Ch.186186. Misunderstanding

# Blessed Talent

Ever since her academy days, Serin Eun had been called a blessed talent.

With exceptional abilities and outstanding looks, she was guaranteed a bright future—winning representative selections three years in a row and naturally attracting attention from the three major agencies.

Both the White Dragon Guild and the Heaven and Earth Guild had courted her, but her choice was singular.

“I’ll be joining the Magician Guild where Guild Master Sunghee Jo, whom I respect, is.”

There was only one reason she chose the Magician Guild: Sunghee Jo.

Sunghee had once rescued the siblings, Serin and Jiho Eun, which became the connection that led them to choose the Magician Guild.

Her younger brother Jiho would definitely join once he graduated from the academy.

“Would an internship be possible for my brother too? Please?”

Serin grew steadily as a promising newcomer under Sunghee’s guidance.

Moreover, they displayed a close bond almost like a mother-daughter relationship.

In this happy situation, her brother Jiho also came for training during his second year and was enjoying his days.

But a small incident occurred.

It was about drugs.

Sunghee reacted sensitively to drugs, which were connected to her own brother’s death, and the siblings also participated in the investigation.

But an incident happened. While staking out to catch a drug trafficking organization, they were ambushed by enemy Jaegers.

The attackers knew their exact stakeout location. This alone made the Magician Guild suspect an informant, and the informant they found was Jiho Eun.

Jiho fell into shock after receiving immediate criticism, and Serin tried to prove her brother’s innocence.

“Sister, please! My brother couldn’t have done this!”

Hearing Serin’s pitiful plea, Sunghee patted her reassuringly.

“I’m sure it wasn’t your brother. Don’t worry.”

The investigation progressed, and fortunately, it was revealed that Jiho wasn’t the culprit.

If this were all, the misunderstanding should have been cleared and apologies made, but the Magician Guild didn’t apologize.

Strangely, they began to drag out the matter.

And not long after, Jiho died—a suicide that resembled murder.

But the case was closed as suicide, and Serin rebelled against this.

“Liar! Give my brother back!”

Their mother-daughter-like relationship completely fell apart, and Serin left the Magician Guild.

Since then, she became an instructor, and they cut off all communication. They had barely met a few times through connections with Jonghyun Do or Ariel.

Sunghee woke from her sleep. After a moment of confusion, she immediately checked her surroundings.

This was definitely not the Magician Guild headquarters. A circular space filled with slimy liquid.

It was more like a cave.

‘No, it’s not outside either. The Magician Guild suddenly came for me, and I can’t just leave carelessly.’

She concluded that if it was connected to the Goegyeopdan, she must be inside a gate.

“My, you’re not killing me? This is… unexpected.”

Her entire body was restrained by a strange substance. Purple energy completely subdued her arms and legs.

“Did you get this from the Goegyeopdan too?”

“You knew?”

Before her eyes appeared Serin Eun, her hair disheveled, laughing unpleasantly like someone half-insane.

The once brilliant Serin had fallen so far.

Sunghee gave a bitter smile.

“The baby you said you had was important, right? When it disappeared, you came to me in desperation.”

“Shut up.”

“I expected you to be with the Goegyeopdan. Jun kept suspecting it. He couldn’t prove it, but I know. I also know you were colluding to do something. To this extent…”

At that moment, a kick flew at Sunghee’s body.

“Ugh!”

A great shock hit Sunghee’s frail body, which couldn’t channel magic. Her ribs broke, and she groaned in pain.

“If you know, then die. Because of you, my family was completely destroyed! From the moment you drank the tea I gave you, weren’t you prepared?”

“You just want to talk. Where is this place now?”

“Shut up. You need to tell the truth. My brother who died unjustly…”

“You’re in a hurry. I could have easily stopped someone like you now. But I didn’t.”

Serin was setting up a camera.

“If conscience exists, you should admit that the head of one of the three major guilds made a mistake and killed someone. Will you take responsibility now?”

“I certainly didn’t tell you the truth. I’m sorry about that.”

“Yes, tell everyone. About my poor dead brother.”

Sunghee showed a sad expression to her disciple’s hate-filled face.

“That one lie made you fall like this and eventually stand at the edge of a cliff. I’m sorry.”

“It’s not me! Apologize to my brother!”

Serin’s voice became increasingly wrapped in passion. Unlike her original plan where her child would kill Sunghee, the ultimate goal was still being achieved.

Sunghee looked at the camera and sighed.

“Serin. I committed an unforgivable sin against you.”

“Say it to my brother! Aren’t you sorry to him? I don’t care. I was willing to do anything to destroy you. To my brother Jiho…!”

“No, I won’t apologize to Jiho. Because I did nothing wrong.”

“What…?”

Serin’s expression changed to that of a demon.

*

The past was surfacing. Sunghee recalled the beginning of that incident years ago.

At that time, Sunghee was hearing shocking news from a scout.

“What did you just say? Some of the drugs were diverted?”

Sunghee showed unconditional hostility toward drugs that had driven her brother to death.

She wouldn’t tolerate even the slightest mistake.

“Who was managing it?”

“The… intern Jiho.”

“Jiho?”

But at this point, Sunghee thought of Serin. Her cherished disciple and the future of the Magician Guild.

