Chapter 9: What is Invisible

Limon snapped out of his thoughts at the sudden ringing of his phone.

He pulled the smartphone out from where it was buried in the sofa and made a puzzled face after checking the name on the screen: [Yuna Gyeong].

‘What’s she calling me for?’

He tilted his head for a moment.

Limon pressed the call button and answered.

[Hello~ Team Leader?]

As soon as the call connected, a cheerful voice rang out.

In a sense, it was the voice of the team member he heard most often throughout the year. Limon replied indifferently.

“Yeah, what is it?”

[I have something to tell you. You’re at home right now, aren’t you?]

“And?”

[Ah, then that’s perfect. I’m heading there now.]

“……What?”

Limon blinked.

It wasn’t that he didn’t understand her random words.

On the contrary, he was flustered because he knew exactly what Yuna Gyeong meant by that.

“Hey, wait a second!”

Click!

Unfortunately, Limon’s protest was too late.

Just as the call was cut off unilaterally, the air in front of Limon was already beginning to distort.

The moment the distortion vanished.

As if falling straight out of the sky.

A woman appeared in front of Limon.

“Hiyah! Special Agent Yuna Gyeong has arriv—!”

Slip!

“—ed?”

There was one problem.

The place she chose to appear happened to be right on top of the pile of comic books Limon had read and tossed aside.

The price for attempting the incredibly high-difficulty feat of striking a cool pose atop a spire made of books was miserable.

Crash!

“Eek? Kyaaa!”

“Tsk.”

Limon clicked his tongue as he watched Yuna Gyeong slip her ankle and fall backward from the collapsing tower of books.

He reached out and grabbed her flailing wrist.

Thanks to his agile response, instead of cracking her skull against the corner of the table, Yuna Gyeong dived into Limon’s arms and let out a sigh of relief.

“Phew, I almost died.”

“What do you mean ‘died’? Would a high-level Player in the 70s really kick the bucket just from cracking their head a little?”

“Even a Player dies when they’re supposed to die!”

“You wouldn’t die just from slipping and bumping your head.”

Limon snorted.

In reality, the body of a high-level Player over Level 70 was practically made of steel.

Though it varied based on their Stamina stat, instead of her nose breaking if she fell backward, she was at a level where she could shatter a rock with the back of her head.

At his cold remark, Yuna Gyeong puffed out her cheeks.

“Is that any way to talk to a subordinate who almost suffered a sudden death?”

“Then who told you to use Teleportation without warning?”

“I didn’t know the Team Leader’s house would be such a mess!”

Limon looked at the fuming Yuna Gyeong with pathetic eyes.

She wasn’t some rookie Player.

To think that a klutz who slips because she messed up her Teleportation was one of the top space-type Players in the country.

To Limon, who remembered an era where high-and-mighty witches would throw all sorts of fusses just to try that Teleportation thing once, it was simply absurd.

‘Players these days, I swear…’

Limon let out a sigh at the sudden sense of how much times had changed, then suddenly remembered something he had forgotten.

“Hey, by the way, when are you going to get off me?”

“Huh?”

As if she were hearing something nonsense.

She tilted her head for a moment.

Then, Yuna Gyeong blinked.

It was only after she realized how close Limon’s face was and felt the arms wrapped around her waist that her face turned bright red, and she hurriedly scrambled backward.

“Ahaha, I’m sorry. I just lost my head for a second.”

“You’re always losing your head.”

“Cheer…”

Yuna Gyeong glared fiercely at Limon for his continued lack of consideration.

But Limon didn’t even bat an eyelid.

He simply sat back down on the sofa and asked bluntly.

“So, what’s the matter?”

“What is?”

“Didn’t you come here because you had something to tell me?”

“Ah, right. That’s right.”

The golden eyes instantly grew cold.

“Eek! Why are you looking at me like that? A person can forget things after having a brush with death!”

“Quite something to be proud of, kid.”

“Don’t be like that to someone who brought you such good news.”

Since she had no excuse, she apparently decided to just be shameless.

Limon looked puzzled as he listened to Yuna Gyeong shout with a thick-skinned face.

“What, did you find out the winning lottery numbers or something?”

“Hey, this is obviously better than that. I mean, what even is a lottery? It’s been ages since that whole industry collapsed because of prophecy-type Players.”

“Then what is it?”

“Well, it’s something similar to winning the lottery.”

“……Do you want me to hit you? Did you come all the way to my house just for that?”

“Ah, wait! Wait a minute! I’ll tell you, I’ll tell you!”

At the sight of Limon curling his fingers into a fist, Yuna Gyeong waved her hands in fright.

As if afraid someone might overhear.

She glanced around her surroundings and whispered quietly.

“Actually, I found the headquarters of the Liberation Brigade.”

Liberation Brigade.

***

Although the word ‘Brigade’ was attached to it, this organization was obviously not a military force.

No, it was rather the opposite.

An organization that sought to liberate Players, who were allegedly oppressed and exploited, from the government to create a world where everyone could live freely.

That was the Liberation Brigade.

Like any such organization, the ideology of the Liberation Brigade sounded plausible enough.

However, the evaluation from those who had actually dealt with the Liberation Brigade could generally be summarized in one word.

“You found the headquarters of those psychos?”

“Yes.”

Yuna Gyeong nodded coolly.

The fact that the Liberation Brigade was composed of psychos was practically common knowledge.

In the first place, Players were the highest income bracket in modern society.

