Cha Suho Taken Hostage
This fucking perverted god...!!
Tossing me a measly 50P while the stat drop ranges from -1 all the way to -6?
Fail this and it's a guaranteed -6.
In game terms, the developer just rolled out a balance patch.
But I'd already run the numbers in my head.
This quest was one I could clear for certain.
No way I was becoming the sacrificial lamb for some balance tweak.
Still... what the hell kind of quests did Jihye and Nari get?
How were they supposed to "prove their worth"?
Don't tell me the bastard was trying to snatch my companions' stats just to keep things "balanced" in case I succeeded again?
"Cut the crap! You son of a bitch!!!"
I snatched a spinning Molotov out of the air like I was grabbing that perverted god by the collar and hurled it straight back.
Toward the hotel about fifteen meters behind the building.
More precisely, toward the rooftop of a hotel at least fifteen stories high.
Whooosh!!!
Fwoosh!!!
Whoooosh!!
Damn it, not far enough.
The Molotov shattered against the outer wall short of the roof, flames roaring up the side.
These weren't the kind made with a rag stuffed into hard liquor—just glass bottles filled with oil.
"Throw more! You fucking bastards!!!!"
My Molotov hadn't reached them, but my voice must have, because Molotovs started raining down from the hotel rooftop.
That told me how many were up there.
"Three."
Three of them were throwing.
I couldn't see their faces, but the slightly different launch points of the arcing bottles made it clear.
Even if you counted the ones prepping the bottles, that put the max at six.
Fwoosh!!
Whoooosh!!!
Oil from a bottle that shattered midair poured down in a sheet of flame.
In that same breath I caught two more incoming Molotovs and flung them at the hotel's rear entrance.
Then I looked at Nari, who was staring back at me with the same wide-eyed shock as Jihye.
"How the hell did you hit that...?"
"......"
The bottle hadn't just broken on its own.
Nari had shot it out of the air with an arrow.
No skills, nothing—just pure archery, nailing a flying Molotov?
Was that even possible??
"I-I... wow! I hit it!!"
"......"
"......"
Probably pure luck.
But you needed real skill for luck like that to even have a chance.
The arrow had to fly close enough to the falling bottle for a coincidence to happen at all.
Whish- whish- whish- whish-
Gotcha!!
Anyway, that was the last of them.
"Jihye, check the store side. Nari, if any of them are dumb enough to come out that way, shoot them. Legs are fine."
"Got it."
I pointed at the hotel's rear door, already blazing from the Molotovs I'd thrown, then sprinted for the rooftop access.
"Where are you going?!"
"Someone just sent me a big present. Least I can do is say thanks in person."
"W-wait! What are we supposed to do about our quests?!"
"Hell if I know. Go prove your own worth."
"How, then?!! Hey!!!!"
I didn't know either.
If I did, I would've told them.
With a lit Molotov in one hand and my mace in the other, I pounded down the stairs.
I burst out of the building, smashing through the zombies still frozen at the first inflection point with my mace, and raced toward the hotel.
"Come on out."
Before long I was standing on a car in the road in front of the hotel, eyes locked on the main entrance.
The back door was a wall of fire, so the only ways off that roof were the front door I was watching or smashing through a window.
Right on cue.
Crash!!!
The sound of shattering glass hit my left ear harder.
I leapt off the car and sprinted toward it.
A narrow alley between the hotel and the neighboring building.
Thud!!
One of them had just jumped from a broken second-floor window and landed.
That bastard was going to regret this even in death.
Of all the moments to jump.
Whooosh!!!
Fwoooooosh!!!!!
The Molotov that had been in my hand a second ago smashed into the guy's head the instant his feet hit the ground, exploding into a thousand shards.
Gravity dragged the flaming oil down over him, and his entire body erupted in a roaring blaze.
"Gyaaaaaaaaah!!!!!!!!!!"
I brushed past the thrashing, screaming human torch and clamped my hand around the throat of the wide-eyed bastard staring in horror.
"Guh!!"
"You?"
I knew that face.
The arrogant little shit who'd had his shoulder grabbed and been forced to his knees in front of me before.
"You crazy bastard!!!!"
"Khuh!!!"
I slammed the guy I was choking into the wall, then swung my mace at the next one leaping from the second-floor window.
Crunch!!!!
Ribs snapped and his body folded sideways around the mace, then slammed into the neighboring building's outer wall.
I brought the mace down on the skull of the one crumpled on the ground.
Crack!!
No mercy.
Or rather, I didn't have the luxury of mercy.
The zombies flooding in from the road would be on us any second.
"Kyaaaah!!!"
"Kyaah!!!"
"Kyaaaaa!!!"
