I Became an Illegal Cheat User

46 – Lee Seo-yeon (1)

There is an event that occurs when Lee Seo-yeon’s favorability rating rises.

It involves her admirers or, shall we say, worshippers, coming to the player and threatening them.

There isn’t much of a reason for these worshippers to threaten the player.

Simply put, they’re jealous.

Despite being admirers, they cannot even speak to Lee Seo-yeon and can only watch from afar.

The player, on the other hand, has enjoyable conversations with her, which doesn’t sit well with them.

The second event that occurs is the intervention of Lee Seo-yeon’s father, Geomseong (劍星) Lee Joongbaek.

The condition to trigger the Geomseong event is quite simple.

It requires building a favorable relationship with Lee Seo-yeon to the point where conversations can take place.

However, since Lee Seo-yeon approached me first and initiated the conversation, it would have taken quite a while to meet the conditions for the event, if at all.

“Ah, honestly, I feel unfairly treated.”

From the moment I first saw Lee Seo-yeon, I tried my best to delay increasing my favorability towards her.

No, I tried my best to avoid even crossing paths with her.

But contrary to my intentions, she approached first and started the conversation on her own accord.

Moreover, she started using firearms without any encouragement from me.

However, whether it’s the worshippers or Geomseong, from their perspective, I’m the one who approached Lee Seo-yeon first.

Because of that, the seniors who came looking for me didn’t trust a word I said.

“Sigh, I’ve figured it all out. You’re the only one at the academy who uses firearms, right? But are you lying when you say it’s not true?”

“That’s right! You’re the only one who can teach guns to Lee Seo-yeon!”

“And you claim to have taken down an upper-class corrupt student all by yourself? Is that true? What did you do in the Knights? How did a recent freshman like you…”

What do these people really want to say?

I’m itching to put them in their place.

“So, tell the truth. Did you really teach Lee Seo-yeon how to shoot? Huh?!”

The representative of the senior group standing in front of me… well, it’s a hassle to call them that, so I’ll just call them Senior A.

Anyway, Senior A scolded me with an increasingly irritated expression.

“Are we a joke to you? Huh?!”

Did they suddenly find it funny here?

I let out a hollow laugh in bewilderment.

And then, Senior A, as well as the seniors who had been watching from behind, seemed to grow even more intense.

It seems they’ve taken my laughter as a sign of arrogance.

“Even so, is it necessary to have this much attitude?”

I wondered if I was the only one thinking that way, and the trainees who were in the midst of training stared at this place with expressions of disbelief.

The supporting actors felt the same way, including Lee Seo-yeon.

I gestured for her to come over.

“What’s going on here?”

As soon as Lee Seo-yeon came to me, she immediately asked about the situation.

I was about to explain the situation, but Senior A, who was overly excited about the fact that the person he followed had come closer, interrupted me.

“Um, Lee Seo-yeon! D-Do you remember me?”

“…Who are you?”

“I, I’m Ba, Park…”

But Senior A’s self-introduction didn’t continue to the end.

“I’m sorry, but I neither know who you are nor do I want to know.”

Lee Seo-yeon cut off his words with a cold expression.

Seeing her like this, I remembered something I had forgotten until now.

That originally, Lee Seo-yeon was known as the ‘Ice Princess’ for being endlessly cold to those around her.

And it appeared to be an exceptional sight only to me.

“And I asked Lee Yujin, not you.”

“…”

Senior A closed his mouth at the cold voice that seemed to embrace a chill.

Only then did Lee Seoyeon turn her head back to me and asked, “So, what’s the situation now?”

A voice completely different from just a moment ago.

As if the tone of Lee Seoyeon had changed from a cold breeze to warm air, Senior A, and the seniors who had been watching from behind, all shot me glares.

Ignoring the heated gazes of those seniors, I explained the current situation to Lee Seoyeon.

Having heard the explanation, Lee Seoyeon looked at Senior A.

“……Ugh!”

Senior A took a step back.

It was a shock, not just the coldness, but the hostility-filled gaze in Lee Seoyeon’s eyes.

“Did I learn shooting from Lee Yujin? No, I haven’t learned it from him yet.”

“…”

“Did Lee Yujin approach me? No, I approached him. I initiated the conversation.”

