Chapter 128
Chapter 128
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 128
Chapter Title: Ambush (2)
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Wu Shangkai's face turned red after he spoke. He had just realized how embarrassing his actions had been.
"Damn it!"
No matter how renowned Kim Suhyun's name was, doing something this stupid repeatedly—not just once or twice—was unacceptable. The piercing stares from his subordinates made it sting even more.
"The attacks have died down. Everyone, don't move recklessly."
Kim Suhyun strode toward the area the Chinese were defending. He acted as if the incoming attacks from afar meant nothing.
"Don't come any closer!"
One of the superpowered users shouted sharply, but Suhyun ignored him and addressed Wu Shangkai.
"You're saying it wasn't you?"
"Th-that's right."
"Really? How many people here could pull off something like this?"
"It really wasn't us! If we had planned this, would we start trouble in a situation like this?"
Even amid the chaos, the attackers were pulling back. Judging by their speed, it didn't look like they were fleeing—they seemed to be heading to another position.
"They don't seem panicked... They must still be targeting something else."
"Hey, are you listening?! We didn't do this!"
"I get it. I believe you."
"Whew..."
"Instead, let's join forces."
"What?"
"If it wasn't your plan, there's no problem teaming up with us and moving together, right? Is there any reason we can't in a situation like this?"
"There isn't, but..."
"Good. Then let's move together!"
Before Wu Shangkai could respond, Suhyun quickly wrapped up the conversation. Momentum was key in situations like this. End it fast enough, and they couldn't argue back.
'Still, could it be the Chinese?'
Wu Shangkai seemed genuinely clueless. If he had known, he wouldn't have kept this much distance, and he wouldn't have panicked so much when the ambush hit.
Sure, plans could advance without each other's knowledge within China, but this didn't feel like that. Starting something while leaving the handler from Haimken in place seemed unlikely.
'Then who?'
Someone who needed to attack now that we're here, and had the capability to do so.
"...Damn it."
Unfortunately, one name came to mind right away.
* * *
"Good work."
"Yeah. What are those Development Planning Bureau guys saying?"
"Same old story from them. Thanks, thanks. No team as reliable as ours."
"They sure know how to butter us up. Meanwhile, they're training their own mages behind our backs. That mage guy—think the government siphoned him off from the Dragon Slayer Project? Suspicious how he went missing and came back fine."
"Nah, no way. If they knew he was a mage beforehand, the info wouldn't have leaked."
"True enough. Anyway, thanks to the dragons, business is booming. All the competitors are getting wiped out—feels good."
Joo Won-jun rolled his stiff shoulders as he spoke. They had just returned after handling a request from the Development Planning Bureau. Not joining the Dragon Slayer Project had been an unavoidable accident, but that accident was paying off handsomely.
"Here's what you ordered."
"Yeah, yeah... Wait, why are those bastards going to Haimken?"
"They said it's to investigate altaranium mines."
"Are you just wearing your head for decoration? Why would a mage personally go investigate altaranium mines?"
Joo Won-jun disliked Kim Suhyun as much as Suhyun disliked him. Their first meeting hadn't helped, he'd poached Seo Kang-seok whom they'd been using profitably, and now he was the biggest obstacle in his way.
A mage with government connections—no gaps. But Joo Won-jun started digging anyway. You needed an opening to set a trap.
What came back instead was news that Suhyun had left for Haimken.
"Doesn't seem like a big deal. Any reason to care?"
Thwack!
"Gah!"
"If you don't know, shut up. Haimken... Haimken. Guess I need to tap my Chinese connections."
He hadn't expected much from the contact, but the news from Haimken was shocking enough to change Joo Won-jun's expression.
'The survivor of the orc massacre is in Haimken?!'
And Kim Suhyun had gone there to escort that survivor. Considering his ties to the government, this had to be them sniffing out something suspicious about the incident and sending him to investigate.
Joo Won-jun never imagined Suhyun had returned from the future and was trying to crush him first.
"Those Development Planning Bureau bastards—bowing and scraping up front while plotting behind our backs?!"
"What do we do?"
"What do you mean? We have to stop it. If that guy comes back here and testifies, things blow up!"
The team members who'd worked with Joo Won-jun from way back were all implicated in the orc massacre. If the full story came out and he got arrested, they wouldn't escape unscathed.
"How do we stop it?"
"They're still in Haimken, right? Thanks to the Chinese, we have time. Call in everyone we can muster."
Not all mercenaries or hunters stuck to the moral path. Plenty would do illegal jobs for the right price.
"But... he's a mage..."
"Does being a mage make him immortal?! Don't you get the situation? You want to rot in Pyongyang's underground prison with me forever?"
"N-no!"
As his subordinate trembled with baseless fear of mages even now, Joo Won-jun unleashed a barrage of curses and slapped him.
"Listen up. We don't need to touch the mage. Target the survivor! The orc survivor! Just kill that one."
If there was solid evidence, they'd already be arrested. Sending someone to Haimken to find the survivor meant it was still in the investigation phase.
So, silence him. Dead men don't talk.
