Chapter 281
Chapter 281
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 282
Chapter Title: The Silvers Raid
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"Where the hell have you been?"
As I slipped back into the 23rd-floor training ground, avoiding the CCTV, Lee Seojun said to me.
Everyone was gathered in one spot, waiting for me, staring right at me.
"I was in the bathroom. Didn't your senior tell you?"
At the word "senior," Baek Yejin twitched the corner of her mouth again.
Seeing that, Lee Seojun let out a slight sigh and said,
"She did tell me, but you're later than I expected."
"What can I do? It doesn't always resolve quickly."
Lee Seojun and Yoo Ahra both looked at me with stunned expressions.
As we were talking like that, a sharp alert tone rang out from somewhere.
-Ding ding!
The source was Baek Yejin's watch.
Baek Yejin glanced down at her watch with a stiff expression unlike her usual self and said,
"Alright, let's head back to headquarters."
"Something up?"
"We just got called to an emergency meeting."
"......An emergency meeting?"
"Yeah, you'll find out when we get back."
With that, we followed Baek Yejin down the hallway.
When we took the elevator back to the Special Task Force headquarters on the 21st floor, a buzz of commotion filled the air.
Looking around, I spotted a few new faces I hadn't seen before.
Among them were people like 'Park Jungwan' and 'Kim Moontae,' whom I'd met as visiting instructors at the Wizard Academy.
"Everyone gather up. We're starting the meeting right away."
At Kim Deokhyun's words, we all took our seats.
Lee Seojun and Yoo Ahra were standing awkwardly when Kim Deokhyun spoke again.
"You two, sit down too. You're being deployed for today's operation."
"......Operation?"
As we sat down, with a click, the room lights went out.
As darkness fell over the room, Kim Deokhyun waved his hand.
Whoooong—
A massive hologram rose up in the center.
It was a 3D blueprint of a building.
"In five hours, this is the building we'll be infiltrating for the operation."
A massive abandoned five-story building.
From the looks of things, one of the major Special Task Force incidents from the original story was about to unfold.
It was about two weeks ahead of the original timeline, but since I'd already experienced future events being pulled forward plenty of times, it didn't faze me.
"The group occupying this building is the criminal organization 'Silvers.'"
At the mention of Silvers, a few agents looked tense.
Silvers.
Just like Goldwin, the criminal group I'd faced during last year's Special Task Force experience, it was an outfit created to fund Jaun.
Their main gigs were money laundering and transporting mana bombs for terrorism.
Of course, the fact that Silvers was Jaun's subordinate organization was something only I knew here.
That's why this episode gets treated with such importance.
Today's incident would create a butterfly effect, playing a big role in letting the Special Task Force disrupt Jaun's operations.
"We've identified 50 members so far. Factoring in the unknowns, it's probably over 70. So for this op, eight of us will split into three teams and infiltrate."
Kim Deokhyun continued the briefing. It was about the operation's overall strategy.
Lee Seojun listened intently with a tense face, while Yoo Ahra seemed...
A bit excited.
Well, given Yoo Ahra's personality, no need to worry about her getting careless.
Then, a white man's face appeared on the hologram.
Kim Deokhyun stared at the man's face before pointing at it.
"......And finally, this is the guy we absolutely have to capture alive. His name's Antonio. He's Silvers' boss."
8 PM.
We gated into Busan.
A car prepared by the Busan Special Task Force was waiting for us right away.
Including me, Lee Seojun, and Yoo Ahra, the deployment was eight people total.
You might think that's a small number to take down a crime syndicate, but the Seoul Special Task Force members basically all have S-Rank-level combat power.
It was more than enough to wipe out a mere subordinate group that wasn't even full Jaun members.
Plus, the more people you bring, the higher the chance the enemy catches on, so eight was just right.
"Man, I didn't expect to get thrown into an op on day one. You said there was no schedule today."
At Lee Seojun's words, Yoo Ahra stared out the window at the streetlights and replied,
"It's an emergency op, like it says on the tin."
As she muttered that, Yoo Ahra turned to me.