“…”

“Are you satisfied with the answers now?”

Senior A couldn’t respond to Lee Seoyeon’s words.

The seniors behind him were in the same state.

The overwhelming and sharp momentum emanating from Lee Seoyeon.

Under that force, they couldn’t open their mouths.

“But… why are you curious about those things?”

[It is said that Lee Seoyeon’s talent, ‘Genius of Gun Mastery (S+),’ is angered.]

“…?”

I suddenly felt perplexed by the system message that appeared.

To be more accurate, I was perplexed by the content the message displayed.

‘Wait, what?’

Why is Lee Seoyeon’s talent suddenly going into overdrive?

With bewildered eyes, I alternated between the system message and Lee Seoyeon.

“What are you all?”

Lee Seo-yeon’s right hand reached for a sword.

[Lee Seo-yeon’s talent, “Genius of the Gunblade (S+)”, says it wants to cut them down!]

“What are you?”

Lee Seo-yeon’s left hand aimed at a gun.

[Lee Seo-yeon’s talent, “Genius of the Gunblade (S+)”, says it wants to shoot them with a gun!!]

“You all…”

Lee Seo-yeon raised the sword and gun…

[Lee Seo-yeon’s talent, “Genius of the Gunblade (S+)”…]

Wait, wait! Stop right there!!

I quickly grabbed Lee Seo-yeon’s shoulder and pulled her back.

“Seo-yeon, calm down.”

Lee Seo-yeon looked at my hand on her shoulder with a confused face.

Then, as if switching her gaze towards my face.

“…Ah.”

She let out a short sigh and stopped her actions.

Lee Seo-yeon lowered her head and looked at the weapons she was holding.

A sword with a gleaming blade and a gun with the safety off.

Upon seeing the blood on these two weapons, Lee Seo-yeon let out another sigh, then put them away.

After that, she raised her head and looked ahead.

Thump, thump, thump.

Senior A, who was standing there, sat down on the floor trembling.

Behind that senior, the other seniors were looking at themselves with fearful expressions.

It was then that Lee Seo-yeon finally realized.

That she had lost control of her talent.

“…Yoo Jin.”

I could feel Lee Seo-yeon’s trembling voice calling me.

“I… couldn’t control my talent, right?”

“….”

And in the fear I felt from her voice, I couldn’t bring myself to speak.

That was the case for Asuka, who was also present.

“Seoyeon….”

Asuka looked at Lee Seoyeon with a perplexed expression.

The fear of not being able to control one’s talents.

As Asuka was well aware of it, she felt sorry for Lee Seoyeon.

I let out a deep sigh as I observed these two women.

What had just happened to Lee Seoyeon was not harmony with her talent but rather its devouring.

She was on the verge of being consumed by her talent, almost becoming a fallen one.

With that thought, I looked at Lee Seoyeon with troubled eyes.

“Darn it…, I thought it would be okay since the problem didn’t arise back then.”

Indeed, she couldn’t handle the talent.

Normally, talents of the ‘S+’ grade could only be obtained after reaching the highest level.

In other words, at her current level, she shouldn’t have been able to acquire it.

However, strangely, she evolved her talent while interacting with me and obtained an ‘S+’ grade talent.

In other words, her current state was like a vessel overflowing with water, on the verge of breaking.

“Yujin, tell me…. Can’t I control my talent anymore?”

Beyond fear, in her voice that had reached the point of sadness, I sighed deeply and nodded.

“Yeah. You couldn’t control your talent. And it’s going to be difficult to control.”

“….”

At my confirmation, Lee Seoyeon’s face darkened.

“Seoyeon, you must have felt it too. That your current level can’t handle the talent. Right?”

Lee Seoyeon nodded silently.

To her, I revealed the dreadful reality.

“In that state, it probably won’t take more than a few weeks.”

And she’ll change.

Into a fallen one.

“Miss Yujin!”

Asuka looked at me with a surprised expression.

As if she didn’t expect me to say such things, her voice conveyed bewilderment.

But I paid no attention and continued speaking.

“So, hold on.”

“……Huh?”

“……What?”

Seo Yeon, who had been filled with sadness and despair, looked at me with confusion.

Asuka, who had been about to get angry, looked at me with a dumbfounded expression.

