novelraw Chapter 232 : Chapter 232
Chapter 232 : Chapter 232
Chapter 232: Preparations (2)
A pure white space whose end and form could not be fathomed at all.
In that space where only silence always lingered, an untimely commotion erupted.
It was a passage opened for grocery supplies, but instead of the needed groceries, villains revealed themselves.
Their numbers were in the dozens, perhaps over a hundred.
Counting them had already become meaningless.
The sight of them endlessly and forcibly squeezing through the opened passage was more reminiscent of a swarm of locusts than people.
“This is it?”
“Ain’t it a gate?”
“Idiot! They said it was something else!”
They were endlessly frivolous, loud, and rough.
The villain at the very front narrowed his brow and pointed to an old temple built on one side.
“Th-that! That building looks like the one, right?”
Naturally, not a single villain knew that it was the headquarters of the New World Trait Liberation Society.
But they knew it was the target.
“Who cares! They told us to smash every single thing we see!”
The order these people received from the 'top', whose name and face they didn't know, was just one.
To destroy everything within this space.
And while they were at it, capture the humans too.
Destroying and capturing were what they did best.
Other than that, there was nothing they had to worry about.
No, just one thing.
Only murder was forbidden.
Well, that was fine.
They were villains too, and had no qualms about doing bad things, but they weren't so far gone as to readily enjoy murder.
The stories, the past, the people's beliefs tangled up in that place?
None of that mattered.
They each gripped their weapons and rushed toward the building.
The Society's headquarters, and in the situation room on the lowest floor.
The Society's members couldn't hide their astonishment at the sudden appearance of villains.
And that bewilderment was the same for the leader.
No, he was more bewildered than anyone else here right now.
“Impossible!”
Shouting ‘impossible―’ for who knows what time, he grabbed his pure white hair.
It was obvious that Ho-cheol would attack the Society.
That's why he had stipulated a few scenarios, but he had never expected this form, at least.
The leader had naturally judged that Ho-cheol would either move alone or, at best, mobilize three or four subordinates with whom he had a close relationship.
But what in the world was this chaos beyond the screen.
At first, it was difficult to accept that Ho-cheol had used such a shabby trick.
“First floor! The security system has been breached!”
The leader belatedly came to his senses at the shout from his side.
But separate from coming to his senses, there wasn't much he could do.
This space was an even more clandestine location than a typical closed gate.
Naturally, they hadn't put much effort into a separate security system or guard personnel.
On top of that, the majority of the personnel here were ordinary researchers.
The current security system was insufficient to stop those villains.
“Second floor! Third floor! The villains aren't just passing through; they're destroying the entire facility!”
“These crazy bastards! Stop!”
The leader shouted pointlessly at the villains visible beyond the screen.
The facilities they were destroying weren't the kind that could be summed up with expressions like simply 'expensive' or 'rare'.
In the first place, this experimental facility was a cradle where everything was for Transcendence.
It was a system where one could reach Transcendence to the greatest extent possible by steadily and consistently breaking through each floor; training was prepared on each floor to meet the qualifications and conditions for Transcendence.
Naturally, the candidate the leader had his eye on was Ho-cheol.
In a sense, it was a space built entirely just for Ho-cheol's Transcendence.
The elaborate tower, built so delicately and carefully over so many years... Vermin who couldn't understand even 1% of the belief and spirit it contained were destroying it, just rampaging.
What enraged him more than anything was the attitude of the villains, snickering as they broke the facilities and devices.
Things that met neither the qualifications nor the conditions!
Those were all elements meant to make Ho-cheol stronger.
They weren't supposed to disappear meaninglessly like this.
From the humiliation, tears of blood were soon dripping from the leader's eyes.
No matter how high the difficulty was, as it was an ordeal for Transcendence, as long as a hundred Awakened beings were swarming in, rampaging while using their respective Traits...
The space itself couldn't hold out.
He asked the subordinate next to him with bloodshot red eyes.
“Smiley! Where in the world did that woman go?”
The researcher answered, faltering.
