I Became the Eldest Daughter of 10 Siblings - Chapter 117

I began conducting a full-fledged investigation to find the build leaker.

Though I called it an investigation grandly, it was just exchanging a few words with relevant people to try to get even a small piece of information.

Already the 17th person.

I talked to people with eyes lit up like candles, but there was no special harvest.

My head became even more complicated.

"Yena."

"What?"

"I've been wondering since earlier..."

I glanced at Son Yena's face and asked.

"Why... are you wearing glasses?"

At my question, Son Yena put her hands on her hips and answered in a confident voice.

"We're detectives, aren't we!"

"So?"

"Isn't it common sense that detectives should wear glasses?"

"Who says that?"

"Conan does."

"..."

Adding insult to injury.

I failed at picking a partner too.

At this rate, a voice-changing bowtie and a wristwatch with built-in anesthetic needles were about to come out next.

As I always think...

She's completely hopeless when it comes to deduction!

Maybe if it was cosplay, but not this.

"Unnie. How many people have we investigated so far? 15? 16?"

"17."

"Then... we have 3 left."

Son Yena rubbed her temples.

"But I don't understand anything. I don't feel any suspicious vibes at all. Did you get any hunches, unnie?"

"Well..."

"Unnie, you have a weird intuition, so you're like a shaman for this kind of thing, right?"

"No. I don't know either."

"We're not making any progress like this, what should we do?"

That's right. What should we do, really?

"Aaah, we need to catch them quickly!"

Son Yena messed up her hair anxiously.

I was just as anxious.

Because the sooner we catch them, the sooner our team members can practice with peace of mind.

I had been repeatedly biting my thumbnail like jerky, so the surface of my nail was roughly scratched with tooth marks.

As we were just wetting our appetites without any gains.

We found two people sitting on the fabric sofa placed in the lounge.

One was Yoo Sangyeop, ELF's build coach.

A pure-blooded person who debuted and retired in ELF, and was once the team captain.

So he had a high reputation in the team.

Even players with rebellious tendencies would obediently follow Yoo Sangyeop's words.

The other was Yeon Jeongwook, ELF's core player and Hyun Junho's debut cohort.

This one had a devilishly unforgettable visual.

Bald head. Horn-rimmed glasses. Mustache.

If a stranger saw him, they'd think he was the coach.

"Hello."

I greeted gently.

"Can we talk for a moment?"

Yoo Sangyeop, who met my eyes, hurriedly unfolded his crossed legs and answered.

"Oh, sure, Yujin."

As soon as we sat on the opposite sofa, we threw out a flurry of questions.

When did they realize the replays were leaked, who stays in the practice room the latest. Well, basic questions like that.

"Then..."

I scratched my head and asked.

"Is there anyone you suspect?"

"Someone I suspect..."

Yoo Sangyeop spoke slowly, taking his time.

"There is."

"Who is it?"

Then, he covered his mouth and whispered.

"Will you keep it a secret? No matter how good it is to find the culprit, if it gets out that we suspected a teammate, it could dampen the team atmosphere."

"Ah, of course it's off the record. Only Yena and I will know."

"If I had to name someone suspicious..."

The two looked at each other and answered in unison.

"It's Ju Sehun."

"Why?"

"Well..."

This time, Yeon Jeongwook, who had been drinking coffee, opened his mouth instead.

"There's something he did to you, Han Yujin."

Something he did to me?

"Don't you remember? A few months ago, when that kid Sehun was having an extinction match with you, when he was clearly losing, he tried to disconnect on purpose and got caught, smearing shit on his own face."

...Ah, that's right.

Looking at it like this, it's really strange.

That incident wasn't even that long ago, but somehow it feels like it happened in the distant past.

That was what led to me starting broadcasting.

"As I said earlier, Ju Sehun stays in the practice room the latest."

"He could be practicing, right?"

"Then it should show in his league results. A kid who was doing well is completely flopping now."

Yeon Jeongwook's suspicion was reasonable.

Ju Sehun, who was the 2nd option player after Hyun Junho, had been on a losing streak and performing poorly since the start of this season.

