Chapter 43 - What Do You Think?

CRASH!

It was almost instinctive. The moment he heard Limon's voice, Park Hyeon-gun sprang back, nearly overturning both his chair and desk as he took a defensive stance.

It was quick but hardly dignified. He looked like a mouse startled by a cat, scrambling for its hole. Park didn't even realize how he looked. He only stared at Limon, cold sweat streaming down his face. The menace that had flared in those golden eyes when Limon spoke was so vicious that Park couldn't think of anything else.

"Do you know why I laughed?"

Yet Limon, the very man who had frozen Park in place, didn't care in the slightest whether he backed away or fell to his knees and begged. He merely chuckled and went on.

"You probably don't. You have no idea how much running around I had to do just to find you."

Was he glad to have finally found what he wanted? Angry about all the wasted effort? Or both? No one could have said. The smile on his lips was full of menace.

"The bastard I thought was the boss turned out to be a puppet who knew nothing, and I ended up waving the white flag and surrendering to the girl pulling the strings."

As if he found it absurd himself, Limon shook his head. Then his smile abruptly vanished. He looked at Park with such cold eyes that his cheerful tone from moments ago seemed like something Park had imagined.

"After going around in circles, I finally meet a lying bastard as easy to read as you. How could I not be happy?"

"...!"

No need to fathom his depths or agonize over right and wrong. What enemy could be more convenient than a villain he could simply cut down? Limon said it with a face that made the joke sound anything but funny. Park swallowed hard. Whatever the reason, he could tell Limon intended to kill him and thought it would be easy.

'Fight him...? No. I can't.'

Limon was a monster who had wiped out 150 high-level players in one place. And with Lee Cheon-gi unreachable while Limon stood here unscathed, Park understood at once what that meant for his chances. He gave up on fighting back, and on the reinforcements that still hadn't come despite the time since he pressed the emergency button.

Instead, he activated his unique skill.

『False God's Renown』.

The name of a false god. True to its grand title, 『False God's Renown』 gave him an advantage in disguise, lying, and persuasion. Its effect was so absolute that even Lee Cheon-gi, with his many skills, including 『Truth Discernment』 and 『Character Appraisal』, had failed to see through it. Park was confident that if he could just get Limon talking, he could persuade him, however murderous he looked.

"There seems to be some misunderstanding..."

THUNK!

"...?"

But the moment he opened his mouth, he stopped. No, he had no choice. For an instant, he couldn't understand what had happened to him. It had happened that fast.

"A-aaargh!"

Only when pain seared through him did Park notice the sword embedded in his shoulder. He let out a piercing scream. Limon, who had stabbed him, paid it no mind.

"A misunderstanding... Now, that's a useful word. Add it to the story and an obvious culprit becomes innocent. Even the worst villain turns out to be a good person once you get to know him."

As though he couldn't hear the screaming at all, Limon nodded with an untroubled expression. Then he grabbed Park by the hair, forced him to meet his eyes, and asked in a languid voice.

"Then why did you say you didn't know Na-gyeong without even asking who she was?"

Park flinched as he writhed on the blade. Overwhelmed by Limon's presence, he realized he had answered too hastily. But his panic lasted only a moment. Using 『False God's Renown』 to steady himself, he hurried to explain.

"I-I knew Agent Yu Na-gyeong was on your team!"

"Didn't you say you didn't know her?"

"I said I didn't know about taking hostages and making her carry out a suicide bombing!"

"Oh, really?"

Limon looked startled, as though that had never occurred to him. Scratching his cheek with an apologetic expression, he said:

"Well, what do you know? I misunderstood."

"You say that now, after—"

CRACK!

"Aaargh!"

Park shrieked. Limon had casually stepped on his fingers and broken the bones. His expression remained languid as he spoke.

"You shouldn't have said something so easy to misunderstand. Now I'm embarrassed for getting it wrong, and it's all your fault."

Limon spoke with perfect composure, as if the blame lay entirely with Park for causing the misunderstanding and he himself bore no fault or responsibility.

"So, to avoid any more misunderstandings, I'll ask you again."

Limon tugged lightly on his sword. Drawn upward by the blade like a fish on a hook, Park heard him whisper beside his ear.

"How much do you know about Hanbit Orphanage?"

"N-nothing! All I know is that Agent Yu Na-gyeong grew up there!"

"Oh? Is that so? How curious."

Perhaps it was the pain of being impaled that made Park flinch even as he desperately answered. Limon gave a short laugh, then took something from inside his coat.

"I've wasted so many trips these past few days that I looked into a few things before coming here today. And I found something interesting."

It was a single sheet of paper, nothing more than a document listing a few account numbers and company names. But the moment Park saw it, his face went deathly pale. Watching him stiffen as if he'd seen a ghost, Limon smiled coldly.

"I found signs that someone used Hanbit Orphanage's name to launder money."

"...!"

"And after tracing those accounts, the name I found looked awfully familiar. Doesn't it?"

