episode_0112

Some say that victory is determined before the battle even begins.

In the Art of War, it is said that “The general who wins the battle makes many calculations in his temple before the battle is fought” (夫未戰而廟算勝者, 得算多也).

If one side has more superior elements than the other, victory is natural, and if the superior elements are lacking, defeat is inevitable.

In that sense, I ask myself.

How am I right now?

Do I have any advantages compared to the members of the Rebellion?

Strength, ability, talent, experience, and more. Honestly speaking, most of these aspects are lacking compared to the members of the Rebellion.

But there is one thing.

One thing that I can proudly say is overwhelmingly superior.

That is my knowledge and information about the future based on the memories of the original work. It is a unique advantage that no one can match.

The imbalance of information is my most powerful weapon and a form of asymmetrical power.

Therefore, I can confidently say.

I am in a much better situation than Alex right now.

I know my opponent, but my opponent does not know me.

This difference will become an insurmountable gap.

And they have given me too much time.

If I don’t have time to prepare a trap, what if they give me so much time to understand the Rebellion members’ personalities, abilities, habits, equipment, strengths, weaknesses, and more, with all the money, connections, and future information that I have?

This is, indeed, a very advantageous condition.

Well, that doesn’t mean I will let my guard down.

I must always be prepared for the worst. I don’t want to be caught off guard like a fool.

“Oh, what about you guys?”

“Huh?”

At that moment.

I came face to face with a familiar red-haired figure at the market.

A slightly sharp impression. Handsome appearance. He looked powerful. Behind him, there were figures who seemed to be Black Shadow Clan members. Are they his bodyguards? They all look strong.

“What are you guys doing here?”

Powerful.

We meet again here.

Of course, I somewhat expected him to participate in the auction as well, considering he had participated in the auction in the original work. Well, he could have chosen not to come after being stripped by Yoo Dahee and entering hellish training.

“It’s the vacation season. Just came to check out the auction.”

“Hmm? The two of you?”

The powerful man looked back and forth between me and Soyeon.

Even if we were childhood friends, it’s a bit strange for two people who have broken up to come to Busan together.

“It’s not just the two of us.”

Lately, Soyeon has been showing various signs of affection towards me at the academy, so I was slightly concerned about how she was acting.

If that guy has eyes and ears, he must have noticed that Soyeon’s attitude towards me has changed quite a bit recently.

I can’t be sure how much he thinks of Soyeon at the moment, but it seemed like he was somewhat interested in her.

“Hehe. Am I invisible?”

“Oh, Yoo Seolhyun, you’re here too.”

“Oh~ Daehan, come with me a bit… huh? Are you Yoo Seolhyun and Jin Soyeon?”

Juyeon, who was browsing items a little away from us, finally noticed us and frowned slightly.

Meeting Soyeon and Seolhyun here is not a pleasant surprise for her.

For Juyeon, those two were the ones who brought her nothing but humiliation.

“Oh, Juyeon, hello.”

“Oh, yeah.”

Seolhyun greeted her with a bright smile, but Juyeon only showed a cold demeanor.

I realized that there was a hidden meaning behind her elegant smile.

Juyeon hesitated for a moment and then approached the powerful man.

Sneakily glancing at Yoo Seol-hyun, it seemed like Young-gi couldn’t avoid feeling a bit uncomfortable.

“But what about those two? Did they come here to hang out together?”

“What?”

Soyeon casually threw out a question with a face that seemed to have no particular meaning. In response, Kang Dae-han slightly furrowed his brows and muttered excuses that weren’t really excuses.

“It’s not like the two of us came here to hang out… Ah, just think what you want.”

Kang Dae-han scratched the back of his neck and then fell silent.

It was ridiculous to have to explain this in detail. It was almost like trying to avoid misunderstandings from Soyeon.

Normally, if it had been the usual Kang Dae-han, he would have cynically responded with something like, “What do you care?” or “Do you know?”.

“Th-That’s right, why?”

