Chapter 122
Back then, I managed to survive somehow, so I figured—even if this turns out to be a trap, I’ll find a way out. I decided to stay optimistic. Who knows, maybe this job will get my residence permit extended again.
“Oh, Hawk—did you look into what I asked before?”
“You mean that possessor who got dragged away by Ren Abyss? I checked everywhere after you told me, but there’s no sign of him.”
“No sign at all?”
I asked, dumbfounded by Hawk’s answer.
That poor middle-aged possessor I’d met right before the Midas estate incident… I’d never been able to shake the guilt about not saving him, so I’d asked Hongik Ingan for help. Maybe they could track him down or even rescue him.
But from the sound of it, not only had they failed to rescue him—they couldn’t even find out what happened to him. I’d seen him being taken away, so how could there be no trace?
“There are two possibilities. Either it really was a trap set to catch you, or…”
Or—Hawk trailed off, but I could easily fill in the blank.
It meant they couldn’t confirm if he was dead or alive. That kind of thing happened all too often to possessors who didn’t have powerful connections. If you were lucky, you might make it to a trial, but most of the time, if you fought back during transport, they’d label you a dangerous evil spirit and execute you on the spot.
“Have you ever seen Ren Abyss do an on-the-spot execution?”
I wasn’t sure why I asked that. Maybe it was some desperate hope that the man I’d seen was still alive, or maybe…
“I haven’t seen it myself, but nothing that guy does would surprise me.”
“Yeah… that makes sense.”
“His cases have an unusually high number of missing possessors, too. Who knows what he’s really up to.”
“He has a lot of missing people under his watch?”
“Yep. Ailrose is convinced he’s running some kind of human experiments.”
“…”
What the hell was that? That sounded like something out of a serial killer thriller. I mean, sure, that guy was practically a psychopath, but come on, he’s the male lead. They wouldn’t really give him a backstory that twisted right?
“Well, unless he’s not the real male lead.”
The game always kept every route open for the sake of variety. But as for the original novel’s ending—honestly, I had no idea. I never finished it, so I didn’t even know if there was a ‘true’ male lead.
“I heard he’s been giving you a hard time lately. Are you okay?”
“…I’m fine. For now.”
Probably. I muttered the words while fidgeting with my hands.
I’d never told Bali, or Ailrose, or anyone else about Ren’s affinity. I had no idea what it really meant, or what that man’s intentions were with all his little provocations. But whatever it was, anxiety kept bubbling inside me.
The thing that bothered me most, though, was this strange feeling simmering quietly in my chest. I had no idea when it started, what it was rooted in, or where it wanted to take me. All I knew was that every day, my sighs and confusion grew a little deeper.
“You see Yuli Langa every day, too, right?”
“Yes. But honestly, she hardly ever brings up Ren Abyss. I don’t think she’s meeting him, either.”
Except for a few follow-up questions she’d asked after Ilui mentioned him at the tea party, Yuli didn’t seem interested in the male lead at all. I’d never heard she went to see him or sent any messages. Though, judging from her eyes that day, maybe she hadn’t totally given up.
“It’s not that she doesn’t meet him, it’s that she can’t meet him.”
“Huh?”
“She got tossed aside. He squeezed all the info he could from her, so there’s no reason to keep seeing her.”
“Wow, that’s harsh.”
“He’s an a*s. Though, after what Yuli Langa did, it’s hard to feel too bad for her.”
I stifled the sigh that wanted to escape and cleared my throat.
Yeah, he’s that kind of guy. Someone who’d do whatever shady thing it took for an investigation.
Or maybe he’s such a master manipulator that he’s even fooling himself. Maybe he only raised his affinity for me because he wanted something.
“The lights are out.”
Hawk nodded toward the building up ahead. With the operation about to start, I forced myself to clear my head and focus on why we were here.
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