#059
“It seems that high-ranking guides are not pleased with the new path opening up for lower-ranking guides. Some are even saying it might violate the Guide Protection Act for lower-ranking guides.”
“Those high-ranking guides who say such things are just being petty, not worth responding to. But isn’t this creating more opportunities for lower-ranking guides? I really don’t understand.”
Hyun Dowoon frowned and muttered in response to Team Leader Lee Jina’s explanation.
“I thought the Espers would speak up first.”
From the guides’ perspective, it’s a new qualification being created, while from the Espers’ point of view, there might be some pushback as it could be seen as taking a piece of their pie. He had anticipated this.
But why did the guides protest first? Hyun Dowoon tapped the desk with a troubled expression.
“Well… I’m hesitant to say this, but it seems like someone might be inciting this.”
“Are you saying someone is stirring up trouble over the new policy?”
Hyun Dowoon’s expression instantly hardened as he asked.
Rising to the position of Center Director at a young age through negotiations with the government, the first thing Hyun Dowoon focused on was gaining absolute power. Having a politician for a father, Hyun Dowoon was well aware of politics’ nature to bite when underestimated. While fear-based governance wasn’t good, a certain level of respect was absolutely necessary.
Awakened individuals came from all ages and genders. There were those much older than Hyun Dowoon, and very young ones too. Each had different characteristics. Both good and bad people awakened regardless of personality. This was why the government and the awakened had been at odds for so long.
Knowing this, Hyun Dowoon created an awakened management system optimized to bring freedom, wealth, and fame to the awakened, but in return, he demanded they follow the system.
That’s why he couldn’t help but react sensitively to the mention of incitement.
“I heard reports that Guide Lee Jaeha actually used an unusual ability in the dungeon… There’s talk that this policy was devised to give special treatment to Guide Lee Jaeha.”
“Who said that?”
“Well… it seems to be a common sentiment among everyone.”
When Lee Jaeha’s name was mentioned, Hyun Dowoon’s nerves became even more sensitive. While he thought it was a good policy for many awakened, the catalyst for this policy was indeed Lee Jaeha.
However, it wasn’t about giving special treatment to Lee Jaeha alone. The intention was to discover awakened individuals who hadn’t had a chance to shine before, so anyone could potentially benefit from this policy. At the very least, awakened individuals with distinct advantageous skills, regardless of their rank, would have a new opportunity to shine.
‘But how did Jaeha’s name come up?’
While it was natural for his name to come up as he would be the first to use the policy, this wasn’t the way Hyun Dowoon wanted it to be known.
“Why do you think everyone is saying this?”
“Well… they all said they saw it somewhere.”
“Saying they saw it somewhere means there’s someone spreading unfounded rumors.”
Hyun Dowoon muttered in a cold voice. The specific mention of Lee Jaeha seemed malicious.
‘Someone who holds a grudge against Jaeha.’
He thought he should look into who started spreading these rumors.
***
While waiting for a call from the Awakened Center for ability verification, I received an urgent call from Hyun Dowoon first.
It was a call to explain the current situation and ask if there was anyone who might hold a grudge against me.
‘Someone holding a grudge against me?’
The first person that came to mind was Kim Sehyun. He was openly hostile towards me.
“Well… things did sour between Kim Sehyun and me.”
Hearing my words, Hyun Dowoon sighed briefly before speaking.
– I was already suspicious of Guide Kim Sehyun after seeing your previous fight. But there’s a problem.
“A problem?”
If we both pointed to the same person as the culprit, wouldn’t that make Kim Sehyun even more suspicious?
I don’t know about the original Lee Jaeha, but honestly, among the people I’ve met since I arrived, Kim Sehyun was the only one I could think of who disliked me enough to slander me.
– The guides who complained all said they ‘saw it on the awakened community.’ I was already suspicious of Guide Kim Sehyun, so I investigated, but there were no records.
“You investigated?”
– Something most awakened don’t know is that although the awakened community seems anonymous, the server stores the posts and IDs of those who write them. Each person is limited to creating only one ID. Since the center operates the awakened community, center staff can check who wrote what.
“Ah… so that’s how you found out about Team 1 members writing defamatory posts last time.”
They freely hurled insults thinking they were anonymous, but I wonder how shocked they’d be to learn it wasn’t actually anonymous.
