Episode 198. The Girl’s Revenge (6)

“… Daeun-ah.”

Park Min-gyu, seeing Lee Hoyeon and Nam Daeun standing side-by-side, started to get nervous.

Coming this far, he could grasp the entire situation.

Nam Daeun must have told Lee Hoyeon everything and asked for his help.

‘What on earth did she do…?’

Park Min-gyu had watched Nam Daeun for a long time.

He knew her personality and way of speaking inside out, so he could predict all her actions.

Nam Daeun was absolutely not the type to ask others for help.

She was the type to just suffer alone, so what trick could she possibly have used?

‘That doesn’t matter.’

Park Min-gyu cleared his mind of distracting thoughts.

Now wasn’t the time to think about the cause.

What was important now was what the other party wanted.

He had to find a way to meet their demands and escape this situation somehow.

Just then, Lee Hoyeon, who had been looking at Park Min-gyu, spoke.

‘Mr. Park Min-gyu. I saw a recent interview, and you seemed very good at apologizing. It’s fortunate you’ll have many opportunities to apologize in the future.’

‘…What do you want?’

He had only just barely managed to quiet the media frenzy surrounding his drug trafficking.

It was still noisy in some circles, and if another scandal broke here, it would be impossible to cover up.

‘Well, I want many things. Hmm. Money?’

‘How much do you want? Our guild is still small, so it might not be a lot, but….’

‘All of it.’

‘… Huh?’

Lee Hoyeon smiled inwardly.

As expected, after causing a drug scandal, he could definitely see a little bit of panic.

It wasn’t easy to let go of the reputation he had once gained.

‘The money you gathered by doing all sorts of dirty, disgraceful things. I want all of it.’

Park Min-gyu couldn’t hide his shock as he looked at Lee Hoyeon speaking so calmly.

‘W-what…?’

‘Mr. Park Min-gyu. You can just make money again, right? But what happens if this evidence gets out? You won’t even have the chance to make money anymore. I promise. Money is the only thing I’m asking for.’

‘….’

Park Min-gyu pondered.

But no matter how he thought about it, there was no answer other than complying with the demand.

He considered using force, but even if he could defeat those two, he wasn’t sure the evidence wouldn’t leak.

‘Are you still not grasping the situation?’

Lee Hoyeon rustled the documents in his hand.

‘…I don’t have it on me right now. It’s stored in the guild building. If you give me some time….’

‘We’ll handle that ourselves, so just tell us where you hid it in the guild building.’

‘Th-the guild master’s office has a safe.’

‘The password?’

‘….’

‘The password?’

‘It’s… 4856. But it’s set so only I can open it.’

Park Min-gyu let out a sigh of relief as he gave the safe’s password.

The personal safe was an expensive magic artifact, so it wouldn’t open unless Park Min-gyu’s biometric information was verified.

Even if someone managed to sneak into the guild master’s office, the door wouldn’t open…

‘Yeah. Did you hear that? It’s 4856. Can you open it?’

• ‘Yes. Opened it. Looks like there’s about 5 billion won in artifacts and cash.’

Of course, this trick wouldn’t work on a top-tier informant from the world’s best information guild.

‘5 billion won….’

Hearing the phone call, Park Min-gyu broke out in a cold sweat.

It was because the amount, 5 billion won, was too precise to be a bluff.

‘N-no way.’

‘Mr. Min-gyu. Is that all?’

‘I-it’s the end. 5 billion won. It’s the money I’ve saved my whole life….’

Park Min-gyu trembled and knelt down.

It felt as if everything he had was being denied, he exhaled a sigh, expelling breath from his lungs.

But Lee Hoyeon let out a smirk as he looked at Park Min-gyu.

‘Mr. Min-gyu. You think I’m an idiot, don’t you?’

‘W-what….’

‘There’s no way you only gathered 5 billion won.’

Lee Hoyeon shook his head and thought.

What a disgusting, predictable old geezer.

‘I’m not an idiot, why would I do this without knowing the capital power of the Buyer Guild?’

Then, tapping the documents with his finger, he urged him on.

‘Where’s the rest of the money.’

*

‘Ah, ahh….’

‘Sweet.’

In the end, Park Min-gyu spilled everything about where the remaining money was.

He insisted until the very end that there was none, but after I called a reporter I knew, he finally told the truth.

‘Th-that’s enough now, right? It’s 30 billion won. A whole 30 billion won.’

30 billion won.

It was certainly a lot of money.

Not bad for supplemental income.

‘Okay. My demands end here.’

‘Th-then give me the evidence. Let’s pretend we never met today….’

‘Then, you can talk to the real client now.’

‘…What?’

