Vol 6 Chapter 51

Whether Nam Mugeon jumped up from his seat in surprise or not, the man casually left his salute and went on his way, leaving the operations room. Though the footage ended there, both Yoon Seok-ho and Nam Mugeon remained silent for a while.

"When... exactly did this happen?"

Seeing Mugeon's dumbfounded expression, Yoon Seok-ho smirked.

"When do you think? Already more than a week ago. If I hadn't suddenly decided to check this, I wouldn't have believed my eyes. The operator capsule inspection log data I had planted as bait had been completely stolen long ago."

"Huh...!"

Around a week ago, Mugeon might have been in the company at the time this CCTV footage was taken. He had been staying connected in the operator capsule even at night for the past few days due to continuous overtime work, and during that time, something like this had happened in the operations management team's main computer room.

"Were you unable to find any traces? Nothing at all?"

"Absolutely nothing. No footprints, no fingerprints, and though traces of data being extracted from the computer remained, seeing how they were barely left in a way I could recognize, like before, makes me think they left them deliberately. Once they realized I had caught on, they publicly served me this kind of humiliation."

Yoon Seok-ho smiled, showing his teeth sharply.

"What do you think when you see this footage?"

Being asked with eyes that sent chills down his spine despite the smile, Mugeon, being just an ordinary person, felt his body unconsciously stiffen. As he froze like a frog before a viper, unable to even answer, Yoon Seok-ho continued speaking as if he hadn't really expected a response.

"After seeing the footage, I became truly convinced that person is an insider. An outsider couldn't have entered Saturn and would have been unfamiliar with the building's internal affairs, but that person's attitude caught on CCTV was the very embodiment of arrogance. Actually, until I told you to look for suspicious people for two weeks, I had carelessly thought the culprit would be a part-timer or inexperienced new employee... but that wasn't the case. There was a gap."

It was the first time Branch Manager Yoon had spoken so harshly about himself. Mugeon swallowed dry saliva due to the tension.

"Branch Manager..."

"...But in the end, I'm one step ahead this time. After all, what that bastard has taken so far isn't the real data."

Yoon Seok-ho maintained his cold expression even while saying this.

"Then who exactly do you think this person might be?"

"At least not a novice. That person is thoroughly hiding themselves within our ranks, and is very cunning and clever. I don't understand why someone of that caliber is helping their side. They're probably snickering inside while pretending well to be our employee on the outside. Even now."

Yoon Seok-ho said while tapping the desk with his long fingers.

"They're not a new employee, but likely not a veteran either. Look for suspicious people among those who are neither. That person is definitely among us. You're the only one I trust."

Mugeon had expected to be scolded for what he had done to let the person steal information and disappear a week ago, but Yoon Seok-ho said something unexpected. His expression had also changed to a slight smile. Mugeon momentarily gaped in confusion before quickly closing his mouth.

"What? What did you just..."

"I mean get to work. Work, you know, work."

Though Mugeon asked again thinking he had misheard, Yoon Seok-ho wouldn't repeat himself. At being told to just do his work, Mugeon frowned but soon relaxed with a sigh and bowed his head.

"I will carefully observe and report on people who match the conditions you mentioned. Will that suffice?"

"Haha. Now you catch on quick."

What do you mean catch on quick. I became like this because of trying to please you! After swallowing the protest that rose to his throat, Mugeon forced a rotten smile and bowed.

"Then since I have work to do, I'll take my leave now."

"Wait. You need to report on that before you go."

At Yoon Seok-ho's sudden unexpected question, Mugeon narrowed his eyes and said "Yes?"

"What are you referring to?"

"Don't play dumb. That thing. The recent status of the ReL project subjects."

"You could have just said that from the start. With how many tasks you've given me, Branch Manager-nim, how am I supposed to know right away when you just say 'that'?"

Unable to hold back, Mugeon made a small protest before recalling the recent status of the ReL project subjects that he had been consistently monitoring according to Yoon Seok-ho's instructions.

"Well, they're all generally fine. Even the person who worried us by dying unusually often seems to have gotten the hang of it now and hardly dies anymore."

Hearing Mugeon's answer, Yoon Seok-ho slowly nodded.

"As expected. They're entering the stabilization phase."

"However, L-8's bio readings have been a bit unstable lately, perhaps because of one major death recently."

"L-8, that would be the student who was a fighter."

"Yes."

In truth, even while reporting, Mugeon still didn't really understand what use these details he was reporting were to Yoon Seok-ho. Though Yoon Seok-ho occasionally listened to such reports from Mugeon, he never explained in detail how he used the results. Since it was a report about ReL project subjects, Mugeon could only guess it would be used for something related to the ReL project.

"How about the L-10 user?"

When Yoon Seok-ho suddenly asked again, Mugeon, who hadn't properly heard the content, blinked and asked back.

"Pardon?"

"L-10. The HR user."

After hearing the term HR user, Mugeon remembered who it was. This was a user he himself found interesting enough to want to see in person at least once. Though they had started the game as a ReL project subject, they had become a person of special interest by receiving the H-Zero quest in MIST and progressing through two projects. In the midst of that, they had achieved beyond First Fifth Magic Master and used that magic to burn up an entire field, causing Mugeon to have to clean up afterward personally.