Chapter 32: CH 29

Chapter 29

     “I think I know why Bae Jaemin betrayed us.” Seo Dawon strode out of the living room to the kitchen and sat at the dining table. His tone was a bit strange. Glancing at his complicated expression, I pulled out the chair across his.

     “…What was the reason?”

     “He was never a part of the Red Lotus in the first place. He must have been a spy implanted by the [Sea and River] guild.”

     “They existed back then?”

     “Yeah. Their guildmaster tried to recruit me long ago.”

     Though it was the first time I’ve ever heard of this guild, listening to Seo Dawon, I noticed this suspicious connection. “No way… Did they send Bae Jaemin because you wouldn’t join the guild?”

     “Well…that could be one explanation. Or, perhaps, I’ve bothered them in some other way after establishing the Red Lotus guild. Either way, after refusing to join the guild, I forgot about their existence. To my knowledge, we’ve never crossed paths afterwards….I have a hunch that this guild is connected to my death in some way. Actually, after seeing Bae Jaemin’s act, I’m certain.”

     The original targets of revenge were already so formidable, there was no clear answer to the path we must take to deal with them. However, when Seo Dawon said that there was another organization behind the black curtain 1 supporting Bae Jaemin, the situation felt hopeless.

     I wrung my nervous hands and asked, “Who’s their guildmaster?”

     “I don’t know. When they offered to recruit me, the guild master sent a representative to hide their identity. They also demanded the condition that I would remain silent about the guild’s name or their activities.”

     “That’s very suspicious.”

     “Yeah. That’s why I refused.”

–Ding!

     Suddenly, my cell phone alarm rang.

     In an attempt to turn it off, I unlocked my phone; previews for news pertaining to the and Bae Jaemin filled the screen. I forgot that in my bid to prepare for the raid, I set my phone to gather and filter for important keywords.

     “…Sorry, I’ll turn this off,” I said.

     “That’s okay. But, since I have something I’d like to search, can I borrow it for a second?”

     I willingly handed Seo Dawon my cell phone. He opened a search portal website and began searching for images with the keyword, ‘Bae Jaemin.’

[Sniping the hearts of women….Which User looks best in a suit?

    He searched around until he landed upon a picture where Bae Jaemin waved his hands at the camera and carefully began to scrutinize the photo.

     I wondered why Seo Dawon would bother to observe Bae Jaemin wearing a suit so closely, but noticed, a moment later, that he was zooming onto his wrist. The enlarged region revealed an accessory–a bracelet?–peeking out of the edge of his sleeves.

      “Ah, Isn’t that [Beatrice’s Prayer?]” I asked, thoughtlessly identifying the famous item on his wrist.

      Seo Dawon considered my words and asked, “Do you know where he got it?”

""

     “No, that’s something I don’t know…But I’ve seen it often on broadcasts.”

      When Seo Dawon heard my answer, he muttered to himself, “As expected, I guess Bae Jaemin did kill Garam-ie.” 2

      I wondered who Garam-ie was….Searching through my memories, I recalled the Treasure Hunter who accompanied Bae Jaemin to find possible hints or solutions to the Tower’s final Boss, the Lich Lord.

     “Don’t tell me….did that bracelet originally belong to that Garam person?”

     “That’s right.”

     [Beatrice’s Prayer] became famous through its unusual inheritance mechanics. Until its former owner dies, the item will not recognize a new owner. If Seo Dawon’s words were true, then Bae Jaemin most likely stole Garam’s item under these opportunistic circumstances.

     How could Bae Jaemin kill the item’s owner and wear it around so proudly and nonchalantly. I saw his smile displayed prominently in the article. Honestly, first impressions can’t be trusted anymore; no one would believe him to be capable of such heinous acts.

     “I’m speechless…then, maybe, did he betray Garam for that item? After all, it’s quite rare…” There have been terrible instances with Users that have gone crazy over certain items.

     However, Seo Dawon lightly shook his head. “Well, it’s a good item, but it’s not really necessary for Priests. [Beatrice’s Prayer]’s primary function is more of a defense mechanism to assist melee strikers with extremely low defenses. Priests, who can heal on their own, wouldn’t find it so useful.”

     That means the guy stole an item he truly did not need…The more Seo Dawon spoke, the more my questions multiplied. “Even then, he’d take it and wear it?” I asked.

     “Perhaps he’s using it like a trophy.”

     A trophy to commemorate killing all of the members of the Red Lotus guild?

     That’s just too much…

     I had wanted to ask Seo Dawon if there was any other grudge that Bae Jaemin held against them, but I couldn’t bear to vocalize my question and instead swallowed my words.

     However, the other preemptively supplied the answers to my unasked questions, “Jung Garam and Bae Jaemin had a bit of a bad relationship. Though they’re the same age, Jung Garam was such a genius that the two were often compared. And…how do I say this…Bae Jaemin had such a straight and narrow personality. He greatly valued courtesy, but Garam lived as he wished and had a rough speech pattern.” 3

     “Ah…..”

