54 – And so the performance ends
A peaceful street, completely different from the terrorist scenes we have always experienced. But that’s why it’s such a strange place.
Ji-hyeon looked around and gritted her teeth, then stared at the seemingly ordinary street and realized that she was trapped on this street.
“Replacement-“
A street where there is not a single person. It looks fine on the outside, but the moment you try to escape from the inside, you are bounced by a haze that appears in the air and come back inside, a space from which you can never escape.
She felt a foreign feeling, as if the place she was in had been cut off from the original world. She soon let out a sigh mixed with lament and turned around –
“-Who the hell are you?”
What happened to this and why is this happening, she asked the only person who could answer her questions.
-What are you going to do if you know who I am? It won’t change the fact that you’re trapped here.
What returns is the voice of a middle-aged man. Even though her voice was really nice to listen to, Jihyun was in a creepy mood and ran her hand over her goosebumps forearm.
-Besides, you probably already guessed my identity anyway, right?
Her arms and legs are chained and she wears a mask that covers her entire face except her mouth. The woman’s mouth, with her hair scattered, must have been sewn up with thread, and it is questionable whether she is making a voice come out of her mouth, and the fact that a man’s voice is even coming out of it is even more horrifying.
This person looks strange and his actions are very suspicious. Then what is that person’s identity?
“…Villain.”
-Villain, that’s a good answer.
Actually, there was nothing to ask. Because it was obvious that he was a villain.
“What is the purpose?”
However, Jihyun was frustrated because she couldn’t figure out what her – no, his – purpose was. He might have understood if the intention had been to attack. Because it was very common for villains to attack heroes. But he doesn’t do anything and just keeps him locked up, so what is the need for doing this?
She muttered, glaring at him, feeling as if her stomach was clogged, but-
-Once again, you don’t need to know that. Anyway, knowing the reason doesn’t change anything, does it?
The answer I got back was a cold one. Although his tone is blunt and monotonous, the life in his voice is probably not due to his mood.
-If you don’t want to die right now, I recommend just staying still.
He spit out a word at her and lowered her head again, stopping her movement, but-
“Blizzard.”
There’s no way the hero would listen to the villain and just wait patiently, right? She continued to spread her rising cold energy in all directions, freezing the surroundings, then closed her eyes and continued to repeat the same action.
She knows very well that with her abilities, it is not easy for her to escape from this situation. In order to break through the type of ability that cuts off or traps, you must either have a power strong enough to destroy the person’s ability, or you must have an ability with penetrating power so strong that you can penetrate the gap. But she is not included in either group.
-You keep doing useless things-
“You have to try it to see if this is useless or not.”
But that doesn’t mean that giving up and sitting still is just sitting in the palm of the villain’s hand.
Jihyun never gave up, and after glaring at her, he saw her action and snorted. Compatibility of abilities and differences in level. He was superior to her in both cases, so it didn’t matter, and even if she broke through this and got out, there would be no loss to him, but that would never happen.
So he turned her attention off to her and focused her attention on the other side, and as some time passed-
“-Blizzard.”
Around the time she used her powers for the tenth time, he sensed something strange about her and immediately turned his attention to her.
“I told you, right?”
He found Ji-hyeon glaring at him with blue eyes in a completely frozen space.
“It’s something you have to try.”
-Definitely.
He acknowledged her with a creepy smile that threatened to tear the corners of her mouth.
-I underestimated you.
His ability, which had clearly prevented her from escaping, has disappeared without a trace, and she is now standing in front of him.
The ice pieces covering her entire body are like her armor, and the huge spear she holds in her hand is pointed at her. Are you saying that he pierced his own abilities with that spear? Is it possible to do this much with an ability that only deals with ice?
-Was it possible to do this with just 10,000? It was definitely a very long time ago. Still, it’s worthy of praise.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about-“
Ji-hyeon aimed her spear at him, who seemed to be lost in some memory, and gritted her teeth and amplified his abilities as much as possible –
“I’m busy, get away from me!”
When the tip of the spear aimed at him began to glow, he roared and thrust the spear forward.
“Night form. Freeze blast!”
Quaaa-
Cold air spewing out from the tip of a spear made of ice crystals. The extending blue rays poured down on him, freezing everything around him, and as he watched, he immediately laughed maniacally and raised his head –
-Well, it would already be too late anyway.
After laughing at her until the end, he was hit directly by her beam and froze.
“…Puh-ha.”
When he showed no intention of resisting, she immediately stopped using her powers and took a deep breath.
“…Damn. So what on earth was that guy?!”
Holding her head due to the pounding headache from overusing her powers, she let out her frustration as she glared at the villain, who was frozen as if he were carved from ice, and then stumbled. I started walking forward slowly.
We must chase after those who were chasing us. With that thought in her mind she continued to move forward, but-
“Damn it!”