“Hehe.”

Ju Ji-yeon chuckled and tilted her head with a slightly audacious expression. Kang Dae-han furrowed his brows but didn’t bother to object. It would just make things look even more awkward. And Ju Ji-yeon had been acting like this for a while.

“I see.”

Soyeon suddenly clapped her hands as if everything was going well.

She knew very well that Ju Ji-yeon had a crush on Kang Dae-han.

Of course, Soyeon and Ju Ji-yeon’s relationship couldn’t be described as friendly, but Soyeon didn’t seem to harbor any ill feelings towards Ju Ji-yeon.

Instead, it seemed like Ju Ji-yeon was the one trying to repay a favor or something.

It must have been quite a shock to lose in the ranking match.

Since then, Soyeon seemed to subtly view Ju Ji-yeon as a rival.

But the difference in talent between Soyeon and Ju Ji-yeon was like night and day.

Ju Ji-yeon would never be able to repay the favor. It was quite pitiful.

“Is everything okay?”

Soyeon smiled like a young girl cheering on love with a pure heart, and Ju Ji-yeon hesitated for a moment without showing any sign of her true feelings.

She must have realized that it was a sincere remark.

From Ju Ji-yeon’s perspective, it might be a bit complicated?

After all, the guy she had a crush on was being cheered on by the girl he liked.

“Y-You, chill out, okay!”

“Huh? What are you saying? Why suddenly chill out?”

Ju Ji-yeon blushed slightly and raised her index finger confidently, but Soyeon just tilted her head as if she didn’t understand a word.

“Anyway! Jin Soyeon, face me again in the second semester ranking match! I won’t lose next time!”

“Sure, I’ll look forward to it.”

Soyeon nodded her head and accepted Ju Ji-yeon’s bold challenge.

“Daehan? It’s good to hang out with friends, but we should start heading back soon.”

“Yes… Uncle.”

A woman in black who had been watching quietly approached Kang Dae-han and urged him on.

She was Ju Hwa-yoon, a member of the Heukyeong Clan faction.

Ah, calling a woman ‘uncle’ instead of ‘aunt’ was a peculiar characteristic of their family. It might sound a bit strange, but in the game, the Heukyeong Clan’s motif was gangsters.

“You guys… enjoy the auction.”

Kang Dae-han glanced at me and Soyeon before walking away with the Heukyeong Clan members.

Ju Ji-yeon and the bodyguards also followed Kang Dae-han.

“Those guys came here too.”

“Yeah.”

I nodded in agreement with Soyeon’s words.

Originally, this auction episode was one of the events related to Kang Dae-han.

It could be said that the main storyline was about Kang Dae-han, dealing with jealousy from Ju Ji-yeon and confronting the Rebellion members with him.

But now, things were different.

There was no need to join Kang Dae-han, nor did I want to.

Oh, of course, it was fine that Kang Dae-han’s group showed up at the auction. It could be helpful to ask for assistance if needed. Or rather, to put it more bluntly, it seemed like they could be used if handled properly.

“Hong Daye, the instructor, is also here to see the auction… It’s nice to see so many helpful people gathered.”

“Jinhyuk, what’s so good about it? We shouldn’t have anything to ask for help from the instructor in the first place.”

“Well, that’s true.”

I wonder if it’s because it’s such a famous event?

People with money and abilities were naturally gathering here in Busan.

– Ring, ring.

“Huh? A call… Oh, it’s not my ringtone, is it yours, Jinhyuk?”

“Just a moment.”

I took out my cell phone.

And checked the caller ID.

I could tell it was a call from the hotel.

Ah, of course, it’s not the hotel I’m staying at.

Then who is staying at that hotel?

Hmm?

I should check it out now.

I can guess who it might be, but they might cancel the reservation if they don’t plan to come to Busan, right?

“Hello?”

“Oh, yes, um…”

The voice of a female hotel front desk staff rang in my ears.