I subtly stepped back behind Nam Daeun.

‘My demands’ were finished.

Nam Daeun, who had been waiting behind, stepped forward and faced Park Min-gyu.

‘… Uncle Min-gyu.’

‘D-Daeun-ah.’

Nam Daeun was surprisingly calm.

Even with her target right in front of her and the power to enact her revenge, she tried to talk to him as if stating facts.

‘Ever since I saved Dahee, I kept thinking. Why did you do that to me and Dahee? The Uncle Min-gyu I knew wouldn’t have done that.’

Sgeuk-

Nam Daeun drew the sword she had brought.

‘But no matter how much I thought about it, I couldn’t find an answer. Because we did nothing wrong.’

Nam Daeun’s face was reflected in the sharp blade.

Gazing at the sword’s surface, Nam Daeun continued calmly and composedly.

‘Uncle Min-gyu… Please tell me now. Why did you do it?’

‘Daeun-ah. Wait, just a moment. Calm down. I can explain everything.’

‘Dahee and I… we lived trusting only you. So why did you suddenly do that…? Did you approach me from the very beginning with the intention of exploiting my body?’

Now I think I understand.

Nam Daeun wasn’t angry.

She was genuinely feeling confused.

She couldn’t comprehend the person named Park Min-gyu, who had changed overnight.

It seemed the memory of Park Min-gyu treating her warmly was deeply ingrained.

‘He was probably like that all along.’

Scumbags like that are inherently filthy from the start.

And the bigger the scumbag, the better they are at acting.

If the target is someone as innocent as Nam Daeun, it would have been easy to fool her.

Thump-

Park Min-gyu knelt down in that state.

He bowed his head low, and tears dripped onto the floor.

‘Daeun-ah….’

‘Uncle?’

‘I’m sorry. Truly… I’m sorry.’

Watching Park Min-gyu apologize tearfully, I quietly yawned.

‘So predictable.’

I could see it all.

Park Min-gyu, kneeling and bending forward to hide his body, was rummaging inside his clothes.

He probably had a sword hidden inside.

I watched to see how Nam Daeun would react.

‘Uncle. Do you truly have the intention to apologize to us?’

‘I’m truly sorry. I regret all my past mistakes. That’s why I reported the Shinyoung Guild internally. To start over from the beginning…. I don’t want to do dirty work anymore….’

I looked at Park Min-gyu with a bored expression.

Combined with that warm impression and pitiful tears, it was certainly effective, but I knew his true nature.

If he were truly a good person, he wouldn’t have taken new recruits to a private room under the guise of recruitment.

‘Then give it all up.’

‘…What?’

‘Everything you gained through dirty work, Uncle. Give it all up. Pay for all your sins, and then start over.’

‘D-Daeun-ah….’

‘If you do that, I can forgive you. If you truly want to apologize to us, let go of your reputation first.’

Nam Daeun tapped her smartwatch.

All she had to do was press the send button according to the settings I had prepared beforehand, so it wasn’t difficult.

‘Uncle Min-gyu…. Do you see this?’

‘W-what is this… Huh?’

The screen Nam Daeun showed was simple.

It was a breaking news report.

‘- Hello. This is reporter Hayoung. We have news that Park Min-gyu, the guild master of the Buyer Guild, who caused controversy with drug trafficking, has been periodically visiting illegal sex trade establishments….’

As if waiting, the reporter I had hired started broadcasting the news.

‘N-no. No…!’

Park Min-gyu, who had been apologizing just moments ago, snapped his head up.

And quickly turned his head away.

In Korean society, going to a room, if insisted it was for entertainment, could sometimes be overlooked.

It was absurd, but that was the reality.

High-ranking hunters, given their substantial incomes, tended to keep such matters quiet.

Of course, his built-up image would plummet, but it wasn’t to the point where he couldn’t continue his activities.

If he continued his activities while being pointed at, he could eventually recover.

But not anymore.

‘D-Daeun-ah. I am truly repentant. I have other guild members besides myself. They each have families and people they support. This can’t go any further….’

‘….’

Nam Daeun seemed to hesitate for a moment upon hearing Park Min-gyu’s words.

Since I had decided to leave this matter entirely to Nam Daeun, I had entrusted the authority to release the information to her.

‘She shouldn’t fall for that.’

While seeking revenge, she still hadn’t shed her innocence.

I guess I’ll have to step in.

‘Nam Daeun.’

‘… Yeah.’

The certainty had vanished from her voice.

She must be contemplating.

Worrying if she was making those people jobless.

Well, honestly, it’s too late to be having those worries… but since she seems to be contemplating, I should resolve it.

‘Act selfishly.’

