Chapter 139: Just You Wait, I’m Coming for You (4)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 139: Just You Wait, I’m Coming for You (4)
Individual strength cannot be measured by stats alone.
Combat is an incredibly complex affair, influenced by a multitude of factors. Depending on one's skills or techniques, certain situations can be advantageous or disastrous.
If I were forced to fight in a plain training ground with nothing but my bare hands, even Yoon A-young or Anna would be a handful.
However, if we were to meet on the field, both fully prepared, I’m confident I could win ten times out of ten.
Dealing with people is simple.
You either play incredibly dirty, use incredibly good tools, or fight in an incredibly advantageous position.
And we call that "tactics."
I kept my guard up as I continued down the hallway toward the basement.
Fortunately, there didn't seem to be any civilians in this building.
A foreign criminal organization is occupying an entire building, and yet, what the hell are our police even doing?
Grumbling to myself, I headed down to the basement utility area and peered through the door.
The basement was cluttered with junk, as if it were being used for storage, and there were several guards.
Luckily, only one of them was an Awakened—about D-rank.
I shouldn't compare them to the security levels of the military facilities I used to know, but these guys were far too lax.
Well, I suppose that’s the limit of a criminal organization.
I suppressed my presence and slipped inside, moving through the shadows.
One woman was drinking while watching TV; another was giggling at her smartphone.
You guys really have no concept of 'guarding,' do you?
It felt less like they were on duty and more like they were just living here.
Quietly avoiding their line of sight, I took them out one by one.
I might be a wanted man, but I haven't been stripped of my Hero status yet, so I can't kill them. I have to move under the pretext of wiping out a criminal organization.
If this were a game, I guess you'd call it a "Pacifist Run."
After choking out a guard, I bound her hands and feet and gagged her before moving to the next target.
It was a hassle to tie them all up, but I had to be thorough.
The civilians got the classic cable tie treatment, while the Awakened had to be knocked out cold to ensure they wouldn't wake up for at least two or three hours.
Mana-suppressing handcuffs aren't exactly easy to come by, so this was the only way.
Peering into the innermost room, I saw an Awakened woman sitting on a sofa, completely out of it.
Actually, I couldn't tell if she was sitting or lying down.
Seeing her slumped over with dilated pupils... Are you on drugs?
Next to her, a naked man was sprawled out, his backside shamelessly exposed to me.
Not wanting to look at the gruesome sight any longer, I cast a spell and opened the door.
Creeeeak—
The Awakened woman, who had been staring blankly, suddenly smirked at me.
"Fucking delicious... Korean men have such good texture, I never get tired of them. Come here, pretty boy."
"If you're in Korea, speak Korean, you bastards."
As I walked toward her while cursing, she flinched, then reached for a dagger lying haphazardly on the table next to the drugs.
Thud—
What did she think she could do with those stumbling movements?
I kicked her wrist away and swung my fist at her face.
But just as I was about to hit her jaw, I urgently pulled my hand back.
"Hehehehe..."
Thorns suddenly erupted from her body. If I hadn't pulled back, my fist would have been riddled with holes.
Whether the drugs had rotted her brain or not, the woman cackled as I backed away in shock.
"Keep laughing."
I picked up the dagger from the table and threw it between the thorns.
That was an offensive skill, not a defensive one.
"Agh!"
As the dagger pierced her shoulder, her concentration broke, and the skill deactivated. I immediately slammed my fist into her now-smooth jaw.
Her head snapped back from the clean hit, and she collapsed. The man beside her stared at me blankly.
Ugh—I really don't want to touch him.
I bound the hands and feet of the man, whose cock was dangling out, with cable ties.
High on drugs, the man didn't resist; he just gave me a stupid grin.
I couldn't tell if he was a member of the Hongjeong Sect, just a male prostitute, or a kidnapped victim.
The people coming later would figure it out.
I pushed the man away as he tried to rub his face against me and stepped out of the room.
I found the electrical panel, tinkered with it, and then took out a magic stone to cast a barrier over the building.
Vnnnnnn—
A noise similar to a machine powering down echoed as the magic circle activated, creating a barrier that sealed the entire building.
At this point, everyone in the building knew an intruder was present.
I closed my eyes, felt the wall, and headed up the stairs.
I heard cursing and the sound of frantic movement. When I slightly opened my eyes, I locked gazes with a group of women running up the stairs.
"...Jeong Yeon-woo?"
So you know my face. I'm in the right place.
I gave her a smile and pressed a button.