"Got it? Don't freak out over the mage! He's human too. And we don't even need to fight him! Tie his feet somehow, then lop off the orc's head!"
Joo Won-jun moved fast. Mercenaries and hunters hired anonymously formed the main force. One message was enough for them.
-Bring me the orc's head! $10 million on success!
Enough to make their eyes roll back in greed. Life-changing money. And they didn't even know who the target was. They had no choice but to charge in eagerly.
* * *
'Targeting Malrok first—Joo Won-jun is the only one who makes sense.'
No one else but Joo Won-jun would target Malrok over Suhyun. He hadn't shown up on radar sense, but Joo Won-jun had the pull to hire this many for an ambush. Money was never an issue for him.
Oddly, the attacks had gone quiet. Taking the chance, Suhyun's team merged with the Chinese.
"What happened? Did they run?"
"No, guys who came this far won't flee after one failure. Probably..."
Suhyun thought coldly. If he were waiting to catch someone?
"Somewhere around here?"
Boom boom boom!
Far ahead, an explosion erupted by the roadside. Suhyun's telekinesis had triggered a massive monster landmine. The blast was enormous, but no one was hurt.
"What the hell?!"
The mercenaries, still clueless about their foe, were stunned as Suhyun dismantled their traps in seconds.
They'd been disappointed when their initial sniper shot was blocked by defensive powers, hoping to get him in the next trap. But leaving him alone would let him dismantle everything.
"What now?"
"Hmm..."
Everyone here had agreed to split the bounty after the target fell into a trap. But no one was dumb enough to walk up, cut the head off, and divvy up the reward.
"Fine, let's go in ourselves!"
"Hey, look at their numbers. You sure?"
"Call the two teams below. Tell them to join us. They'll want the bounty too. Pop smoke and just kill the orc."
Greed reddened their eyes. But they didn't know—they were one step from the afterlife.
* * *
"How'd you know the location?"
"Obvious spots for traps."
Seo Kang-seok clicked his tongue watching Suhyun casually sweep away the attackers' painstakingly set traps.
"Don't let your guard down. Second wave incoming."
"Huh?"
"Greedy bastards pop up everywhere, anytime."
The attackers split. Some hesitated as traps flew, others charged aggressively. Energy beams stabbed at their feet amid the smoke. They were coming.
"Ready?"
"These guys don't know who we are, huh?"
"Who are we?"
Suhyun gave his aggressively chatting team a deadpan look.
"Huh? Aren't we supposed to fight? They're charging!"
"Idiots. Watch."
Suhyun grabbed Malrok and charged forward. With him actively defending, the attackers would see Malrok as the target.
"Why here?!"
"Superpower range is short."
"What kind of bullshit..."
The problem was they ran straight to the Chinese defensive line. Wu Shangkai tried chasing them off with curses at Suhyun's nonsense excuse.
But before he could, mercenaries burst through the smoke.
"It's the orc! Kill it!"
"Son of a... Block them! Protect me!"
The mercenaries wouldn't politely kill the orc and leave. They attacked anything in the way. The Chinese had no choice but to fight back reluctantly.
"You fucking...!"
"Think we're pushovers?!"
The Chinese guards were formidable. They vented their frustration from getting owned by Suhyun on the charging mercenaries. The attackers—mostly low-tier superpowered users—got countered and dropped instantly.
"Huh?"
Nothing's more disorienting than charging what looks easy and miscalculating. The mercenary recoiled as his flaming whip clashed against an ice shield conjured from thin air.
Thud!
The stone orb carried emotion. The Chinese superpowered user spat on the corpse whose skull he'd smashed, cursing all the while.
"Huh. They fight well."
"......"
The Chinese glared at Suhyun in unison. No deaths, but several injuries in the skirmish. He wasn't coming off as friendly.
"Why the stares? What'd I do? Oh, hurt? Come here. I'll heal you."
"Let go of..."
"What?"
He started to curse Suhyun but shrank back at eye contact. Rage boiled at being used in the chaos, but those cold eyes snapped him back to reality. He dialed it down.
"Nothing."
"Least say thanks after a heal."
The man wore the most reluctant expression imaginable.
"...Thank you."
Suhyun turned back to his team.
"Now you get how to fight, right?"
"......"
* * *
"What the hell? This isn't what we were told! Just some government stiff, they said! Are those superpowered users government stiffs?!"
"Government, yeah. No choice but to fight now. Charge."
"What? Charge? You crazy? After seeing that?"
"All of us together can handle them, right?"
Fair point on paper. Sheer numbers meant their superpowered forces weren't overwhelmingly outmatched.
But clashing head-on meant mutual destruction. Joo Won-jun would be the only winner—saving the bounty and getting what he wanted.
The attackers here knew it well.
"Bullshit! If you're saying that, join us!"
Curses flew over comms. Mercenaries waiting in position were scrambling to assess.
"You know who you're targeting?"
"Who?"
"The first-ever mage to show up."
"...!"
"Run, and I'll send your IDs straight to the Korean government. Think they'll let mage attackers slide? Want to live as fugitives forever? Be my guest."
"You bastard...!"
"No need to fight the mage. Just kill the orc. Then you get paid."
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