– What did he say? He can find the guy once he bites the bait? Hilarious.

Jinbum drank a pumpkin-like colored liquid and laughed at Sangki Beak who talked big.

“…”

– I should have asked how he was going to find him. It’s my mistake. My mistake. Why did I believe in him?

“Mr. Park… what if Mr. Beak hears you…”

– When time stops, our mouths also stop. How can he hear us?

Jinbum pointed to the locked door with his eyes.

– Unless he’s in here with us, it doesn’t matter.

“But still…”

– It’s ok. If he hears us, he’s going to kill me not you guys. Why do you guys cower? So, is Sangki Beak in here?

“No, sir.”

– Then, there is no problem. Just check if he’s hiding somewhere in here.

Jinbum laughed out loud and soon frowned.

– By the way, is it my turn now?

“What turn…?”

– I’m wondering if the romantic perverted revenge ghost’s next target is me or not. Dongsoo Choi, father, and Hayeong Choi. The last person left in Ohsung is me, right?

Mr. Kwan was silent for a moment and then opened his mouth.

“In my lacking opinion…, it might not be. No, We shouldn’t let it happen.”

– Um?

“You are not the only one who he’s going to take revenge on.”

– Indeed. The rulers are also on his revenge list. However…

While Jinbum was hesitating, Mr. Jo carefully interrupted.

“Actually, I can’t quite understand the story.”

– Why?

“I only heard that the rulers broke into the secret room and took him somewhere… Then doesn’t it mean he was with the rulers? But he came back alive. Do you think the rulers let him go? Or he ran away from them? Are they trying to catch their slave who ran away? I don’t understand what on earth happened.”

– I agree with your point. Dongsoo told me that he couldn’t see what happened while he had fainted. However, I guess…

Jinbum continued.

– If he was with the rulers, there’s no reason why Sangki Beak should react to him. Wasn’t he surprised by the story about him? He asked ‘Was the guy alive?’

“That’s right. He did.”

– It means at least he was not with the rulers at that time. I’m too dizzy to guess what the exact situation was so let’s forget about it for now. The rulers couldn’t get him somehow.

“I think the same.”

– Anyways, you are right. His revenge is also on the rulers, so I should try hard to hide. Then he will probably find someone else first and fight them.

Mr. Jo and Mr. Kwan nodded.

– The rulers and him… I hope they fight each other and all die. Then I can build tombstones for them.

Jinbum quietly mumbled.

At that moment, Mr. Kwan’s phone rang.

He answered the phone and reported to Jinbum.

“Mr. Beak is here.”

– Ha… Ok.

Jinbum shook his hand and Mr. Kwan ran to open the meeting room door.

After a moment.

Sangki Beak confidently walked inside.

– Mr. Beak, how are you?

“Hello, sir!”

As soon as Sangki Beak sat down, he opened his mouth.

“Jinbum Park.”

– Yes, sir.

“Don’t you have more information about the freak?”

– All I know is that his last name is Park, he wears a mask-type artifact, and what his skill is.

“Dumbass.”

Sangki Beak clicked his tongue.

Jinbum let out a sigh.

– Mr. Beak, do you have any information about him?

“His skill and he wears a mask-type artifact.”

‘What’s the difference between what I know?’

Jinbum lost his temper at that moment but tried to manage his facial expression.

– Then why this time…

He shortened his words, ‘you couldn’t catch him’, to express this question.

“Listen, bitch. There were two methods this time. Figuring out who wore a mask-type artifact and who was a skill user.”

‘Can he check if a person’s wearing a mask-type artifact and if that person is a skill user?’

It was a problem when he talked big even though the information on him was lacking.

However, they were unexpectedly reasonable solutions based on insufficient information.

‘I thought it was going to be a fucking dumb idea but it wasn’t. But he still couldn’t catch him?’

While Jinbum was biting his lip, Sangki Beak continued his words.

“I planned to search every single one when an incident happened. Then it turned out to be nothing. I just wasted my time on the weird foreigner.”

– He might not be wearing a mask-type artifact.

“Or his skill is not an ordinary ‘release’.”

– It’s getting more complicated.

“First, there is not much information. Gather as much information as possible. I will find a way too.”

– Ok, sir.

Sangki Beak didn’t say bye and left through the door in the meeting room.

Mr. Jo locked the door and came back.

– The foreigner. Come to think of it, who the hell was the foreigner you showed me? Getting caught by Sangki Beak means he was a skill user wearing a mask-type artifact.

“Oh… yes.”

‘Shoot.’

At that moment, Mr. Kwan and Mr. Jo started sweating.

The room was already empty and the camera was gone when they went to clean up.

Jinbum let out a shout of anger at the situation.

– Have you checked who he was?

“Well…. That is….”

Jinbum clicked his tongue.

– Forget it. What do I expect from you? It doesn’t matter since he’s dead.

“That’s right, sir.”

– If you haven’t cleaned up yet, send some people to clean up. It will stink.

“Ok, I will.”

Mr. Jo just answered for his own good.

