The Poison Demon’s Strategy for the Martial Tower Chapter 83

Chapter 83: I Am Kim Tae-yang (2)

I was grouped together with 31st floor climbers.

Being considered a high-floor climber, the treatnt I received was sothing else.

They kept asking if I was uncomfortable anywhere, and the waiting container had an air purifier running along with a temperature control device.

Food and snacks were continuously supplied.

‘So we're national treasures, apparently.’

I felt pretty good.

I waited for my turn.

"Chief Han is here too."

She stood at the tower entrance with her arms crossed.

A suit really did suit her, as always.

‘But why does that bastard keep glancing at ?’

From a while ago, Section Chief Bong Ju-min had been grinning and peering my way.

It didn't seem like he was trying to acknowledge .

‘There's definitely sothing he's scheming.’

After thinking about it for a mont, that guy's plan was plain as day.

I smiled lightly and waited, and soon my turn ca.

A special cara was connected to a laptop, capturing the ripple pattern when entering the tower and producing its result.

For a 31st floor climber, the sa ripple as a 31st floor climber would naturally appear.

Anyone whose pattern differed would be caught on the spot and subjected to a Gukmubon investigation.

Heh heh heh.

Bong Ju-min grinned as he looked at .

Of the 10 people grouped with , 7 had already passed.

5 of them seed to belong to the sa sect and had gone ahead into the tower to climb.

The remaining 2 hadn't entered due to a ti limit but were confird to have matching patterns.

"You're confird as a 31st floor climber. You may return. Thank you for attending. A small stipend will be deposited."

Finally, my turn.

I stood in front of the entry gate.

Chief Han was leaning her back against a pillar near the entry gate.

She didn't seem to recognize without my Human Skin Mask.

0%

"Please go ahead."

"Yes."

Just as I stepped forward—

"Wait!"

Bong Ju-min raised his hand and jumped forward.

"This person is a Chinese spy!"

"……?"

Everyone reacted with bafflent.

Bong Ju-min shouted in an agitated voice.

"This man! Kim Tae-yang threatened . He told to register him as a 27th floor climber, or he'd slaughter my entire family!"

‘……?’

I made an expression of indignation.

"Arrest him imdiately! He's a spy! I swear on everything I have."

As Bong Ju-min ca out swinging so fiercely, the Gukmubon agents slowly started approaching .

Chief Han focused her gaze on as well.

"I am not a spy."

"Please co this way."

"I'm telling you, I'm not."

Bong Ju-min shouted again.

"Not a spy? Please check this man's data. It says 27th floor there, doesn't it? The person who modified the entry is , Bong Ju-min."

At that, Chief Han walked over to the female Gukmubon agent sitting in front of the laptop.

The female agent spoke.

"That's correct, Chief. It's exactly as Section Chief Bong says. Why did a 27th floor conqueror co to take the 31st floor examination?"

Bong Ju-min crowed triumphantly.

"You see! I told you I was right. He certainly won't have a sect affiliation either! It's absurd that an Unaffiliated Climber made it all the way to the 31st floor!"

Chief Han looked at the female agent again, and the female agent nodded.

"There is no registered sect affiliation. He is an Unaffiliated Climber."

I imdiately protested.

"I am not an Unaffiliated Climber. I am affiliated with the Red Dragon Gate."

At the ntion of Red Dragon Gate, the Gukmubon agents' eyes shifted.

An agent spoke.

"We can recite the nas of Red Dragon Gate's 30th floor and above climbers in our sleep. But Kim Tae-yang is a na we've never heard."

I backed away and said,

"I'm telling you, you're wrong!"

"Words alone won't do."

Click.

A Gukmubon agent drew a telescopic baton.

"Hey—wait, are you really doing this?"

The agents tightened their encirclent. Fierce looks in their eyes.

I shouted at them.

"And what will you do if I'm not?!"

"……."

"I'm going to tip off the press. That Gukmubon agents are persecuting a diligent climber and patriot by calling him a spy!"

At the magic words, ‘tip off the press’ the Gukmubon agents faltered.

They turned their heads and looked toward Chief Han.

She stepped in front of Bong Ju-min and looked him in the eyes.

"Section Chief Bong, can you take responsibility?"

"Yes! If I'm wrong, I'll hand in my resignation right then and there."

"Arrest him."

The agents rushed at imdiately.

Swoosh.

I took a step back right against the Murim Tower entry gate.

Hummm—

The mont the ripple shimred—

The agents imdiately grabbed both my arms and dragged away, throwing to the ground.

They twisted my arms behind and snapped handcuffs on.

For a regular person, cable ties would be more than sufficient, but since I was a climber, handcuffs were non-negotiable.

"Aaaaaagh!"

Honestly, it didn't hurt at all, but I scread on purpose.

"Stay still!"

"Aaagh! It hurts. Gently."

As the agents moved to haul back to my feet—

"U-Um……!"

The female Gukmubon agent sitting in front of the laptop raised her hand, adjusting her glasses.