Of course it did. Park himself had used Hanbit Orphanage to set up a foundation that existed only on paper, then donated Infinity Guild funds to it under the pretext of obtaining tax breaks, siphoning off an enormous sum. His own name was written there.

'H-how?'

He was stunned. He had laundered the money several times through Infinity Guild accounts, shell companies, and accounts held under other names. How could Limon have traced it back to him? Park had never imagined it possible.

"I was an idiot too, when I think about it."

Park looked more horrified than he had when he was stabbed. Limon snickered as though the sight amused him, then abruptly stopped laughing. He regarded Park with cold eyes and muttered:

"Constellation influence or not, nobody would be stupid enough to take hostages and force Na-gyeong to carry out a suicide bombing just to catch me."

Kang Jeong-su had known what Limon could do. Even he had merely put his directorship on the line to mobilize a force equivalent to some 200 high-level players. But force a PAB agent to carry out a suicide bombing? By taking children hostage? All to catch one man? In this age, with the Sword Master fallen, even the Seven Dragons Society wouldn't do something so insane. Quite apart from how furious it would make Limon, the benefits couldn't justify the trouble of doing it and cleaning up afterward. It would have been cheaper to bring in another hundred high-level players. Even if the constellations were involved in the plot, they had no reason to encourage something so inefficient. Why do it, then? The answer had been there from the start.

"Unless the ones you wanted to get rid of from the beginning were Na-gyeong and the people at Hanbit Orphanage, not me."

An orphanage he was secretly using to launder money. A PAB agent who visited every week. To Park, they must have looked like a ticking time bomb. PAB agents already had extensive investigative powers to keep high-level players in check. And Yu Na-gyeong poured almost her entire salary into the orphanage; there was no telling when she might discover the foundation he'd created.

"So when Seo Yong-chan was arrested by Na-gyeong and me, you egged that bastard on until he stormed PAB headquarters. Isn't that right?"

"That was...!"

THUD!

"Ghk! Hah... Ghhk!"

Limon drove his knee into Park's solar plexus. As Park gasped, unable to draw breath, Limon warned him in a languid voice.

"Don't play dumb. I already checked with that son of a bitch."

Perhaps because of the terrible beating he'd suffered, or perhaps for another reason, Seo Yong-chan had readily told him everything. It was Park who had advised Seo to go to PAB and demand compensation and an apology. The escalation of the conflict between Limon and Lee Cheon-gi had been Park's intention all along. With Yu Na-gyeong and Hanbit Orphanage both thorns in his side, a clash with Limon must have seemed the perfect opportunity to bury them both at once.

"I never saw it coming," Limon murmured suddenly. "To think Na-gyeong ended up like that because she did a good deed."

If Yu Na-gyeong had been a little more selfish and coldhearted, if she'd ignored the orphanage where she grew up and focused only on living well herself, she probably wouldn't have died this way. But she had been too kind. She had spared no money, effort, or care in repaying the orphanage that raised her, never knowing it would draw her into this absurd plot and get her killed. It was truly heartbreaking.

"Some things never change, then or now. Not in this goddamn world."

"Nngh!"

No matter how far culture and society advanced, how many new laws and institutions took hold, or what astonishing technologies appeared, good people still died sooner and evil ones survived with stubborn persistence. Muttering this under his breath, Limon twisted his sword and met Park's eyes as Park writhed from the blade tearing through his shoulder.

"Well, then. Any more lies you want to tell?"

Limon's languid tone invited him to spit out whatever else he had to say. Park went pale. Everything Limon had said and done made it clear he had no intention of letting him live. And with the evidence in front of him, Park could no longer pretend he knew nothing. But he didn't give up. Instead, he cried out with an earnest expression.

"W-wait! I did all of it on the Infinite Monarch's orders!"

"... You're saying Lee Cheon-gi ordered you to use Hanbit Orphanage to siphon off guild money and to dispose of Na-gyeong? All of it?"

"Yes! I was just following orders!"

He was only a secretary and couldn't defy the Infinite Monarch. The Infinite Monarch was responsible for everything, so Park had done nothing wrong. He shouted with all his strength as if he, too, were merely an innocent victim exploited by someone in power. Limon studied him for a moment, then suddenly spoke.

"That's what he's saying. What do you think?"

"...?" Park looked puzzled. He couldn't tell whom Limon was asking. Then an answer came from the darkness, and Park froze.

"Do you need my opinion?"

"You are involved, after all. I thought I'd at least hear what you think."

"If you insist, I'll say just one thing."

The speaker stepped out of the darkness. From his slicked-back hair to his white suit and rimless glasses, and above all his characteristic impassive expression, there was no mistaking him. He was merely a little paler than usual. The Infinite Monarch, Lee Cheon-gi, looked at Park Hyeon-gun, who stood rigid as if he'd seen a ghost, and offered his opinion in a single word.

"Disgusting."