“Th-The internal trackers are all disconnected. We've had no idea of her whereabouts since yesterday.”
“What does that mean……. What does she gain from doing that?”
The leader asked back, dumbfounded.
In truth, the reason the Society hadn't paid much attention to security or safety was also thanks to her existence.
A cooperative relationship between the Society and Smiley was naturally essential.
It wasn't over for her just by being revived.
She had to receive periodic adjustments to her body through the Society's facilities, so she had no choice but to be cooperative.
But if she disappeared suddenly like this, her body wouldn't last long before collapsing.
With Smiley's combat power, the villains here should have been swept away with a single gesture.
But for her to disappear at such an important moment.
The leader, who had been contemplating for a moment, finally made a decision.
“For now... For now, we evacuate.”
In this situation, avoiding it was for the best rather than confronting it head-on.
In the end, the greatest asset is people.
If they could just safely extract the key personnel gathered here, they could gather people again, gather money, make a plan, and achieve Transcendence.
It's just one failure.
If he was going to give up over just one failure, he wouldn't even have started.
He, too, was a phantom possessed by the mirage of Transcendence.
That obsession had reached the realm of madness.
At his declaration, the other researchers were also relieved.
They had been worried he might say something ridiculous, like a desperate last stand or whatnot.
They packed up the most core research personnel and important research results and slipped out.
There were far more passages connected to the outside, like rabbit holes, so they could easily escape without running into the villains.
Just before they escaped from the headquarters, someone suddenly popped out from a corner.
The leader sent a gaze mixed with anticipation for a moment, even at the enemy's appearance.
If it was Ho-cheol, he would at least grant him a final moment that he could be satisfied with.
However, what blocked his path was...
“Hey. Where are you trying to bolt off to now.”
It was Wolf Fang, leading Ho-cheol's direct executives.
Having had his scent caught by Wolf Fang even once, it was impossible to escape from him within a certain range.
At least when it came to this kind of tracking, he was unparalleled even among S-ranks.
On top of that, even the near S-rank villains Ho-cheol had separately subjugated and was working.
Near S-rank, S-rank.
Their number was a whopping nine.
The leader's face distorted.
It was unpleasant that the opponent wasn't Ho-cheol, and it wasn't as if they were easy opponents either.
Of course, it wasn't that he couldn't defeat them completely.
But in this narrow passage, behind him, were researchers with zero combat power and stacks of delicate research journals and devices.
If a fight broke out here, there was no way those things would remain intact.
Use his Trait to get himself out alone?
That, too, was meaningless.
He could risk his life for Transcendence.
Conversely, it meant he couldn't run away alone for the sake of Transcendence.
In the end, he had only one choice.
The leader raised both hands as if surrendering.
A complete checkmate.
At that sight, Wolf Fang nodded.
“Just as the Boss predicted.”
“Jeong Ho-cheol. Where is he?”
With Ho-cheol not showing himself until the very end, the leader finally couldn't hold back his curiosity and asked.
“Ah, he told me to answer like this, just in case I got that question.”
Wolf Fang twisted the corner of his mouth into a mocking smile.
And he relayed Ho-cheol's words.
“I’m not interested in men.”
***
A place far, far away from the Society's headquarters.
Ho-cheol sat on the ground, the walkie-talkie placed at a distance.
With one knee up and his arm draped over it, he just stared blankly at the horizon.
He muttered.
“Is she really not here.”
If Smiley were to interfere with this raid, those small-fry villains, no matter their numbers, wouldn't even be able to buy time.
He naturally would have to stop Smiley himself.
That's why he intended to watch her movements from a bit of a distance.
But she didn't show herself at all, even as their hideout was completely routed.
“I wonder if this is good luck, or bad luck.”
An unexpected situation.
It could clearly be seen as a gain for now, but as long as he didn't know how that variable would lead to, he couldn't just be happy.
Besides that, Ho-cheol had complex emotions.
The fact that he felt a strange sense of regret and even disappointment that she didn't show herself until the end... was it proof that even knowing she was a fake, a corner of his heart hadn't accepted it?
