novelraw Chapter 92 : Chapter 92
Chapter 92 : Chapter 92
Chapter 92 Leak
Joseph Han.
Currently the most notable Solver in the domestic industry.
His possessed superpower is [Detection], and his specialty is swordsmanship.
He was a considerable powerhouse, but surprisingly, he wasn't the strongest among Korean Solvers.
Nevertheless, the reason he received attention was because of his clean handling of work.
Processing jobs quickly, accurately, and honestly at a reasonable price.
From a client's perspective, such a well-mannered Solver was inevitably preferred over a powerhouse who was difficult to control.
Moreover, in this field overflowing with personality wrecks, Joseph's advantages shone even brighter.
Therefore, it was not strange at all that Cha Hak-jun contacted Joseph immediately.
"This is Joseph Han. I've answered the phone."
"It's Cha Hak-jun."
"Ah, it was you, Mayor. Have you been well?"
"The matter is urgent, so let's get straight to the point. Please take care of one person for me."
"Hoh."
"The reward is double."
"...Can I hear about the target first?"
"You probably don't know him well. Leman White, a Headhunter."
"Leman......?"
Perplexity flashed across Joseph's face.
It was inevitable.
Not long ago, Joseph had been saved by Riman.
The day Gong Jae-byeok, the escapee with invisibility ability, staged a massacre in the city.
Joseph was hired by the mart management and went on an operation to kill Gong Jae-byeok.
And he was miserably crushed and driven to the brink of death.
At that time, it was Riman who intruded in the middle, dealt with Gong Jae-byeok, and saved Joseph.
From Joseph's perspective, he owed him his life.
Since a request to kill such Riman came in, Joseph was bound to be flustered.
"Joseph?"
"Ah, yes."
"Anyway, I'll send the bastard's detailed personal information to your phone. The full reward will be deposited immediately without splitting into advance and balance. And......"
"Wait a moment, Mayor."
"Hm? Is there a problem? Ah, perhaps the reward......"
"No, excuse me, but I cannot accept that request."
After a moment of silence.
Cha Hak-jun asked.
"...The reason?"
"A while ago, I participated in an operation to kill a criminal and was injured. Therefore, strenuous movement is still difficult......"
"From what I found out, I understand you participated in a combat request just a few days ago."
"......"
"Tell me the real reason. Depending on the case, I might end up thinking you're in cahoots with that bastard."
"I cannot win."
Another short silence.
Cha Hak-jun asked.
"...Leman White, did you know that bastard?"
"I have witnessed that person in combat."
Joseph didn't bother mentioning that he was saved by Riman.
Doing so would only buy useless suspicion.
"...At that time, I became certain. That he is an opponent I can absolutely never defeat."
It was still vivid before his eyes.
Riman's defensive formula that was close to perfection.
And that overwhelming scale that covered a district of the city in bitter cold.
The moment he witnessed that, Joseph made up his mind.
Leman White, that person must never be made into an enemy.
"Haha, Joseph, of course, troops will be supported from our side as well. Depending on the case, we will even support with Magic Tools."
At Cha Hak-jun's words, Joseph shook his head.
"Even if you provide such support, the result will not change."
"...Is it to that extent?"
"That person is a monster. To the point where it's strange why his name hasn't been known to the public until now......"
When he said that much, Cha Hak-jun seemed to back down a little.
"Hmm, is that so?"
"Yes. So......"
"Mr. Joseph, but it seems you are misunderstanding something."
"Yes?"
"I am not making a suggestion right now. I am giving an order."
"......?!"
"Since I spoke nicely, it seems my intention wasn't conveyed well, but the point is this. I will give you money. So cooperate in the operation to erase Leman White."
"......!"
"Receiving the reward, cooperating in the operation, neither can you refuse. Because this is an order."
Joseph was flustered by the unexpected coercion from the Mayor.
"...You're joking, right, Mayor? What kind of request works that way?"
"Joke? Are you daring to dismiss the Mayor's words as a joke right now?"
"No, that's......"
"It seems you don't want to do business in this city?"
"......"
Joseph's mind became complicated.
He didn't want to clash with Riman somehow, but for things to turn out this way.
'...But like this, I can't refuse either.'
The Mayor of Seoul.
Going against that power was suicide.
Even if Joseph's own power was strong enough, it was insufficient to go against organized power.
'If I refuse, an assassination team will probably be dispatched to me too.'
But even so, he didn't feel inclined to stand on the Mayor's side and hunt Riman either.
Because he felt like he would really die.
Or even if the operation itself succeeded and they killed Riman, it was clear that they would suffer significant damage in the process.
And losing a valuable connection called Riman would be a bonus if that happened.
And leaving aside all these reasons, Riman was his life savior.
Pointing a sword at a savior was something he couldn't bring himself to do due to his nature.
'What should I do......?'
If he refuses the Mayor's order, he dies by the Mayor.
If he follows the Mayor's order, he dies by Leman or gets critically injured.
Truly a deadly dilemma.
'Death, or critical injury.'
After a few seconds of agonizing, Joseph came to a conclusion.
"...I will accept the request."
"Right, if you're a man, you should do that. I'll send the money and information soon."
Joseph hung up the phone.
And let out a long sigh.
"...Damn it."
His mind became endlessly complicated.
