novelraw Chapter 174 : Request (3)
Chapter 174 : Request (3)
Team Leader Oh and Secretary Kim.
The two were having a conversation while drinking cocktails from lunch in a private room bar where privacy was guaranteed.
"Why did you call me? Couldn't we just talk on the phone?"
"I have something to give you."
"What is it?"
"Don't be so impatient. I'll show you when the time is right."
"Seriously. As if it's some great secret."
The two didn't realize it, but.
There was a man perfectly concealed in the corner of the room where only very soft music was playing.
'Good. Successfully infiltrated.'
Using the momentary gap when an employee opened the door for service to blend into the darkness wasn't particularly difficult for him.
[I can hear clearly.]
Su-hyeon's voice came through the earphone worn for communication.
'Good. Preparations are perfect.'
Moon Seongil focused on the conversation between the two while regulating his breathing.
"While looking at Han Myeongju's transaction history, I discovered something strange. He purchased a large quantity of painkillers."
Team Leader Oh said.
"Painkillers?"
The secretary frowned.
"He didn't have any particular chronic illness."
"Above all, it's suspicious that he suddenly bought them in bulk when he had never purchased them before."
"Hmm."
While listening to their conversation, Moon Seongil compiled the information in his head.
'There's no doubt that the woman is bait deliberately planted by Team Leader Oh's side. From what I've heard so far, it's clear that Director Han Myeongju disappeared without a trace. However, it wasn't a spontaneous disappearance but a meticulously planned escape.'
The question was how much they knew about Han Myeongju's whereabouts.
"So, is there no information about that man being sighted or anything?"
"We're thoroughly investigating his movements. The most recent information is......"
It was then.
[There's a strange sign.]
'A strange sign?'
Su-hyeon's Eye Power, which was conducting surveillance from a distance, had observed an entity showing unusual movement.
[A man in black civilian clothes is surveilling the interior of the bar.]
'......Who sent him? How much do they know?'
Moon Seongil's headache intensified.
Tok tok, tok tok tok.
The message that he tapped on the communicator in Morse code, unable to speak, was 'Can you subdue?'
And Su-hyeon's response was simple.
[No problem.]
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The man who was observing the bar with binoculars from the rooftop of the opposite building hastily turned his head at the presence he suddenly felt behind him.
'Damn!'
When?
The sense of crisis that preceded the question moved his body.
Bwoong!
After avoiding Su-hyeon's fist by leaping away, the man quickly got up and skillfully drew a knife in his right hand.
And then.
Tadadadadak!
His body became semi-transparent as he closed the distance with Su-hyeon in an instant with an unfamiliar movement.
'An invisibility type?'
Shwik!
The dagger held in reverse grip tried to mercilessly stab Su-hyeon, but Su-hyeon's right hand, covered in Mana Shield, blocked the attack.
'He knows how to use sword energy. The quality of the sword energy is at least an intermediate level.'
Su-hyeon quickly assessed his skill.
In other words, it was enough to sharply tear through the shield.
But not enough to penetrate the shield and cut skin or bone.
'This bastard, what ability is that?'
The man was startled seeing the Mana Shield blocking his dagger imbued with sword energy.
'Ugh!'
In that gap, Su-hyeon grabbed the man's wrist and twisted it, trying to take the knife.
'No!'
Pweok!
With a nimble movement, he delivered a double-footed dropkick to Su-hyeon's chest, pushing him away to create distance.
But.
"?!"
The man's face filled with shock at Su-hyeon's monstrous core that stood firm without moving an inch.
'What kind of bastard is this...?'
But the shock didn't last long.
'He's strong.'
The man, having quickly gauged his opponent's skill, instead of charging at Su-hyeon again.
Tadak!
Jumped off the rooftop, then descended five floors in an instant by zigzagging between buildings and began to flee through the back alley.
'Seems like he's trained in parkour.'
But instead of following him in the same manner.
'Mana Shield.'
Su-hyeon chased the man by taking the shortest route, stepping on Mana Shields suspended in mid-air like stepping stones across the sky.
'Crazy bastard!'
