Chapter 29 – When Tomorrow Comes 

The promised day.

It was the day I was to return to the academy after my week-long cohabitation with the villains ended.

I was currently at the place we agreed upon.

As I stood with the villains under the huge building, a man’s voice with a flippant tone came from the earpiece in my ear.

–There’s no need to break down the plan. We just have to use that moron. Got it, everyone?

“Okay.”

“Y-Yeah…! But Sijoon isn’t a moron!”

“…Why is that an order?”

Being called a moron ticked me off, but I decided to let it go.

The flippant tone was from their treasurer and handler, Kim Chunsam.

I could overpower that guy through just force alone. However, a person like him existed in the Black Dawn because he had enough brain to compensate for the brawn.

Conniving bastard.

He would always provoke me whenever we bumped into each other in the hallway, but he didn’t come directly to me for a fight.

Now that I’m thinking about it, it’s pissing me off?

Again, that man’s voice came out of the earpiece.

–As for the other two, when you get your hand on the item, we’re deploying. You guys will go to the banquet hall and take a break until I give you the signal. 

The banquet hall.

The building we were about to enter right now.

It had the name of NAVI Corporation.

Was it up to Episode 1.5? 

The incident that occurred between Episode 1, the tutorial, and Episode 2, where the event unfolded full-scale.

In the original event, the Black Dawn demolished almost half of the building while stealing important items from NAVI.

Many people lost their lives, and Na Yoona was also left in bad shape as a result of the incident.

NAVI Corporation, which could also be called her entire being.

Its collapse also signified Yoona’s collapse.

In terms of the situation right now…

It’s rather not bad actually.

There was no need for them to destroy half of the building, and the Black Dawn could quietly make their leave.

It can’t be helped that an important item would be stolen, but it’s better than people dying.

My kidnapping resulted in an episode that could be easily skipped.

That situation made Han Yoowol express her discontent.

“Infiltration is boring though, what a shame. I wanted to relieve some stress…”

“I-It’s…actually better. Since you can quietly get over it. Right, Hana?”

“Sijoon. If we fail this mission, will you come back to the hideout again?”

We’re not on the same page.

Yoowol was expressing her displeasure like she was parched.

But I felt no pressure from her red eyes since her face had been altered through Angela’s hallucinogenic ability. 

Angela, who always had an irritated tone, stood next to her wearing glasses.

In the midst of that, Ban Hana kept tugging on my sleeves.

“Sijoon. I’ll just make the mission fail. Let’s not go! Let’s read books together again…”

“No, Hana. That’s a no…”

An intentional troll.

Hana, who was trying to drag me back into hell.

That was something that must never happen.

“…If you’re gonna play house, do it somewhere else? It’s disturbing.”

Angela had been watching us.

The irritation in her tone was her default tone, and it seemed to be the case today as well.

Even though it was early, I decided to bid her a final farewell.

“You’re insufferable.”

“…What? Do you know how much I was cutting you slack…”

The moment Angela was about to go off on me, new instructions came in my ears.

–Stop playing and enter the banquet hall.

Everything had to go as Kim Chunsam planned.

Angela gave me a venomous glare, but she couldn’t say anything else to me.

Things are looking good.

This was revenge without a fight.

The revenge against the one who kept calling me Han Yoowol’s boytoy for a week.

After a short period of time had passed, we entered the NAVI building where the banquet was held.

We headed towards the place where Na Yoona might be.

 ***

The ambience of the banquet hall could be summed up in one word.

Luxurious.

There wasn’t just a single color, but various hues of colors came together making the place sparkle.

You could hear the sound of your shoes hitting the marble floor every time you walked. 

We walked there, under the radiant shining lights.

The spread of food.

Many people in expensive attire.

I was in awe of it.

…That’s insane.

Since I grew up in an ordinary house, it was my first time being in a place like this.

A place where many high-ranking people gathered and each flaunted their wealth. 

I wasn’t the only one who was in admiration.

“Woah…”

I don’t know if the light was reflecting in her eyes, or if her eyes were actually sparkling, but her eyes gleamed.

