Chapter 383

The self-proclaimed Phantom Thief.

Based on information from PMH, his age is unknown, and his affiliation is unidentified.

This unidentified mysterious man is supposed to appear next year, causing havoc in the Korean Peninsula.

This mysterious man fascinates people by preaching lengthy rhetoric, plausible but nonsensical sophistry, and his philosophies as a thief.

‘He runs his mouth about his philosophy as a thief, but no one really considers him as one.’

In PMH, this guy was treated as a strange guy (gui-in), not a thief (gui-do).

No matter how grand his introduction as Phantom Thief is, things remained the same.

Phantom Thief.

In other words, it could be interpreted in Korean as “strange thief”

But this guy was just strange.

He doesn’t steal, he’s just weird.

At first, everyone talked about him and his appearance in an auction house, but since the man didn’t steal anything, he was just branded as a “strange guy”

He was disappointed by this, but he didn’t give in.

He made another grand notice, proclaiming that he was persistently after something.

‘I couldn’t figure out exactly what thing it was since his words were always full of nonsense.’

Looking at the words written on Big Ben, I can see that it’s still true.

If I hadn’t known about Min Geurin’s Imoogi’s Exorcism and the auction at the Demon Race’s Palace, I wouldn’t have figured out what he was talking about.

‘I wouldn’t have known at all.’

Still, that man is my playable character, and whenever I use him, secrets would get revealed.

What the mysterious man was aiming for in PMH was the Black Screen.

He tried to steal something abstract called the “Black Screen’s Ploy”

Of course, the strange man didn’t know whether the Black Screen was an individual or a group, nor did he know what their goal was.

He just concluded that the Black Screen was the one behind the disaster on the Korean Peninsula, and he fought a reckless fight since the Black Screen was against his philosophy and worldview.

‘Still, I don’t think anything much happened while the strange man was active.’

He did send make a grand notice about the place that the Black Screen tried to attack, summoning the press and online streamers.

However, his deductions about the Black Screen’s plan weren’t completely accurate.

He posted a notice, a bluff, saying that if the Black Screen causes a ruckus, he will reveal their plan to the whole world.

Of course, this move didn’t last long.

Because the Black Screen prioritized the extermination of the strange man.

‘I wish he had run away. Far away.’

Like the daring romantic that he is, the strange man stood his ground.

When the Black Screen sought him regardless of what stood in their way, it seemed that their evil means convinced the strange man not to run away.

Judging that he was against an absurd villain, the strange man seemed determined to face them until the end.

He was quickly cornered, and he did one last thing that finally turned him into a strange thief right before he died.

With his light skill, he was able to steal a crucial clue about the Black Screen and send it to Joo Soohyuk and his party.

‘…He stole something exactly once in his life, but since he did after all, does that make him a valid thief?’

The thief must’ve judged that Joo Soohyuk, the character at the center of the events in PMH, was capable and worthy of dealing with the Black Screen.

Without being able to confirm if Joo Soohyuk received the clue, the short life of the thief ended with a curtain-closing effect of the game.

‘I hope he just joined hands with Joo Soohyuk from the start. If he did, his embarrassing way of speaking might’ve improved, and if they had fought together, maybe the ending of this world wouldn’t have been as bad.’

If he were a Eungwang High student, I think he’s odd enough to undoubtedly be put in Class Zero.

Although every line of his was creepy and cringy, he’s still a good guy like most of my playable characters.

Though I’d pass on meeting him here since I think my fingers and toes might fall off from his cringe-ness.

‘…Sir, this is not the time for laughs.”

The longer the news report went on, the more Jeon Muyeong seemed worried.

The Big Ben disaster had already become an international topic, and not only mainstream media companies but also famous streamers and ordinary tourists flocked to Big Ben to film.

Those who were broadcasting Big Ben’s new appearance began to analyze the case and establish different kinds of conspiracies, perhaps since aware that a simple video wouldn’t attract many viewers.

There are two main things to be analyzed here.

First, means of the thief’s criminal act.

Second, the meaning of his announcement.

‘Maybe it’s because I know the culprit, but I was able to figure it out quickly. Maybe he used a light skill.’

The thief’s light skill suits a thief.

It was called ‘Magician’s Silk Hat’

By entering the silk hat formed by his energy wave, he can appear at a desired place at any moment he desired.

In other words, a teleportation skill.

‘Maybe he made the neon sign fit to the clock tower, put it in the silk hat, and used that to place it on the tower.’

At first thought, it seemed like a brilliant fraudulent ability, but it is a light skill with a lot of restrictions and considerably poor efficiency.

The Magician’s Silk Hat allows teleportation of bulky objects, but there was a limit to the weight that it could move in a day.

In addition, energy wave consumption was extreme, depending on the distance that would be traveled.

But to think that even with those restrictions, he was able to use it to pull his tricks last April Fool’s Day.

