Arena - Chapter 99

It was after the call was over.

Knock knock.

At the sudden knock, chief Kim Joong-tae quickly removed the Kim Hyun-ho file that was atop his desk.

“Who is it?”

“This is Cha Ji-hye.”

“Oh, come in.”

During that quick conversation, chief Kim Joong-tae had a lot going on in his mind.

The knock that sounded was as if it had been waiting for him to finish his call.

She had been waiting in front of the door until the call was over.

Then did she hear the conversation? Does Cha Ji-hye know Chinese?

‘No, as far as I know, she doesn’t know Chinese.’

The door opened and Cha Ji-hye walked in.

In a white suit and red blazer and banging body.

As always, she came walking in with a wide stride, Cha Ji-hye gave her report.

“We have discovered someone who we suspect is a new examinee. A social media text was posted and we have hacked their ID and password and deleted it.”

“Really? What turn examinee do you suspect them to be?”

“Without anyone for support and afraid all alone is the feeling we got. I suspect it is a first turn examinee.”

“I see.”

Their eyes met for just a second.

A short moment’s eye contact.

Very short. Just an instant.

“Well. I’ll leave you, sir.”

“Mm, yes. Good work.”

Cha Ji-hye headed back out of the office.

‘Whew, I don’t think she knows anything. I need to be careful going forward.’

Because he had become so out of touch with the outside world and had starting acting like the king of a secret research agency, chief Kim Joong-tae started blaming himself for being so carefree.

***

Chief Kim Joong-tae’s own opinion of himself being too lax was completely correct.

Unlike him, Cha Ji-hye was positive that there was something suspicious going on.

She didn’t know Chinese well. But she did understand some words.

Jinseong Group.

Money (Qian).

How much (Duo shao).

And from the window she could see what the reflection was of what was on chief Kim Joong-tae’s computer monitor.

A picture of chairman Park Jin-seong.

That was enough for Cha Ji-hye.

‘He’s trying to sell Kim Hyun-ho’s identity to the Chinese.’

There were bad rumors floating around even since chief Kim Joong-tae’s national intelligence service days.

He wasn’t some inefficient pencil pusher or figurehead.

He has a dirty past.

The reason a man like him got this position in a large administration was because he was a figure with a meteoric rise in China.

And now it was without a doubt that he was trying to sell Kim Hyun-ho’s identity to the Chinese examinees.

‘I have to stop him.’

Kim Hyun-ho lost all his comrades and, even after becoming alone, he survived. He is still alive so that meant he cleared his 6th exam.

This was the potential of the competent Kim Hyun-ho.

But any target of the Chinese examinees would be in danger. Now as a mere 6th turn examinee, Kim Hyun-ho alone wouldn’t be able to defend himself from all the Chinese examinees.

‘I have to start tailing the chief.’’

If it was information regarding chief Park Jin-seong’s recovery it’s a big deal.

They’ll want the information tonight or immediately tomorrow.

Chief Kim Joong-tae always had a set routine he followed every day but he will have to personally pull the file with Kim Hyun-ho’s identity.

If possible, she must stop the transaction and at best she must leave the location of the transaction with proof and use it to cause chief Kim Joong-tae’s downfall.

Kim Hyun-ho was no longer a part of the Korean Arena Research Agency but as the one that was responsible for him while he still was, she still felt a sense of responsibility.

‘I know what I have to do.’

First of all, she sent a warning message text to Kim Hyun-ho.

[Be careful of the Chinese. Be cautious and alert. No contact.]

To be careful, she sent the text on the emergency burner phone she always carried.

Cha Ji-hye decided that this should be more than enough information for him to understand the situation.

He has been with chairman Park Jin-seong so he should know his way about this stuff.

And there was no way Kim Hyun-ho wouldn’t know that his skills would eventually become the target of other nations either.

That evening, having taken the helicopter off the island, she hid the car she had parked near the helipad and staked out in it.

