98 – 098. Simultaneous Incident (13)
The four of us moved through the roof of the building and soon arrived in front of a textile factory along a low hill.
“Is that the place where Kang Ha-neul is being held?”
I silently nodded at Yewon Ji’s question. Next to the unlit factory building stood a warehouse with a gloomy slate roof. The map the quest gave me said that the river sky was there.
“Other people around…… It doesn’t seem like it.”
“But, just in case. It might be hiding somewhere out of sight.”
“Well… ….”
At Ryu Tae-hyeon’s words, Ji Ye-won let out a quiet voice and looked around. However, the surroundings of the factory, which seemed to have collapsed more than ten years ago, were enveloped in complete darkness.
“Let me check.”
At that time, Seol Ah-hyun stepped forward and said. How the hell do you check? Thinking so, I immediately remembered what her ability was.
“You mean to check it with future time?”
At that time, Ji Ye-won asked Seol Ah-hyun with a questionable face.
“Right. It’s an ability that was meant to be used in times like this in the first place.”
With those words, Seol Ah-hyun concentrated with her eyes closed.
It was simply expressed as future poetry, but in fact, the identity of Seol Ah-hyun’s psychic ability can be said to be the ability to observe one of the many ‘possibilities’ that can happen in the future rather than seeing the future itself.
When she says she sees the future with apples and strawberries in front of her, if she wants to eat the apple at that moment, she will see the future by eating the apple. On the other hand, when she sees the future again with the will to eat the strawberry the next moment, unlike the future she saw before, the scene of eating the strawberry appears in front of her eyes.
In other words, in the case of the current situation, if she activates future poetry with the ‘will to rush into the warehouse head-on’, she can grasp the process of heading to the warehouse or what will happen inside the warehouse. Of course, the range was about tens of seconds at most.
“…… I see people in the center of the warehouse. Five people wearing strange helmets and one tall woman. And she’s asleep in her chair…… ? One woman. Maybe this woman is Kang Ha-neul. It matches the picture Suho showed me.”
Seol Ah-hyun, who saw the future, opened her eyes and said.
“Less than six.”
“Yes. What is the number you see? There is a possibility that there may be an ambush elsewhere.”
“Could you be more specific about the situation inside?”
The inside of the warehouse observed by Seol Ah-hyun was as follows.
As I said before, there are six enemies that I can see first.
As if they were trying to create a temporary living environment in the warehouse, there were sofas and tables with medium heating, and no other factory equipment was visible. There is only one entrance at the front and no windows.
“I guess I have no choice but to go in from the front.”
“If you go in? What next?”
“Let’s try to negotiate first, and if it doesn’t work, we’ll have to fight.”
“Brother. Fighting with Haneul as a hostage…….”
I shook my head lightly at Ryu Tae-hyeon’s words of concern.
“They probably won’t be able to threaten us by taking Kang Ha-neul hostage. Because… ….”
Because Kang Haneul is a valuable sample for multi-ability research. It was impossible to tell Ryu Tae-Hyeon or Seol Ah-Hyeon, who did not know the circumstances, about such a fact.
“…… Because, kidnapping Kang Ha-neul means that they also have a purpose. I won’t kill Kang Ha-neul before that goal is achieved.”
In the end, I had no choice but to blurt out the cause of Kang Ha-neul’s abduction. However, Seol Ah-hyun and Ryu Tae-hyun seemed to understand that much.
At that time, Ji Ye-won asked Seol Ah-hyun.
“Can’t you see the outcome of a fight?”
“I think that would be a bit difficult. The range that can be viewed at a specific point in time is limited to about 1 minute…….”
“Is there anything you need to see? I would win anyway.”
Ryu Taehyun shrugged his shoulders and said. There was not the slightest worry on his face.
“Everyone here is a person who does one strand at a time. Even this person is an S-class superman. With this amount of power, you’ll be able to subdue five or six kidnappers in an instant, right?”
“I hope so.”
It couldn’t be better if things worked out that way. But I couldn’t feel so at ease.
Because I knew very well that this damn world wasn’t going my way.
But.
“Then let’s go in soon.”
Please, just this time, I hope everything goes smoothly.
***
-Kikii Profit.
The heavy warehouse door opened and four people stepped inside.
In the warehouse, as Seol Ah-hyun said, there were Kang Ha-neul and six men and women. Among them, the only tall woman not wearing a helmet was Stephanie’s partner contractor, ‘K’.
“… ….”
