Chapter 105: Messing Up Is A Hero's Basic Skill (3)
Baek Seol-hee’s voice did not sound angry at all.
As if she realized her mistake when she called me, she was clearly watching my reactions.
So, I got a hunch.
This situation… was advantageous for me.
‘It’s a bit disconcerting.’
Because the leader had inserted the setting that I was a married man, it was hard for me to adapt, but now that it had become this situation, it was working in my favor.
Perhaps the leader foresaw this and told me to reveal that I was a married man in Ulleungdo?
The leader was indeed amazing.
“I’m sorry. I should have texted you in between.”
[Ar, are you somewhere now?]
“I’m in Seoul. Home.”
[Ah….]
A sigh that seemed resigned.
[We, well, I’ll hang up!]
“It’s okay. She’s gone to shower now… We can talk for a little while. That’s why I called now.”
I was a villain.
Let’s be shameless.
“Did you call and text me thinking I’m in Sejong Island?”
[…….]
“I’m sorry. I should have contacted you before I left. I will contact you first next time. If I stop by the Seoul house. Hmm… A weekend couple? No. We see each other once a month.”
[A couple…still?]
“My wife is a very busy person.”
That was not a lie.
She was busy conquering the world, and right now, she must be very busy with October Travel and the equity negotiations.
[…Somehow, Ji-Hwan, you seem a bit different from ordinary people.]
“That’s right. Both me and my wife. Is it because the world has turned out this way? Haha.”
[Is your wife… an ability user?]
“I’m afraid I can’t go into details there.”
Inquiring about personal details was a no-go.
“Seol-hee. I’m sorry. When the vacation is over, and I return to Sejong Island, I’ll make a reservation for the pension we stayed at in Ulleungdo. If you want to come, you can.”
[…Ji-Hwan, you don’t need to apologize. I’m the bad one.]
“No, it’s my fault that I wasn’t there when you needed me.”
Apologizing when I had done nothing wrong…
Surely, it was a blow to my pride, but by demeaning myself, Baek Seol-hee would end up feeling even more indebted.
“I’ll be there next time. Soon… uh-uh.”
[Why, what’s wrong?]
“Ah, nothing.”
Feigning pain subtly through the call, I lay the groundwork.
“Just, when she asked who was on the phone, I was trying to hide it…haha.”
[…Did it hurt?]
“Of course. Naturally.”
I got confused sometimes, too.
But from now on, I need to hypnotize myself clearly and talk to Baek Seol-hee.
“Um, I’ll call you again later. See you next time, Seol-hee.”
[…Yes. I’m really sorry.]
“It’s fine. But thank you for answering the call. I thought you were mad at me.”
[I would have been a fool…to be angry. I’ll do better next time. Ah, then…!]
Baek Seol-hee hung up hastily.
After confirming that the call was definitely disconnected, I let out an involuntary hollow laugh.
“What does she mean by ‘do better’.”
“What did she say? Did she get mad? Why didn’t you answer the phone? Did she get annoyed?”
Gunggi, who had just come out after washing her hair, wrapped her head in a towel. I naturally caught her towel as I sat in front of the vanity and picked up the hairdryer.
“She seemed to have realized she was the mistress and came out in that attitude.”
“…Wow, sir, you really enjoy playing with Baek Seol-hee?”
“I might have used the expression’ play with’, but it’s not like I’m acting like a gangster.”
“Cheating while having a wife?”
“My wife approved, so it’s fine. I only apologized for not answering the phone.”
“Huh….”
Warm air seeped over Gunggi’s wet hair.
I could dry her hair instantly with magic, but Gunggi preferred it when I dried her hair myself.
“Do it with one hand. Don’t move your sore hand unnecessarily.”
“It doesn’t hurt when I move it with magic.”
“We need to recover quickly.”
“Actually, it would be better if the recovery isn’t too fast. Now, I have to play the card of having a broken left bone because of the call from my wife.”
“Ha.”
Gunggi snickered quietly.
“The Goblin will make an excuse for an injury like that?”
“Isn’t it better to be perceived as a man who was caught cheating and got hit by his wife rather than revealing that I’m the Goblin?”
“I thought it was a lawful affair.”
“Hmm…. Then let’s just say, ‘I told you not to be with another woman when you’re with me!’ She got angry.”
Considering Baek Seol-hee thought I was with my wife and child, it didn’t lack consistency.
“Immediately after the call with a woman, you dry another woman’s hair. Team Leader Do, if you get stabbed in the stomach later, remember it’s your doing.”
“I’m already mentally prepared.”
“Oh, my. Is Baek Seol-hee that important to you?”
“She’s an S-class.”
Not to mention, she was the heroine.
“Well, okay. I’m glad I could unite with Team Leader Do after a long time, thanks to Baek Seol-hee… I mean, it’s a bit much to call it a trade-off.”
