28
Chapter 28
A certain Hotel Branch in Shanghai.
Men in black Suits blocked the entrance of the Gigantic building.
Stepping inside, the thick stench of cigarette smoke and burning plastic hung heavy in the air.
"Hooo."
Sitting at the head of a massive table bearing the emblem of a black dragon, the man exhaled smoke and looked around.
Countless people sat in a long row on either side of him.
He gently scratched his eyebrow with the thumb of the hand holding his cigarette.
Numerous scars marred his face.
His already fierce features looked even more intimidating because of them.
Association President of the China Awakener Association, Heilong.
It was no exaggeration to say that this man controlled not only the Awakener Association but the current political landscape of China itself.
He wielded immense wealth and absolute power.
Even Public Security was powerless against him.
In China, crossing him meant a hundred lives wouldn't be enough to save you.
Everyone knew this fact perfectly well, so they couldn't help but be tense.
The thick smoke weighed heavily on the air inside the room.
Only after finishing his cigarette did Heilong take a small breath and finally open his mouth.
The deep, commanding voice of the middle-aged man drifted through the smoke.
"Right. So a Magical Girl has appeared in Korea."
A Magical Girl.
The reason they had gathered today was none other than the Magical Girl.
Those sitting around Heilong were the top Executives of the China Association.
People called them the Black Dragon Society.
Heilong was the body of the black dragon, and the Executives were its tail.
Together, they formed a single black dragon.
One that cloaked itself in darkness to greedily devour everything in its path.
Anyway.
Today was the day of the Seven Nights Assembly, their Executive meeting.
"So, even in Korea they haven't been able to figure out the exact Identity of the Magical Girl."
Heilong spoke as he skimmed through the documents handed to him by the Secretary standing beside him.
"There's nothing but utterly useless information here. What a disgrace."
Heilong roughly scattered the documents across the table.
Rustle-!
There really was nothing special in them.
Only details about how Awakeners in South Korea received a Global Reward because of the Magical Girl, and how the Magical Girl could use her Awakener Ability even outside.
"I was planning to make a move once we had gathered enough information, but this won't do. We are making our move now."
Heilong said, lighting another cigarette.
According to the original plan, he intended to intercept the Magical Girl when she was found elsewhere.
But there was no sign of anyone finding her.
Frustrated, he was now trying to act directly.
"You all know what will happen to you if she gets snatched away like Choi Seoyeon."
Exhaling a cloud of smoke, Heilong threatened the Executives sitting before him.
China had lost Choi Seoyeon to the United States.
No, saying she was snatched away was a contradiction. Choi Seoyeon had never opened her heart to China in the first place.
Heilong had been the first to make a move to bring Choi Seoyeon in.
He remembered offering her a place in China, only to be flatly rejected.
'Hmm~ You guys just aren't beautiful, I suppose. You stink too much.'
Leaving only those words behind, she had immediately left for Hailt in the United States.
Heilong now regretted trying to bring her in like a gentleman back then.
He should have just kidnapped her.
That day, Heilong's Pride took a massive hit.
The wounds from that day had still not fully healed.
If the Magical Girl was taken by another country's hands this time as well, there was no telling what Heilong might do.
As the memories of the past resurfaced, he gripped his cigarette so tightly that it crumbled.
"I trust you all understand what I'm saying. So, who will bring the Magical Girl to me."
Heilong scanned the seated Executives as he spoke.
The Executives lowered their heads, terrified of even making eye contact with him.
They all knew.
If they were chosen as the CEO but failed to bring back the Magical Girl.
There was no telling what Heilong would do to them.
It was obvious that they would meet a bad end.
So, no one dared to step forward.
Since they didn't have much information either, they lacked confidence.
Just then.
"I will go and get her."
While everyone else was avoiding his gaze, an Executive sitting at the very edge of the table raised his hand and stood up.
"Ho, and you are......."
"Yes, I am Lanye, a newly appointed Executive."
Lanye stood up and offered a deep, respectful bow toward Heilong.
"Right, I see. So you want to take on this task?"
"Yes, I do."
The other Executives were appalled watching Lanye.
'What a fool.'
'He must be eager to die.'
They all clicked their tongues inwardly.
