Chapter 10
Chapter 10
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Translator: Ebonarch
Chapter: 10
Chapter Title: Fire II
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Na Gang-in grabbed the clothesline lying on the rooftop floor. A steel pipe was tied to one end.
"Huh? You're not going to throw it using my hand?"
"You can handle cooking with my hands, but not attack moves?"
"What's the effect of those tweaks?"
"Eh, that'll do."
He checked the line was tied tight, then hurled the steel pipe toward the railing on the opposite building's rooftop.
The pipe sailed through the air trailing the clothesline and slotted perfectly between the iron railings.
Na Gang-in yanked the clothesline right away. The pipe snagged on the railing. The line went taut.
He pulled hard and lashed it securely to the rooftop's own iron railing. The virtual guideline and the real line lined up almost perfectly.
Yoon A-reum realized what he was up to and felt a jolt of fear.
"Chef oppa, you're not ditching me to escape alone, are you?"
"If I were, I wouldn't have bothered climbing up here."
"But I don't know how to tightrope walk..."
"You're not walking it."
"Huh? Then who is?"
The rooftop access door exploded outward in a burst of crimson flames.
Yoon A-reum let out a scream.
"Kyaaak!"
Na Gang-in scooped her up in both arms and hoisted her effortlessly. Princess carry. He stepped straight onto the clothesline.
The line, pulled as tight as he'd made it, sagged a little under their combined weight.
She screamed again.
"Kyaaaak!"
Down below, the people staring up were thrown into confusion.
"Huh? What?"
"No way they're crossing all the way like that?"
"Stack something on the ground! They'll drop for sure!"
The flames were already sweeping across the rooftop fast. The billowing smoke was just as bad.
Na Gang-in trudged along the line, step by step, holding her tight. It wobbled faintly. Yoon A-reum's screams grew louder.
"Kyaaaaak!"
Na Gang-in whispered.
"This pace good enough?"
Flames erupted from the building's lower levels, surging upward.
"How soon!"
Emergency Situation Solution Proposals
[Options listed semi-transparently]
No time to read and pick one.
Multiple translucent warnings flashed across his AR Lens. Jeon Ji-in's voice sounded urgent.
PREPARE!
Na Gang-in hurled Yoon A-reum toward the opposite rooftop.
"Kyaaak!"
She flew the short distance and tumbled across the rooftop.
By then, the upwelling flames had engulfed the line below. It melted and snapped in an instant.
Na Gang-in's body plummeted from the fifth-floor rooftop height.
The onlookers below screamed.
"Uwaaaah!"
"Nooo!"
Some couldn't bear to watch and turned away.
As he fell, Na Gang-in thrust out his right hand and grabbed the remnant line. It whipped around his arm.
He kicked off the building's outer wall and ran along it, right hand gripping the taut line.
His body swung upward in a wide arc, like a pendulum. To the crowd, it looked like he was wall-running one-handed along the line.
The line went fully horizontal. Na Gang-in kicked off the railing, vaulted over, and landed on the rooftop.
The people below erupted in cheers.
"Woooaaah!"
"He made it! That guy's alive!"
It all happened so fast that Yoon A-reum was still rolling on the ground.
Na Gang-in unwound the line from his arm and asked.
"You didn't die, right?"
Yoon A-reum, who'd been tumbling, sprang to her feet.
"Ugh! Oppa, you're alive? How? You flew through the sky? Are you superpowered?"
"Climbed up holding this line."
She hadn't seen the wall-run, but she got that he'd used the line somehow.
"Epic!"
Na Gang-in gazed at the blaze engulfing the opposite studio building and muttered.
"Ji-in. Your math's off a lot, huh? You're Strategic Special Forces, so I figured I could trust you."
"Even in 2022, they shouldn't use that stuff, but tons of buildings do."
"Cheap. Somebody cashed in on skimping safety."
Fire trucks had arrived and were battling the blaze. But spraying water didn't douse it instantly. The opposite rooftop was fully wreathed in flames in no time.
Yoon A-reum stared at it and said.
"Whoa. I'd be toast if I'd stayed there."
"You say that so casually?"
"I'm alive now. I was screaming for real back there 'cause I thought I was done. Voice kinda hoarse, right? Hear it?"
"How'm I supposed to tell from your old voice?"
"Wow, you know my voice though. That's why you're talking casual to me, yeah?"
"Uh..."
In the crisis, he'd gone casual to match her calling him "oppa." Figured it'd reassure her a bit.
"I just know you're a PC Bang regular."
She hollered.
"I'll hit the PC Bang all the time now. Every single day!"
"Hey."
"Yeah!"
"You're a college freshman, right?"
"Ack! How'd you know?"
"Yeah, how?"
Yoon A-reum asked.
