The moment I slipped the coin back into my pocket, the sound of a door opening reached my ears.

Click.

My body immediately stiffened as my head turned toward the place where the door was. Then came the familiar sound of heels striking the floor.

Tap.

Tap.

Tap.

There was only one person who walked like that.

"Elena..."

Of all times, she had chosen to come back now. Instinctively, my eyes drifted toward the room where Viora was changing clothes.

Fortunately, the body was gone. The balcony had been cleaned, and there shouldn’t be any evidence left behind. Still... For some reason, I couldn’t calm down.

Gradually, the sound of footsteps grew closer. Then, at the end of the hallway, Elena appeared. And the moment her eyes landed on me, standing in the hallway without any purpose, one of her eyebrows rose slightly.

"Woo Jin."

"You are back."

I tried my best to give a flawless response. At least I hoped it would help. I had also cleaned my face of any stains of blood, but the beads of sweat forming on my forehead clearly made Elena think about something I couldn’t know.

Her gaze lingered on my clothes, then moved onto the sweat on my head. Her eyes remained there for several seconds before she spoke up.

"Why do you look nervous?" she asked.

Damn it.

Was it that obvious?

"Do I?"

I forced a smile and responded.

"Yes."

At her answer, I immediately looked away. Talking to her is really exhausting. It felt like I was standing in front of a lie detector.

Luckily, before she could ask anything further, the door of the room where Viora was changing opened.

Click.

Viora emerged from the room in the fresh clothes I had given her that fit her perfectly. The moment she stepped into the hallway, Elena’s attention shifted toward her.

Then, her eyes narrowed slightly. And that instantly made me nervous again. Because she wasn’t looking at Viora normally. She was observing her as if she had noticed something unusual.

"..."

Viora continued walking, and after taking a few steps forward, she stopped beside me. Now she was standing very close to me.

’Please don’t do weird things right now,’ I thought inwardly. ’Please. For once.’

However, in contrast to my thoughts, Viora clearly had other plans. Without speaking, her hand moved and lightly grabbed my sleeve.

At that moment, my soul nearly left my body since I could practically feel Elena staring at us.

"Viora," I began.

"Mhm?"

"What are you doing?" I asked, but as always, her answer was quite incomplete.

"I am standing."

I rubbed my forehead and wiped off the sweat with my fingers. Meanwhile, Elena just continued watching us.

The longer she stared, the worse I felt. Eventually, she shifted her gaze toward me and asked, "Did something happen while I was away?"

"No."

Without thinking, I answered a little too fast and made her doubt me. So, just to make sure, she turned toward Viora and asked again.

"Did something happen, Viora?"

For a brief moment, I got really worried since I didn’t think Viora would be able to lie properly. But I was worrying for nothing. She wasn’t anything like me.

"Woo Jin made me drink bitter tea."

I almost laughed at her somewhat true lie. Of all things, that was what she chose to mention?

Elena waited before she spoke up.

"Then I suppose nothing major happened."

For some reason, she sounded disappointed.

She must have expected something more interesting looking at how I was acting. But I didn’t know I could count on Viora.

’Good job, Viora.’

You saved me without killing somebody.

....

After confirming by asking Viora, Elena began walking and went upstairs. Only after she was gone did I tell Viora to let go of my sleeve, but she refused to do so.

"Why?" I asked.

"I feel better this way."

Her answer wasn’t something unexpected. Rather, I knew just like me, she also felt at ease around me.

Honestly, her behavior today was becoming increasingly suspicious. She wasn’t acting like herself. Or perhaps... She was and was just no longer trying to hide it.

’This much obsession is fine. I just don’t want her to turn it into something extreme that I would have to fear.’

....

The remaining day just went by like that. Viora kept clinging to me, and Elena was sleeping in her room. Now the night had arrived, and when Viora had fallen asleep too, I decided to sneak out of the house and investigate a little bit about the Black Faction Guild.

Today was the best day to start it since earlier I had heard on the news playing on the TV that most of the Black Faction members, including the guild master, had entered an A-Rank Gate.

Usually, Gates of that rank would take at least one or two weeks to get cleared, so until then most of my work would be easier.

Whenever Black Faction’s upper members entered long-term Gates, a certain middleman would appear in a small café to exchange information.

I just needed to find that café and wait for them.

Instantly, I grabbed my phone and began looking through every possible place on the map, and eventually I was able to pinpoint a few that looked similar to that café.

I don’t remember the name, but I do know the interior and exterior since it was the most used café in the whole story for secret meetings.

"Shall we go?"

Cautiously stepping my feet on the ground and making sure not to let either of the women notice my escape, I was able to get out of the villa.

"Now, I just need to find it before the meeting ends."

And I think my system also wanted me to do the same thing since it showed me something I was going to do anyway.

Ding!

[A New Quest Has Been Generated.]

A new quest?

’Great. Now I will get some rewards doing it.’

I thought, and another screen appeared in front of me.

Ding!

[Investigate the Black Faction Guild’s Hidden Motive.

Reward: ???

Penalty: Get 10× intelligence since you are so stupid if you fail.]