– We need to gather more information somehow. Leave.

“Thank you, sir.”

Mr. Jo came out of the meeting room and opened his mouth.

“What do we do? I just answered first… but how can we explain what happened…”

Mr. Kwan agonized for a moment and let out a sigh.

“Let’s just say we cleaned up. What else can we do?”

“Ha… You are also going through some hardship.”

They got off the elevator, shook their hands, and left separately.

*

Sangki Beak was pondering after he left Ohsung.

It was about whether to get help from someone else to gather information.

Of course, there were things he couldn’t get even with his own power but he never had to ask for someone’s help.

He could always force others to use their powers to get the things he couldn’t get with his own power.

That was why he preferred to solve it alone if possible.

However, there was a limit to Sangki Beak since the ability to gather information didn’t always match with someone’s power.

Besides, he had to solve it while hiding information from other people. 

It wouldn’t work out even if he forced others with his power.

‘First, I must exclude information dealers.’

Giving information to those information dealers was only beneficial for them.

What Sangki Beak hated the most was doing things only for the benefit of other people, so this option was discarded.

‘The best option out of all these bad options is to use the rulers… They are almost at the same level as me.’

The rulers entered his mind.

‘Is Sera Lee the most knowledgable among the rulers?’

‘Yea, that’s right. She is.’

The topic changed to Sera Lee.

To involve Sera Lee or not, this was a problem.

Then he wouldn’t be able to take all the benefits by himself. This was too harsh for him. He loved taking everything alone the most, he didn’t trust anyone easily, and he thought he lived alone in this world.

‘Oh… I really don’t want to share… Only I should take it.’

‘Is there any way to do it by myself?’

He took one hour to think about doing everything by himself.

‘Sera Lee… Isn’t she going to flee with the information I hand over?’

‘Can I trust her?’

He took another hour to analyze Sera Lee.

He agonized while walking around and finally made a decision.

‘Ok. Just one person. No more than that.’

Surprisingly, Sangki Beak didn’t spend even a second to consider if Sera Lee would agree to help him. Then he picked up the phone.

****

“It looks like the store next to you is closing.”

“Indeed. It had a ‘Lease’ sign attached.”

Kimin already heard about the details from the brothers Hyeongki and Hyeongdoo but didn’t say anything.

After Kimin’s answer, Sera Lee looked at Saehun Jae.

“They closed down because of your store. It’s because of you.”

“Wait… I didn’t think I stole their customers… Hahaha.”

‘That’s right.’

If she wanted to say he ‘stole’ the customers, at least those stolen customers should’ve come to Saehun’s shop.

However, no one came to Saehun’s shop.

The word, steal, wasn’t suitable.

‘Is there at least one customer a day here? I don’t think anyone comes.’

That was why Kimin worried about the situation with Saehun’s shop.

Even though the retail prices were high, no customers came and Saehun didn’t seem like he supplied goods anywhere else. Then how can he manage his shop?

‘Only after I heard that he’s doing it as a hobby, I understood.’

Kimin slowly picked up a teacup.

It was a drowsy afternoon.

Is it because it’s spring?

Or Is it because he paid back his debt to Saehun a few days ago.

“By the way, the butler Lim didn’t come today.”

“Oh, Hakdong is busier than he looks. He’s managing the house right now. Hahaha.”

While they were having a conversation, Sera’s phone rang.

“Yuk. Sangki Beak.”

Sera Lee was disgusted at the name that appeared on her phone screen.

She pressed the decline button right away.

“You are daring.”

“It’s enough that I was betrayed once.”

Sera kept declining the phone calls but he wasn’t thinking about giving up.

“Can’t he understand if I rejected that many times?”

Sera made an angry face and her phone screen blinked again.

It was a text that had arrived after she declined 10 times.

[ Answer my call. I have a proposal. ]

“Huh…?”

Sera hardened her face when she saw the text.

She looked at Saehun.

“He said he has a proposal.”

“A proposal? I can’t guess what he’s thinking about.”

“I know. Hm… Even if the proposal is good, I don’t want to hear it since it’s from Sangki Beak.”

“Then don’t hear it.”

“But he’s someone I can’t put a wall between us…”

Sera Lee came up with an idea and her eyes shined.

“Oh. I can just tell him to text me because I don’t want to talk with him on the phone!! Good idea.”

Sera Lee’s hands moved.

[ I’m not able to talk on the phone, so please text me. ]

“I should’ve done that before.”

Sera Lee seemed lighthearted.

“Of course. Texting is better than calling.”

“It’s better than listening to his voice. Good job.”

While Seahun and Kimin talked, the phone rang again.

An envelope icon on the screen appeared.

It was a text from Sangki Beak.

[ The abnormal status absorption skill user from the secret room in Ohsung is still alive. Please cooperate with securing him. You know what the content is, so now pick up the phone. Do not let the others know and don’t steal him. ]

She didn’t have the time to be surprised and soon her phone started to ring again.

–

Translator’s note:

HAPPY NEW YEARS EVERYONE!! 😀