Chapter 47
Chapter 47
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 47
Chapter Title: Confrontation (3)
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Suhyun only said that because he preferred working alone. He could use his superpowers freely without worrying about others' stares.
But it didn't come across that way to the team members. To them, it looked like Suhyun was stepping up to the most dangerous spot precisely because he had abilities.
“You don't have to go that far...”
“That's all the explanation you're getting. If it doesn't make sense, just accept it anyway. I'm the team leader.”
Suhyun cut him off, tired of explaining further. The team members didn't respond anymore, but respect gleamed in their eyes. Respect had nothing to do with age. Anyone who stepped forward for the dangerous tasks earned admiration from others, regardless of status.
In that regard, Suhyun was perfect. Whenever something seemed risky, he took the lead to handle it, steadily building trust.
The forest's advantage was the abundance of hiding spots. Suhyun had plenty of places to conceal himself and wait. He climbed a suitable tree, placed the thread he'd set as a tripwire nearby for vigilance, and closed his eyes. He might have looked defenseless at a glance, but he'd sense any enemy the moment they appeared.
* * *
“They're not coming at all. Could they attack during the day?”
“It's possible, but they probably won't unless they have to.”
These weren't people who had to kill everyone—just destroy the forest and slip away. There was no reason for them to attack in broad daylight. Besides, a frontal clash during the day favored the defenders.
Suhyun had been coming up empty for days now. He hadn't expected an attack right on arrival, but waiting endlessly without any guarantee was boring.
The boredom was one thing, but what worried him more was the Jindo side. They didn't have Suhyun's certainty. They'd only moved here based on a tip that an attack might happen.
Uncle Jo Company was still prowling the area, which had kept things quiet so far. But if nothing happened for too long, they might pull back their forces.
‘I thought an attack would definitely come before the first logging operation in a month... Did I overestimate it?’
Systematically blasting a mountain ridge and disguising it as the work of other races had been a trendy ploy once. The moment Suhyun heard rumors of other-race attacks around the city, he'd intuited it was a disguised operation.
Even if that was true, whether they'd terrorize a newly discovered large-scale mountain area was uncertain. Suhyun saw it as plenty possible, but the attackers might abandon it if they thought they'd get caught or if they saw reinforcements arrive.
‘Guys who pull this kind of stunt aren't the type to back off just because of reinforcements... Was deploying Jindo 1 Team too aggressive?’
If the attacks kept not coming, there were other options. Like selling off the area at a premium once the first logging started.
But that felt like a letdown. Suhyun wanted to catch the culprits behind this. Just selling Redwood Forest wouldn't be enough to solidly impress the government. He needed to reveal how it happened—and who was responsible—for it to be perfect.
“Don't let your guard down. They might be counting on that.”
“Got it.”
If things went that way, there was no helping it. He'd just do his best given the situation. Suhyun kept reaching out to Kang In-gyu steadily. If this fell through, he was the only one worth salvaging.
Kang In-gyu seemed like he'd come around but never did. He lacked confidence in himself, so he rarely accepted proactive offers.
‘Just one good push, and he'd come over. It'd be great if some incident blew up.’
Suhyun hoped for trouble on the Jindo side. As a newbie, Kang In-gyu's position was precarious. If he messed up or caused an accident, the blame would pour down on him instantly. Approaching kindly and pulling him out at that moment would paint the perfect picture.
But Jindo was a major company, after all. The team members didn't harass Kang In-gyu excessively, and he was cautious enough to avoid any major incidents.
And so, as they waited things out, the opportunity Suhyun had been waiting for finally arrived. The raiders had appeared.
* * *
“!”
Suhyun, eyes closed, snapped them open at the vibration in his fingertips. The thread had snapped. He grabbed his bow and used his Clairvoyance to pinpoint the break.
‘Five. But that's not all of them. Are they splitting up?’
They wore faintly shimmering silver-gray suits with masks covering their faces. As they closed in, they signaled and activated their suits.
‘Stealth suits?!’
Stealth suits—advanced gear with powerful cloaking that hid the wearer. Of course, they weren't perfect. They projected the surrounding scenery onto the wearer, but in bright daylight, the distortions were obvious.
In the dark of night, though, that flaw was hidden. Suhyun knew how terrifying they could be. First-timers often died without even realizing how they were attacked.