So much time was wasted by that villain that it was a foregone conclusion that they escaped. As soon as the alley ended and the downtown area appeared, she sat down on the ground.
“Damn…”
People walking down her street looked at her with strange eyes, but she didn’t care about their gaze and just looked up at the sky in vain.
This time, the fact that she missed those who were sure to have the information she wanted, and because she missed her only clue, finding her childhood friend became even more distant. She immediately lowered her head, swept her face with her palms, and let out a sigh –
“Boss, over there-“
“Never mind.”
At the same time, she failed to look at the black vehicle passing in front of her.
“It felt strange to be having a conversation, but that b*tch – no, wasn’t she just wasting her time until she came after us?”
If the timing had been a little late, I might have been caught. Eun-ji, who was looking out the window while riding in her black vehicle, rubbed her chest and looked back at her Hyun-woo and asked,
“No. Rather, it would be the opposite.”
“…Yes?”
“Jihyun came closer, so she ended the story there. Anyway, you vicious bastard.”
“Yes?!”
Hyeonwoo held on to the steering wheel with one hand and threw the mask on the back seat with the other hand, then sighed and answered.
“No, what’s wrong with that bastard?”
“You must have meant it.”
“No way?”
“Really, that bastard was trying to get us to join his side. He sent us because he knew that if we ran into each other and got caught, I would never be on his side.”
“Wow, that was really crazy. I didn’t mean to do that in the first place, but you just passed it on?”
“…So.”
Eunji clicked her tongue and shook her head, and Hyunwoo responded to her words by turning the steering wheel.
“No, if you were really planning to draw us in – what on earth is that? The ability of the guy who was ‘watching’ us in the first place was-“
“Since we refused, they were probably trying to find out the location of the hideout.”
“… That’s right. But- if he was planning on doing that, why didn’t he attack us when we immediately rejected him? If it were me, I think he would have swept us away as soon as we rejected him.”
Eunji asked helplessly, looking down at the fireflies sprawled across her palm.
I clearly remember that after they moved to the downtown area, hijacked the car, and escaped here, a firefly suddenly popped out of Eunji’s pocket, flew into the sky, and pounced on a black crow, making it disappear without a trace. If it had the purpose of monitoring them, if it was planning to find out the location of their hideout and exterminate them – wouldn’t it have been okay to kill them there in the first place?
No matter how talented each individual is, Repentance is an organization that, to be honest, would never function without Eunji and Hyunwoo. There was no way he didn’t know that – Eunji thought so, tilting her head and expressing doubt –
“I told you so.”
“…Huh? What?”
“That guy was trying to scout you and me, and the people in that hideout – except for probably Zero, are all guys who don’t mind dying.”
In response to Hyunwoo’s answer, he immediately closed his mouth and his face distorted.
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“…I guess they were just going to attack and kill everyone except the three of us.”
“Or he just knew the location and tried to use it as a weapon – it’s irrelevant now anyway.”
No matter how much we talk here, the situation will not change. The situation ended anyway, and no matter how he acted, they survived. Of course, the sudden situation may give you a bit of a headache, but if you’re alive, there’s something behind you, so you just have to deal with it going forward.
“It’s a shame he didn’t attack. He almost did. Even if he survived, he wouldn’t have made it back to the hideout.”
“Huh? Why is that? Bosses have Zero’s abilities anyway, right?”
Eunji carefully held the motionless firefly as if it was precious and asked him,
“Nothing.”
“…Yes?”
“Nothing. I wrote it a long time ago.”
“Yesss?!”
He opened his eyes round and shouted in shock at Hyunwoo’s answer.
“It’s so loud. It’s deafening.”
“No! Where on earth did I write something so important?! No, did I even have to write it in the first place?!”
The person we encountered this time is also a problem, but if Silence had tried to pull a vain trick against them in the first place, why would they use it as they please? Eunji glared at Hyunwoo and asked him if he was crazy, but-
“It worked out because it worked out well in the end. Why are you asking such questions?”
“Uh… That’s true, though.”
Soon he shrugged his shoulders and joked, and he sighed but nodded in agreement and quietly closed his eyes.
Hyunwoo, who was looking at that scene, soon smiled and stroked his head –
“Well, when I go back I’ll know if I made a wrong decision.”
“Why is that again?”
“Zero will tell you whether the ability was used or not.”
“-Huh?”
He thought of his friend who had no idea what he was doing, but then shook his head and began to focus on driving.
“…By the way, boss, do you have a license?”
“We are minors.”
“This is really driving me crazy. Have you ever driven a car?”
“Um, a long time ago?”
“That was when I was in middle school! Where are you selling drugs? Get off me! I’d rather do it!”
Of course, there was some trouble between the two after that – but nothing happened until they returned to the hideout.