Touching the Reverse Scale

Park Heewon regained consciousness shortly after.

The drug he had been injected with was a vicious substance that could knock even an S-class hunter unconscious once it took effect in the body. It had been proven that without a specific antidote, there was no waking from it for several days.

Yet Park Heewon had come to in mere minutes.

Having awakened via a special nano-robot injection and learned the gear-type cultivation method designed to complement it, his resistance to drugs and toxins far exceeded that of ordinary awakeners.

In fact, considering he had only recently begun training and could not yet fully draw out the method’s ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠potential, this result was remarkable.

At any rate, upon waking he realized he was being transported inside some sort of vehicle.

Still definitely inside the country. They haven’t reached any hideout yet.

He continued pretending to be unconscious, thoughts racing desperately.

This is real. I’ve been kidnapped. I’m being taken somewhere. If I reach the destination like this, there’s no telling what they’ll do to me.

Even if it wasn’t the kind of extreme torture or human experimentation seen in films and comics, suffering even half of what those stories described would be horrific beyond words.

The sensation of having his life clutched in the hands of malicious criminals was ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠utterly, maddeningly terrifying.

Thoughts of wishing his friend Han Yujin would come rescue him kept surging up. Yet the odds that the guy would appear at exactly the right moment and safely extract him were painfully low.

This was not a movie or a comic, after all.

Reality was always cruel, and in the worst moments the only person you could truly rely on was yourself.

I have to escape using my own strength.

Even if the chance of success was nearly zero, even if he ended up badly injured or even killed in the attempt, he had to try.

He calmed his mind as much as possible and struggled to assess his surroundings. With both hands and feet bound, he pondered how he could break free of the restraints while neutralizing the enemy.

With the resolve to kill.

Or with the resolve to die.

The single thread of comfort was the belief that these kidnappers would not try to kill him unless absolutely necessary.

A moment later.

Having finished his assessment and steeled his resolve, he began circulating his power. The priority was breaking the restraints, so he focused everything on his limbs.

“...Hm?”

The instant someone seemed to sense something amiss.

Park Heewon erupted with explosive force, not caring if his wrists and ankles shattered.

Crack…!!

He failed to break free in a single surge.

Yet the specially made restraints stretched slightly and loosened. That was enough for a second attempt to regain full freedom of movement.

Immediately afterward, without even removing the hood over his head, he attacked first. Perhaps due to extreme adrenaline, the world seemed to slow. The movements of the kidnappers seated on either side of him appeared vividly clear.

Bang—!!

His powerfully thrust leg slammed into the chest of the man beside him. At the same time his hands deflected the opposite man’s strike and smashed into his face.

In the brief opening that created, he tore off the hood covering his head.

The man who had been kicked charged at him, trying to strangle his throat. The other, blood streaming from his nose, drew a knife from his waistband.

The kidnappers he now saw clearly were all foreigners.

The moment Park Heewon violently broke free of the chokehold, the mercilessly swung knife pierced straight through his forearm. Blood sprayed inside the vehicle.

Screaming in pain, he continued struggling like a madman. He threw every attack he could—fists, kicks, eye gouges, bites, headbutts—according to the methods he had trained.

He heard them exchanging urgent words in a foreign language, but none of it registered properly in his mind.

Then the kidnapper in the passenger seat turned and leveled a strangely shaped gun at him.

The instant he registered it, flames spat from the muzzle in rapid succession.

As he emerged from the mountain outskirts, Han Yujin first attempted to contact Park Heewon.

Since he planned to meet Lee Won-hee first and then visit Park Heewon, there was no need to lengthen the child’s journey or waste time. Children deserved consideration, after all.

Yet even after two consecutive calls, there was no connection.

He considered leaving a messenger note but decided going in person would be faster.

With that thought, he transformed once more into a streak of light using the Five Elements Heavenly Escape Art and shot forward. The direction was the Ability Verification Training Center.

Upon arriving moments later, he scanned the interior with his divine sense and confirmed Park Heewon was absent.

Did he go home?

The fusion intelligence Elb immediately searched the smartphone’s messenger records, located the address, and provided directions.

Once again using the Five Elements Heavenly Escape Art, he reached an apartment complex in an instant. Finding Park Heewon missing here as well, he frowned slightly.

The most logical assumption was that he had stepped out for another errand, yet…

For some reason the feeling of unease would not leave him.

He spread his divine sense more broadly and seriously. Soon he detected the source of his discomfort and appeared at the spot almost as if teleporting.

It was a corner of the flower bed directly beneath one of the apartment buildings, in front of a small mound of freshly overturned soil.

When ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠he focused his gaze, the Confusion Art activated at once, revealing the shattered remains of a smartphone buried within.

It did not look old. The fragments clearly felt as though they had been smashed and buried only moments ago. Most damningly, the model matched the smartphone he remembered Park Heewon carrying.

Could it really be…?

Had someone kidnapped him?

Under normal circumstances he might have doubted it, but given the current timing, suspicion immediately pointed that way. Fortunately, even in this situation he possessed the ability to uncover further clues.

The Yin-Yang True Dragon Eye unfolded, and with it the power of space-time manipulation activated. His pupils swirled with brilliant golden light and deep, dreamlike violet, each chasing the other’s tail. At the same time his vision reversed the present and flowed backward into the past.

Fortunately there was no need to delve into the distant past.

He saw a masked foreigner, wrapped in a concealment ability to avoid attention, smashing a smartphone and burying it in the ground.

Continuing to observe and follow the man’s movements, he soon witnessed the scene of his friend Park Heewon being effortlessly kidnapped a short distance away.

