Chapter 37

"Give me Ryu Taeyoung’s phone number."

—Ryu Taeyoung? From the Special Response Team?

"Yeah."

—Uh, hold on. 010...

I repeated the number Joo Seowon read out a few times until I had it memorized, then stood up. That was enough time wasted.

"I’ll call again later, so make sure you answer. And don’t you dare leave the house with Do Yehyun."

—What the hell, kidnapping? You mean kidnapping? Are you fucking insane? What the hell are you wrapped up in?

He screamed so loud my skull rattled. I cut the line without hesitation. I must’ve burned at least ten minutes inside—would they start suspecting?

Instead of heading straight out, I splashed my face, trying to get it together. One look in the mirror showed a wreck. The nosebleed had stopped, but streaks of dried blood ran down to my chin, and my cheek was swollen enough to see with the naked eye.

"Those sons of bitches..."

Grinding down the anger, I slammed the faucet shut with my fist. The moment I yanked open the bathroom door, Choi Jeonggil was right there waiting.

"Fuck, why the hell are you {N•o•v•e•l•i•g•h•t} standing right in front of me?"

"I was wondering why you weren’t coming out...."

"You need me to narrate what I’m doing in the bathroom, too?"

"N-no, I just thought, you never know...."

I ignored him and walked back toward the chair I’d been tied to. Just as I opened my mouth to snap at him for chattering, someone new—who definitely hadn’t been there before—blocked my path.

'Ah, fuck. This day just keeps getting worse.'

Sure enough, the guy’s brows pinched together as he stomped over and grabbed Jeonggil by the collar.

"Hyung!"

"You outta your damn mind, Jeonggil? Didn’t Seokgyung hyung tell you not to untie this bastard under any circumstances?"

"He said he was going to the bathroom..."

"Like hell! What does it matter if he goes or not?"

Wait a second. That’s not right. Is he serious?

"What, so I’m not allowed to use the bathroom now? What is this, human rights abuse?"

"And who the fuck are you, huh?"

"You expect me to shit in the chair?"

As I threw a jab at this absurd violation of rights, he released Jeonggil’s collar and shoved me in the chest instead.

"Hey. Hey, asshole. You not getting the situation? You’ve been kidnapped. You could be fucking dead any minute now. Got it?"

"..."

"I said, got it, you little shit!"

"Yeah. Got it."

I even answered politely, but the bastard still looked pissed. He pulled something from his jacket and jabbed it at me.

'What’s that?'

No status window popped up, so it wasn’t an item—just a stun gun. Not for self-defense either, more like for subduing.

'The hell, you planning to kill people with that? Psycho.'

I quickly brought up his status window.

Name: Ahn Junhyeok

Age: 29

Rank: –

Title: –

Main Skills: –

Growth Limit: –

'He’s unawakened?'

Even if Jeonggil’s only F-rank, he’s still awakened, yet this guy grabs him by the collar without hesitation? So hierarchy really comes down to discipline, not actual ability. Jeonggil glanced at me nervously, clearly aware of what that stun gun could do.

"Fine, fine, I’ll go sit. Let’s talk it out, yeah?"

"Talk? Quit bullshitting. Move it!"

"Yep, moving."

I backed away slowly, keeping just out of reach of the stun gun, heading toward my chair. Even when I got close, Junhyeok didn’t lower the thing. My eyes flicked to the rope on the floor. He noticed, clicked his tongue, and bent to pick it up.

"...Could you maybe put that away? It’s making me nervous."

"Nervous? Yet you had no problem going to the bathroom? Sit down. Unless you want me to tie you up again."

"See, that’s the thing—why keep threatening me? We could just talk like normal people."

"Talk? What the hell do you think we’d talk about?"

Junhyeok chuckled, bent over to grab the rope.

'Got you, you dumb fuck.'

The second he leaned down, I snatched the chair and smashed it into him.

'This is my idea of conversation.'

CRACK!

Something broke. He crumpled to the floor without even a scream, rolling in a heap.

'Now that’s more like it.'

Weaker than usual, so the chair shot didn’t knock him out right away. I stomped down on his wrist, prying the stun gun loose, then drove my foot into his jaw.

"Ugh..."

His body spasmed violently. Another kick to the jaw might’ve killed him, so I grabbed his hair instead and slammed his skull against the floor.

"Guhhk!"

With a pitiful groan, froth foamed from his mouth and he collapsed. A couple slaps and an eye check confirmed—he was out cold.

"Hah...! Jehyun-nim!"

