Chapter 585

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Chapter 585: Quagmire (2)

The hideout of the master thief Kejen, located in the Eastern Free Trade Zone.

Yeongwoo couldn’t help being repeatedly amazed by Kejen’s outrageous boldness.

After all, who would ever think of deliberately setting up a hideout right next to the strongest person in the region?

Even he wouldn’t dare something that reckless so easily.

“Pretty gutsy for a thief, aren’t you?”

— In this universe, the key to surviving long… is to avoid being consistent.

“You mean, don’t maintain consistency?”

— Right. Consistency means predictability. Especially for wanted criminals like me—when you’ve got long-term pursuers, having predictable behavior or personality is a death sentence.

So that was his survival method: sometimes timid and sneaky, other times bold and fearless—never letting anyone read him.

“But considering I first met you in prison, I get the feeling I should filter your advice a bit.”

— Ever think about how many crises I must’ve survived before ending up in prison? Everyone makes at least one fatal mistake eventually.

“Judging from the ending, yours was pretty damn fatal.”

As Yeongwoo said that with a sneer, Kejen twitched his whiskers and waved a finger in the air.

— If you think the guy who stole a royal seal would rot in jail for life, you really don’t understand this universe yet, rookie.

Yeongwoo’s ears perked up.

“Oh? So what then—did you have some genius escape plan prepared?”

— Only I know the location of the Kardal royal seal.

“If the seal is never found, true, that would make sense.”

— Which means someone would’ve come to break me out sooner or later. Whether it was a royal-seal collector… or other thieves.

“So in the end, you were just trusting the will of the heavens… I mean, the Records?”

— Either way, I ended up out here, didn’t I?

Kejen proudly hugged himself with both arms.

“But that was pure luck. I wasn’t even there to rescue you in the first place.”

— Luck is a skill. And even without you, someone would've busted me out eventually.

“Except they would’ve tortured you until you revealed the seal’s location—or killed you the moment they found it.”

— ……

Kejen did not deny that.

— That’s what you call ‘danger.’ And a guy who keeps breaking through those dangers is the one who survives to the end.

“Oh?”

That was a genuinely thief-like line.

Even Yeongwoo had no choice but to admit Kejen was no ordinary man.

At that moment, Amana—who had been flying while holding everyone—cut into the conversation between the two troublemakers.

— We’re descending now. Where exactly should I land?

Kejen pointed at the rooftop of a white-roofed house next door.

— Land on the roof of that house.

— Understood.

As Amana folded her wings, an enormous burst of acceleration followed.

FWOOOOSH!

“No, but… isn’t it risky to make such a noisy landing right next to the local boss’ house?”

Right as Yeongwoo muttered in worry, Amana dropped everyone onto Kejen’s rooftop.

KWA-A-A-ANG!

— That guy is almost never home anyway. No idea what he’s always running around doing.

Kejen lifted himself from where he had been flattened against the ground.

Then he walked toward a cluster of flowerpots in the middle of the roof and began rearranging them.

“…What are you doing?”

— Inputting the entry code for my hideout.

After Kejen shifted the pots about three times—

Piiing!

A sharp signal rang out, and a slab with a rat-man’s handprint carved into it rose up on the roof.

When Kejen placed his hand on the panel, the thief’s hideout finally revealed itself.

Drrrt—drk—drk!

Rather absurdly, a ladder unfolded… leading toward the neighbor’s rooftop.

“What—so this place was a fake hideout?”

— Strictly speaking, they’re both my hideouts. But today, we’re going to the other one.

Kejen casually stepped onto the ladder toward the opposite house.

A square opening had appeared on the neighbor’s rooftop.

Entering the real hideout required entering a code here to open the entrance over there.

“Aren’t these complicated entrance steps dangerous if you ever have to flee in a hurry?”

— That’s what the white-roof house is for. There’s a method to enter that one instantly.

Of course, Kejen did not explain that method.

— Come on. Get inside quickly. This entrance closes automatically in 15 seconds.

Already halfway inside, Kejen poked only his head back out to warn them.

The group hurried after him.

* * *

Surprisingly, the hideout felt extremely dreary.

There was no resting place at all—every wall was packed with security cabinets.

“All of this is your hidden loot?”

— Yes. They’ll never open unless the sensors detect I’m alive.

“Alive?”

— Someone could try opening them while holding just my severed arm, you know.

“…Fair.”

— So the sensors check my blood flow. And if my blood flow is abnormally fast, the entire hideout blows up.

“This place has a self-destruct function?”

— Insurance for the worst case. If I ever get dragged in here by someone insanely strong.

