Chapter 84. First Move (3)
For a while, Kim Gi-ryeo’s brain kept recalling the proverb “A thief who learns late doesn’t know the dawn,” but let’s ignore that.
*
“Seonwoo-yeon Hunter!”
“Oh, you’re here?”
Finding the location of the warehouse wasn’t difficult.
Seonwoo-yeon easily granted my request to participate after hearing my suggestion.
“You’re already listed as an appraiser for this investigation, so it doesn’t matter.”
“I’m sorry for suddenly asking.”
That B-Class Hunter flashed a smile.
“It’s okay. It’s a good thing that Gi-ryeo is here.”
Her innocent belief made me feel a twinge of guilt.
‘I wonder how she’ll react if she finds out I came here to swipe the Blueshell.’
But at that moment.
Thud! The car we were in suddenly came to a halt.
It seemed we had arrived.
‘Wow, they really set this up in a remote area.’
Seonwoo-yeon and I got out of the car, following the police’s instructions.
Before us stood a simple structure surrounded by ivory-colored panels.
‘Is this the warehouse?’
Surprisingly clean and large.
Of course, no matter how impressive the exterior looks, if the security is like this, it’s meaningless.
The barrier surrounding the place was laughably weak.
‘Wow, this is even worse than the Magic Tower Guild’s barrier.’
Every time this happens, I feel more and more like I’ve fallen into another world.
‘Primitive magical civilization.’
In that moment.
Crash! Crash!
Suddenly, there was a thunderous sound next to me, like a weed whacker starting up, forcing me to turn my head.
Crunch!
It was the sound of the barrier being ripped open.
A gust of wind whipped around the Awakened who had long, flowing hair, and watching Seonwoo-yeon use her ability, I thought.
‘Oh?’
I might have regretted teaching her how to use her skills after all.
‘Not bad, huh?’
Now that Seonwoo-yeon had fully mastered her abilities, she had become quite a formidable presence.
If anyone even touched that blade-like wind, an F-Class would instantly be sliced in half.
‘Hmm.’
Whooosh…
I nodded as I heard the ominous wind.
‘I absolutely can’t be found out for coming here to steal the Blueshell…’
Just as I started to realize the danger of this mission.
Ding!
Finally, it seemed the barrier had been destroyed, and the magical energy surrounding the warehouse dispersed into the air in an instant.
“Is this good?”
“Yes, Hunter. Let’s move in.”
But they said this wouldn’t be particularly dangerous…
‘Why does everyone look fully armed?’
I shot a glance at the detectives wielding their batons and asked, “Isn’t this risky?”
Seonwoo-yeon replied, “It’s fine. The gangsters here are all non-awakened.”
“Hmm.”
“We hunters work in an industry where Awakened individuals are common, but in society, they’re still a minority.”
Even after hearing that, I couldn’t let my guard down.
‘F-Class could easily lose to an ordinary person…’
While I was secretly sweating in silence.
The leading police shouted towards Seonwoo-yeon.
“Seon Hunter, just follow from the back while letting us know Jang Jong-sik’s location periodically.”
Thus began the operation to enter the warehouse.
Inside the building we arrived at was dark and damp.
‘Wow, there are… a lot of rooms?’
The structure was unexpectedly unique. There were makeshift walls here and there, making the corridors feel narrow.
‘Could each room serve a different purpose?’
Even now, the police and Seonwoo-yeon were diligently moving ahead.
I sneakily glanced at them and fell back to try opening a door.
Click.
But to my surprise, it was locked.
‘Darn.’
I tried several more times, but the results were the same.
‘At least there are no open rooms in this corridor.’
But having come all this way, I couldn’t just walk away empty-handed.
I followed the police, trying door handles whenever I could.
Before long, someone from the gangsters also jumped out from inside a room.
“Hey, you punks, stay still!”
“I’m placing everyone under arrest for violations of the Controlled Drugs Act and the Special Law on Awakening Crimes!”
Despite not finding the Blueshell yet, it was fine for now.
Surprisingly, the Earthling police were holding their own.
‘Whoa.’
I couldn’t help but let out a brief admiration as the gangsters were swiftly subdued. Everything was going smoothly.
Bang!!
Wait, what was that ominous sound?
“A gun?”
“That was definitely a gunshot!”
“Why are there gunshots?”
Perk up!
The police’s senses heightened at the noise echoing from down the corridor.
It wasn’t just them who changed their demeanor.
“That’s in the direction where the distributor Jang Jong-sik is!”
Seonwoo-yeon sensed who was there in the direction of the gunfire and shouted.
The police immediately reacted.
“Let’s hurry and check it out!”
A major figure who needed to be apprehended might be in danger.
Without hesitation, they raced down the right path.
However, amidst all this, there was one person who didn’t follow along.
‘Crazy.’
It was me, Kim Gi-ryeo.
‘Do guns actually exist in Korea? This is weird. That kind of thing only happens in movies…!’
Somewhere, I once saw a post on the web:
[C-Class Hunter Identification Method.gif]
Do you know what the content of that post was?
It was a video of someone shooting a gun at an Awakened.
In other words, Awakened individuals ranked C or higher don’t get harmed by firearms, while those below that rank increasingly have different outcomes…
‘Someone like Kim Gi-ryeo would definitely be hit!’
I didn’t follow them.