‘Maybe it depends on how light the cover he puts on the surface, and how close he is while using his light skill.’

I’m not surprised that he’s competent since he’s my playable character, so I wouldn’t find it strange too if he did all that on his own.

While thinking about the Phantom Thief and trying to uncurl my fingers from the cringe, we finally arrived at the accommodation.

The holograms in the hotel lobby all showed the Big Ben incident.

With every hologram, the lines on Jeon Muyeong’s forehead grew deeper.

“This year’s Halloween Party is special. They’ve secured a treasure of Tuatha Dé Danann. It’s likely that we’d humiliate ourselves, so we shouldn’t sit around and wait.”

“That’s right. Maybe the one-eyed giant with the eyes of death himself will come forward.”

“Yes. And even if Balor doesn’t come forward, other Fomorians might be present.”

In the conference room of the suite.

We immediately opted to hold an emergency meeting.

All the information that Jeon Muyeong and Sung Gukeon collected regarding the number of guards, the route of our movement, and shift time have all become useless.

‘Maybe they’ll set up a trap under the assumption that information was leaked.

Assuming that we’re in the worst-case scenario now, it’s an option to just join as participants in the auction.

If we can win the bid under my name, not Sung Guekon’s or Jeon Muyeong’s, neither of them will be involved in a scandal.

But even if we participate in the auction, we still have more problems.

Perhaps the two had the same idea as me, they began to raise the topic.

“And the existence of the biggest uncertainty here. I’m sure he’s after the same thing as us.”

“Even if the Demon Race successfully blocks the Phantom Thief, our job is still trickier. The price of Imoogi’s Exorcism will skyrocket because of the news.”

The thief’s announcement was heavily implying that he’s interested in Imoogi’s Exorcism.

Even if we reroute, it’s possible that we’d collide with the thief.

And even if we safely entered the auction as participants, it was clear that the wealthy people in that event will try their best to win the painting to make a story.

“There’s still time before the auction. We’ll have to re-collect information on the party venue and do some research on the Phantom Thief.”

In the end, we decided that it’s best to re-gather information.

“He’s got a nickname before he’s committed the crime.”

The media gave the strange man a nickname.

Investigative agencies usually avoid giving aliases or nicknames to people they were after to avoid giving satisfaction to criminals, but the public usually likes those kinds of things.

I’m sure my playable character likes it too.

‘This incident didn’t happen in PMH so he never got this nickname.’

Anyway, he got it today.

The Phantom Thief NEON.

The name was instantly spread and used in every video talking about the incident at the Big Ben.

“I think Muyeong and I will be a little busy. Hoobae-ah, rest up for now.”

The two left right after the meeting was over.

Sung Gukeon had a lot of connections in the U.K. so he has a lot of people to greet, and Jeon Muyeong has to accompany him while gathering information.

Before they left, they gave me an item card.

An SR— consumable item Messageless Pigeon.

It is a one-time consumable item that delivers energy waves, and it’s the same kind of item that I once gave to Yeom Junyeol as a gift.

“Communicating through device messages is the easiest option, but for some reason, the communication signal is often cut off in incidents you’re involved in.”

It seems that Sung Gukeon keeps up with my activities.

He was right.

Although it’s an enemy’s tactic to isolate players and prevent them from calling for help, it was also a tactic we use to block the Demon Race’s Eye.

It’s possible that communication would be cut off again this time, so I gladly accepted the item.

‘Should I go outside to get used to the streets?’

After the two of them left, I decided to leave the hotel room as well.

I couldn’t get a proper look at the surroundings earlier since my thoughts were filled with the Phantom Thief Neon’s antics, but now that I was alone, it finally sank in that I was in a foreign country.

It felt strange looking at the scenery completely different from Korea.

‘It’s been a while since I’ve been to Europe.’

Except for the overseas coverage trip to China with the newspaper department, it’s been a long time since I traveled abroad.

When I was a chess player, I was often out of the country for big games, but I hardly went abroad since I retired.

‘It’s a lot different from what I remember. I should study the hotel’s surroundings well.’

I’m sure I looked like a simple student tourist, but I had a goal.

This is Central London, a place where professional player teams reside.

It was unlikely, but I decided to consider the possibility of a skirmish occurring around the hotel.

‘Depending on the circumstances, we may have to go to the Thames. It’s best to fight using water.’

I passed the Tower of London and headed to Tower Bridge when…

Fwaddeeuk!

A few black crows flapping their wings.

Black crows in London?

I decided to walk away without much thought when…

‘Oh, why is that person…?’

I saw a familiar face.

A great sense of incompatibility washed over me with the sight of a certain acquaintance in this unfamiliar landscape.

He came forward and greeted me as if he had been waiting.

“Student Jo Euishin, I’m here to deliver a message from the person I serve.”

Beyond the crows, the patissier at MITRON stood before me.