The man, seeing Su-hyeon, realized that escape was futile.
'You'll regret following me into this narrow alley.'
Instead, his eyes gleamed with murderous intent.
Shwik!
He made ruthless and rapid knife thrusts as if he didn't need to cut strongly but just stab randomly to shred his opponent.
But such attempts were futile before Su-hyeon's Eye Power.
Tak!
Su-hyeon barely avoided the knife while retreating until his back touched the wall.
'Now!'
Just as the man, thinking his opponent had nowhere else to retreat, moved in closer to stab him in one go.
Tadak!
Su-hyeon stepped to the side like a ghost, moving past the man's flank.
'This bastard!'
The man quickly turned his body and tried to stab Su-hyeon again with his recovered knife.
Tak!
Su-hyeon, who deflected the trajectory by striking his wrist, instantly twisted the man's wrist and made him drop the knife.
"Kuk!"
The man let out a groan he had been holding back as excruciating pain surged through his wrist as if it had been dislocated in an instant.
'Damn it!'
Even in such a state, he tried to respond somehow by delivering a kick.
Pweok!
Su-hyeon, who blocked the kick, grabbed the leg and instantly threw the man to the ground using an inner leg trip, pushing his shoulder while tripping his supporting foot.
Kwaang!
"Kueok!"
Falling to the bare ground without any breakfall techniques was truly a dangerous act that could even endanger a human life.
'Damn it, you think I'll be taken down like this?'
But the man was no ordinary person.
Even in a situation where it was difficult to control his body due to intense pain and damage, he desperately tried to grab Su-hyeon's ankle.
'Oh, jiu-jitsu too?'
His intention must have been to break the ankle right there.
Bakak!
Before he could attempt anything, Su-hyeon knocked him unconscious with a shield-covered fist to the jaw.
Kuwng!
"Target subdued."
The man wasn't someone who should have been defeated so pathetically.
But he was no match for Su-hyeon.
And now Su-hyeon no longer even felt satisfaction from taking down opponents of this level.
'I'll need to strengthen my Mana Shield.'
Su-hyeon briefly reviewed the fight, noting that his protective power was considerably lower against opponents who could use weapon aura.
'I've gone out of communication range.'
Su-hyeon took out his phone to reestablish contact.
-I'm tracking Team Leader Oh. If you've subdued that guy, bring him to the hideout.
"Hmm."
Su-hyeon, whose destination had changed, looked down at the fallen man.
'It's quite far to run there.'
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"Fuck! This is getting messy."
Team Leader Oh, realizing that someone was tracking him, immediately left the bar with Secretary Kim and was driving back to headquarters.
'How could that friend be defeated? What kind of people are they?'
An ace of the security team who wouldn't be outmatched in terms of skill wherever he went.
A bodyguard assigned by the company side as soon as Secretary Kim contacted them.
That person seemed to be in a fight with someone, and then suddenly communication was cut off.
'Damn, are they the ones who targeted Secretary Kim? Or did Han Myeongju that bastard do something? No! How could that idiot have such backing...?'
Team Leader Oh, his head about to explode with all sorts of thoughts, was roughly pressing the accelerator when he looked at the passenger seat and lost his temper.
"Hey! Answer me properly. Besides that bastard, who else did you show your tail to... Huh?"
Team Leader Oh felt a chill run down his spine when he saw Secretary Kim, who had somehow lost consciousness and slumped over.
"Hiek!"
"Quiet. Don't look back, just look ahead."
He froze like a frog before a snake at the cold, chilling metallic sensation against his neck.
"Drive as I tell you. If you try anything..."
Shivers!
Team Leader Oh, feeling intense killing intent, unknowingly wet himself.
'I'm screwed.'
His expression was filled with despair as he sensed the future that awaited him.
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Team Leader Oh, Secretary Kim, and even the unidentified man.
Moon Seongil, who had suddenly brought three people to the hideout, sighed.
"This is going to be a headache to clean up."
For starters, Team Leader Oh was from the Laura Group, which was evaluated as a considerably solid mid-sized enterprise.
Kidnapping such a person abruptly could potentially lead to a big problem if handled incorrectly.
