No Dark Secrets In This Book

Episode 167



Episode 167

The protagonist of this novel is Ryuseong.

Not me. Of course, in my world, I would be the protagonist of my own life. That’s not the obvious story I want to hear. What I’m trying to say is that Ryuseong would look a little cuter with a collar around his neck… Ah, I was also spouting nonsense. I’ll shut my mouth in acknowledgment of my responsibility. Anyway, here’s what I’m trying to say.

‘Ryuseong! If you’re going to tie me up, don’t just put on handcuffs, put on a collar too! While you’re at it, shackles too! And chains!’

And Ryuseong left an outrageously lewd remark, “If you wait quietly for just one month, I’ll let you wear a collar, shackles, chains, and even a harness.”

It was only natural for me to become docile after hearing those words. Not just unavoidable, but damn natural. Right? He said he would actually give me a 4-piece set of handcuffs, collar, shackles, and harness, so how could I refuse that?

As the price for getting color back in my face thanks to the cooking queen mother’s skills, I succeeded in directly witnessing Ryuseong’s incredible R-rated pictorial. Ryuseong was so damn beautiful…

* * *

While Cassice Demillang was spending pleasant days, the outside world was becoming a mess.

‘Demillang’s internal strife was revealed to the world.’

Until now, among the general public who were not strategists, Demillang had an image of celebrities or chaebol families, earning admiration.

There was even a fandom that praised Cassice Demillang like idolizing an idol. Cassice Demillang’s StarGram, where he casually posted a selfie he took for fun and immediately logged out, boasted of a level of popularity that easily surpassed that of decent singers or actors.

Such aspects were connected to the current generation’s tendency to treat ‘strategists’ like heroes or celebrities.

21st century. Despite fighting the black fog for a thousand years, humanity had achieved technological advancements not much different from the historical flow of the ‘Earth’ that Jeong Ian knew. Anyway, the Industrial Revolution led by the steam engine drew people to cities and brought about countless developments. It was inevitable that monsters lurking in back alleys would drag and devour passersby, but where else if there were no monsters? The poor are always easily targeted. The weaker the prey, the better. In that sense, monsters and humans are no different.

Death always pooled in shaded, dark, and damp places. Just as the strategists confronting the ‘black fog’ always had a long, foggy shadow.

The profession of a strategist, which once received the reverence of a war hero or a war veteran, had at some point become a dirty, terrible, and avoidable 3D job.

So the fact that strategists suddenly rose to celebrity status in the 21st century means that there was a ‘force’ that intentionally tried to change the perception of the strategist profession.

Since it was such a long time ago, it is unknown what their purpose was. They may have simply felt sorry for the juniors struggling to save the world while receiving negative gazes.

Thinking a bit more cynically, it could have been the old folks who were worried that the supply of new recruits was not smooth in an industry where many people were already dying.

But what is clear is that none of them wished for the ‘extinction of the world’.

To keep the world from falling apart, a balance must be maintained with the ‘black fog’. Even if they can’t kill all the monsters spawned by the ‘black fog’, at least it shouldn’t become a world where it’s natural for ‘named’ to commit mass murder to balance the population.

However, if they told the general public, “The Earth may be destroyed at any time. But buy reality. Maintain your daily life. Function as a part of society. The Earth may be destroyed at any time, but I want you to make me an iced Americano today,” there would be riots.

So strategists don’t share every detail of the hellish situation with the general public. They let them live each day with appropriately sweet lies.

At least these days, it has become more livable. Unlike the past when their necks were always on the line, they are finally gaining the upper hand. But even this may be because the named are deliberately stopping their activities and waiting for the right time, according to current speculations.

Now, when everyone is watching each other from all sides.

That’s why the timing was good.

For a certain ‘force’ with a conspiracy to turn strategists into celebrities to be active.

The public’s perception of ‘Strategists? Isn’t that just a meat shield that poor people jump into?’ changed…

‘…!’

Ever since a retired strategist turned his back and revealed his back muscles on the cover of a certain magazine, everything changed.

Come to think of it, there was no way the strategists engaging in hand-to-hand combat with monsters could be in poor shape.

The magazine cover showing only his back muscles without even revealing his face sold out quickly thanks to the uniqueness of him being a strategist, and the buyers who barely obtained the magazine before it sold out were wide-eyed at the fact that an interview with the cover model would be published the following week.

However, for next week’s magazine, they were prepared for an open run at the news that his face would be revealed. They were also curious to see how handsome he must be for the marketing to be done this way.

And they were graced with heavenly beauty.

That is the story of a certain actor who retired as a strategist due to an injury in 1988 and started his second life.

With him at the forefront, the life struggles of strategists began to be told. The power of media was strong. The attitude of the nation towards strategists began to change. The attitude of the public towards strategists began to change. In other words, a certain ‘force’ satisfactorily achieved their original purpose.

The fact that they rose to celebrity status was entirely due to the talent of individual strategists…

‘Like Cassice Demillang.’

In recent times, the most prominent figure to the public was none other than Cassice Demillang.

The legend of the annihilation of a famous family, which was only famous among strategists, was none of the general public’s business.

What mattered was the appearance! Face! Looks!

‘That was all!’

Cassice Demillang was handsome, and that determined the measure of his popularity.

He was a celebrity. Although it was hard for people actually belonging to the strategist society to recognize it…

‘Cassice Demillang was attacked!’

From the moment a petition to demand protection for Cassice Demillang began, even strategists began to realize it.

In fact, such a social impact was possible because Cassice Demillang made the situation bigger.

If Cassice Demillang had died ordinarily as Demillang wanted, the impact would have been nipped in the bud before it could grow this much. But Cassice Demillang put on an amazing finale by putting in a self-assassination request to the Demon Realm and jumping off a cliff himself… And the Demon Realm gangsters couldn’t hide their tracks as meticulously as Demillang’s tactical forces. Following their tracks, one couldn’t help but find out how much preparation Demillang had made to assassinate the young clan leader.

‘That’s besides the fact that all of that was false information fabricated by Cassice Demillang.’

After that, Cassice Demillang did not engage in outside activities for a month. Of course, far from being sick, Cassice Demillang spent his days playing, eating to his heart’s content, and teasing Ryuseong, but the only information circulating outside was rumors that he was gravely ill and on the verge of death, or that he was addicted to poison and looking for an antidote. Around the time when public opinion began to treat Cassice Demillang like a delicate flower…

“Now then, finally… The principal will begin his speech!”

The curtain rose on the Academy Competition.

It was exactly one month since Cassice Demillang’s seclusion.


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