The old fluorescent lights flickered and died all at once, plunging the building into darkness.
While the people panicked in the sudden dark, I snatched the woman in the lead and knocked her out.
Ignoring the chaos of people who didn't even realize one of their comrades had vanished, I pulled them away one by one and laid them out at the bottom of the stairs.
They were still far from adjusting to the dark, but one of the women, feeling the terror of her disappearing companions, began swinging a machete wildly.
"Agh! What are you doing?! It's me!"
The wounded woman screamed, but the one gripped by terror kept swinging her machete before frantically bolting up the stairs.
"Where are you going?! Dammit!"
"All alone now?"
I choked out the woman who had frozen in terror and knocked her out.
After tying up all the civilians I'd incapacitated with cable ties, I hummed a tune as I headed up.
They still hadn't tried to break the barrier.
Upstairs, they were shouting at each other that I had invaded, running around noisily.
The first floor was empty. If I just took the stairs to the second floor, the ones waiting there would probably spray me with rifle fire.
I summoned a mana orb into the air to light up the area as I moved near the stairs.
Then, leaving the mana orb behind, I slipped into a side room.
I wasn't sure if this would work since it had been a while.
I drew my sword and concentrated.
Korean Sword: Dew Cut.
The sword moved smoothly, silently slicing through the ceiling far above.
The ceiling, cut as cleanly as tofu, gave a low groan as it fell. I caught the man-sized chunk of stone with some effort and set it quietly on the floor.
It had been a while, but after using it for over twenty years, I guess I hadn't forgotten.
It would be a great swordsmanship style if it weren't for the name—that damn name is way too nationalistic.
It’s a style every Awakened in the Korean Special Forces learns. When we complained that the name was too embarrassing and asked to change it, they suggested nonsense like "K-Sword," so we just stuck with "Korean Sword."
The naming sense of those high-ranking officials is something else.
Regardless, it’s a style developed by the state that combines the strengths of various international sword styles, making it quite high-tier even in my previous world.
Even if we did call "Dew Cut" things like "Weed Cut" behind their backs.
Now wasn't the time for that.
Having created a path to the second floor, I quietly climbed up and checked the presence in the hallway.
They were still tensely watching the light from the mana orb hovering near the stairs.
The Awakened were all on the fourth floor, and the third floor was completely empty.
Having pinpointed their positions, I approached the women aiming at the central staircase from both sides of the hallway.
"Urgh!"
The woman at the very back was knocked out by a blow to the neck. At the same time, the others turned around, but it was already too late.
I snapped my fingers, activating the magic circles I had set up while coming from the basement. The walls exploded, showering debris everywhere.
Boom—!
The group near the stairs was swept away. I picked off the survivors of the explosion one by one.
I grabbed the shoulder of a woman trying to aim her gun, stopping her before slamming a fist into her jaw. Then, I kicked upward, catching another woman's chin with my foot.
That side was cleared in an instant. As the group on the opposite side tried to aim their guns, I tossed a grenade.
"Grenade!!"
Seeing the grenade clattering across the floor, the women shrieked and scattered in all directions.
I didn't pull the pin, you idiots.
Not that they had time to check that in the middle of a fight. I lunged at the group and knocked them all out.
Because the grenade had scattered them, suppressing them was easy.
I meticulously bound the women with cable ties again, disposed of their weapons, and headed to the upper floor.
They still hadn't thought about breaking the barrier. They must be quite confident in their skills.
The mana I felt from above belonged to two C-ranks and one B-rank.
I wasn't sure exactly how strong the B-rank was, so it was a bit uncertain.
When I reached the fourth floor, I could sense them waiting for me in the inner room, having felt my presence.
Hmm—going in head-on is a bit scary.
I slowly opened the door while carving magic into the wall.
"Hello? Oh? Zhou Yang, what happened to your face?"
"Fuck, you dare trick me? Because of you, this bastard..."
I hadn't even touched him, but Zhou Yang's body was covered in injuries as if he’d been tortured.
"Aha, so you became a liar? Is the misunderstanding cleared up now?"
"You son of a bitch, I'm going to rip your mouth open."
He’d made a grand escape and claimed Chiwei had been killed, but then she appeared on TV, alive and being arrested. Of course they’d suspect him.
Seeing the fresh wounds, it looked like he’d been getting beaten right up until I arrived.
Poor guy. That’s why you shouldn't join shady organizations.
"I heard you suppressed the Black Shadow Martial Hero. I shall give you my best."
The woman sitting in the center spoke with an air of self-importance.