From the entrance of the helipad, chief Kim Joong-tae’s BMW 7 appeared.

She left a good distance between them and started her pursuit.

Chief Kim Joong-tae was heading towards the Incheon Seollin-dong Chinatown.

‘As expected.’

The Chinese person that the exchange is happening with is already in Korea.

It meant that he or she was already in Korea before they had heard anything from chief Kim Joong-tae. Or came as soon as they heard.

Regardless, this person had been searching for Kim Hyun-ho.

Crazy with the greed to not lose the goose that lays the golden eggs.

‘Should I go in now?’

Getting chief Kim Joong-tae now and stealing his file of Kim Hyun-ho, she thought about this option.

But no matter how she thought about it, that idea was simply too rash.

The opponent was the chief and he has a straight line to the blue house (connected to the white house) for sure.

Not only would she not be able to handle the aftermath, but doing that won’t block the transfer of Kim Hyun-ho’s related information into Chinese hands.

She was going to get proof of this back-alley transaction and then use that to cause his downfall. That was the best idea.

For now, she could only hope that Kim Hyun-ho can protect himself.

She sent him a warning so whether it is chairman Park Jin-seong or the Denmark examinee group’s Odin, he should be able to utilize his sources to defend himself.

She got out of her car and continued to tail chief Kim Joong-tae.

Chief Kim Joong-tae went into a tranquil restaurant with a Chinese owner.

Cha Ji-hye wasn’t able to go in and instead had to watch the restaurant through a window from outside.

Thankfully, she could see where chief Kim Joong-tae was sitting.

‘Who is the one meeting him?’

With a silent camera, she was getting ready to take pictures as she scouted through the window.

Then a man appeared.

A young man with a tall build and short hair. He looked to be about in his young 30’s.

Cha Ji-hye gasped in shock.

‘Lee Chang-wee!’

The bigshot of the Chinese examinees.

In the formal rankings, he does not exist but amongst all the examinees in the world he is considered as one of the best.

The way he was able to became so strong was by being a tool for the Chinese communist influencers.

He was getting other examinees to work for politicians and he himself became an influential figure amongst examinees.

He was basically their commander in chief.

Building strong relationships with those in power and using all manners of ugly methods, he acquired massive amounts of karma and got stronger.

‘No way, is Lee Chang-wee himself going to do this?’

If he really was pursuing this matter himself, Kim Hyun-ho would be in a desperately dangerous situation.

But thankfully, Lee Chang-wee wasn’t someone that put himself out there easily. He took care of most things by using those under him.

***

“It’s been a long time.”

Chief Kim Joong-tae greeted him with a smile.

Lee Chang-wee sat down across from him and gestured.

“The info.”

“I have to check the deposit first.”

“I have to check that the information is worth the deposit first.”

“It’s not like I don’t know that you guys check out the information and then say it’s not worth it when it is or just not pay straight out”

“You wish to die?”

“Tsk tsk.”

Chief Kim Joong-tae clicked his tongue.

“How will we make a deal this way. I am making a reasonable request and you threaten me? Deposit it into a swiss account while I watch.”

“If the information isn’t good, be prepared to die.”

“You already said that earlier.”

Lee Chang-wee smirked.

“Pretending to be a veteran is comic. You’re a man with his tail between his legs.”

“What?”

Chief Kim Joong-tae’s face looked embarrassed for the first time.

“Tail?”

“She’s one of yours, isn’t she? The young woman.”

At the words young woman, chief Kim Joong-tae recalled Cha Ji-hye.

‘Damn! Did I get caught then?’

It was obvious that chief Kim Joong-tae was in a predicament.

Then, Lee Chang-wee did something completely unexpected.

“Well, she’s taking pictures, let’s assume some poses.”

Saying that, Lee Chang-wee took a stack of cash out of his inside pocket and placed it on the table.

“What, what are you doing?”

