BRDM 19

Chapter 19

Team Leader Jung Soon-il of Team Z was in a foul mood from the crack of dawn.

“Damn bitch, how dare she make me into a laughingstock?”

Just earlier, a notice had gone up on the intranet.

It said an anonymous report had been filed against a certain team leader, and the HR department would begin procedures to verify it.

Though no name was explicitly stated, anyone sharp enough in the company knew it was about him.

Brrrt. Brrrt.

His phone had been ringing nonstop for a while.

It was his father, who worked as an executive director at White Burn.

But what good would it do to pick up? He’d only get an earful of shouting. Jung let the call go to voicemail.

“Please calm down, Team Leader. At this rate, the fun from last night will all go to waste.”

“Exactly. We know the truth anyway. Even if Kim Min-jung teams up with Im Won-young and stirs up trouble, nothing will come of it.”

Two men came up behind him, massaging his shoulders and flattering him.

They were guys who had been trying to cozy up to him recently in hopes of escaping Team Z.

“Right. They’ve got no evidence. No matter how much noise those bastards make, they won’t achieve a thing.”

Maybe thanks to their sycophancy, Jung started to feel his mind clear up.

Team Z was firmly under his grip.

No one on the team would dare testify for Kim Min-jung.

Sure, there were a few outsiders he hadn’t managed to win over yet, and who knew what they might do, but—

They weren’t even there that day. And even if they were, I can just bury it midway by saying it’s not credible.

No matter how he turned it around in his head, there was no real problem.

In fact, this might even be a useful political tool if played right.

What if he flipped this into a case of false accusation?

Im Won-young. That bitch must be behind this. Can’t I find a way to tie her in?

Jung was convinced she was behind everything.

And why wouldn’t he think that? It had been her who blew up a trivial matter and demoted him to Team Z in the first place.

Everyone in the company knew about the political rivalry between his father, Executive Director Jung, and Im Won-young.

His father was aiming for the next CEO seat based on ability and proven leadership, while all Im had going for her was her bloodline.

Anyone with half a brain could see how that battle would end.

The current chairman is cold enough to cast aside his own children. But my father, who has loyally served by his side for over 30 years, is White Burn’s greatest contributor. He owns a massive stake in the company. No matter how cute the granddaughter is, if she’s incompetent, she’ll be abandoned.

Knowing this, Im Won-young had been using every petty trick in the book, starting by trying to devour him—the son.

The problem was, it had worked far too well. His position was now dangerously unstable.

Until now, his father had barely managed to cover up his scandals, but even that was reaching its limits.

One more slip, and it would be straight to ruin.

That was the one thing he could not allow.

Damn it, do you know how I’ve endured all this time? Just a little longer, and I won’t just be known in this tiny country—I’ll be famous worldwide. I can’t let something this stupid trip me up here!

Jung thought of the Chinese contacts his father had been meeting lately.

They were what he considered true Hunters.

They wielded influence not just across the vast Chinese continent, but the entire world.

Armed with countless legends and myths, just being in their presence was enough to make one’s knees tremble.

And White Burn?

It might strut around in Korea, but compared to that, it was nothing more than a hole-in-the-wall shop.

Seo Chang-woo—no, Xu Chang-you—must have recognized that overwhelming presence, which was why he had bowed his head and joined them.

His father was now partnering with those people to plan something even bigger than Xu Chang-you’s schemes.

If things went well, White Burn would become a global guild.

And Jung would be its number two—no, its successor.

Yeah. Get a grip. No—use this as an opportunity. Drag Im Won-young down and make Father the next chairman.

With that resolve, Jung powered off his phone completely.

For the time being, he would not take calls from anyone, not even his father.

Once Im Won-young falls, Kim Min-jung won’t be able to act so high and mighty either. She’ll come crawling to me, begging forgiveness.

Thinking that way filled him with a heady sense of triumph.

