Chapter 83: The Reckoning in the Crimson Office

#83

“I’ll just get a suspension again this time, but I doubt Han Dokyeom will.”

Instead of replying, Dokyeom rubbed his itching lips. His gaze then drifted to the elevator’s display, which was now passing the sixteenth floor.

Seventeenth floor, eighteenth floor.

Just as the elevator seemed to settle back into silence, the manager, as if taking a baton, opened their mouth. The space was instantly filled with their sneering voice once more.

“It was you, wasn’t it? You’re the ones who tipped off that reporter bastard, aren’t you? Couldn’t find anyone else to leak to, so you went to those measly reporters to spin a whole novel?

But what can you do? Everyone’s taken so many bribes, they’ll all just deny everything and keep their mouths shut. To quell the media, the Chairman needs to be on the same boat as us anyway, so why are you the only ones who don’t get that?”

‘At this point, a thought struck him. Was it madness to keep enduring this? They clearly saw him as a pushover. Should he just lie down and claim he was threatened?’

While his thoughts swirled in disarray, leaving him bewildered, the elevator had already reached its destination.

With the chime announcing the top floor, the doors slid open as silently as ever.

Dokyeom withdrew his hands from his pockets and stepped out without hesitation.

The straight path ahead felt unusually long, making him realize that despite his outward calm, he, too, must have been feeling the tension.

Flanked by the secretarial offices, the door exuded an unsettling aura.

Dokyeom was just about to reach for it.

Mid-reach, a hand suddenly shot out, grabbing the doorknob first and cutting him off. It was Lee Sanghyeon.

Knock, knock—

After a soft knock, he flung open the CEO’s office door and strode in. He entered the crimson-hued space, awash in the glow of the setting sun.

The very first thing he saw was, indeed, the sunset, which shimmered beyond the CEO’s office’s panoramic window and filled the sky.

The clouds, spread out like waves, created one of the most breathtaking sights he had witnessed recently.

Yet, contrary to the warm, gentle blush of the spreading red light, the interior was utterly frigid. Not even a hint of that warmth permeated the room.

A menacing atmosphere conveyed a stifling grip in the air.

Numerous individuals were already seated in the CEO’s office, casting wary glances at Taeseongyeon.

They included the heads of the legal team, the management team, the general affairs department, and every other division.

Someone, perhaps sweating profusely, pulled out a handkerchief and wiped behind their ear. Another person swallowed hard, a dry gulp.

As Lee Sanghyeon and the Gate Manager entered, the team leaders’ gazes naturally shifted to them.

The atmosphere was anything but ordinary.

“Sit down, won’t you?”

Just as Lee Sanghyeon seemed to grasp the undercurrents, Taeseongyeon’s polite invitation fell. On its own, the tone would have sounded perfectly normal.

Nevertheless, feeling the oppressive weight in the air, Lee Sanghyeon and the manager took their seats in the empty chairs.

Dokyeom did the same.

‘Something felt amiss.’

Lee Sanghyeon detected a strange unease in the restless demeanor of the team leaders. ‘Had someone confessed?’

‘After all, they were all in this together, too busy protecting their own interests, so if revelations started, they would all be dragged down and crushed as one.’

Just as the heavy air began to constrict his lungs, Taeseongyeon finally spoke.

“Han Dokyeom seems to have done something quite pointless.”

Lee Sanghyeon quickly suppressed the corner of his lips from twitching upwards. As he lowered his gaze and glanced sideways, someone’s legs entered the edge of his vision.

The legs remained perfectly still.

“And in the meantime, he’s even made friends with an interesting reporter.”

“And? From my perspective, that doesn’t seem to be the problem.”

Lee Sanghyeon’s mouth twitched, as if trying to hide his surprise. ‘What is that E-ranker even saying right now?’

Perhaps shocked, polite coughs erupted from various corners of the room. Taeseongyeon, however, remained impassive, his chin still propped in his hand.

“Why wouldn’t it be a problem?”

The languid words resonated, almost soothingly. Everyone swallowed hard.

Some, their throats apparently parched, discreetly loosened their ties and let out stifled breaths.

“If you had come directly to me, it would have been resolved without issue. But you’ve stirred up such a commotion, so why do you unilaterally decide there’s no problem?”

Even as he spoke in a coaxing manner, his uniquely low and languid voice imbued his words with an oppressive authority. Taeseongyeon, subtly pushing up his temple, questioned them with eyes devoid of warmth.

“Why did you do it? Let’s hear why you were so desperate to set this chain of events in motion. Did I appear so incompetent in Han Dokyeom’s eyes that he had to resort to the media to expose internal matters? Or perhaps…”

Taeseongyeon continued, his gaze sweeping over each of the team leaders, who uncomfortably avoided his eyes.

“Did I seem like I was in on it too, making your new friend more trustworthy? Let’s hear it.”

‘Or perhaps, are you becoming like Yisaein, who is desperate to screw me over?’

