Chapter 98
Chapter 98
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 98
Chapter Title: The Pied Piper (3)
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"Dragon Punch!"
"Graaah!"
She took out the burly man in one hit.
Hwa-ryeon and Cho-ryeon headed down into the dim underground.
"Something smells off! Not good!"
Sniff sniff.
Hwa-ryeon wrinkled her nose as she sniffed the air.
But she had no choice except to plug her nose right away.
"Eugh! What is this smell!"
"What's wrong, Hwa-ryeon sis?"
"It smells so bad it's like it's going to kill me!"
"Huh? I don't really notice anything."
Sniff sniff.
Cho-ryeon sniffed the air after Hwa-ryeon.
But she didn't sense anything particularly strange.
"Hmm, I just know the air quality is bad? It smells like it might be bad for the environment."
Unlike Hwa-ryeon, Cho-ryeon didn't detect anything majorly wrong.
Maybe that's why Mold No. 3 popped out of the puffer jacket to sniff instead.
"Mang-! Mang mang-!"
"What's up, Mold No. 3?"
"Grrr-! Mang mang-!"
"Oh, Mold No. 3! Quiet down! We'll get caught!"
Grrrr.
Mold No. 3 started growling warily toward the underground path.
Hwa-ryeon saw this and smiled faintly.
"What is it, Mold No. 3! Good nose, huh!? You smell something weird too?"
"Grrr-! Mang mang-!"
Pat pat.
Hwa-ryeon stroked the brave Mold No. 3.
Cho-ryeon then asked a question to resolve her doubts.
"So, Hwa-ryeon sis! What's up ahead exactly?"
"Oh, that!"
She smirked.
Hwa-ryeon's lips curved like a crescent moon.
After smiling, she ran forward and said,
"You'll know when you see it yourself! Truth is, I don't even know what's ahead!"
"W-Wait, don't go first! Let's go together! I-I'm scared! Hwa-ryeon sis!"
"Kehahaha! Follow if you can!"
And so, Hwa-ryeon started sprinting toward the underground, full of excitement.
With no idea what awaited her ahead.
"L-Let's go together! Hwa-ryeon sis!"
Cho-ryeon could only struggle to keep up with Hwa-ryeon's energy.
***
Today, too, I worked hard closing the dimensional gate.
As I exited, I greeted the waiting staff member.
"Whew, that was exhausting. Good work—oh, guess it was just me."
Since I closed it alone anyway.
Only I did the work.
I received the association staff's greeting and opened my smartphone.
"Gu Bong-gu? Missed call."
Just one missed call.
What could Gu Bong-gu want from me?
I immediately pressed the call button.
Rrring—click!
Picked up in one second.
I spoke to him very casually.
"Hey, money-grubbing bald Gu Bong-gu. What's up?"
—Dad. It's me.
"That voice... Su-ryeon, huh."
Ahem.
Did I sound too childish?
Of all people, Su-ryeon picked up.
More importantly, why does Su-ryeon have Gu Bong-gu's phone?
I felt a bit embarrassed, but asked to clear up my doubts.
"Ahem. Su-ryeon, what's going on? Why do you have Gu Bong-gu's phone?"
—It's a long story. But I'll summarize it in three lines exactly.
Su-ryeon began her sharp briefing.
—The kindergarten kids got kidnapped. Hwa-ryeon sis and Cho-ryeon left to find them. I'm alone, so come quick.
Hearing this, my mind went blank for a moment.
It was more serious than I thought.
I asked as calmly as possible.
"So Hwa-ryeon and Cho-ryeon left to find those kids right now?"
—Yeah.
"And you?"
—I... was too tired, so I didn't go.
Sounds half-hearted.
I spoke to Su-ryeon seriously.
"Su-ryeon. You know how to send your location via text, right?"
—I'm a dragon, Dad. Of course I can.
"Then send me your location. I'll head there right now."
I had other things left, but.
I immediately started preparing to find the kids.
'...Kindergarten kids kidnapped, huh.'
Good thing my kids weren't taken.
But it reeks pretty bad.
"Whoever it is, if they cross me, they're dead."
If they were unlucky, my daughters could have been targets too.
So I wiped the smile from my face and ran to the location Su-ryeon sent.
"No accidents until I get there, kids."
As I ran to the location, I clenched my fist so hard my nails dug into my palm.
Maybe because a parent's worry for their child hurt.
I didn't feel the pain in my palm at all.
***
A corridor lit faintly by bare bulbs.
