Rescue (3)
The first thing that greeted me was the damp, heavy stench of blood.
Someone had made a half-hearted attempt at cleaning — there were no actual pools of it left — but the stains smeared across every surface and the smell hanging thick in the air made it clear that a great deal of blood had been spilled here.
Darkness so complete I couldn't see an inch ahead.
I raised the pistol I'd already pulled from my pack and edged carefully forward.
Splash.
My foot hit a shallow puddle, and the sound rang through the entire container.
No guards inside?
There had been someone posted out front, so I'd assumed there would be at least a non-Awakened or two in here. Contrary to expectations, I couldn't sense a single presence.
Maybe I should pick up the pace a little.
I quickened my steps — and before long, the empty stretch of container was gone, replaced by a new scene unfolding before my eyes.
Smashed computers. Broken pieces of chalk. Empty syringes and medicine bottles rolling across the floor. Blood spattered and dried on every wall. The thick, rotting stench of spoiled meat.
It wasn't entirely unexpected. Still, having it thrust right in front of me left me staring, stunned in spite of myself.
There was only one conclusion you could draw from a sight like this.
"Human experimentation…!"
The worst-case scenario I'd already been bracing for. Panic drove my feet faster as I pushed ahead — and then a row of iron cages, the kind that belonged in a prison, stretched out before me one after another.
Creak.
In the deep dark I could make out only shapes, but I already knew exactly what I was looking at. And sure enough — when I swept the flashlight across the insides of the cages, corpses lay strewn in miserable heaps.
Bodies stacked without regard for gender, age, or nationality.
Shoving down the dread clawing up my spine, I scanned them quickly, eyes darting as I searched for any sign of Lee Yeon-ah.
Then a small room caught my attention.
Unlike the other cage doors hanging carelessly open, this one was locked tight with a padlock. Suspicious enough that I sprinted over and shot the lock clean through.
Bang!
I worried for a second that someone outside might hear it, but it would probably just blend into the ambient noise. And if Yeon-ah was conscious, she might already be panicking — better to move fast.
I wrenched the door open.
And there she was: Lee Yeon-ah, lying on a narrow cot, breathing soft and even in her sleep.
"Hah… thank god…"
From the look of her, she'd been out cold ever since they moved her. Getting kidnapped wasn't exactly something to celebrate — but at least she hadn't woken up in a panic, and she hadn't had to see any of those horrors. That counted for something.
The real problem right now was something else.
"Can I even carry her out of here…?"
In an adult body I could have hauled three Yeon-ahs without breaking a sweat. With my current strength, I honestly wasn't sure.
"Come on, I've still got some pride as a guy. I can't even lift one kid?"
Right. Yeon-ah wasn't that heavy. How hard could one little girl be?
"Hup—! Okay. Nope. Not happening."
I gave up immediately. Damn it. Reduced to a frail little body that couldn't even pick up a child.
"Yeon-ah. Wake up. Lee Yeon-ah."
With no other choice, I gave her cheeks a few light pats.
"Nn… mm…"
She stirred uncomfortably, then started to open her eyes.
"O…ppa…?"
"We've ended up somewhere pretty far. We need to get out of here fast, so hop on my back. And keep your eyes shut tight."
"Where are we?"
Even as she asked, she did as she was told and climbed onto my back. The weight settled against me, but with her conscious and holding on, she felt noticeably lighter.
"I'll explain once we're out. Just don't open your eyes. No matter what."
"…Okay."
I couldn't let her see those horrors on the way out. She might figure out someday why I'd told her to keep her eyes closed — but knowing was a world apart from seeing it with her own eyes. Far gentler that way.
I hurried back the way I'd come with Yeon-ah on my back and keyed the radio on the terminal I'd given Lee Yeon-hui.
"I found Yeon-ah. Not a scratch on her, thankfully. We're heading out now — how are things on your end?"
"Same as before. Just get out here quick."
Fortunately, the patrols were even sloppier than I'd hoped. No sign we'd been made yet.
"Unnie came too?"
Yeon-ah must have caught Yeon-hui's voice over the radio.
