Yeah. The Mi-go are moving."
"Ahh... that tracks."
Unlike Cure Medical Care, Helistic doesn’t have an Abyssal entity behind it. Instead, they partner with Mi-go and other off-world species to study all Abyssal beings.
If we don’t get out now—Yeonam, Helistic, then Mi-go—headaches will line up one after another.
"How long do you think?"
"Depends on the quality of the materials. Fastest, three days? Even if it drags, one to two weeks tops. I don’t know the magical bits, so you’ll have to watch with me."
"Got it."