Liberating such Players was nonsense to begin with.

The decisive factor was their goal.

They called it a ‘world where everyone is free,’ but if you looked at the details of their claims, it amounted to making it so that Players wouldn’t be punished no matter what crimes they committed.

Therefore, not only ordinary citizens but even Players considered the Liberation Brigade to be psychos.

The exceptions were those who sympathized with that ideology.

In other words, criminals who were dying to commit murder, rape, or arson, or genuine madmen.

“How did you find it when even the National Intelligence Service couldn’t?”

From that perspective.

Limon’s suspicion was natural.

Since many of them were former criminals, the Liberation Brigade was an organization quite skilled at evading tracking and surveillance.

In particular, their headquarters was so well hidden that not a single trace had been found until now.

“Heh heh heh! I have my ways.”

“I’m asking what those ways are.”

“I can’t tell you that, but anyway, I guarantee it’s solid information.”

“Hmm……”

Limon looked suspiciously at Yuna Gyeong’s triumphant expression for a moment.

He eventually nodded.

She was a bit of a klutz, but Yuna Gyeong was still an agent of the PAB.

If she was confident enough to guarantee it, the information was likely credible to some extent.

“But why are you telling me this?”

“Why else? I thought this would be a good chance for the Team Leader to get a promotion.”

“Promotion?”

As if he had heard an alien language.

Limon blinked.

To her superior, who had only been demoted for the past decades and had lived without any connection to promotions, Yuna Gyeong spoke passionately.

“How big of an achievement would it be to wipe out the headquarters of the Liberation Brigade? Your suspension would be lifted immediately, and a promotion would be practically guaranteed, right?”

It was a point that made some sense.

The Liberation Brigade was a national nuisance because they committed all sorts of crazy acts while staying hidden.

The merit of subjugating their headquarters would by no means be small.

Especially within the PAB, which viewed the Liberation Brigade as a thorn in its side because so many heinous high-level Players were members.

But Limon didn’t fall for Yuna Gyeong’s sweet-talking.

He simply asked indifferently,

“So, what’s your real motive?”

“They have bounties on their heads, don’t they?”

“So you’re saying we should make some money while we’re at it?”

“I need to save up for my wedding fund at a time like this too.”

“Aren’t you being a bit too honest?”

“Even if I said something noble, you wouldn’t believe me anyway, would you?”

“Well, that’s true.”

Limon chuckled as he looked at the boldly speaking Yuna Gyeong.

He then crossed his arms and considered the proposal.

‘It’s certainly not a bad offer.’

He didn’t care about things like promotions.

Through long years of experience, he knew that such things ultimately didn’t leave much behind.

However, he was a bit tempted by the bounty.

Since the amount placed on the Liberation Brigade was large, he might be able to secure a significant sum if things went well.

Of course, to keep the bounty to themselves, they would need to subjugate the Liberation Brigade with just the two of them, without any support, but…

‘A few of those insects wouldn’t be a problem.’

Limon snorted softly.

No matter how many high-level Players there were, they were ultimately a group of criminals.

A rabble that didn’t even know what real war was like was no match for him, no matter how many there were.

The remaining issue was that they were currently suspended, but even that wasn’t something to worry too much about.

If they just managed to subjugate the Liberation Brigade, as Yuna Gyeong said, that measly suspension would be wiped clean.

‘Hmm, the more I think about it, the more I see no reason not to do it.’

After clearing his thoughts to that extent.

Limon’s face suddenly hardened.

Slowly.

The moment he felt his vision momentarily dyed in black.

It was because a completely different image began to overlap with the face of Yuna Gyeong, who was looking at him with expectant eyes.

“……What the fuck?”

“Ack? Why are you suddenly swearing!”

“It’s not at you, so just stay still.”

Limon raised a hand to stop Yuna Gyeong’s outburst.

It wasn’t just because he was flustered by this sudden situation.

It was because he had experienced this phenomenon, where a person’s appearance suddenly looked different, once before not too long ago.

‘This feels similar to when that bastard Seo Yong-chan looked like he had a bull’s head…’

Whether it was a blessing in disguise or not.

Unlike with Seo Yong-chan, Yuna Gyeong’s head didn’t entirely turn into an animal’s.

Instead, her complexion became deathly pale, and her hair suddenly seemed to grow very long.

The problem was her slender neck.

To be precise, it was the image of a snake sinking its fangs into that neck.

‘Thinking about Seo Yong-chan’s case, it doesn’t seem like a hallucination… but it’s probably not physical either. If it were, Gyeong wouldn’t be acting so casual.’

It was the same as with Seo Yong-chan.

The way someone’s appearance changed after a black light flashed across his vision.

And the fact that he was the only one who could see it.

Since the person and the situation were what they were, Limon fell into deep thought, unlike the time with Seo Yong-chan.

‘Am I really going crazy and seeing hallucinations?’

If something strange is seen only once, you can just think the other person is weird.

But if it’s seen twice?

Even Limon couldn’t help but feel a little doubt about his own mental state.

That was also why he didn’t immediately draw his sword and slash the snake.

Whether it was a hallucination or not.

At the very least, it didn’t seem like Yuna Gyeong was going to die right this second because of that snake.

‘If this isn’t a hallucination…’

Like any sane person.

Limon first excluded the possibility that he was crazy.

And then he sought the best answer that could explain this situation in a way that seemed most reasonable to him.

‘……Have I suddenly become able to see things others can’t?’