Chapter 234
Chapter 234
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 234
Chapter Title: ACT.46 Father and Daughter (1)
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[Using item, 'Hong Gildong's Nationwide Shrinking Map'.]
[Moving to the designated coordinates.]
A strange sensation of space folding washed over my entire body.
The feeling of floating, detached from the world, passed in an instant, and I found myself in a completely different place.
"Whoa, what a weird feeling..."
"Is this Busan?"
The twins said, looking around.
A street that could be in any city.
But this wasn't where I had intended to go.
I was sure I had marked the outskirts of the city.
No matter how you look at it, this was deep inside the city.
'Were the coordinates wrong?'
[It's an old map of the Korean peninsula. Of course it's going to be different from the present day.]
'I took that into account to some extent when I picked the spot.'
It seemed the difference was greater than I had anticipated.
If Kim Ji-hyeon and the reinforcements had arrived, they would have already started the operation. I had intended to catch the one or two guys who might be trying to escape Busan.
Since it had come to this, it seemed better to just join them.
"Huh? Someone's running this way."
I turned my head in the direction Jo Min-woo was pointing.
The moment I saw them, my eyes glinted with interest.
"They're waiting even over here...!"
"There are fewer of them over there! Take them down and get past!"
"Huh? I think those people are going to attack us!?"
As menacing shouts were exchanged, Jo Min-woo quickly got into a stance.
I used Extreme Eye to quickly scan their information.
There were Koreans, but also some Westerners mixed in.
And what each of them held in their pockets was...
'Drugs.'
It was them.
I gave the two of them an order.
"Don't kill them."
"I know!"
Three were C-rank. Only one was B-rank.
A bit high-ranked for stragglers, but they were no match for the twins.
*Whack!*
A sharp sound echoed through the quiet street.
The others, who had let their guard down because they were just kids, froze. Then, Jo Min-ah's blue flames ignited their hair.
"Agh!?"
"My hair! My hair!!"
"...If you burn hair with blue flames, it destroys it down to the roots, making them permanently bald."
"Oh, really? I just did it because I thought they wouldn't be able to act rashly if their hair was on fire."
"No! Min-ah, you did great! Better to be bald than dead! Hiyah! Another one down!"
He wasn't wrong, but I couldn't bring myself to answer easily.
When had she grown into a child who could come up with such terrifying ideas?
Looking at Jo Min-woo, I had a feeling Min-ah's innocence wouldn't last much longer either.
"You damn little brat...!"
"Hiyah!"
"Keuk!?"
He was overcome with rage at his suddenly bald head, but his resistance was futile against Jo Min-woo's kick.
His reflection was visible in a nearby parked car.
Lying on the ground, he stared at his bald reflection as if looking at a dead lover.
Right. Better than dying.
I smiled bitterly to myself and approached them, picking up a plastic baggie sticking out of one of their pockets.
"Red Eye. To be carrying this much, you must be sellers rather than buyers. Are you with Team A?"
All four of them averted their gazes.
Were they planning to remain silent since they were caught anyway?
"By the way, Hyung. Who are these people? Why did they attack us out of the blue?"
Jo Min-woo poked one of them.
"You'll find out soon enough."
I turned my head toward the direction they had fled from.
About a dozen people spotted us and reacted with bewilderment, but one person was different.
"You are...!"
"It's been a while, Jeon Do-jin-nim."
The S-rank player who had been carrying out a separate mission in Busan since the Disaster of Verdure.
It was a long-awaited reunion with Jeon Do-jin.
"I heard from Kim Ji-hyeon that you'd be coming. You've made a contribution as soon as you arrived. Very well done."
A smile bloomed on Jeon Do-jin's face.
He was probably happy to see me, but also glad to have a powerful new ally.
"It's been a while for you two as well."
"Hello!"
"Hello."
"They say children grow up so fast. You've changed so much since I last saw you."
"Huh? Really? Have I gotten taller?"
"You did grow a little."
"Hehe. You're going to be shorter than me forever now. I'm still going to grow more."
"Good for you for being tall."
Jeon Do-jin nodded with a pleased expression.
But even as he spoke, there was a noticeable change in Jeon Do-jin himself.
A weariness was etched all over his face.
He had dark circles, and his skin had become rough.
Seeing that the problem hadn't been resolved despite the tips I gave him through Cha Eun-ha, it seemed the culprits were as slippery as eels.
"This isn't the time for this. The operation is finished, so let's head back."
At Jeon Do-jin's command, the people behind him grabbed the captured individuals and pulled them to their feet.
Just as I was about to speak to the twins, who were still bickering about their height, Jeon Do-jin spoke first.
"Is that the drug those guys were carrying?"
"Yes. I confiscated it just in case."
"Good work. We were short on samples and couldn't create an antidote yet. If we can secure a lot of samples from today's haul, we'll be able to help many victims recover. Phew. They're vicious bastards. Whenever they're about to get caught, they either consume all the drugs themselves or dump them in the sewer to get rid of the evidence."
"What kind of symptoms do players addicted to the drug show?"
"They become increasingly aggressive. Taking it apparently gives a temporary stat boost and a significant sense of euphoria. Their eyes also become bloodshot and red. If they take too much, eventually the whites of their eyes turn completely red. That's why the drug is called Red Eye. It's highly addictive, so they don't hesitate to commit immoral acts to get more, and many of them end up becoming criminals."
"I see."
I nodded.
It was no different from the symptoms I already knew.
At least the drug itself seemed unchanged from the original story.
"Ah, Jeon Do-jin-nim."
"Hm? Is there something else you want to ask?"
