Storm Warrior - Chapter 326



Only Noblemtl

#326, Children’s Thoughts on Starting Out

If the biggest difference between Roco33 and reality was my existence, then the person whose life changed the most because of my existence would be Lee Na-eun.

Even if you were alone in this place, your presence wouldn’t be awkward.

‘… Originally, he wasn’t such an insignificant character.’

It starts with me.

In the first place, in Cheongsong, where I was not present, she was the president all along.

It was also my idea to break her eccentric influence and isolate her from the student council.

If I hadn’t gone into Cheongsong, my father would not have realized that there was a god behind the terror attack that day.

Then, it would have been possible for the kingdom to grow steadily and maintain its prosperous status without any friction with the father.

Anyway, as the power of the divine was weakened, Inaeun Lee’s shoulders also became narrow, and as the divine began to watch the government’s mood, Inaeun Lee had no choice but to suppress her temper.

Of course, the period of persecution of the divine was not that long, but it was a time of upheaval when the portrait business was legalized, and it would not have been easy to close the gap that arose from being a step behind at that crucial moment.

Moreover, JSO was the company that took away the most of the sacred rice bowls, so I couldn’t say that I had no influence.

‘But I think the biggest change will be Lee Geum-Hwan’s death.’

Although Inaeun Lee was also a victim who lost her grandfather to my father, she did not feel the same sense of indebtedness as she did to Seo Beomjin and his gang.

Strictly speaking, Lee Geum-hwan was after our rich people first.

But I know that Inaeun had nothing to do with that.

So I had no reason to welcome Ina Eun, but I also had no reason to hate her.

I looked at Inaeun for a moment, who approached me solemnly but did not open her mouth first, and then said.

“What? You didn’t come here because you had something to tell me?”

Inaeun glanced around.

Rather than saying something difficult to say, it seemed like he was conscious of what other people might think.

Even though I said something to clear the place, no one had left yet.

As Lee Taeyong was also approaching, I motioned for him to wait for a moment, then surrounded Lee Naeun and me to block out any sound.

Then, as if she had been waiting, Inaeun asked me.

“Why did you call me too?”

This is what I really want to ask Cha Yu-ra.

But since I’ve already decided to accept Ina Eun, there’s no need to tell her that straight up.

“There’s no reason not to call. Do you perhaps have a grudge against me?”

“The last thing that caused our stock to drop is something I’ve almost forgotten about. It wasn’t even your doing in the first place.”

It’s no wonder that people refer to my grandfather’s death as a stock price drop.

It’s only natural that a monster obsessed with money and power would have a monster granddaughter.

“… It’s a shame. But it’s clear who brought it on.”

“I heard that the reason why they didn’t stir up trouble in Shinsung using that incident as an excuse was because of Chief Jeong’s influence. I plan to give ample evidence on that matter.”

For a moment, I thought back to what I had breathed.

At that time, a large-scale investigation was carried out to root out the dark forces that were persecuting the president.

When Seong Hyeon-su asked, “Since Lee Geum-hwan is involved, we should start with Shinsung, right?”, I remember saying, “The current Shinsung has nothing to do with Lee Geum-hwan.”

Judging from the fact that Inaeun Lee also said that she heard it, it seems that there were various rumors going around about the sacredness being passed over without much damage.

‘Then, Cha Yu-ra must have heard about that too… That must be why she called Ina-eun.’

Anyway, it seems that Lee Na-eun was worried that there would be a big backlash at that time.

I thought her mention of the ‘case’ was just a thank you note.

I said with a snicker.

“Then you have no reason to hate me. Of course I thought you would, so I called you. I mean, nothing has changed since I organized it four years ago, that night when we were camping in Spain.”

At that time, I told Inaeun Lee, who was suggesting a ‘truce’, that the adults’ problems had nothing to do with us, but that in order to end the hostility towards the Shinsung Group, we had to push out Geumhwan Lee.

Now, the actual head of the divinity has become Inaeun, and I am in the same state of mind as I said back then.

So, to put it simply, Inaeun is saying, ‘I thought you hated me.’

I’m saying there’s no reason for that.

If this was a youth drama, it would have been the time to say, “I see. Thank you for inviting me today,” but the person in question was Lee Na-eun.

“Does that answer your question?”

At Inaeun Lee, who just nodded with an incomprehensible expression, he spread out his index finger and pointed to the sky.

It was a gesture asking if it was okay to remove the barrier that had been put up for the sake of silence, but only then did Inaeun open her mouth.

“I found out that in Loco 33, I was not able to become the master of the divine.”