Even when Suhyun was active duty, they weren't widespread—only a few factions used them limitedly.
‘Which means...’
Suhyun drew his bowstring. Activating stealth meant nothing now that he'd locked onto their positions with Clairvoyance. The raiders would never imagine someone far off was targeting them.
Thwack!
Telekinesis and Clairvoyance—the combination perfected this archaic weapon. The arrow curved in midair before piercing a raider's back.
“?!”
He couldn't see their expressions, but their panic was palpable. From what they carried, they planned to incinerate the forest outskirts with flames.
Thwack!
‘They probably didn't plan on getting preempted.’
This wasn't just this group—others were infiltrating elsewhere too. The fact that no sensors had triggered on the team members' end meant...
‘They disabled them, as expected. Wasn't counting on it anyway.’
“Raiders incoming! Wake everyone! Notify Jindo Team too.”
After the curt order, Suhyun focused back on the hunt. The raiders flailed in response to the unexpected ambush, trying to dodge by moving.
But it was pointless.
Suhyun pierced the rest with arrows, then cut off the last one's escape by slitting his throat from behind.
Preparations were complete. Suhyun moved off to find the other intruders.
* * *
Five per group, three groups total. That was how many Suhyun had dropped with arrows alone. By then, the raiders had caught on. They quickly grouped up, popped smoke grenades everywhere, and charged.
Those masks surely had filtration too. So the smoke wasn't ordinary either.
“Which bastard is this?! Jindo's superpower user?!”
“No one like that in the intel...”
“Doesn't matter now. Take them out first! We were gonna go easy, but they're digging their own graves.”
Sneak in, destroy the forest, evade pursuit and vanish. That was the plan they'd chosen after observing the defenses. No need to fight outright—just wreck the forest.
But if some sniper spotted them from afar, that changed everything. They couldn't plant bombs or maneuver freely, not knowing when their heads might fly off.
Their attack was already busted. He didn't know how they'd been detected, but retreat wasn't an option. They weren't doing this because they lacked confidence in a straight fight.
“Make sure they're finished!”
‘Oh. Coming this way?’
They'd scouted Jindo Team's position beforehand and were beelining straight for it. They'd halted forest destruction for now due to the long-range sniping.
Clang!
“!”
Suhyun clicked his tongue seeing his latest arrow blocked. He couldn't apply telekinesis at that range, so only the first shot had it. If they knew, blocking wasn't impossible.
Still, pulling it off like that—they weren't ordinary.
‘Alright. What now.’
He could join the main force for a group fight or circle behind to harass. Suhyun chose the latter.
“Annoying. Take out that superpower user.”
“Yes!”
“?”
Suhyun frowned as some broke off and headed his way. It was as good as revealing they'd pinpointed his location.
‘Ah, thermal sensors too... Whatever.’
The enemies rushed irregularly toward him. Seeing their leader deflect an arrow, they figured they could do the same.
‘Found him!’
Spotting Suhyun aiming from a distant tree, the raiders fired while closing in. They were confident they could dodge the moment an arrow launched.
Thwack!
“Huh?”
“Closer is better for me. Try dodging now.”
Thwack!
If they came into his telekinesis range, it was a favor. Realizing Suhyun's power was stronger than expected, the raiders sprayed bullets to pin him.
But the bullets halted midair.
“Telekinesis user!”
A telekinesis user—at a high level. No winning normally.
But they already knew Jindo 1 Team's leader was here. They'd prepared countermeasures for superpowers just in case.
“Activate the device!”
“?!”
Suhyun realized what they'd triggered. A bulky black cylindrical object. To a superpower user, it was a death sentence.
‘Superpower nullifier?!’
He'd figured they weren't ordinary, but stealth suits plus nullifiers? Suhyun had a good idea who they were. Few on this planet could equip gear like this for fights like that.
“Kill him!”
Furious over their comrades' deaths, the raiders charged. Getting done in by some unknown superpower user? Fair enough. With powers sealed, they were no big deal. Just finish it...
“Gahk?!”
“What, you thought blocking my powers would let you win?”
Suhyun dodged the leap from the tree, lightly slit the throat, and landed below.
“Stealth suits and a superpower nullifier... Chinese special forces?”
He couldn't see past the masks, but Suhyun felt their expressions change.
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