The Novel's Extra - Side Story 75 – Chae Nayun (30)

“Is she a thief…?” Chae Nayun asked.

Meanwhile, I picked up the jewel.

It was truly strange. Why did she have this jewel? I’m pretty sure I didn’t include kleptomaniac in her settings… Did the settings change by itself again?

“… She isn’t wearing a smartwatch either,” I pointed out.

I was about to hack her smartwatch, but found nothing on her wrist.

“Her ability makes her sensitive to electromagnetic waves, but I wonder why she stole this? I’m pretty sure she’s not that kind of a person…” Chae Nayun said.

“… Have you met her somewhere before?” I asked.

It sounded like she knew Loelle.

Chae Nayun suddenly started to tremble and clunk like an old vehicle before awkwardly grinning, “S-She’s quite famous. She’s famous in the United States… No, she’s famous in the Korean community too.”

“…”

I decided not to pry any further and help Loelle instead.

“Let’s bring her back to the station for now,” I said.

“Y-Yeah, let’s do that…” Chae Nayun replied while still stuttering.

We returned to the train station with Loelle.

Surprisingly, a lot of people gathered at the station and it seemed quite rowdy today. Not only did cadets gather, but even the faculty members all gathered around.

“Do you know who I am…?! Ha?! Do you know me or not?!” the man who was the owner of the jewel started to stir up a fuss.

I was pretty sure he acted like that because of the [Eye of the Sun]. I decided to ignore him and hacked into his smartwatch to gather more information.

“… Tomb raider?”

I saw the words tomb raiding among the messages he exchanged. I read through the messages and found out that the man obtained the jewel by tomb raiding. His customer was none other than Kim Sukho.

It seemed that Kim Sukho was supposed to smuggle the jewel through Russia, but he didn’t want to pay the tomb raider. Instead, he hired those hijackers to steal the jewel.

I couldn’t help but scoff in amazement at how dirty and petty that guy was.

“None of you will be able to get on the train until I find what I’m looking for!” the VIP screamed in anger.

Meanwhile, Jin Sahyuk was staring at the VIP from behind. That was more than enough for me to deduce what that man’s ending would look like.

“This place is teeming with cadets and heroes, but you failed to catch a thief… Ah, what has the world come to? I used to be surrounded by talented individuals like Jin Seyeon and Aileen, but who is this ragtag bunch?” the VIP clicked his tongue and sneered.

“Hey, did he hire us as his security or something? What the hell is that bastard talking about?” Chae Nayun nudged me and said.

Also, she seemed visibly upset.

***

As expected, the train was in motion once again. However, we couldn’t stop at our second stop because too much time had been wasted after the VIP threw a fit.

In the end, we had to transit to another train heading for Seoul this time.

“Why did you steal this?”

Also, I dragged Loelle to my room after she woke up. Together with me were Kim Suho, Chae Nayun, and Yoo Yeonha.

I took out the [Eye of the Sun] and showed it to her.

“I overheard that guy by sheer coincidence on the train. He was bragging that the jewel had the power to cure any illness or curse… So I wanted to borrow it for a while, but…” Loelle replied.

She caressed her right arm, which was no longer dark red and no longer had any traces of the curse.

“I guess I shouldn’t have done that. That damned jewel didn’t cure me. Instead, it… ugh… thinking about it is making my head hurt…”

“Then, it’s fine if I take this, right? After all, I lifted your curse,” I said.

“What do you plan to do with that? You’ll probably end up dead if they find out you’re holding that. I don’t think it’s something worth risking your life over…”

“Who knows.”

I infused stigma into the jewel and it started to glow brightly. It glowed an orange hue that resembled sunset. It was extremely bright while also dim at the same time as if it would disappear at any second.

“This jewel can be used as a light source. It’s not a light that can cure or heal people, but it’s definitely going to be useful. We might be able to craft a very useful artifact from it later on,” I explained.

However, Kim Suho and Yoo Yeonha seemed to be bothered by the fact that it was stolen.

“That guy was also a thief,” I added.

“Huh? He was a thief?” Yoo Yeonha asked in response.

“Yeah, he was a tomb raider. He stole this from the ruins of the pyramids,” I replied.

Loelle frowned and asked, “How do you know that?”

“I’m somewhat of a pro hacker, you see.”

“Huh? What nonsense are you…”

“Anyways…”

I stood up.

This jewel was still incomplete, but I was certain that I could turn it into something befitting an ancient relic through [System Intervention]. I wasn’t so fond of giving something like this to someone else. Knowing it would end up in Kim Sukho’s hands made me loathe the idea even more.

