Chapter 125: The endless swamp

Yoo Hee-yeon was left alone in the room.

She did nothing and quietly sat on the bed.

• Knock knock knock –

There was a knock from afar, but she was too weak to speak and simply remained still.

Beyond the door, a man spoke quietly.

“I’ll leave this at the door. Please… don’t skip your meals today.”

It was the voice of the butler Yoo Hee-yeon had hired. The butler was employed with funds Yoo Hee-yeon had received in the past, so he was not included in the list of confiscated assets.

• Creak –

Yoo Hee-yeon opened the door and looked at the food.

It was the feast she used to eat.

The dishes that once piled high, enough to break the table legs, were gone.

What was provided to her now was the bare minimum for survival: rice and bread, some meat, and a few side dishes.

This amount could even be considered luxurious by some, but originally, when she ate at home, she would have the best chef’s food spread before her, eating only what she wanted and throwing away most of it.

A wide selection, the finest dishes — all taken for granted.

But now, all that lay before her was a meager few dishes.

• Creak –

• Thud –

Yoo Hee-yeon locked the door again.

Of course, she didn’t touch the food.

She didn’t want to eat it.

If she did, it would feel like admitting her pitiful situation herself.

More precisely, it was Yoo Hee-yeon’s last shred of pride.

“Why… why am I…”

She denied her situation inside the room.

She once had everything.

If she wanted something, she could have it with a single word, and if there was someone she disliked, she could make them disappear with just a word.

For Yoo Hee-yeon, the absolute power, authority, and wealth that came from her father Yoo Han-beom, the Artemis Guildmaster, were hers from birth.

She believed it would never change for the rest of her life.

“…Why the hell… am I being treated like this…”

Only after falling into the abyss did she realize.

Everything she had was never truly hers.

She had only inherited all that her father Yoo Han-beom possessed.

With a single word from her father, all her powers were revoked.

Now, she was just an ordinary guild member.

No, worse than that.

The guild members who once looked at Yoo Hee-yeon with respect, awe, and fear now looked at her like a fool passing by on the street.

• “Even though she’s an only child, how could she be pushed out of the successor position? How is this possible?”

• “It’s probably for the best. Now that the successor seat is vacant, maybe one of us can become the guildmaster.”

People freely talked.

They no longer cared about Yoo Hee-yeon’s feelings.

It was public knowledge that Yoo Hee-yeon was hated by Yoo Han-beom.

Everyone knew she wasn’t even acknowledged by Kim Hee-ra.

Originally, the Artemis guild members didn’t like Yoo Hee-yeon.

Just because she was the daughter of Yoo Han-beom, she had the right to be the Artemis Guildmaster, holding the greatest power and wealth in the country all at once.

That alone was the source of their resentment.

Though Yoo Hee-yeon was stronger than most of her peers, that was only at the student level.

There were many who soared like Baek So-yoon within the Artemis Guild.

To them, Yoo Hee-yeon sitting in the successor seat was an unbelievable privilege.

Therefore, even after Yoo Hee-yeon was stripped of the successor seat, instead of sympathy or encouragement, people sent her ridicule and contempt.

As if venting long-held anger, they began to look down on her.

• Tremble tremble –

Yoo Hee-yeon trembled all over.

‘Why… what did I do wrong… why… is everyone treating me like this… it was just… just one mistake…’

She had done well until now.

To be acknowledged by her father, to meet her mother’s expectations, and to show conduct befitting the Artemis Guildmaster’s successor.

She worked hard day and night, over and over again.

Wealth and power might have been innate, but Yoo Hee-yeon never settled.

In fact, until this incident happened, except for the time spent at the academy and sleeping, every moment had been training after training.

Her personal hobbies, private life, even close friends to share her heart with — she had none.

• Ssshh—

She opened her phone.

Due to the mental shock, she was unable to do anything.

She had stopped her daily repeated training and even stopped eating.

She stayed locked in her room, staring at the ceiling.

As those days repeated endlessly, an overwhelming loneliness washed over her.

• Bzzz—

She turned on her phone and opened her contacts list.

Hundreds of contacts.

But there wasn’t a single close friend she would call first.

‘Lonely…’

She needed someone to talk to.

Someone to share her worries with.

Someone who could empathize with her feelings now—or even if they couldn’t, it didn’t matter.

She just needed someone who could treat her without hesitation.

She desperately longed for a human voice… for human warmth.

She slowly pressed a phone number.

