Vol 5 Chapter 30

Jin Seo-hwan's eyes widened for a moment before slowly contracting and narrowing at those words.

"In that case, I have something to say as well."

Looking at his father's inscrutable expressionless face, Jin Seo-hwan recalled Jin Je-hwan's face, who had recently visited both his father and himself alternately.

"Do you remember when Jin Je-hwan suddenly came to demand the removal of the Circuit Eye?"

Jin Jeon-seong, who seemed to be retracing his memories for a moment, nodded slowly as if he had recalled that time.

"Did you remove it?"

"Not yet. I was about to do it soon."

"What are you trying to say?"

Jin Seo-hwan still vividly remembered Jin Je-hwan's appearance at that time. His face, unreadable as always, was the same, but his attitude was quite different from the Jin Je-hwan that Seo-hwan had known until then. The sharp gaze that had been chilling for a moment. It certainly wasn't an illusion.

Although he had continued speaking as usual, the Jin Je-hwan he saw then was not the easy-to-handle eccentric with an expressionless face that he had recognized until now. Rather, he was closer to a predator that had invaded his territory first with a clear goal.

"You probably already know what kind of person Jin Je-hwan is. He's not someone who would care even if ten Circuit Eyes were following him. When he suddenly acted like that, I became concerned and reviewed all the reports Jin Je-hwan had sent so far. As a result, I came to the conclusion that the quality of information he's been sending has been subtly declining, especially recently. I even suspected that he might have been deliberately delaying report timings or arbitrarily not reporting certain information..."

Deep wrinkles formed between Jin Jeon-seong's brows as he listened to Jin Seo-hwan's words.

"Is that so...? Why didn't you tell me this immediately?"

"I was planning to observe a bit more and then report to you, in case I was misunderstanding."

Jin Jeon-seong relaxed his furrowed brows and lifted one corner of his mouth. The light entering obliquely cast a shadow on his face, creating a stark contrast of light and dark. That expression looked infinitely strange. Momentarily intimidated by the mountain-like presence that seemed impossible for someone well past 50, Jin Seo-hwan unconsciously averted his gaze. As if waiting for that moment, Jin Jeon-seong's voice resonated lowly.

"But what would you have done if the person in charge of this situation now wasn't 'Jin Je-hwan'?"

At that moment, the expression disappeared from Jin Seo-hwan's face. Raising his head sharply with an indignant attitude to meet Jin Jeon-seong's eyes again, a dark shadow stretched long behind Seo-hwan, bending behind the wall.

"Are you suggesting that I'm bound by blood ties? His legal surname may be Jin, and he may have been born to the same parents as me, but if I must say, that's all there is to it, and I know better than anyone that he's already a member of his maternal family. Weren't you the one who taught me that I have no one to trust? No matter who it is, I don't forgive traitors. If the evidence had been certain, I would have already dealt with it myself and reported to you."

"But you reported without reaching any conclusion yet. There's no need for assumptions in business."

Jin Jeon-seong said coldly, looking at the hologram screen. Jin Seo-hwan silently bowed his head.

"That... I apologize."

"Be fully aware that this is a crisis for a company that has lasted for three generations. As you said, Jin Je-hwan can hardly be considered a Jin like us. He probably thinks the same way."

Jin Je-hwan's value lies only in his meager VT programming-related abilities and SR Electronics, his maternal family that seems to intend to make him their successor. After reciting this fact without any emotion, Jin Jeon-seong continued.

"Don't forget the most important thing. Aren't we doing all this for the new game that Mage will develop?"

Looking at his father's face, which showed not a hint of emotion towards blood ties, Jin Seo-hwan nodded.

"I'll keep that in mind."

"Good. Don't disappoint me any further."

"Then, how far should I investigate the main quest users who contacted Yoon Seok-ho?"

Jin Seo-hwan asked one last question as he stood up. Jin Jeon-seong answered without taking his eyes off the documents in front of him.

"As you've seen, it's a project more important to them than it appears on the surface. It would be better for us if it doesn't succeed rather than if it does."

"Yes. Then, along with that, I'll remove the Circuit Eye as Jin Je-hwan wants and then observe what he does."

"That's fine."

A cold tension hung over Jin Seo-hwan's face as he left the president's office.

Kapros couldn't remember how long it had been since he had started MIST that he had just been lying down doing nothing like this. His body was itching unbearably, but due to the doctor's instructions not to move carelessly, he was just lying there blankly, trying to empty his mind and think of nothing.

He was worried about what would happen if someone contacted his home while he was like this, but he concluded that it would be easier to just not think about it since there was nothing he could do.

'Sigh... I didn't know resting could be this boring.'

It seemed even more boring because it was a single room with no one else. As he tossed and turned, his gaze inadvertently fell on his leg that he had unconsciously left outside the blanket. He recalled the doctor's words about his right leg that he had heard in the morning.

"Apart from the wounds on the sole of your foot, there are no noticeable external injuries, but I found records that you had a major surgery and were hospitalized here before. That's why I wanted to ask if you'd like to have a direct examination while you're here. The more often you get check-ups, the better, right?"

A check-up...

Long ago, when it was determined that there would be no further improvement no matter how much rehabilitation training he did, Kapros had ended his long-term hospitalization and returned home. After a few more check-ups, he had been ending his examinations by formally sending diagnostic results using his home computer to the hospital for confirmation, and so far, everything had come back without any problems.