'In the end, is the only thing I can do now... to cooperate with the Mayor to the best of my ability and kill Leman with minimal loss?'
But then what's left for me?
Of course, money remains.
And quite a lot at that.
But at the same time, he definitely loses the valuable connection called Leman.
In this field, connections were sometimes more precious than money.
Moreover, connection with a powerhouse like Riman was even more precious.
Abandoning a connection for immediate money could be seen as giving up a huge future profit in a way.
'Then I'd rather......'
After pondering for a while, Joseph picked up his phone.
And made a call somewhere.
"Hello, Mr. Leman. This is Joseph Han."
* * *
"Phew."
Riman took off the VR helmet and let out a long breath.
"It's not easy, this thing called Necromancy."
Magic that controls spirits or corpses possessed by those spirits, Necromancy.
For the past several hours, Riman read through Necromancy books in the Virtual Library of Sanhae Magic Tower.
To find a way to control Eoduksini, the malicious spirit sealed in the Black Seed Bell.
The quality of Necromancy books possessed by Sanhae was considerable.
The volume of books was enormous, the classification was detailed, and high-level information was plentiful.
There was a reason Sanhae Magic Tower was called the cradle of Outer Arts.
Of course, just because the quality of books was good didn't mean studying was easy.
Because the difference in formula grammar from Riman's specialty, natural element magic, was quite large.
Still, the fortunate thing was that this body's intellectual ability was at a significantly outstanding level.
Memorization, analysis, comprehension—all were far above average.
No matter how confusing the content, if he beat it to death with these three pickaxes, he could digest it somehow.
'Thanks to that, I've caught the clues to some extent.'
Summoning malicious spirits, capturing them intact, and combining spirits to create new abilities.
...High-level necromancy methods like that were impossible, but at least he got the hang of how to handle the malicious spirit in his hand.
'For now, this much is enough.'
Because Riman's immediate task was not securing new malicious spirits, but subduing the one he possessed.
'And anyway, if I don't pass this stage, I can't even go to a higher level.'
In other words, unless he could perform this stage in actual combat, reading higher-level books was useless.
Therefore, Riman finished today's study here.
'I should start the Eoduksini subduing procedure within a few days.'
Riman stretched long on the chair and said.
"Let's go, Saya."
"Shah-ha?"
WHIRL-
Saya, who was dozing coiled under the table, sprang up and wrapped around Riman.
Just as he came out of the Info Shop with Saya.
RING RING-
Riman's phone rang.
"Joseph Han......?"
Riman answered the call.
"This is Leman White."
"Hello, Mr. Leman. This is Joseph Han."
"Ah, hello."
"I have something to tell you."
Joseph went straight to the point.
Because time was urgent.
"What is it?"
"A request to kill Mr. Leman White has come in to me."
For a moment, Riman wondered if he was crazy.
Leaking the request details to the target?
"A kill request? And the target is me?"
"Yes. And the client is the Mayor. Mayor Cha Hak-jun."
As soon as he heard the client's name, Riman understood.
'Right, since I killed Francis, it's a natural sequence for her backer, the Mayor, to move.'
However, he thought they would attack only with private soldiers, but to hire outside personnel like Joseph.
Do they recognize me as being on the strong side to some extent?
"...But is it okay for you to just tell me that?"
"Of course not. But I want to live."
"Pardon?"
"I will make this operation fail."
"......!"
"I will leak key incoming information to you. Even if we enter combat, I will only act passively to the extent that it doesn't stand out. So......"
"Please let you live?"
"Yes."
"Then wouldn't it have been fine if you just refused the request from the beginning?"
"This is the Mayor's request. If I refuse, I die. I had no choice but to accept the request."
"......"
Riman nodded.
Cha Hak-jun, he already knew that human's vicious nature well through the game.
Anyway, this situation right now was lucky.
He could have been attacked unexpectedly by the Mayor's side, but he was able to receive that information leaked in advance.
Of course, the question remained whether he could trust the human named Joseph Han.
However, this part wasn't a problem either.
Riman knew Joseph Han's character.
He was a person who kept faith, rarely seen in this field.
Moreover, Joseph had also been saved by Riman once.
'The probability of him lying to me in this situation is low.'
Therefore, believing Joseph's words itself wasn't a big problem.
The problem was Joseph's plan itself.
"Mr. Joseph, but what are you going to do after that?"
"After that?"
"Let's say you attack me in cooperation with the Mayor's side. Of course, since you leaked all the information to me and won't be active in combat, the probability of the operation falling through is high. I will survive too. But the problem is after that."
"Why?"
"Because eventually, we're back to square one. Cha Hak-jun is not a human who will give up just because he failed once. He will reinforce troops, reorganize, and strike me again."
"......!"
"Then Mr. Joseph will be called by Cha Hak-jun again. You will also be tied to that human. This cycle will absolutely never end until I die. And above all, if Mr. Joseph continues to act passively in that process, you might raise suspicion and get purged."
"Damn it......"
Joseph clutched his head.
Riman said.
"There are only two ways I see to end this vicious cycle."
"Two ways......?"
"First, Leman White dies. Second, Cha Hak-jun dies."
"......!"
Joseph's eyes wavered.
Because he hadn't dared to even think about the second option.
To Joseph who was lost for words, Riman threw a question.
"Now, Mr. Joseph. Which side will you bet on?"