It looked like she had never been to a place like this either. Though she seemed to be overcome with the urge to look around.

“Sijoon! I… That…!!”

“What is that?”

I turned to look at where Hana was pointing to.

There were many types of cuisines there including specific dishes that had been cooked in the Black Dawn hideout and dishes from all over the world.

Blinded by curiosity at all these new food, Hana began to dash away.

“…Is it okay to leave her like that?”

“Hm… Who knows?”

Han Yoowol made an awkward smile as she moved on from my question.

Perhaps she wasn’t confident of handling that energy, her gaze was completely turned the other way.

Then the person who’s left responsible for Hana is…

“…”

“What’re you looking at?”

Not her.

It didn’t seem like Angela had any plan on doing so, since she was currently scanning the surroundings for the sake of the mission.

It can’t be helped.

I had no choice but to take responsibility for Hana.

Although they may have brought Hana so that they could escape, I couldn’t see anyone here who could provide her care besides me.

Should I just take her with me?

The thought crossed my mind, but if I did take her, she’d just run away by herself if she found that she didn’t like it.

Then I have no choice but to ask.

I approached Hana, who was building a food tower on a plate.

“Can you eat all of that…?”

“I can! I can do it if I eat slowly!”

“That portion amount isn’t doable just because you eat slowly…”

In just a bit, an incident was going to set off, should you really be eating like this?

No, more importantly, why am I worried?

Wouldn’t it be better if she did get caught?

A food tower on a plate.

Before it got any taller, I tried to stop her.

“Let’s eat later. Later. Not now. Alright?”

An out-of-place behavior for the situation. 

It was an unexpected behavior and highly likely to result in a bad outcome. That was why I blocked her action, but for some reason she was making a teary expression.

“…No.”

“What?”

“I said no…! Today is the last day! There is no later! You don’t know that either?! Idiot!”

“…”

Without a word, I took Hana’s plate away, then slowly placed the plate down on an empty desk.

“Then, if today is not the last day, will you give up?”

“…?”

Hana tilted her head at what I said.

She definitely couldn’t understand what I was talking about.

“I’ll kidnap you. Let’s live outside, not in the hideout.”

“Really?”

“…I’m not lying.” 

Hana did not want today to be the last, she also wanted to know about the outside world, more than anyone else.

She wouldn’t go out of the way to return to the Black Dawn hideout on her own two legs.

There was more than enough reason.

“By the way, do kidnappers usually tell others they’re kidnapping them?”

“…Let’s move on, Hana.”

She only gets smart in times like these.

What I wanted to do was escape with Ban Hana.

“This is escapism.”

The escapism that Hana saw in the fairy tale books.

That was the golden opportunity for me to get back at the Black Dawn.

 ***

After some time had passed and people gathered, the banquet kicked off in full-swing.

Click.

All the lights turned off with a bright light illuminating only the podium in the front.

An old man in a sharp formal suit could be seen.

He was Na Jincheol, the CEO of NAVI Corporation, and Na Yoona’s grandfather.

”Thank you for coming to NAVI’s 50th anniversary banquet, everyone.”

His dignified voice spread out through the banquet hall, marking the start of the banquet.

And it also signaled the start of Black Dawn’s scheme.

–Get moving now. I’ll show you the way. Hurry.

The voice came from my ear.

At that moment, Angela and Yoowol, who had been far away, approached me.

“Act naturally, Sijoon. I hope you’re not a fool who’d cry out for help here.”

Yoowol was concerned that I’d send a signal to someone to rescue me.

But there was a risk that the people gathered in the banquet hall could get hurt, so of course, I wasn’t intending to do such a foolish thing.

Just why in the world do they need me here?

I knew in the original event, they demolished the building and stole an item.

I may be a pro gamer, but I still couldn’t figure out why I was needed.

Time would tell, but my frustration was a given.

…Even if I let them get the item, I’ll take Ban Hana.

With that thought in mind, I followed behind Han Yoowol.