Gold Sun's Irresistible Bait
“That bastard's coming. We need to prepare.”
Lyka and Jang Bori were hiding under a river bridge. Bori's house had already been exposed to him. Going back there would be suicide.
“Lyka... do you think we can win?”
Bori looked up at Lyka with an anxious expression. As always, Lyka's face was impassive. But the occasional flicker in his eyes betrayed his own unease.
It was expected that a top-tier summoner would enter Summoner Survival. That's why even Lyka couldn't be certain of victory. But he never dreamed someone as bizarre as Gold Sun would join the survival game. Gold Sun was a catastrophe utterly beyond Lyka's predictions.
“Can't say. We just do our best.”
Lyka gave a textbook response. It wouldn't reassure Bori, but he couldn't feed her false hope he couldn't guarantee.
Bori bit her lip. She'd believed Lyka's power could carry them through this survival game somehow. But the current situation was stacked heavily against her.
“Lyka, what percentage of your power can you use right now?”
“He took the Soul Vessel. Since I can't sense its energy, he must've destroyed it. Without it, even at full effort, 50% is my limit.”
For her, victory in this survival game was a life-or-death matter. Her desperation for it outmatched anyone else's.
Video Link Attached
From: Unknown Number
Bori's smartphone suddenly chimed. A message with a video link. An ominous dread crept over her.
“A video?”
The sender was an unfamiliar number. Common sense said not to click strange links, but Bori couldn't ignore it. She tapped, and the video played.
"Bori, looks like you're not home. Hiding out with Lyka somewhere, huh?"
Muffled groans: "Mmph! Mmph! Mmph!"
"I'm a pacifist, you know. How about we meet nice and easy and talk it out?"
Her heart plummeted. That voice belonged to him.
“Is that the bastard?”
Bori nodded at Lyka's question. The video showed some kind of space—a warehouse, by the looks of it.
A man appears on screen. One Bori knows all too well—her father, Jang Se-gun.
Muffled groans intensify: "Mmph! Mmph! Mmph! Mmph!"
Se-gun is bound to a chair in a rundown warehouse. The screen shifts to reveal a wooden desk opposite him, covered in tools: pliers, a hacksaw, dental forceps, and more. No DIY kit—these scream torture.
"If you accept my offer, come to Gus Beer Warehouse. It's on the village outskirts—Google Maps will find it easy. You know you have to come alone, right?"
It was a silent threat. Comply, or the hostage suffers.
“Dad!”
Bori cried out, knowing he couldn't hear. Lyka's eyes turned ice-cold as he watched.
“He's probably set a trap and waiting.”
A cool assessment. But Bori didn't hear it.
“We have to save Dad!”
“Bori. It's a trap. According to what he said...”
“Trap or not, I have to go! He's got Dad!”
“If you go, you'll play right into his hands.”
“But!”
“Think coldly. No guarantee he'll release your father just because you show up. He's a devil. Worst case, he'll toy with both of you like playthings and break you.”
“Then... what should I do?”
The best strategy was to ignore the threat. But Lyka couldn't suggest that—Bori would never accept a path that risked the hostage most.
Reluctantly, he chose the next best option.
“I'll go with you. But don't play his game just because we accept the invite. When we meet him, follow my lead exactly. First...”
Reeling in Jang Bori would be easy. He'd already dug up dirt on her father, Jang Se-gun.
“Mmph! Mmph! Mmph!”
The spot was a rundown beer warehouse in a corner of Loss City. Formerly a brewery—he'd ordered his company to buy it out before the survival game started. No one came here now.
“Coward...”
Lumiia shot me a glare with those long, drooping eyes. Rich, coming from her after all the backstabs.
“Thought you'd be thrilled. Catch Lyka, and this damn survival game's over.”
“......Yeah, kinda makes me happy.”
Lie.
I'd analyzed the fleeting regret on her face. Inch by inch, glacially slow—like running a high-spec game on a Pentium—Lumiia was staining with lust. Progress, undeniable.
“Lyka will show, no doubt. He's strong.”
True enough. I'd told her to come alone in the video, but Bori wouldn't. Lyka would force his way along even if she tried solo.
“He can't use his full power. I snagged the Soul Vessel ahead of time.”
Lyka's true strength channels through the Soul Vessel. I'd bribed Se-gun to trash it early. Without that prep, I wouldn't face him.
“He's here.”
Lumiia peered out the grimy window. Taxi lights swept the warehouse front. Jang Bori stepped out—her build made her unmistakable even from afar.
“Where's Lyka?”
I muttered, but Lumiia picked it up.
“Want me to hunt him?”
“Oh? What's this?”
“Just wanna end this boring survival fast.”
“Fine by me.”
“He won't stray far from that summoner.”
With that, Lumiia vanished. Lyka was a long-range specialist, a master of hiding.
I didn't expect current Lumiia to find him. She'd manage somehow.
Bori shuffled into the warehouse slow. I'd left the iron front gate open. She heaved it aside and headed straight for this building.
“Hey, mister. Your daughter's here.”
“Mmph! Mmph! Mmph! Mmph!”
Se-gun thrashed harder at the news.
“Don't forget—do as I say if you wanna live with her.”
“Mmph! Mmph! Mmph!”
Sounded like agreement. Hard to tell with the gag.
The brewery seemed shuttered recently. Unfinished paperwork littered the place, but the eerie emptiness felt more like permanent abandonment than after-hours quiet.
Bori crept toward the main factory building ahead. Traps could lurk anywhere, but she had no choice. Her father's groans from the video haunted her.
“Is that it...?”
She eased open the warehouse door and stepped in. Lights blazed inside. The vast space matched the video perfectly.
“This is it!”
She scanned frantically for Dad. Luck struck—he was right there in plain view.
“Dad!”
“Mmph! Mmph! Mmph!”
Bound to a chair dead ahead, he shook violently. Bori forgot traps, sprinting to him. He thrashed harder, hearing her voice.
“Dad! You okay!? I'll untie you!”
The ropes were knotted brutally tight. Bori's strength couldn't budge them. As she struggled, footsteps echoed behind. Dad's groans swelled in sync.
“Bori. You came alone like promised.”
“You!”
Her enemy in Summoner Survival, the infamous Leon Mask. Rage twisted her face as she glared. Maskless, his bare face grinned vilely.
“Even in a survival game, dragging innocents into this is too far!”
“Sorry about that. But you're unbeatable otherwise. Your champion's too dangerous.”
“I came alone like promised! So let my dad go!”
“Not yet. We haven't even started talking.”
“I know what you want. I'll forfeit! I'll quit the survival game—just please release my dad!”
“Heh. You still don't get what I want, Bori.”
Gold Sun approached slowly. Bori backed away instinctively.
“What I want isn't some Eve's apple bullshit. It's...”