"Yeah. So when you see her, lead with the fact that you're not hurt. She's a total tsundere, but she worries like crazy."
"Hehe. Got it."
I'd thrown in the joke in case the sudden kidnapping had left her scared — and she flashed me a bright little smile. Being this frightened and still forcing herself to laugh along with my dumb jokes… yeah. She was definitely Lee Yeon-hui's little sister.
"Hehe. You're so fast. Super fast."
Or maybe she had her sister beat.
Maybe it was knowing the place was empty that let me hurry. Before long we reached the hole I'd cut, and we made it outside without a hitch.
"Unnie!"
"Yeon-ah! Thank goodness!"
A tearful sisterly reunion. She'd played it cool over the radio, but she'd clearly been wound tight waiting for us.
Good.
It was too early to relax completely — but we'd cleared one major hurdle. And more than anything, getting to Yeon-ah before anything happened to her was a genuine relief.
We filled Yeon-ah in on the situation as we hurried back the way we'd come. She'd been conscious right up until she blacked out, so she didn't need long to understand. And like her sister, she moved sharp — careful without needing to be told.
The problem came from somewhere else.
The guards have multiplied.
The patrols had visibly bulked up. I doubted they'd discovered Yeon-ah was missing — if they had, this place wouldn't still be this quiet. That left three likely possibilities.
Either this was just a time of day when they concentrated their patrols, or someone had chewed out the patrol teams the way I'd seen earlier — or something, or someone, important was about to arrive.
My money was on the last one.
"What do we do? Getting out doesn't look easy."
Yeon-hui had noticed the tightened patrol patterns too.
"There'll be a gap. Once."
If I was right, the moment that important someone or something showed up, every eye would snap toward it. That was the opening we'd have to squeeze through.
Yeon-hui nodded — and beside us, Yeon-ah, who'd been watching the patrols, pointed past them as if she'd spotted something.
"Something's coming."
"Huh…? What is?"
I couldn't see it yet. But a moment later, exactly as she'd said, a black sedan came tearing in and skidded to a stop like it was drifting.
"He's here! Get ready!"
The same men who'd been slouching around moments ago snapped into formation, surrounding the car in neat ranks. The rear door of the lavishly welcomed sedan swung open, and an old man in a white lab coat hopped out with a speed that didn't match his age at all.
The second I saw him, a cold premonition hit me hard.
The old man hit the ground running, bolting somewhere in a hurry — until one of the men ringing the car pointed at a container in the opposite direction.
"Doctor! Not that way — over here!"
"Hm? Haha, so it was! I got a little too excited. Thank you."
He stopped, flashed a kindly smile, and took off in the direction the patrol had indicated.
"Shit. We're fucked."
The container the patrol was pointing at — the one the old man was racing toward — was the one Yeon-ah had been in.
"We go now! While their attention's locked over there — stick close and follow me!"
"Got it!"
"Okay!"
I was already moving as I spoke. The entrance we'd come through was a fair distance away, but if we timed it right, we could slip out before anyone noticed.
And then—
"The child's gone! She must have escaped! Find her — now!"
A shout rang out from behind us. Cutting through the surrounding noise that clearly meant a megaphone or a mic.
Crazy old bastard — what the hell got him so fired up he sprinted like that?!
It was too fast no matter how I looked at it. The container wasn't that small. Checking it this quickly meant he'd full-on sprinted the whole way. Shit. If you're going to lose it, at least lose it with some dignity.
I cursed under my breath and ran for the iron fence we'd come through — when a voice drifted down from above the containers.
"Well, well~ Right? I knew I wasn't imagining it. I definitely sensed some little brats back then."
A voice I was sure I'd heard somewhere before.
Even in a situation that demanded speed, my feet stopped. My gaze lifted slowly upward — and at the end of it, a man was crouched on top of a container, snickering to himself.
White hair. Red eyes. Pointed teeth that called a vampire to mind.
Putting those features together, I knew exactly who he was from the novel.
Lee Jae-hun.
One of Freedom's executives. A go-his-own-way type who didn't really fit the organization — but combat ability was a completely different story. He was one of the strong ones.
"Wow~ I almost didn't believe it, but you really came by yourselves? To rescue that kid?"
