Chapter 107

Evenings inevitably arrive, no matter what incidents occur in Haeundae. Beneath the serene night sky, as if unaware of what had happened earlier that day, the unwelcome guests of Busan had gathered.

Each person adorned with distinctive outfits and appearances, their reason for assembly was to discuss the results of the events they had initiated that afternoon.

Their true identities were none other than terrorists, the ones who had attempted to threaten the shadow of the Association by colluding with a Busan Girl.

“Did we lose? To a bunch of brats?!”

As most of the organization’s members had gathered, it was the Woman in Kimono seated in the center of the open space who spoke first. Her once-beautiful kimono now hung loose and tattered.

She had been defeated by a student who seemingly had no connection to the students they were meant to confront—a student who had appeared out of nowhere and easily knocked her down.

Given the initial assumption that their target might bring a few friends, her inability to defeat even one student made her an easy target for ridicule.

Amid the sneering gathered group, one member laughed aloud. “Don’t say ‘we!’ When you couldn’t take down a single student and needed the Leader’s help, what exactly makes this ‘our’ failure?”

A woman cloaked in black adorned with spiderweb-like patterns mockingly looked down on the Woman in Kimono from her position among the crowd.

Despite possessing the powerful ability of Evolution, which had granted both technological and physical advancements, she had still lost to a student and been saved by the Leader. What did that mean?

Either she had let her guard down, or her abilities were simply subpar. One or the other was inevitable.

Regardless, it was clear she was unsuitable for the covert nature of No Name. A weak ally is always a hindrance to the organization.

The woman in the kimono tightened her grip on the hilt of her sword at her waist, while the woman in the black cloak let spiderweb-like wires dangle from her fingers, which gleamed menacingly as they extended toward the kimono-clad woman.

“Don’t misunderstand. The only reason you and I are on the same team isn’t because our skills are matched—it’s because we both found favor in the Leader’s eyes. Nothing more.”

Among No Name, the Spider was the one entrusted with handling the most secretive missions.

“Perhaps the misunderstanding is yours. If you had fought the woman I did, you’d have been dead before even holding your ground. I think my methods prove superior, don’t you?”

And the Woman in Kimono, evolving like a steel boar, was meant to take the front lines when the situation called for direct confrontation.

While she had successfully retrieved a fallen comrade, her subsequent loss to a student and the Spider’s lack of opportunity to even partake in the mission demonstrated the conflict between the two.

This wasn’t merely a conflict between these two individuals—it hinted at a deeper division within the group, one between the in-favor majority and the less-favored minority.

After all, the Spider and others within the less-favored group mocked the mission’s failure, not just of the woman in the kimono, but of the group as a whole, excluding the Leader.

Their goal was to win the Leader’s favor, understanding that it was essential to achieving their personal objectives.

Unsurprisingly, the tension between the favored and unfavored factions was palpable. It was a member of the favored faction, a Girl with Emerald Hair whose locks trailed down to the floor, who attempted to diffuse the situation.

“Enough. If you’re going to mock a failed mission, are you planning to mock the Leader too? If not, then quiet down and listen.”

“Hmph. Invoking the Leader is a foul play. You think bringing up the Leader will save you from trouble?”

“…Didn’t you bring up the Leader first?”

Despite her earlier aggressive tone, the woman in the spiderweb cloak’s threads vanished, and the grip on the sword hilt by the woman in the kimono loosened.

Orders from the Leader, whether or not they were favored, were to be strictly followed without dissent.

The Girl with Emerald Hair, adorned with a mysterious gaze, glanced around the members of the organization.

These individuals resembled wild wolves, ready to scatter when hungry but never fully estranged from their pack leader. They might blame this mission’s failure on the Leader someday, which could require drastic measures if left unaddressed.

That was the reason she had mentioned the Leader. Should anyone dare to mock the Leader for this failure, the situation would escalate beyond mere disagreements among members and might call for a purge.

For now, the group remained silent, but how long this would last was anyone’s guess.

Thus, the intermediary for No Name broke the silence to address the growing misunderstanding.

“This mission was planned from the start with the expectation of failure. Because we failed as planned, there was never a basis for us to squabble over the results in the first place.”

