The silence in the VIP room of the Shilla Hotel was absolute.
It was the kind of silence that usually preceded an explosion.
Chairman Choi stared at the bank draft lying on the lazy susan. His face, previously flushed with alcohol and arrogance, had turned a mottled purple.
[ Pay to: Hanbit Bank ] [ Amount: 4,200,000,000 KRW ]
The numbers seemed to mock him.
Suddenly, the world fractured for Kang Jin-woo.
A sharp, high-pitched whine pierced his skull. It wasn't sound; it was data. The room froze. The dust motes floating under the chandelier suspended in mid-air. Chairman Choi's bulging eyes stopped blinking.
A translucent blue screen materialized directly in front of Jin-woo's face, blocking his view of the enemy.
[ SYSTEM INITIALIZATION COMPLETE ] [ FATAL ERROR: Host has deviated from the script! ] [ THREAT LEVEL: S-RANK ]
Jin-woo frowned. He stood in the corner, holding a pitcher of ice water, looking annoyed.
"Get out of my way," he thought. "I'm working."
The System ignored him. Text scrolled rapidly across the blue window, frantic and authoritative.
[ ALERT: You have provoked a Level 3 Antagonist (Chairman Choi) without sufficient backing! Probability of death: 98%. ]
[ EMERGENCY QUEST ISSUED: The Humble Retreat ]
[ Objective: Bow 90 degrees immediately. Claim the money is a loan from a benefactor. Apologize for the disrespect. ]
[ Reward: +10 Charisma, Starter Cash Box.]
[Failure Penalty: severe Electrical Shock.]
Jin-woo stared at the text. Apologize?
In his past life, he had spent thirty years apologizing. He had bowed to men like Choi until his spine was permanently curved. He had smiled while they insulted his family. He had played the "humble" game.
And it had gotten him killed.
"I don't think so," Jin-woo whispered aloud, his voice icy in the frozen time.
The System flashed angry red.
[ WARNING: Non-Compliance Detected. Host must follow guidance to ensure survival. Penalty imminent in 3... 2... ]
Jin-woo didn't flinch. He didn't panic. He focused his mind, channeling the sheer, concentrated rage that had brought him back from the dead. He projected a single, violent thought at the floating interface:
I am not your host. I am your owner.
If you shock me, I drop this pitcher. If I drop the pitcher, the cover is blown. If the cover is blown, the deal fails. If the deal fails, I die. And if I die, you go back to the void.
So, are you going to help me? Or are you going to get deleted?
The countdown stopped at 1.
The blue screen flickered. Static ran across the text like a computer suffering a seizure. It was processing a variable it hadn't encountered in its database: A Host who didn't care about pain.
[ ... ] [ ...Calculating logic... ] [ ERROR: Host"s Will exceeds System Authority parameters. ] [ Reconfiguring... ]
The "Quest" window shattered like glass. The "Penalty" timer dissolved into pixels.
A new window appeared. It wasn't the friendly blue anymore. It was a sharp, metallic grey.
[ SYSTEM MODE UPDATED: TOOL MODE. ] [ Tutorial Skipped. ] [ New Quest Generated by Host Will. ]
[ QUEST: TOTAL DOMINATION ] [ Objective: Destroy the Choi Family's pride. ] [ Reward: 'Truth Eye' (Level 1) ]
Jin-woo smirked.
That's better.
Time snapped back to normal with a deafening pop.
"WHERE DID YOU GET THIS?!"
Chairman Choi's roar shook the silverware. He slammed his fist onto the table, making Madame Kim jump. "You stole this! There is no way a failing textile mill has four billion won in cash! You embezzled it!"
"It's a cashier's check, Chairman," Ji-eun said, her voice steady, though her hands were clenched under the table. "It's as good as gold. Call the bank if you doubt it."
"I don't need to call the bank!" Choi spat. "I know a fraud when I see one! You think a piece of paper scares me? You think this money fixes your insolence?"
He stood up, looming over the table.
"I will bury your father's company regardless! I will make sure no bank in Seoul ever touches a Lee family account again! You will be begging on the street by next week!"
Beside him, Choi Min-seok stood up. He was drunk, humiliated, and angry. The woman he was supposed to own was looking at him like he was an insect.
"You bitch," Min-seok slurred, his face twisted. "You think you're better than me because you put on a suit? You're nothing without my family."
He lunged forward, reaching across the table to grab Ji-eun's arm.
"Come here! You need to be taught a les—"
He never finished the sentence.
Jin-woo moved.
He didn't use a martial arts strike. He didn't reveal himself as a combat expert. He stepped forward with the perfect timing of a clumsy, terrified assistant trying to refill a glass.
