Preparing for the Mission
Since I'd been on duty with Kim Heejin and the commander for the entire shift, it hadn't been hard to find chances to talk with her.
That's why I'd taken advantage of the work time to unload the things I'd been holding inside.
"I was actually planning to head out for vacation and blow off some steam."
"Ah, so the reason you go out once a month is because of that?"
"Yeah, partly. I wanted to get some fresh air and clear my head."
At first it had felt like a casual icebreaker, nothing more.
"You have an older sister, right? She volunteered for the clinical trials and went there. But it turned out that way. I should've investigated properly and sent her home."
"...What kind of clinical trial was it?"
"A drug that turns normal people into Awakeners. Of course it failed, but those bastards there saw something in my sister and refused to let her go. They kept running experiments on her."
After that, I dove deeper, learning about how Kim Huijeong ended up in that situation and what kind of life she'd lived.
Once I'd gathered the basic information, we shifted to the mission itself.
"I already know the location. The real problem is that I only know the exact entrance."
"...Is the inside a labyrinth or something?"
"I don't know about the inside yet. I only know it's pretty spacious."
"Hmm..."
"It's a facility buried in the middle of a mountain. Even searching the internet won't show it. Not even satellite photos, because of all the trees. Wait, maybe they modified it themselves."
"So the visible part is small?"
"Yeah. That means it's probably spread out underground. The possibilities are like an anthill, a maze, or just a big open space... I'd say that's about it."
"No matter what, the job is the same. I'll go in and get her out, and Kim Heejin can handle everything else."
"That's right."
Honestly, there hadn't been much of a plan to begin with. All I could do was run in and let Kim Heejin tear things apart. And with what we had in mind, that was plenty.
And if Kim Huijeong wasn't held hostage, Kim Heejin could blow up the whole place by herself.
...
Time flew by once there was a clear target. When I finally snapped out of it, it was already the first day of my life for a vacation.
"Did you write down what you wanted to eat?"
"Most people do that on their first vacation. You should make a list."
"When we get back, I'll buy something delicious."
"Since I'll be going with the superhuman Kim Heejin, there's no way I'll get lost."
"Harang, I'll be so lonely without you... Can I message you?"
Even though it was only a five-day short vacation, the fact that it was my first one made me add one little thing after another. After I answered each one, we set off down the vacation route together with Kim Heejin.
"Harang."
"Senior Seo Harang."
"But it's vacation, isn't it? And I'm the one asking for this favor. So during the vacation, just call me Harang. You called me Jihye back during the last combat break, right?"
"Yeah, I got it."
"Wow. You were waiting for that, weren't you? You answered instantly. Anyway, I'm really sorry. Please take good care of her."
"What do I have to be sorry about? I was going to help from the start, and after we're done, I'll tear you to pieces properly."
"...Thank you. So, we'll fill our stomachs lightly and head out right away, right?"
"Of course! That's the plan!"
We decided to act without any extra delay.
+++
'Money must be running out. Kim Heejin too.'
Head of the illegal clinical trial facility, Ji Yeong-u, glanced at the woman inside the capsule in front of him. Ordinary appearance, ordinary height, ordinary figure. Truly the most ordinary woman imaginable.
'It's fine. Her life is already in my hands, so no matter what Kim Huijin does, she can't reach me.'
This woman was basically Kim Huijin's Achilles' heel. And he was holding that woman's lifeline.
This situation was the best luck of his life.
'Using the money shortage as an excuse to exploit her just right...'
Even among Awakeners with body-enhancement abilities, Kim Huijin's stood out like a sore thumb.
No one in the world could fight a monster one-on-one. So his words about luck were completely believable.
He had no reason to hold back. But he couldn't just end it there.
'That face and that body...'
Behind the fierce look was a beautiful appearance, and her Awakener body had been sculpted into something perfect through constant training. Just imagining it made a man's heart stir.
No one would pass up such a woman.
He had already taken everything else. All that was left was that body. Now all he needed was to socialize her so she would recognize her master without the leash.
Ah, he was looking forward to it. The future where Kim Huijin would submit to his commands and crawl on the ground. The future where she would submit and release his black desires.
'I was postponing it, but just looking at her, it seemed like the money was already gone. Even if I lend her more, she'll ask for it again.'
