Still Positive (2)
“Hmm, then I’ll take my leave.”
“You’re going out? Didn’t you say you’d be careful because of Clint?”
Both Ju Kang-rim and Clint were hyper-aware of each other right now. Clint’s forces overwhelmingly outnumbered his, so Ju Kang-rim had no choice but to play it safe for the time being. Of course, Clint wouldn’t dare launch a surprise attack on the Samdo Hotel smack in the middle of Seoul. But once he stepped outside, that changed. Godajok-style mercenaries could strike at any moment.
“It’s because of Han Min-ah. I’m picking her up and bringing her to the Samdo Hotel today.”
“Ah, I see. You mentioned she was with you when you ran into Clint’s subordinates... I’ll contact the front desk and have a room prepared. Come back safely.”
Han Min-ah was staying in a massive officetel complex near Seongnam. After the Gangbuk Incident, local governments had pulled out all the stops to keep awakeners in their areas. The mere presence of awakeners helped maintain public order when gates popped up. Han Min-ah had lucked out and scored government support for a place to stay. But it wasn’t a defensible spot.
Ju Kang-rim parked in the underground lot and headed up to the 13th floor where she lived, calling the elevator.
“Hold on a sec.”
Someone stopped the elevator and stepped in. Glasses, suit—classic tired office worker vibe. Ju Kang-rim stepped aside. The man hit the 14th floor. The elevator hummed upward quietly.
The office worker fiddled with his tie, loosening it a bit.
Clunk.
The lights cut out, and the elevator jerked to a halt. At the same moment, the distinct click of a gun being chambered echoed.
Ju Kang-rim’s hand shot out on reflex. In the darkness, he twisted the office worker’s arm. Phut-phut-phut. The worker shot himself in the thigh with his own pistol. Groaning in agony, he swung his briefcase at Ju Kang-rim. Papapapak! Not a normal briefcase—this one hid a submachine gun. Muzzle flashes lit up the elevator. Bullet holes riddled the walls in neat circles.
Ju Kang-rim took two rounds to his right shoulder. But he was ambidextrous. A beat late, he drew his Saingeom and ignited the elevator with Bi-hyeong’s Eyes. He spotted the worker frantically searching for him in the dark. Ju Kang-rim swung his hand axe at the man’s collarbone. Blood sprayed wildly, soaking the elevator.
The brief blackout ended, and the elevator lurched back into motion.
Ding.
It stopped at the 3rd floor. A man and woman stood outside—a couple, maybe, in workout clothes like they were heading out for a night jog. But they didn’t flinch at the blood-soaked elevator. The man drew a katana; the woman gripped kukris in both hands. They charged. She aimed for his legs, he for his neck—pros, closing in fast. Ju Kang-rim had to give up an ankle or his throat. No choice, so they probably figured he’d sacrifice the leg.
But Ju Kang-rim kicked off the floor and leaped. His jump could reach two floors in one go—child’s play in a cramped elevator. He coiled almost to the ceiling, then smashed the hand axe into the neck-striker’s head first. The katana guy let out a weird grunt but still grazed Ju Kang-rim’s side. The woman timed her strike for his landing, slashing wildly with her kukri to hack him apart.
Ju Kang-rim endured the mauling of his already wounded right arm, blocking her view. He slammed into her full-force, pinning her into the corner.
The elevator halted at the 6th floor. The hooded man waiting outside saw the two corpses and the blood-drenched Ju Kang-rim throttling the woman. Ju Kang-rim lunged for the close button, but the man jumped in first. Blazing flames erupted from him, turning the elevator into an inferno. Temperatures spiked to hundreds of degrees in seconds. The woman under his grip charred to coal on the spot.
Ju Kang-rim hurled her aside and swung his axe at the fire awakener turning the place into a furnace. The guy hadn’t expected movement through the blaze—he took the hit to the neck and crumpled. The living flame became a dead lump of charcoal. Luckily, his grim reaper robes blocked some heat. But his unprotected face and hands were warped by burns. The reaper’s regeneration would heal it, but it was gruesome all the same.
Worse: the lingering heat and thinning oxygen. Ju Kang-rim frantically canceled the 13th floor and tried to escape.
The elevator stopped at the 9th. He turned. An overcrowded group—numbers hard to gauge—stared him down. With a weary expression, Ju Kang-rim raised his hand axe. The armed mob rushed him. He decapitated one and shattered two jaws in a flash, but there were too many to block.
Thud, thump-thump. Weapons stabbed into him everywhere. That’s when he drew a massive breath. His eyes glowed tiger-yellow.
“Think what’s coming up now is a corpse... or still kicking?”
The woman shook her head at the man’s question.
“Ideally, they’d handle it on the first floor.”
“Nah, if it was that easy, they wouldn’t have called us.”
“Second floor’s got the Siha siblings, so there’s a chance.”
“Even they’re kinda iffy, honestly...”
A thunderous boom shook the officetel like an explosion. They exchanged panicked glances. Meanwhile, the elevator crept steadily upward.
Ding.