“Well, that’s because I wasn’t there, there was no friction with my father, and this chairman was still alive. If there was more time, who knows what would have happened later.”

“No. If I had more time, I would have done something. That person didn’t acknowledge me. Before my parents died, I kept nagging them to adopt a child if they couldn’t have a son.

Even in my position. When my father suddenly passed away, all of your shares came to me, and I reluctantly accepted it because I was not the type of person to take something away from me once it was in my hands.”

A story came out that I couldn’t really react to.

It’s a story about a typical old-fashioned male Australian mindset.

If Inaeun becomes the owner of Shinsung, Shinsung will no longer belong to the Lee family.

But isn’t that different from saying that there was no degree of blood relationship?

Aren’t those old people from that era who sang about their sons but loved their daughters as daughters after they were all raised?

But the look in Lee Na-eun’s eyes as she thought of Lee Geum-hwan seemed like she was glaring at a robber who was after what was hers.

“… … .”

There is no need to necessarily understand the unusual corners of the house.

Anyway, why are you suddenly reciting your family history in front of me?

After thinking about it for a moment, I soon understood the meaning.

“… Ah. Okay. I understand what you mean.”

I thought the conversation was over already, but she was also expressing in her own way that she had no grudge left against me.

When I said that, Inaeun smiled with relief as if she had finally said everything she wanted to say.

And then he added a word, pointing to the back.

“The child that man asked our father to adopt.”

“…?”

I had no idea what he was talking about, so I just looked dumbfounded.

It’s not that I didn’t understand what was said before.

Because Lee Taeyong was waiting in the direction that Lee Naeun pointed to.

‘Huh? … Huh?’

As the barrier blocking the sound was broken, Lee Taeyong quickly approached and held out his hand.

“It’s been a while. I only saw you on TV, but I wanted to see you like this.”

“Oh, okay… .”

Although we held hands, our thoughts still couldn’t leave what Inaeun had said.

As I looked back and forth between Lee Na-eun and Lee Tae-yong, Lee Tae-yong soon let out an awkward smile and said.

“Have you heard the story?”

“What are you talking about, adoption or something?”

“That’s right. We only talked about it once, but former Chairman Lee Geum-hwan… he was my grandfather’s older brother.”

“You two were cousins?”

Two people who treat each other like cows and chickens?

Even when they met at the student council, the two people didn’t even say hello.

Inaeun Lee was originally a person who was good at treating others like they didn’t have anyone, and at the time, the student council was treating Inaeun Lee like they didn’t have anyone.

“We’re sixth cousins. We didn’t really see each other.”

“under!”

Even though it was a collateral line, it was a conglomerate family.

Lee Tae-yong, who was secretly bullied because of his scaly appearance, was actually a person born with a silver spoon in his mouth, so I didn’t have to worry about him.

The scale problem was a weakness that was eventually overcome with practice, as he also had excellent talent.

If you think about it, Cheongsong’s ‘first class’ was a time when it was difficult to get into school if you didn’t have money or connections.

Even Kang Seon-ho and Choi Beom-gyun, who were admitted based on pure talent, were able to do so thanks to prior contact and support from the conversation group.

Kim Pan-woong, Do Ji-hoon, and others from Ina Eun’s division were in the same vein.

“Wow! I’ve been tricked.”

“I didn’t hide it on purpose. If I had the chance, I would have told you everything.”

Well, I never asked first.

It must have been a relationship that the foul-tempered Inaeun didn’t want to reveal.

Since my reaction was a joke at first, I pretended to forgive reluctantly and acted coy.

Then, it is natural to wonder why Inaeun came to me now and revealed it to me, and why she pretended to know each other in front of me.

I could guess it by looking at the logo embroidered on Itaewon’s chest pocket.

Because it was the logo of Shinsung SCT.

The seat was probably placed quite high up.

“Wow. Your collateral branch got a job at a good affiliate company.”

“Yes. That’s also the representative. The chairman is worried that the blade of the original sword might be pointed at Shinsung, so he has me sitting there as a shield.”

“…!”

It was surprising that Lee Taeyong was the representative of the Shinsung Guild, but it was even more surprising that he openly said something that I had only guessed.

It may be an unnecessary measure now, but it was definitely a good method.

If Lee Taeyong had been the face when I took the lead in trying to steal the sacredness, even if I knew it was an obvious tactic, I would have definitely shown some mercy.

When I glanced at Inaeun, she was blushing with embarrassment. But she didn’t seem angry.

“You… are going to get cut?”

“Now that I have something to show for my performance, the chairman should have a better alternative.”