“Hey, you guys know once you pledge allegiance, there’s no switching sides, right? Get branded a traitor in this field, and you’ll be buried in no time.”

The two sycophants swallowed dryly.

What exactly was he implying?

Jung’s eyes gleamed like a predator’s.

“From now on, remember this carefully—”

But before he could finish—

“Team Leader, big problem!”

Another team member rushed over, also someone who had tried to curry favor with him.

“What is it?”

“Just now, a raid plan was submitted to HQ under our team’s name!”

“What? We haven’t drafted any plan lately, not even a proposal.”

Because raids carried high risk, the proper process required submitting a plan to HQ, undergoing review, and only then receiving final approval.

“Please, check the board yourself!”

“…?”

With a mounting sense of unease, Jung hurriedly logged into the intranet.

On the dungeon raid HQ board, accessible only to staff, a plan had indeed been registered—under Team Z’s name.

And not as confidential, but public!

<Raid Plan>

• Target: The Pied Piper

• Planned Date: March 14, 20XX

• Participants: 2

• Roster: Kim Min-jung, Jang Ihyeon

• Details:
  Newly recruited through special appointment, Jang Ihyeon will make use of his Pathfinder trait…

“These bastards…!”

Jung’s face flushed crimson.

Raid plans had to be signed off by the team leader.

Submitting one without his approval was a blatant slap in the face.

And listing only two members?

Whether or not they actually intended to raid with just two, what would the other teams think when they saw it?

That Team Z had been dragging its feet on something two people could handle.

It was public humiliation.

But the worst part—

• Approved

• Responsible Officer: Im Won-young

Approval had been granted within just five minutes.

Those three characters at the end radiated naked malice.

“Kim Min-jung! Jang Ihyeon! Where the hell are you!!”

Bang!

Jung shot up from his seat, seething with rage.

『…I went ahead and approved it with my deputy director authority, as you asked, Manager Kim. But really—do you think this is possible?』

Hearing Im Won-young’s hesitant voice over the phone, Kim Min-jung couldn’t help but let out a weak laugh.

She thought she heard someone else laughing faintly in the background, but she had no time to care.

“Well, Senior Jang… I mean, Section Chief Jang, assured me it was possible.”

『Is that so? All right, then. I’ll handle any concerns or backlash on my end, so just do your best.』

…So easy?

Even after hanging up, Min-jung was stunned.

The Im Won-young she knew was sharp and cold, quick to analyze every situation.

Even a simple report would get scrutinized to find any flaw.

Yet now, she had approved a ludicrous plan without hesitation.

Just how much faith did she have in Ihyeon?

Even though if the raid fails and lives are lost, all responsibility falls squarely on her…

Still, thanks to that, their scheme to oust Jung could begin.

But Min-jung couldn’t shake her doubts.

Is this really the right choice?

The raid dossier for The Pied Piper read as follows:

<The Pied Piper>

• Estimated Rank: 2–3 stars

• Location: Hoengseong, Gangwon Province

• Origin: German folklore from Hamelin, popularized by the Brothers Grimm

• Story: The mayor of Hamelin hired a piper to drive away rats. When the mayor refused to pay, the piper, in revenge, lured all the children away with his flute.

• Quests: Defeat the Piper, locate missing persons, ensure villagers’ safety

• Past Attempts:

  • 20XX: Guild WeWard purchased rights. First raid failed. 11 dead, 13 injured.

  • 20XX: Second attempt in cooperation with Guild Blood Sword. Failed. Blood Sword annihilated.
    …
    Total deaths to date: 41.

• Current Status: Boss defeated, but post-battle aftermath failed.

• Failure Analysis: Flute sound at dungeon entry causes mental confusion. Debuffs lead to deadly chaos.

• Additional Threats: Over time, characters in the dungeon have zombified. Missing children pose further danger.

Even a quick skim showed how formidable it was.

The 41 accumulated deaths weighed on her mind.

“But really, Senior, is this okay? I know how strong you are, but isn’t this reckless?”

