Jeon Hu-dam, the leader of Tong Yi Sect, had been a seasoned information broker, having worked for over ten years in Sacheon City.

He was proud that Tong Yi Sect ranked among the top five information organizations within Sacheon City. Due to the nature of information organizations, their identities were not easily revealed, but after over a decade in the game, he had gathered enough intel to make sense of what competitors were up to.

The request that came from Hwang Gold Clan was significant for someone like him.

[Bring me information about Ho Cheon-an, a member of the Sacheon Outcasts!]

Was there an information broker who didn’t know that Hwang Gold Clan was overflowing with gold? The rewards offered were exceptionally generous, so whether he was a leader or not, he had no choice but to give it his all.

“Hmm.”

First, Jeon Hu-dam decided to review the events that had led up to the current situation.

Initially, there wasn’t much substance to the information that Tang Do-gyeong and Miss Yeo Il-ye had ventured to Outcast Inn. They must have visited the inn to meet with an outcast who had been gambling.

‘Let’s skip this and move on…’

It was well-known that Goh Bu-rin from Hwang Gold Clan worked as an intermediary. For an information broker, trying to ignore the sorcery performances that occurred at Hwang Gold’s front was impossible.

Thus, Jeon Hu-dam realized that the outcast named Ho Cheon-an, whom Hwang Gold Clan requested information about, was the same outcast who had conducted that sorcery performance. Otherwise, there would be no reason for Hwang Gold Clan to specifically ask for information about him.

Following the activities of Ho Cheon-an wasn’t particularly difficult. He had recently been seen traveling with a female Sacheon Outcast.

Jeon Hu-dam began tracing Ho Cheon-an’s movements in reverse.

‘This is quite easy for a money-making opportunity. Maybe I should have given my subordinates some work?’

Sacheon Outcasts often caused a commotion, so the movements of the outcasts were mostly documented. It wouldn’t be overly challenging to find records of Ho Cheon-an’s movements by sifting through some files.

Given the nature of the request, he was indeed compiling the information himself, but compared to the excitement of the reward, this was just a drag.

Although it was termed ‘under-the-table contacts’, Sacheon City was a hub where various sects, backed by the massive Nine Great Sects and the Five Great Clans, gathered. So, was Sacheon City as easy as it seemed?

In this city, martial arts sects needed information to survive. Could there be such a convoluted area that appeared so simple from the outside? Those sects that had grown powerful enough to dip their toes into the water were divided into two categories.

Either they would vanish without a trace, swept away by the unexpected currents, or…

They would sense those invisible whirlpools and devise plans to deal with them.

Those sects in the latter category would inevitably start knocking on information brokers’ doors.

The first thing such sects sought was information about the Sacheon Outcasts. After all, their ecosystem was fundamentally different from that of other regions. Among them, the most alien were the Sacheon Outcasts.

Feeding on the newer sects was indeed the sweet spot for an information broker in Sacheon.

Given how distorted and abnormal Sacheon’s ecosystem was, couldn’t they gain supremacy by obtaining outcast information? New sects were thus driven to madness, throwing around gold.

Information brokers eagerly sold the secrets of these outcasts. For example, there was this guy, Jeong Sam, who had entered the Sacheon Outcasts. Jeong Sam had done something within the outcast circles in Hanam and practiced the Half-Moon Blade martial arts. All this juicy intel.

As the ambitions burned, the sects importing outcast personal information would eventually come to realize something. Revealing the identities of the outcasts would only backfire on them. Even if they managed to expel or exploit the Sacheon Outcasts to become the victors of Sacheon City…

They inevitably realized that this would lead to a bloody conflict.

‘Those crossing the line can be removed easily.’

Yet, there were still sects occasionally blinded by genuine greed, wanting to overturn Sacheon City. In this case, the information brokers would sell intel to Yu Sa-yeon.

Then Yu Sa-yeon would issue tournament invitations and dismantle that sect.

The information brokers in Sacheon would then exploit the newly formed sects that bloom in the now peaceful Sacheon.

Anyone who dared to knock on the gates of Sacheon with confidence had better be able to see the unseen connections. Those incapable would be doomed, while those who did would have to live in hiding.

“Tsk tsk. Seems like they thought Sacheon was a joke.”

Taegyeong Sect’s members were those who dove into the water without noticing the flow.

Jeon Hu-dam shook his head as he read the incident report from Gyeongsu Market.

“I mean, it wasn’t as if I was completely trusting, but… Was it Yunnan’s noble family? Gyeongsu? Does it make sense for them to establish themselves in Sacheon City with only the capital of a country inn?”