Gunggi glared at me through the mirror.
“You need to be nice to the other executives as well. I hate getting bullied 1:3 for no reason.”
“I’ll do my best, as I did for the Chairwoman.”
“Okay, okay. I really don’t want to suffer at their hands. Even last time, when you overlaid my image on the Dodjirider and fought, they were about to dismiss me right away, saying, ‘Why is the Goblin using your technique?’ if it weren’t for the Chairwoman.”
“Ha, haha….”
I could imagine it, and it sent shivers down my spine.
“But still, thank you. Thanks to you, I could handle this job very easily this time. The president will appreciate me once this issue is resolved, then I can also…”
Gunggi seriously stroked her face with her hand.
“Um, Team Leader Do.”
“Yes, Director.”
“In the Dangun mythology, it says that if a bear eats only garlic and mugwort for a hundred days, it can become a human.”
“That’s what it says.”
“…Could it be true?”
“Director.”
I put down the hairdryer.
“It’s not impossible. After the Great Transformation, this world has no such thing as ‘logically impossible’.”
Her hair was dry to the touch. I infused magic into my right hand, making it like a comb. I ran it through her hair, grooming it.
“In a world where humans can become demons and superpowers are a reality, believe in possibilities. Because belief is power.”
“That sounds like a cult.”
“If it works in reality, then it wouldn’t be a cult, but a religion.”
Nothing was impossible in this world.
Even cases where readers from the real world were kidnapped to this world were possible, so what could be impossible?
“Believe in the Supreme Leader. Believe in me. And… believe in yourself, Director. If it’s impossible, I will look for the possibilities.”
“How?”
“With a Goblin’s Bat, just like that.”
“…Pfft!”
Maybe it was because I was speaking seriously and suddenly mentioned the Goblin’s Bat, but Gunggi covered her mouth with her hand and chuckled quietly.
“What? What happens if you talk like that?”
“Do you know it’s a joke?”
I whispered quietly into her ear.
And then, Gunggi’s expression hardened right away, and her lips began to tremble.
“What, what is that…!”
“That’s one of the ‘final plans’ mentioned by the Supreme Leader.”
“Do, do the others know?”
“No, they don’t. I’m telling you this specially.”
“Eh, ehh….”
Gunggi blushed and turned her head, holding her chin with one hand in confusion.
“I’ll pretend I didn’t know later, so don’t tell the others you told me first.”
“Of course.”
Seoul.
The sun was slowly advancing towards the zenith.
At that time.
A group of masked people were gathering in a secluded place in Gangwon Province.
“…….”
The masked ones could not say anything.
Most of the members who departed from Samcheok couldn’t come back.
“The people who had a standoff in Samcheok?”
“They were all arrested by Armored Taejo.”
“Then they are…”
“I don’t know where they’ll be sent, but at least it seems they will be sent to that island.”
“…Tsk.”
A man in scholar’s clothing, distinctly different from the others with his ‘Hahoe mask’, clucked his tongue openly.
“It’s over. This operation has failed. Everyone withdraw.”
“Wait! Mr. Saengwon! This is not right!”
A person named Mattluk, who was at the back of the crowd, came forward and shouted.
“Our comrades died! Even Senior Yeongno! How many people died or got captured, and you’re just saying to withdraw here?!”
“Although we couldn’t retrieve the gene, we succeeded in making Armored Taejo destroy it personally. We prevented the S-class gene from being exported. We succeeded in our mission.”
“But our comrades have died!!”
“It was a mission we undertook prepared for death, and we succeeded because of that preparedness. Others may think we failed, but not at all. We were brilliantly successful.”
Saengwon lifted up a black 007 bag.
“Because we have a ‘weapon’ that can pierce the enemy’s heart in here.”
“That is…!”
“Mattluk. Do you know why all traces of Hwalbindang have been completely erased in this country now? Do you know why they’re disguising the people who ran the roads during the series of incidents as merely escorts for Yuliana?”
“……Because we stole that, didn’t we?”
“Yes.”
Saengwon opened the 007 bag.
Inside the red cushion, several miniature-like models were packed in the bag.
“The nearby military will be in chaos. We will be pursued. We must stay quiet for a while. As much as we’ve got this.”
“But…!”
“I know you followed Yeongno well. But don’t forget that he died for the mission. Our enemy is… this rotten nation. The bastards who sold this Gangwon Province to foreigners.”
“…….”
Mattluk was just clenching her fist, shaking.
“Or get strong enough to avenge. The one who killed Yeongno… most likely, the Goblin.”
“…….”
“Don’t let the desire for revenge blind you and turn you into a demon.”
“……Yes.”
Mattluk just silently, coldly stared at the item inside the bag.
Inside the 007 bag.
A ‘tank’ of a size smaller than a fist was kept.
Foll𝑜w current s on fre(e)