Her brother?

“Sigh, he’s just a kid after all. We shouldn’t have involved him in this.”

“Honestly, he’s less suited than Serin. He doesn’t fit well with the Magician Guild, but…”

“No, anything can be useful if properly nurtured.”

“Guild Master. This isn’t like you.”

The scout had worked with her for over 15 years.

He immediately noticed that her attitude was being swayed by affection.

“I’ll assign Jiho to a different task. But for the Magician Guild to grow larger…”

“No, I understand.”

When Sunghee raised her hand, the scout said no more.

This was simply a case where Jiho, an intern, had made a mistake.

It should have ended there. But Jiho’s movements were suspicious.

He showed interest in the confiscated drugs and even took lists under the pretext of investigating drug distributors.

Just when they were hoping it wasn’t true, the incident finally happened. The worst-case scenario occurred where Magician Guild members died due to an informant.

It was only natural that Jiho Eun’s name appeared.

The scout and others suspected Jiho, and Serin ran to Sunghee, protesting his innocence.

Sunghee didn’t want to believe it either. So she held onto a thread of hope.

But the investigation results confirmed that Jiho was the culprit. He had diverted drugs and was indeed the one who leaked internal information.

At this point, Sunghee and the leadership called Jiho separately, considering Serin.

“So… I got caught. Like a fool…”

Jiho knelt down on the spot. Sunghee bitterly questioned him.

“Why did you do it? With your sister watching!”

“Because my sister was watching… I wanted to do well too.”

Jiho confessed everything while sobbing.

It was an incident caused by an inferiority complex under his outstanding sister.

The public attention that he thought came from having a brilliant sister had actually become a burden.

The resulting incident was his involvement with drugs. The Magician Guild was collectively shocked.

After all, the brother of Serin Eun, called the future of the guild, had committed a major crime.

“It’s our responsibility.”

Sunghee sighed.

“You must take responsibility. For your actions.”

“Please, just don’t tell my sister…! Absolutely not! She’ll be shocked if she finds out! Give me time. Please…”

“…”

It was obvious that Serin would be affected. So they gave him time to prepare mentally.

At the same time, they announced that someone else had done it, reassuring Serin.

And finally, he committed suicide. Leaving ‘traces that resembled murder.’

These traces were undoubtedly because of his sister, Serin.

Leaving a final request to please pretend not to know that he had committed a crime.

‘This isn’t right. Lying is really not right.’

So Sunghee ended up lying. By being ambiguous and creating the ‘misconception’ that her brother was never involved in such a terrible crime.

But this choice ultimately provoked Serin’s sense of betrayal and led to her corruption.

Serin, hating the Magician Guild for her brother’s death, cooperated with the Goegyeopdan to destroy them.

Back in the present, Serin was in a state of great shock.

“That can’t be true! Don’t be ridiculous!”

“…It’s my fault. I lied and made you misunderstand. The result is who you are now. Yes, I’ll take responsibility for that. But I didn’t want to tell you this truth.”

Serin’s body was trembling. She was falling into shock as if her entire life had been denied.

She had thought her brother died unfairly, but now the truth had emerged?

Naturally, cognitive dissonance was the normal response.

“Lies. Are you trying to shake me? Because you’re disgusting! Don’t be ridiculous!”

“Why would I lie after being dragged here by you? You know it in your heart. Don’t you, Serin?”

“Don’t call me that! Don’t call me familiarly!”

Serin breathed heavily, trying desperately to deny everything.

Sunghee had already shaken off the mysterious energy binding her body.

“I can accept the punishment for lying to you, Serin. But I won’t lie to you anymore.”

“No. You… my brother… my brother…”

“Accept it, Serin! You’re a bright child. Do I look like I would lie? It’s the truth. Your brother committed a crime and acted that way because he didn’t want you to know!”

Serin’s body was trembling. A truth she desperately didn’t want to believe.

In fact, she knew.

She knew that Sunghee was not the type of person who would lie in this situation.

As the truth began to invade Serin’s mind, creating cognitive dissonance, the feeling of hatred disappeared, leaving only a fragile woman whose mind had gone blank.

“Serin. Come back now. Let’s start again. Confess everything and stop…”

“Haha…. Hahahahaha.”

The sound of desperate laughter echoed. Serin slowly approached.

“Sister, I’m sorry, but could you leave me alone for a while? I want to organize my thoughts.”

“If that’s what you want.”

Finally, Serin’s expression returned to normal. Sunghee looked relieved, but soon turned pale.

[Please wait! My sister shouldn’t know. Please give me some time.]

Jiho’s request suddenly came to mind.

‘No! Could it be!’

Everything she believed in had collapsed. She might commit suicide out of despair and emptiness.

At that moment, Serin was using her ability to quickly move away.

Sunghee instantly manifested her avatar’s power and folded space.

Warping to close the distance, she saw Serin trying to swallow a strange drug.

“Serin!”

As she cried out, the drug was about to enter Serin’s mouth.

Another death.

Just as Sunghee reached out her hand,

Suddenly, a wind arose, stopping all of Serin’s movements.

The mechanical werewolf.

The previously known werewolf had successfully grabbed both of Serin’s arms.