It was a joke made using their relationship as an excuse, but Lee Taeyong’s confident response was surprisingly surprising.

“… It’s noisy. Quickly hand me what I brought.”

Inaeun Lee changes the subject without any rebuttal.

It seemed like the work was really satisfying.

Anyway, Lee Taeyong searches through his pockets for a moment and then takes out a USB and hands it to me.

It seems like the two of them had been preparing something before coming here.

I received it because it was given.

“What is this?”

“Various. I included what I learned from dealing with players.”

The scene that immediately came to mind when Inaeun Lee answered was the image of a player tied to a medical bed, covered in blood.

Even the things that Seo Beom-jin would have to roll his eyes at, were possible for Lee Na-eun to do when she was of sound mind.

“… You didn’t catch him and experiment on him or anything?”

“It’s not like I can’t do it, but I tried to be faithful to the NPC’s role first. In the way they call it a quest.”

“!”

Come to think of it, the interactions between the guys and the players will also follow the rules of the system.

If you offer a reward and ask for it, it becomes a quest.

‘… Really?’

“Anyway, go and see. Let’s talk about the rest.”

“Oh. Okay.”

Inaeun Lee gestured to Taeyong as if she was done with her business and turned around.

It meant to tell her to leave, but Lee Taeyong didn’t chase after her.

Naeun Lee, who had been walking alone for a few steps, turned around again and made a bewildered expression, but Taeyong Lee didn’t see it because he was looking at me.

I guess you didn’t see it on purpose.

My classmates, who had been waiting for me to talk to them even after the barrier was set up, gathered around me.

I had clearly dug up the place, but the guys were just starting to gossip with each other.

Before the student council meeting begins, the lively atmosphere of the conference room unfolds before your eyes.

“Hey, Lee Taeyong! But why are you so handsome?”

“It’s not that he’s handsome, he was always like this. He just didn’t know how to hide his scales back then.”

“Oh! So you lost your luck because you hid your scales? Then you can’t stand commoners like Taekwang hyung.”

“What the heck? Even if I do that, you, Choi Beom-gyun, will win.”

“Hahaha! That was funny.”

Yoo Jae-hyun, who had been frowning the whole time,

Hong So-hee, who didn’t even make eye contact with Kwon Ha-seon,

Seo Beom-jin, who still has a bleak atmosphere,

The words and actions of Choi Beom-gyun, who was as brainless as he was back then, made people burst into laughter.

In the end, Inaeun Lee, who did not leave, also stood to one side and added a pitiful look.

Kang Seon-ho is still a bit confused by the student council composition, which is different from what he remembered.

Maybe the original Lee Tae-yong, who I don’t even know about, was already a dead friend in his memories.

As I listened to the laughter that was growing louder and louder, I suddenly had the thought that if today were April 15th of the year 36 and the apocalypse were to be filled with such laughter, it wouldn’t be so bad.

In the meantime, Ham Seong-ah, Cha Jeong-seok, and Park Dae-geun also seemed to have a lot to say, but they didn’t seem to want to interrupt their students and children’s reminiscence, so they met my gaze for a moment, gave me a nod, and left.

We spent quite a bit of time laughing and chatting like that.

There are still guys who don’t fit into the joke,

There were some guys who didn’t say anything at all, but even those guys listened to all the annoying comments and kept their seats.

It was nice to reminisce, but there was a lot of work to be done. Now, it’s not just me, it’s everyone’s job.

So, I guess I needed time to laugh without thinking.

Because it was the beginning of a great journey to change one’s own fate, the fate of one’s family, and to bring the dead back to life.

Although no one noticed, at some point the voices and laughter gradually died down as if they had promised.

And Cha Yu-ra, who had not said a word until now, opened her mouth.

“I think we need to resolve the issue of arresting Beomjin and his group before Sungjun leaves. Hae-na is here as the head of the portrait security unit.”

I nodded and asked Seo Beom-jin.

“Ugh, should I solve this rationally? Or should I just pretend to be crazy and crush it?”

It was a big mistake in the grand scheme of things, as it caused friction with public authorities, but it could have easily been covered up, as no one died.

Common sense dictates following procedures anyway, and acting crazy is an abuse of power.

Since I’m going to put it down soon anyway, why don’t I just do what I can while I have it?

But Seo Beom-jin answered immediately, making my determination seem meaningless.

“Do it sensibly.”

I don’t know if it’s the guy’s pride or if he originally intended to do that.

Anyway, I’m not the type of person to ask twice.

“Okay, then. First, get arrested. Then I’ll either release you on bail or send you on community service.”