"What is it?"

Chief Han asked.

The bespectacled female agent hesitated and spoke.

"H-He's… correct."

"Pardon?"

"This person is confird as 31st floor."

She pointed to the results on the laptop screen with her hand.

Chief Han rushed over to verify it, then let out a groan.

"He actually is……!"

Another agent held up a phone and reported to Chief Han.

"I confird with Red Dragon Gate—there is apparently a climber nad Kim Tae-yang."

"I thought he was Unaffiliated!"

"Well, apparently he joined just a few days ago."

"Oh for—!"

Swoosh.

She turned her gaze to Bong Ju-min.

"T-That can't be. He's definitely a Chinese spy!"

Swish—Tap.

Chief Han turned the laptop around and showed it to him.

"I… it's true? Why—why? That's impossible."

"Section Chief Bong Ju-min!"

Flinch.

Bong Ju-min froze.

"Just what on earth do you think you're—"

"Before that!"

I cut in.

With one rough shake of my body, the agents released both my arms.

I shouted at Chief Han with my hands still cuffed behind my back.

"Take responsibility! Or I'll report everything to the press!"

As I hollered at the top of my lungs, Chief Han gave a look.

The agents promptly removed the handcuffs.

She said,

"I apologize. Today's incident was our mistake."

"Does 'mistake' cover it?"

"No. I'm sorry. How can we make it up to you?"

For a mont, I thought of the jail warden who had beco the Hundred-Man Commander of Demon Wind Manor long ago.

That late bastard.

‘Should I ask her to take Bong Ju-min's head?’

No.

Sothing Chief Han had once said suddenly ca to .

"You should submit your resignation."

She bit her lip.

"Understood. Section Chief Bong, you made a promise earlier, didn't you? Submit your resignation today—"

"Not him."

I reached out my hand.

"Chief Han's resignation."

"……Pardon?"

‘You said it yourself.’

‘That you have to make a big commotion to catch a big fish.’

‘Let's see then.’

‘What we end up catching.’

* * *

I was inside Chief Han's office.

She asked ,

"Coffee? Tea?"

"Do you have a caral macchiato?"

"Would I?"

"Tea, then."

"Sa for ."

Her secretary nodded and stepped out.

I smiled at her and said,

"I thought you'd brew it yourself."

"?"

"Yes."

"Don't you know my nickna?"

"Isn't it Poison Spider?"

"Bwahahaha!"

She burst out laughing suddenly.

"Are you flirting with right now?"

"These days it's called flirting, isn't it."

She looked at with an expression that said, ‘Oh, this one’.

She seed taken aback that soone dared to joke around with the great Poison Spider herself.

I asked,

"What perfu do you wear?"

"Why?"

"Because the fragrance is lovely. I'd like to gift so to my mother."

She turned around and picked up a perfu from her desk.

"It doesn't have a brand."

"It's a niche perfu. You can't find it on the market. It's a perfu made exclusively for by France's finest perfur."

I reached out my hand.

"May I take it?"

"No, you may not. I don't have many left either."

She set the perfu back on the desk.

Chief Han asked with a smile,

"How old are you?"

"Around 27, I think."

"You don't know your own age?"

"It should be right."

"Do you know how old I am?"

"Aren't you in your early 30s?"

"I'm 5 years older than you."

"I didn't say let's date."

"……."

The look on her face as she went montarily blank.

‘Co to think of it, everything I said was technically right.’

"You've got nerve, going up against ……. So you joined Red Dragon Gate?"

"It's a pretty decent place."

Swoosh.

She leaned forward.

The familiar scent of lilac drifted over.

"How about coming to Gukmubon?"

"Is this a recruitnt offer?"

"You'd be working for the nation."

"From what I saw earlier, you were busy beating citizens up."

"……That, I'm sorry about."

"It's not sothing that ends with sorry."

The secretary ca in carrying tea.

It was a traditional tea steeped in a teapot.

Just as the secretary was about to pour—

"I'll do it myself, so you may go."

The secretary looked slightly startled, then stepped out.

Chief Han tilted the teapot and poured the tea.

"What an honor."

I said to her.

Chief Han smiled.

"Feel free to boast about it."

A voice brimming with confidence. She said,

"I'll apologize once more for the Section Chief Bong incident."

"Not an apology—a resignation."

"You want to quit?"

"It seems as though you yourself wish to quit the Gukmubon."

Swoosh.

She leaned back against the sofa.

Her expression shifted.

"Why would you say that?"

"You have the look of soone who wants to set it all down and climb freely to your heart's content."

"……!"

She fixed her gaze on .

Her pupils wavered faintly, as though her heart had been seen through.

"If I quit, what about Gukmubon?"

"Do you think you're the only talent there?"

"Ha! You think lightly of ."

"I think highly of the other agents."

I drank my tea and set it back down.

"Not everything has to be done by you, Chief Han."

"……."

Chief Han pressed her lips tightly together.

It was certainly sothing she had never heard before.