‘…Selfish?’

‘Don’t think about others. Think only of your own feelings. It’s about time, isn’t it?’

Actually, there are many ways to persuade her.

If they didn’t participate in the criminal acts, they would be investigated and released as innocent.

There might be issues finding new jobs afterward, but… it wouldn’t be a major problem.

It’s also partly their fault for not recognizing the guild’s true nature, so it can’t be helped.

And frankly, if that logic held true, there would be no one to punish in the world.

Everyone has their circumstances.

But I didn’t persuade her that way.

I wanted Nam Daeun to act according to her own feelings now.

Despite her bright future, she couldn’t properly understand her own feelings because of that piece of trash.

Now, I wanted Nam Daeun to act selfishly.

‘….’

‘D-Daeun-ah. Please….’

‘I don’t know either.’

Nam Daeun looked confused, but soon clenched her fist as she looked at Park Min-gyu before her.

‘Please, stop now….’

‘I don’t understand how to deal with this frustration. But… I trust Hoyeon. This time, I’ll do as I please.’

Nam Daeun continued manipulating her smartwatch.

The Buyer Guild’s double ledgers, tax evasion, illegal loan sharking, counterfeit artifacts, and all other criminal activities were reported as breaking news, flooding the real-time search rankings.

Park Min-gyu’s face contorted as he watched it all.

‘Uncle Min-gyu. Do you still have any intention of apologizing to me?’

‘….’

‘If you truly apologize sincerely and pay for your crimes… I’ll help you. So you can rise again from the beginning.’

‘….’

Nam Daeun’s eyes seemed truly sincere.

She probably couldn’t let go of the feelings she had for the person who raised her and her sister through hardship back then.

‘Tsk.’

Too good, too kind.

But that wouldn’t happen.

Although Nam Daeun seemed unaware of the extent of her actions, the Buyer Guild and Park Min-gyu were already beyond recovery.

Even if Park Min-gyu left here unscathed, his fate was to rot in prison for life.

Fortunately, the day Park Min-gyu would receive Nam Daeun’s kindness would never come.

‘Y-you….’

‘Uncle Min-gyu…?’

‘You f*ing whore… After just taking from me all this time! How dare you, a whore clinging to young men…!’

‘…Whore?’

Nam Daeun turned her head and looked at me.

I don’t know why she looked at me, but her eyes held a multitude of complex emotions.

‘From the moment I brought you from the orphanage, I was your father. And you betray me by selling your body to young men? How dare you?!’

At Park Min-gyu’s verbal abuse, Nam Daeun bowed her head and closed her eyes.

She must have finally realized Park Min-gyu’s true nature.

A moment later, Nam Daeun opened her eyes, drew her sword with a hollow laugh.

‘…Yes. I’d rather be his whore. I’m sick of seeing your face, Uncle Min-gyu.’

‘Y-you damn dog of a bitch, pointing a sword at your father?!’

Park Min-gyu raised his magic power.

The aura he exuded was undeniably strong.

To amass wealth through dirty deeds, one needed sufficient power to back it up.

But Nam Daeun was off the charts.

In the first place, Nam Daeun, the protagonist of the game, couldn’t be compared to Park Min-gyu, an extra.

Nam Daeun, holding her sword, moved her arm slightly.

Shhuk-

Simultaneously, Park Min-gyu’s arms flew off.

‘Agh, Aaaah! Hwaaak! W-what is this!’

Caught off guard by the instantaneous event, Park Min-gyu shook his head back and forth.

‘Thank you. Uncle Min-gyu.’

‘Daeun-ah. Wait. Daeun-ah…! Just give me one chance. Just once…!’

‘For consistently remaining the villain. For allowing me to sever my feelings.’

Fushk-

A single horizontal slash.

Simple yet profound, clean yet containing mystery, with just one sword strike.

Park Min-gyu’s head, which had been disgracefully begging for its life, fell from his neck.

Dark red blood splattered onto Nam Daeun’s clothes and dripped down to my feet nearby.

I didn’t take my eyes off the scene until the very end.

I watched Nam Daeun’s revenge through to its conclusion.

‘…He’s dead.’

Nam Daeun murmured, looking at Park Min-gyu’s head lying on the floor.

‘Yeah. It’s over. Daeun-ah.’

‘…It was such an easy thing.’

‘….’

‘Why couldn’t I do it until now? Why.’

‘Haa….’

I slowly approached Nam Daeun.

Nam Daeun, having finished her revenge, was trembling.

A feeling that was neither joy nor sadness.

It must be a feeling she was experiencing for the first time.

Having never experienced revenge myself, I couldn’t understand that emotion.

I simply hugged Nam Daeun.