Regardless of whether his companions and the Ancient Powers were reacting uneasily, Cale steadily did what needed to be done.

“At the very least, I can protect you from Honorary Chairman Han Taeksoo. And—”

Cale thought he also knew how to deal with the fundamental fear that Chief Secretary Kang Geunmok carried.

“The complete death you want. I think there may be a way for that too.”

The God of Death.

As long as he was Cale’s ally, there would be a way to find the answer Kang Geunmok wanted.

“...I see.”

Chief Secretary Kang Geunmok’s rigid shoulders loosened, and he leaned back against the sofa.

“Mm.”

Cale spoke after a brief moment of thought.

There would probably be quite a lot of information he needed to get from Kang Geunmok anyway, so wouldn’t it be better to tell him something that would let him feel at ease and cooperate?

“And anyway, our side’s goal is to get rid of that king’s successor, so—”

“What?”

Kang Geunmok jerked in shock and shot to his feet.

“W-what did you say?”

“Huh? No, I just—”

Cale instinctively shrank back a little when Kang Geunmok’s bloodshot eyes swung toward him and burst out with fierce intensity.

“It’s just, well, our final goal is to smash all the hunter families to pieces, and smash the king’s successor too. Um, so if things go well for us, what you want will happen too.”

“Ha!”

Kang Geunmok tilted his head back and let out something like a laugh mixed with a sigh as he stared at the ceiling.

“You’re saying you’ll get rid of that monster?”

Ha!

He kept laughing as if the very idea were absurd, but both his hands gripping the sofa armrest tightened more and more.

‘There’s a possibility.’

The red-haired man before his eyes.

Because Kang Geunmok had faced the king’s successor in person, he had found possibility in Cale.

But—

“At your current level, you cannot defeat that monster.”

That was only a ‘possibility.’

“Mm?”

One of Alberu’s eyebrows rose slightly. His gaze turned cold as it shifted toward Kang Geunmok.

Rosalyn also took out a top-grade magic stone from her pocket, rolled it in her palm, and stared at the chief secretary.

But Cale, without much of a reaction, asked Kang Geunmok:

“Why?”

And Kang Geunmok answered.

“Because that monster has been growing for over fifty years.”

The monster he had first seen had looked like a child not even ten years old yet.

“Of course, you do have potential. That is what my instincts tell me.”

Kang Geunmok, a man whose instincts were sharp enough to be acknowledged by Honorary Chairman Han Taeksoo.

Because of that, he said exactly what he felt.

“The possibility to stand against a world made by combining seven hells—I can see that possibility in you.”

Cale recalled what old man Baek of the Blood Cult had said.

‘You’re the same. Of course, you’re different from the king’s successor. Compared to the successor, the size of your vessel is far too small. And fragile. So much so that it wouldn’t be strange if it shattered at any moment.’

He had said Cale’s world was smaller than the king’s successor’s.

And that comparison had been based on how things were over fifty years ago.

The current king’s successor would surely possess even more power than he had back then.

“...That’s not wrong.”

Cale accepted Kang Geunmok’s words.

“Still—”

But there was something Kang Geunmok did not know, and Cale needed to tell him.

“This isn’t something I’m doing alone, so you don’t need to worry too much.”

He had quite a number of companions. Allies too.

They just had to prepare step by step.

“The king’s successor also has allies. His servants.”

Kang Geunmok was stating reality with a hardened expression when—

“No, he doesn’t.”

“What?”

Cale spoke with a crooked smile hanging at the corner of his mouth.

“Now all that’s left are Transparent Blood and the Five Colored Blood.”

“......!”

Kang Geunmok’s eyes widened.

“Could it be that the force behind the destruction of all the other hunter families until now was you?”

He asked in a trembling voice, but Cale did not answer that question. Instead, he said something else.

“And Transparent Blood will be gone soon too.”

Smirk. The way Cale smiled made him look very much like a villain, but Kang Geunmok clenched his fists tight and curled the corners of his mouth upward.

A little life came into the face that had looked like a dried-up old tree.

It was hope.

“Why did you come looking for me?”

Only now did they get to the real point.

“The access code to the secret laboratory.”

The moment Cale said that, Kang Geunmok unconsciously slapped his palm against his knee.

“You found out that information?”

In truth, the NaSoJeol system had told him.

In truth, Cale had merely received a quest.

[Sub Quest: Steal the special research report from Transparent Co.’s secret laboratory!]

“Yeah. The special research report in there. I want that.”

Seeing Cale smiling, Kang Geunmok asked carefully.

“Do you know the location?”

“Yeah. I do.”

The address had been written in the quest details.

The system had told him.

“Huh—”

Kang Geunmok let out a breath of astonishment.

“Chairman Han Taeksoo said even a god would have to come to find that place—”

A god?

Cale flinched.

Whether he did or not, Kang Geunmok continued to marvel.

“I see. Then... are you a god?”

“No!”

Cale denied it forcefully.

“Then how—”

“There’s a god on my side.”

“Ohh.”

Kang Geunmok’s eyes gleamed even more brightly.

“This really may become a fight that can be won.”

The king’s successor was not yet a god either.