'Even though you made him drive to avoid creating such problems.'
Su-hyeon thought to himself.
Even if they were to check CCTV footage to find him.
All they would see is Team Leader Oh urgently driving away somewhere with Secretary Kim.
'It wouldn't be strange if it appeared as if the two had conspired and escaped.'
"But it's a pity."
Moon Seongil said.
"The guy you caught is an employee of the Laura Group's security team, right?"
"Yes."
"If they're working together, their information would overlap. If he had been sent from somewhere else, it would have been a decisive smoking gun in finding Director Han Myeongju."
Moon Seongil smacked his lips.
"They seem to be quite methodical. Or it could be that there's no longer a need to monitor that side."
Moon Seongil agreed with Su-hyeon's words.
"That's probably right."
His gaze turned to the door where Team Leader Oh was confined.
"Then that guy will have to reveal twice as much information."
The two masked individuals intimidated Team Leader Oh by emanating killing intent while interrogating him.
"So, at exactly what point did Director Han Myeongju disappear?"
"We really don't know either!"
Team Leader Oh, who had already shed tears and snot despite not being tortured, shouted with indignation.
"What were you doing when Director Han Myeongju was caught by the audit team for his affair and confidential information leakage?"
"......We told him we would spare his life if he quickly cleaned up and came to our side. We even prepared a temporary residence."
"You were planning to blackmail him and keep him on a tight leash."
Team Leader Oh closed his mouth, struck by Moon Seongil's precise point.
"And then you planned to dispose of him when he was no longer useful."
"......"
"The acts of people like you are so predictable."
Moon Seongil sneered.
"Director Han Myeongju probably ran away because he knew your intentions, right? No doubt you scraped his insides raw, saying things like what you would do if he didn't come to you."
"......"
"I see that's right too."
Moon Seongil sneered, saying it was obvious from his reaction.
"......Yes. So we sent trackers, but we haven't found him yet."
"Not just that you haven't found him, but there's been no news at all. Not knowing whether he's dead or alive."
"How did you?"
Team Leader Oh asked in surprise.
"How would I know? Because we're in the same situation."
"......! Could it be that you are?"
"Did you just realize?"
Director Moon Seongil said.
"We were looking for Director Han Myeongju at the request of the very company you tried to work on."
First shock, then confusion.
Looking at Team Leader Oh, whose emotions were completely displayed on his face, far from maintaining a poker face, Moon Seongil asked.
"You're wondering why I'm telling you this, aren't you?"
"......Yes."
"Of course, it's to use you as a witness."
Puk!
Moon Seongil, who cleanly knocked out Team Leader Oh with a knife hand strike to the back of his neck, removed his mask.
"We didn't gain much. Who's helping Han Myeongju is still a mystery."
"They don't seem to know much either."
"Damn. This isn't efficient."
Su-hyeon said to Moon Seongil, who was frowning.
"There's one more thing I'd like to confirm."
"What is it?"
"I think we should meet Han Myeongju's family."
"Family? In this situation?"
Moon Seongil expressed doubt.
"The family seems to have no influence or relation to this case."
"Of course that's true. But in a situation like this, I think we might get some clue from them."
"Well, the judgments you've shown so far haven't been bad, but it's a bit difficult to agree with you on this matter."
The gazes of the two men collided in mid-air.
"If you insist, I'll go alone."
"That's not a problem that can be solved that way. We also need to consider the opportunity cost of having one person missing."
"Are you against that too?"
"Who knows."
Moon Seongil sent a sharp gaze through his dark sunglasses.
"What will you do if there's no gain? Will you take responsibility?"
To that.
"Gladly."
Su-hyeon smirked.
"What if I'm right?"
"Hahaha."
Moon Seongil, who burst into laughter at the audacious question, soon said.
"Then let's do this. I will interrogate these three people for 6 hours to extract information. During that time, you collect information in the way you want."
"Let's do that."
"Whose information and reasoning is more rational? That will determine the winner."
"Who will make the judgment?"
As if asking the obvious, Moon Seongil replied.
"The elder will take care of it."