Exactly. Even if he lent it, the root would still be his.
No matter where she went, it would only bring bad luck. That was why Ji Yeong-u chuckled.
—Kwoong...!!
"Hm?"
Something was rumbling.
It wasn't rare. Facilities in the middle of mountains sometimes got hit by wild animals.
But this time it was different.
His intuition screamed that an intruder had entered.
Why would anyone else come? No one would dare without the fear of monsters. And with 100% certainty, it had to be Kim Huijin.
'Did she rush in without holding back? Is she giving up? Or did she abandon Kim Huijeong?'
The latter would have been dangerous, but the odds were zero. If she had, she wouldn't have paid up like a hostage all this time.
Then she had simply charged in? Because she couldn't hold back her anger?
'Actually, that's good. I can show it myself.'
Yeah, it was good. He could show the scene where he grabbed Kim Huijin's neck.
He couldn't tell exactly why the well-kept person had come looking for her. But since it meant he could speed up his plan, it was fine.
What if something happened?
'It's fine. I have the drug I was developing anyway.'
He had a backup plan too. He just hadn't dealt with the side effects yet.
'I won't need it. It's faster for me to touch Kim Huijeong's neck than for Kim Huijin to come here.'
Obviously, reaching here had taken a long time.
An anthill-like structure. To find his location, she would have had to check every dead-end tunnel.
—Tureung! Kwaang!
'Noisy.'
—Kagagak...!! Kyaang!
'...Getting closer? What the—'
Ji Yeong-u, who had been planning a leisurely tea time, shot up from his chair... then sat back down. The sound had faded.
'Lucky me. Even to get here, she had to check all the rooms.'
Kwoong, tureung. The distant sound came back closer, then farther again.
But there was one thing that made him suspicious. The rhythm of the sound was too fast.
'What speed...!'
Ji Yeong-u, who had erased his plan to sit down leisurely, rushed toward the capsule.
To reach this place without killing every guard along the way was impossible.
'This is outside the standard...! Has she gotten stronger? Or did someone else come?'
Normally, Kim Huijin had no special speed. There was no way she could reach this quickly—
Kwaang!!
"Kuk! What the...!!"
She had already arrived. Even with his own eyes, he couldn't believe the speed. In less than ten minutes, she had found the place!
"Kim Huijin... coming out like this means she's ready to fight, right?"
Through the spreading dust, he caught a glimpse of one human figure.
She had cleared every room at this speed, so he couldn't be careless. It might not even be the Kim Huijin he knew.
Ji Yeong-u took different actions with both hands.
One hand on the capsule's button, the other on the drug with side-effect risks.
His eyes were filled with the dust that had cleared. A person appeared.
It wasn't Kim Huijin.
The intruder who had shaken off some dust from her black hair was—
"...Hah."
A woman with the face that could steal Ji Yeong-u's soul.
Black hair like a night-dress. Even the dust settled on it was beautiful. It actually looked like it was filling the starry night sky.
The pupils that seemed to suck you in were pitch black like the hair, but they were clearer and more transparent than the surroundings themselves.
The eyes had a slight upward curve. The fierce impression made a man's lust burn.
A small face, perfect shoulder lines, faintly visible collarbones, slender figure—all of it.
It was truly a human who could make Ji Yeong-u's heart race.
The sudden appearance of the intruder had perfectly stolen his taste. A lewd curve formed on Ji Yeong-u's lips.
"Hello? I don't know why you're here."
With a gentlemanly response and a smile, Ji Yeong-u felt confident about his looks. And it wasn't false.
But the woman in front of him, Seo Harang, didn't know it.
In her eyes, the person in front of her was simply an evil villain harassing her senior.
"Well, the reason is obvious. You came after hearing about Kim Huijin."
His brain spun wildly. Ji Yeong-u was piecing together every reaction from Seo Harang like a puzzle.
The bad guy was Kim Huijin. She was covering for her. She lured her in with sweet words, and now she was using the assets and research results she'd taken from Kim Huijin to seduce her.
The person who had suddenly appeared and stolen his heart came to him now.
"The human named Kim Huijin—"
—Cheok!
"Bullshit."
A flying kick slipped in through the tiny gap of a single blink.
"Uck! Ah, kwik!"