“But judging from everything you’ve done, I’m sure you have a safe room somewhere that won’t blow up with it.”

— Heh. Forgotten already? Never assume things about an opponent.

He dodged the question smoothly.

Then he opened a drawer and pulled out a bracelet.

“What’s that?”

— A blood-flow monitor. I might unintentionally be tense, right?

It was a fail-safe to prevent the self-destruct from triggering by accident.

‘So the self-destruct is real…’

[Translator - Night]

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Once his blood flow stabilized, Kejen approached one of the few square cabinets on the wall.

— Watch closely. The moment the Kardal royal seal returns to the world!

He placed his hand on the sensor.

Thup.

A ring of orange light spread out from the center of the panel, and then—

Click!

The heavily locked cabinet swung open, releasing a magnificent radiance.

FWAAAAH!

“Guh—!”

“…Wow. Is loot even allowed to shine like that?”

Jeonggu, Yeongwoo, Amana, and even the golden goblin couldn’t keep their eyes open.

— This light is one of the key authenticity markers. A unique trait of the Kardal royal seal.

Kejen shielded himself behind the cabinet door, then pulled out a transparent film and draped it over the seal.

Only then did the blinding light fade enough for them to see the object.

“…That’s ridiculously huge.”

The royal seal of the Kardal kingdom looked far more brutal than expected.

It was essentially a giant metal gauntlet crushing the earth.

“Kardal… is their royal line warlike or something?”

— Extremely.

“And you stole something from them? What kind of nerve must you have?”

— A warlike kingdom has plenty of enemies. Which means plenty of potential clients.

Clients who would even break him out of prison to obtain it.

“This bastard… you really plan far ahead.”

— A true master thief must have grand designs for everything.

Then he held his hand out to Yeongwoo.

— Give me your admission pass again. I need to register this for sale.

Only with the pass could he deposit the seal in the Black Zone’s storage—the safest vault in the sector.

But Yeongwoo immediately shook his head.

“I’m not letting you borrow the pass. You’re giving me the seal.”

— What?

“Did you forget? The price for breaking you out was the seal.”

— But… weren’t we selling it together?

“And we are selling it together.”

When Yeongwoo flicked his finger, Kejen scowled and hugged the seal tightly.

— Damn it.

He reluctantly handed the seal over.

Thup.

The moment Yeongwoo took it, a strange gleam flashed across his eyes—and an unexpected system message appeared.

「Royal Seal Contact: +0.3 Prestige」

‘Knew it.’

His intuition had been right.

This was the royal seal of an interstellar empire. Of course direct contact would increase prestige.

[Prestige Level: 49]

40/100

*Prestige point cost per Karma: 18.4 billion

“You bastard… it raises prestige just by touching it. Why didn’t you tell me?”

Kejen’s ears twitched as he widened his eyes in surprise.

— It did? I stole it so long ago I forgot.

“You didn’t hide it on purpose?”

— Why would I? The stronger you get, the safer my deal becomes.

Then Jeonggu spoke carefully, staring at the seal.

“…Can I touch it too?”

“Oh, right.”

Jeonggu was family after all.

There was no reason not to let him copy prestige for free.

Tap.

When Jeonggu touched the seal, the same glow wrapped around him.

FWAAA!

“Ugh!”

“How much did it go up, Father?”

Jeonggu looked at his hand and muttered,

“2.3… Went up two whole stages.”

“Holy crap.”

While father and son were speechlessly gawking, Amana fidgeted awkwardly.

— Um… then maybe I could…

Before she even finished the sentence, Yeongwoo shoved the seal into her arms.

“You also have the obligation to survive today.”

— Obligation… to survive?

She blinked in shock at the unexpected words—and that was when the planetary court quest updated.

Piiiiing!

[Planetary Court] “Balanced Fate”

<Mission> Reunite with the following three individuals: (0/3)

-Aldo, the second prince of Doatel

-Amana, the guardian of Sacred Sutral

-Taru, the last hope of Pigot

The system acknowledged that meeting Amana here counted as a proper “reunion.”

“…Huh?”

Then the Hypocrite Compendium activated, filling Yeongwoo’s vision with notifications.

「Hypocrisy detected!」

[Saving Amana Says]

Grade: D

_You saved Amana Says for the sake of clearing the Court Trial.

Even though you only viewed her as a tool to achieve your objective, you still prevented the universe from losing another righteous being.

“What the—?”

Just like that, he had completed both the Court Trial objective and added another page to the Hypocrite Compendium.

Yeongwoo couldn’t help murmuring:

“Well… I guess I no longer need to survive to get out of here alive.”

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