Clap, clap, clap.
He applauded with genuine admiration, smiling like a theatergoer giving a standing ovation for a fine performance.
"Hup."
It was a considerable drop from the top of the container, but he hopped down as lightly as taking two steps on a staircase and met our eyes.
"So. What are you going to do now?"
Hands in his pockets, he tilted his head. The smile on his face hadn't changed one bit — and somehow that tiny gesture sent a chill crawling up my spine.
"Well… maybe you could admire our noble courage and just… let us go…?"
"…Pfft. This kid's hilarious. I was planning to kill you if you started bawling and begging, but you go and give me an answer I didn't see coming."
Crazy bastard. Kids are allowed to cry a little — and you're going to kill them for it?
"Then how about showing a little mercy for that bold courage…?"
I forced the corners of my mouth up as I asked. Lee Jae-hun hummed, looking like he was actually thinking it over.
"I won't touch you. For now."
Shit. Why does that not reassure me even a little?
"I really won't touch you."
"…"
"Me, that is."
The addendum made me scan our surroundings fast.
"They're here! The boss has them pinned down!"
"Hey. What do you mean pinned down? Catching them is your job."
At some point the patrols had spotted us and closed in, boxing us from every side. Any hope of slipping out quietly was gone. Whatever whim this was, Lee Jae-hun genuinely seemed intent on not moving.
"Both of you — stick right behind me. Eyes on my back and follow."
I checked Yeon-hui and Yeon-ah behind me and drew a knife the length of a short dagger from my side pocket. A military knife I'd been holding longer and more often than a pencil for some time now. My weakened strength made the weight noticeable, but it wouldn't stop me from swinging it.
The familiar grip settled into my hand like it belonged there. I raised the blade and looked at the "enemies" in front of me.
Only one way through.
I'd end up showing the two of them a sight I never wanted them to see. But anyone who stood in our way—
Dies. All of them.
Judging by the patrols' gear, they weren't going to open fire. Park Yeon-chan watched them close in and made that call.
If they miss and hit Yeon-ah, they're screwed.
Thoughts sorted in an instant, Yeon-chan broke into a run at the head of the group, Yeon-hui shielding Yeon-ah as she followed. Their target: the man at the very front of the encircling patrol.
The sudden charge caught the patrolman off guard — but he wasn't about to flinch just because a kid was charging him. That judgment was his undoing.
Thuk—
The knife that had left Yeon-chan's hand sliced the air and punched straight through the man's throat.
"Ghk… hah…!"
A look of pure incomprehension crossed his face as he clawed at the blade buried in his neck. His hand only managed to brush past it before he crumpled bonelessly to the ground.
"Hoh…"
Lee Jae-hun let out a low sound of appreciation. Everyone else stood frozen, as if time itself had stopped — and Yeon-chan didn't waste the opening.
"Run!"
He shouted at the momentarily stunned Yeon-hui and Yeon-ah and took off forward again. His voice snapped the sisters back to themselves; they lurched into motion.
"You crazy little shit—!"
The other side wasn't going to stand there dazed forever. They shook it off, faces twisting with rage as they drew their blades — but—
Slash! Slash!
Yeon-chan slipped between a man's legs like water and severed both Achilles tendons in a single motion.
"Gyaaaaah!"
The moment the man's knees hit the ground from the pain—
Thuk—
Using the sudden difference in height, Yeon-chan drove the knife into his throat without a second's hesitation.
"Wow."
Lee Jae-hun looked genuinely impressed. True to his word, he hadn't taken a single step from where he stood.
"Hey! No holding back! That's no ordinary brat!"
Two men dead in Yeon-chan's hands in the blink of an eye finally drove the seriousness home. The patrol surged forward in a furious rush. The difference from before: the leisure of thinking they had the kids cornered was gone, and every hand now held a blade.
Dozens, even at a rough count. Yeon-chan was skilled — but in a child's body, facing this many was nowhere near enough.
And yet, despite the danger, he calmly pulled what looked like a water gun from his pack and squeezed the trigger at the fastest man charging him.
Wiiiiing—!
