Chapter 114 – Collusion [Paste Bait]

June 20, 2031, 22:00.

Myeongdong high-end Chinese restaurant, Binghwaru.

The place, its front glass curtained off following the announcement that business had ended.

“Where’s the Director?”

“He said he left 30 minutes ago.”

“But why hasn’t he arrived yet?”

“Not sure.”

“Try calling him one more time.”

“Yes.”

At Choi’s words, Park took out his phone and called Director Han.

“…….”

At the round table, Li Guoping, seated opposite the two men, sat with his arms crossed, eyes closed, saying nothing.

Zhou Peiling, sitting beside him, also merely watched Choi and Park with indifferent eyes.

“He’s not answering?”

At Park’s words, Choi’s expression instantly twisted.

“What the hell…….”

Park just shrugged his shoulders.

Choi turned his gaze to look at Li Guoping and Zhou Peiling.

With an awkward smile and a troubled expression, Choi spoke to the two in slightly clumsy, but comprehensible, Chinese.

“I’m terribly sorry. Please wait just a little longer.”

At Choi’s words, Li Guoping showed no reaction, and Zhou Peiling only nodded silently without a word.

More time passed like that.

“Hey, any news?”

At Choi’s question, Park shook his head.

“Try contacting him again.”

Park made another call.

But this time too, Director Han did not answer.

“He’s not answering?”

“Damn it, seriously…….”

Just as Choi’s expression was turning sour, Zhou Peiling opened her mouth.

“It seems today’s meeting will not materialize. Due to the unilateral absence of the Korean side.”

As fluent Korean spilled from her mouth, Choi and Park flinched.

‘What? An interpreter?’

As Choi thought that, Li Guoping opened his eyes.

Then he whispered something into Zhou Peiling’s ear.

Choi and Park pricked up their ears to hear that whisper, but nothing reached them.

Zhou Peiling listened to Li Guoping’s words, nodding repeatedly, and when he finished, she continued speaking, looking at Choi and Park with the same indifferent eyes.

“Our home country is maintaining a very cautious stance regarding this matter.”

Choi and Park listened to her words with tightly sealed lips.

“Looking objectively at the current political situation in Korea, the National Intelligence Service does not have the capacity to stage a Coup d’État. Nevertheless, Ambassador Li has actively requested our home country to support the NIS side.”

As her words continued, Choi and Park’s expressions grew increasingly dark.

“Moreover, today, Ambassador Li went so far as to arrange this meeting, risking exposure of his own identity. But if, in this manner, Director Han of the NIS, a party to the negotiations, unilaterally fails to attend, and does so by cutting off contact, then regardless of Ambassador Li’s personal feelings, support from our home country cannot be expected.”

Her words were essentially a declaration of non-cooperation with the NIS’s Coup d’État.

‘Damn it.’

Choi gritted his teeth.

‘I, I have to change their minds somehow. If these two leave like this…….’

There is, at least so far, no trace of Chinese involvement in the NIS’s Coup d’État plot.

They have exchanged communications with the NIS side several times, but that alone is insufficient to serve as decisive physical evidence of Chinese involvement.

In such a situation, if the NIS causes disappointment like this, from China’s perspective, rather than supporting the NIS’s Coup d’État, which already has low probability of success, they would likely choose to inform the Korean government about it.

That would be more beneficial for long-term Sino-Korean relations.

‘That can’t happen.’

Having reached his own conclusion, Choi opened his mouth in an urgent voice.

“P-please wait a moment. D-Director Han is not someone who would break a promise without reason. Surely, surely there’s some reason…….”

Zhou Peiling decisively cut off that statement.

“Since the person spearheading the overthrow of the system is showing such irresponsible behavior, we…….”

And a voice cutting off her words came from the empty air where nothing was.

“Director Han cannot come due to handling the aftermath of a traffic accident.”