"What about you?"
"Hm?"
"Not nervous or anything?"
"Nah, nothing really."
"That sounds like you."
Yoo Ahra gave a faint smile.
As we chatted casually to ease the tension of our first deployment, the car came to a stop.
We'd arrived at the target.
As everyone got out, Kim Deokhyun looked around at us and said,
"As I said earlier, we'll split into three teams for infiltration. Kim Sunwoo, you're with me. Lee Seojun and Yoo Ahra, you'll back up Jung Hyunsu."
"Yes, sir."
Lee Seojun replied. But I felt a twinge of doubt at Kim Deokhyun's orders just now.
In the original story, Kim Deokhyun had teamed up with Lee Seojun to test his skills.
But now, Kim Deokhyun had picked me.
......What changed his mind?
Then Kim Deokhyun gripped his spear and fitted a communication magic tool into his ear.
The other agents finished prepping their gear too.
"Reporting the situation. Enemy positions are......"
After getting reports from the other agents, Kim Deokhyun nodded.
"Operation starts now."
The dark abandoned factory.
Kim Deokhyun and I cautiously infiltrated the building.
Outside, Jung Hyunsu, Lee Seojun, and Yoo Ahra were on standby to catch any fleeing members, while the remaining team kept watch for reinforcements.
The actual assault team was just me and Kim Deokhyun.
"......Not bad."
As we moved forward stealthily, Kim Deokhyun glanced at me and said.
It was so out of nowhere that I looked at him questioningly.
"What?"
"Your presence concealment. I heard about it from Kim Moontae, but damn, your presence is barely detectable, just like he said."
"Oh...... yeah. It's one of my stronger areas."
"Is it? How long you been practicing?"
How do I even answer that?
"......A year or two?"
Kim Deokhyun stared at my face, then lapsed back into thought.
His usual blank expression made it impossible to read his mind.
Seemed like there was some ulterior motive to pairing up with me.
—Man, this is boring.
—Yawn. I'm sleepy.
Then, voices chattering came from the end of the hall.
In the darkness, I could see five organization members talking.
Swords, axes, clubs...... From the distinctive weapons they held, they looked like reinforcement wizards.
Appraisal showed their ranks from C to B.
Kim Deokhyun held up a hand signaling me to hold.
"I'll handle them. If my mana spreads and they notice, we charge upstairs together."
I nodded, and in that instant, Kim Deokhyun vanished.
He rushed them at a speed invisible to the eye.
Soon, a blinding flash erupted as the long spear in Kim Deokhyun's hand swung wide.
Fwaaah—
"Argh!"
They fell like leaves in the wind.
"Whoa......"
My jaw dropped.
As expected of the Special Task Force's ace.
He took them down with movements so fast it was hard to believe even seeing it.
Unlike Baek Eunseong's fluid spearwork, Kim Deokhyun's carried raw destructive power.
As his mana spread, the Silvers members seemed to catch on that something was wrong.
Noisy footsteps and urgent voices echoed loudly from upstairs.
—Head to the first floor!
—Intruders!
Following Kim Deokhyun's orders, I dashed forward.
As belatedly arriving members appeared, I fired mana orbs, dropping them one by one.
"Argh!"
"What the hell is this?!"
"......K-Kim Deokhyun?"
"Shit! It's the Special Task Force! Tell the boss!"
As I climbed upstairs, dropping them one by one, a massive mana barrier spread wide, blocking my attacks.
I paused and eyed the opponent in front of me.
A beautiful blonde woman was blocking the way.
She radiated an ominous aura at first glance.
A face I'd never seen.
Who the hell was she?
"I'll hold them here. You guys go up and help Antonio."
"......Y-Yes!"
At the woman's command, all the members except her rushed upstairs.
The woman looked us over leisurely and said,
"Looks like we drew a tough one. I didn't expect Kim Deokhyun of the Special Task Force to show up......"
"Who are you? Looks like you can handle yourself."
When Kim Deokhyun asked, the woman chuckled softly.
"Heh. You think I'll just tell you?"