Ihyeon smiled lightly.

“Of course it’s reckless.”

“…What?”

“It’s a dungeon unsolved for over ten years. How could just two people clear it?”

“….”

The obviousness of his tone made Min-jung want to grab him by the collar.

Catching her twitching brows, Ihyeon chuckled.

“Kidding, kidding. I never said just the two of us would go in. Only that we’d be the ones to clear it.”

“What do you mean—”

“With Jung’s personality, you think he’ll just sit back after being slapped like this? He’ll come running.”

A cold smile curved his lips.

“Jaaang Ihyeooon!!”

“See? The man has no patience.”

His roar echoed through the halls, drawing stares from the other employees. Jung came storming down the corridor, stomping furiously.

“And as angry as he is, he’s thinking all sorts of things. ‘If I let them go, will they die in there? That’d be convenient… but what if not? What if it really was an easy dungeon? Then I’d look like a fool for missing it.’”

“….”

“If we succeed, it’ll be proof of his negligence as team leader, putting the blame squarely on him. The headache in his skull must be throbbing right now.”

“….”

“So there’s only one conclusion he can reach: ‘Better to have the whole team enter. Then hang back, let Ihyeon and Min-jung do the work. If they succeed, I steal the credit. If they fail, I dump the blame on them.’”

“…!”

Min-jung shivered at his icy grin.

From the very start, their scheme had Jung dancing in the palm of Ihyeon’s hand.

Unaware, he was just a puppet, being led to ruin.

The dungeon itself was never the goal—it was the trap. A trap Jung and his cronies could never escape.

Ihyeon turned to her.

“When the enemy seems too strong, what did I say you must never do?”

“…Never play on the board they set up. Always drag them into yours.”

“Bingo.”

“And you’ve already thought of how to spring the trap?”

He just smiled silently.

The sight made Min-jung shudder even more.

「Pahaha! You sly little snake, aren’t you?」

Sun Wukong found his scheming attitude hilarious.

This is what they mean by being in Buddha’s palm.

「You little—!」

The trailing jab wasn’t as funny.

But tell me—this dungeon really does carry traces of your myth?

「Why? Don’t trust Huayan Jinjing?」

Not that… but how could the Great Sage’s myth be tied to a German fairy tale?

When he first received Huayan Jinjing’s message that The Pied Piper dungeon was linked to Sun Wukong, Ihyeon had been shocked.

The Pied Piper was a German tale, after all—nothing to do with Journey to the West.

But Sun Wukong had been adamant.

「My scattered myths are like fragments—too small to stand alone. Without a proper narrative structure, they latch onto other stories to survive.」

In other words, parasitic.

「…Listen to you. But yes, when my fragments attach to other tales, mutations occur. The result is a story quite different from the original.」

So the meeting of two stories resulted in adaptation.

No wonder it remained unsolved so long. Anyone relying only on knowledge of the original tale would be doomed.

Ihyeon suspected many long-unresolved dungeons were similar.

But that also meant—

For me, who knows the secret, this is an opportunity.

That was why he could use this dungeon as a trap.

Here, I’ll separate the wheat from the chaff in Team Z.

As his eyes darkened, Jung arrived, jabbing a finger at them.

“Are you insane!? Submitting without your team leader’s approval—you think you’ll get away with this!?”

Ihyeon only smiled, saying nothing.

His silence only stoked Jung’s rage further.

“Fine. So that’s how you want it? Let’s see if things really go your way.”

After glaring at them both, he stormed off.

Ihyeon glanced at Min-jung with a grin.

“See? Told you. Come raid day, the whole team will show up. Let’s give them a warm welcome.”

“…Honestly.”

Min-jung could only shake her head, beyond even laughing now.

Three Days Later – Raid Day

Hoengseong, Gangwon Province.

As Ihyeon had predicted, all fifteen members of Team Z had arrived at the dungeon gate ahead of them.