Not only Choi, Park, and Zhou Peiling, but even Li Guoping, who had been sitting with his eyes closed and a solemn expression, all flinched and looked toward the source of the voice.

There, a man wearing sunglasses appeared like a mirage—Agent Hong.

“……!”

Li Guoping stared at him wide-eyed for a while, witnessing the appearance of the NIS’s secret Superhuman agent he had only heard about.

After briefly looking at Li Guoping from behind his sunglasses, Agent Hong shifted his gaze to Zhou Peiling and continued speaking.

“Director Han was driving here himself when he unfortunately got into a contact accident with a drunk driving vehicle. It is absolutely not a case of unilaterally failing to attend the meeting place or losing contact.”

Listening to him, Li Guoping whispered into Zhou Peiling’s ear again.

Receiving his words, Zhou Peiling looked at Agent Hong and spoke.

“The traffic accident is regrettable, but that doesn’t mean we can proceed without the representative. The meeting will likely have to be postponed to another time……”

“I am the representative.”

At Agent Hong’s words, Choi, Park, and Zhou Peiling flinched. Li Guoping also looked at him once more with trembling eyes.

Agent Hong sat down next to Choi and continued the discussion.

“As I have been granted full authority by Director Han, matters decided here will absolutely not be overturned.”

The four people looked at Agent Hong speaking like that and for a while could say nothing.

Silence fell for about a minute.

That silence was broken when Li Guoping, after taking a sip of water, opened his mouth.

“You say you have full authority. I’ll trust that.”

The fluent Korean flowing from his mouth made Choi and Park flinch once more.

Ignoring the sight of the two, Li Guoping continued.

“So, what are your plans for the Coup d’État?”

A time past midnight.

The back door of Binghwaru opened, and Choi and Park stealthily came out.

The two, after checking their surroundings, signaled inside that it was okay.

Simultaneous with that signal, Agent Hong, Zhou Peiling, and Li Guoping came out in turn.

“Then, regarding the agreed matters, I will report to Director Han and proceed with the work accordingly.”

At Agent Hong’s words, Li Guoping nodded.

“Do that. I will also contact our home country immediately.”

“Yes.”

“Then I shall go in first.”

“Please go in safely.”

Accepting Agent Hong’s farewell, Li Guoping got into the back seat of the official car. Zhou Peiling gave Agent Hong a brief, sidelong glance before sitting in the driver’s seat and starting the engine.

Soon the official car departed, and only after the car disappeared from view did Choi and Park let out deep sighs.

“Whew…….”

“Whoo…….”

For a moment, sighing like that and looking at each other, Choi and Park almost simultaneously turned their gaze toward Agent Hong.

“Huh?”

“Wh-what the?”

But he had already vanished from the spot.

“Hey… at least say something before leaving.”

“Yeah, really.”

“Ah… let’s go. Us too.”

“Yes. But why did we come here today? We were completely just extras.”

“You said it. We came to be extras.”

“Ah…….”

And so, the two trudged down the alleyway and disappeared into the darkness.

Meanwhile, inside the moving official car, Li Guoping looked at Zhou Peiling and asked.

“Does it seem like it will go well?”

To that question, Zhou Peiling pondered for a moment before shrugging her shoulders and answering.

“To be honest, it doesn’t seem like it will.”

“Why?”

“It’s simple. The NIS’s Coup d’État is targeting Lee Siguk, not the Nam Hanseok cabinet or the Korean people who support him. There’s no way it can succeed.”

“Hmm…… What’s the possibility of Lee Siguk siding with the NIS?”

“Lee Siguk has the power to change the regime itself. According to our understanding, not only the State Council, the National Hunter Federation, and the Korean Superhuman Association, but even the lower and upper houses, the ruling party as well as the opposition parties, are under his influence. The chaebols also all show absolute support for him.”

“That is true.”

“Conversely, the NIS is an organization left with only the dregs. The manpower they claim to have gathered now, in their own words, is qualitatively at the division level, but in reality, it’s a ragtag bunch at about the company level. Moreover, since the cause of the revolution lay with the NIS, their Coup d’État has no justification or legitimacy whatsoever.”

