An Ingenious Plan (Part 2)

Without wasting a second, we gathered our gear, headed outside, and climbed into the cab of the truck.

Rumble, sputter—clatter!

The engine coughed noisily to life, coughing a dense plume of exhaust into the air. I wrenched the gearshift into drive, pressed the accelerator, and steered us out of the vacant lot on the city outskirts. Our destination was Ilhwa Women’s University, where Seo Hyun’s younger sister was being held captive.

"I think you should turn that way at this intersection," Seo Hyun said, pointing ahead.

"On it."

Thanks to the catastrophe, GPS navigation and smartphone map services had long since died, leaving us entirely dependent on Seo Hyun’s memory to navigate the city. I stole a quick glance at the countdown hovering in midair—that infuriating timer that materialized the moment I focused my awareness on it. A little over five hours remained until sundown. We weren’t entirely starved for time, but a prickle of urgency gnawed relentlessly at the back of my mind all the same.

God, what a disaster zone.

The cityscape scrolling past the windows ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠was thoroughly wrecked. Abandoned vehicles clogged the thoroughfares, smashed and wedged into one another like tangled metallic corpses. Shards of glass from shattered storefronts littered the asphalt, crunching beneath the truck’s heavy tires. Dark, dried stains of coagulated blood smeared the streets at irregular intervals—grim testaments to the slaughter that had played out the night before.

"This is the first time I’ve actually gotten a good look at the outside world since everything went down," Seo Hyun murmured, her voice taut with strain. She stared through the passenger window, her hands clenched tightly on her lap. "It’s horrific. I still can’t wrap my head around how the world fell apart in just a couple of days."

I spun the wheel to bypass a crumpled sedan, keeping my tone deliberately steady. "I feel the same way. Even after watching those monsters crawl through the streets every night, half the time I can't tell whether it's an awful nightmare or reality."

The surreal absurdity of this disaster hadn't fully settled in my bones either. But denial was a luxury for the dead. Normal everyday life had collapsed; this was a world overrun by eldritch horrors. To stay alive in such a brutal reality, thorough preparation and overwhelming force weren't optional—they were mandatory.

Keeping my eyes locked on the road, I jerked my chin toward the duffel bag resting on the floorboard beside her seat. "Go ahead and open that bag. I should probably explain the new weapons while we're en route."

"You mean the ones you were screaming and cheering about back in the room?" she asked, turning with an amused tilt of her head.

"Ahem. I didn't scream that loudly..."

"Pfft! All right, let’s see them!" Seo Hyun’s eyes brightened with anticipation as she carefully drew down the zipper. Reaching inside, she hauled out two heavy, dark slabs of metal. For a fleeting second, her curiosity gave way to genuine bewilderment.

Well, can’t blame her for that reaction.

They certainly weren’t sleek or majestic. Anyone expecting holy broadswords from fantasy novels or razor-sharp katanas would have been sorely disappointed. They looked, plain and simple, like the handiwork of a factory technician repurposing heavy industrial scrap. Still, wasn't rugged brutality better than brittle elegance? They might have lacked flair, but nobody could deny the sheer menace radiating from them.

To be precise, the larger piece was a heavy greatsword ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠fashioned from a rugged industrial demolition saw blade, while the smaller was an oversized driver chisel ground into a lethal, single-edged combat dagger. Their grips were wrapped tight in insulating friction tape over layers of thick leather to prevent any slipping. Thanks to the melted Abyss Species cores fused into the metal, a deep, oily black sheen ran along the jagged saw teeth and the dagger’s point. It was a vicious, pragmatic design that suited an apocalyptic wasteland down to the ground.

"...Are these the weapons you crafted with those cores?" she asked softly.

"Yeah. I'm a mechanic, not a master blacksmith, so I couldn't forge some cinematic masterpiece."

"No, they're wonderful! Thank you so much! Honestly, they feel a hundred times sturdier than a kitchen knife." A relieved smile touched her lips as she lightly brushed her fingertips along the dark flat of the blade. Up until now, she had been risking her life against otherworldly monsters armed with nothing more than a paring knife salvaged from a cafeteria. To someone in her shoes, these unyielding chunks of iron were far more reassuring than any ornamental sword could ever be.

Whoosh—shing!

Seo Hyun gripped the heavy saw-sword in one hand and executed a swift, effortless snap of her wrist. The weapon was brutish and thick, looking almost comical against her slender frame, but as an awakened Superhuman Type, the sheer mass posed no challenge to her whatsoever.

"Mind if I channel a little power into it?" she asked.

The moment she tightened her grip and infused the hilt with her mana, a translucent blue window flashed across my vision.

Whew, thank god.

