"Seo-An-Dang Center... What's someone that big doing in a dump like this?"
While Lee Sang-Deok was entertaining a perfectly "natural" question, Antonio found himself wondering about something rather less natural.
"...Wait. Another woman? And she's staring at Yu-Han with one hell of an intense look..."
Just as Antonio said, Yu Seo-Yeon was glaring at Yu-Han.
Though "intense" was putting it mildly. She looked more like she was trying to burn a hole straight through him.
"..."
Several unpleasant memories resurfaced in Yu Seo-Yeon's mind.
Like the time they had been trapped inside that Joseon realm, where she had been forced into that vulgar outfit...
And this man had craftily pretended to be asleep.
Or the time she had been secretly monitoring Cheong-Am Center...
And this same man had looked at a bird at the zoo and asked whether she had changed jobs.
"W-Why are you looking at me like that? You'll make me blush."
"No... It's nothing."
Hearing Yu-Han say that made Yu Seo-Yeon's harpy-talons practically itch for blood.
But she was a working professional, so she held herself back.
Sensing the murderous intent, Yu-Han once again activated the K-social skill known as Act Serious.
"Anyway. If you came all the way here and even fired a few shots for us... that means you've got something important to discuss, right?"
Yu Seo-Yeon instinctively switched into serious mode in response to Yu-Han's suddenly solemn tone.
"This isn't the place for that conversation. Let's move somewhere else."
"Where?" Alice asked.
"The Bureau of Life Management in Old Seoul. The residents of Sector B-4 are already holding a meeting there."
"I see... Then should we all go together?"
Antonio answered Alice without much interest.
"They're probably just gonna sit around spouting useless bullshit. I'm good."
Lee Sang-Deok added,
"Same here. Take those deadweights with you instead."
At the word deadweights, Yi Rang and Kim Ga-Eun ground their teeth in unison.
Ignoring them, Yu Seo-Yeon quietly placed one palm against a nearby wall.
"Then, everyone. I'll take you there directly."
The wall lit up, and a portal large enough for two or three people to comfortably pass through appeared.
Normally, the story would have needed a scene break here to skip the trip to the Bureau of Life Management.
Instead, after only a few steps, they were standing right outside it.
"Long time no see, Ju Il-Jang C... Huh?"
Alice opened the door and greeted him, only to find a robot sitting where Ju Il-Jang was supposed to be.
[Good day, Alice C. Ju Il-Jang C is currently inside the conference room.]
"If you have a robot like this, do you even need an employee?"
[My apologies, but you do not have the authority to question that.
Do you have any other business?]
Yu Seo-Yeon sighed and answered in Alice's place.
"We're here to attend the meeting."
[In that case, please look down the hallway, locate the clearly visible conference room, and use your legs to walk there. Thank you.]
Alice walked away thinking the robot was quietly obnoxious.
By the time they reached the conference-room door, they could already hear shouting and arguments spilling out from inside.
Alice took a deep breath, steeled herself, and opened the door.
"HELLO!! I'M ALICE, DIRECTOR OF CHEONG-AM CENTER!!"
Her booming greeting brought the entire room to an abrupt halt.
Even the Cheong-Am group and Yu Seo-Yeon were left dumbstruck.
Beauty, however, was practically a K-social skill in its own right.
The atmosphere thawed almost immediately, and everyone began welcoming Alice with surprising warmth.
"Alice? Long time no see! You're here for the meeting?"
Ju Il-Jang said.
"Yes! It's about this SeokJeon, right?"
One of the merchants attending the meeting smiled and offered Alice some advice.
"Haha! Plenty of energy, huh? This must be your first meeting like this, Director. Might not be a bad idea to sit back and watch this time. Build up some experience first!"
Then Yu-Han suddenly began radiating murderous intent.
"Hey... Are you fucking kidding me? You expect us to sit down and shut the hell up while you bastards stuff yourselves with subsidy money?"
"G-Ghk...!"
The people in the conference room, especially those from the merchants' association, visibly shrank back.
Then Alice grabbed Yu-Han by the back of his jacket and lifted him off the ground.
"Knock it off and behave yourself, would you?"
"...Put me down."
"I'll put you down when you start behaving."
"Tch. You people got lucky."
Yu Seo-Yeon clicked her tongue at the sight.
"...Walking into a meeting and immediately threatening everyone with killing intent. Antagonizing the entire room will only make negotiations harder."
"Tsk, tsk... That's not it, Gwajang-nim."
With a smug look on her face, Kim Ga-Eun quietly explained to Yu Seo-Yeon, who had been muttering to herself.
"This is a K-social skill... the Good Cop, Bad Cop Strategy!
While Yu-Han C draws everyone's hostility, Alice C plays the role of restraining him.
That way, Alice C gets firmly established in everyone's mind as someone who can keep even Yu-Han C, shameless womanizer that he is, under control!!"
"..."
From what Yu Seo-Yeon had observed during her surveillance, this girl was hopelessly devoted to Yu-Han.
Therefore, she had concluded that anything Kim Ga-Eun said about him was best taken with a grain of salt.