A mechanical whir. A flash bright enough to blind. Even those not in the line of fire felt the air around them spike in temperature.
The thin beam looked no more threatening than a laser from a video game. The result it produced told a very different story.
"Huh…?"
The man in its path frowned and pawed at the center of his chest, as if something felt off — and realized he couldn't feel his own hand touching his body. A hollow sensation. Like wind was blowing straight through the middle of him. He looked slowly down at his own chest.
"Eu… aaaaaaagh!!!"
He screamed and toppled backward. A perfectly round hole punched clean through him, as neat as a stamp. Precise. Surgical. More than enough to drop a man into pure shock.
Only after he hit the ground did the blood start pouring. A few thrashing, screaming seconds later, he stopped moving entirely.
The charge died. The patrol froze solid. And in that silence—
"A Pyrolith Gun…"
—someone among them breathed the words.
Pyrolith Gun. The name of the weapon Yeon-chan had just fired.
Pyrolith: a mineral unique to this world that radiated intense heat. The amount of heat varied by specimen, and some held truly monstrous quantities. Design a gun around that mineral as fuel, and you got a Pyrolith Gun — mostly used on construction sites and in mining operations. Turned on a human being, its killing power was terrifying.
Of course, to prevent abuse, civilians couldn't just walk in and buy one. Nearly all of them were under government control. Even Freedom had failed to get their hands on any.
Interesting. Where did he get that?
It wasn't something money alone could buy. Lee Jae-hun watched Yeon-chan's every move with growing fascination.
"So."
A voice cold enough to freeze blood made the patrolmen flinch as one.
"Who wants a hole through them next. Step up."
Yeon-chan swept the muzzle across the men surrounding them, and the patrol scrambled backward without anyone needing to give the order.
And even while doing that, the one he's watching most carefully is me?
Gun trained on the men in front of him, Yeon-chan was still most aware of the man standing behind them. What stunned Lee Jae-hun was how seamlessly he managed it — movements tempered by crossing the line between life and death more times than anyone could count. Knife work that would make active professionals click their tongues. Composure and guts that never cracked, even deep in enemy territory.
Any one of those would have been remarkable. That a child named Park Yeon-chan had all of them left Lee Jae-hun genuinely astonished.
He was still watching, a slow grin stretching across his face, when—
"Boss. Slacking off on the job isn't a good look."
A man with his hat pulled low had appeared at Lee Jae-hun's side without warning. Jae-hun didn't so much as blink. His eyes stayed locked forward as he answered.
"Perfect timing."
"What? What do you—"
Before the man could finish asking, Lee Jae-hun's mouth curved up and he raised his voice.
"Hey, kid~! Just like I promised — I won't move. But the big brother next to me is gonna do a little work! Hold out for three minutes in front of this guy and I'll let you walk~!"
The man beside him scowled at the absurdity of it. Lee Jae-hun didn't care in the slightest. The man was an Awakened. Failing to catch ordinary people — never mind a child — in three minutes? The idea was ridiculous. His superior or not, the way Jae-hun framed "I won't let you go" was deliberately infuriating.
"You mean that? If I last long enough to boil a pack of ramen in front of that small fry over there, you'll send us home?"
The man turned blankly toward the voice.
"Kh… khkh…! Kahahahaha! Yeah. Of course! Anyone who gets in the way, I'll kill myself — so give it everything you've got!"
Lee Jae-hun cackled until he choked. Beside him, the man's expression went ice-cold at terrifying speed.
An Jin-ho, Lee Jae-hun's direct subordinate, had always been fairly confident in his own ability. Nowhere near his boss, of course — but he was no slouch, and in an organization like Freedom where Awakened were scarce, his standing was considerable.
"Small… fry…?"
His neck cocked at an unnatural angle. His eyes held nothing but Park Yeon-chan, still whipping the gun from target to target.
An Jin-ho started walking slowly toward him.
"Kid. You're not dying clean."
"What are you muttering about, you washed-up has-been. Ten seconds are already gone."
The words had barely left Yeon-chan's mouth before An Jin-ho exploded forward at a speed Yeon-chan couldn't track — and seized him by the throat.