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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: Simzy
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“…He said you’re the chairman?”
Having heard how I addressed her, Hei Lü, the Tactical Operations Manager for Heishuqwai, asked in a cautious tone.
“…Excuse me, but may I ask your name?”
Unlike when he asked my name earlier, his tone was very careful now.
The chairman’s response was the same.
“Isn’t that unimportant right now? I’d like you to tell me what business you have with my companion.”
She continued speaking, still with her arms crossed behind her back. Sharp, golden eyes pierced Hei Lü like daggers.
“…This is an internal matter for Heishuqwai. If you’re not involved, I suggest you leave—”
“It concerns an employee of my company. How can you say I’m not involved?”
Of course, she wasn’t actually involved. In reality, I wasn’t a Monolith employee.
However, since I had borrowed that identity to attend the party, the chairman wasn’t entirely wrong.
I quietly observed their conversation.
Honestly, I thought it would have been even better if I had some popcorn.
As our conversation lengthened, people around us began to stare.
Perhaps Hei Lü noticed this too. After a brief pause, he gradually raised his voice.
“You said you’re from the same company, but two of you came together. As far as I know, the basic rule for this party is one person per company.”
Hei Lü let out a scoff, his expression incredulous. His smile remained fixed.
“Enough with the lies. It seems like you’re from a newly established company with a low corporate ranking… Acting like a frog in a well won’t do you any good.”
Just then, as he finished speaking, the lights in the entire banquet hall dimmed ominously.
It wasn’t to the point of complete darkness, but the lights were lowered by a single level.
A spotlight shone from the ceiling.
It illuminated a man dressed in a stylish suit.
《First of all, I would like to thank everyone for attending the ‘Quantum Nexus’ party.》
His voice, amplified by a microphone, resonated throughout the banquet hall.
《I am ‘Rex Nova,’ the entrepreneur and entertainer in charge of proceedings this time. Believe it or not, I’m the CCO of Resurrection Corporation.》
Laughter followed his jokingly delivered last sentence.
I definitely saw him more on variety shows than the news. I guess even people like him come here.
《However! I’ve heard some surprising news recently.》
He continued, with exaggerated gestures.
《I don’t think I should continue my greetings after hearing this news. So I asked this person for their understanding in advance and requested that they give the opening address instead!》
With his last words, the spotlight simultaneously shifted to us.
More precisely, to where the chairman was standing.
《I can’t believe it myself! It’s none other than the chairman of Black Monolith Corporation, Taylor Blackstar!!》
Perhaps it was my imagination, or maybe it was because of the bright spotlight, but Hei Lü’s face seemed to turn pale. His smile froze, unable to move.
The chairman also looked pale, but it felt different. Her flawlessly clean skin stood out.
The chairman, the star of the spotlight, accepted the microphone.
《So, what was that?》
Hei Lü couldn’t answer.
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The next thing that happened was Hei Lü disappearing, as if running away. The sweat dripping from him like he’d fallen in water was quite impressive.
[‘Hei Lü’, I have saved it in the database, I express.]
…….
Leaving aside Eve, who was scary for some reason, Hei Lü’s actions weren’t incomprehensible.
If the person you were fighting with turned out to be the chairman of a famous corporation…
…Hmm.
It was a situation I didn’t even want to imagine.
The chairman, holding the microphone, didn’t give a long speech.
《No need for long greetings, right? Let’s all have a good time.》
Even though it was informal language in a public setting, no one seemed to mind.
The chairman handed the microphone to a waiter. A long round of applause erupted, naturally.
“…‘The Emperor’ came here? That doesn’t make sense. This is a place where only Monolith affiliate presidents usually come.”
“…I’ve never seen that face before. Is that really her? I don’t think I’m so bad at remembering faces that I wouldn’t recognize the Monolith chairman.”
“It must be a newly created body, why ask so much? A female body? In the end, she was originally born a woman. It’s truly amazing that she rose to the position of chairman despite that.”
Murmurs accompanied the applause.
“…….”
I thought slowly.
The chairman’s appearance.
Although I had defeated a member of the Chinese mafia corporation with her (his) help, to be completely honest, it wasn’t good for me.