He was only trying to become one.

And yet the one who had the possibility of standing against him was also, apparently, not a god.

“I see. So that’s how it is.”

Kang Geunmok nodded, fitting the pieces of everything into place.

“The password to that place is known only by me and the chairman. Among the living, at present. You came looking for me even knowing that much. Even if a god found out the location of that place, this is still astonishing.”

Mm.

In truth, the NaSoJeol system had told him everything.

Kang Geunmok seemed not even to have considered the possibility that the game system had betrayed them—or that it was allied with Cale.

‘Well, the game system really is the god of New World.’

At present, the only true god that existed inside NaSoJeol would probably be the game system.

‘Huh?’

Doesn’t this feel like I just got hold of an incredible key?

Cale thought he ought to meet the system itself in person and talk to it sometime. 𝕗𝗿𝕖𝐞𝐰𝗲𝕓𝐧𝕠𝕧𝗲𝐥.𝚌𝐨𝚖

‘Maybe our biggest ally right now is the game system.’

The system, which Transparent Co. believed it controlled.

But the system had been trying to protect its world by creating mutant NPCs, including the AI Won.

‘Shaolen, the Central Plains, Apitoyu.’

Compared to all the worlds they had passed through so far, this was the existence that had shown the most active and most powerful force.

Of course, it would have limitations as a system, and it would still have to submit to Transparent Co.’s control.

‘But it could also become the sharpest dagger.’

Cale set aside his thoughts about the system for the moment and looked at Kang Geunmok.

‘The system is a secret from this bastard too.’

Because he could not trust him.

Cale gave Kang Geunmok an instruction.

“It should be enough if you write the password on your business card.”

“Yes.”

Cale needed a way to contact Kang Geunmok.

“Tomorrow morning, we’re going to hit the secret laboratory.”

“Mm.”

“Before then, gather only the bare minimum and contact us here.”

If the only people who knew the password were the chief secretary and the chairman, then naturally Kang Geunmok had to run before that.

If he did not want to die at Chairman Han’s hands.

“I’ll contact you thirty minutes before we move, so you don’t need to worry too much.”

Kang Geunmok’s eyes widened as he accepted the business card Cale held out.

“...Sun.”

It was the name card of Choi Sun Hee, president of Sun Co.

“And if it’s difficult to contact her too, use this one.”

On the front of the next business card Cale handed him, there were just three words written on it.

<Anlomann>

“!”

Kang Geunmok’s hand trembled.

“How far—”

Just how far had you prepared?

Without Transparent Co. knowing, the man before his eyes had prepared a gigantic trap.

“Set your questions aside.”

Cale slipped the business card with the password Kang Geunmok had written into his chest and spoke.

“To be honest, it would be safer for me if I took you with me to the laboratory.”

The password written on Kang Geunmok’s card might be a lie.

And on top of that, Kang Geunmok might confess the truth to Chairman Han.

“But there is only one reason I’m letting you go free.”

Cale made a demand of him.

“If, instead of a comfortable death—”

The condition you asked for: a peaceful death.

If, instead of that, you want to live—

“Bring me information I would want.”

Of course, whether that life would be comfortable, easy, or like hell, he did not know.

“What do you think?”

He asked Kang Geunmok.

“Worth trying once, isn’t it?”

Kang Geunmok nodded, tucked the two business cards Cale had given him into his chest, and rose from his seat.

“Then I’ll be going first.”

“Sure.”

Cale waved his hand lightly as he saw Kang Geunmok off.

Kang Geunmok bowed with a hardened face, then headed back toward the front door.

His face looked like a dried-up old tree again, as if nothing at all had happened.

“Ah.”

Kang Geunmok stopped walking for a moment.

“I nearly made a major mistake.”

Turning back, he asked:

“What should I call you?”

At that question, Cale shrugged.

“I’ll tell you that the next time we meet.”

“...You still don’t trust me. Fair enough. Then let us promise a next time.”

Kang Geunmok seemed to accept that and was about to start walking again when an indifferent voice was heard.

“What kind of monster is Han Taeksoo?”

“You don’t know?”

“All I know is that he isn’t human.”

At Cale’s ready admission, Kang Geunmok spoke with a face that had gone a little pale.

And a short while later—

Click.

The front door lock engaged, and only Cale’s group remained in the living room.

“Ha—”

Rosalyn let out a sigh and ran one hand down her face.

“Han Taeksoo—”

She was remembering the moment just before, when Kang Geunmok had listed Han Taeksoo’s true nature.

“A chimera?”

“To be precise, he would be different from an ordinary chimera.”

Alberu added that as he looked toward Cale.

And Cale was recording what Kang Geunmok had said.

‘Chairman Han Taeksoo is human, yes. But he is a human who turned himself into a chimera.’

‘Other than his brain, nothing he has is human.’

‘He made the finest traits of numerous lifeforms into his own body.’

‘Mm. He began as a human, but yes, calling him a monster would be more accurate.’

A dark mage.

The Blood Demon.

The Dragon Lord.

The heads of the hunter families they had dealt with so far.

There were two family heads left.

Transparent Blood was a human who had turned himself into a chimera.