“What do you mean, I’m giving her a good picture. I’m rather photogenic so it’s not a problem, but not you, huh?”

“Pfft….”

Abruptly, a blatant picture of chief Kim Joong-tae receiving money from Lee Chang-wee had been taken.

He had no idea that he would be had this easily and was completely flustered.

A bit later, after calming himself down, chief Kim Joong-tae spoke.

“9 million (won).” (9,000 USD)

“5 million (won).”

“Now listen!”

“4.5 million. It will keep going down. Mr. Hyung, your back-alley transaction has a picture taken.”

“Fuck. Fine.”

Lee Chang-wee had a huge smile on his face.

“Who told you to lose your senses? Tsk tsk, being tracked. That’s the level of a Korean spy for you.”

“Enough of that, take care of it now.”

“That’s what I’m thinking.”

Said Lee Chang-wee.

“Teleport.”

That instant, Lee Chang-wee disappeared.

***

“Kuk!”

The moment Lee Chang-wee disappeared, Cha Ji-hye reflexively rolled her body to the right.

Pat!

By just a hair, Lee Chang-wee’s grasped nothing but empty space.

“Oh! You dodged?”

To Cha Ji-hye, it was Chinese that she couldn’t understand but she got what he meant through his tone and body language.

Getting right up, Cha Ji-hye tried to secretly push her finger to send the pictures to her email.

But Lee chan-wee didn’t give her that chance.

The moment Lee Chang-wee’s figure became blurry, Cha Ji-hye boldly ran forward and threw a flying knee kick.

Puk!

It was blocked by Lee Chang-wee’s elbow.

No matter how small, she successfully put a stop to his attack.

“Haha! Again? You’re an impressive woman! If you were an examinee, you would have become a big shot. That is a pity.”

Lee Chang-wee showed her something in his hand.

“How is this in my hand?”

“Kuk!”

Cha Ji-hye squeaks when she realized that her smartphone was stolen.

Bba du duk! (cr-uuuush!)

Lee Chang-wee put all his strength into his fist and the smartphone was crushed to bits.

“I will send you to heaven with a full corpse. Summon, Kaiser Silver Longsword.”

A dark silvered light longsword appeared in his right hand.

To the end, Cha Ji-hye showed no signs of fear.

Even at the moment her heart was pierced, to the end, she just kept repeating something over and over.

As if making a wish.

Like leaving a will.

Kwajik-

The dark silver longsword penetrated her heart.

“……!”

Cha Ji-hye stared Lee Chang-wee straight in the face, and accepted death. Her lips quivered and then stopped.

“Retrieve.”

The longsword disappeared.

For a while, Lee Chang-wee admired the disaster he had created and then tilted his head.

“I can’t tell what it was you were mumbling. It would have been good if I had a translation skill.”

With the teleportation skill, Lee Chang-wee disappeared again.

Just the corpse of the bleeding Cha Ji-hye was left dumped in the dark alley.

***

When she came to, she first felt a flush heat.

The humidity and heat mixed and took over her whole body.

When she opened her eyes, she saw a dense jungle.

A blue sky blocked with huge leaves.

A lively sun shining down.

And then a rectangular board about the size of a notebook appeared.

-Examinee Cha Ji-hye. Your desire for the exams was heard.

-It was deemed you have the aptitude necessary and you were selected to become an examinee.

-If you wish to become an examinee, select confirm, if not, select deny.

With a husky voice, she has to squeeze out, she says

“Confirm.”

Then the words on the board changed.

-Name: Cha Ji-hye

-Class: 1

-Karma: 0

-Mission: survive the duration of the time limit.

-Time limit: 30 minutes

Survive.

30 minutes.

Cha Ji-hye got up right away.

With a sharp eye, she surveyed her surroundings.

A jungle with lots of marshes.

Heat and humidity.

‘Lizardman. Mud Golem. A 1st turn level lizardman.’

A new examinee was born.