She seemed pretty confident, enough to face off against Kim Deokhyun.
Someone with that kind of power should've been on my radar.
Who is she?
I activated [Character Appraisal].
Name: Seonhwa
Age: 51
Race: Demon
Status: Calm
Mana Rank: S
Interest: 0
......Seonhwa?
My mind went blank.
Seonhwa was a demon affiliated with the Ten Demon Council, one of the Demon King's closest aides.
She was among the strongest in the Council.
Why the hell was she here?
Silvers was tied to Jaun, right? Did Jaun ally with the Ten Demon Council?
That was when—
Kwaaaang—
A massive explosion rocked upstairs. Heavy mana and footsteps followed soon after.
I realized it was a diversion for Antonio, Silvers' boss, to escape.
At the same time, a voice came through the communication tool.
—Spotted a group jumping out the window to escape. Confirmed Antonio's face. We're pursuing.
It was Jung Hyunsu's voice.
But that was a trap. It was one of Antonio's disguised subordinates.
In the original flow, the guy would've slipped out the back door.
......The situation's diverged from the original.
With Kim Deokhyun tied up, no one left to chase Antonio.
If he got away now, we'd lose any leads on Silvers' ties to Jaun and their next terror plot.
But capturing Seonhwa here was impossible.
At night like this, if she used her specialty 'Darkening,' even tracking her would be hell.
So my best option was this.
"......Tch!"
I turned and bolted.
"Kim Sunwoo?"
Kim Deokhyun's surprised voice came from behind.
But with Seonhwa watching, I couldn't report everything.
I went rogue.
After racing down the stairs, I took another route to climb as high as possible.
To shake any potential pursuit, I used 'Haven of the Moon.'
Crash!
I jumped straight out the window.
At the same time, a familiar voice rose from the ground.
"......Kim Sunwoo?"
Lee Seojun and Yoo Ahra's voices.
The two on the ground looked up at me in shock.
Ignoring them, I hovered in the air and activated Air Walk to leap back up.
"Whoa! What the hell's that guy?!"
Jung Hyunsu's startled shout rang out this time, but I ignored it, reached the fourth floor, and slipped inside.
"......Hoo."
As soon as I entered, dozens of shocked organization members stared at me.
Rough count: over 30.
But no sign of Antonio.
"Wh-What's this kid?!"
"How'd he get up here?"
I quickly used Character Appraisal on each one. Since Antonio wasn't visible, he had to be disguised.
After scanning for about ten seconds.
Name: Antonio
Age: 42
Race: Human
Status: Anxious
Mana Rank: A
Interest: 0
I spotted Antonio hiding among the members.
"......Wait, that face looks familiar."
"Huh? Isn't that Kim Sunwoo?"
"Oh yeah! Kim Sunwoo! The Sacred Martial Festival winner!"
Looks like they recognized me.
Guess I am kinda famous now.
"Oh, what? Thought it was Seoul Special Task Force. It's just a student."
"Attack him anyway!"
"Uwaaaah!"
All the members charged at me.
I gathered mana, bracing for the assault.
Antonio was the only high-rank, but with sheer numbers, it wouldn't be a cakewalk.
In close quarters like this, I couldn't unleash a mana storm either, so it'd be tricky.
Not that I couldn't handle it.
I'd been practicing a new form anyway—perfect chance to test it.
Thump!
I activated Heart of Great Nature.
Then, I compressed wind mana above my hand to its utmost.
Whoooong!
A swirling orb of magic began forming over my palm.
I stood still, waiting for them to close in. The moment they got near.
I blasted the orb straight at the floor.
Paaang—
A fierce gust exploded, sweeping all the enemies around me.
With Heart of Great Nature amplifying the long-compressed mana, its power surpassed a typhoon.
"Uwaaaak!"
"What is this?!"
The clustered thugs scattered and flew back.
At the same time, I compressed mana into my feet and charged forward.
Paat!
Someone ahead swung their sword in panic. But I dodged with Instant Acceleration, grabbed their collar.
Then I grinned at them.
"Gotcha. Antonio."