– Anyway, no posts were made using Guide Kim Sehyun’s ID.
“Couldn’t he have deleted them after writing?”
– Once a post is uploaded to the server, it leaves a record. It can’t be faked.
I thought it would surely be Kim Sehyun… If not him, the only others I could think of were the people from Team 1 who reportedly criticized me. They were the ones who showed direct malice towards me.
‘But how did they figure out I was involved just from this policy?’
Whether it was Kim Sehyun, Team 1 members, or someone else… how did they conclude I was involved just by looking at the policy?
Hiding my uneasy feelings, I mentioned Team 1.
“What about the Team 1 members who allegedly slandered me?”
– They haven’t been active on the community at all since the complaint was filed.
“I see… Then can’t we check the first post related to this issue?”
A long groan of “Hmm…” came from the other end of the phone in response to my question.
– Actually, that’s the strange part. Everyone says they saw it on the community, but there has never been a single related post on the community.
“What…?”
– Dozens of people said the same thing, but in reality, no such post has ever been uploaded to the community.
“Could it be hacking?”
– There’s no sign of the server being tampered with either.
Well, I suppose Hyun Dowoon would have thought of everything I could think of. Given his personality, he would have checked everything before contacting me.
“Then what could it be?”
– I even checked the browsing history of those who said they saw it on the community, but there were no records. Not even for those who gave quite detailed explanations.
It felt like I was listening to some urban legend. A post that dozens of people claim to have seen in common has never actually been posted.
“Is there any commonality among the people who complained? Like, are they all coordinating their stories…?”
– There doesn’t seem to be any so far. I initially suspected Guide Kim Sehyun, but there were also people who had no connection to him. Their ranks and activity areas are quite different too.
“I see… I’m not sure what’s going on either.”
– Alright, I understand. Don’t worry too much. Regardless of this issue, we’ll proceed with your verification.
With those words, Hyun Dowoon ended the call.
I threw my phone on the bed and lay on my side. What on earth was happening?
‘Could the author be intervening?’
Suddenly, I thought of the author. It seemed that the author might not be too keen on me developing power independently in this world.
After all, wealth and fame are supposed to be for the protagonist alone. The character the author planned for me was an F-rank villain who covets Kim Sehyun’s possessions without knowing their place, so clearly, they wouldn’t want me becoming the first guide to enter a dungeon alone and make a name for myself.
‘Isn’t the author, the creator of this world, the only one who could cause such strange events without leaving a trace?’
As I thought this, another odd thought occurred to me. The policy hasn’t been implemented yet, so if I were the author, I could just wrap it up by saying ‘it was just a baseless rumor’….
Is there a reason they can’t do that? Is that why they’re trying to create opposition to overturn the policy, since they can’t resolve it themselves?
‘Hyun Dowoon said he’d definitely make it happen.’
While I trust him, I’m not sure how things will turn out.
When I have worries I can’t share with anyone else, consulting with Nine is always the best option. I picked up my phone and called for Nine.
: Hello, Yeonsoo!
“Nine, I have something to ask. You said before that the author’s power had weakened a bit, right? How much exactly? Is it to the point where they can’t intervene in this world at all?”
: As long as the author is writing, they can still intervene! But they can’t move things around freely!
“Would it be possible for them to easily erase a single event?”
: The consequences of your actions, Yeonsoo, must be reflected in the writing. They can’t erase events to the point of completely breaking plausibility!
Hmm… If that’s the case, it might be that the author, unable to conveniently erase the event, is struggling. Honestly, who else but the author could cause such an incident without anyone knowing?
‘From the author’s perspective… re-verifying the constellations itself must be quite risky.’
That’s because the protagonist’s constellation is the ‘Lord of Betrayal and Conspiracy.’ It’s a constellation that suits a villain much more than a protagonist, so it wouldn’t be good for readers to see that attached to the main character.
‘Oh, come to think of it!’
Thinking about Kim Sehyun reminded me of something I had forgotten. I should ask about everything while I’m at it. I immediately asked Nine:
“Why did you say it was the optimal opportunity to receive a reward last time? You had never said anything like that before.”
: . . . . . . .
“Nine?”
Is it going to run away again? Worried, I frowned and tapped the phone screen, and Nine, after displaying only dots on the screen for a while, finally answered.
: Why don’t you try to figure it out yourself?
You don’t want to answer, is that it?
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
