Black Badger

Chapter 457: Running for It (3)

Has Yehyeon gotten even busier lately?

That was the thought running through my head as I made my way toward the second residence of the Choi siblings and Yehyeon.

If it had been the house across from the cabin, I wouldn’t have come to help like this. The security there was monstrous. Comparable to an Elder’s estate. Every corner of the two-hundred-pyeong property was fitted with special defensive systems Yun had personally engineered—nearly impregnable even to his own subordinates.

But the second residence, closer to Headquarters, was just an ordinary house.

I’d heard Yehyeon bought it during the period when he was struggling for various reasons after the death of his aide, Saul. It was maintained regularly by hired staff, but rarely used.

So why were the two of them living there now?

The reason wasn’t especially important.

Good thing Ami isn’t home.

With a balaclava pulled over my head, I muted my footsteps and watched a group of ambitious illegal enhanced-body owners surround the house.

1:30 a.m.

The neighborhood was sparsely populated. Houses were spaced far apart. There was no sign of life in the buildings on either side.

Not a single house had lights on.

Not even the residence Yun was supposedly inside.

Whoosh.

The street seemed to swallow light.

The man at the front gestured that it was clear to move in.

They poured inside, careful to silence their steps.

I didn’t follow.

Instead, I slipped behind the bushes in front of the house, crouching beneath a massive walnut tree.

Black balaclava. Colorless top and bottom. I’d have no trouble blending into the dark.

And though my night vision was decent, I’d brought night-vision goggles too.

For two reasons.

First, to conceal every inch of my skin—including around my eyes.

Second, to avoid stepping in too early and getting too close to Yun while he dealt with the intruders.

Honestly?

I’m scared.

The people here clearly have no idea Yun’s a sociopath.

Which was only natural. Publicly, he was known simply as the genius Black Badger of the Aitek family. He hated media exposure; very little information had ever been released.

You have no idea there’s a massive cold-storage warehouse in one of his ❖ Nоvеl𝚒ght ❖ (Exclusive on Nоvеl𝚒ght) countless safe houses.

“Oops.”

So the idiots who’d planned to kidnap Yun had quietly opened every window and door to ensure a smooth escape route.

Thanks to that, even from the bushes I could more or less see what was happening inside.

The intruders entered cautiously, bodies low—

Thud.

One of them dropped backward.

There had been no gunshot.

Yet he lay sprawled on the floor.

Tat-tat-tat-tat-tat!

Realizing they were under attack, the others began spraying bullets wildly.

Tat-tat-tat-tat-tat! Tat-tat-tat-tat-tat-tat!

Doors shattered. Windows exploded.

Bullets ricocheted everywhere.

Even knowing Yun’s capabilities, I felt a flicker of fear.

Those are all Green Dream rounds.

What happens if even one grazes his vitals?

Anxiety tightening in my chest, I rose from the bushes and moved toward the wide-open window.

Blending into the group of attackers, I picked up a gun.

Then someone inside shouted—

Their voice half-muffled by a mask.

“We’ve got him alive!”

What?

“He’s hit! We’re subduing him—don’t shoot!”

Gun still in hand, I walked toward the voice in stunned disbelief.

And saw Yun pinned down by two men dressed entirely in black, like me.

He lay on the bedroom floor. Blood was spreading beneath him, soaking the wood. His face was twisted in pain as he glared up at them.

What?

I stared at Yun, stunned.

How could he be this helpless...?

He could get hit, sure—but subdued this easily...?

......

...Wait.

Is this bastard trying to force me to act?

The moment the thought formed, a chill crawled up my spine.

I was certain I’d hit the answer.

No matter how I looked at it, Yun had deliberately taken a Green Dream bullet.

Because he’d guessed I was here.

Disguised among the intruders.

And he was waiting for me to intervene.

“Fuck, what a jackpot!”

“Tie him up tight. Don’t let him try anything.”

“He’s already trash after taking Green Dream. Why’re you so tense?”

One of them aimed a gun at Yun’s head, scolding sharply. The man pinning him down snorted.

Crack!

He snapped Yun’s wrist deliberately.

“See?”

He grinned maliciously.

“How easy.”

You don’t have to go this far.

I forced down the surge of rage rising inside me.

It was layered fury.

Anger at Yun for going this far just to draw me out.

Rage at the trash who would’ve died on the floor without ever seeing his face if things had gone normally.

Still hiding among them, I watched the intruders break into triumphant laughter.

“Let’s bounce before the cops get here.”

“Even if they show up, what can they do without enhanced bodies? Look. Even a war hero’s just garbage once he loses his enhancements.”

“How much you think we’ll get?”