I breathed an inward sigh of relief. If item transfers had demanded abstract prerequisites like emotional resonance or deep mutual intimacy, it would have been a massive headache down the line. To fulfill my role as a proper general merchant and sell gear to other survivors, transferring ownership had to be something I could execute at will. Handing these over to Seo Hyun had served as a test run to see whether I could assign permissions purely through conscious intent. The result was as clean as it got: total ownership transferred, full functionality unlocked.

Seo Hyun blinked in surprise, evidently reading her own notification hovering in the air. "So once the creator relinquishes ownership, I become its true master?"

"Exactly. That’s the only way you'll be able to draw out one hundred percent of its potential." I smirked, leaning slightly into the throttle. "And from what I gathered, both of those weapons have hidden abilities."

"Hidden abilities? My window didn't mention anything like that."

"The best perks are always kept off the spec sheet. You know how it goes." Swerving past an overturned delivery van, I kept talking. "Though we won't know the specifics until you actually take them for a spin in real combat."

"We have to test them in action? Heh, now I'm really looking forward to it!" A fiery spark returned to her eyes as she spun the oversized driver dagger between her fingers. Armed with real weapons, the lingering anxiety that had weighed on her features began to noticeably fade.

Now came the crucial part: synchronizing the details of our raid.

"Let’s go over the operational plan one more time," I said.

"Right. I circle around toward the rear of the dorms to create a commotion and pull their attention, and that’s when you make your move, correct?"

"Yes. The Dictator is holding your sister in the underground cafeteria, which means it’s bound to be heavily guarded."

All the way to the campus perimeter, we ironed out every conceivable contingency, ruthlessly refining our plan.

"Let’s confirm the primary gathering point for their awakened fighters once more," I prompted.

"Over here," she said, tapping an intersection on the mental map we shared. "Remember, a concentration of awakened combatants means maximum danger. You have to be extremely careful..."

I offered a confident grin. "Don't sweat it. I know what I'm doing."

Our top priority was simple: evade ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠pointless skirmishes, breach their perimeter, and extract the hostage safely. On paper, the plan was solid. Failure wasn't an option.

Before long, the institutional silhouettes of university buildings rose between the rows of commercial storefronts. I eased off the gas and tucked the truck tight against an alley wall, scanning our surroundings with dialed-in vigilance.

"We're here."

"...Yes," Seo Hyun said, her voice dropping into a somber register as she peered past the glass. "That's the place."

Seen from a distance, the campus bore little resemblance to any center of higher learning I remembered. The main gates were barricaded shut behind stacked lecture desks, overturned metal lockers, and coils of jagged razor wire. Behind the second- and third-floor windows of the gatehouse, silhouettes of armed students kept watch on the perimeter. Even from afar, their posture radiated exhaustion and terror.

What turned my stomach was the realization that their terror didn't stem solely from the nocturnal fiends that stalked the dark. It came from other human beings.

To think people can be far more vicious than the actual monsters...

A bitter smirk tugged at the corner of my mouth. The bleak, suffocating atmosphere of a labor camp permeated the air, a direct reflection of the Dictator’s ruthless tyranny.

"The students posted up there... they've definitely been forced into sentry duty under threat," she murmured.

"Yeah. Just looking at this place makes my lungs feel tight."

To avoid catching their scouts' eyes, I navigated the truck deeper into an overgrown, secluded lane running along the university’s periphery. I cut the headlights, eased the vehicle into a secluded blind spot, and killed the ignition. The moment of truth was right on top of us.

"Nervous?"

"A little. But having these weapons makes me feel vastly more ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠confident." Seo Hyun took a slow, grounding breath as her fingers closed tightly around the saw-sword’s taped hilt.

I held her gaze, offering a final, dead-serious reminder. "Remember our rule. You do not move until you see the designated signal."

"Understood. The second the signal goes up, I launch my diversion."

"Good. Let's make sure we both walk out of this in one piece."

We grabbed our respective armaments and slipped out of the cab. The surrounding silence was so heavy that even the dry rustle of dead leaves beneath our boots sounded unnervingly loud. Moving with practiced agility, Seo Hyun melted into the shadows along the perimeter wall, utilizing the cover of the university's blind spots.

I adjusted my own grip and advanced toward a neglected corner of the outer masonry, keeping low and out of sight. While mentally tracing the infiltration corridor and steadying my pulse, I called up the timer once more.

A scarlet system prompt materialized at the edge of my field of vision.

"Perfect. The timing's right on track."

In thirty minutes, the Outer God's penalty would trigger, broadcasting my exact coordinates to every Abyssal entity lurking in the district.

And that chaos was precisely what I planned to drop on the Dictator's head.