War on Crime (2)
Hanam City. A private cafe.
Kugugugu...!
The sudden tremor made Baek Ajin and her friends jump out of their skins.
"Wh-what was that?"
"Is it an earthquake?"
Splash! The coffees sitting on the table spilled over.
The shaking was severe enough that a few of the friends shouted, "Everyone, get under the tables, quick!"
"Kyaaah!"
When the ground shakes, you must never run around. First you shield yourself beneath something sturdy, then evacuate outside the moment the trembling briefly subsides. Guided by the friends who knew their earthquake drill, the group was moving with brisk efficiency when—
"L-look over there!"
One of the friends pointed out the window.
"...A golem?"
A colossal golem filled the entire window frame.
"Holy crap."
"Why is there a golem?"
"So it wasn't an earthquake?"
In South Korea, summoning anything above a certain size in an ordinary zone required a permit. Golem-types especially — summon one that big in a city, and the damage to public property could be catastrophic.
And yet a golem like that had appeared outside a cafe in Hanam City.
...A terror attack?
The moment Baek Ajin's brow furrowed—
KWA-ANG! Three figures shoved the cafe door open and strode inside, every one of them armed with summons.
Those people are...
Baek Ajin recognized them at a glance. So did her friends.
"Oh Jimyeong!"
"And Park Hoseop's with him!"
There was no way they wouldn't. The two were famous players ranked 9th and 10th in the nation — and only days ago, her brother had beaten them like dogs.
"Why are they here of all places...?"
"Something about this feels seriously off."
As her friends swallowed hard—
Thud. Oh Jimyeong took a step forward.
"Which one of you is Baek Ajin?"
He obviously wasn't asking because he didn't know. The gang had already furnished him with a full description of her face.
"It's you."
Oh Jimyeong, who had been leisurely sweeping the room with his eyes, pointed a finger at Baek Ajin.
Grrrrr.
From the shadows, her Shadow Wolf growled.
"What business do you have with me?"
"I'll keep this short."
Oh Jimyeong flicked a glance.
CRASH! The cafe's glass window shattered, and through it reached the hand of his signature summon — the Rampaging Stone Golem (B-rank).
"All of you. Disarm yourselves and climb aboard, of your own accord. Do that, and I promise we'll treat you like gentlemen."
Only an idiot could have missed what that meant.
A kidnapping.
Baek Ajin was dumbfounded.
"Wh-why are you doing this to us?"
No way. Was this really their idea of revenge — this petty — just because her brother had wrecked them in a group battle?
"Ajin..."
"What's happening?"
"I'm scared."
The frightened friends huddled behind Baek Ajin. Not a single one of them stepped onto the golem's hand.
Just as the strange standoff stretched on—
"Rankers. You must be new to the gang, so maybe you don't know — kids like these, you don't treat them nice."
That was when the sleaziest-looking of the three players stepped forward, his eyes gleaming with a sticky, oily bloodlust.
"I'll give you exactly ten seconds."
At the same time, he spread his fingers.
"Any bitch who isn't on that golem in ten seconds dies. All of you. And—"
Shhk! Beside the Shadow Elf drawing its bowstring behind Baek Ajin, a summon of unknown identity appeared.
And then—
THUCK! A dagger sank into the Shadow Elf's neck.
One strike. With that single blow, Baek Ajin's summon crumbled.
"Where do you get off arming yourselves, you brats? Got a death wish?"
"Th-they're insane."
Baek Ajin and her friends were aghast.
The gang!
Oh Jimyeong and Park Hoseop went over to the gang?!
God, they're absolute trash!
The public had always lived trembling under the gang's threats. They'd wondered, vaguely, more than once whether someday they too might come face to face with it...
But who could have imagined they'd meet that very gang, today of all days, right before their eyes!
"Everyone."
Baek Ajin's voice shook.
"Don't move. Don't you dare. Trust me."
Had her brother seen a day like this coming? He had once gifted her a skill.
Desperate Call.
Baek Ajin desperately activated the skill she had registered to her Shadow Wolf — and at the same time, prayed with everything she had.
Oppa.
Please, hurry!
The meal he'd been enjoying as Jasim's guest was cut short in an instant.
'Shadow Wolf' (B-rank) is desperately calling for Player Baek Jinwoo.
Do you wish to respond?
[Y / N]
"...!"
Baek Jinwoo's eyes flew wide open.
The Shadow Wolf belonged to his younger sister, Ajin. He had told her to activate it only in a true moment of crisis.
"Jasim."
Baek Jinwoo addressed Jasim, who was dining across from him.
"Something urgent has come up. I'll have to head out first. I'll contact you later."
He didn't even wait for a farewell. He pressed Yes first, and would sort out the rest after.
"I'm sorry — what?"
Yoo Jia shot to her feet. The security firm she'd hired had just called.
"People who appear to be the gang have infiltrated headquarters! Our player response team is engaging, but we already have casualties! Th-there are too many players!"
"Insane."
Why would the gang come after us?
The situation was critical. The fact that casualties had already occurred despite a pricey, dependable security firm on retainer meant the gang was moving as if this were a fight to the death.
"GYAAAAH!"
"KYAAAH!"
Screams rang out from outside the building — and in that same instant, she understood.
Why would they push themselves this hard, take this much risk, to strike at us? There was only one answer.
Jinwoo.
To threaten him or win him over — to kidnap the things that counted as his weaknesses.
Those bastards.
Biting her lip, Yoo Jia blamed herself. She had been far too complacent. She should have signed a cooperation agreement with a major guild at the very least — or, failing that, kept top rankers stationed at headquarters for the times Baek Jinwoo was away.
She had sounded the emergency bell to call in headquarters' forces and requested support from Daesung as well, but there was no time.
Should I call Jinwoo?
