Chapter 165: Arrangement
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 165: Arrangement
No matter how bizarre the situation or how much they doubted me, they couldn't treat me recklessly.
The son of a conglomerate chairman.
That single title was the only thing protecting me right now. Thanks to it, I hadn't been subjected to anything too brutal.
While we were being moved in the dead of night, my phone was confiscated, and I was forced to stay with the internet broadcasters. They told us to just "relax and enjoy ourselves," but to anyone watching, it was clearly a kidnapping. It was nothing more, nothing less.
I never thought it would come to this.
I hadn't expected my escape plan to be discovered at such a critical moment. It was flustering, but at the very least, being stuck with the broadcasters was a stroke of luck.
"W-what do we do now?"
"Oppa, we’re in big trouble, aren't we?"
"Ugh, I think I’m going to cry."
The broadcasters were trembling with anxiety, especially since I—the one who had been secretly on their side—had been caught along with them.
"It's okay."
Popo, who acted as the group's pillar of support, gathered everyone and offered comfort.
"It’ll be fine. Everyone knows we’re trapped here."
Popo sat with them in a circle, whispering words of encouragement. Thanks to her, the others calmed down a bit, but I felt awkward being the recipient of such heavy expectations.
This is a bit tricky.
The room we were locked in was Room 10, a place I used frequently. It was on the sixth floor, making an escape through a window impossible—not that this room even had windows to begin with.
But staying still was just as dangerous. It was best to move before they finished "cleaning up" their midnight flight. There was one thug guarding us from outside the door, so I had to take him out somehow...
"What if we cause a commotion inside, and then subdue him when he comes in?"
When I voiced my opinion, the others didn't look very convinced.
"Is subduing him even possible?"
"D-do you even know how to fight?"
Every single one of them looked at me with doubt.
"...I meant we should fight him together."
I had suggested it thinking we might have a chance if it was six against one. But they were all so paralyzed with fear that they couldn't even fathom fighting back.
However.
"Let's do it."
Popo agreed with my plan, her fists clenched tight.
"If that's our only option, then we have to do it. Right?"
"...Right. We just need to get out of here and alert people. I have people I know waiting nearby."
Before I met Popo earlier, I had already made a call for help. Since I couldn't exactly mobilize the police on a whim, I had called people I knew personally.
"Besides, if we just sit here waiting to be rescued, nothing changes for us. We have to overcome this."
Six against one.
The other gangsters were busy erasing traces inside the building or procuring vehicles for their escape. Now was the perfect time.
With that, we steeled our resolve to go through with it.
* * *
The gangster guarding the broadcasters stood with his back to Room 10.
Since he had a bit of seniority, he had left the busy work to the underlings and assigned himself to the easiest post.
"Hmm."
The phone he was fiddling with belonged to the investor, Kim Woo-jin. He had kept it after confiscating it earlier, but the constant stream of incoming texts felt ominous.
Vibrate! Vibrate! Vibrate!
In particular, a girl named Seo Ye-rin kept sending photos. He was dying to see what they were, but...
He couldn't get past the passcode. All he could do was watch the phone vibrate uneasily.
Sigh, these rich bastards are really something else.
Being the youngest son of a chairman, he probably went around seducing every woman he saw. Seo Ye-rin, Choi I-seo, Min Ju-hee, Jeong Chan-woo. Judging by the names popping up in the notifications, it was easy to imagine how he lived his life.
A guy like that comes here and uses his money to mess around with girls. Tsk.
Women needed to know the truth about guys like him. He considered himself a bad guy, but he figured the guy inside was even worse. Just as that thought crossed his mind—
"Aaaaaah!"
A scream erupted from inside.
"You son of a bitch! You! You did this to us!"
"You're a monster! A monsteerrrr!"
He had been a gangster for years. He recognized the familiar sound of a physical struggle, a man's scream, and the raw, emotional shouting of the broadcasters.
Startled, the gangster spun around and checked through the small glass window on the door. Inside, Kim Woo-jin was pinned to the floor, being pummeled by the female broadcasters surrounding him.