I didn’t want to risk getting hit by a junkie’s bullet for no reason.
‘Ugh.’
Besides, the operation to apprehend had to be reaching its climax, so wouldn’t it be fine to just wait here?
‘I came for a sample, and now I’m stuck in this mess.’
I shivered and paced around the now quiet corridor.
But at that moment.
This time, from the opposite direction of where the gunfire had been, a chilling sound began to echo.
Hoo… Hoo…
It sounded almost like someone was sobbing…?
‘What’s that?’
The warehouse was inherently dark and somewhat eerie, but unfortunately, I was a Great Mage who could interpret souls.
I didn’t believe in spiritual phenomena.
‘It can’t be a ghost.’
Then there had to be someone making that noise.
Ugh… Hic…
As I listened, it began to bother me.
So I cautiously moved toward the source of the sound.
Of course, I was on maximum alert, ready to escape if I encountered anyone else, but fortunately, nothing I worried about occurred.
‘Is this it?’
I soon arrived at a room with the door wide open.
Thanks to that, my curiosity was easily satisfied, as I could see inside just by poking my head in.
Hic…
What I saw was a woman collapsed on the cement floor.
She seemed to be losing the strength to cry, gradually quieting down.
Now that I looked closer, she was blindfolded and tied up with ropes, placing the situation in a rather precarious light.
‘Hmm.’
Now it became a simple logic problem.
This place was a gangster’s den. That meant it was full of bad people.
This woman must have been captured by those bad people…
‘The enemy of my enemy is my ally.’
The answer was clear.
I decided to help her.
‘She’s an unarmed civilian, so I should be able to subdue her easily in case anything happens.’
Although a slightly impure thought crept in, still, she should be grateful for my altruism.
Ugh…
I carefully approached her while scanning the surroundings.
“Are you okay?”
When I had closed the distance enough.
I cautiously asked the woman lying on the ground.
But there was no response.
“I’m going to free you now.”
I knew how frustrating it was to be stuck unable to move, being someone who had experienced kidnapping.
Using the Pyromancer Necklace hanging around my neck, I burned away the ropes in front of me.
‘Huh?’
But to my surprise, even after freeing her from the ropes, she didn’t move her hands.
Reluctantly, I decided to take off her blindfold myself since she seemed confused.
‘Done.’
Slither.
As I turned around to free her from the last restraint, the woman slowly lifted her upper body.
“Uh, um…?”
But the Earthling’s face turned pale blue in just three seconds.
“Why did you suddenly free me…? Are you taking me away already?”
I was baffled by what she meant to say, and the woman began to sob while desperately begging.
“I’m sorry! Please spare me!”
“Excuse me?”
“I swear I won’t tell anyone what you did! Really, I promise!”
What was going on?
Was she seriously saying she was going to be “concrete-ed”? She didn’t want to get on board? The subsequent sentences were all incomprehensible.
Hic…
“Ugh, I didn’t even know this was the Gayangpa region…!”
At this point, I finally started to get an idea of her misunderstanding.
‘Could she really think I’m a member of the gang?’
How could someone as upright as me be mistaken for a gangster!
At first, it was absurd, but then it was understandable upon reflection.
Wearing a white shirt and black slacks.
It just so happened that my attire was similar to that of the criminals.
“Um…”
I tried to clarify the misunderstanding, but just then, a fresh piece of information entered my view.
Drip.
Suddenly, a stream of red blood flowed from her forehead.
‘Blood?’
Only then did I realize she was injured. Moreover, the injury wasn’t looking too good.
‘Is she hurt on the head? That’s critical for Earthlings, right?’
In treatment, the initial response is the most crucial.
Realizing that the Earthling was hurt, I crouched down in surprise to examine her wound closely.
“AAAH!”
However, the next thing that came was her piercing scream.
“Why are you doing this! Why!”
“Uh, I just want to see your injury.”
“Excuse me?”
“Just tilt your head over here.”
“Y-Your head? Again with the head? Huh!”
No matter how much I tried to explain that I wasn’t a gangster, it was no use.
The bewildered citizen trembled like a aspen, mumbling in a panic.
“Please spare me. Please…”
As she shook her head violently, even more blood dribbled from her forehead.
“Ugh! Stay still!”
I flustered and quickly tried to halt her movements.
Grip.
With my right hand, I held onto her head.
“Yikes!”
Yet, the emergency treatment did not yield good results.
As soon as I grabbed her head, her face turned pale, and she screamed at the top of her lungs.
“I’ll talk!”
After all the chatter, what on earth does she have to say now?
“I’ll tell everything without holding back! I’ll do my best to remember what you asked! Please…!”
I was sure she also had her own circumstances that led her to be dragged in here, but to be honest, what she had to say wasn’t my concern.
Rustle.
I rummaged through her hair to find the source of the bleeding.
Indeed, her scalp was torn. Moreover, it looked pretty deep too.
‘Living beings are tricky to heal, so perhaps a simple bandage should do for now…’
Just then.
Thud!
I swiftly turned my head at the sudden loud noise.
But I wasn’t too alarmed. The figure who had kicked the aluminum door open was a familiar Awakened to me.
“Ah.”
“…!”
Seonwoo-yeon burst into the room, gasping for breath. It seemed she had traced my location using her skills.
“You got here quickly?”
But why did she look like that?
