Solo Swordmaster

Chapter 43: Your Thoughts?

Crash—!

Compulsively, Park threw back both his chair and desk to get on guard as soon as he heard Limon’s voice — a swift but ungraceful motion.

It was like seeing a mouse running into its hole after seeing a cat.

But Park wasn’t aware of that.

He watched Limon with cold sweat dripping down his forehead.

He had no room to think about anything else when the vigor in those golden eyes were so heinously brutal.

But Limon didn’t care whether Park was treaded backwards or begging on the floor.

“Do you know why I laughed?”

Snickering, he continued.

“You have no idea how many circles I ran trying to find you.”

Was he glad he finally found what he was looking for?

Or was he angry at how much effort he had spent?

Perhaps it was both.

Within Limon’s smile was an unfathomable chaos.

“So what I thought was a bastard of a boss was nothing more than a clueless tool, and I found myself waving a white flag to the gray eminence behind all this.”

He shook his head as if he was baffled by his own words.

And then he wiped the smile off his face, directing his bone-chilling eyes at Park.

It was as if the playful voice was never real.

“How can I not be ecstatic? The person I find after going around in all these circles is a transparent, lying bitch.”

“……!”

There was nothing to figure out, nor was there a need to judge between good and evil.

What a convenient villain he was — all there was to do was cut his throat!

Park held his breath. Contrary to the lighthearted chatter, Limon’s tone was dead serious.

He didn’t know why, but he was sure Limon was here to kill him.

‘Should I fight…? No, I can’t.’

Limon was a monster that annihilated 150 high-level players in one night.

Not only had he lost contact with the Infinite Monarch, Limon was standing here without a single scratch on his body.

It could only mean one thing.

Park immediately understood that he was at a disadvantage.

He gave up trying to fight Limon, and gave up expecting any support to arrive.

It had already been a while since he pressed the emergency button, after all.

Instead, he activated his unique skill.

「Counterfeit God’s Alias」— dubbed ‘the name of a false god’.

Fitting for its grandiose name, 「Counterfeit God’s Alias」gave Park camouflage, deception, and persuasion skills.

Its effects were so infallible, not even Lee Chun-gi could see past it with skills like 「Truth Detection」 and 「Mortal Judgment」.

And so, Park was sure that he could persuade Limon, no matter how much murderous intent he had.

If only he could talk to him.

“It looks like there has been some kind of misunderstanding…”

Stab—

“…?”

But he stopped talking as soon as he started.

He had no other choice.

He didn’t know what had just happened to him. It all went by so fast.

“Ugh… Arrrrgh!”

Only after feeling a searing pain did he become aware of the sword in his shoulder as he let out an ear-piercing scream.

But Limon didn’t pay any heed to it.

“A misunderstanding… What a nice word. It makes even the most indefensible criminals innocent and the evilest of men have a kind spirit,” he nodded.

It was as if he couldn’t hear any screaming.

“But how are you saying you don’t know when you aren’t even asking who Na-kyung is?”

Limon grabbed park hyungun by his hair.

Still writhing in pain, Park flinched.

He just realized his mistake.

He’d rushed his answer from being overwhelmed by Limon’s presence.

He wasn’t flustered for long, however.

Using 「Counterfeit God’s Alias」, he regained his composure and quickly came up with an excuse.

“I-I knew agent Yoo Na-kyung was your team member from before!”

“But you said you didn’t know anything.”

“I said I didn’t know anything about holding anyone hostage or making someone a suicide bomber!”

“Oh, really?”

Limon put on an expression of surprise.

“Oh man, looks like I got the wrong idea,” he scratched his head with an apologetic look.

“You don’t say…!”

Crack—

“Gaaah!”

Park let out another tearful scream.

Limon had crushed his fingers with his foot.

“Then you shouldn’t have misled me. Can’t you see how embarrassing that is for me?”

It was his fault for making him misunderstand.

“Just so we don’t have any more misunderstandings, I’m going to ask you again.”

Limon pulled his sword towards himself as Park was dragged along with it, getting held up like a fish caught in a fishing hook.

He whispered into the man’s ear, “how much do you know about Hanbit Orphanage?”

“I-I don’t! The only thing I know is that agent Yoo Na-kyung is from there!”

“Ahh, is that so? How interesting.”

Limon smirked at Park’s answer.

It seemed like the pain in his shoulder was making his answers all the more frantic.

Limon reached into his pockets as he continued.

“You know, I’ve been running in so many circles lately, I decided to actually look into some stuff before coming here today. And hey, I ended up finding some pretty interesting stuff.”

In his hands was a single sheet of paper.

It was a document, with nothing more than a few bank account numbers and company names.

But as soon as Park’s eyes caught sight of it, all the blood left his face. He freezed like he had just seen a ghost.

Limon let out a cold laugh.

“Turns out there’s been traces of someone using Hanbit Orphanage to launder money.”

“……!”