As he slowly raised his body, a voice came from the walkie-talkie.
[Situation is over. We’ve captured all of them.]
“Even Whitey?”
[Yes. It was exactly as you predicted, Boss.]
Thick admiration was present in Wolf Fang's voice.
Wolf Fang, as well as the other executives, had naturally expected a fierce battle to break out.
Only Ho-cheol had seen the probability of a battle breaking out here as extremely low.
[How did you know that?]
“Because he’s a bastard who doesn’t care about the means or methods for the sake of Transcendence. It’s exactly the kind of thought a fanatic of that level would have.”
He probably had the confidence that even if he got caught now, he’d be out soon.
In reality, keywords like ‘resurrection’ or ‘eternal life’ are so appetizing to those in power that they practically drool.
Contacting the upper echelons from prison, deluding them, and getting out again... 3 months at the longest?
“If he hates white hair, he should just dye his gray hair. Doesn't even know his place.”
At Ho-cheol's explanation, Wolf Fang was momentarily flustered and asked back.
[If he’s getting out again, doesn’t that mean catching him is pretty useless?]
“Not at all. We have a good place, don't we.”
He would be sent to prison, but it wasn't the government's legal prison.
The eradication of further crime and disconnection from society.
As long as that purpose was achieved, it was fine.
“I’m sending him to the island.”
[Ah, the island. We do have that island. Right.]
Wolf Fang also belatedly realized the existence of that island and acknowledged it.
The island where Ho-cheol had locked up guys he didn't like to torture them, back from his villain days.
Even now, thanks to its nature of being half-combined with a gate, it could sufficiently serve its role as a prison.
“Then I’ll head back right away.”
[Understood. By the way, the money we promised these villain guys... are you really going to give it all to them?]
No matter how much Ho-cheol worked other villains based on his powerful strength and influence, the vast majority were guys who would only move if you dangled a carrot in front of them.
That's why Ho-cheol had promised considerable financial compensation to the villains mobilized for this job.
On top of that, the bounty per person captured was also substantial.
“I have to keep my promise. I’ll give them all the money. However...”
Ho-cheol grinned.
“It’s just that being able to spend that money will be a matter for a few years later.”
The villains selected this time had pretty outstanding combat abilities, and they were guys who didn't have much loyalty to him.
And yet, their greed for money was overflowing, so they were trash bastards who weren't even 1 bit of help to society.
That's why Ho-cheol had called a bunch of heroes to the exit they would be leaving from, in advance.
So they would be caught the instant they returned.
[By any chance, the heroes you called?]
“I called a reasonable amount. The Sword Demon's office just happens to be over there, too.”
If they get caught by them, trial or whatever, it’s prison first, trial later.
“Or well, I guess they could use it as prison commissary money.”
Wolf Fang's small sigh of admiration could be heard over the walkie-talkie.
To use them so thoroughly and then throw them away immediately like this.
Could there be another human this ruthless?
“Then clear everything out, and clean up the mess neatly.”
[Well, that’s obvious....]
Wolf Fang, who had been speaking leisurely, momentarily choked on his breath.
[Th-Uh. Boss.]
A villain who had been through all sorts of hardships, just like Ho-cheol.
That voice of his trembled faintly.
[I think you need to come here...]
“Why. Is it important?”
[Importance aside, it’s serious. And quite a lot at that.]
Ho-cheol clicked his tongue and turned his body toward the hideout.
They weren't in a relationship to play jokes on each other, and if Wolf Fang said it was serious, it must be quite serious.
Of course, I had a rough guess.
They were guys whose default was human experimentation, so maybe they had secretly exhumed all the corpses of celebrities and piled them up, saying they’d revive them.
If it was to that extent, I could fully understand Wolf Fang's reaction.
However.
[By any chance, Boss...]
At Wolf Fang's following question, Ho-cheol also realized it wasn't 'just' to that extent.
[I trust it’s not the case that you have, like, a dozen or so pairs of twin siblings.]