Moreover, since he had 40 wins in the league alone last season, his slump stood out even more starkly.

"I don't want to suspect him like this either, but since his results aren't backing up his practice time, I'm skeptical if he might be leaking elsewhere."

Son Yena, who had been nodding while writing down the words in her notebook, asked Coach Yoo:

"But aren't there CCTVs in the practice room?"

"Ah, that's..."

Yoo Sangyeop tapped the leather seat of the sofa with his finger as if he had heard a difficult question.

"There aren't any."

"Huh? Why not?"

"You know that saying. If you install CCTVs in operating rooms, doctors will go extinct."

"Ah, I know. They say doctors would be reluctant to enter operating rooms because they feel like they're being watched."

"Yena, you're smarter than you look. Our team also didn't install CCTVs in the practice room in the name of protecting players' human rights and such."

"Ah, I see..."

In the end, we turned our backs again without any harvest.

"How is it, unnie?"

Son Yena poked my side.

"Did that person come down this time?"

"I'm not a shaman, you know."

Still, it seems I am suffering from some illness.

Ever since becoming a woman, my head has been throbbing continuously, geez.

Son Yena put away her notebook and muttered.

"I didn't know finding the culprit would be this difficult. It's like trying to find a path in the dark."

Of course it would be.

Because the real culprit doesn't have the face of a culprit.

Villains having scary scars and unpleasant sanpaku eyes is only in movies and dramas.

Real villains hide among the flock wearing the mask of an innocent sheep. While hiding their true form.

"No clues, and my legs hurt..."

Son Yena sat down in the hallway like a lost person.

Then she started sniffing with her nostrils flaring like a drug-sniffing dog.

...Has she finally lost it?

"Huh? Don't you smell something delicious?"

"A delicious smell?"

"Yeah. A savory smell."

Hearing that, I also sniffed the air. Indeed, a savory aroma gently vibrated in the cold hallway.

And as I turned my head in the direction of the smell, Hyun Junho was walking towards us.

"Oh, Junho oppa!"

Son Yena smiled with a welcoming face.

More precisely, not at Hyun Junho, but at the savory food in his hand.

"What's that?"

"Dessert."

"Why dessert?"

"To feed the kids. They're all exhausted from practice, so it's time for their blood sugar to drop."

"Oh my, how sweet of you."

Hyun Junho raised the corners of his mouth faintly.

"You two, I heard you're playing detective to catch the build leaker?"

At those words, Son Yena glared sharply and pushed up her glasses.

"Take that back. It's not playing, but a very serious task."

"Is that so? Sorry, sorry."

"Ah, right! You're our last investigation target, so this worked out well."

Son Yena took out her notebook again.

"...What should I ask first?"

"Ask anything. But you won't catch them."

Huh? We won't catch them?

"Because there's no culprit in our team."

...What kind of novel nonsense is this?

"What do you mean by what you just said?"

I asked with a frown.

"It means exactly what I said."

"What on earth is your basis?"

"Just... a gut feeling I've had while eating from the same pot with the kids for a long time."

In other words, it's blind faith without basis.

How can there be such a foolish man?

"Your replays are circulating blatantly on the internet, what do you mean it's not?"

"I think it's the work of hackers. Our team's system automatically saves replays to the central computer archive after games end."

"Then how do you explain the league? You know other teams responded as if they knew all our builds."

"We do personal broadcasts too. I heard these days they analyze opponent teams' strategies and catch players' habits through that. It could have leaked from there."

I take back calling him a fool...

This man is an idiot, an idiot!

My chest had been feeling stuffy and heavy as if I was suffering from an internal illness, but here was someone even more frustrating than my chest.

"I trust our team members. They might do crazy things because they want to win, but they're not wayward enough to deliberately make the team lose. They're kids who only know games."

If there was a competition for raising Han Yujin's blood pressure, this man would win first place.

I'm going crazy with frustration...

In a way, Hyun Junho was the biggest victim of the build leak.

Because the build leak could be the cause of his numerous second-place finishes that have held this man back, hurt him, and made him be ridiculed until now.