K scanned every face of the unexpected guest. Then, the moment her gaze stopped on Ahn Su-ho, her eyes widened. Right after that, a deep sigh escaped from her mouth.
“I couldn’t believe that Stephanie didn’t contact me on a regular basis… ….”
K came forward messing up her long hair as if it was a headache for her.
“So how did you know about this place? Stephanie isn’t such a light-mouthed kid.”
“From what you’re saying, it looks like you’re Stephanie’s partner, K.”
“Wow, that’s a real hit. Did you really blow it all up?”
No. The reason Ahn Su-ho found this place was thanks to the quest, and the only information about Stephanie and K was what Seong-chan Heo and Jin-soo Yu said through Ji Ye-won. However, K, who did not know the circumstances, had no choice but to keep in mind Stephanie’s betrayal.
“Judging from the fact that the police and not the police came in, it seems that they are quietly taking this girl with them…….”
“K. Make an offer.”
“The academy security guard suggested it. Where would you like to hear it?”
Ahn Soo-ho calmly opened his mouth as he watched K grinning and laughing nonchalantly despite the sudden situation.
“My suggestion is simple. Obediently cross the river sky. Then I won’t get involved in whether you run away or not.”
“Truly. If you said that, did you think I would say yes, I will do as you commanded and run away?”
“You better judge wisely. Because there is an S-class superhuman over here.”
“S-rank…… ?”
At those words, K’s eyes scanned Ahn Su-ho’s group once again. Soon, her eyes opened wider than before.
“Wait. No way, Seol Ah-hyun…… ?”
“Huh.”
When K recognized himself, Seol Ah-hyun laughed as if he was laughing.
“Yes. I am the guild master of the Black Dragon, Seol Ah-hyun, the lord of the Black Dragon.”
Seol Ah-hyun took a step forward and said. In his tone and behavior, the unique leisure of a strong man came out naturally. Glancing at the back where Ahn Soo-ho was subtly located, it was evident that he was conscious of Ahn Su-ho.
“Thank you for noticing. I guess I’m quite famous, seeing as people from slums with no proper infrastructure recognize me? Well, with the subject of contract work, there’s no way I’m dark about the circumstances outside.”
At Seol Ah-hyun’s confident attitude, K chewed his lips. As the saying goes, Seol Ah-hyun was a famous superman that everyone in this country knew about. Of course, its strength was also well known.
“…… Hey. Do you think that saying that would scare me?”
It was a bluff. He said so, but K was sufficiently agitated by the sudden appearance of an S-class superman. Feigning her laid-back attitude on the outside, she secretly pulled out a pager with a small button attached to the four of them. A pager that she received from her client in preparation for such an event.
-Click.
After confirming that the button was pressed, K gulped down his dry saliva and looked ahead again. Ahn Soo-ho shook her head toward her.
“You are about to make a reckless choice.”
“You’ll know if you’re reckless or not when you stick around.”
As he said, K never intended to surrender. That was her pride in her own way, her professionalism as a contractor. Seeing that attitude, Ahn Soo-ho clicked his tongue briefly. Seeing how confident she was even in front of an S-class superhuman, it was clear that she had a corner to believe in.
“Ha ha.”
Ahn Suho let out a deep sigh. Somehow, in this guy’s world, things don’t go the way he originally thought.
But Ahn Su-ho didn’t care. There were still a few more cards to placate the contractor in front of me.
“Why don’t you surrender? Is it because of money? How much did you get from your employer?”
“Why? If I tell you, are you going to give me more money?”
“There’s nothing you can’t pay if you want to.”
This part was discussed with Min Chaeryeong before coming here. If you think you have to conciliate the contractor who kidnapped Kang Ha-neul with money, do it. That you will bear the cost yourself.
“It’s a tempting suggestion, but… ….”
K took a cigarette out of his pocket and lit it. She took a deep breath in and exhaled her smoke as she draped her upper body on the back of her chair where her river sky sat. Kang Ha-neul didn’t even move.
“I will refuse. It’s something that you really don’t know if you’ll pay or not. In the first place, trust is the life of our industry, so it is easy to get buried if you go back and forth like a bat blinded by money like that.”
“Trust. Then how about this We will release your partner if you cooperate with us. On the other hand, if you fight us, we won’t be able to guarantee her safety.”
“Hey. Do whatever you want. It’s just a business relationship with Stephanie anyway.”
“I heard that trust is important a while ago? Isn’t taking care of your colleagues also trust?”
“That woman broke the trust first. Isn’t that why you guys were able to come here now?”
