Vol 6 Chapter 24

"As an older brother, it's only natural to know what my younger brother is good at, and what the most basic technique he uses in the area of computer disruption VT hacking is. So now, I'd like you to reveal what your not-so-cute inner thoughts were."

Jin Seo-hwan, taking the silence as a declaration of defeat, pressed on as if driving in the final nail. However, the smile on his face crumbled in the next moment due to an unexpected answer.

"I don't know what you're talking about. Inner thoughts?"

"Are you still trying to deny it after all this has come to light? While you were playing Saturn's game to do the job we assigned you, you were also in collusion with Saturn's representative at the same time. Am I wrong?"

His tone was as cold as frost, enough to make an ordinary person admit fault even if it wasn't their fault. However, Je-hwan's expression showed not the slightest change.

"It's true that I received contact."

"It wasn't just contact. It was collusion."

"How is it collusion?"

"What? If it wasn't collusion, how do you explain that you, who never cared about who showed interest in your work, suddenly asked to have the Circuit Eye removed and then received contact from Yoon Seok-ho after that? And how do you plan to excuse deliberately delaying report timings or not reporting obvious facts at all? Don't try to be clever. Quickly telling us what you've done would make things easier for both you and us."

Seo-hwan couldn't guess what kind of scheme Je-hwan had in mind to say such things in a situation that had suddenly twisted when it seemed like it would go his way. Despite irrefutable evidence coming out, Je-hwan's eyes were strangely calm. For a moment, an ominous feeling surged, but he couldn't waver in the face of clear evidence.

As Seo-hwan was about to raise his voice to press once more, he noticed that Je-hwan's gaze was directed beyond him, towards their father who had been silent.

Jin Jeon-seong, the aged emperor who had inherited the major corporation Mage Soft and reigned over the game industry for a long time, never intervened while listening to his sons' conversation. He just sat back and watched.

Seo-hwan, who had turned his head following Je-hwan's gaze and met his father's eyes, froze for a moment but soon pretended nothing had happened and looked forward again.

Je-hwan was now looking at their father, Jin Jeon-seong, as he opened his mouth.

"As I said earlier, I had stated that I wouldn't report until the work progressed to a certain extent. The matter that just came up happened after that. I thought unnecessary interim reports were unnecessary until definite results came out, but since you're openly expressing doubt, I have nothing to say. Initially, it was you who said you would respect my work methods and entrusted me with the task. Since it can't be helped, I'll tell you about the progress of my recent work as you wish."

"What kind of excuse are you trying to..."

"Alright, go ahead."

A slow, deep voice cut in, sharply interrupting Seo-hwan who had quickly opened his mouth to stop Je-hwan. Seo-hwan turned around again, forgetting that he had frozen at his father's gaze just moments ago, and then clenched his fists and closed his mouth upon seeing the expression like that of a languid lion.

The monster lurking behind them was an opponent still too strong to contend with, despite his age, in terms of the power of his shining teeth and sharp claws.

Je-hwan, having obtained his father's permission, continued speaking with a cold expression that was an exact copy of his father's.

"A few months ago, while playing Saturn's game, I happened to obtain one of the game's main quests."

'What...?'

Seo-hwan, who had recently started investigating information about users who had been in contact with Yoon Seok-ho with his father's permission, momentarily looked taken aback.

At that time, Jin Jeon-seong had speculated that the main quest might be more important than they thought because Yoon Seok-ho was contacting ordinary users who were solving the main quest, and Seo-hwan had thought the same.

However, based on information obtained during the subsequent investigation, they came to a new speculation that the main quest might actually be just for public consumption, possibly used to hide the progress of Yoon Seok-ho's real project. For example, something like the 'special capsule technology project' that had only been mentioned at the beginning but hadn't had any notable news since.

This speculation was quite groundbreaking and plausible. The main quest was indeed a good smokescreen to prevent others from being suspicious of the unusual situation where the branch manager was directly communicating with users.

In fact, since the announcement of THE MIST's main quest, weren't they among many who had rushed in, focusing only on the information that Yoon Seok-ho was directly managing the main quest?

Because of this, they had put investigations related to the main quest on the back burner since making that speculation, but to think that one of the users who had obtained that quest was Jin Je-hwan.

The fact that he didn't know this until this moment, despite telling his father that he would monitor what Je-hwan was doing himself, was not only a huge mistake but also equivalent to saying that Je-hwan had been determined to make a fool of Seo-hwan.

It had been over two months since the Circuit Eye that Seo-hwan had attached to monitor Je-hwan started operating. During that time, he had only checked whether Je-hwan was meeting unknown individuals or not and judged the possibility of collusion, but hadn't properly paid attention to where he had been and what he had been doing. It was a moment that painfully revealed his own carelessness.

'Jin Je-hwan...!'

Without even glancing at Seo-hwan, whose expression had hardened, Je-hwan continued his story.

"At first, I didn't know it was a main quest, but thinking it might be a good opportunity for the 'job,' I started solving it and came to realize that Saturn was paying quite a lot of attention to those carrying out this quest. The Saturn Korea Branch Manager that 'hyung-nim' just mentioned, Yoon Seok-ho, personally contacted the main quest users to discuss compensation for appearing in THE MIST main quest video featuring regular users and other matters. Of course, I think this stroke of luck was possible because, as I had heard, that man tends to handle most important matters personally."