Chapter 1
Chapter 1
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 1
Chapter Title: Kidnapping
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My calves felt unusually stiff, and my hands and feet were numb, my senses dulled.
December's chill was part of it, sure, but the real reason was something else entirely.
Something like the tension and revulsion bubbling up from knowing I was about to do something utterly insane, even by my own reckoning.
But it didn't matter.
[7:12 PM]
I glanced at my cheap wristwatch. By now, that bitch should have finished fawning over the balding professor and be heading home. I roughly wiped the cold sweat soaking my palms on my pants and dug into my pocket.
My fingers had been dipping in and out of that pocket countless times to check it was still there, smearing the dye from my cheap jeans onto the back of my hand. But I had no time to worry about that.
'Already over fifteen minutes late...?'
I'd lost count of how many times my hand had plunged into my jeans pocket when a nagging doubt hit me. She usually headed out the front gate before seven. Why was she running so late today?
Click.
The glass door swung open, revealing the professor, a few students, and my target. Way more people than I'd expected—I ducked deeper into hiding.
"Professor, so we're going to the same place as last time, right?"
"Yeah, nothing fancy tonight. Gotta keep it simple. What, you angling for something pricier?"
"Aw, no way... Heh heh, busted?"
They chattered on with their pointless banter, laughing like idiots.
Her fake mask made my stomach churn, but I held it in.
Soon enough, I'd rip it off her myself.
Looked like they were off for dinner. Probably the usual pork belly joint by the university's back gate, judging by their route.
About ten minutes of tailing them later, they filed into a rundown grill tucked deep in a twisting alley, their boisterous voices echoing out.
I slipped behind an SUV parked in the alley right next door and stretched while I waited.
How much time passed?
-Ding-a-ling.
The bell on the grill's door chimed.
Murmurs rose up—warnings to watch their step, chatter about grad school—as the professor bantered with the group.
Now that I'd confirmed they were heading home, no reason to stick around.
I hurried ahead, leaving the chatting students and target behind.
People always stick to familiar paths, and she was no exception.
Two months of watching her every move—I knew her route cold.
The alley splitting off Asan-ro 44-gil toward Sangdong Market Road. The one spot with spotty CCTV coverage. Perfect.
Rented car was already parked there.
She always passed right by where I was hiding on her way home.
The plan was solid, but the tension wouldn't quit.
I wiped my sweaty palms again and checked the vial in my pocket one more time.
This wasn't the adrenaline from a life-or-death brawl or bracing for agony. It was something sharper, more insidious.
One minute.
Two minutes...
The sharp clack-clack of long boots echoed from the distance.
And there she was.
Passing right by the car I was hiding behind, oblivious to me.
'Stay calm.'
No CCTV for the next fifty meters ahead.
This wasn't some kaiju hunt or monster takedown. Piece of cake.
Whoosh!
I lunged out and grabbed her from behind before she could react.
Arm around her neck.
Memories of the past surged up, kill-lust flaring—but I dialed it back, careful not to overdo the pressure. Even a third of my strength would snap her neck like a twig.
From my end, it felt like grabbing a baby's arm, but clamping the carotids right? Seven seconds to lights out. Self-defense training? Pepper spray? When your throat gets crushed out of nowhere, most girls can't even think straight.
"Kkhk—"
No words, not even a scream. She just crumpled into my arms.
Everyone thinks kidnappers use chloroform-soaked rags over the mouth. Movies make it look instant, but it's not. High enough dose to drop her in one breath risks skin burns or heart failure on top of that. Even ignoring side effects, good luck maintaining breathing after some amateur anesthesia.
Anesthesiologists exist for a reason.
So the first tool to wipe her out wasn't drugs.
It was my arm.
Thud.
I hustled her limp body into the back seat. I'd laid a scale under where her butt would land.
Had to move faster. A short carotid squeeze like that only buys a few minutes before she comes to. Her eyelids were already twitching.
-Tick tick.
I finally pulled out the vial I'd handled a hundred times, drew the precise dose for her weight into a syringe, and flicked away the bubbles floating in the murky liquid. Midazolam and vecuronium mix. Dosage calculations burned into my brain.
Rough alcohol swab for disinfection. I wanted her alive body, not some sepsis-riddled corpse.
Shoved the needle in without mercy, crammed a cotton wad into her mouth, and sealed it with duct tape.
All in under a minute. Slid into the driver's seat, clenched my shaking fists. An unbearable thrill welled up from the depths of my chest.
Plan executed to perfection!
"Heh heh."
I couldn't help the stupid grin splitting my face. Her route, the drugs, timing, CCTV blind spots. All that was left was hauling her to the basement I'd prepped in the demo site.
Rearview mirror: stinging pain from the jab and the gag in her mouth had her eyes fluttering, consciousness trickling back. Too late.
"Hey there."
I ditched the stuffy mask, sunglasses, and hood. Stared right into her wide-eyed, dumbfounded gaze and waved hello.
The drugs would erase the next hour of her memory anyway. She could see my face or the buildings whipping by—didn't matter.
Plus, with the heavy sedation, stabilizers, and gag, she couldn't even whimper.
I smirked at her glazing-over eyes and hit the gas.
The first button of revenge had slipped on smooth as silk. Everything felt like it was falling into place.
But...
"Son of a bitch..."
A traffic cop running a DUI checkpoint. What the hell? A check like this, here, now?
"Evening, sir."
"Uh, yeah, you too."
Tension spiked so hard I nearly puked. Somehow choked down the bile rising to my throat, kept my voice steady.
Cracked the window halfway, played it cool. My head was spinning.
Trust the tint. In a country this jammed with cars, no half-assed cop was peering through to spot the junk piled in the back or the blanket over the girl.
Sweat beading on my forehead? Blame the heater.
Hell, today was my lucky day.
Good call ditching the mask and shades—stashing them in the glovebox. Wearing that crap would've screamed suspicious. He'd have torn through the back seat and trunk for sure. Relax. Overreacting gives it away.
"Thanks for your cooperation."
The cop scribbled something and wandered off.
"Yep, take care!"
Ah... the people's shield!
"Kuk kuk."
Laughter bubbled up unbidden.
I glanced back at the fading patrolman, a twinge of unease, but shrugged it off. Probably just logging plates for drunk drivers or whatever.
Cops are cops—law enforcers at heart.
If he'd clocked a kidnapping in progress, no way he'd jot notes and wave me off.
"Mmmph... ngh..."
Window up, checkpoint cleared—the muffled groans from the back seat picked up faintly.
"Could've squirmed sooner... Tsk. Cops are long gone."
A few more minutes of driving.
We'd arrived.
One more dose in her arm, then hoisted her over my shoulder down to the basement.
Squelch.
Her ass felt incredible. My fingers sank knuckle-deep into the soft, yielding flesh, hiding springy muscle beneath.
Just as I'd imagined.
With the peak of tension melting into ecstasy, I ignored my raging hard-on and shoved open the basement's iron door.
No windows here.
No ventilation either.
A three-pyeong concrete box, lined with acoustic foam and plastered over with cement.
Tighter space, but zero sound leakage.
Neighborhood was a kaiju-contaminated demo zone. Ghost town. No one around.
Government and Awakeners alike had washed their hands of it. This dead village would linger forever.
[10:17 PM]
Checked the cheap watch again. A tad overtime, but within projections. Proof my plan was airtight.
Plenty of time before the drugs wore off.
Everything in me screamed to start right then, but I held back.
The real plan kicked off once she woke up.