Chương 33: THE REAL INCIDENT (2)

"What?!" The room erupted at once.

"What do you mean by an Artificial Rift? That's impossible," Hwa-rin snapped, her chair scraping loudly against the floor as she leaned forward.

"That's what we want to believe as well," Tae Won-shik replied calmly, fingers interlocked on the table, "but the evidence…"

"What evidence?" Sang-hoon cut in. Won-shik started explaining.

"First of all, I already explained the Rift's unusual formation. It didn't follow any known mana-flow patterns. Second, the rifters who fought during the outbreak informed us that the monsters were slightly stronger than usual. More importantly, they also reported receiving slightly more EXP than they normally would from monsters of that rank." Min-seok frowned.

"That doesn't make any sense."

"Wait…" Won-shik said.

"Before you hear the last part." The room became quiet.

"After the outbreak, our investigation team had examined the underground zone, where the Rift appeared. We detected dense foreign mana residue there. It's not the natural trace of mana that is usually found after the formation of a rift. We suspect that an artifact was used." A few people shifted in their seats.

"And the last evidence that strengthens our suspicion is…" Won-shik took a slow breath.

"We tried to reconstruct the scene. But we couldn't find any entry or exit traces. That area is sealed. Yet when we widened the investigation radius, we found human footprints, heat residue, and mana signatures. Which suggests that whoever was there… teleported in and out." Silence fell over the room. Min-seok leaned back slowly.

"So someone… created a Rift with enhanced monsters and vanished?"

"That is our current hypothesis."

"I have so many questions," Hwa-rin muttered.

"But every single one starts with 'why' and 'how.' How did someone even managed to do this? And why? Why would anyone open a rift by choice? Is it to farm Exp or just to spread chaos? And why in Seoul?"

"Not only in Seoul," Ji-won suddenly broke silence. Heads turned toward him.

"I have contacts in the UK," he continued.

"They informed me that the first case happened there three years ago. But the government suppressed it. They wanted to investigate internally before making it public."

"Three years?" Min-woo whispered.

"Since then, similar incidents have occurred globally. They had tracked these incidents from the start. But there was no pattern found about the locations. And the interval between these incidents was long. Until now, there have been 12 of this type of incidents. But it always has the same structure. Artificial rifts, enhanced monsters and mysterious perpetrators. But these were all F-rank rifts... This was an E-rank rift for the first time." Others' expressions darkened.

Ji-won took a deep breath and continued, "They suspect a criminal organization is behind it."

"What criminal organization?" Sang-hoon asked quickly.

"We don't know," Ji-won said.

"They're extremely secretive. But their operations are suspected to span throughout the world." He paused.

"I already had some intel about these incidents. But they agreed to share these details after I explained what happened here." You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version. Another heavy silence. Hwa-rin finally asked, "Then what do we do now?"

"I suggest monitoring your guild members, family members and personnel closely," Won-shik said.

"These types of groups plant moles. Some people with money, power, and influence may be backing them. SKRIA has already raised surveillance levels. SCTT has been mobilized as well." Min-seok narrowed his eyes.

"What about the rifters? This cover-up can work for the mass. But the experienced ones will sense something's off. What do we tell them?"

"Nothing," Won-shik replied.

"At least, for now... This meeting is classified. Until disclosure becomes unavoidable, no one outside this room is to know of the contents of this meeting." He looked around slowly.

"There may already be moles around us. So, I'm asking for your cooperation and understanding."

"We understand," they said in unison.

"Then, we will end this meeting here," said Won-shik. The meeting finally ended. Ji-won stood up and said, "I'll get going. Or I will be late." Then, he left the meeting room. Min-seok followed behind. —--- Ji-won entered an elevator. Just as the doors were closing, Min-seok slid his palm between the panels.

"Got any space for me?"

"I'm the only one here," Ji-won said dryly.

"Unless you're calling me fat." They laughed as Min-seok stepped inside.

"You could've told me about all this earlier," Min-seok said as the elevator descended.

"It came up last night," Ji-won replied.

"And I was busy with preparations. You would've found out today anyway."

"I see."

"Forget it. When are you hitting Level-5?"

"Soon. Three or four months, probably."

"Congratulations in advance."

"Thanks. Good luck on your raid too."

"You think I need luck for an A-rank Rift?"

"Who knows… maybe." They laughed again.

"Hey, did that Baek Sang-hoon complain about me being late?" Ji-won asked.

"Of course he did."

"Like I give a shit. Maybe, he yells at his wife too -'GIVE ME A KISS!'""Ugh… I imagined that." They burst into laughter again.

"I even told him he should try speak nicely if he wants people to hate him less," Min-seok added.

"You shouldn't say stuff like that…" he continued, "... without me." Their laughter increased. The elevator stopped and they stepped out. Ji-won's car was already waiting at the exit. They parted ways. Min-seok waiting for his own car. Just at that moment, another car arrived. But it was not his. Suddenly, Baek Sang-hoon walked past him quickly, got in, and drove away. Min-seok kept looking in that direction. —-------- Somewhere else in an unknown location- A man in a black robe was sitting on a mechanical chair.

The place around him was dark and gloomy. It had steel walls; like a basement. He was talking over an unusual-looking phone. The caller on the other side sounded agitated. The man said, "Calm down. No need to worry. We won't be found out." Then, he muttered in a serious tone, "Just do your job?" He cut the call after that.

"That's new…" he muttered. —----------- On the other side, the caller put his phone down as well. It was Baek Sang-hoon inside his moving car. His temples were sweating.

"Damnit…" he muttered. —----------------- In Tae Won-shik's chamber- Tae Won-shik sat on his chair. Suddenly there was a knock. A woman's voice could be heard, "May I come in, Mr. President?"

"Yes, come in." A young beautiful woman in her mid 20s entered the room; black hair, calm eyes, wearing formal attire. —------------------------------------------- Lee Iseul Detective, Special Investigation Unit Korea National Rifter Association —----------------------------------------------"Take a seat, Iseul." She nodded, "Thank you, Sir. I came here to hand you the detailed report of yesterday's incident." She handed him some files.

"Good job. We wouldn't have been able to find any lead without your psychometry."

"Thank you, Sir. But… is there any lead about those black-robed people I saw at the site?"

"No… For now, we don't. But we are trying."

"Okay, Sir. I will take my leave then."

"Okay." She left. Won-shik leaned back on his chair and took a deep breath. On the other hand, Han Ji-won was in his car; on his way to the raid site. He was lost in thought. Both men muttered the same word.

"Umbral Shadow…" —-------------- The man in the black robe was sitting on his chair. He activated another device on the table in front of him. A hologram appeared. Another man in a way fancier robe appeared within it.

"Greetings to the Inquisitor."

"Skip the formalities," the man in the hologram replied.

"There better be a good reason for disturbing me. Was the mission successful?"

"Yes, Inquisitor. Though, there were some minor complications. But I will take care of them."

"Good. Eradicate any problem that arises."

"Yes, Inquisitor… Hail Umbra!"

"Hail Umbra!" The call cut. The man grinned.

"Things just got interesting." —----------------------------------------- Jin Mu-ak Cardinal, South Korea Umbral Shadow Rank: S-2 —-----------------------------------------