"You forced us! Huh?! You forced us!"
"Because of you! It hurt so much!"
Thinking about it, they had locked girls who were essentially forced into selling themselves in the same room as the man who had paid for them.
"Ah, dammit!"
Even if he was a suspected traitor, he was still an investor and the son of a major conglomerate chairman. If he got seriously injured or died, things would spiral out of control.
The gangster threw the door open and rushed in, shoving the broadcasters aside.
"You crazy bitches! Can't you just stay put?! What do you think you're doing?!"
"Kyaak!"
"S-stop it!"
The broadcasters immediately shrank back in fear. As the gangster huffed and leaned over to check on Kim Woo-jin's condition—
Thwack!
Kim Woo-jin, who had been lying on the floor, drove his knee straight into the gangster's groin.
"Urgh...!"
The sudden, agonizing pain robbed him of his breath, and his body slumped forward. Seizing the opening, the broadcasters didn't hesitate and began beating the gangster relentlessly.
* * *
"Done."
Having reclaimed my phone and sent out several messages, I let out a sigh of relief.
It was over now. The police would be coming, and I had finished my call with my second older brother. They’d be here soon.
"W-what now? Are we leaving?"
Going out immediately was risky, but with the guard taken care of, staying here wasn't an option either. I chose to head out.
"I've made contact. My friends are already on standby and waiting for us out front."
Once we met up with them, it would be over. We were on the sixth floor and had to make it down to the first, but we had to try.
"I'll lead the way. Popo, stay at the very back and make sure everyone follows, okay?"
"Yes, I understand."
With those words, I stepped out of the room and sprinted toward the stairs.
Getting from the sixth floor to the fifth was simple. Since they were already moving luggage down, the sixth floor had been cleared out and was empty. The problem started as we moved from the fifth floor to the fourth.
"Huh?"
I locked eyes with a gangster who was smoking by the emergency exit, likely taking a break.
"T-these punks are escaping!"
I lunged at him immediately.
"Go down now! There will be people coming up from below! Just keep running down!"
I threw myself into a tackle, clinging to his waist and slamming him against the wall. I thought it was a pretty decent move, but the man was someone who fought on the streets for a living.
"You crazy bastard!"
He immediately hoisted me up and slammed me onto the floor.
"Gah!"
I was shocked by how weak I was despite my home training, but I felt relieved seeing the broadcasters following my lead and running past.
"Gaaah! That hurts like hell!"
"Argh! I can't even beat the shit out of you!"
"T-thank you, Mom and Dad."
Thank you for being rich parents. Thanks to you, I only got hit once instead of twice.
I clung to the gangster's pant leg as he tried to chase after the broadcasters. Other thugs began pouring out of the hallway, but the two of us scuffling in front of the stairs blocked their path.
Eventually, though...
"Ah, just beat him up!"
Just as a child must eventually move out from their parents' shadow, it was time for me to leave my parents' protection and welcome the fists of these gangster hyungs. But then—
"Hey, old men."
A man walked up the stairs.
He had a physique that didn't pale in comparison to the gangsters. He had practiced Taekwondo since childhood. He was a young thug who had been picking fights with seniors since his sophomore year of high school.
It was Pyo Jin-ho.
"J-Jin-ho! Jin-ho Hyung!"
I had never been so happy to see Pyo Jin-ho in my life. He smirked, pointed behind him, and shouted.
"Go."
"You're so damn cool, holy shit."
I wasted no time leaving Pyo Jin-ho behind and bolted down the stairs. As I ran, I passed more of our friends.
"You're going to owe me big for this."
Ahn Hyun-ho, a famous delinquent since high school.
"I'm enlisting tomorrow. If this makes the news, do you think I can get a reward leave or something?"
Kang Han-gang, who was enlisting tomorrow along with Pyo Jin-ho.
"Woo-jin, don't worry about us. Go take care of the ladies who went down first. I called everyone I could."
Jeong Chan-woo, who was heading up with them for some reason.
"And I have to protect our Chan-woo."