She had even considered activating Desperate Call. No — she had actually been about to.
But then—
"Gang members have attached themselves to Director Baek Ajin's location as well! It's a cafe nearby — and it looks like Oh Jimyeong and Park Hoseop, who've been bought over by the gang, are with them! Oh Jimyeong's golem is there!"
Those words made her hesitate. Calling him from both sides at once might only deepen Baek Jinwoo's confusion.
But this place at least had a security firm. Ajin's side had no one at all!
Ugh, what do I do?!
The moment Yoo Jia stamped her feet in frustration—
"Huh? The reinforcements have arrived!"
Huh? Reinforcements? Already? It made no sense. Barely thirty seconds had passed since she'd triggered the emergency call.
"Good heavens! It's the heads of Carpe Diem and Arirang! They stopped by the Yubaek offices for a moment, sensed something was off, and joined the fight! At this rate, we can hold them off!"
Ki Jaehyeok, Kang Jiho, Hong Ari, Oh Seon-young. The four of them had arrived — the strongest players in the country, the kind even the gang could never afford to ignore.
Why are they even around here? This area was still a development zone; there was nothing but mountains... She had her doubts, but for now, she was simply relieved.
"Five. Four. Three..."
The mouth of the terrorist doing the counting twisted.
"Look at these brats. Not moving, huh? Two."
He had given them a full ten seconds, and not one of them had budged. Well, then. Nothing to be done about it. Blood would have to be spilled.
Baek Ajin was too valuable as a hostage to kill — but knock off a few of those friends of hers, and controlling the rest would become far easier.
"One."
So it comes to this after all?
Swish! The assassin summon that had reverse-summoned the Shadow Elf raised its dagger once more.
Right. He should have simply cut one girl's throat from the very start.
"Zero."
Fweee! The instant the blade began to move—
Shk! Something shot out of thin air and swept across the assassin summon's body — at a tremendous speed, no less.
Kieeek? The assassin cocked its head, and a single line drew itself across its body.
And then—
SPLURT! Cleaved in two, it was reverse-summoned on the spot.
"Wh-what the—?!"
The one revealed between the startled terrorist's cries was the most famous summon in all of South Korea.
The Training Instructor.
And—
"Ajin."
Behind him stood Baek Jinwoo, eyes narrowed as he took stock of the situation.
"O-Oppa!"
"Baek Jinwoo?"
"It's Player Baek Jinwoo!"
Color flooded back into the friends' pale faces. Working out what was happening wasn't hard. Armed gangsters, plus Oh Jimyeong and Park Hoseop, standing over a group of trembling girls — what else could that possibly mean?
"...You bastards."
Baek Jinwoo burned with rage. It was the first time in his life he had ever been angry this purely.
How dare they lay a hand on my family?
"Oppa! They tried to kidnap us! They even brought a golem and said they'd kill us if we didn't come along within ten seconds!"
"It's true! We saw it!"
"Sob... it was so scary!"
Kugugugu...! Had the summons sensed Baek Jinwoo's emotions? A monstrous aura erupted from Hungyo's body.
The killing intent, powerful enough to crush the shoulders of every existence in the space, seemed to ask Baek Jinwoo: My Lord. How shall we handle them?
"Subdue them all first."
Baek Jinwoo's voice rang quietly through the cafe.
Swish! Hungyo's sword moved.
"In-insane."
Oh Jimyeong's mind went blank. Baek Jinwoo's sudden appearance was startling enough — but Hungyo's power, witnessed once more, was on a completely different dimension from before.
How is that possible?
Ten seconds. Exactly ten seconds — that was all it took for every summon belonging to Oh Jimyeong, Park Hoseop, and the gang members to be reverse-summoned.
Forty-five in total.
Shing— The sight of Hungyo elegantly sheathing his sword after cutting down every last one was beyond beautiful — it bordered on grotesque.
How is something like that an E-rank summon?!
Thud. Hungyo didn't stop at the summons. With an indifferent expression, he walked toward them.
"W-wait, hold on—"
"Let's talk this out! With words!"
Into the abdomen of Oh Jimyeong, who thrust out both hands in panic—
THUD! Hungyo drove in a front kick, and a kick from someone far beyond an ordinary human delivered an impact in a league of its own.
"Ghhk—aaack...!"
Oh Jimyeong collapsed forward, unable even to breathe.
Watching that, Park Hoseop was naturally scared out of his wits.
Ranker, schmanker. Without their summons, they were all just the same feeble humans.
"S-spare me, please!"
He dropped to his knees and groveled on the spot — and Hungyo drove a soccer kick straight into him.
THWAAACK! He flew backward and slammed into the cafe wall with a KRA-KOOM! — and beneath the impact came the sound of twisting bone. Crack. Crunch.
Hungyo had held back enough not to kill, but that single blow might well leave him disabled for the rest of his life.
The remaining gangsters fared no better. After taking a few punches—
Tok. Tuk. Hungyo lightly struck their pressure points and put them down.
Situation resolved.
Hungyo looked at Baek Jinwoo. And just as Jinwoo gave a nod—
Bzzzz—! His phone went off. A message.
Sharp as ever, Baek Jinwoo grasped the situation at once.
If it's Yubaek, then... These bastards. It was obvious they were targeting not just Ajin, but his parents as well.
"Hungyo."
Hungyo nodded without a word.
"Keep those three here — make sure they don't go anywhere. And Ajin."
"Yeah?"
"Those are your friends over there?"
"Yeah!"
"It's dangerous, so tell them to head home right away — and you stay glued to Hungyo's side."
Sensing the urgency in Baek Jinwoo's expression, Baek Ajin nodded quickly.
"O-okay."
At the same moment—
Fwoosh! Baek Jinwoo soared out through the shattered window, riding the Sky Wyvern.