Chapter 40

‘I’ll just upload the posts from the anonymous site, excluding mine.’

She always got away with it like this. It was the same with Yibae Hyeon. She gathered PDFs of all malicious comments, excluding her own, and handed them over to the team leader just before leaving work, then went home. Meanwhile, Cho-i Hyeon was reading the documents from the internet management team. Right inside Dongju Kim and Yeonhan Kim’s office.

“So, is this all?”

“Why, is something wrong?”

“No, it just seems like some of the malicious comments that I found particularly striking are missing.”

“The ones you found striking?”

“Well, things like ‘no parents.’ But how did they know I don’t have parents?”

Cho-i Hyeon chuckled.

“No matter how I think about it, this is suspicious.”

She was foolish, but not a pushover.

“Who submitted these approval documents?”

“That? I’ll ask their team leader. Just a moment.”

Yeonhan Kim picked up her smartphone and moved to another spot for a moment. Dongju Kim, looking like she had a headache, read the internet articles and then asked,

“What is the Guild Master thinking?”

“That jerk is probably only thinking about screwing me over right now.”

“Hey, let me ask, what exactly happened inside?”

“Do you want me to tell you in detail?”

Cho-i smiled, her eyes sparkling. Dongju Kim frowned. She didn’t want to know, but she felt like she had to know now.

“Honestly, I don’t really want to know the details, but let’s hear it.”

“Before that, I have a question.”

“Go ahead.”

“When you first saw me, did you read my entire status window?”

“…”

Dongju Kim was silent for a moment.

“I thought you didn’t say anything. And this bracelet.”

She showed him the item on her wrist and said,

“Since you bought me something like this, I thought you only looked at my rank. But now that I think about it, you stared at me for quite a while then. How about it? How much did you see then?”

Dongju Kim dry-washed her face and looked away for a moment. Then, after a brief silence, she spoke.

“Actually, I read it all.”

“I knew it.”

At that, Cho-i grinned slyly.

“I’m not saying anything about you hiding it. It’s true that it’s a good gift for a tank, but why did you give this to me? When I thought about it that way, it seemed strange. No matter how much she’s a tank you brought in, there’s no need to give such an expensive bracelet.”

“Yes, you’re smart.”

“I may be foolish, but I’m not as foolish as I seem.”

“So, what do you have to tell me in the end?”

“The Guild Master knows about this too.”

“Ah…”

Dongju Kim dry-washed her face once more. She actually thought that the Guild Master would be able to see Cho-i’s hidden status window and that he had taken her into the S-Rank dungeon because of the Entity.

“So…”

Cho-i recounted everything that had happened that day. All of it, even the story about her body being controlled by an unknown entity inside her stomach, or more precisely, inside her item.

Having heard all of it, Dongju Kim sighed.

“I shouldn’t have listened.”

“You’re the one who asked me to tell you first.”

She clapped her hands with a wide smile, turning his gaze back to her.

“So, how should I overcome this situation now?”

“Well, honestly, this is the first time I’ve ever been caught up in something like this.”

“Will you go out with me?”

“Rejected. I’ve never heard such a confession in my life.”

“Oh, come on, you get confessions like this sometimes in life.”

Dongju Kim, looking dumbfounded, reached for a cigarette again but then stopped. She remembered that Cho-i had snatched it away last time when she tried to light one.

“How about dating the Guild Master?”

“Rejected. Do you think that makes sense? Mr. Dongju, I highly recommend you try dating someone who pulled out your own guts.”

“I’m sorry.”

“It’s good that your apology is quick.”

“The internet’s image can change quickly if public opinion shifts a bit. I think we should aim for that.”

“Public opinion, public opinion…”

Just then, Yeonhan Kim returned and said,

“Ganansu, their teammate, investigated it, they say? The anonymous sites.”

“Hmm, I also tend to look at anonymous sites, and several of the malicious comments I saw carefully are gone. So what am I supposed to think?”

“No way, you mean the person who posted those malicious comments is an employee here?”

“It’s a reasonable suspicion.”

“Yes, that could be. So, it would be good to meet that teammate then?”

“Of course. But where would be a good place to meet that teammate?”

“Uh, the company cafe?”

Cho-i grinned at Yeonhan’s words.

“Where was that D-Rank illegal dungeon?”

“You’re not serious…”

“Hey, that’s illegal.”

“Hehehe, I can’t just let that slide. I need to take care of that first, then figure out a way to mess with the Guild Master.”

“Ah, I don’t know anything.”

“It’s not my business either.”

“Why are you pretending not to know? Do you think if I call her, she’ll just come out willingly?”

“So?”

“Mr. Dongju Kim, please help me out.”

“How?”

“Just call her out. If it’s her, great, if not, try to coax her with that handsome face of yours.”

“…Honestly, I don’t think this is something I should have to deal with.”

“Then who should I ask?”

Then Dongju Kim confidently pointed upstairs.

“She’s up there.”

