Chapter 117: Park Dong-jae (3) |
The video call completed all the necessary verification.
Kang-hoo simply changed Jeon Se-hyuk’s location. Everyone witnessed it firsthand.
There were no further questions, no reason to inquire further, nothing at all.
It was a situation where the saying “seeing is believing” fit perfectly.
A while later,
Having returned to the office, Jeon Se-hyuk looked back and forth between Kang-hoo and himself with a surprised expression.
It was a flawless teleportation.
There was no feeling of strangeness, nor did any change occur to the body during the process.
It was as if he had been on the rooftop in an instant, as if he had always been there. That was all there was to it.
“Do you understand now?”
“I’d like to apologize for my skepticism about things that couldn’t be understood logically.”
Jeon Se-hyuk bowed his head.
Then, his colleagues hurriedly bowed their heads and conveyed their apologies to Kang-hoo.
Kang-hoo, who would not take such trivial matters to heart or forcefully make an issue out of them, lightly snorted and nodded as if it was okay. It was as if to say, let’s consider it a minor incident.
Then, Ban Se-yeong, finding a gap in the conversation, spoke to Kang-hoo.
“Wait. But it seems like we missed one thing. Oppa, can you escape using that skill just now?”
Ban Se-yeong was as concerned about Kang-hoo’s safety as she was about Park Dong-jae’s.
It wouldn’t do for the rescuer to fall into danger while trying to rescue a hostage. That was bothering her.
“To definitively save Mr. Dong-jae, I need to put in the legwork to get out myself.”
“See? What did I say? How is this different from you becoming the hostage? It’s dangerous.”
Ban Se-yeong’s concern was appreciated. Of course, the others probably felt the same.
“That’s why we move together. When I go into escape phase, it’s to attack from the outside.”
“But… there are 25 members of the Osho Mercenary Corps in that building. And the one acting as their leader is level 200.”
“There’s hardly any protective barriers, and the surveillance system isn’t even half-built. There are plenty of gaps.”
“Are you really sure it’ll be okay?”
“I’m not going in there to throw my life away just to save Mr. Park Dong-jae, so don’t get ahead of yourself.”
Kang-hoo patted her shoulder reassuringly.
During the briefing.
The reason Kang-hoo thought it was okay to use teleportation for Park Dong-jae was simple.
The level of the leader controlling the subordinates guarding the place wasn’t very high.
Of course, that didn’t guarantee an easy victory, but at least it made it calculable that they wouldn’t die.
There seemed to be just one problem to solve.
Having demonstrated the teleportation ability to people.
It now required a day’s cooldown.
Once that issue was resolved, the most crucial puzzle piece of Park Dong-jae’s rescue operation would be ready.
“Let’s cross-check the routes again. We need to organize how we will coordinate from both inside and outside.”
Kang-hoo shifted the topic to the next issue.
A rescue is not child’s play.
No matter how perfect a plan seems, variables can always arise on-site.
To safely rescue a crucial connection.
And also to boldly demand useful dungeons from Jeon Se-hyuk.
Kang-hoo wanted to handle the situation professionally. And the strategy meeting continued until dawn.
The next night.
“Eat.”
Thunk.
A broth made simply with barley rice and soybean paste, with a few pieces of kimchi placed on a plastic tray in front.
The repetitively similar meals felt like a copy-and-paste job, now entering its first month.
“……”
“Aren’t you eating? Should I take it away?”
The man outside the iron door teased the man trapped inside by repeatedly inserting and withdrawing the tray.
There was just enough space at the bottom of the iron door for the tray to slide through. He mischievously toyed with it.
This place served as a secret hideout for the ‘remnants’ of the Osho Mercenary Corps, nestled on the outskirts of Yangyang in Gangwon Province.
It was also a building that, while not yet fully completed, lacked nothing in terms of holding hostages.
“I’ll eat.”
The man pulled the tray toward him with a sullen expression. He had to eat. It was the only way to stay alive.
After all, his colleagues were outside, working hard to ensure he didn’t die.
He knew well that it was thanks to Jeon Se-hyuk that he was still in this cold solitary cell and not on an operating table. Jeon Se-hyuk had paid a hefty sum to extend his life.
“Is your friend or brother or whatever not a sucker? Giving whatever amount of money they ask for, and that too, depositing it promptly? Kekeke.”
The man outside, a guard, seemed to find the situation amusing.
Of course, he would. Simply for holding onto one person, they were receiving hundreds of millions of won deposited every week.
That money was surely being funneled into the pockets of the Osho Mercenary Corps members here.
It seemed there were about fifteen hostages like himself trapped here.
So, it wasn’t hard to imagine each mercenary pocketing hundreds of millions of won a month.
The guard continued.
“Think of it as going on a diet for a while. If it seems like you’re eating too well, they won’t deposit the money so promptly.”
“……”
“Got to make your heart race a bit, so they hurry up and deposit the money.”
“Bastards.”
“Yeah, keep cursing. I’ve heard that so much, it doesn’t even faze me anymore.”
Whistle-whistle-whistle-.
The guard whistled leisurely as he disappeared somewhere.