“And we got a name down after tracking that bank account. Looks oddly familiar, doesn’t it?”

Of course it would be familiar.

It was the name of the man who created an empty shell of an establishment through the orphanage.

The culprit who swiped huge amounts of assets by donating funds from 『Infinity Guild』for ‘tax breaks’.

It was his very own name, Park Hyun-gun.

***

***

He was dumbstruck.

They were funds that had been laundered several times using not only the Infinity Guild's account, but also countless ghost companies and loan accounts.

He couldn’t have ever imagined anyone tracking him down through all that.

He looked even more aghast than when he was stabbed.

“In hindsight, it was stupid of me.”

Limon let out a laugh, but stopped cold

“No one would be dumb enough to go as far as holding children hostage, or making Na-kyung a suicide bomer, regardless of whether the Constellations were involved or not,” he muttered with a chilling glare.

Kang Jungsoo knew of Limon’s power, but even when it looked like he was putting his job as director on the line, all he did was assemble 200 high-level players.

Killing a PAB agent and holding children hostage, just to go after Limon?

It was lunacy not even the Seven Dragons Association would dare commit, even with the Swordmaster toppled.

Aside from the fact it would piss off Limon, the utilities and work needed to cover up that aftermath simply wasn’t worth it.

It would have been less costly to just assemble another 100 high-level players.

Even if the Constellations did take part in the scheme, they wouldn’t have led their pawns into doing something so inefficient.

So why would anyone do this?

The answer was clear from the beginning.

“Unless, they weren’t trying to get rid of me, but Na-kyung and the orphanage instead.”

An orphanage used for money laundering and a PAB agent visiting weekly.

To Park, it would have felt like a ticking time bomb.

PAB agents already had an abundance of investigative privileges to crack down on high-level players.

With Yoo Na-kyung putting in most of her paycheck into the orphanage, it would have only been a matter of time before she found out about Park.

“That’s why you propped that bastard Seo Yongchan up into crashing the PAB headquarters when he was arrested by Na-kyung and me. Ain’t that right?”

“That’s…!

Pow—!

“Kugh! Ah, ack!!”

Limon had kneed Park in the stomach.

“Don’t even think about acting all innocent. I already talked with that bastard,” Limon warned in a low, tranquil voice.

Perhaps it was because of all the awful things he went through.

Seo Yong chan had told Limon everything without hesitation.

It was Park who advised him to go to the PAB to ask for compensation and an apology.

Ultimately, it was his intention to breed animosity between Lee Chun-gi and Limon.

Their collision would have been a golden opportunity to get rid of Yoo Na-kyung and Hanbit Orphanage.

“It really was unexpected,” Limon muttered. “Na-kyung went through all that because of her altruism.”

If only she had been a little more callous and selfish.

If only she had prioritized living a better life for herself than the children in the orphanage she grew up in

She may not have died as she did.

But Yoo Na-kyung was too righteous.

She didn’t spare any of her efforts or money to repay the kindness her orphanage had given to her when she was a child, clueless of the fact that she would get entangled in a ludicrous scheme and get death in return.

It was truly a tragedy.

“Some things just never change in this fucking world,” Limon mumbled motionlessly as he twisted his sword.

“Aaargh!”

No matter how much society and cultures developed.

No matter how many new laws and regimens were created.

No matter how advanced technology got.

The good always died fast while evil found a way to live with tenacity.

He locked eyes with Park, who was writhing in pain as the sword dug more and more into his shoulder.

“Now then. Any more lies you want to tell me?”

Finish whatever shit you have left to say, I dare you.

Park hyungun turned pale.

He had only just realized.

Limon never intended on keeping him alive.

He couldn’t even play dumb when Limon had presented solid evidence.

But he did not give up.

In fact, he cried out with sincerity.

“W-Wait! That was all because of the Infinite Monarch’s orders!”

“…Are you saying that you used Hanbit Orphanage to steal your own guild’s money, and killed Na-kyung because Lee Chun-gi told you to?”

“That’s right, all I did was follow orders!”

He couldn’t disobey the Infinite Monarch when he was just a mere secretary.

The Monarch was responsible for everything.

He didn’t do anything wrong.

He was just another victim of power abuse!

But Limon didn’t say or do anything. He only stared.

“You heard him. What do you think?”

“……?”

Park was puzzled.

He didn’t understand who Limon was talking to.

But as soon as he heard an answer come from the shadows, he could only freeze in place.

“Did you need my opinion?”

“You’re a direct party in this matter. I wanna hear your input.”

“If you insist. I only have one thing to say.”

An individual stepped out from the shadows.

Slicked back hair.

A white suit.

Rimless glasses.

And above all, his strikingly calm expression.

Though he was paler than usual, it was impossible to not recognize the man.

Lee Chun-gi watched Park as he froze, horror-stricken like he was looking at a ghost.

He summed up his commentary with just one word.

“Sickening.”

——

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