"Oh! Excuse me, sir!"
Jin-woo "tripped" on the edge of the carpet.
The heavy crystal pitcher of ice water in his hand tipped forward.
Splash.
Two liters of freezing water, mixed with jagged ice cubes, cascaded directly onto Choi Min-seok's crotch and expensive silk trousers.
"ARGH!"
Min-seok shrieked, the shock of the cold hitting his most sensitive area. He scrambled back, slipping on the wet floor, and crashed spectacularly into his chair, tipping it over.
He landed on his back, legs flailing, soaked and screaming.
"Min-seok!" Chairman Choi yelled, distracted.
"I am so sorry!" Jin-woo gasped, bowing frantically, looking for all the world like an incompetent teenager. "I slipped! I am so sorry, sir!"
But as he bowed, he looked up at Ji-eun through his bangs. He tapped his watch twice.
Now.
Ji-eun didn't look at the screaming Min-seok. She didn't look at the terrified waiter.
She looked at her phone, which she had placed on the table.
Riiiing.
It wasn't her phone.
It was Chairman Choi's phone.
Then, Chairman Lee's phone.
Then, the phone in Min-seok's wet pocket.
The room filled with the cacophony of ringtones.
"What is this?" Chairman Choi growled, fishing his phone out of his pocket. It was his Chief Financial Officer.
He answered. "What?! I am in the middle of a dinner! This better be—"
He stopped. The blood drained from his face so fast it looked like a magic trick.
"What do you mean 'suspended'?" Choi whispered. "What do you mean 'audit'?"
Ji-eun picked up her glass of water. She took a slow, elegant sip.
"It seems the news has broken, Chairman," she said softly.
"News?" Choi looked at her, phone still pressed to his ear. "What did you do?"
"I didn't do anything," Ji-eun said. "But the Financial Supervisory Service seems to think Myung-il Construction has been inflating its assets for three years. They raided your headquarters ten minutes ago."
Chairman Choi dropped his phone. It hit the carpet with a dull thud.
"Trading of Myung-il stock has been halted," Ji-eun continued, reciting the data Jin-woo had fed her. "But before the halt, it dropped 40%. Your collateral value just evaporated."
She stood up. She picked up the bank draft from the table and flicked it toward him. It landed on his chest.
"You might want to cash that quickly, Chairman. You're going to need the liquidity for your legal fees."
Chairman Choi looked at the check. Then he looked at Ji-eun. For the first time, he didn't see a victim. He saw a monster.
"Let's go, Min-seok!" he roared, grabbing his soaking wet son by the collar. "We have to get to the office! Move!"
The Choi family fled. There was no dignity. No final threats. Just the panic of rats on a sinking ship.
The door slammed shut behind them.
The silence returned to the room. But this time, it was different.
Chairman Lee and Madame Kim sat frozen in their chairs. They looked at the empty seats opposite them. Then, slowly, terrified, they looked up at their daughter.
"Ji-eun..." her father whispered. His voice was trembling. "What have you done?"
"I paid the debt, Father," she said coldly.
"Who gave you that money?" Madame Kim asked, clutching her pearls. "Is it... a loan shark? Did you sell yourself to someone worse than Choi? Who is backing you?"
Ji-eun looked at her parents. She saw their fear. They weren't relieved she was safe. They were terrified because they could no longer control her.
She looked at the corner of the room.
Jin-woo was standing there, holding the empty pitcher. His face was blank, the "clumsy assistant" mask back in place. But his eyes met hers.
He gave a barely perceptible nod.
Quest Complete.
"Let's go," Ji-eun said to the room. "I'm tired."
She turned and walked out.
Jin-woo followed her, closing the door on the stunned parents.
As he walked into the hallway, a grey window popped up in his vision.
[ QUEST COMPLETE: TOTAL DOMINATION ] [ Note: Host's methods are reckless, inefficient, and highly stressful for the System. ] [ REWARD RECEIVED: 'Truth Eye' (Level 1) ] [ Effect: Allows Host to see the hidden value and truth of a target for 10 seconds. Cooldown: 24 hours. ]
Jin-woo ignored the complaint and focused on the reward.
Truth Eye.
He looked at Ji-eun's back as she walked down the hallway. He activated the skill.
Flash.
A golden aura shimmered around her. Text appeared above her head.
[ Target: Lee Ji-eun ] [ Role: The Face ] [ Loyalty: 92% (Spiked due to Awe) ] [ Hidden Potential: S-Rank (The Empress of Retail) ] [ Current State: Adrenaline Crash imminent. ]
Jin-woo deactivated the skill.
92% Loyalty.
He smiled. It was a good night's work.