Operation: Rescue Gong Pil-seung (2)
"How far along are the preparations?"
"We've already got everyone standing by around this building."
"That so?"
"Yes. Give the word and we can wipe them out this instant."
Gong Jin-sa didn't so much as flinch. Drawing on everything he already knew, he kept the conversation with Brown going without a hitch.
The building we were in was Phars's headquarters. If an attack launched now, finding Gong Jin-sa's younger brother would become far more difficult.
"Not yet. Wait a little longer."
"A little longer, sir?"
"Yeah. That guy's been acting suspicious lately."
"In what way?"
"The bastard's been gathering more Fruit."
That last remark from Gong Jin-sa was an established fact. Hadn't Phars told him as much? Recover the Fruit that had been taken from him — and do it without Roche or Michelle finding out. Something was definitely underway that those two knew nothing about.
"Ah. We've already got a rough picture of that."
"You have?"
"Yes. It seems he even ordered Gong Jin-sa to bring him Fruit."
Brown seemed to have already pieced even that together. But it didn't sit right. How could he know all of this? The only people present at the time had been me, Gong Jin-sa, and Phars. And Phars didn't strike me as the type to let that conversation leak.
"You don't know the exact reason?"
"Not exactly, but I suspect he's making preparations before he has to go there. Something to do with the Ranker vote, I imagine."
"Hmm."
Phars currently ranked within the top one hundred. In a few days, when the Tower of Death began, he would be transported to wherever the Calamity manifested. He already had Fruit, but he was clearly uneasy about it. Stockpiling extras as a precaution made enough sense.
"Keep watching him a little longer anyway. It might not be because of that."
"Understood."
Brown nodded at Gong Jin-sa's words and started to rise, then paused with a question.
"Ah. By the way, what brings you here?"
"Just showing this friend around the place."
"Haha. Shall I give your friend a tour, then?"
Gong Jin-sa nodded at the offer.
Huh?
Nodding meant he agreed. Gong Jin-sa looked for all the world like he was about to sell me out to this Brown character.
"I'd appreciate that."
"Haha. I'm delighted to have the chance to show such a beautiful woman around."
They didn't even ask my opinion. The two of them just laughed it out between themselves, the matter already settled.
"Shall we, then?"
Brown held out his hand as he said it. I glanced at Gong Jin-sa, who shot me a look that said he'd search the place on his own.
Haa. You son of a bitch.
Had he dragged me here intending to sell me out the moment something like this came up? Still, I couldn't afford to blow the operation. I took Brown's hand and stepped out through the door.
Brown led me off somewhere. I wanted to ask where we were going, but I wasn't in a position to speak, which left me well and truly stuck.
Once inside the elevator, Brown gestured for me to come in as well.
"Curious where we're headed?"
I gave a slight nod.
"You can speak, you know. Mr. Kim Min-sung."
"What?! Hup!"
He'd just used my real name. I'd never mentioned it, and I looked like this — how he'd figured it out was beyond me.
What the hell? How did he know? Did Gong Jin-sa sell me out from the start?
As those thoughts tangled through my head, Brown went on.
"Puhahaha. So that's why you weren't talking."
"How did you know? Did you know from the beginning?"
"No. I only just found out."
"Just now?"
I couldn't understand how he'd pieced me together just now. Gong Jin-sa hadn't slipped up that I could tell, and I hadn't said a word myself. There shouldn't have been anything to catch.
"Want me to tell you how I knew? You're curious, aren't you?"
"......"
Brown needled me with that little smile. Now that my identity was blown, I figured I ought to deal with him — I reached for my knife, but Brown stopped the motion cold.
"Ah, ah. I have absolutely no intention of fighting."
"You don't?"
"None at all. If anything, I'd be grateful if you and Gong Jin-sa ran wild in this place."
He already knew about Gong Jin-sa too. Which meant he'd been having that entire conversation while already knowing everything?
"How the hell did you find out?"
"Well, it's my ability. I can read the thoughts of anyone I make physical contact with."
"You can read thoughts?"
So when I'd taken his hand leaving the room — that was the moment he'd figured us out.
"Ah. I forgot to press the floor."
Brown tapped a button. The elevator arrived at his floor almost immediately.
Ding.
"Let's get off."