To anyone watching, it was clearly just the reckless bravado of a young man who had recently become an Executive.
'This is a chance. I'll leave a deep impression on Hyungnim. You can do it. Let's aim high.'
Even among the Executives, there was an invisible hierarchy.
Lanye was at the very bottom of the Executives. He was the very tip of the dragon's tail.
The fact that Heilong didn't know his name was corroboration of that.
Lanye was highly ambitious.
He wanted to climb higher than he was now and become the Second-in-Command.
No, beyond that.
He even coveted Heilong's position.
He still had a long way to go to reach that point.
To get there, he first had to climb his way up little by little.
And now, he had obtained a chance to catch Heilong's eye.
If he could just bring in the Magical Girl, his status would certainly rise several times over.
Heilong looked at Lanye with measuring eyes.
Then, he smirked.
"Stand up. At least you have more spirit than the others. They've all become old dogs, tsk tsk. I'll leave this to you."
At Heilong's words, Lanye stood up and bowed 90 degrees in greeting.
"Yes! I will never disappoint you."
Looking at Lanye, Heilong let out a snort and waved his hand.
"Good. You'd better not disappoint me. Leave right now."
"Yes!"
With that, Lanye immediately exited the Conference Room.
The other Executives watched his retreating back with pity.
They could already clearly see Lanye's bitter end.
"Hyungnim, will this really be okay? It doesn't look like that guy has any special plan up his sleeve."
A neat-looking man sitting right next to Heilong spoke.
It was the Black Dragon Society Second-in-Command, Taofeng.
At Taofeng's words, Heilong sneered and replied.
"I know that too. It's just entertaining. If he finds her, great. If he doesn't, I'll just play with him before killing him."
Taofeng shook his head as he looked at Heilong.
He had always enjoyed toying with people's lives.
A psycho who enjoyed sadistic acts more than anyone else.
That was why Taofeng never wanted to make an enemy out of Heilong.
"Taofeng. You investigate the Magical Girl behind the scenes."
"Yes. As you command."
"Alright, today's meeting is over. Everyone go do your jobs."
"Yes!"
The moment Heilong finished speaking, everyone rushed out of the Conference Room.
Taofeng also gave a slight bow to Heilong before leaving.
Heilong waved his hand dismissively.
Click, clack-
Listening to the sound of Taofeng's footsteps fading away, Heilong took out a cigarette and lit it.
"A Magical Girl. Hehe. How interesting."
Lately, he had grown bored with life.
Having indulged in every kind of stimulation imaginable, there was nothing left to satisfy him.
But suddenly, a Magical Girl had appeared out of nowhere.
To him, it was no different from getting a fun new toy.
"Hehe. I'll have to make her my concubine."
Heilong revealed his yellow teeth in an unpleasant smile.
At that time.
Outside, Lanye immediately booked a flight to Korea.
"Y-You got the job! C-Congratulations!"
"Yeah. Before long, we'll rise higher than those old farts."
Lanye was also an Executive.
Naturally, he had subordinates following him.
Among them, his right-hand man, Liucha, greeted Lanye with a smile.
"So, is that information reliable?"
"O-Of course it is!"
The reason Lanye had taken on this task was because he had something to rely on.
It was Liucha.
It was none other than Liucha who had enabled Lanye to climb to his current position.
To Lanye, Liucha was his Zhuge Liang.
Supposedly a genius with an IQ over 200.
Why such a genius worked under him, he didn't know.
Anyway.
Things always went smoothly whenever he just followed Liucha's words.
It was the same this time.
Liucha had told him that Heilong would select someone to find the Magical Girl, and that he should volunteer for the job.
He claimed he thought he knew the Magical Girl's Identity.
Saying he would help him rise to a higher position.
Promising that one day, he would make it possible to overthrow Heilong and rule in his place.
"T-That FFF Rank is definitely suspicious, sir."
"I know, I read the report too. But testing it with 9 other machines yielded the exact same result."
The FFF Rank was fascinating, but that was it.
The initial broken artifact was simply written off as a malfunction.
Everyone else thought so too.
Lanye was no exception.
It didn't seem like anything special.