At that moment, a fairly young man began speaking.
"Then, shall we continue where we left off?
If our private forces are deployed, we'll be shouldering most of Sector B-4's defense. In that case, I believe our share should be increased accordingly."
On the other side was Ma Sa-Yoon of the Yong-Ho Office, apparently speaking on behalf of the sanctioners.
"Come on. We're out there bleeding too. Isn't it a bit much to take an even bigger cut from us?
If anything, ask the merchants for—"
That immediately set off an uproar among the merchants.
"Do you have any idea how much property damage your battles cause!?
You should be grateful we aren't making you compensate us for every last bit of it!
And your Center already has that scandal hanging over it, while Cheong-Am barely has any people!"
With neither side willing to give an inch, Yu Seo-Yeon stepped forward.
"Everyone. May I say something?
Yu Seo-Yeon, Gwajang of Execution Division One at Seo-An-Dang Center."
At the name Seo-An-Dang, the room suddenly went dead silent.
The young man representing the private forces seemed to twitch an eyebrow.
"Seo-An-Dang Center has also decided to support Sector B-4.
We'll be cooperating with the two Euthanasia Centers currently operating in this sector."
"What!? But you're an outside force! You won't receive any of the subsidy!"
The young representative of the private forces stepped in once again.
"I see. So Seo-An-Dang is willing to forgo the subsidy just to reduce the influence of the private forces."
"Enough with the baseless speculation.
We were simply carrying out our own plans, and this happened to be where they led us."
The two stared each other down, silently locked in a battle of wills.
Alice watched them for a moment before cutting in.
"Wait. Everyone.
Have you actually come up with a plan to stop the enemies coming at us?"
"Hmm? No, that comes later..."
At the merchant's answer, irritation suddenly surged through Alice.
"So you're sitting here figuring out how to divide the money before you've even figured out how to stop the enemy!?"
"Well, that's..."
No one could give her a proper answer.
A few people, however, smiled silently.
Yu-Han.
Ju Il-Jang.
And even the young representative of the private forces.
"Exactly. At this point, we don't even know whether we can hold them off.
Our first priority should be bringing in every resource we can use. We can settle the accounts afterward."
No one had much left to say after that.
And just like that, the first round of talks came to an end.
---
"...I can't believe it ended like that."
Yu Seo-Yeon sighed as they left the conference room together.
Alice glanced at her uneasily.
"Did I... go too far?"
"No. If anything, thank you for cutting that pointless argument short.
And... I feel like you reminded me of something important I'd forgotten."
Yu-Han immediately added his own comment.
"Huh... Early-onset dementia? Or is your memory just bad because you're a bird?"
Yu Seo-Yeon wanted very badly to rip Yu-Han's mouth open with her harpy-talons.
Unfortunately, they were still in public, so she restrained herself.
Just then, the young representative from earlier approached them.
"Director Alice. You made quite an impression."
"You are...?"
"My name is Nam-Cheol. I command the 52nd Private Unit."
Nam-Cheol created a holographic business card in midair and sent it floating toward Alice.
When Alice accepted it, the information on the card transferred directly into her mind.
"We'll be working together for a while. I look forward to cooperating with you."
"Likewise."
Looking at someone who appeared to be only in his twenties and already commanded his own private unit, Alice once again felt that the world was full of monsters.
Nam-Cheol gave them a brief nod, then left the Bureau of Life Management.
Meanwhile, Ma Sa-Yoon had been hanging back at a slight distance, waiting for his own chance to come over and introduce himself.
"Hmm... The mood seems about right. This should be the perfect time to go say hello."
Facing heavyweights like Yu Seo-Yeon and Nam-Cheol at the same time would have been awkward.
Now that one of them was gone, Ma Sa-Yoon figured this was his chance.
Unfortunately, at that exact moment, Yu Seo-Yeon addressed the Cheong-Am group.
"Well, as a little bonus, I'll take all of you back to Cheong-Am Center."
A portal opened in midair.
One by one, everyone walked through it and vanished.
Ma Sa-Yoon froze with one hand still reaching toward the spot where they had disappeared, his face blank with dismay.
"...Noo-nim. What exactly is the Director doing?"
Min-Su asked.
The black panther beastkin woman who had accompanied him answered calmly.
"Some kind of K-social skill, I guess.
Looks like it failed, though."
---
"It seems Seo-An-Dang is looking to extend its influence into Old Seoul as well."
[Is that so... To think Yu Seo-Yeon Gwajang herself would show up.]
"They'd have reason to be concerned. Cheong-Am Center's presence is..."
[So if it came to a fight, could you beat either Yu-Han or Yu Seo-Yeon?]
Nam-Cheol fell silent for a moment and thought it over before answering.
"One-on-one, I couldn't say for certain.
But if we went in with the organization fully prepared, I think we'd have a shot."
[Hahaha! Why are you answering so seriously?
There's no need to get on Seo-An-Dang's bad side right now!
Anyway, stay in Sector B-4 and keep an eye on them.]
"Understood...
Assemblyman Kim Je-Hyeon."