But I didn't like how someone like that was turning a blind eye and glossing over it as if the build leaker never existed in the first place.

No... it was irritating.

Because it seemed like he was avoiding facing the fact that his teammate had stabbed him in the back.

Camaraderie. Trust. Faith.

Those things are nice. They're romantic.

But humans can't live on warmth alone. Sometimes coldness is necessary too.

As someone who knows the future, words I wanted to say piled up like a mountain inside me.

You know what, sunbae.

That traitor will drown you at an important turning point.

And you'll be strung along with false hope all your life and retire without achieving the championship you yearned for.

In the end, you'll even throw away your life out of despair.

So listen to me, you idiot!

...That's what I should say.

But different words came out of my mouth.

"Look. I understand that you're a humanist full of camaraderie. But there's clearly a traitor inside who's stealing and selling our team's strategies, you know?"

"But there's no substance, no substance. If we just keep shooting internally and suspecting each other like a witch hunt, it could create unnecessary distrust."

"But we have to do what needs to be done!"

"I think it's better to find a better way than suspecting blindly like this."

I retorted while rubbing my dry face.

"You know we're in last place right now, right? In a situation where every second counts, what faster and more certain method is there than cutting out the pus?"

"I'm saying we should check if we're cutting out healthy flesh before cutting out the pus."

"Healthy flesh... come on, wow, this is ridiculous!"

Strength entered my clenched fist.

"Look, sunbae. Isn't it idiotic to be taken advantage of even in your own home? Don't tell me you want to gloss over this vaguely because of the bond from eating together?"

"That's... not it."

"Ah, then what..."

What, why aren't you taking my side.

The person who always did as I said.

It's really irritating...

"You know you're a very frustrating and dull-witted type, right?"

"I'm sorry. For making you frustrated."

"Do you know it looks really stupid and foolish to always take the loss by thinking of your teammates before yourself?"

"I'm sorry. For being stupid."

"Do you only know how to say sorry?"

"..."

Then, Son Yena, who had been quietly listening while reading the atmosphere, timidly interjected.

"Unnie... I think your wording is a bit harsh..."

"If medicine doesn't work, you need the rod!"

I added while biting my lip:

"If you have something to say, rebut me."

"Yujin-ssi is only saying correct things, so what's there to rebut?"

"Ah, this is so frustrating..."

I brushed back my disheveled hair.

I even rubbed my eyes because it felt hopeless.

I let out several pent-up sighs too.

But still, still, it's frustrating.

Because I know this man's ending.

Because I have to swallow and suffer alone, unable to speak of the tragedy I know.

"Looking at you, sunbae, you're like a car that can't exit the rotary and keeps going around in circles on the same road."

"I know... that I'm frustrating."

"Then break out of it!"

If you don't get out, you'll die.

I don't want to see that...

"I know, but it's hard."

Hyun Junho's lips quivered, then he smiled bitterly and said:

"I'm a weak coward."

"Stop putting yourself down, please... ah, forget it."

I sighed and waved my hand.

The atmosphere in the hallway froze coldly.

And.

Out of frustration, unintended words burst out of my mouth without realizing.

It was a clear slip of the tongue that should never have been uttered.

"That's why sunbae only gets second place... ah."

I covered my mouth in surprise.

"Ah, that's not what I meant..."

"..."

Hyun Junho's eyes shook uneasily.

"That's not it... ah, damn."

I should apologize.

I should say I'm sorry.

But the words won't come out as if my mouth is glued shut.

"..."

"..."

As an awkward silence hung in the air.

I felt a heavy touch on the back of my head.

Then immediately, my forehead and Hyun Junho's forehead collided with a thud.

"...Ouch."

"Ugh... it hurts."

"Yujin unnie! Junho oppa!"

It was Son Yena's hand.

"What are you two doing right now!"

Son Yena puffed up her cheeks and pouted sulkily.

The sight was as adorable as a small sparrow ruffling its feathers and grumbling.

And, she scolded in a loud voice that shook the hallway:

"Is this the time for a lovers' quarrel?!"