I Came to Save You
Around 10 p.m.
The phone call that came in from Jeon Harin.
"Hello? Boss, Boss!"
A frantic voice no one would ever expect from someone who had supposedly gone home for the night. The ragged breathing alone made it clear this was no ordinary situation.
"Some weird guy just suddenly—Kyaaaah?!"
Contact with someone right after. A rough voice fighting back hard.
"Nitro! One-ten volts, nngh… hnnngh… hieehh…??"
"Ugh… nngh, uuughn!!"
Her voice nearly faded as if something had hit her—
"Shaaaaaaaah!!!"
"Crackcrackcrackcrackcrack!!"
"Guaaaaaagh…!!"
Fortunately the spirit protected Harin.
Somehow a gap opened. She used that gap to scream the essentials.
"XX Villa. Unit XX."
The academy’s manual for encountering a villain.
"Mid-forties. Male. Ugly. Fat."
Description. Appearance.
"Mental attack."
Even the target’s ability.
"You—worthless little bitch!"
"—Ghhhhnngh…!"
"…She handled that well."
Not perfect, but the best possible response. If she managed to extract that much intel against a villain, the rest was our job.
"I tried tracking via CCTV," Hyewon said next.
"The other side is… probably a revenge group. Not a single actor."
On the CCTV feed, several people in identical clothes mixed and left, cutting left and right as if deliberately muddying any investigation.
And—
"Just a guess, but… I’m thinking it’s the same villain as the recent kidnapping case."
The villain response team had already captured a few of them and tried questioning. Or rather, there hadn’t been much questioning. The moment they were seized they blacked out and collapsed. An awakener checked and confirmed symptoms consistent with a mental attack.
"Then the real culprit is…"
"…Impossible to find right this second."
An awakener—and a mental-type one at that—had committed the crime. Because it wasn’t pure physical force, the investigation was naturally bogged down.
"Any other leads?"
"…That’s everything we have for now."
"Got it. Still, good work."
Just past 1 a.m. Three hours after the incident and they had already gotten this far; I could barely imagine how hard Yuseong had pushed. Hyewon had probably begged them with everything she had. And when even that produced no answer, she called me.
Would’ve been nicer if they’d called me sooner.
On that point Hyewon had her own position; I couldn’t force it. A kidnapping happens and some random mercenary solves it instead of Yuseong? That would put Yuseong in a very awkward spot. Still, once they confirmed it wasn’t going to be easy, they finally dialed me—so maybe I should count that as luck.
"Haaaah…"
All right. I understood how tangled the situation had become.
"What about the others? Nature still has two more members."
"We confirmed they’re all at home. We sent a few people over so we can respond the second anything happens."
"That’s something, at least."
Which left only one thing: somehow resolve this mess. I clenched my trembling right hand into a tight fist until it steadied.
It’s fine.
If it was a mental-type awakener, I was the perfect counter. I trusted Lady Hecate inside me.
"─,──?"
"Hey now."
Don’t start complaining that I only believe in you when it’s convenient. I let out a light breath and pulled out my phone to make a call.
"Lan, big bro needs a hand."
"…Grrrr."
Golden retriever Lan. He wasn’t wagging his tail and acting affectionate like usual. Instead he bared his fangs ferociously, eyes saying give the order whenever.
Contact. If I can just get a connection…
I could do something. I gripped the phone and waited for the call to go through.
—Click.
"…Tch."
Harin didn’t pick up. Probably couldn’t. So it wasn’t going to be that easy after all.
I finished summoning Shinpung and set her on my shoulder.
"I’ve got a job for you."
"Ppiyo."
Shinpung’s eyes were sharp too—ready the moment I spoke. Honestly it felt like a long shot, but I couldn’t just sit on my hands and wait either.
"The scent scattered through this alley. There’ll be a path it follows. Think you can—"
—Riiing ♬
"…Huh?"
A phone call at the perfect moment. The restricted-number call rang with almost uncanny timing. At this exact second. Right now.
"…Lan."
"……"
I knew on instinct. Lan nodded silently, then turned into a single streak of electricity and vanished.
"Hello?"
"Huff… huuuff…"
A rough voice. Voice changer on top of it—that distinctive mechanical edge.
"You the culprit?"
"Khheh… heh, hehahahah…!"
I loaded the question with hostility. The voice only liked it more. Delighted, clapping, the man murmured quietly.
"I wonder… can you actually catch me…?"
"That’s something we’ll find out, isn’t it."
Crack. Crackle.
Tiny sparks jumped from the phone. At the same time I felt Lan’s presence racing along the signal at insane speed.
Location. Where was the call coming from?
I needed time. Time to approach stealthily, without being spotted.
"Why pull something like this?"
A question for the villain. A question to buy time. The villain seemed thoroughly pleased with the current situation; he snickered and whispered.
"This woman… is suffering because of you. Only because of you…!"
"So what the hell does that even mean? We got some kind of grudge? Or is this Yuseong trying to check me?"
"It’s nothing like that. I simply want to prove you’re a worthless piece of shit…"
"Unbelievable."
Not someone you could reason with. But that was actually perfect. Someone who hated talking yet desperately wanted to show off. What better personality for stalling?
I nodded while listening to Lan’s howl through the line.
And then…
"………Ha?"
