Chapter 98 – Past

“Wow.”

Vanessa and Paolo watched the CCTV footage of the assassination inside the Colaion family’s Leolen Mansion.

“Perfection as expected.”

Jeronimo’s workmanship was flawless. The assassin instantly killed Siemens and disappeared without a trace. He had effortlessly escaped Torino, which was deep inside the Colaion family’s sphere of influence.

“But what killed him?”

Paolo asked as Vanessa rested her chin on one hand and replayed the tape. The CCTV’s low quality footage couldn’t capture exactly what happened.

“I’m not sure.”

“I… think it was a bullet.”

“No way.”

Guns remained indispensable, but most considered them well-assembled toys compared to artifacts. However, the firearm market did equally match the artifact market since artifacts could only be traded between guilds and individuals. Alternatively, people also used auction houses and special markets like Violet Banquet.

However, anyone could purchase and use guns. High class masterpiece guns could even kill low-intermediate rank monsters. In other words, more people bought firearms than artifacts.

“No one in Jeronimo Mercenary uses a gun.”

Only ordinary people used guns for self-defense against weak monsters. The powerful didn’t need guns.

“It looks like a bullet no matter how I look at it.”

“How would a magic bullet pierce through the barrier? Anyways…”

Vanessa’s expression stiffened.

“You better keep quiet. Don’t open your mouth no matter what. We know nothing, got it?”

They had to carry this secret to the grave. Godfather Colaion cared the most about his family’s safety. Siemens’ death would surely enrage him. Godfather Colaion would openly punish anyone who harmed the family.

“Of course, I know.”

Paolo nodded as if to ask why she would even mention something so obvious.

“…”

However, Vanessa still worried. Someone like him always slipped up in the movies. Vanessa even took out a magic contract because she couldn’t trust her brother’s words.

***

[Sunshine Haven]

The retirement center resided on the outskirts of Seoul. However, its name and appearance seemed more like a comfortable rest spot than a retirement center. I walked up to the entrance and knocked on the door.

Soon, a middle-aged woman appeared and smiled at me. I was about to introduce myself when she spoke.

“Wow, it’s been a while, Hajin!”

“Huh?”

She caught me off guard. A short silence descended before I regained my composure. Kim Hajin, or rather Kim Chundong must’ve visited in the past. This place was only 10 minutes from Chundong’s original house.

“Ah… yes, nice to meet you. It’s been a while.”

Thankfully, I must’ve not been too out of character since the caregiver reacted normally.

“You must be busy with hero training lately. What brings you here? Ah, come in.”

The caregiver invited me inside.

“…”

I took a look around. The place seemed bigger than it looked. Six people spoke to each other as they played Go and Shogi. Then they noticed me and heartily laughed.

“It’s been almost a year! How has it been?” the caregiver suddenly asked.

“Ah, you see…”

I hesitated and didn’t know how to bring up the topic.

“Yeah?”

“Um, it’s about Agus.”

“Agus… Oh, that South American man?”

I nodded. It seemed Chundong had some sort of a relationship with him. I wasn’t too surprised since the co-author could freely make up Chundong’s past. He must’ve complicated things once again, but the situation didn’t seem too bad. The co-author probably didn’t expect me to come here so soon.

“Yes, I wondered if he left anything behind.”

“Let me think… I don’t think he specifically asked us to take care of it, but there was something.”

“A letter?”

“Huh? Oh, yes, a letter. How did you know?”

My eyes widened. Thankfully, the plot device I left remained unchanged.

“Where might that letter be?”

“It’s in the memorial along with his ashes. Why?”

“Ah, well….”

I thought about how to respond. I didn’t know anything about Chundong’s personality, but I could guess from the caregiver’s soft gaze and the other retirees’ smiles.

“I made a promise with him.”

“Oh, did you? Right, you did like listening to their stories. I think his ashes are inside the Seoho Memorial.”

“Ah, thank you.”

I bowed and exchanged a few pleasantries before arriving at the memorial.

[Seoho Memorial]

“Hm.”

This was my first time visiting a memorial. I had experienced many new things in this world. I scratched my neck and entered. The memorial contained thousands of urns, but my thousand-mile eyes quickly located the name, Agus Benjamin. A drawer contained his urn along with the letter.

“Letter…”

I walked up to the drawer. However, I withdrew my hand before opening it. I already knew what the letter said. It shouldn’t be me, but his daughter who opens it.

What if the contents had changed? I worried and took it out just in case. I couldn’t read the language, but I translated it with my smartwatch and confirmed that the contents hadn’t changed.

I felt relief and returned it. Then I entered Violet Banquet as the Truth Agency to respond.

[We have located Fernin Jesus.] [The price for the information will be 300 million won.] [Please complete the payment if you’d like to know.]

***

While Kim Hajin read Agus Benjamin’s letter, Yoo Yeonha received a report from Falling Blossom’s Team 3 in her penthouse.

“Volunteer work?”

Team 3 had reverse-traced Kim Hajin’s past and Yoo Yeonha discovered a new piece of information.

— Yes, he often volunteered at orphanages, retirement centers, and nursing homes ever since he turned 11 to when he entered Cube.

“Volunteer work…”

Yoo Yeonha pondered about his life as an orphan who realized his talents and entered the Military Agent Academy. It sounded like a rags-to-riches story. She would’ve thrown her shabby past into the trash, but Kim Hajin continued volunteering to not forget. Yoo Yeonha recalled someone like him, not in real life, but a movie.

“Hm.”