The chairman walked towards me.
Simultaneously, all eyes in the banquet hall turned to me.
Inevitably, the topic of their conversations shifted from the chairman to ‘me.’
“…Is that an employee who came with her? It’s possible if it’s the Monolith chairman, but I’ve never seen that face before.”
“Hmm, if it’s someone the chairman brought personally, we’ll need to look into it.”
No, everyone.
I’m not an employee or anything.
I’m just someone who lied about my occupation.
I wanted to shout it out.
I wanted to pull out and wear the mask I had tucked away.
…For now.
I slowly moved to a corner of the banquet hall.
I tried to ignore the chairman following me.
Good.
Since we’ve come this far, there won’t be anyone who can eavesdrop on our conversation.
The chairman asked me,
“Did you wait long?”
“…No.”
I answered reflexively.
“I didn’t wait very long.”
Just that I didn’t know you were coming.
I swallowed the rest of my sentence.
“…You said you were busy, how did you come?”
“Hee hee, it’s not like I couldn’t spare the time.”
…….
Well, that was possible.
I asked the question I was curious about.
“Um, Chairman.”
“Yes?”
“Your body seems too small.”
This was a roundabout way of saying that certain areas were, conversely, quite large.
“Ah, this? It’s a newly cultivated body.”
She lifted her black dress slightly.
“I took it out a little earlier than planned, so the growth isn’t complete, but there’s no major problem.”
I wondered if she could have just come in the middle-aged male body she usually uses, but if the chairman says so, what could I say?
Get a grip.
The person in front of me is the chairman of a mega-corp, ranked number one.
I took a short, deep breath.
The chairman asked me again.
“Did you find that Smile John guy or whatever?”
“…Not yet.”
There were limits to wandering around alone.
Especially, the limits of my disguise had been reached.
“I have an analysis of Smile John’s voice data.”
“Oh?”
“So, it’s not like there’s no way, but I haven’t seen any likely candidates.”
The chairman changed her pose from arms crossed behind her back to arms crossed in front of her.
Naturally, her chest pushed forward.
“Good, that means I can help with that.”
“…I would be grateful if you would.”
I nodded awkwardly.
“Then I’ll do the talking, you just stand behind me.”
I was grateful that she would go that far.
If the Monolith chairman came up and talked to them, there wouldn’t be anyone in this place who would ignore her and walk away.
“Okay, let’s go.”
“Yes.”
We moved towards the center of the banquet hall.
“Ah, have you tried the food here?”
“Yes, it’s delicious.”
“Hee hee, I saw it last time we ate, you seem to really like this kind of food. Let’s grab a meal together again sometime.”
“Hahaha, sure.”
I answered without thinking.
A typical Korean greeting came to mind.
‘Let’s eat together sometime.’
I figured that was probably her intention.
Well, anyway.
Smile John.
I should be able to find him soon.
Thinking that, I followed the chairman as she walked slowly.
He wasn’t there.
“…I think I’ve checked everyone, wasn’t anyone there?”
“…No.”
He really wasn’t there.
I wondered if the information broker had lied to me.
That’s how absent he was.
The person with the highest probability was 9%, was it?
It was too much of a stretch to suspect him of being Smile John with a single-digit probability.
Just then, I heard a noisy commotion from one side of the banquet hall.
《This is unbelievable! Following the Monolith chairman!! Now this person has graced us with their presence!》
A loud voice echoed over the soft classical music.
《The Vice Chairman of Ko-ozaka Corporation! Mr. ‘Ko-ozaka William’!!》
Someone handed a microphone to a middle-aged man.
《Hello everyone, it’s a pleasure to meet you all. It’s truly an honor to see you all in this setting.》
He was a really famous person.
So famous that he could be compared to the chairman next to me.
Especially, he appeared on the news a lot.
The peak was when my stocks crashed.
As I stood there blankly, I heard Eve’s voice.
[Probability of being Smile John, 61%.]
“Huh?”
…….
I hoped it wasn’t true.
If he was the vice chairman there, he was practically the chairman of Ko-ozaka Corporation.
This was the worst-case scenario for me.
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