Someone beside me panted excitedly.

“If we bring him in, we’ll get a real enhanced body soon, right? Not some demo version like this?”

“Of course. He’s one of the biggest fish on that list.”

“He’s resisting.”

The one who’d broken Yun’s wrist smirked.

“What’re you gonna do? Wiggle at me?”

Crack.

He broke Yun’s other thumb.

I bit my lip.

Swallowing murderous intent, I cursed both the men here and Yun himself.

What were you going to do if I’d decided not to come?

What if some rookie got excited and shot you in the head by accident?

...Or.

Is there even the slightest chance he really let his guard down and got caught?

Exhausted from research and work.

So deeply asleep he didn’t sense anyone approaching.

Crack.

“Hey, hey, that’s enough.”

I don’t know.

I don’t know what the truth is.

But I know reality.

Whether intentional or not, my shooter had taken Green Dream and become an ordinary human.

And was being tortured.

Two illegal enhanced-body owners were sitting on his back.

There was no solution except me stepping in.

Yun.

You really are—

Crack.

Ah, hell.

Fine.

I pulled the machete from my waist.

Slash.

Heads flew.

The men standing in the living room were beheaded cleanly in a single silent stroke.

I watched their headless bodies collapse one by one.

The view opened up.

Much better.

Now I just had to cut off the necks of the two kneeling on Yun.

They were lower, so I couldn’t finish them in one swing—

Thud.

The one who’d broken Yun’s fingers suddenly pitched forward.

Thump.

The other, who’d been silently pressing his knee into Yun’s back, toppled backward.

Bang.

I blinked.

Yun rose slowly to his feet.

Completely healed.

Calmly, he adjusted the sleeves of his blood-soaked white shirt.

In his palm, an antidote clung flat like a magician’s trump card.

Hidden inside his sleeve.

Along the side was something sharp.

A venom needle.

“Huh.”

“My dearly cherished vice-shooter.”

As I let out a disbelieving sound, Yun flexed the wrist that had supposedly been broken.

He didn’t even look at me.

In the darkness, his voice was smooth.

“It’s truly good to see you again.”

He slowly raised his head and looked at me—covered in night-vision goggles, balaclava, gloves.

“I received your right hand and left foot well.”

I bolted.

Didn’t look back.

Didn’t answer.

Didn’t even allow myself time to be terrified.

I ran through the shattered window.

I heard Yun’s footsteps behind me.

Terrifying.

Instinctively, I drove more strength into my thighs.

Glass shards crunched underfoot as I sprinted across the lawn toward the car parked in the backyard.

The attackers’ vehicle.

A driver was waiting inside.

Apparently some rising star in getaway driving.

I yanked the door open and jumped in.

“Drive!”

The driver whipped his head toward me.

“Drive!”

Vroooom!

True to reputation, he didn’t hesitate.

He slammed the accelerator and shot onto the road.

Black asphalt illuminated by headlights.

Streetlamps spaced too far apart.

No people.

It felt like some strange parallel world devoid of humanity.

Except it wasn’t.

My sociopathic shooter was chasing me.

“You said you caught him?!”

“He had an antidote.”

The driver shouted while making a sharp left.

I answered darkly, watching the side mirror.

“I considered that possibility.”

That Yun might have an antidote.

“I just couldn’t stand watching...”

Suddenly, everything brightened.

The rearview mirror flooded with light.

For a second, I didn’t understand.

Then I did.

A car that had been parked in the darkness had switched on its high beams.

Vrrrmmm!

Engine roaring.

That exhaust note.

A high-end sports car.

“Holy shit.”

The driver gasped.

“Ferrari Stradale.”

“Kai.”

My jaw dropped.

I’d expected Yun to retaliate.

I hadn’t expected this.

Vrrrmmm!

It was the limited-edition model Ferrari had gifted Kairos.

1000 horsepower.

Zero to sixty in 2.5 seconds.

Street legal—

VROOOOOM!

The Ferrari launched forward.

At the same time, a human silhouette shot upward into the sky.

Two feet glowing faintly, like boots made for flight.

Two motorcycles near the Ferrari flipped on their high beams.

“Floor it!”

Real fear began to seep into me.

You don’t need to go this far!

“Floor it!”

“Ah, fuck!”

I explained everything in my will!

I said I’d come back!

I’ll come back no matter what!

Clutching the handle above the passenger seat, I screamed internally.

I won’t die until I face Kyle!

There was no way that would reach him.

No way to explain Colton was right in front of me.

I resigned myself.

And began cheering the driver beside me with all my heart.

If I get caught, I’m dead.

No matter what—

I’m escaping.