"Kyaaaah!!!"
Hell, I'd already earned more than the quest reward.
20P acquired.
40P acquired.
There were still a couple of them staring down from the second-floor window, but I'd already gotten what I came for.
"I'll see you later."
"......"
"......"
I left the dazed faces at the window with a promise for next time, then grabbed the hair of the one trembling on the ground and started running.
"Aaaaaaah!!!!!!!"
"Shut up. Before I cave your skull in."
"Mmph!! Mmmmmph!!!!!!"
He'd just watched his buddy burn alive and get his head exploded right in front of him.
Terrified out of his mind, he clamped his mouth shut and swallowed the screams of pain as best he could while I hauled him back to the building where Jihye and Nari were waiting.
"Strip."
"Wh-what..?"
"I said strip."
"Ah..! Y-yes!!"
The guy on the floor yanked off his T-shirt and fumbled with his belt.
The moment he shimmied his jeans down to his ankles, I kicked him hard in the side.
"Guh!!!"
"Roll over."
"Ugh!!! Ugh!!!"
"Want another one?"
"H-huuh..!!"
He scrambled onto his stomach. I planted a foot on his back, tore the discarded T-shirt into strips, and bound his hands behind him.
Then I left the bunched-up jeans around his ankles and cinched the now-loose belt tight into a knot.
With his wrists and ankles fully secured, I dragged him over to the elevator.
"What's the plan?"
"Th-that's... Gyaaaaaaah!!!!!!"
I drove the mace down onto the tip of his shoe.
His big toe had to be pulverized.
"What's the plan?"
"Aaaagh!! Uuugh..!!! Ugh..!!!"
"Tough guy, huh."
"M-Molotovs!!!"
The second I lifted the mace off his crushed toe, the words poured out of him like he was dying to hang a medal around my neck.
"We throw Molotovs to draw you out! Then the people lying in ambush take you down! Hic... huuh..! Aagh..!! Aaaah....!!"
He was bawling pitifully from the pain, but this was still a guy who would have killed me if he'd had the chance.
No reason to feel a shred of sympathy.
"How did you know we were ambushing?"
"That.... Gyaaaaaaah!!!!!!!!!!!"
This time I crushed the little toe.
The elevator arrived right then, so I grabbed him by the hair and tossed him inside.
Curled up like a shrimp on the floor, drooling, he finally answered.
"W-we kept watching this place from a little ways off.. hic... saw you splitting up and going into different buildings little by little.. uugh...!!!!"
"Were some of the ones who came earlier left behind to watch, or were there separate lookouts?"
"Separate ones.. hic.. we just got told something weird was going on so go check it out.. hic.."
"So that guy's higher up?"
"Yes... huuh.. hic..."
"How many went where?"
"H-hotel was five... here four... Guhhh!!!!!"
I kicked him in the gut and stepped out of the elevator on the fourth floor.
"Fuck!!!!"
"You fucking bitches!!"
"Aaaagh!!!"
"Ugh..!! Uuugh..!!!!"
Noise was coming from the stairs leading to the roof.
One guy was slumped on the steps with an arrow in his thigh, another was tumbling down with an arrow in his forearm, and the last two were screaming their heads off in front of the closed door.
Thud-
The tumbling one slammed into my leg and stopped.
I yanked the arrow out of his arm as he looked up at me.
Ssslick-
Thud!!
I jammed the same arrow straight into his throat, then swung the mace and split the skull of the one sitting on the stairs halfway open.
Clomp- clomp- clomp-
Whoosh!!
As I climbed, one of the two at the door shoved his buddy toward me.
Crunch!!!
I smashed the face of the one forced into me with the mace and drove him into the wall. The remaining guy filled the gap, lunging with a long spear.
Whoosh!!!!
Gotcha!!
I caught the flying spear in my left hand and brought the mace down.
Crunch!!!!
The mace buried itself almost to the eyes through the crown of his head.
30P acquired.
20P acquired.
50P acquired.
70P acquired.
They weren't carrying as many points as I'd hoped.
Ssslick-
I wrenched the mace free and finished climbing the stairs.
The second I opened the closed door, an arrow shot straight at the space between my eyes.
Of course, if I'd announced myself before opening it, this wouldn't have happened.
But I was curious.
How far had Nari and Jihye steeled themselves?
Whoosh!!
Whish! Whish-whish-whish!! Whoosh!!
I twisted my head to dodge the arrow and immediately a hand axe came flailing at me in a wild frenzy.
After all those days of teaching her, she was still doing this.
Gotcha-
I caught her wrist, stopped the axe, and used the mace to pull Jihye—eyes squeezed shut—into me by the waist.