• “The customer’s phone is off…”

• “The customer is currently on another call…”

• “The customer is not answering. Please try again later…”

No one answered her calls.

Maybe rumors about her situation had already spread.

People were avoiding her calls.

They feared being entangled with Yoo Hee-yeon, who was hated by Yoo Han-beom, and the possible disadvantages that could come from it.

“Haha…”

Yoo Hee-yeon let out a bitter laugh.

Before her downfall, there were people who rushed to find her.

Like dogs wagging their tails, waiting desperately for crumbs to fall.

But now, those same people were openly avoiding her calls.

She stared blankly at her phone and then found one contact.

[Lee Hyun-seung]

For some reason, she didn’t know why.

She knew well that even if she called, she wouldn’t hear anything good.

But she placed her hand on the phone and pressed the call button.

• Ring ring ring—

• Ring ring ring ring—

The call went through.

Then—

“Hello?”

Lee Hyun-seung’s voice came through.

It was the first time.

After calling hundreds of contacts for over two hours, this was the first person to answer.

Maybe the only one.

Hearing someone’s voice for the first time, she unconsciously choked up, her voice trembling with injustice.

“There was no need to… go this far…”

Her words didn’t make much sense.

But Lee Hyun-seung seemed to roughly understand the situation and spoke calmly without irritation.

“Are you calling to blame me? This is something you brought on yourself. If you try to ruin someone else’s life, shouldn’t you expect your own life to get ruined too?”

“Please… stop now… I’ve suffered enough. I have nothing left. No people around me, no money, no connections, and even… my parents… no one is left by my side. Please stop. I’m already hurting enough… I…”

Yoo Hee-yeon tried to admit her mistakes, but her throat tightened.

After a moment, she cleared her throat and spoke slowly.

“I was wrong… I’m sorry for misunderstanding… I won’t ever accuse you of stalking again… I was just jealous. I was jealous of you, Lee Hyun-seung, because you’re number one. That’s why I wanted to accuse you of being a stalker.”

Yoo Hee-yeon’s eyes began to soften.

She murmured as if possessed.

“Please stop now. Even if you stop here… I have nothing left. You know that, right? The only people around me are those who hate me. Even if you stop here, I won’t be safe… so please, please stop here…”

“….”

Lee Hyun-seung fell silent for a moment, then replied.

“Exactly. You should’ve stopped when I asked you to. When I said I wasn’t the culprit. Your apology is way too late. Time lost because of you doesn’t come back, does it? At the very least, you should come here with Kim Hee-ra, kneel down, and beg. If you’re just going to spout nonsense like that, don’t ever call me again.”

Click.

After being punished with suspension and left alone in her room, that was the first conversation she had with anyone.

‘It’s the same…’

Lee Hyun-seung’s beginning and end are the same.

From the start, he hated her and had no intention of hiding that feeling.

When he was unawakened, and Yoo Hee-yeon held overwhelming power and influence, Lee Hyun-seung never hid his feelings.

And now, even though the situation is completely reversed, he still shows the same attitude.

Probably, even if he rises higher and Yoo Hee-yeon falls lower, he would keep the same attitude.

‘….’

She knew it wasn’t a positive thing.

But despite that, Lee Hyun-seung was the only person around her who never changed.

‘If only… if I hadn’t wrongfully accused him so unfairly…’

Maybe, if she had been closer to Lee Hyun-seung, he would have been consistent even in the positive aspects.

Suddenly, she wondered.

‘Maybe…’

That relationship, which could have been her only friend who didn’t consider her situation, who couldn’t be bought with money, and didn’t bow to power—

Had she ruined it herself?

“Hahaha…”

Yoo Hee-yeon laughed bitterly at the very thought of the word ‘friend.’

They were enemies.

Enemies who wouldn’t hesitate to stab each other in the back.

How could such a thing as friendship even exist between them?

Loneliness made all kinds of thoughts come to her mind.

At that moment—

Brrrrrrr—

Her phone rang.

Startled.

She looked at the phone quickly, taken aback by the ringtone.

“Ah…”

Her expression, filled with hope, slowly darkened.

On Yoo Hee-yeon’s phone, a familiar three-letter name appeared.

[Kim Hee-ra]

“Mother… what is it…?”

Kim Hee-ra, hearing Yoo Hee-yeon’s voice, cut her off and spoke.

“Yoo Hee-yeon, listen carefully to what I’m going to say now.

In this upcoming labyrinth expedition, we’re going to kill Lee Hyun-seung.”