Kudang tang. His body rolled on the floor. Both backup plans he had prepared had slipped from his hands.
"Listen to people...!"
"Listen to people's words? You should listen. Right?"
It was cold.
Seriously intending not to hear her, Seo Harang stepped on his wrist.
"Ah, aaaa!!"
A scream escaped him naturally.
Pressure that no thin body could withstand. Without being an Awakener, he couldn't endure it.
Instantly neutralizing him, Seo Harang turned her gaze. A woman inside the capsule.
'Just take her? She's inside a machine. What's the point of bringing her out if she's in danger?'
Thinking.
Seeing that, Ji Yeong-u let out a painful laugh.
"Yeah! What could you possibly do? The moment you take her out of the capsule, Kim Huijin dies! So!"
"So... you mean just take her in one piece?"
"...What?"
Seo Harang looked at the device connected to the capsule. If it was the level of Kim Huijin, she could carry it alone easily.
'This won't work. I can't lose Kim Huijeong. I'd rather give up one arm. If I lose Kim Huijeong, I'll die by Kim Huijin's hands anyway.'
Crack.
"K, aaak!!"
Ttuduk.
Using the moment Seo Harang looked away, Ji Yeong-u freed his arm.
The pain of torn ligaments and dislocated joints was there, but it was better than facing the terror he had prepared.
And then he immediately grabbed his 'drug'—
Kwaang!
"What are you doing?"
Slow.
No, it wasn't that he was slow. This human was faster than he could imagine.
"Stop talking nonsense and just give up. The person you're trying to exploit is already on her way."
Kwoong, kwoong. Sounds were heard.
Kwack, kweo-eok. The screams followed.
It wasn't a full explosion. This person had only come this far and was dealing with the guards who had followed her. Kim Huijin was handling them.
A simple division of labor for beginners. But if the people doing it exceeded human limits, things changed.
Of course, he hadn't prepared for every case. The problem was that he himself had a self-destruction switch.
Kwoong.
A massive vibration right in front of him.
Then a leg stepped forward. A chill wrapped around his whole body.
"You fucking bastard."
A curse in a slurred tone that didn't match the beautiful voice.
His gaze was inevitably drawn to the fierce Awakener who had come inside.
She had been recruited as a guard despite being an Awakener, but she hadn't left a single scratch. The only damage was the dust on her head and body.
"Ah, that's it? Okay."
Seo Harang glanced at her location and the capsule, then immediately understood the situation.
Her eyes, filled with killing intent, glared at Ji Yeong-u. It was clear she had no more mercy to give.
Since the situation was hopeless anyway, then—
"Ha, haha... hahahaha!"
Ji Yeong-u pressed the switch hidden in his inner pocket.
No hesitation. If there was even a small gap, that crazy-speed Awakener would have blocked it.
Ku-gung. The suddenly shaking floor. Both Seo Harang and Kim Huijin looked at him.
But what was the point? The fuse was already lit.
"Three minutes."
"What?"
"Three minutes and it's over. I pressed the switch."
"What switch?"
"What switch? You should know, right? It's a self-destruction switch! No matter when I die, I'll leave a way for mutual destruction!"
"...Didn't you press it too fast? You could've at least struggled!"
"Shut up! I didn't even give you time to use the drug I invented!"
Ji Yeong-u glared at Seo Harang as if he were seeing an enemy.
A syringe-type drug. If he had just stabbed it, he wouldn't need this method.
Deep down, it was crumbling. Ji Yeong-u imagined the future where everything here became rubble and shouted.
"Let's die together."
"Who said you could die together?"
But the reply that came back was firm, almost icy.
Seo Harang had taken her running stance.
"That's right, speedster. But then what? You felt it too, didn't you? The path here isn't normal. Do you think you can do it?"
Seo Harang recalled the path she had come. And she agreed.
Clearly, it wasn't normal. If it were just an anthill, she wouldn't have gotten lost in the first place.
But it twisted this way and that, with plenty of intersections, so she had forgotten the path she had cleared just a moment ago.
Yet the time limit was three minutes. Could she break through the unknown path and come back in that time?
"Then of course I can."
With that bold and confident words, Seo Harang handed the capsule and server to Kim Huijin.
Kim Huijin, who had no idea what was happening, received it whole and was carried on Seo Harang's back. A heavier step than before.