I doubted my own eyes. Whether what I was seeing was real. Whether the person Lan was showing me was really the person I knew.
"What? Speechless? Too bad. I just don’t like you."
"…Is that so."
I let out a quiet breath. Lan moved again along the wires.
Impressive.
He had pinpointed Harin’s location. Blindfolded, collared, clothes torn to shreds. Adult toys scattered around, and beyond them a camera filming the whole scene.
Seriously…
I looked around the room more carefully. A college girl kidnapped and locked up. The same college girl I’d seen on the news once. Whitish fluid already dripping between her legs—she’d clearly been put through hell more than once.
"I… thought we were colleagues."
"Wha…?"
And in the middle of all this, Ayeong was under the desk performing service. I was so past shock that it didn’t even surprise me anymore. Leaving the flustered man’s voice behind, I turned to Shinpung—no.
"O Kamikaze. The hour of awakening is upon us."
"Ppiyo?"
"We become one and cut down the evils of this world."
"Ppiyo… ppiyoppiyoppiyo ppiyooooooo!!!"
In an instant my body became one with the wind.
Uuuugh…!
I couldn’t see. My body was tightly restrained. A gag filled my mouth so all I could do was breathe. The helplessness of being able to do nothing. And beyond that, a terror that made my entire body tremble.
What… happens to me now…?
A man had appeared. An old middle-aged guy, half-bald. When he asked if I knew Instructor Sunwoo and I answered “Instructor,” he suddenly shoved his phone screen in my face. I never dreamed that would be the trigger.
My mind suddenly went dark…
Forced drowsiness flooding in. In that instant the kidnapping case from the news flashed through my head. Probably. This had to be that guy. I woke Nitro and tried to force an escape, but in the end I was caught.
Harin kept trembling with fear yet never stopped searching for a way out of this.
"Fuck… fuuuuuuck!!!"
Thud. Thud. Crunch!
Hiiih…!
I had to keep thinking. I couldn’t stop thinking. The moment I stopped, the terror that made my body go numb would swallow even my mind. And more than anything, against an awakener who affected the mind, keeping your reason was critical. Fortunately awakeners had mana, so some resistance was possible. At least I wouldn’t be toyed with completely helpless…
Slaaap!
"Kyaah…!"
Hnn…!!
The sound of a cheek being struck. A woman’s moan-laced scream.
"Ayeong… your tongue stopped. You playing games with me too now?"
"I’m sorry, Master…"
"If you’re sorry, then service harder with that mouth. Huh?"
"Yes… Master…"
…Hnnngh…!
Schlick. Schlorp…
Sounds that instinctively made a woman’s skin crawl. And what naturally rose in my mind was—
Don’t tell me… me too…?
No. Pure rejection. The thought that I might be used however that middle-aged bastard wanted before I lost consciousness. I tried to force my trembling body still, but once terror had already eaten into my mind, her body slipped free of reason’s grip.
"Oh? You’re awake now? Good. Time to get up."
"Kya… aaagh…!"
Hair yanked. It hurt. It was agony. And more than anything—
That thing touching my nose right now…?
A disgusting smell. Thick and slimy, the kind that made you want to vomit the second you breathed it in. Even through the blindfold, Harin knew exactly what it was.
"You… a virgin?"
"Mmph…!"
"Why aren’t you answering. You think I’m a joke too?"
"Nnngh. Mmph. Nnngh!"
Virgin, I’m a virgin. I’m a virgin so please let me go! She nodded frantically in affirmation.
"Heh. Jackpot. Ayeong was a virgin too—why the hell does that bastard keep good girls next to him and never fuck them?"
"Hnn, hnnnngh?!!"
Sliiiide.
A nauseating sensation climbing between her legs. Rough palm. Skin hot enough to burn. Like ants crawling over skin, unspeakable disgust and fear spread from every place his hand touched.
"Hnnph… hnnnngh…!"
Stop. Stooop…!
Even when she begged in a tear-choked voice, the man didn’t listen.
"If you want to blame someone, blame that worthless piece of shit."
"Hnnnnngh…!!!"
Climbing. Between her legs. A hand rising toward the precious place no one had ever been allowed to touch. She tried to clamp her thighs shut, but her body, bound as if by rope and unable to move, simply accepted the man’s hand endlessly.
I don’t… want this…!
Overwhelmed. Defiled. I’m scared. I want to run. She thrashed while tears she couldn’t hide kept falling. And at the end of it the words that came out were—
Help… me…!
Help.
Anyone, please… save me…!
A request with every scrap of sincerity she had.
And then—
Whoooosh…
"Hic! Gnnnph…?"
In the middle of that hot, sticky swamp of filthy lust, a soft cool breeze brushed her cheek. A wind so strangely calming and reassuring.
Clatter!
Crash-shatter!
"Guaaaaaagh!!!"
The sound of glass breaking. Something being smashed. At the same time the disgusting weight pressing down on her body vanished.
"Cough! Haaack… hnnngh…?!"
When the blindfold and gag came off—
"I came to save you. Spoiled little lady."
"…Instructor."
"Sorry. A little late?"
"Nngh… hnnph… hwaaaaaaah!!!"
Sunwoo’s figure, moonlight at his back, burned itself into Harin’s eyes with perfect, unforgettable clarity.