“Let’s exchange contact details for now,” I said and extended my smartwatch to Loelle.

Loelle tilted her head in confusion while Chae Nayun pouted and looked at me with eyes that seemed to say, ‘Do you really have to do that?’

***

We arrived at Cube early Friday morning and immediately went to the club room to see Evandel. Thankfully, Evandel was getting along very well with the old butler from the English Royal Palace.

“… But Evandel, what’s that?”

She was holding a luxurious-looking bone.

“Ah, a mister gave this to me!” Evandel brightly smiled and replied.

“Who?” I asked.

“A scary-looking mister with long hair!”

I immediately thought of Shin Jonghak. Why would he give a bone to a human? Aren’t these for dogs…?

Yoo Yeonha seemed to be wondering the same thing before she suddenly raised a finger and said, “Ah, he must’ve met her when she was in her puppy form.”

“Oh… That sounds about right.”

“He must’ve found Evandel to be quite cute since he gave her this bone and all.”

He didn’t come to the club room after he fought with Chae Nayun last time, but it seemed that he came by when we weren’t around.

After all, Evandel is extremely cute in her puppy form.

“Come and sit here for a second,” I called over all the club members to the sofa.

I stood in front of the board as Chae Nayun looked at me with both hands on her chin.

Sparkle! Sparkle!

Her sparkling eyes were quite burdensome.

“We will be seriously discussing how to wake Chae Jinyoon from now on.”

Kim Suho, Rachel, and everyone else suddenly became serious.

“… But, there’s something we must do before we wake up Chae Jinyoon.”

“Huh? What do you mean before we wake him up? Are you saying that you found a cure for him?” Yoo Yeonha asked with her eyes wide open in surprise.

“Yeah, I found a way. I believe it’s highly likely it’ll work.”

“Oh! As expected of our top theory cadet!”

Kim Suho and Yi Yeonghan exclaimed and smiled.

I simply nodded and continued, “Before that, we have to understand the cause behind it.”

“… Cause?”

It was Chae Nayun this time.

“Yeah, we have to find out why Chae Jinyoon ended up like that in the first place.”

“…”

It was probably a heavy topic for Chae Nayun, but it was something we had to do.

“Their explanation that he became like that after fighting a djinn is not enough to convince me. It’s imperative that we find what actually happened before anything else,” I said while looking at Chae Nayun.

Everyone else seemed to be wary of Chae Nayun, but none of them dared to say anything.

Chae Nayun looked downcast compared to her usual self, but soon flashed a bitter smile and nodded.

“Yeah, we should do that,” she said.

***

The next afternoon, the Pharmacy Club went to Seoul.

“I’m going to the broadcast station first,” I said.

There were probably quite a lot of unbroadcasted clips that I could make use of with [Hacking].

“Then I’m going with Hajin,” Chae Nayun said and clung to me.

Everyone else squinted at her.

“I guess you lot will have to follow me,” Yoo Yeonha said as she motioned for Kim Suho and Yi Yeonghan to follow her.

On a side note, Rachel stayed behind to look after Evandel while Shin Jonghak was out on a date with Seo Youngji again.

“Where are we going?” Yi Yeonghan asked.

“You’ll find out once we get there. It’s somewhat difficult for me to go alone, so…” Yoo Yeonha replied.

Chae Nayun winked at Yoo Yeonha, but I caught her in the act.

“W-What? Something was in my eye. Yes, something was in it… That’s why I winked…”

“I didn’t say anything.”

Anyways, we split up into two teams. Yoo Yeonha led Kim Suho and Yi Yeonghan while I was paired with Chae Nayun.

She squirmed in the middle of the street before holding my hand.

“… Hehe,” she giggled when I held her hand and didn’t let go.

“Let’s go.”

We walked together hand in hand, but didn’t attract any attention as both of us wore sunglasses. Chae Nayun was also wearing a beret. We explored a bit here and there. It felt like we were on a date.

“That’s the broadcasting station, SBN,” Chae Nayun said as she pointed at a building.

The SBN building stood tall at the center of the city.

“Let’s go.”

We made our way towards the building and started to see celebrities the closer we got there.

“Wow, that’s Gentri,” Chae Nayun said while sticking close to my back.

A man wearing shades with a guitar on his back was walking with another man, who I presumed was his manager. The man’s blonde hair made him stick out like a sore thumb, but I had no idea who he was.

“Who’s that?”

“You don’t know? That’s Gentri. The famous singer who sweeps the charts. He’s so handsome in real life.”

“… You can’t even see his face, what handsome are you talking about?”

“Huh? Don’t tell me… are you jealous?”