“What?”

Receiving the most intense reaction to the news of a pre-determined failure was a large man wrapped in bandages. Having been struck unconscious and barely surviving during his attempt to follow through on the Leader’s objective, he understandably felt infuriated.

However, the young girl representing the Leader didn’t acknowledge him. Acknowledging his objection would mean fielding questions from everyone else, which would delay the necessary progress of the plan.

To complete the Leader’s mission, the conversation needed to proceed as quickly as possible.

“Our initial objective was to recruit the defiant Busan Girl as an ally, and if we had managed to kidnap the lone bl**d relative of the Reaper from the Association, that would have been a bonus. But since the top students from the school are far stronger than active Association agents, failure was inevitable.”

Even the students who fought the invaders today found their heads nodding in agreement when hearing the students of the school were far superior to field agents. Though not at the level of a Branch Manager, it was evident that the students possessed abilities comparable to elite teams of operatives.

This assertion that students were stronger resonated well with those who engaged in actual combat, and despite the young girl herself being unsuccessful in today’s operation, her words didn’t seem entirely fabricated.

Thus, those who had not earned the Leader’s favor and were part of the minority, while maintaining their mocking and contemptuous expressions, chose not to voice their inner thoughts.

For the Girl with Emerald Hair, the representative of the Leader:

Challenging or mocking her words was, in effect, mocking the Leader. Having experienced the Leader’s strength firsthand—strength far surpassing the norm—none dared to mock.

At par with the Leader, standing on an unparalleled level of strength.

“So then, the purpose of calling us near the branch…”

“To stir confusion and draw the Master to seek out the Busan Girl, who may hold the key to her recruitment.”

All seated members rose, while the standing ones corrected their postures. They now understood what was coming next.

“We’ll immediately attack the Busan Branch. To facilitate a meeting between the Master and the Busan Girl.”

In motion now is one of the strongest underground criminal organizations influencing the country, emerging from the discarded region of Busan.

*

“Why did you align yourself with criminals? I can’t help you anymore.”

Amidst the stone floor, a young girl, bound by chains, continued to replay in her mind the last voice she had heard. Betrayed by the criminals, this nation made its best attempts to erase the memory of her father but ultimately failed.

Even the revolutionary ability, etched into her body as her father’s legacy, had now vanished from her. Her subordinates might survive, but whether this was the life they truly desired remained unclear.

In the wake of such profound failure, the only action the girl felt she could take was to reflect on the final words spoken by the Branch Manager, the woman she regarded as a mother, before she left.

But someone didn’t permit her to continue in this introspection. Footsteps approached rapidly, and a woman appeared.

Without a word, the woman threw a piece of paper towards the girl from Busan.

Initially, the girl intended to protest, but as she glanced at the content of the document, her trembling hands held onto it, reading further.

“What… What is this?!”

What was written was something that should never have existed. Yet, as the Busan Girl read it, there was a side of her that felt an odd sense of understanding.

Why had the nation continued to allow the use of the Sky Ship in Busan? If Busan served as a kind of containment facility, why had there been no suspicion of potential rebellion?

A minor shift in perspective was all that was needed. If she, as the Branch Manager, was the traitor during the incident where the Busan revolutionary leader was killed and she herself was taken hostage…

And if the details revealed the precise timeline of when the Branch Manager had taken up her position in Busan…

All the answers, all the betrayal, were contained within those few sheets of paper.

“What you choose to do next is up to you. We can extract you and your subordinates from here and may even provide you with the opportunity to exact revenge on this place in the future, but only if you pledge allegiance to us.”

The head of No Name, scratching her neck, addressed the girl who had now become the most valuable entity in Busan.

An inexperienced and defeated seed of revolution. However, No Name, as of now, had no grand cause other than crime. The recruitment of the Busan Girl would be both their purpose and the belief that would draw more members into their fold.

After some contemplation, the Busan Girl extended her hand beyond the iron bars, toward the shadowy figure of uncertain origin—whether deity or devil.

Certainly, she knew they intended to use her as bait, yet the betrayal that occurred long ago, stretching even into present times, felt far more devastating than anything that had happened today.