"......"
Brown stepped out as if it were the most natural thing in the world. I had no idea why he'd pressed the twenty-fifth floor, but I wasn't about to play along with whatever he had in mind.
"Not getting off?"
"Why did you bring me here?"
"Gong Pil-seung. The person you're looking for. He's here."
"What?"
Gong Pil-seung. Gong Jin-sa's younger brother. If Brown had read my thoughts, he'd know we were looking for him — that much tracked. But why tell me where he was?
"No particular reason. If you simply take Gong Pil-seung and leave, the matter I mentioned earlier becomes much easier to carry out."
"What does that mean?"
"Ah. You don't know, do you. Why Gong Pil-seung is actually imprisoned here."
I thought I did. They were holding him to keep Gong Jin-sa on a leash, weren't they?
"What you're thinking is the surface-level reason. There's a more practical one for locking him up here."
"Which is?"
"Hmm. That's a bit difficult to tell you..."
He'd been so forthcoming until now, then suddenly got cagey.
"Is he really here?"
"Of course. See that third room? He's in there."
I sent a Fairy to the third room's window to check. Sure enough, Gong Pil-seung was lying there, exactly as Brown had said.
"He's really here."
"Ah. That was a Venom Fairy you just controlled, wasn't it? How did you come by an ability like that?"
"That's none of your business."
He knew I was using a Venom Fairy, but not how I'd gotten the ability. That told me the range of memories he could read wasn't all that wide.
"Well, I'll be going, then. Do give the rescue your best."
"Wait. Tell me why he's imprisoned."
I pressed my knife to his throat as I said it — a promise that I'd open it if he didn't talk.
"You'll find out once you go in, even if I don't tell you."
"I will?"
"Yes. So just let me go, if you would."
He didn't seem to be lying. Still, it was strange that he'd told me all this even after knowing who I was.
"If you won't tell me, you're coming with me."
Even if he'd kindly pointed out where Gong Pil-seung was locked up, you still shouldn't trust people so easily.
Brown opened his mouth, looking like he had no choice.
"It's because of the ability he has."
"An ability? What kind of ability gets someone locked up?"
How extraordinary would an ability have to be for them to imprison him over it? The thought crossed my mind that they might be doing to him what they'd done to Ji-ah.
"The ability he has is..."
BOOOOOOM!
"What the hell?!"
A sudden blast tore through the building from somewhere nearby. Combat had broken out. In the split second I was distracted, Brown vanished from right in front of me.
"Where did he go?"
I scanned the corridor, but there was no sign of him.
I'll deal with him later. I hadn't been planning to kill him anyway, so whether he ran or not didn't matter much.
What mattered was the direction of the explosion. The sound had come from below — from where Gong Jin-sa had been.
What happened?
It had to be one of us. We were the only ones in this place who could set off an incident like that.
If something's gone wrong, I'll grab Gong Pil-seung and get out fast. I didn't know Gong Jin-sa's situation, but Gong Pil-seung was right here. The goal itself was to get him out. If I extracted Gong Pil-seung, Gong Jin-sa ought to be capable of escaping on his own.
"He said this room, right?"
Through the Venom Fairy, Gong Pil-seung was still lying motionless. I stood in front of his door and pushed it open — no lock, no latch, nothing. It was so poorly secured I wondered if he was even actually imprisoned.
Thud. Thud.
"Who's there?"
He'd noticed me coming in, but he didn't get up.
"You're Gong Pil-seung, right?"
"Why did you come looking for me?"
"To get you out of here. Your brother's looking for you."
At the word brother, Gong Pil-seung finally sat up.
"Hyung is looking for me?"
"Yeah. He's in this building right now. Come with me."
Gong Pil-seung turned around. The moment he saw me, he froze solid.
"...That was definitely a man's voice."
"Ah. There's a reason for this."
"Uwaagh!"
A man's voice. A woman's face. Gong Pil-seung was clearly rattled — and fair enough. I would have been too.
"Ghhk!"
Then, without warning, Gong Pil-seung clutched his chest.
"What the hell?! What's happening?!"
"R-run. Please."
"What?"
"I think my trait just activated."
"What trait?!"
His body began to flush a deep, spreading red, looking as if it might burst at any second. He barely managed to get the words out.