"Do you happen to know the estimated amount of drugs these guys have dumped into the sewers?"
"Hmm... The prevailing view was that it wasn't important, so we've never properly estimated it, but I'd guess it's about four or five times the amount you have there. But why do you ask?"
"Something's been bothering me."
Four or five times the amount in a baggie that was about a quarter full.
That's a small amount compared to the period the drug has been in circulation.
With that amount, 'that guy' probably isn't in a very threatening state yet.
[What are you plotting now?]
"I need to remove any obstacles in advance. Zeta."
*Swoosh.*
Zeta revealed himself slightly from the depths of a nearby alley.
Unlike the other entities who couldn't stray too far from me, Zeta, being an assassin type, could act independently.
I immediately gave him an order.
"Go to the sewers immediately. There'll be a man in a strange state. He's useful, so don't kill him. Just subdue him and bring him here."
[As you command.]
Sometimes, you can get a better reward by letting them grow stronger before catching them, but this time, my desire to eliminate any potential variables was greater.
Leaving the now-vanished Zeta behind, I followed Jeon Do-jin.
***
The Busan branch of the Hongryeon Guild.
When we arrived, others who had already finished the operation and returned were there.
Kim Ji-hyeon, who had been thrown into the operation right after a forced march, looked exhausted, though she didn't show it.
"Wow. It's been a while. Almost a month, right?"
"I guess so. Have you grown a bit since then?"
"My growth spurt is over, you know? Unlike those kids?"
Cha Eun-ha stuck out her tongue.
Then she immediately went over to the twins and started chatting and laughing with them.
The children looked excited too.
"Everyone must be tired, so let's take a short break and then have a briefing. It's... 5 o'clock now, so it would be better to do it after dinner."
"Agreed! I agree!"
Cha Eun-ha shot her hand up, showing her strong approval, which made Jeon Do-jin chuckle.
"Then let's meet in the conference room then. As for Player Kim Se-hyeon and the children's rooms..."
"I'll show them!"
"Then I'll leave it to you."
"...You seem much more excited than before."
Kim Ji-hyeon muttered something and then swiftly moved away.
...Surely she's not jealous that the reaction is different from when she arrived, right?
The one and only Kim Ji-hyeon?
Nah, no way.
"I'll show you your room! Mister. Don't just stand there spacing out, come on."
"...What?"
"Pfft. She called him mister."
"Unni, why do you call him mister?"
"Huh? What else would I call him?"
"Like me, you should call him Oppa..."
"Oppa? What Oppa? That's gross."
Cha Eun-ha waved her hands dismissively.
Mister.
For a moment, I understood how Choi Yeon-soo felt when the twins called him mister.
"It's fine. I have something to take care of."
"Something to take care of? What is it? You just got to Busan."
"There's a guy I had my subordinate capture."
"Subordinate? Ah, did you recruit someone else in the meantime?"
I guess I hadn't told Cha Eun-ha about the Army of Darkness.
I gave a vague answer and started walking.
Cha Eun-ha immediately followed me.
"You said you were going to show the kids their room."
"I can do it in a little bit."
"It's not going to be a pretty sight."
"But I'm still curious."
"I'm telling you, I warned you."
"I'm going even if you try to stop me."
So stubborn.
I glanced over at the twins, and they were waving their hands as if to say 'go on'.
It seemed they had decided it was better not to follow after hearing my conversation with Cha Eun-ha.
I nodded and headed toward where I could feel Zeta's mana.
"This is... a completely unused warehouse?"
"It's the perfect place to hold someone captive. Especially if that someone is afraid of going out into open spaces."
Red Eye was a drug that only worked on players.
Naturally, it was traded with coins, so it was something ordinary people couldn't obtain even if they wanted to.
Furthermore, if a normal person were to take it, the side effects would be incomparably severe.
But what if a normal person were to 'accidentally' ingest it.
And what if, by another coincidence, they awakened as a player while addicted to the drug.
[Character Information]
Name: Do Beom-jin
Age: 20 (Male)
...
Unique Ability: Mind Hijacking (D)
...
A man who fled from people and sunlight into the sewers and had been living there ever since.
For food, he had the fish-type monsters or cat-sized rats living in the sewers.
Those monsters were also exposed to the drug, so he had survived until now by consuming them to supplement his intake.
"Ah... ugh..."
This was the result.
Constantly trembling pupils. Teeth chattering from unshakable anxiety. Fingernails worn down from being bitten so much. Drool trickling down his chin.
Cha Eun-ha was speechless.
[The 'Angel of Benevolence' sends a pitiful gaze.]
He is pitiful.
He was a case of someone who had been living a normal, diligent life, who ended up taking the drug not of his own will, but through a truly unfortunate accident.
A player who bought the drug made a mistake, the drug was carried away by the wind, and this man happened to inhale it as he passed by.
That was the whole story.
A single person's mistake had sent another's life plummeting into the abyss.
"...So, what are you going to do with this person?"
"For now, we need to protect him and attempt treatment. It's important to keep his condition from worsening."
He's harmless for now, but if he progresses a few more stages, he'll become a real headache.
Such was the power of his unique ability, 'Mind Hijacking'.
The ability to control anyone within a wide range who has taken 'Red Eye'.
"What happens if it gets worse?"
"If it gets worse..."
Recalling Do Beom-jin's first appearance in the game as an S-rank player and a villain, I couldn't help but shake my head.
"Anyway, it's our job to make sure that doesn't happen. Get me some guards and a doctor here."
That must not happen.
If we want to prevent a situation even worse than what Ada caused.