Ervin sent Han Joon-seong back to the apartment, and Cheon Seul-ah toward Kang Dae-hyun's office at Busan Credit Solutions.
As she walked, the bruise on her cheek from the punch was already fading. The pain was also disappearing. It was strange how fast her body healed—the mark that had been so prominent just minutes ago was now barely visible. She wiped the blood from the corner of her lips, and even that small wound was closing. By the time she arrived at the building, the bruise was almost completely gone—only a faint red mark remained.
She activated Stealth and slipped past the receptionist and the few workers still in the building, as she didn't want to bother with other people, climbing the stairs to Kang Dae-hyun's office. She stopped at the door and knocked.
A voice came from inside after a moment. "Who is it?"
"It's me, Mr. Kang Dae-hyun."
"Ah! If it isn't my little princess Seul-ah! Come in, come in!"
Her expression fell for a moment when she heard his remark, but she decided to ignore it. She opened the door and stepped inside.
Kang Dae-hyun was in the same state as always—shirt unbuttoned, jacket draped over his chair. Except this time he seemed to be working, typing on his computer. When she entered, he pushed the keyboard aside and turned to face her.
"Seul-ah! That was fast. I thought you'd take longer to complete the mission. So, how did it go?"
She paused. Above, Ervin controlled her expression and micro-expressions to look as pitiful and regretful as possible, using every bit of her incredible five levels of Looks stat to make her appear genuinely remorseful, almost pathetic.
"I'm afraid I don't have good news, Mr. Kang Dae-hyun."
His expression shifted, his tone becoming more dangerous. "Oh? What happened?"
She hesitated, looking down. "Something unexpected occurred during the mission."
He leaned forward, his eyes gleaming with that familiar blue light. "Is that so? What happened?"
"There was a man there. From the Juhwang-pa."
Kang Dae-hyun raised an eyebrow. "A man? What kind of man?"
"I don't know who he was, but he was strong."
He considered this, placing a hand on his chin, looking away for a moment. "Strong? Hmm... Compared to you, girl. How much stronger would you say he was?"
Ervin calculated for a moment. He had never honestly thought about that question before. Checking the numbers, both bodies were equal in stats, but Han Joon-seong had Perfect Auto Pilot, which gave him an edge in combat execution. So Han Joon-seong would have a higher effective combat capability, even if the raw stats were the same. He estimated that would translate to about a fifty percent advantage.
He sent the instruction to Cheon Seul-ah.
"About fifty percent stronger than me," she said.
Kang Dae-hyun's lips curled into a thoughtful smile. "Fifty percent? Interesting." He paused, thinking. "That sounds like a Lieutenant. I wonder... does the Juhwang-pa have a new Lieutenant?"
Cheon Seul-ah raised an eyebrow. "Lieutenant?"
He looked at her, amused. "Yes, Lieutenant. That's what we call the leaders of the smaller operations the gangs run—a bar owner, someone overseeing a smuggling route, that kind of thing. They're the top of the pyramid, basically. Very strong, but not everyone can become one. Lieutenants are usually either founding members of the gang or people who are exceptionally powerful."
She tilted her head. "Exceptionally powerful? But that sounds like an Executive?"
He laughed, waving a hand. "No, no, no. Executives don't work like that. We're more like... guarantees, I guess. If someone invades our territory, we need to defend it. Executives are the heavy artillery. Each gang has maybe two or three Executives, and they exist to protect the territory." He said before giving a short giggle. "In other words, Lieutenants are the brains of the operation, and we're the brawls! Haha!"
"Oh, I didn't know that," she said.
Ervin, floating above, was already filing this information away. 'This is useful. I didn't know about this internal structure. Let me see if I can get more information.'
She pressed further. "Just to be sure, how many Executives does the Kkachi-pa have?"
Kang Dae-hyun smiled—that manic grin that sent chills down her spine. "Right now, two. Or rather, one. The other is... not in good condition."
She felt a shiver run through her. 'Psycho...'
Ervin considered pushing for more, but quickly decided against it. 'I don't think it's a good idea to ask for more information about that. This guy is a maniac, and it's going to be uncomfortable or terrifying.'
"Understood," she said. "And the Juhwang-pa? How many Executives do they have?"
"Three," he said.
"And the Galsaek-pa?"
He shrugged. "Four."
She raised an eyebrow. "Four? Why so many?"
"Heh, they work mostly with protection fees. A lot of people resist, so they need the extra Executives to keep everyone in line."
She nodded, absorbing the information.
"So," she said, "what happens to me about the job?"
He paused. "Hm? You mean because you failed?"
"Yes. Do I get any punishment?"
He grinned, leaning forward. "Naughty, naughty girl. You want punishment, don't you?"
Her expression turned dark, her Auto Pilot face shifting to something aggressive and threatening. She looked down, her eyes cold. The entire facade of the pitiful, regretful girl from before evaporated like it was never there to begin with.
He stared at her for a moment, then laughed. "Ah, don't worry. Even though you failed, you brought me useful information today, so I'll consider it a loss, but not a complete failure. You didn't really fail the mission—you just didn't complete the primary objective."
She let out a small breath. "I'm glad I could provide something useful."
He nodded. "Yes, but unfortunately, you won't get paid since you didn't complete the primary mission."
She met his gaze. "But I assume I'll have the opportunity to take more jobs in the future?"
"Of course, of course. You'll get more jobs. After all, you managed to walk away from a fight with a Lieutenant without any serious injuries. That's impressive."
She raised a hand to her cheek, feeling around for the remnants of the bruise. "I guess so. It's not even hurting anymore."
Kang Dae-hyun smirked. "Yep, you got a pretty good body," he remarked, clearly not talking about her resilience. "Alright, you can go. I'll need to investigate this new Lieutenant. I'll contact you later."
She bowed slightly. "Thank you, Mr. Kang Dae-hyun."
She turned and walked out of the office, closing the door behind her.
---
Ervin let out an imaginary sigh of relief. 'That was much easier than I expected. He didn't even go crazy. And when the thugs report what happened, it'll only make her look better.'
Cheon Seul-ah started walking away from the building, and Ervin began to process the day's events.
'Today was chaotic and messy. I thought it would be a quiet day, just one mission. But it seems like I can't have a quiet day in this world.'
As they walked though, a thought caught up to him. He paused.
'Wait... If they investigate Han Joon-seong... Won't they eventually connect him to Cheon Seul-ah?'
Cheon Seul-ah stopped walking. Her eyes widened slightly.
Ervin's mental voice grew frantic. 'Oh no. If they investigate Han Joon-seong, they'll find out about Cheon Seul-ah! They're both living in the same house and are basically always walking together! This will absolutely wreck my plans!'
She looked at her palms, then slapped her own face in frustration. "Ah! Damn it!"
Ervin's imaginary hands clawed at his imaginary face. 'This day is so, so, SO bad! How did I get myself into this?! I'm so stupid! I've been feeding information to this gang for free! I'm giving them everything!'
He paused, catching his breath—or would have, if he had lungs.
'I need a change of plans. I need to make sure they don't connect us. The first step is obvious—Cheon Seul-ah can't live with Han Joon-seong anymore.'
Cheon Seul-ah placed her hands on her hips, her expression resigned.
"I'm going to have to find a new apartment."