Hwa-ryeon sprinted down it, leaping at the guard standing ahead.
"Dragon Low Kick!!"
"Grah!!"
Boom—!
The man flew far back from Hwa-ryeon's low kick.
He slammed his head into the solid concrete wall and lost consciousness.
Hwa-ryeon wiped the sweat from her forehead as she looked at him.
"Phew, weakling! Why'd they make the underground so unnecessarily huge! Such a pain!"
The wide space like a playground was nice.
But maybe she ran around too excitedly.
"Where am I!? I don't know the way! Where'd Cho-ryeon and Mold No. 3 go!?"
In the end.
She was left alone and got lost.
Hwa-ryeon scratched her head, trying to remember the path.
"Hmm, I came this way! So the entrance is that way? No? Ugh, whatever!"
Just run!
Hwa-ryeon stopped thinking and dashed down the corridor.
"Hmph, if your body's good, your brain works less!"
Dash dash dash—!
And so Hwa-ryeon ran through the vast underground, scanning her surroundings.
The straight corridors formed a maze, but she occasionally ran into people in the rooms that appeared.
Every time, Hwa-ryeon attacked without even hearing them out.
"First strike wins! No questions asked! Come at me! That's a real idiom! Dragon Kick!"
"Aaagh!"
Boom—!
She took down another human like that.
Hwa-ryeon looked down at the fallen man.
"Hmm, this?"
She reached for the shiny object in the man's pocket.
Jingle.
"It's a key!"
A keyring with various keys.
Fortunately, she knew how to use them, so Hwa-ryeon tucked the keyring into her pocket.
"Heh, let's see! Onward inside!"
Dash dash dash—
Hwa-ryeon ran down the corridor again.
Along the way, she reached a locked door at the end of the hall.
"Key! Time to use it!"
Jingle.
Hwa-ryeon tried inserting keys one by one into the hole.
But for some reason, the door wouldn't open.
"Aargh! Why so many keys! None of them work!"
She'd tried quite a few.
But plenty remained.
Frustrated, Hwa-ryeon threw the keyring and balled her fist.
"Screw it! Dragon Punch!"
Crunch—!
Her fist shattered the iron door, sending it flying.
"Hmph, as expected, me! Awesome!"
Clap clap clap.
Applauding herself, Hwa-ryeon boldly entered the locked room.
And inside, she spotted quite familiar faces.
"My subordinates!"
Kids collapsed unconscious in the locked room.
Hwa-ryeon rushed to them and checked their conditions.
Slap! Slap!
"Hey! You guys okay!?"
"..."
"Hey! Open your eyes!"
Slap!
Hwa-ryeon slapped every single one to wake them.
But only handprints remained on their cheeks.
The kids showed no sign of coming to.
"What? They're breathing fine! Why are they lying there like dead!?"
Sniff sniff.
"They all smell bad too!"
Hwa-ryeon racked her brain to understand the situation.
But no good ideas came.
There was a weird smell, but hard to grasp the full picture.
"Ghosts maybe...!? I heard you need marines to catch ghosts...! I'm not a marine yet, so I can't...!"
At that moment, when she hit a wall and even considered supernatural stuff.
Whoosh—
White smoke began filling the room thickly.
Hwa-ryeon instinctively plugged her nose.
"Th-This smell! The bad smell!"
Hwa-ryeon grimaced, nose blocked from the stench.
It was similar to the smell when Yi Ha-jun threw out food waste.
While Hwa-ryeon was distracted by the smell.
Slooowly—
"What! You guys came to!?"
The kids who'd been unconscious slowly started rising.
They moved like puppets with cut strings.
With empty eyes, the kids walked toward the door Hwa-ryeon had entered—from where the white smoke poured in.
Hwa-ryeon desperately grabbed their bodies amid the stench.
"Hey! Listen to me! I'm your boss! You're my subordinates!"
"..."
"What! Why won't they budge even with my strength!? Ugh! Don't go!"
Huff huff.
Hwa-ryeon pulled to stop the kids.
But they didn't move an inch.
They just zombie-walked toward the white smoke.
To Hwa-ryeon, the kids chasing the white smoke looked.
"Wh-What is this!?"
Just plain creepy.
So Hwa-ryeon decided.
"I'll find where this smoke's coming from! I'm going first! I'm goinggg!"
Reckless, sure.
But a solution only brave Hwa-ryeon could pull off.
Leaving her subordinates behind, Hwa-ryeon took the lead and charged toward the white smoke.