She finally understood a few things. Everyone knew Kim Hajin often left Cube. This led to bad rumors about him, but the truth couldn’t have been further.

“Amazing.”

Yoo Yeonha exclaimed in awe. He didn’t forget where he came from and never used his strength for fame. His way of life remained faithful to his beliefs and principles. Yoo Yeonha couldn’t help but admire that even if it differed from her values.

“Is there anything else? Like about his birth.”

— We’re looking into it as much as we can, but we’re at a complete standstill. We can’t find any other traces of his past.

“Dig deeper.”

She felt somewhat disappointed, but let it slide.

“Any other news?”

— An incident broke out in Torino at the Colaion family’s mansion.

“Colaion?”

Yoo Yeonha raised her eyebrows. She had planned on forming a partnership with the Colaion family to smuggle artifacts. The Italian mafia had many black artifacts that hadn’t been reported to the central government. They couldn’t export the artifacts they dug up, so the government and numerous guilds could buy them for cheap. Yoo Yeonha wanted those artifacts.

“What incident?”

— One of their executives was assassinated. They think the assassin came from Korea, so they’re asking us to find the culprit.

“A search.”

Yoo Yeonha pondered. Finding a mere assassin shouldn’t be too difficult with Team 3’s entire force.

“What do you think? Can you do it?”

— It’s not impossible.

“Oh? And why is that?”

— We just hired a rather useful recruit.

Yoo Yeonha frowned. She didn’t trust people that she didn’t handpick.

“Is that so?”

— Yes, I’ll send you his profile now.

Yoo Yeonha opened the profile with a judgmental look.

[Kim Hosup] — 17 years old, 168 cm, 78kg — Military Agent Academy graduate — Gift: [Super High-Speed Network] Can connect his brain to a computer to search and track information. Search speed will increase with higher computer specs and internet speed.

***

I left my room late at night on Tuesday.

“Ah! Kim Hajin! Over here!”

Chae Nayun shouted and waved as she ran up to me with a smile.

“Ah, is this it? The study guide?”

“Yeah, so stop texting me.”

I gave her the study guide she had been pestering me for. I didn’t make it. I just copied what I found from hacking Yoo Yeonha’s database. She had a habit of saving everything she wrote.

“Ah, thank you so much. I’ll pay you back for sure.”

“You don’t need to. Just study hard.”

I stared at Chae Nayun. Lately, she looked more and more pitiful. I just felt like helping her. I didn’t even know what was right anymore.

I couldn’t look at her when I thought about what I would eventually do. I just had to leave no traces like how I assassinated that mafioso. However, I kept…

“Okay! Thanks sooo much! I’ll go study immediately!”

Chae Nayun smacked my arm and ran off while hugging the notebook.

“That hurt.”

I rubbed my arm. Why did she always hit me so hard?

***

Time flew by and Cube felt empty as ever from the written exams. Friday came around before I noticed.

“Hey.”

After the final written exam, Chae Nayun appeared with a bright face. She practically lived in the library for the past couple of days. It seemed everything went well.

“Thanks. I survived because of you.”

“Really?”

“Yeah, I must’ve gotten at least five problems I would’ve otherwise missed. That’s a big difference, right?”

“I guess.”

Next week would be the combat exams. Naturally, I grew nervous. I wanted to increase my rank to about 200, but what came after was more important. The incident that would occur after the combat exams.

“Oh right, do you want to go there after the combat exam? It’ll be on me.”

“Where?”

“Han Jung Gak. It’s a famous Korean restaurant on Ganghwa Island. You’ve heard of it, right? It’s just as famous as the restaurant you took me to in Paris. Kim Suho and you…”

Han Jung Gak was the highest class restaurant in my setting. I wanted to taste the food. It would undoubtedly be the best. However…

“I’m not going.”

“What? Why?”

“I don’t have time. You can go with Kim Suho.”

“What? Are you jealous?”

Jealous? I couldn’t just gloss over that. Naturally, I frowned and snapped back.

“Are you crazy?”

“Uh, fine, if you don’t want to, then don’t. I just wanted to pay you back for treating me in Paris…”

“I’m not going.”

I cut her off and headed back inside.

“Ah, wait! The two of us can’t go alone even if we wanted to! My dad will get mad if he finds out!”

Chae Nayun kept talking nonsense until the end.

***

The weekend flew by and Monday came around. Combat exams had finally begun.

First was a team challenge similar to the previous semester’s duels, but between two teams.

“Team Rachel will be on offense and Team Yohei will be on defense!”

Our opponents were led by Miyamoto Yohei, a top-class warrior from Cultivation class. Apparently, Yohei descended from the famous Miyamoto Musashi. For the record, I didn’t create that setting.

“Ready!”

Many spectators watched the battle. Of course, the audience couldn’t compare to the previous midterms, but a crowd still came to watch Rachel v.s. Yohei.

“Get into formation.”

Rachel spoke as we formed up. Our two warriors, Rachel and Jin Hoseung, stood in the front while the supporter, Yi Bokgyu, stood between me and Tomer to protect us.

I raised the training handgun and spoke to Yi Bokgyu.

“You don’t need to protect me. Focus on protecting Jamer.”

“What? Why?”

“I’m going to take their magician’s head.”

I would display my strength now since I operated based on the principle of acting strong against the weak and weak against the strong. I would prey on the magician hiding in the back with my newly acquired curve shot.

“Wait, shouldn’t you…”

The judge interrupted Yi Bokgyu with a shout.

“BEGIN!”