“Oh.”

Cho-i blinked. Right, someone else caused the trouble. That was the look on her face. She immediately sent a text to Taehyeok Sa.

[Lend me a D-Rank dungeon.] [Why suddenly?] [And call Ganansu from your internet management team to the D-Rank dungeon.] [Why me?] [Unless you want to die.]

Then, after a long pause, a reply came.

[Alright.]

“Wow, I guess this person doesn’t want to die either.”

Cho-i chuckled.

***

Taehyeok Sa let out a hollow laugh as he read the message. He wondered if anyone had ever spoken to him like that before.

“It’s ridiculous.”

He fiddled with his smartphone and sighed, then placed a call to the secretary’s office.

“Call Ganansu from the internet management team here now.”

“Understood, Guild Master.”

Meanwhile, Ganansu, who received his call, was staring blankly at her desk.

“W-what did you say?”

“The Guild Master is calling for you.”

“Oh, no. Why?”

“You’ll find out when you go.”

Taehyeok Sa’s secretaries were generally not very warm-hearted. It was evident just by looking at the current situation.

“Uh, when should I go?”

“Now.”

The Guild Master’s secretary disappeared with those words, leaving Ganansu clutching her thumping heart. She wondered if he had noticed her tricks. She thought it was a good thing, but she also started to tear up. The person who had been watching her for a long time hadn’t noticed anything, but he called her directly just because she omitted some work for that girl? However, contrary to her expectations, Taehyeok Sa only said one thing.

“Go to the Ansu-dong D-Rank dungeon by 10 PM tonight.”

“Huh?”

Ganansu blinked, bewildered.

“I’m not part of the dungeon management team…”

“There’s a reason for it. You understand, right?”

“Oh, yes, yes. Of course.”

Ganansu was so flustered by the Guild Master’s face right in front of her that she nodded to a request that would have seemed strange if she had thought about it for even a moment. And she didn’t know how much she would regret nodding to that request.

***

Ganansu went to the D-Rank dungeon in Ansu-dong at 10 PM. When she arrived at the dungeon, the dungeon management team was inspecting it. She approached them with a sense of relief. As she got closer, one of the dungeon management team members who greeted her clicked their tongue.

“Oh dear, what happened?”

“Huh, what?”

“Please sit over there. A Hunter will be here soon.”

“A, a Hunter?”

“Yes, that Hunter specifically asked to see you. They’ll be here soon, so please wait a moment.”

“Ah, yes…”

Ganansu sat down in the provided seat with an uneasy feeling. Which hunter would call her to a D-Rank dungeon just to see her?

‘If it’s a D-Rank dungeon, it must be a D-Rank hunter. Who could it be?’

She chewed on her fingernails, waiting for the hunter. There was no one she could think of.

‘If it weren’t for the Guild Master’s request, I wouldn’t have come… ‘

She briefly recalled the Guild Master’s face she had seen and fell into ecstasy. Ah, our Guild Master was perfect today too. And just as she was lost in her fantasies, a small commotion arose. It seemed the hunter had arrived. She stood up from her seat and her eyes widened in surprise.

“Hello?”

“H-h-h-Cho-i Hyeon, H-hunter.”

“Oh, you know me well?”

She was flustered by the remark and began to explain incoherently.

“W-well, you’re hot these days. Our team is also paying a lot of attention to the Hunter…”

“Enough.”

Cho-i grinned and grabbed her by the collar, pulling her. As a civilian, she couldn’t resist and began to be dragged by Cho-i’s hand.

“W-what are you doing?! What is this? Help me!”

She called out for help to those around her, but no one looked at her; they were only checking the dungeon’s condition. In the meantime, Cho-i had dragged Ganansu right up to the dungeon entrance. She resisted with all her might.

“W-why are you doing this to me?!”

“Hmm, why indeed?”

She grinned and began to speak.

“How did you know I didn’t have parents? More importantly, why are you using the term ‘Queen Bee’? That’s an old term.”

Cho-i grinned at Ganansu. Ganansu’s face turned pale at her words.

“Th-that, I didn’t write th-that…”

“When did I say you wrote it? You must have a guilty conscience.”

Cho-i smiled broadly and gripped Ganansu’s nape even tighter. Then, without hesitation, she threw him into the dungeon, which gaped open like a maw. It must have felt like the entrance to hell for Ganansu. A short scream was heard.

“Alright, we’re off! To the mysterious~ Nara~ Wow, let’s go!”

Cho-i Hyeon immediately jumped and entered the dungeon herself. One of the dungeon management team members, who had been watching the entire situation from behind, swallowed dryly and said,

“Anyone who left malicious comments for that hunter, go home and delete them all.”

Someone said weakly,

“Yes….”

“And don’t even think about blabbing about what you saw today anywhere.”

“…Yes.”

Meanwhile, Ganansu rolled around on the dirty floor. Cho-i had thrown him quite hard, and he seemed to have tumbled five times.