Chapter 52 Good and Evil (3)

Everyone get out, out!

Did she think that shed already been found out? Suddenly, Elle began to kick out all the challengers inside the currency exchange store.

No, its already my turn!

Forget it. Our operating hours have ended. Get out!

You have operating hours? I mean, if theres such a thing, You should have put up a notice beforehand!

Disgruntled complaints were heard from challengers who queued before Yoon-seok, but Elle ignored them like a tyrant.

Uh, do I have to go out, too? Ah, noIll leave.

Fahur, who accompanied him, murmured blankly and soon left after reading the room.

Click.

Elle kicked out all the challengers and locked the door, leaving Yoon-seok and her as the only ones inside. She stood in front of Yoon-seok. Then she spoke like the final boss in a game.

Ive been waiting for you!

Youve been waiting?

Yes, I knew youd come if I stayed in the plaza.

Had she been waiting? As the atmosphere grew increasingly tense, he became nervous since he couldnt figure out why. On the other hand, this raised another question for Yoon-seok. If Elle had been expecting him, she shouldnt look surprised and ask what he was doing here, which was very unlike her.

He was about to find out.

Well, dont get me wrong? If it werent for Yoon-seok, I would never have applied for such a trivial job.

So it was because shes embarrassed.

His questions were resolved, but Yoon-seok didnt show that hed noticed it out of consideration for Elle. However, he was a little curious about how she would overcome difficulties in the future.

I see. May I know why youve been waiting for me? I dont think its common to volunteer for this kind of work

He tried to ask, but was it because shed never thought about it before? Contrary to his expectation, Elle became mute. After a few moments, Yoon-seok decided to pull Elle out of the hole she was stuck in.

Are you here for {Bloodseekers Ultimatum}?

Yes, youve already experienced it, so you know the side effects, right?

Elle was more thick-skinned than he thought. She said so naturally; never in her dreams would she have known that Yoon-seok knew that she was lying. He was glad that he was wearing a mask. If not, he wouldnt have been able to hide his smiling face.

Now that hed mentioned it, Yoon-seok decided to ask Elle about what he wanted to know about {Bloodseekers Ultimatum}.

Have you always known about the side effects?

No, I didnt.

Then it means youve found a future solution. So Im asking, is it possible to solve the side effects with Heart of Liberty?

I dont know for sure, but I think itll work.

I see. Ive been anxious about this, but I cant believe youve come all the way here to let me knowIm relieved to hear that.

Its not a big deal at all. You are my only contractor.

Yoon-seok predicted that Elles face, which was covered by a hood, might be growing warm. No, he hoped so. If she was a person who lied without batting an eye, he didnt think he could continue to trust her in the future.

Is it possible to buy powers here?

No, WP can only be used within the administrators area.

That referred to the cozy cabin. In other words, it meant that he could only purchase Heart of Liberty after ascending to the tenth floor. Silence followed as the conversation was cut off. Yoon-seok hesitated and eventually brought up the sensitive topic.

Do you know what happened in the plaza on the sixth floor?

Yes, because Im always watching. Im sorry, I couldve said something before, but I didnt know it had changed that much.

Elle apologized for failing to warn him about the situation in the sixth-floor plaza. But Yoon-seok felt that it wasnt her place to apologize. Suppose hed known that in the first place, he might have still gone there. However, this was what he wanted to ask.

Did I do the right thing?

Of course, the members of the sixth-floor plaza deserved to die. But, after coming to the seventh-floor plaza, he realized that the judgment mark might be indefinite. Perhaps the side effects of Bloodseekers Energy had served to make him more narrow-minded. That was why he wanted to hear Elles opinion.

Elle, after a long pause, spoke calmly.

At least for meyes, youre not wrong.

Maybe good and evil were subjective, or maybe it was justifiable to kill hundreds of evil men to save dozens. Elle didnt try to reason every single word. She just told him so. But somehow, it was very comforting.

As Ive said before, I want you to live without any obligations and enjoy your rights. So

Elle continued firmly.

Go the way you want to go, no matter where it takes you. Its only my desire that youre not bound anywhere. If necessary, Ill bear the remnants of the trail.

The previously naive Elle was gone. Only the reliable woman, when she said no one could hurt Yoon-seok here during their first encounter, remained. But Yoon-seok decided not to rely on her.

You dont have to do that.

There was just a bit of confusion, but hed never thought of running away.

If I had to face the consequences someday, I wont blame it on anyone else.

Despite Yoon-seoks firm tone, Elle wasnt offended at all. On the contrary, she smiled quietly as if she knew this would happen.

If thats what you want, okay. Go ahead.

Thus, the issue was roughly tied up. Now that he thought about it, this may have been a strange topic for them. There was a moment of awkward silence. Then, Yoon-seok bowed to Elle.

Thank you.

He meant it. For saving him from Heavenly Warrior and even taking up an unpleasant job to support him without complaint. Not only that, Elles power was of tremendous help. Otherwise, he wouldnt have been able to do anything when hed encountered evil on the sixth floor.