Stephanie, who first gave her information, said that Nee herself had no obligation to save her. Ahn Su-ho chewed his lips at K’s obvious rejection.
Negotiations broke down. Really sad.
Then all that remains is a collision.
When Ahn Su-ho thought so, Ryu Tae-hyeon, who was next to him, also had the same thought. He said to Ahn Soo-ho, holding his stance with his fists clenched.
“Brother. Let’s just fight It seems that she has no intention of listening to us.”
“I’m sorry. Aren’t you guys here to save this girl? But looking at it, I don’t think he’s been paying attention since a while ago?”
K shook his head as if he was being ridiculous.
“You guys are being held hostage by me. Know?”
K pulled up the hair of the unconscious river sky. Immediately after, she took a knife from her bosom and brought it to the throat of her river sky. Then, Ahn Su-ho glared at her as if to kill her.
However, K was just smirking, not paying attention to those bloody eyes.
“Can you understand the situation now? You guys are not in a position to shout so loud right now. Wherever you are, try moving even one step there. I’m going to just chop this girl’s head off and turn her into a mop.”
“…… Can you really?”
“What?”
At that time, Suho Ahn spoke in a calm voice.
“I asked if I could really do that. In my opinion, maybe your client doesn’t want Kang Ha-neul to get hurt?”
“… ….”
K shut his mouth at Ahn Su-ho’s sharp words. He had no choice but to shut up. Well, he’s obviously hit the nail on the head.
As originally expected by Ahn Su-ho, K’s client, Na Joo-yong, wanted to secure Kang Ha-neul in the best condition possible. That was the first condition for this request. Therefore, it was impossible for K to injure Kang Ha-neul by threatening Ahn Su-ho and the others.
‘…… sh*t. If you’re going to get caught, hold out for one more day before you get caught.’
Even though they successfully kidnapped Kang Ha-neul two days ago, the reason they are in such a shabby warehouse is because they needed to prepare in advance to sneak him into the laboratory. And it was tomorrow that the preparations would be finished.
If Stephanie had been caught a day late, Kang Ha-neul would have been safely sent to the laboratory. If that were the case, K wouldn’t have had to run into An Su-ho’s group.
“Why don’t you stop bragging and surrender meekly? For now, the original proposal is still valid. If you hand over Kang Ha-neul to us and run away, I won’t bother chasing you.”
“… ….”
K, who was glaring at him with an expression of resentment at Ahn Su-ho’s words, eventually took the knife. However, the only thing she gave up was bluffing, including taking her hostage.
“Hey. Doggies.”
At K’s call, the helmets that had been silent raised their heads.
“From now on, I’m going to run away with him, so buy me some time so they don’t come after me.”
At those words, the helmets that had been silent all along began to open their mouths.
“…… Check.”
“…… Hour. Earn.”
“…… Intruder. Get rid of it.”
“What the f*ck.”
Ahn Su-ho expressed disapproval as he watched them pose with a slurred tone. When I first saw their outfits, I was confused, but when I heard their distinctive tone, I was finally able to confirm what kind of people they were.
‘Hounds secretly raised by the Yeoil Group behind the scenes.’
Hound dog. They were a fighting group created by the combination of Yeoil Group’s wealth and Na Juyong’s scientific power. The hounds were all superhumans, and they were the ones who pushed their physical abilities to the limit through illegal surgery and drugs. In addition, they were armed with various high-tech equipment purchased with funds from Yeoil Group.
The Yeoil group began to appear as a villain organization in earnest after the middle of the original work. Of course, the hounds that appeared from that point also had strength to match.
But.
“I don’t know what they are, but do you think you can take on me with just five?”
Seol Ah-hyun said confidently. As he said, no matter how much he was a hunting dog, he couldn’t even earn time properly in front of an S-class superman.
“Only five? It’s not?”
Only when the number is only five.
-Kikii Profit.
The four of them turned their heads at the unpleasant grinding sound. Then the new hounds that had just begun to enter the warehouse caught their attention.
The number is 15.
The hounds that had entered the warehouse began to surround Ahn Su-ho and his party with restrained movements. The four of them were surrounded in an instant by a total of 20 hounds.
“…… No matter how small it is, in the end it will only be small.”
“But it will be enough to earn time.”
With an obvious mocking laugh, K lifted Kang Ha-neul’s body on his shoulder.
At the same time.
“Hounds.”
A deep smile hung on K’s lips.
“Ask.”
The next moment, 20 hounds rushed at the four of them all at once.