Yes, Asuka. You need to hear this too.

I placed my hands on their shoulders and spoke.

“I’ll find a way to solve it somehow.”

“Huh, how?”

“Yeah…how?”

A hint of hope and doubt appeared on Seo Yeon and Asuka’s faces.

I chuckled and said to them.

“In some way.”

“……”

“……”

Seo Yeon and Asuka looked at me silently, knowing that there was no real answer.

And then, they slowly nodded their heads.

I patted their shoulders, reassuring their trust in me.

“Oh, right. Asuka.”

“Yes?”

“It might take you a little longer than Seo Yeon, is that okay?”

“……”

Asuka blinked her eyes without saying a word.

And after a moment, she smiled brightly and said.

“Captain, give me back my awe.”

I smiled back at her.

“No, I won’t give it back.”

“…So you want me to meet the director?”

Kang Cheol-su, who placed a coffee cup in front of me, spoke with a bewildered expression.

“How am I supposed to arrange for you to meet the director? No, more importantly, why do you want to meet the director?”

I lifted the coffee cup, responding to his question.

“If you’re Deputy Chief Kang, I believe you can arrange to meet the director yourself. And…”

I took a sip of the coffee in the cup.

Oh…this taste is coffee 1, sugar 2.5, creamer 2, right? It’s delicious.

“If it’s the director, I think he might have the potion I’ve been thinking of.”

“……”

“Deputy Chief, you make coffee really well. Can I come back again next time?”

If I don’t let him meet the director, he’ll keep coming here?

…Kang Cheol-su looked at me as if he couldn’t believe the praise, which seemed more like a threat.

Then, he smirked.

“No, you can’t. This coffee is expensive.”

He snatched my coffee cup and swallowed it himself.

Then, he stood up from the chair and spoke.

“Fine, I’ll arrange for you to meet him. But only this once. From next time, try to come here in a more orderly manner. You know, I might just give you a smack on the forehead. Got it?”

“If I get slapped by you, Deputy Chief, I might die.”

“Got it?”

“Yes.”

Kang Cheol-su nodded in response to my declaration and left the office.

&

“I’m here.”

Kang Cheol-su stopped in front of an elevator.

Then, he held his employee ID card to the keypad next to the elevator.

Ding.

The elevator doors opened as if responding to his wait.

Pointing to the elevator, Kang Cheol-su spoke.

“Get in.”

“What about you, Deputy Chief?”

“To meet the chairman, it was supposed to be me, not you.”

“…Still, won’t you come with me?”

“It’s not a matter of going together; it’s that I can’t go.”

Kang Cheolsu extended his foot toward the elevator.

As he did, a ‘barrier’ sounded, and some boundary pushed Kang Cheolsu’s foot away.

“As you can see, you need permission to meet the chairman. But I haven’t received it.”

Saying that, Kang Cheolsu pushed me into the elevator.

This time, however, I entered smoothly without any resistance from the barrier.

“You have permission. So, have a safe trip.”

Ding.

[Going up.]

The sound of the elevator’s guide echoed, and the doors closed simultaneously.

And for a moment, there was a sensation of going upward.

Ding.

[Doors opening.]

Once again, the guiding sound resonated, and the closed doors reopened.

An empty space greeted me.

But I know this is an illusion created by the Archmage.

Therefore, without hesitation, I stepped out of the elevator.

Then, as if it were the correct answer, the space ripped apart.

“…Ah.”

A vast, wide, and grandiose interior appeared.

And in the center of that interior, a woman sat on a massive chair with her legs crossed.

Thick black hair.

Eyes that resembled obsidian, yet shone with a reddish hue.

A white shirt, black pants, and a black coat draped over them.

In this world of extreme difficulty, a transcendent being maintaining the position of an absolute ruler for centuries.

Mushin Baek Yuhwa.

The absolute ruler looked at me with her chin raised.

I approached her and respectfully bowed my head.

Then she smiled and spoke to me.

“Yeah, what reason do you have for wanting to see me?”

Um um um um um….

Even though she spoke lightly, the vast space echoed.

But still, my ears did not hurt at all.

She was considerate of me.

I spoke directly to her.

“I came to make a deal.”

At my words, her eyes sparkled as if amused.