“......”

Even the Neo Dominion’s information network had caught no hint of this. It seemed someone had moved with clear intent.

Like rewinding a CCTV recording, he froze the scene at the moment of the kidnapping and examined where the van was heading. Simultaneously his body transformed into a streak of light and shot forward.

No one could have anticipated such pursuit.

Merely stopping by the apartment complex and spreading his divine sense had allowed him to detect the anomaly in the flower bed, discover the buried phone fragments, then examine the “past” to grasp the full situation.

He then began pursuit while continuing to observe that past—at a speed surpassing any supersonic jet.

Merely dozens of seconds later.

He located a van deliberately taking routes with minimal cameras and foot traffic. The instant his divine sense revealed the situation inside, he descended like a bolt of light.

The fury of a Nascent Soul cultivator erupted without restraint.

The moment a flash seemed to burst, he appeared in front of the speeding vehicle. Before the driver could even register him, the swung Extinction Grand Hand smashed the front of the van, tearing it to pieces.

BOOM—!!

By the time the explosion rang out, the vehicle had already been shredded to the level of passing through a woodchipper. The people inside were hurled into the air, balance completely lost.

What Han Yujin carefully caught with the Mild Art was Park Heewon—arm pierced by a knife, bullet wounds in his leg and torso, combat ability gone.

Whether one of them possessed a recovery ability or not, the wounds had been healed just enough to prevent death. That was all. The injuries were by no means light; the young man’s face was deathly pale and he seemed on the verge of losing consciousness.

The moment he caught him, Han Yujin healed the injuries with the Great Blue Profound Water.

At the same time he turned his head and met the eyes of each kidnapper still suspended in the air.

Assisted by the fusion intelligence Elb, the Dream Illusion Mind Snatching Art read their memories in an instant and extracted critical information. He grasped the general situation at once.

America, is it.

Yet it was not only America. They had infiltrated with direct and indirect assistance from China and Japan, planning to conceal their escape route afterward with Russian help.

To already form such an alliance and attempt a kidnapping.

It was far faster and more secretive than he had anticipated.

Honestly, he had let his guard down.

Of course, he had previously considered that even if his acquaintances were targeted, the method would likely be a kidnapping with ample room for rescue.

Still, this was undeniably the result of complacency.

It could be said he had underestimated the action capability and foolishness of Earth’s nations far too much.

Even after I demonstrated that much power… where does the audacity to do something like this come from?

Especially China—had they forgotten the matter of Standing Committee member Li Haozi? Even if they had been too incompetent to learn what the Neo Dominion had discovered, they should at least have guessed and exercised caution.

Had they been certain they would not be caught? Just how could they possess such reckless confidence?

At that moment.

Even within the slowed world, time continued to flow. Just as the kidnappers’ floating bodies were about to touch the ground.

From Han Yujin’s already aimed fingertips, five or six streaks of Crimson Lotus True Flame Bullets shot forth. The instant they flashed, they struck their targets and incinerated the kidnappers without giving them time to scream.

However, the special satellite phone one of them carried remained intact and flew into Han Yujin’s hand.

First, secure Lee Won-hee’s safety.

If Park Heewon had been attacked, Lee Won-hee could easily be next. There was no time to vent anger or chase down the remaining small fry.

Just as he was about to activate the Five Elements Heavenly Escape Art again—

The rest… I will…

Along with a faint mental whisper, his shadow rippled once. Won-hee’s presence vanished somewhere.

“......”

When he had fully deployed the Dream Illusion Mind Snatching Art, he had sensed Won-hee doing something to the kidnappers as well. The mental wave suggested an ability similar to memory reading.

Thanks to that, he no longer worried about missing the small fry and immediately headed toward the young Lee Won-hee.

While moving, he manipulated the satellite phone based on the memories he had read and placed a call.

The call connected before the first ring even finished, and Spanish flowed through.

Using his transcendent comprehension, he replied in flawless Spanish to declare war.

After ending the call, he immediately crushed the satellite phone and accelerated.

Lee Won-hee’s house was right in front of him. Fortunately no incident had occurred here; the area remained peaceful.

Yet after Park Heewon had already been attacked, there was no guarantee of continued safety. He appeared at the entrance and pressed the doorbell.

At the same time.

Inside the Beta Team vehicle of the special operatives, which had been traveling separately at a distance from the Alpha Team van annihilated by Han Yujin.

Through the special devices on their wrists they discovered that every life signal from the Alpha Team had been severed in an instant. Shock and silence swallowed them.

“Have we been discovered…? Already?”

“Probably.”

Whether discovered or not, the proper course of action in this situation was already decided. The man in the passenger seat immediately adjusted the navigation to change their destination.

After focusing on the screen for a moment, he suddenly felt the interior grow much darker. Reflexively he looked up at the rearview mirror.

He met a pair of eyes blacker than the abyss itself and his entire body froze solid.

The colleagues who had been sitting in the back seat had already become gruesome corpses, necks severed and blood spraying. Even the driver beside him had his head split cleanly in two.

There had been no sign at all—as if possessed by a ghost and seeing hallucinations.

A beat later he realized an overwhelming cold and a thick stench of blood had completely overtaken the vehicle. It felt as though every nerve in his body had frozen and he was breathing liquid blood directly.

He wanted to scream but could not move a single muscle.

The longer the gaze pinned him, the more overwhelming the terror and despair crushing his soul became.

After what felt like an eternity in a single instant.

After a pause whose purpose he would never know, a single jet-black strand of hair tore through the air with a horrifying sonic boom ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠and decapitated him.