NOVEL WEB Chapter 12: Killing Two Birds with One Stone
< Chapter 12: Killing Two Birds with One Stone (1) >
In the guild master’s office of the Bihon Guild, a man, and a woman were exchanging words.
“Ms. Yoo Hwa, the Academy has asked you to give a lecture.”
Yoo Hwa sighed at the report from her secretary, Kim Shin Woo.
“Please turn them down. I don’t have the time or the energy to prepare for a lecture in this situation.”
It wasn’t a sigh of annoyance.
Rather, it was a sigh of regret.
“Please tell them that I’ll gladly accept if there’s another opportunity later.”
“Yes, I understand.”
The lecture was a chance to impress the aspiring superhumans, and also a way to scout promising superhumans.
It was always a win-win situation.
However, as she said, the situation was not good right now.
It was all because of one villain.
“…What about the information on Doppelganger?”
The villain’s name was Doppelganger.
As the name suggests, he was a villain who had the ability to transform into anyone else.
“I’m sorry. He’s so elusive.”
“I see.”
He could copy everything from fingerprints, and irises, to body-specific wavelengths and magic.
He would kill an ordinary person and disguise himself as that person. He could even board a plane and enter another country without anyone noticing.
“He must be caught by our Bihon Guild.”
“I know.”
Doppelganger showed up in Seoul last night.
He was disguised as a member of the Bihon Guild, and he committed a horrible massacre yesterday.
Thirteen members of the Bihon Guild were killed by him.
“Is that all for the report?”
“No, there’s one more thing.”
Kim Shin Woo started to operate his mobile terminal.
“This is the report on Shin Jia’s movements that you asked for last time.”
“Oh, right.”
She had forgotten about it because she had poured all her attention into the Doppelganger case.
Yoo Hwa checked the mobile terminal that her secretary handed over.
Shin Jia’s movements after the Piale Aro incident were briefly recorded.
“…Shin Jia is following a male student?”
“Yes. She even prepared expensive equipment for him recently.”
“What kind of guy is he?”
“His name is Kang Seo Yul. He’s an archer.”
“An archer…?”
“Yes. He was quite good at using a bow. He seemed to be better than our guild members in terms of skills.”
“…Do you have any videos?”
“Yes. There are video records of his physical test in the report.”
“Please play it.”
“Yes.”
A hologram popped up from the terminal.
Kang Seo Yul’s appearance of shooting arrows in succession flowed on the screen.
Yoo Hwa’s expression gradually turned into admiration.
“…Why isn’t this student on the scout list?”
She wanted him.
She didn’t even realize that she thought so, but his skills were outstanding.
“He had no information before he entered the school. He appeared out of nowhere like a drop from the sky.”
“An archer with no information.”
Yoo Hwa’s eyes were filled with doubt.
“Could this student be the unidentified superhuman who solved the Piale Aro incident?”
It was a reasonable suspicion.
The unidentified archer who took care of Piale Aro.
And ironically, Shin Jia was following a cadet who had no information before he entered the school.
And that cadet was an archer.
Everything fit perfectly.
“That’s unlikely.”
“Why?”
“His ability rank is F.”
“F…rank?”
Yoo Hwa’s eyes widened.
* * *
“Fifteen years ago, a massive monster surge occurred. This incident happened simultaneously all around the world…”
As he listened to the boring Tuesday class, he was thinking about something else.
He was planning his future.
Until now, he had too many questions about his ability, so he couldn’t make a detailed plan.
But all those questions were resolved as of yesterday.
First of all, his ability was ‘late-novel oriented’.
It was an extreme late-novel all-in type that completely gave up on the early game.
He lost to Choi Ji Hoon, who was only an average C-, so that said it all.
The problem was his weakness in the early stage of the novel.
He couldn’t overcome the early novel scenarios by himself.
The villain’s attack that would happen in two days was a problem.
Even with the equipment he got from Shin Jia, he couldn’t win.
Then there was only one way.
He had to compensate for his weakness in the early game with other factors.