“The guests you mentioned have come to check in. Charlie Robinson and two other foreign men, along with one Asian woman.”

I scratched my chin at the female staff’s words.

Charlie Robinson.

One of Alex Kim’s disguises.

I was a little worried if he would stay at this hotel as in the original work, but I was relieved that he acted as in the original work.

“So they finally came all the way to Busan without canceling the reservation, Alex.”

I thought they might give up attacking the auction house because of Roxanne, but Alex didn’t care about such threats.

If it were me, I would have been cautious for a while about Roxanne’s movements.

“I see. Please send me the CCTV footage.”

It was simple to predict where Alex and his group would stay.

It was already mentioned in the original work.

Oh, of course, there was a possibility that my actions so far would prevent them from booking a different hotel.

But booking a hotel during the peak season had to be done quite early.

To stay in a luxury hotel during the Life and Auction season, it was necessary to make a reservation several months in advance.

In other words.

They had already booked a hotel before Roxanne attacked the Rebellion members.

Therefore, the possibility of booking a different hotel due to my actions with Roxanne was very low.

“Yes, but… the money…”

“I’ll send it to your account.”

Money talks.

I could easily get information about the guests and the hotel’s flow through the hotel staff.

Thanks to that, I could confirm more clearly that Alex was planning to stay at this hotel.

Selling customer information for a few bucks.

Well, it made things easier.

“Oh, the CCTV footage is here. Let’s take a look at those guys’ faces.”

I carefully watched the faces of the people filmed at the hotel through my phone.

“Alex Kim, John Carter, So Yoo-young… Phew, good, these three are here just like in the game.”

They were all formidable villains, but it was no problem.

If you know who’s coming, you can prepare countermeasures.

“I was a little worried if other members would come too, but I’m glad. If someone like Yoozabel had come, it would have been annoying. That guy’s observational skills are a pain.”

But Yoozabel would be busy monitoring Roxanne and the church members.

I could say that he helped Roxanne cause a lot of trouble.

“Well, I’m not completely unprepared for Yoozabel’s arrival, but…”

I suddenly turned my head to look at them.

“Hey, guys.”

“Yeah?”

“Why?”

They responded to my words.

So-yeon and Yoo Seol-hyun’s eyes were fixed on my face.

I slowly licked my lips as I faced them.

“They just arrived. They’ll show us the CCTV footage from the hotel, so memorize their faces. Well, they might be in disguise too.”

“Oh, have they already arrived? Got it. …Phew. I’m getting nervous for no reason, right?”

“Alright, tell everyone to get ready to hand out the items to people. Jinhyuk, are you ready too?”

“Yeah.”

I nodded as I took out my phone.

“I’m ready.”

I had been ready for a long time.

Ready to fight against the Rebellion members.

‘But man, having a real superpower is really tempting…’

If Soyeon had a powerful superpower like mine, she wouldn’t have to go through all this trouble to prepare for everything.

Even if Soyeon didn’t have that much power, having at least one useful superpower would be nice.

Or maybe, well, I have to die and come back to awaken her?

***

“…Are you really going, Yudahee?”

“Well, yeah, that’s how it turned out, sir.”

Yudahee nodded at Ryan’s words.

“I just have a bad feeling about it.”

“Is that so.”

“As the largest auction house in Korea, there will be some formidable people gathered there, right?”

“Yeah, you might be in danger too.”

“Haha, that’s true.”

Yudahee nodded as if acknowledging it.

Even if she was the renowned Yudahee, causing a ruckus openly might lead to her being quickly subdued.

“So, I’m trying to prepare for that.”

“…If that’s the case, could it be?”

“Well, it’s best not to have to use it, but you never know what might happen there, right?”

“…I hope you won’t have to use it.”

“Hey, don’t think too negatively, sir. If nothing unexpected happens, I’ll just enjoy some good food and sightseeing in Busan before coming back.”

However, Yudahee was secretly hoping for something unexpected to happen in Busan.