Im really glad that I signed with you.

There was no need for rhetoric. If he was more eloquent, he couldve relayed all his sincerity in a softer expression, but Elle was more than satisfied. It was crude and clumsy, but thats why it hit home even more.

Im glad that I signed with Yoon-seok too. I mean it.

One wearing a mask, and one wearing a hood, smiled without looking at each other. After a few more words with Elle, they separated ways. When he headed outside the currency exchange store, he noticed Fahur was waiting.

What happened? Do you know the staff?

Do I know her? Shes the admin who signed with me.

Huh! The rumor must be true!

The admins he saw at the Wish Auction all seemed prominent. Was that why? Fahur looked incredulous at the fact that she was doing this for the comfort of her challenger.

By the way, is the currency exchange going to stay closed?

Itll re-open soon.

Then well have to wait a little longer.

No, lets go. She gave me plenty so that I dont have to use AP.

Well, its like getting allowance from your wifeI mean, Im jealous! If you dont mind, could you buy me ice cream?

Yoon-seok headed to the ice cream parlor with Fahur. The rather gentle-looking male staff operated enthusiastically while courting the challengers.

Im sure hes also an admin like Elle.

It felt strange to think that the man, who was working as if it was his calling, was a challenger who reached the final floor of the Tower. Yoon-seok and Fahur took one ice cream each and sat at the fountain by the plaza.

If you dont mind, Id like to hear more about what happened on Earth.

Of course! Shouldnt I pay for the ice cream?

Perhaps because he ate something sweet, Fahur recalled his experiences in chronological order with more detail and kindness than before.

When you first go to another dimension, the place of arrival is random. In my case, I landed on a mountain in Seoul. Oh, Seoul is a city in Korea.

I know where Seoul is.

He did suspect when he made that Latte ad-lib, but he was connected to Korea. Thanks to this, it felt like he could collect information about Korea without revealing that he was Korean.

Yoon-seok asked for information about Korea without being too obvious. And the more he knew about the situation in Korea, the more he couldnt help but form a bitter smile on his face. When he asked about South Koreas challenger group, Fahur spoke bluntly.

Its crazy there.

Crazy? Can you elaborate?

Unlike other countries that treat challengers with the utmost care, they only think of challengers as good tools.

Their behavior was extremely outrageous. An unknown challenger appeared in Korea? The Korean Challenger Group found them and forcibly pushed them into a military agency. In the process, kidnapping was commonplace, and they didnt hesitate to hold families hostage. In the name of government authority, they ignored both law and morality. And the fact that they were gathered together

They didnt gain powers and skills to fight in the trial or against other challengers, but they were taking advantage of them so they could use them on Earth.

What they wanted is a healing skill. Its probably to target rich people who have diseases that modern medicine cant cure.

Fahur continued with a fed-up expression.

Its a good thing that nothing can be taken from the Tower. Otherwise, theyd buy healing potions and put knives to their families throats.

Korea earned astronomical profits by exploiting challengers, but the cost was minimal.

Thats why I immigrated to America.

Slowly adapting to human society, Fahur was scouted by an American organization, and when he heard the conditions, he went there. After spending many fulfilling days there, he didnt have enough AP, so he returned to receive the trials.

I was anxious since I lost three times in a row, but I think Ill be able to relax for a while, thanks to you.

Fahur mentioned his plans to return to Earth by investing about 1/10 of the rewarded APs in tickets and told stories about the planet after. They chatted about other small things here and there, but Yoon-seok didnt miss any and listened to it all. Until

By the way, talking about Korea reminded me of this. Not long ago, traces of an unregistered challenger was discovered in Korea. Well, its pretty common, but apparently, a second-generation chaebol was involved? It was an unusual case.

Second generation chaebol? Yoon-seok felt a strange sense of anxiety as the word appeared out of the blue.

Can you explain more?

Even so, its just a story I happened to hear, so I dont know. Moreover, I dont even know what happened because I ran out of tickets at that time.

Even pieces and bits are fine, and being wrong is fine. Just tell me what you remember.

Whether it was information that he had heard as he passed by, Fahur recollected his memory.

WellI originally tracked the traces of an unregistered challenger found at an abandoned site, but somehow I found out that there were two, not one. But after digging into the other persons whereabouts, it seems that they had a bad relationship with a Korean chaebol.

Why did his bad feeling always fit so well? Now, Yoon-seok couldnt deny it. That was his own story.

Did you find out about me when you were chasing Lee Chang-hoon? How the hell?

He had no idea how they traced him. But only one thing mattered.

Anyways, I felt sorry for the challenger if the Korean government caught him

What do you mean?

I didnt tell you earlier. Theyre crazy people. Perhaps theyd succeeded in kidnapping the challenger by now, or they probably have his family waiting for him to return to Earth.

No matter here or there, the truth was there was too much trash around.

I see.

Yoon-seok smiled ever so coldly. Now, he had a reason to go back as soon as possible.