And Five Colored Blood was the first Wanderer.

‘Not a single one of them is going to be easy.’

The heads of the three families so far had not been easy either, but somehow, only now did it feel like they were finally facing truly powerful enemies for real.

“Let’s go for now.”

Cale’s group left the house just as they had entered it—without leaving a trace.

Of course, the agents guarding Kang Geunmok’s house were all in a deep sleep and would wake up in the morning.

That was all thanks to Hong of the Cat Tribe’s special sleeping poison.

*****

“Your Excellency! The prosecution is demanding the Senior Aide appear for questioning!”

“They’re saying prosecutors have already arrived at the Senior Aide’s house! They have no evidence, so what evidence are they planning to look for?”

President Anlomann.

He logged out of the virtual reality game and, for the first time in a long while, summoned all of his aides and close associates into his office.

“.......”

“.......”

Anlomann, seated in the seat of honor, and Mary, seated beside him.

Only the two of them remained silent as they faced the flood of information pouring in.

“Senior Aide!”

One of the people present addressed Mary sharply.

“We need to come up with a countermeasure!”

“.......”

But Mary remained silent. Everyone felt frustrated by how different she was acting from usual.

Normally, she would have been moving frantically in one way or another to force open a path through this.

But a few of them noticed something in the way she looked.

“.......”

Mary was staring intently at the silent Anlomann.

An aide who had served Anlomann for a long time together with Mary opened his mouth.

“Have you found a way?”

At present, Mary was in a position where she could no longer avoid appearing before the prosecution.

Her image entering the grounds of the closed elementary school had been captured far too clearly.

Before anyone could even raise the question of why there had been CCTV installed there, they first needed to refute this evidence.

A way to save Mary.

There had already been hundreds of sets of human remains found on the elementary school grounds.

Mary, who had been identified as the ringleader of that horrific case, was now in a position where she would receive, and continue to receive, condemnation from the entire public, including the media.

Anlomann’s political footing too was like a candle before a storm.

“.......”

And then Mary, after remaining silent, spoke.

“What exactly is the way?”

She had heard Anlomann say there was a method, but she had not yet heard what that method actually was.

That was why she had not moved and had only remained silent.

But now, this was no longer a situation where she could simply sit still.

Before long, she was going to be taken in as a suspect and brought before the prosecution. If that happened, the situation would go beyond merely becoming more complicated—it would become even more unfavorable.

“...Mary, the Senior Aide—”

At last, Anlomann’s tightly shut mouth opened.

“She was searching for something on my orders. What happened there was because of that.”

It was evidence that would expose Transparent Co.’s corruption, and that was confidential.

Only Mary and a few trusted close associates knew about it.

‘If Mary got caught under those circumstances, then that means there is a traitor among the people close to us.’

That was why Anlomann could not speak carelessly.

He merely said one thing.

“There is only one thing to do now.”

He looked out the window.

It was still night.

“Hold out as long as possible.”

Until the sun rises.

‘Anlomann. We’ll bring back the evidence of Transparent Co.’s corruption.’

Alberu had come with Rosalyn and Cale Henituse and said that.

‘Wait until sunrise.’

And then he made a request.

‘And when the sun comes up, send people you can trust—people with real ability—to the address we gave you.’

Anlomann had looked at the address and then spoken.

‘Do you know where this address is?’

‘Yeah. I do.’

Alberu Crossman had answered calmly.

‘If handling it quietly turns out to be difficult, something big might happen there. You’ll have to clean up afterward, right?’

Anlomann had not been able to refute that.

Because he knew what place was written at that address.

‘The Transparent Museum.’

The capital of the Roan Kingdom.

A splendid building standing on the best land in the city.

It had been built by Transparent Co., and inside it were preserved Transparent Co.’s history and the accomplishments they had achieved so far.

‘What is in there?’

Anlomann suppressed his anxiety and did nothing but wait for the sun to rise.

*****

“The sun’s coming up.”

Alberu took in the rising sun, and Cale looked down at his wristwatch and spoke.

“Miss Rosalyn, are you ready?”

“Yes. But I don’t think I can undo the disguise magic quietly.”

“That’s fine. It doesn’t have to be quiet.”

Clatter—

Rosalyn’s hands and arms were covered in bracelets from wrist to elbow.

Every one °• N 𝑜 v 𝑒 l i g h t •° of them was made from top-grade magic stones, glittering beautifully.

With enough wealth hanging from both arms to fund a decent-sized city for nearly a year, Rosalyn spoke brightly.

“A secret laboratory disguised as a museum. Today, people are going to see its real face.”

Hehe.

Her eyes were shining like the sun as she laughed under her breath.

“Young Master. I just need to draw attention outside, right?”

“Yes.”

“And if it gets awkward while I’m doing it, may I just make it a little more flashy?”

“Yes. By all means.”

Cale looked at the museum and started walking.

“Let’s go.”

“Right.”

Cale, wearing a mask and a disguise, was joined at his side by Alberu, who was also masked.

For the record, both of them were dressed in Dark.

Whooooo—

Cale’s steps became the signal, and red mana began to bloom around Rosalyn.

Like flames about to trigger a massive explosion.