Everyone had always co to her saying, ‘Chief Han’, and whenever a problem arose, they had waited for her alone like chicks waiting for their mother bird.

But perhaps because of that—

Her influence had grown so vast that Gukmubon could no longer function without her.

And so she feared it all the more.

Click— She lifted her teacup.

This ti I asked her,

"How about coming to our Red Dragon Gate instead?"

"Pfff—!"

She suddenly spat out the tea she had in her mouth.

"Oh, dear."

"It's fine."

I pulled out a tissue and handed it to her.

She wiped the tea from her immaculate suit, looking embarrassed.

"This has never happened to before."

"Sotis it does."

She stared at intently.

"Sect Leader Lee Won-ryong is fortunate. He's brought in a valuable talent."

"If I brought Chief Han back with , he'd be dancing with joy."

"That's out of the question. There would be people who wouldn't welco it."

"Who would that be?"

She chuckled to herself as she wiped the table.

"There's soone……. Strange but magnificent."

"Isn't there quite a significant age gap with that person?"

"……!"

Swish—!

She instantly shot out her hand like lightning to grab by the collar.

I slipped aside and caught her wrist.

"So it's true what they say—Gold Claw Hand is second to none."

"Who are you?"

"……."

"Who did you hear that from?!"

Chief Han raised her voice, and I released her wrist and said,

"I am Kim Tae-yang. The disciple of the Naless Hero."

* * *

Chief Han sat blankly in her office until late into the night.

"Chief Han. Aren't you heading ho?"

"……."

Her secretary, eager to leave work, walked into the office and hovered, but Chief Han had docunts spread out across her desk and was in complete concentration.

"Chief……Han?"

"Oh? Ah, go on ho."

"Thank you."

"Is this all the information on Kim Tae-yang?"

"Yes. There wasn't much."

"Understood. See you tomorrow."

"Yes!"

Chief Han looked at the clock on the wall.

Already 10 at night.

‘How long had she been so absorbed?’

"Sigh……."

She brewed herself a cup of coffee and drank it.

"Just what is this. What kind of situation is this."

‘I am Kim Tae-yang. His disciple.’

The impact those words carried had been imnse.

‘Could there be a sect made up of hidden reclusive masters?’

It was sothing her father, Minister Han, had said to her long ago. The mysterious sect had finally appeared!

And beyond the fact that he was rely a disciple, an even more staggering suspicion had struck her, and that was—

That was—

"Kim Tae-yang…… is Ghost?"

That was the question that had pierced through her mind in that very mont.

She had imdiately asked Kim Tae-yang.

"Are you Ghost?"

His reply had been peculiar.

Kim Tae-yang said nothing, curled the corner of his mouth upward, and—

Clap clap clap—!

Slowly clapped 3 tis.

Was that a yes? Was he mocking her with a no?

If he had simply said no, she would have been certain.

That ambiguous answer only made her head grow more complicated.

So she had asked again then.

"What proof do you have that you're his disciple?"

Thud.

Kim Tae-yang set down a secret communication device.

The mont it was confird to unmistakably belong to the Naless Hero—

Chief Han had been struck with a trendous shock.

The secret communication device was the only ans of contact between herself and the Naless Hero.

The fact that Kim Tae-yang now had it ant—

‘You won't be contacting anymore?’

Chief Han felt as though her insides were caving in.

She asked Kim Tae-yang.

"W-What did he say when he gave you this?"

"He asked if I had forgotten a warning he gave you long ago."

"……!"

‘Do not pursue any further. Unless you wish to see a second Masayoshi.’

It was a warning the Naless Hero had given in Japan.

It had been herself who had broken it.

She hurried to explain.

"The re-registration procedure for climbers was clearly under Blue House orders—"

"He said to stop taking cups from the café."

"……!"

"He asked whether the Blue House has a cup-collecting hobby now."

She was left with nothing to say.

The café was the place where she and the Naless Hero had always t.

Chief Han had secretly gone back to the café and retrieved the cups the Naless Hero had drunk from.

She had tried to lift fingerprints to uncover his identity.

But nothing had ever co of it.

"What else did he say?"

"You're asking quite a lot without any paynt."

She stared at Kim Tae-yang for a mont, then retrieved the perfu from her desk and held it out to him.

"You're giving a used one?"

"You clearly don't know. The fact that I've used it adds even more premium value."

"I said it's for my mother……."

"Just speak quickly!"

Kim Tae-yang pocketed the perfu and said casually,

"He didn't say much."

"……Give back the perfu."

"Oh! He did ask sothing recently."

"W-What was it?"

He sipped his tea and spoke.

"He asked if I had any interest in going to a warm country and living together."

"Emigrating?!"

Chief Han shot up from her seat, and Kim Tae-yang rose as well.

"I'll be taking my leave."

She asked urgently.

"J-Just tell one thing. Is Ghost…… in Korea?"

"Yes."

"……That's a relief."

Kim Tae-yang gave a slight bow.

"Until next ti. Ah—feel free to keep my teacup."