"...Black Shadow Martial Hero?"
"She means Chiwei-unni!"
"What a childish title... The naming sense here is terrible too. So what are you? The Immortal Killing Martial Hero? The Black Demon Blood Ghost? Something like that?"
"I am Muhyeongsuje."
While I was wearing a dubious expression, the woman who introduced herself as Muhyeongsuje reached out her hand.
I prepared myself, sensing the mana of a skill activating, but nothing was visible.
A chilling sensation washed over me, and I immediately jumped back. I felt the air being sliced where I had just been.
"To dodge my Incorporeal Hand... impressive."
"Incorporeal Hand, my ass. It's just telekinesis."
A troublesome opponent.
It wasn't a high-tier skill, so the activation was slow, but telekinesis that couldn't be felt even with mana detection was quite tricky.
"Your retreat is already blocked. Do not think of escaping."
"I have no intention of escaping. Calling yourself an emperor... in China, don't people who do that get donated to a museum?"
"You dare mock my motherland. Do not expect a peaceful death."
A criminal with a sense of patriotism. How remarkable.
If you want to be patriotic, you shouldn't be committing crimes in the first place. What a joke.
The other Awakened, including Zhou Yang, drew their swords and prepared to attack.
I couldn't let them keep the geographical advantage.
I immediately dashed to the door. As I did, the woman called Muhyeongsuje activated her skill.
Three seconds to activate. You really need to refine that skill more.
I pulled out the flashbangs I had hidden in my pocket, tossed them into the room, and slammed the door shut.
They're useless against monsters, but for Awakened with sensitive senses, they're incredibly effective.
Pop-pop-pop—!
I threw three, but only two went off.
Did they deal with one?
It didn't matter. Two going off in a cramped room was a nightmare just to imagine.
As if proving their power, screams and curses erupted from behind the door.
Since they seemed to like them so much, I decided to give them more.
I opened the door, tossed two more inside, and shut it again.
Pop-pop-pop—!
"Aaaaagh! You goddamn piece of shit!"
Oops. It seems the one who was acting so cool earlier has lost her patience.
Why fight head-on when you have great military hardware?
I opened the door to find the now-clueless Awakened squinting and swinging their weapons blindly.
Flashbangs don't just paralyze sight; they also wreck your sense of direction and balance.
No matter how strong you think you are, you have to watch out for things like that.
I should probably give the Black Unicorn party some military training too.
I suppressed all the idiotic Awakened who were flailing about and attacking each other.
The B-rank was indeed a B-rank; it took several blows to the jaw before she finally passed out.
Good, that’s everyone. Now, shall I look for the Hongjeong Sect's documents?
I opened a hidden safe to find stacks of cash and several documents.
I took photos of all the documents, put them back in the safe, and then made a call using a smartphone I’d picked up downstairs.
"Hello, may I speak with Detective Oh Eun-yul?"
"Yes, what is this regarding?"
"Rather than explaining, it might be better to just give you my name. This is Jeong Yeon-woo."
The police officer, who had been speaking politely, gasped loudly upon hearing my name, followed by the sound of a commotion.
A moment later, a familiar voice came through.
"This is Detective Oh Eun-yul, Hero Jeong Yeon-woo."
"Ah, thank goodness. I thought you might still be in Busan."
"Haha... fortunately, we were able to intercept you midway. It’s not good to tease us too much, you know."
"Yes, that’s why I’m giving you a gift this time."
At my words, Oh Eun-yul fell silent for a moment before speaking cautiously.
"What kind of gift?"
"You're tracking this call, right? I'll leave it on, so come find me."
"Just me alone?"
"No, no. This is the Hongjeong Sect's hideout. I've knocked them out, but there’s one B-rank and two C-rank Awakened, so you’d better arrest them as quickly as possible. There are drugs, weapons, and about twenty criminals here, so please take them into custody."
Perhaps because I’d tricked her once before, she sounded skeptical.
Hearing a low groan, it seemed she was debating whether to believe me.
"I've suppressed them all for now, so just come and take them. Protecting citizens from drugs and crime is what the police do, isn't it?"
"Meeting Hero Jeong Yeon-woo is also my job."
"Thanks for not saying 'arresting.' I'll give you that as a gift later too. Well then, I'll be going. I'm counting on you."
I set the smartphone down on the table and left.
I could hear Oh Eun-yul calling my name from the phone, but in times like this, it’s cooler to walk away without looking back.
Even if everyone was unconscious and there was no one to see it.