And a bald man.
Wait.
A bald man?
It seemed he had come along out of worry that Chan-woo might get hurt. Regardless.
"Ah, you idiots are so cool!"
I shouted my thanks to our group of idiots, praising my past self for calling them as a minimum safety measure. It had been a stroke of genius.
When I made it outside the building, the girls were already gathered, trembling. When they saw me come out, they all rushed to hug me, relieved that I was safe.
Thud! Thud! Thud!
It had been exactly thirty seconds since I stepped outside. President Hwang followed me out, cracking his shoulders.
"...Where are my boys?"
"Did you think they were so pathetic they'd lose to a bunch of college kids?"
Oh boy.
How could their "coolness" not even last thirty seconds?
I watched the gangsters swarm down, praying that the idiots hadn't been killed.
"It's Popo!"
From a distance, I heard the thick, sweaty voices of a group of men.
In the late hours of the night, a group of men wearing Department of Architectural Engineering jackets were walking toward us.
"Anonymous 300 reporting for duty! You can take a break from being a fan, but you can never quit!"
"Anonymous 301 reporting for duty! Popo-ssi! My stream handle is 'I Love CEO Popo'!"
"Anonymous 302 reporting for duty! Stream handle 'Porora-min C'!"
Popo's eyes welled up with tears again as she stared blankly at the Architectural Engineering students.
So this is what Chan-woo meant.
He said he called everyone he could. With a hunch, I checked the Bamboo Forest and showed Popo the post.
Anonymous 321 was Chan-woo. Looking at the time it was posted, it was before we even took out the guard at the door. It seemed he had been worried because he couldn't get in touch with her and called for help this way.
Ah, thank God.
The sound of sirens signaled that the police were also arriving. I thought it was finally over, but...
"Ha, you cute little shits."
President Hwang, seemingly ready to go all out, grit his teeth and stomped toward us.
"You motherfuckers. You think I'm just going to let this slide? Kim Woo-jin, you little prick, you thought you could act tough just because of your parents?"
"...I mean, I did rely on them quite a bit."
When I nodded in agreement, he seemed even more enraged. But as he stomped closer—
"But they aren't the only ones I'm relying on."
Step.
Someone stepped in front of me, blocking President Hwang's path.
A ponytail poked out from the back of a white baseball cap. A dragon padded jacket, her trademark. A baseball bat that showed the passage of time rested on her shoulder.
"Whew."
Spitting out the cigarette she had been holding, Senior Ju-hee blocked President Hwang.
"Hey, cutie."
"Yes, Captain!"
Did they really think I only called those idiots to fight gangsters? My final trump card. Our Captain Ju spoke a single word while keeping her back to me.
"Pick up that butt. Big sis is a bit busy."
"Yes! Of course, Noona! I'll pick up every single one!"
The moment I scrambled to pick up the cigarette butt she had discarded, Senior Ju-hee's baseball bat slammed into President Hwang's abdomen.
"Guh-ack!"
President Hwang's body folded in half. His eyes, which hadn't even flinched when the other men lunged at him, trembled as he glared at Senior Ju-hee. However, Senior Ju-hee's bat showed no mercy.
Crack!
The bat slammed into his hunched back. With a satisfying thwack, President Hwang's body lurched forward, only for Senior Ju-hee's knee to drive straight into his face.
As his body began to fall backward—
"Hup!"
Senior Ju-hee swung her bat with lightning speed, striking President Hwang in the stomach once more as he fell.
"Blegh!"
President Hwang vomited. Senior Ju-hee looked down at him with cold eyes and muttered.
"Why do these guys keep popping up no matter how many I clear out?"
Yeah, I should definitely never mess with her. Honestly, I didn't think she'd actually win. I thought she'd just buy us some time until the police arrived.
"I love you, Captain Ju!"
When I raised both hands and cheered for her, she flinched and looked back at me, seemingly startled.
"S-shut up."
Her face was slightly flushed, perhaps embarrassed that I had seen her acting so fierce.
Wait, or is it just red from President Hwang's blood?