"Were you, like, interested in me or...?"
"Right. You asked our staff about the discount."
She beamed.
"Hehe. You really do know me."
"Anyway, when you gonna study if you're coming to our shop every day?"
"I crammed plenty in high school. And life's not all studying, right? Could go pro gamer. I'll grind practice and become a hot pro gamer."
"You in the top 1% of your game?"
"Nope."
"You hot?"
"Nope."
"Then what's gonna work?"
She switched tack quick.
"Game streamer then."
"You made any content?"
She bellowed.
"Duh! I do game streams!"
Na Gang-in had spent the last few days at the PC Bang. He knew what streams were.
He asked.
"Subscriber count?"
"Realtime average around ten."
"Hey. Study."
"Yessir."
Na Gang-in opened the rooftop door first.
"Head down."
Yoon A-reum descended the stairs.
Na Gang-in followed. That way, if something happened to her ahead, he'd know right away.
"I know. She's putting on a front to hide the fear."
"What can I do? She clocked me even with the mask. Acting shady to hide it'd be weirder."
He asked Yoon A-reum.
"So why were you up on that rooftop anyway?"
"I live in a studio in that building. Went up top for some air."
The fire was still raging by the time they exited the building. More fire trucks rolled in.
The earlier gawkers near the building had backed way off.
Thanks to that, Na Gang-in slipped away without running into anyone.
Yoon A-reum didn't want to linger near where she'd nearly died either. She stuck with him and bailed.
Once they were well clear of the fire scene, Na Gang-in asked her.
"You got somewhere to crash?"
"Room went up in smoke, so sauna for now?"
"Sounds good."
Na Gang-in headed back to the PC Bang.
Boss's niece Cha Eun-seo hurried over.
"Oppa, you're back fin... Huh? Smells like smoke. BBQ? Nah, just smoke. Oh, that fire nearby—went to check it out?"
"Yeah."
"Said you were grabbing sauce, saw it on the way. But empty-handed? Where's the sauce?"
Not the time to worry about that.
"Bought it, left the bag at the scene."
"Dude, watching the fire that fun you forgot? Bet someone snagged it already."
"Dock it from my pay."
"Nah, not over this."
"Ain't your cash."
"Uncle's money is mine."
Na Gang-in handed back the PC Bang supply credit card and plopped down in a corner seat.
"Ji-in. Pull up any news on that fire. Hope it's just 'passerby saves victim' level."
"Footage too?"
The monitor played the fire scene video.
No shots of him scaling the wall—only from the other side of the building. So that part didn't show him.
But the clothesline crossing, her in his arms? Crystal clear on camera.
Flames surged from below and hit the line. Right then, he chucked Yoon A-reum to the opposite roof. Line snapped.
Screams from the crowd, then cheers. Video ended with him grabbing the line one-handed, wall-running up to the roof.
Na Gang-in ordered.
"Ji-in. Wipe this video from the net."
"Why not?"
"Then what can you hack?"
"Useless since I already got an ID."
Na Gang-in jabbed a finger at the video on the monitor.
"So you can't scrub this?"
"Well done."
He checked his clothes. No direct flame contact. Still a faint smoky whiff.
"Gotta wash up... Ah. Sauna."
Na Gang-in had crashed at the PC Bang the last few days. He could shampoo here, shower by locking the bathroom at night, but it wasn't comfy.
"Made some activity funds. Time for a fancy sauna scrub."
"Palace. Dig the name. Snacks?"
Jeon Ji-in shared his taste and smell senses.
"That what you really want?"
The fire was mostly knocked down, but smoke still poured from the building.
On the rooftop of the building across from the blaze, two detectives climbed up. They peered over and talked.
"Damn... Tied the line to this railing and crossed all the way hugging someone?"
"Insane, right? Like a human national treasure tightrope walker."
"Who was it?"
"Masked up—no one recognizes him."
"Just a gawker who saw someone trapped on the roof, climbed the wall. No need to dig through CCTV ourselves, yeah?"
"Obviously. And if it's ruled electrical or gas, it's not our team's case."
Detective Park Ki-jeong's smartphone rang. He checked the caller and picked up.
"What?"
—This punk says 'what' to the team leader?
"You keep cutting my vacation. I really need this one. My passion's burned out catching perps—down to ashes. Gotta recharge."
—We're screwed, man.
"Sick of eating shit already... What? Not electrical or gas—arson?"
—Too early to say. Not the issue. Found a body on the third floor.
Detective Park Ki-jeong let out a deep sigh.
"Hoo. Shit. Thought no fire fatalities..."
His partner sighed too.
"Guess we're not bystanders anymore."
Detective Park Ki-jeong suggested.
"Let's start by checking if that tightrope pro dropped anything here."