While I tied him tight with rope, Jeonggil’s trembling voice piped up behind me. I ignored it, bound Junhyeok to the chair, even lashing him to it when his body kept sliding off.

Unawakened or not, the bastard had decent physique. He was tall enough that, in dim lighting, he might pass for me for a second or two. More than that and it’d fall apart.

Normally, dropping someone like this would’ve been easy. But today my body was sluggish, weak. I yanked Jeonggil up from where he was cowering on the floor, shaking like a leaf.

"Come on, Jeonggil. We’ve got an escape to pull off."

"J-Junhyeok hyung’s dead..."

"He’s not dead. Just sleeping."

'Right, before that—'

I scooped up the stun gun and pocketed it, then grabbed Jeonggil’s head and forced him to look forward.

"Jeonggil. Where are the other guys?"

"H-huh?"

"Thought I’d have a little chat."

Better to make the first move. Fingering my new ‘conversation tool,’ I grinned. Yeah—better to finish this quick before my strength gave out.

***

Long story short, it took less than thirty minutes to put the rest of them to sleep.

F-rank or not, Jeonggil’s Conceal Presence skill was way more useful than expected. I talked him into using it—well, more like pressured him into it.

"Do it now, while I’m asking nicely."

"This isn’t nice!"

Whatever. I ignored him.

Mimic (S) has been activated.

Conceal Presence (F) has been activated.

Sure, F-rank concealment almost got us caught once or twice, but it was enough to retrieve my stuff. My phone was a goner, but the rest of my items had been piled together—seems they planned to use them.

Out of everything I carried, this was the tool I needed:

Stealth Orb (B)

An item that conceals presence.

Place in mouth. Do not swallow.

The same orb I’d used rescuing Do Yehyun. Never thought I’d burn it again on the Infinite Guild.

"Jehyun-nim, what’s that?"

"Watch closely."

I scrubbed it thoroughly in water, then popped it into my mouth. Its concealment was leagues better than Jeonggil’s pathetic skill. He gawked in awe until I spat it out again.

"Alright, next phase."

With the orb in place, I gave those bastards—who’d kidnapped me and threatened me—a taste of justice. And let me tell you, that stun gun was surprisingly effective.

Even with stealth and a stun gun, it would’ve been trouble if they had numbers. But lucky me, half were out guarding the Gate and the other half the factory. Only seven left inside. More than enough for me to handle.

One by one, they came to check on the “me” tied to the chair. Each time, I ambushed them with the stun gun. The first guy went down, then the next, and the next. It got so repetitive it felt like slapstick comedy.

A few didn’t come on their own, so I sent Jeonggil out as bait, then strangled them from behind or zapped them as they closed in.

My body was shredded, but it was doable.

I tied all of them up tight in a corner and collapsed to the floor, gasping. Spitting out the Stealth Orb, I clung desperately to consciousness.

"Haaah... gonna... die, fuck..."

"You k-killed them all, Jehyun-nim..."

Killed? My ass.

I thought about smacking him upside the head, but he’d made a decent decoy, so I let it go. Still, despite being under my Agitation, he clearly didn’t like watching his guildmates fall one by one. Growing attached, was he?

Didn’t matter. What mattered was staying awake. In this condition, close my eyes for a second too long and I’d black out. Why the hell was my stamina this bad?

Honestly, felt worse than before I ever awakened. Grinding my teeth, I forced myself upright.

'Next phase.'

Even without a mirror, I could guess how rough I looked. When I fixed my gaze on Jeonggil, he flinched and scrambled back.

"D-don’t look at me like that."

"..."

"Your eyes... they’re scary."

'Don’t even have the energy to argue.'

I’d been in the hospital just yesterday, and at this rate I needed to be admitted again today. Assuming I could even get out.

According to Jeonggil, the shift change between inside and outside guards was at ten a.m. Current time: 8:20 a.m. I rifled through the jackets of the unconscious thugs until I found what I wanted.

'Taking this phone.'

Time to ditch Jeonggil anyway. I unlocked the phone with his fingerprint.

"Eight-twenty... government workers aren’t in the office yet, right?"

"Government...? Uh, probably not?"

"Fuck. That’s no good."

No more time to waste. I dialed the eleven-digit number Seowon had given me.

'Rrring...'

'Not picking up?'

Just as I thought it’d ring forever, a low voice answered.

—Yes. This is Ryu Taeyoung, captain of the Special Response Team.

"Ah. Thank God."

—...Excuse me? Where exactly are you calling from—

Given the circumstances, I couldn’t help but blurt out thanks.