Fortunately, he had information about the future.
He knew everything about the upcoming crises.
He just had to create a situation where he didn’t have to step in.
At the same time, he had to prepare for acquiring ancient relics.
Alright.
Then the course of action was decided.
The priority was to prevent the Academy attack that would happen in two days.
Fortunately, this attack seemed easy to stop.
The villain who would attack the Academy alone had the ability of ‘Doppelganger’.
He would kill one of the cadets and infiltrate as that person.
That was the starting point of the scenario.
But what’s that?
He already knew who the villain would disguise as.
The rest was simple.
He just had to tell Shin Jia.
She would believe him even if he said he made bean paste with soy sauce, so she would act according to his words.
With this, the first incident was safely resolved.
“That’s it for today’s morning class.”
The class ended just in time.
“Seo Yul. Let’s go eat lunch.”
Shin Jia approached me with a smile.
“Sure.”
He still felt the hot gazes from around him. They were all looking at them with eyes that said, what’s going on between those two? It was a relief that no one came up to them directly.
“Let’s go.”
They left the classroom under passionate gazes.
“Jia.”
“Yes?”
While moving, he whispered in a voice that no one could hear.
“Can you gather some information on Choi Kang Im for me?”
The doppelganger would disguise himself as Choi Kang Im and infiltrate.
He remembered his name because it was unique.
“…Why?”
Shin Jia stopped walking for a moment.
“What, what about him?”
She looked like she was very flustered.
“…Well. How should I put it? He has a high chance of causing trouble. Anyway, I have something that bothers me about him.”
“Oh. You already knew.”
Shin Jia’s flustered face turned into a smug one.
“You don’t have to worry too much.”
She looked like a puppy who wanted praise.
“Choi Kang Im. Kang Han Im. They’re both already expelled.”
“…What?”
* * *
Things got complicated.
He didn’t expect this to happen.
“…I never thought that Choi Kang Im was the musclehead who picked a fight with me back then.”
And that Choi Kang Im was already expelled.
“…How did this get so messed up?”
It was the so-called butterfly effect.
The aftermath of the protagonist’s change.
He became weaker, so those two picked a fight with him.
Shin Jia’s relationship with him became more friendly, so she couldn’t let them go.
Shin Jia investigated them personally and found out their trashy deeds.
As a result, Choi Kang Im and Kang Han Im were both kicked out early.
The scenario changed.
His one change created this situation.
“Ah.”
His head hurt.
He couldn’t tell how Doppelganger would change his appearance and infiltrate the Academy now.
“There’s no choice.”
Then the only way left was to deal with him before he infiltrated.
After the Tuesday classes were over,
He headed outside the campus.
His destination was a legal gambling house near Seoul.
-They enjoyed gambling at the gambling house every day.
His goal was to follow Choi Kang Im’s trail and search for Doppelganger.
He had a high chance of appearing at this gambling house where he often visited.
“Please show your ticket.”
Some beefcakes in suits blocked his way at the entrance of the gambling house.
“Here.”
Shin Jia got him the ticket.
She gladly gave it to him when he said he had something to investigate.
“It’s confirmed.”
They made way for him with a slight bow. He gave them a small gesture of thanks and entered inside.
The inside was a typical gambling house. People spinning slots, playing card games, spinning roulette.
“Welcome.”
A man who looked like a dealer came up to him.
“Where can I exchange chips?”
“I’ll guide you. This way.”
He followed the dealer and kept looking around.
Doppelganger was definitely in here.
If nothing had happened to Choi Kang Im, he would have been enjoying gambling here today too.
“23 on all-in!”
“Do you want to raise?”
“4000 take. 6000 more.”
Where is he…?
“Huh?”
Then, a woman caught his eye. He was sure he had seen her on the world superhuman ranking list before.
“Are you also interested in the Bihon Guild Master?”
Was it because he stared at her too hard?
The dealer who was guiding him spoke to him.
“The Bihon Guild Master…Yoo Hwa?”
She was one of the fairly important supporting characters, and Shin Jia’s rival.