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      “Because of Bae Jaemin’s straight-laced personality, Garam often had to censor his words. Though the two never physically fought, they often verbally lashed out at each other. We could all tell that neither vibed with the other….I don’t know about Jung Garam, but Bae Jaemin must have harbored some darkness in his heart over their conflicts. Maybe that’s why he took Beatrice. More than anything, that bracelet must fill him with a sense of victory over his old rival….”

      Seo Dawon spoke as if he were wandering someplace in the past. As I listened, I wondered about the snapshots of the Red Lotus’s past–their daily minutia.

     So, I asked cautiously, “Was Bae Jaemin pretending to be nice?”

     “He was more prudish than nice. He wouldn’t say what he disliked about others and considered manners as the most important aspect of interaction. Even during the Red Lotus’s heyday, I heard the description ‘Seonbi’ (Classical Scholar) being thrown about.” 4

     Wow….So then all of that, too, was just a performance? That’s creepy.

     “Just when did he begin to plan his revenge? His true face seems almost like a split personality.”

     “I wouldn’t call it a split personality. It’s more like that’s just another aspect of himself. He never did anything that would draw the hatred of others. Even when there was conflict, he would never be the first to throw stones.”

     “He…conducted himself well?”

     “I’d say so.”

     Bae Jaemin had a spotless media image. He was a renowned ranker–a household name–but he was always polite and well spoken, both in public and supposedly in private as well. Perhaps due to his backstory with the Red Lotus guild, he received a lot of sympathy and favor from the public.

     Thus, I was shocked when I saw Bae Jaemin in Seo Dawon’s memories and within the Tower’s cave. His threatening face was so impactful; goosebumps were still raised on my arms…I had not personally known the man and still felt betrayed. How must Seo Dawon, who had known him for so long, feel…?

     “But, now that I think about it, maybe he turned out that way from having to put up with all the other kids’ personality and bullshit….” Seo Dawon murmured.

     “The other kids?”

      “The Red Lotus guild members. They’re personalities were…well…should I say that they weren’t normal or particularly sociable….?” Seo Dawon spoke vaguely. He began to talk about the guild members as if he were cursing them out.

     “In the first place, I founded Red Lotus to provide a space for those who were excommunicated from other guilds and had nowhere to go.”

     “Really?”

     “Ah, don’t get me wrong. I wasn’t excommunicated. I used to be in a guild called [Striker], but the guildmaster’s girlfriend developed feelings for me. So I had no choice but to…..”

     “….?”

     ….Was that a joke?

      However, Seo Dawon did not stop to correct himself and continued to briefly explain the origins of his guild. “Besides myself, everyone else left their guilds through some sort of large conflict. They had no other place to go. Do you remember Kim Olim? She was the one with a  shield.”

     “Ah, Ahh… Yep. Long, black hair…”

     “Yeah. That person had a strange jinx. Strangely, every guild she entered ended up in ruins. And, before she came to our guild, she was caught up in all sorts of situations. Like going to prison for beating up her previous guildmaster.”

     “Huh? What?” I immediately questioned Seo Dawon’s slander, recalling the benevolent-looking girl from his memories. Sure, she held a shield…but she was average in size….She didn’t seem like someone who would so horrifically beat another?

     Seo Dawon suddenly stopped in the middle of his story and looked agitated. “Now that I think about it…Damn. Red Lotus was also eventually screwed?”

     “?”

     “Were we ruined because of Kim Olim?” he grumbled.

     I almost burst into laughter but suppressed it by biting my lower lip and looking elsewhere. He had such a serious face while joking. Fortunately, before I could helplessly devolve into giggles, Seo Dawon returned to his stories about the Red Lotus guild.

     “Anyways, I bought out Kim Olim’s prison sentence contract, and I, Kim Olim, and Woo Ragi–the three of us–founded the Red Lotus guild.”

     “I-I see…By the way, Woo Ragi? He has a unique name.”

     “His personality is even more unique.”

     Seo Dawon shook his head, as if he had a phantom pain in his neck. Come to think of it, Seo Dawon seemed to speak disparagingly of Ragi’s personality in his memories.

     “He looked so lovely though.”

     I had no direct experience with his personality, but Woo Ragi, from Seo Dawon’s perspective, left a deep impression on me.

     His weapon couldn’t be called a simple sword; rather, it felt like a sword-shaped jewel, flashy and sparkling. When he used his skills, the transparent blades that had previously floated and shot at the enemy were really beautiful.

     When his crystal-like chain sword unfolded and all the individual blades moved in tandem, it looked like the wings of a gliding bird of prey. Furthermore, white face that briefly turned into view while controlling the blades matched the beautiful weapon so well…

     However, as soon as he heard my casual words, Seo Dawon squinted his eyes at me, as if he were staring at a bizarre pervert. His eyes questioned my taste.

     “Ah! I didn’t mean it in a weird way…”

     “Is Ragi your ideal type?”

     “T-that’s not what I meant! Ideal type, what on earth….”

     Seo Dawon didn’t seem to hear my vehement denials. “You wouldn’t be able to say those things if you knew why Ragi was fired from his previous guild,” he said, meaningfully.

     I knew Seo Dawon was trying to tease me, but I couldn’t help but engage and ask, “Why was he fired?”

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