“So the probability of success is low?”

“Yes.”

“Hmm…….”

“What will you do?”

At Zhou Peiling’s question, Li Guoping sank into thought for a while.

His contemplation ended around the time they arrived at the official residence.

“Let’s just watch what they do for now. That’s also the Party’s policy.”

“Yes, understood.”

“How did it go?”

In his own home, Director Han, who had yielded the seat of honor despite being the host, asked the person occupying the seat of honor—Siguk.

“Got it properly.”

Saying that, Siguk handed Director Han a burner phone.

Director Han immediately opened the photo gallery.

Five photos and one video were saved.

The photos were of Choi and Park facing Li Guoping, taken from five angles, cleverly obscuring Zhou Peiling’s face in all of them.

“The spy’s face is hidden, but why is this…….”

“Anyway, Li Guoping is the guy in charge of all domestic spies. If the spy boss is caught on camera, there’s no need to show the small fry and distract attention.”

“Ah…….”

Director Han nodded lightly and this time played the video.

『Looking objectively at the current political situation in Korea, the National Intelligence Service does not have the capacity to stage a Coup d’État. Nevertheless, Ambassador Li has actively requested our home country to support the NIS side.』

The video was well-recorded, with Zhou Peiling’s words clearly audible.

After watching the video for a while, Director Han nodded with a satisfied expression.

“This should be sufficient. Then, when should we execute the operation?”

“It shouldn’t be dragged out too long, but announcing it immediately would seem odd, so let’s make it a week later.”

“Yes, I’ll do that.”

Looking at Director Han’s resolute expression, Siguk chuckled softly.

“Aren’t you worried?”

“Huh? About what?”

“About getting shot. If things go wrong, it might not just graze your side, but really tear into the flesh.”

Instantly, Director Han’s face turned pale. But soon he forced a smile and spoke.

“I trust the Secretary-General’s marksmanship.”

Looking at his faith directed at him, Siguk just laughed.

‘He wouldn’t be bad as the next Prime Minister either. With this level of loyalty.’

Thinking that, Siguk took a sip of the black tea he had brought out.

June 28, 2031, 12:00.

“Whew…….”

Zhou Peiling, fixing her makeup while looking in the bathroom mirror, let out a deep sigh.

『Siguk says thank you and wants to treat you to a meal.』

The words Polina said to her three days ago, after the final exam of the semester ended, bouncing around the campus in high spirits.

Lee Siguk’s meal invitation.

『He says he’ll buy something expensive and delicious, you’re coming, right? Huh?』

There was no particular reason to refuse.

Thus, Zhou Peiling ended up accepting the proposal without even having a chance to consult with Li Guoping.

『Be careful. The opponent is an A-Rank Hunter. You must conceal your identity as much as possible.』

Receiving the belated report, Li Guoping sternly warned her like that and urged her to be cautious.

‘Even without you saying it, I’ll be cautious.’

Thinking that, Zhou Peiling put her makeup tools into her handbag. Then she checked the Mana-sealing bracelet on her wrist.

‘As long as I’m wearing this, I can’t draw upon Mana, but I can hide my identity and pretend to be a non-Awakened. Well…… even if I could draw upon Mana, there’s nothing I could do…….’

Zhou Peiling lightly shook her head, then picked up her handbag and left the bathroom.

Click-clack, click-clack. Listening to the sound of her own high heels echoing in the corridor, Zhou Peiling calmed her mind.

And finally, when she arrived in front of the VIP room, the door opened just in time as Polina was about to come out.

“Oh? Why are you so late? Siguk’s been waiting. Come on in.”

Saying that, Polina grabbed Zhou Peiling’s arm and pulled her inside.

“Hello, Miss Lingling.”

And she faced him.

Lee Siguk, smiling lightly.