"Stop. It's me."
"Ah... y-you scared me!!"
"Oppa!!"
Wild as the swings had been, the axe had been aimed at neck and head height.
And the arrows that had already put one in a thigh and one in an arm had flown dead-center at my brow the moment I opened the door.
They'd tried to hold back, but in the end they'd been ready to kill.
That was satisfying enough.
"Anyone hurt?"
"No..."
"We're fine.."
I patted Jihye and Nari, still pressed against me, and stepped out onto the roof. The first thing I noticed was the door absolutely bristling with arrows.
They'd been busy while I was gone.
"You two gather the arrows."
"Where are you going now?!"
"We're coming with you!"
"No. I need to make a call."
I walked over to the table on the roof, picked up my phone, and dialed Jaeyeol.
The enemy had known about our ambush and committed forces accordingly.
They'd even shown the cunning to lure me to the hotel.
But at this level, I wasn't particularly worried.
Tat-tat-tat!!
Bang! Baaang!!
The shelter with Mingu, the three college girls, and Kim Jincheol's group had guns. Suho and Gihun weren't the type to go down to something this weak. The only real concern was Jaeyeol, who had Jaemin and Yeonghun with him.
"Hyung, we're fine here. And I cleared my quest."
"Yeah? What about Jaemin and Yeonghun?"
"Not yet."
"Jihye, Nari. You two clear your quests?"
"No... mine's still going.."
"Same here..."
Jaeyeol's quest had been to stop the raid.
Which meant this particular attack was over.
Yet Jaemin, Yeonghun, Jihye, and Nari—who'd all received the "prove your worth" quest—still hadn't cleared it.
They hadn't failed either.
The quests were still active.
"Alright, got it. I'm gonna call Suho. Take the kids and head back to the shelter."
"Yes."
Gunshots had just gone off, but since the "stop the raid" quest was done, the way back should be safe.
Even if it wasn't completely over, it was the building right across the street—they could get covering fire from the shelter's second-floor windows.
So why the hell wasn't he picking up?
I stared at the building where Suho and Gihun were supposed to be ambushing and waited for the call to connect.
That was when it happened.
Crashhhhh!!!!!
The second-floor window of the building I was looking down at shattered, and Gihun came tumbling out.
Gihun... fell...?
"Kyaaaah!!!"
"Kyaah!!"
"Kyaaaah!!!"
"Kyaaaa!!!"
"Kyaaaaah!!!"
"Kyaaaa!!!!"
Stat Amplification.
Stat Amplification
I jumped straight off the roof.
Thud!
I landed on a third-floor balcony and immediately jumped again.
No balcony this time.
No car below either.
Just a crystal glowing with blue light.
Thud! Sssslip-
The crystal was steep and slick. The second I hit it my balance vanished and I flipped over, sliding down in a heap.
I hit the ground in an undignified sprawl and rolled.
Thud-thud-thud!!
My whole body ached, but with Durability boosted to 12 it was bearable.
And this was no time to sit around nursing bruises.
"Krrrgh..!!!"
"Krrrah..!!!"
"Ugh!!!"
Gihun was on the ground, gauntleted hands clamped around the faces of two zombies, but every other part of him was completely exposed.
Especially those legs...
Thud!!
An arrow punched through the temple of a zombie diving for Gihun's legs.
Perfect shot, Nari.
Really fucking perfect.
Wham!!!!!!
I charged in and swung the mace upward from below, catching a zombie in the side and launching it clear.
With one hand free, Gihun smashed the crown of the zombie still gripping his face and scrambled toward me on all fours. I grabbed him by the hair and hauled us both into the store's safe zone.
"Aaaagh!!! That hurts, you bastard!!!"
"Why the fuck did you fall from there like an idiot?!!"
"I... I didn't have a choice..."
"What do you mean you didn't have a choice?!"
"Suho pushed me! Told me at least I should run!"
"What...? What the hell are you talking about?! Run?!"
"There was no other way.... It was a fight we absolutely couldn't win!!!"
I was forced to face a result I had never even imagined.
In this raid, the one person I'd trusted most—Suho—had been taken hostage.
It was almost impossible to believe, but as long as he was still alive, it was fine.
I'd just go get him back.
Crack!!!!
I drove the mace down between the guy's legs, shattering the hard floor and burying the head deep.
Yellow liquid started spreading across the ground.
Along with a flood of answers.
"W-we came from across Yeouido Park! We're staying in the apartments past the department store, total numbers are...."
"Lead the way."
"Yes! I'll guide you with all my heart!! So please...!! Spare me.... hic... huuh...."
Alright then.
Time to go save Suho—and collect that 50P while I was at it.