Having uttered his final words, Taeseongyeon let out a short, hollow laugh, perhaps finding his own thought amusing.

Even that smile seemed perilous.

Although Taeseongyeon was clearly interrogating an E-rank Hunter, Lee Sanghyeon felt an inexplicable sense of unease. He glanced at the General Affairs team leader beside him, intending to ask what had transpired before his arrival, but the man expertly evaded his gaze.

Lee Sanghyeon subtly furrowed his brow. ‘What kind of game is this?’

‘There was something going on, but he couldn’t fathom what it was.’ Lee Sanghyeon began to worry that he might end up completely abandoned and isolated.

His anxiety became reality when a pale hand pulled something from a pocket and set it firmly on the table.

“You asked for evidence, didn’t you? So I brought it. You can listen for yourself, Taeseongyeon, and decide why I did what I did.”

It was a silver ballpoint pen.

Though it was just a pen, the moment Lee Sanghyeon saw the jack connector attached to its side, he instantly understood. His fists clenched involuntarily, and cold sweat beaded in his palms.

‘Surely not… Surely not.’

Doubt solidified into certainty. It happened the moment the detached USB connector of the pen was plugged into a phone, and sound began to pour out.

[If you’re so aggrieved, go whine to the Association. Do you really think they’ll take your side after hearing you out? If I’d run into trouble doing this for years, I’d have quit already, you bastards. I wonder if you even know this is the custom of the Sahyeon Guild?]

Lee Sanghyeon’s and the Gate Manager’s eyes widened until the veins throbbed. Their feet, resting on the floor, trembled imperceptibly.

Lee Sanghyeon was, relatively, better off. The Gate Manager, at this moment, was staring at the recorder with a face that looked as if they might start foaming at the mouth.

‘How could they not recognize it? It was their own furious outburst.’

[Look, it’s clear you’re a Hunter who hasn’t been in the Sahyeon Guild long. Don’t you know you shouldn’t meddle in another manager’s gate? Each supervisor has different methods and rules; is that something for you to dispute? For all you know, I was just doing what I was told by those above me!]

“N-no! This is, uh… I, I never said anything like that…!”

The Gate Manager, their face ashen, abruptly let out a shriek like a pig being slaughtered. However, their words were abruptly cut short by a hand that violently clamped over their mouth.

It was a hand clad in armor, flickering with blue flames. The hand, reaching out from behind to gag the manager, tightened its grip on their jaw with a bone-crushing crunch.

Taeseongyeon’s Hell Legion.

“Hngh, hmph! Ugh!!”

Crunch—

The gruesome sound of teeth breaking echoed through the room. Blood streamed from the manager’s gagged mouth, dripping heavily onto their chin and falling to the floor.

Everyone grimaced, averting their eyes from the sight.

Even Dokyeom, who had been sitting rather brazenly, subtly adjusted his posture the moment he witnessed it. His demeanor had, imperceptibly, become deferential.

“Just quiet that mouth. My mind is too troubled right now to be considerate, truly.”

Taeseongyeon idly propped his chin in his hand, tapping the armrest. His gaze returned to the recorder.

‘This was a side of him Dokyeom had never seen before.’ His bored expression seemed strangely vulgar, unlike Taeseongyeon at all.

[I checked their record… There have already been several recommendations for corrective action. All were related to wages, and there’s a history of these issues being escalated to HR and General Affairs. Most likely… this time, it’ll also just end with a recommendation for corrective action.]

Aside from the sounds emanating from the recorder and the manager’s choked whimpers, no other noise could be heard. Lee Sanghyeon and the other team leaders’ faces were already dark and grim, as if they stood before the River Jordan.

The recorder played on, circling back to the very end. To the exact moment it had been recorded, right before they arrived here.

[I’ll just get a suspension again this time, but I doubt Han Dokyeom will?]

[It was you, wasn’t it? You’re the ones who tipped off that reporter bastard, aren’t you? Couldn’t find anyone else to leak to, so you went to those measly reporters to spin a whole novel? But what can you do? Everyone’s taken so many bribes, they’ll all just deny everything and keep their mouths shut. To quell the media, the Chairman needs to be on the same boat as us anyway, so why are you the only ones who don’t get that?]

With those words, the playback concluded. At that precise moment, Taeseongyeon leaned back against the sofa’s cushion.

His languid gaze, directed upwards into the empty air, seemed fixed on something unseen. Soon, however, his composed lips formed words.

“Hunter Lee Sanghyeon.”

“…Yes, Chairman.”

Lee Sanghyeon’s shoulders stiffened rigidly. His voice, faintly trembling with tension, awaited his superior’s next words.

Taeseongyeon, still gazing into the void, asked.

“How much have you profited illicitly?”

“That’s preposterous! Chairman, how could I possibly do such a thing? You know how much blood and sweat I’ve poured into the Sahyeon Guild until now! It was absolutely not me. The truth will surely come out if you investigate thoroughly…!”

“I asked how much you profited illicitly.”