"N-No, sir! Th-There is definitely something there! I guarantee it!"
"Hmm. If you say so, there must be something to it."
He had never once suffered a loss by listening to Liuran.
Lanye was suspicious, but decided to trust Liuran's words for now.
"So, what's the Tactic."
"Y-Yes, sir! I have a Tactic! It's very simple!"
With that, he whispered into his ear, and upon hearing the details, Lanye formed a despicable smirk.
"Good. It's the same as what we usually do. Now, let's go. Boys!"
"Yes!"
As Lanye said that, numerous men hidden in the darkness rose from their seats and followed him.
Just like that, they headed for the FFF Rank.
Toward Yuna’s House.
* * *
"Uuugh. Feels so good. This is the life."
"Really....... I think I'm going to fall asleep."
Yuna and Joohyun were lying on the floor, basking in the warm sunlight beating down during the day.
The sunlight seeping down into the Semi-basement was very cozy and pleasant.
Of course, they weren't just enjoying Photosynthesis for no reason.
It was because of a skill they had recently learned.
[Photosynthesis] : Stores the energy of the sun! Firepower increases when using a skill!
Just as described, it was a very useful skill that stored sunlight as energy.
Feeling the warm energy circulating throughout his body, Joohyun let out a pleasant purr.
"......I want that skill too."
Mina looked with envious eyes at the two people lying comfortably in the sun.
"Unnie, play with us~!"
"Yeah, Noona, let's play~!"
Mina, who had somehow become the resident babysitter of Yuna’s House.
"......Okay, okay."
Fortunately, Mina also liked playing with the kids.
The children grabbed one of Mina's arms each and giggled brightly.
Eunha chuckled softly as she watched the scene unfold in the house.
The house that had always been lonely and cold.
But since Joohyun appeared, it felt like the house was filling with Warmth.
At that moment, Joohyun, who had been lying down comfortably, stretched and got up.
"Alright! Let's get going to the tower now. We gotta do what we gotta do!"
"Ehh! I wanna play more!"
"Yeah, Meongnyangi! I want to play more with Unnie!"
The kids dangled from Mina as they said that.
"Tsk! We can play after we get back, after we get back!"
"Aww."
"Meongnyangi is a fool!"
Joohyun shook his head as he watched the grumbling children.
"No means no. Mina, get ready."
"......Yeah. I'll play with you guys when we get back, kids."
Mina nodded and made a Promise to the children.
"Yeah, you have to come back quick!"
"Come back safely!"
Sent off by the kids like that, the three of them entered the 8th Floor.
The monsters inhabiting the 8th Floor were mushroom-type monsters.
Monsters with a cute appearance that scattered a Spore every time they jumped.
The Spore contained sleep-inducing properties, but as long as you didn't inhale it, there was no problem.
And so, they easily cleared the tower and came out this time as well.
"We're back."
"Noona is back!"
"......Kids, I'm back."
However.
When the three of them cleared the tower and came out, the atmosphere in the house had changed.
The house, which should have been filled with the noisy chatter of children, was strangely quiet.
Moreover, things were scattered all over the room.
"These kids, really. I told them to tidy up after playing!"
Yuna grumbled as she cleaned up the messy items.
It was then that they noticed something was wrong.
Mina, who had opened the bedroom door, froze.
Finding Mina's behavior strange, Joohyun approached her.
"What is it, stopping so suddenly......."
Joohyun also looked into the living room through the open door.
Remaining shoe prints on the floor.
A knocked-over flowerpot and miscellaneous items.
It was clearly the traces of someone breaking in.
"What is this!"
Joohyun quickly went out to the living room and checked all the rooms, but the children were nowhere to be seen.
"What is this......? Did a burglar break in? The kids. The kids....... Eunha! Yooho! Eunseo!!"
Coming out to the living room at the loud noise, Yuna saw the mess and trembled, Repeatedly calling the children's names.
"......Look at this."
Just then, Mina picked up a piece of paper and a photo that had fallen on the floor.
A photo of the three children tied up, and a piece of paper with a short message written on it.
'Magical Girls, come to the written location. If you do not arrive within the designated time, the children will die.'
A Letter containing a threat, along with photos.
It was a kidnapping.