Taegyeong Sect Leader, who had only a martial arts manual and a body, suddenly received a massive amount of investment as funding, so it was no wonder that ambition could ignite, but intentions were one thing, reality another.

A frog in a well had no idea how daunting Sacheon was. In hiring outcasts, the inexperienced had no choice but to fail. Now that Goh Bu-rin had severed ties with Taegyeong Sect, they were left to wither away in Sacheon.

“Hmm… The fact that Miss Yeo Il-ye visited Outcast Inn is troubling.”

It was quite the topic among information brokers that Yeo Il-ye, the Outcast Crusher, had entered Outcast Inn without causing any incident. Since she subsequently displayed her peak-level martial prowess, there was enough intrigue surrounding what happened in Outcast Inn, the starting point of that commotion.

‘Rumor has it, an outcast gave her realization…’

In retrospect, it was indeed true that Yeo Il-ye had given Ho Cheon-an a Gratitude Plaque during that incident. On the gambling table in front of Hwang Gold Clan, Ho Cheon-an had wagered Yeo Il-ye’s Gratitude Plaque, and the only chance to hand it over was when she barged into Outcast Inn.

“What a ridiculous coincidence that they met inside Outcast Inn…”

Even for Jeon Hu-dam, who was adept at gathering intel, obtaining information within Outcast Inn was complex.

Those who frequented Outcast Inn, be they intermediaries or outcasts, were all high-stakes players. If information leaked from that closed-off space, it wouldn’t take long to identify the source, meaning they wouldn’t talk for any sum of money.

Moreover, the staff, like Jeomsoi or the cook, were handpicked by Yu Sa-yeon and lived at Outcast Inn, making contact exceedingly difficult.

If Yeo Il-ye and Ho Cheon-an could get properly connected, things would become easier, but being forced to rely only on speculation was frustrating.

“Ho Cheon-an, Ho Cheon-an…”

For now, it was confirmed that Ho Cheon-an was the key player in all these incidents.

‘Hmm, suspicious.’

In a rational realm, it seemed impossible to find any correlation.

However, in the moments of engaging with information, there are instances when instinctual or subconscious connections emerge.

As soon as the information about gambling hit him, Jeon Hu-dam couldn’t help but think of the gambling table at Gae Hwa Roo.

There was once a grand turnaround during a huge wager worth over 100 nyang, resulting in quite a ruckus.

Thanks to that, a guy called Dogwi gained fame as the greatest gambler in Sacheon, while his opponent mysteriously vanished into thin air.

‘A gambler capable of deceiving a Peak Expert… Could it be Ho Cheon-an?’

The ties between Ho Cheon-an and the gambling master from the Video Tower were hazy. One was a master of trickery while the other was a dice specialist. Generally, gamblers have a primary focus, but it was suspicious that a trickster capable of fooling a Peak Expert in gambling would excel in dice as well.

‘Information bought from Gae Hwa Roo… Let’s see…’

The master of Gae Hwa Roo had also thrown around gold to purchase intel, and it couldn’t have been a small sum. Sifting through categorized request records, Jeon Hu-dam discovered Ho Cheon-an’s name.

[Gae Hwa Roo’s request for Sacheon Outcast information]
[Importance: High – Urgent and reward amount is generous]
[Provided information by the client: Has entered gambling halls daily for years, as well as physical description.]
[None of the known gamblers matched the physical description. Following, he was identified as a Sacheon Outcast. Refer to outcast information – [132]: the information revealed that “the outcast named Ho Cheon-an frequents gambling halls every night.” No concrete evidence confirming the identity, but a strong 90% assurance based on the consistent gambling pattern. Information delivered as per the request.]

“Well, I got lucky…”

Sacheon Outcasts were people too, and it seemed that bits of information from their interactions with the outside world did occasionally leak from within Outcast Inn. It appeared that he had caught some pieces of intel regarding Ho Cheon-an from that.

“It’s not very substantial, but it’s sufficient for preliminary investigation.”

“Hmm. He’s really good at gambling.”

Jeon Hu-dam felt an icy chill down his spine.

It was truly a mesmerizing voice, like jade rolling across a tray.

However, without sensing anything, if such a voice echoes in one’s ears, anyone would feel a chill down their spine.

Especially if it came from within the most confidential area of the information organization where all requested intel was placed.

‘How?!’

At that moment, a fragrance he couldn’t define wafted gently into his nostrils, but rather than feeling euphoric, Jeon Hu-dam broke into a cold sweat.