The doors slid open cheerily. Ju Kang-rim stood inside, barely upright, corpses dangling off him like ornaments. The man and woman gawked, eyes locked on him.
Ju Kang-rim shook off the arm clinging to his wrist. The elevator blared an overweight warning too late and wouldn’t close. Blood streamed from every corpse’s ears—they couldn’t withstand his Tiger’s Maw Roar; eardrums burst. Some had souls rattled loose, others staggered until their skulls cracked.
Yet the pair chattered away casually.
“Told ya. Second floor was a joke.”
“Yeah, you win, sunbae. But I figured he’d stop at third.”
Ju Kang-rim instinctively knew these two were the heaviest hitters. Countless bodies, and they weren’t even tense.
“Want me to take him, sunbae?”
“Nah, I got it. This punk messed with Heesu, right? My junior—my fight.”
The one called sunbae approached, arms crossed. Ju Kang-rim swung without hesitation.
Clang.
A dull metallic ring. The man’s right arm was clad in dense steel armor. He stepped further in; his boot-armored foot froze the blood and bodies solid. Ju Kang-rim clocked him as a Death Knight.
“Ju Kang-rim, yeah? You’re alive, so that tracks.”
Kakakak. Ju Kang-rim yanked his axe free and retreated. But the elevator offered no room—corpses everywhere. And the oven had turned freezer.
“Where’s Han Min-ah?”
The man glanced at the woman. She shrugged.
“Kinda Schrödinger’s cat right now. You’re in the box, but your actions decide her fate.”
“My actions?”
“Mm... Surrender, ideally. But don’t make it easy—fight me a bit, lose on a knife’s edge, then give up. Don’t want my underlings taking credit.”
“Tall order.”
“I like winning fair.”
Ju Kang-rim eyed them wearily, then spoke.
“Fine. But on one condition.”
“Condition?”
“Both at once. Need 2:1 odds so I’ve got an excuse for losing.”
The man blinked, stunned, then burst out laughing. He nodded at the woman with a grin. She stood silently, donning armor laced with shadow and frost. Another Death Knight. Exhaustion flooded Ju Kang-rim’s face.
“Two Death Knights? Could’ve led with that.”
“You know Death Knights? Weirdo confirmed.”
“They tell us not to unless we have to. Security risks, old folks and kids around.”
“Pulling it out without testing?”
“Felt like you needed to be on guard.”
Casual looks, but thorough personality. Faces bare, bodies armored. Frost from them iced the hall. Ju Kang-rim’s fingers barely flexed.
“By the way, I’m Jeremiah. That’s Luca behind me.”
Korean features, but probably aliases. No need for Ju Kang-rim to reveal his—they knew it already. He gripped his axe tighter, stance ready. Jeremiah smirked approvingly at his defiance. A long spear materialized in Jeremiah’s hand, a mace in Luca’s.
“Alright, Ju Kang-rim. I’ll try not to kill you by accident...”
“I surrender.”
As Jeremiah geared up, Ju Kang-rim tossed his axe and raised his hands. Jeremiah stared blankly. Ju Kang-rim knelt calmly, hands behind his head.
“What?”
“You mobilized this many for little old me, plus a hostage? No way out. Sorry to the officetel management, though.”
“You little...”
Jeremiah realized the ploy and kicked him flying into the elevator wall. Bam. Ju Kang-rim spat blood-flecked saliva. Ribs mostly shattered in one blow. Luca grabbed Jeremiah’s arm urgently.
“Sunbae, calm down. Orders were to bring him alive if possible.”
“Ah, of course alive! Keeping him alive!”
“He’s hurt bad already. If you wanna spar, take him back first. Interrogation won’t wrap quick—you’ll have time.”
Jeremiah glared irritably, spat on the floor.
“Fine. Luca, you drag him.”
Jeremiah shed his Death Knight form and turned away. Luca approached, checking Ju Kang-rim. His robes dissolved into mist, revealing normal clothes. Luca startled at the mystical garb vanishing, more so at his state underneath.
Vroom.
Ju Kang-rim cracked his eyes amid faint vibrations. Luca rebound his arm in the back seat. No sign of Jeremiah—probably shotgun. Luca met his gaze.
“Are you an immortal?”
Ju Kang-rim feigned sleep. Luca unwrapped the bandage and jammed her finger into the wound. He convulsed, glaring. She twisted like she’d snag his guts, then withdrew.
“Are you an immortal?”
“...No.”
Grim reapers could anchor the soul to prevent escape, but Yoo Wol-ryeong said they still died for real. Just kept moving afterward. Plus, Ju Kang-rim had been warned: dying meant his usefulness ended.
“You’re lying. A normal person would be dead from those wounds.”
Luca had seen him pale, bled out, critical injuries everywhere. He clung to faint breath. Against Jeremiah, he’d have died standing.
“Doesn’t matter who you are, but if you banked solely on immortality, that was a mistake.”
“Mistake?”
Luca gave him pitying eyes.
“Jeremiah sunbae and I have already hunted three immortals. And the Knight Order has even stronger ones.”