Chae Nayun looked like she was holding her laughter back while wiggling her brows.

“Just hurry up and keep walking,” I grumbled.

Actually, she caught me red-handed. I just wanted to get out of that situation as soon as possible.

We entered the building and sat at the cafe on the first floor. We ordered a cup of Americano and a cup of Supreme Basic Luwak Dutch Latte.

I took a sip of my Americano while Chae Nayun just stared at her latte.

“Does it taste different if you pay forty thousand won for it?”

“Hmm? Ah, not really. More importantly, are we going to find something by coming here?”

“We need to try at least. Oh, I just remembered. Do you know of any politicians or celebrities being supported by Kim Sukho?”

“Hmm…” Chae Nayun frowned.

Now that I thought about it, I wondered what kind of a life this girl lived in her previous life that she didn’t even suspect anything regarding that incident. Ah, never mind… I was sure she wouldn’t have been able to muster the courage to investigate the matter. She was quite the softie inside, so it wouldn’t have been easy for her.

“Ah! I remembered something from the entertainment industry! Have you heard of EN Entertainment?”

“Yeah.”

“I remember hearing some rumors about them. They said that they were able to scout a lot of heroes because Kim Sukho was supporting them or something like that. I think Kim Sukho’s father’s friend’s grandson is the owner of that company.”

I nodded in response. Our next destination was EN Entertainment.

“Oh? It’s Seung-Ah unni,” Chae Nayun said in surprise.

I looked back and saw Yun Seung-Ah coming in through the main door. She was with an old gentleman.

Both Chae Nayun and I flinched.

It was Kim Sukho.

I nonchalantly continued to sip my Americano as I activated [Hacking].

“… what the hell is this?”

[Smartwatch – Kim Sukho]

[Messages – 0]

There was nothing on his smartwatch. This was probably his work smartwatch, so I tried to scan for another watch on him.

Unfortunately, he already got into a sedan and sped away.

“Tsk… Let’s get up and go in,” I said.

“Alright, just give me a minute. I’ll be able to get us a pass if I call my father.”

***

We scoured through the broadcasting station stealing information left and right until sunset, but weren’t able to get anything related to Chae Jinyoon by the time we exited the building.

Oddly enough, Chae Nayun still energetically walked like a child on a night stroll while holding my hand.

However, I could see the sadness behind her smile. The fact that we were currently going through what happened to Chae Jinyoon was already more than enough to make her sad.

“Ah! It’s an arcade!” Chae Nayun exclaimed.

She was huffing and puffing from excitement. I patted her head to calm her down.

She suddenly turned towards me and stared into my eyes.

“What?”

“Hey… don’t touch me there…”

“Why?”

“I’m sensitive there…”

“…”

Was she talking about her erogenous spot right now…?

Anyways, I faked a cough and said, “Let’s go in.”

Chae Nayun simply nodded with her cheeks blushing.

We entered the arcade and various sounds and flashing lights greeted us.

Ding! Ding! Ding! Ding!

Ding! Ding! Ding! Ding! Ding!

Beep! Beep! Beep! Beep!

I wondered if I was just really lucky or if it was because I was in Seoul. We ran into another so-called main character.

“Ha… Really, why isn’t this working, Boss? Should I just destroy it?”

“Don’t, you’re just bad at it.”

“Even you can’t get that doll, Boss.”

“I can get it if I wanted to, but I’m just trying to stick to the rules.”

“How’s that any different from not being able to get it?”

“Shut your mouth.”

The Chameleon Troupe was in the arcade. I was certain that the gigantic man in a robe with his head almost touching the ceiling was Cheok Jungyeong. The small person next to him also in a robe was their boss.

They were currently struggling in front of a [Difficulty – High] claw machine.

Also, I could see Aileen from the Temple of Justice further inside the arcade.

It was highly likely that they hadn’t gathered here out of pure coincidence. I could feel that an incident would happen or they received orders to mobilize.

“Shall we try our luck with those dolls?” Chae Nayun asked as she walked towards the Chameleon Troupe.

“No!”

“Gosh, you scared me. Why not?”

I didn’t want to bump into them at all costs, but both of them were already looking at me after I shouted.

I quickly turned around and hugged Chae Nayun. I made sure to push her against the wall so both of our faces wouldn’t be visible to them.

“Huh…?” Chae Nayun muttered.

I could feel her breath on my neck, but I didn’t pay attention to that as I used my vision to look behind me.

“Haa…” I let out a sincere sigh of relief and swept my hair back.

“Kim Hajin…”

On the other hand, Chae Nayun was looking at me with a strange expression. No, it was more accurate to say that she was giving me quite a dangerous look.