As always, he’d probably be watching the TV installed at the end of this underground space, bursting into unpleasant laughter.
Park Dong-jae forcefully stuffed the barley rice into his mouth, chewing diligently.
He couldn’t give up. He had to survive, not just for himself, but for his colleagues who were thinking of him and trying to help.
But…
As time passed, it was true that his spirit was weakening.
‘I shouldn’t have gone to Ground Zero. I should’ve known there’d be bastards there preying on hunters like me, driven by curiosity.’
That was the source of his troubles.
Given the many intriguing elements near Ground Zero, the problem was going there alone.
The place, known as a ‘hot spot,’ was where hunters from the Kashimar Guild were in disguise.
It was a mystery why Russian hunters had come all this way, but that was the outcome.
He had lost consciousness without even realizing he had been kidnapped, and when he woke up, he was here.
Initially, he thought he might have been dragged to Russia since he heard Russian all around.
Luckily, he was still in Korea.
However, where exactly he was and what the building was used for remained a mystery.
Right then.
Boom! Thud!
Swoosh! Swoosh! Stab!
Whoosh whoosh whoosh…
A commotion broke out not too far from outside the door.
The first two sounds were heavy objects falling to the ground in succession.
The three sounds that followed were of slicing, more slicing, and then a deep stabbing noise.
Those were undoubtedly sounds that could be made when slicing and stabbing through the flesh of a person or animal.
Then, the last.
The sound was that of blood spurting out from a person’s body like a fountain.
Such a sound wouldn’t occur if the blood merely trickled out. It happens when blood gushes out as if a vein has burst.
“Kuk. Kek. Kukuk…….”
Step. Step. Step.
The gasping of the guard, struggling even to breathe properly, was drowned out by the footsteps of someone approaching closer.
The next moment.
“Mr. Park Dong-jae. Where are you?”
For the first time, his own name was called out. Someone was searching for him.
“H-here!”
Beep. Beep-beep-beep.
Soon, something touched the iron door, and the firmly locked door swung open.
It was the moment when the thick iron door, which seemed as if it would never open no matter how many times one pulled, opened effortlessly.
The person who stood before him outside the door was neither Jeon Se-hyuk nor his colleagues.
Instead, Park Dong-jae was met with a completely unfamiliar face.
Why did this person come to save me? Was it at Jeon Se-hyuk’s request? If so, could this individual be highly skilled?
As his thoughts began to race, Park Dong-jae’s fingertips trembled slightly.
Upon reflection, exiting through the door wasn’t the main issue. In a way, the real challenge was just beginning.
To escape from this place, situated on the 4th underground floor, reaching the lobby on the 1st floor was the minimum requirement.
The Osho Mercenary Corps guards wouldn’t let them pass easily. A confrontation was inevitable.
“Tell Mr. Jeon Se-hyuk to act immediately upon meeting. I’ll start from the bottom and work my way up.”
“H-how can I meet……”
Before Park Dong-jae could finish his sentence, Kang-hoo had already teleported him.
Having pre-adjusted the save point to an agreed location on the outskirts, their reunion happened in an instant.
They had escaped the cold, musty-smelling underground dungeon.
As a dumbfounded Park Dong-jae looked around, he was greeted by familiar and welcoming faces.
Jeon Se-hyuk and Ban Se-yeong.
And there were the hunters with whom he had shared a close bond, referring to each other as brothers. It felt like a dream.
It was unbelievable.
Did the person who just saved him naturally use a skill to move him outside?
The weapon in his hand was clearly a dagger.
Seeming to belong to a profession far removed from teleportation, an unpredictable event had unfolded.
Even the shortest estimate of the teleportation distance exceeded 700 meters.
Possessing such spatial movement skills is no easy feat. It’s a challenging skill, even for those in magician job classes.
Setting aside the joy of reunion momentarily,
Park Dong-jae, recalling what he had been told, relayed the message to Jeon Se-hyuk.
“He said to act immediately. He’s starting from the bottom and working his way up!”
“Right. The real challenge begins now. We’ve rescued you, so it’s time to extract Mr. Seon-gyu, who went to save you.”
“Ah…….”
Only then did Park Dong-jae realize
That the man named ‘Seon-gyu’ had first sacrificed himself to rescue Park Dong-jae.
And that now, he had to navigate the difficult process of escaping.
No matter how confident one might be in their rescue abilities,
How many hunters would risk their lives to save a stranger they had never met before?
Even asking himself, it was a question without an easy answer. After all, everyone has only one life.
“We just need to distract them! Draw as much aggro as possible! Killing these bastards here isn’t our main goal anyway!”
Jeon Se-hyuk reiterated their objective once more.
Their mission wasn’t to subdue the remnants of the Osho Mercenary Corps but specifically to rescue Park Dong-jae.
Now that Park Dong-jae was safe, ensuring Kang-hoo’s safety became paramount.
Creating chaos among the opponents was essential.
Then,
“Kuk.”
Ban Se-yeong chuckled.
Thinking of Kang-hoo, a certain term came to mind that seemed to encapsulate him perfectly.
It was a descriptor that felt fitting enough to be the title of a novel.
“The Lone Genius Assassin.”