He didn’t expect to meet Yoo Hwa here.
“Yes. She’s a VIP who visited for the first time today, just like you.”
“…VIP?”
Me?
“Yes. VIP.”
The dealer smiled as he looked at the gold-plated ticket in his hand.
“······.”
This was a VIP ticket?
He thought it was just fancy-looking. Shin Jia must have put some effort into it.
“If you want, I can ask Yoo Hwa for a seat together.”
He turned his head slightly and looked at Yoo Hwa.
She looked at him as if she felt his gaze.
A brief eye contact.
Was it an illusion? Her eyes seemed to widen a bit.
“No, thanks. I don’t think she would be interested in me anyway.”
Of course, it would be easier for him in many ways if he made a connection with Yoo Hwa now,
But there was no way she would care about someone like him.
“Haha. You’re cold-hearted.”
“I’m rational. Besides, can you hurry up with the guide?”
“Yes. I understand. This way…Huh?”
The dealer took out his phone from his pocket.
“This is interesting.”
He smiled as he looked at his phone.
“Sir. Yoo Hwa has sent you a message.”
Yoo Hwa looked at him and smiled.
“Let’s talk for a bit. She says.”
At that moment, his head spun like a top.
* * *
The VIP room of the gambling house, the center of the place.
Yoo Hwa and I were sitting across from each other with a table between us.
“Is it okay for a freshman who just entered the Academy to come to a place like this?”
“You seem to know me well.”
“Yes, I do.”
It was obvious.
If she didn’t know me, she wouldn’t have called me separately in the first place.
Then the question was how she became interested in me.
Well, this was simple too.
“…You investigated Jia.”
Yoo Hwa’s eyes sparkled.
“You’re smart. Is that why you’re the top student in theory paper?”
Yoo Hwa smiled.
“That’s right. Shin Jia. I dug up some information on her. And then I found you.”
As expected.
This must be why Yoo Hwa called me separately.
My relationship with Shin Jia. And her suspicion of me as an anomalous existence.
“You’re bold. You even snooped around the Shinwa Group.”
“Oh? Are you threatening me?”
“Of course not.”
A brief silence followed, and Yoo Hwa spoke first.
“What’s your relationship with Shin Jia?”
“Just a classmate.”
“These days, classmates give each other expensive equipment as gifts?”
“Well, maybe she gave it to me as a donation to an F-rank poor neighbor.”
“F-rank.”
The air became heavy.
“Are you really an F-rank?”
Yoo Hwa’s pupils were filled with doubt.
“You don’t have to doubt me so much, you already got the confirmation from Instructor Pi Jin Ho.”
Yoo Hwa’s eyes sharpened.
How did he know about her relationship with Pi Jin Ho?
She must have thought something like this.
‘As I expected, there’s something about him.’
That’s right.
At this moment, I became an ‘unknown entity’ to Yoo Hwa.
This was good enough.
I smiled leisurely.
“Let’s stop talking about such trivial things. Let’s talk about something more important.”
“…Something more important?”
Meeting Yoo Hwa here was an opportunity.
If she didn’t know me,
If she didn’t have any doubts about me,
My words would have been nothing but nonsense from a madman.
But after the short conversation just now, my words gained some ‘credibility’.
“Doppelganger is here right now.”
Yoo Hwa’s eyes widened and she stood up from her seat.
“…What? You. What are you saying…?”
She was so flustered that she even used informal speech. I pressed on.
“You’re looking for him, aren’t you? Doppelganger.”
Yoo Hwa’s eyes trembled.
“I can find him.”
I crossed my legs and cocked my head arrogantly.
“I’ll help you catch him.”
“…What’s your goal?”
Yoo Hwa’s killing intent pierced my whole body. I felt cold sweat on my spine from her intense aura.
“Nothing much.”
I tried to hide my nervousness and smiled casually.
“In return for helping you, just give me one item.”
“…Item?”
“Yes.”
My eyes gleamed.
“The ancient relic that your guild is keeping. Let’s settle it with that.”