Chapter 58
The next morning.
After waking up late and eating lunch, I called Duhyeon.
“Where are you?”
“What are you doing there? Delivery?”
“You were waiting for my call?”
Oh, look at this guy.
The more I saw him, the more I liked him.
“Then let us go somewhere together in one hour.”
“Good. If you have not eaten breakfast, make sure you eat something.”
Thirty minutes later.
“Go out, wander around for a bit, then disappear.”
“Understood, Master.”
After sending Helkiyan out of the house first, I waited a little while, then slipped out.
The reason I moved in such a troublesome way was because it was obvious that the Defense Strategy Department would monitor me twenty-four hours a day.
Judging by how they had tried to extract me first at Jebudo, they seemed to consider me an important strategic asset. I appreciated the thought, but the problem was that it was troublesome in various ways.
Beyond simple protection, they likely also had the purpose of preventing me from contacting suspicious forces or other nations in advance and monitoring me.
“You are here, Big-brother.”
Duhyeon was waiting for me with the BMW SUV I had gifted him before parked nearby.
“Big-brother, have you had coffee?”
“No, not yet.”
“Please have a cup.”
Duhyeon handed me a coffee he had gotten for takeout in advance.
“Th-Thanks.”
“Where shall I take you?”
“Yongsan.”
“Yongsan, as in…… gasp.”
Duhyeon flinched in surprise.
It seemed Duhyeon knew what kind of place Yongsan was.
Of course, if one had any interest in this field, there was no way one would not know.
“W-Will it be all right? Big-brother?”
“Yes, it will be fine.”
“If you say so, Big-brother…… I will take you there first.”
Duhyeon smoothly stepped on the accelerator.
***
Yongsan Electronics Market.
A place that had once been known as the mecca of wholesale and retail for electronics and IT devices in the Republic of Korea.
That Yongsan Electronics Market had slowly begun walking the path of decline from the time online distribution became active and redevelopment in Yongsan began in earnest. After being swept up in a Transference Crisis, it had now become an eyesore no one visited.
Dilapidated abandoned buildings that looked ready to collapse, and shopping centers that had already crumbled completely.
Severed wires hung like spiderwebs, and beyond shattered show windows, all kinds of electronic devices that had now become lumps of scrap metal had been left untouched.
Bzzzt, bzzzzzt…….
Perhaps because of the murky noise coming from somewhere, the atmosphere felt even gloomier and more desolate.
Creeeak, creeeak!
The sound of signboards creaking whenever the wind blew also scraped at the nerves.
A faint ghostly cry flowed from an old radio abandoned in the shopping center.
“H-Big-brother. Is this place really all right?”
Duhyeon kept looking around with an anxious expression.
He was so tense that he was fiddling with the SCAR rifle in his hands, making me think an accidental discharge might happen at this rate.
“It is fine, so stop fiddling with the gun. It is distracting.”
“S-Sorry.”
“If something happens, I will protect you, so relax. We are not going there to fight.”
“Understood.”
The reason Duhyeon was so tense was because the area around Yongsan Electronics Market had its time and space distorted due to the Transference Crisis.
Perhaps because of that, there were many rumors about Yongsan Electronics Market.
Rumors like how if one entered incorrectly, one would become lost forever, or how monsters still swarmed inside.
Half of that was right, and half of it was wrong.
It was true that time and space were distorted, but there were no monsters.
Dangerous humans, on the other hand, were another matter.
As soon as we entered the building once called Electronics Land, we got lost.
Had we wandered around for about ten minutes?
“Hmm. As expected, finding the way here is impossible.”
At my mutter, Duhyeon’s pupils started quaking.
This guy was such a coward…….
Since it seemed completely hopeless, I took out the [Search] card and summoned Lumos.
“Did you call, Young Master?”
“Gasp!”
Duhyeon was startled out of his wits, but neither Lumos nor I paid it any mind.
“Find the way for us.”
“Where shall I escort you?”
“There is a place called Yongpal Trading Company. Room 404 on the fourth floor.”
“I will escort you.”
Lumos held his lantern forward and began finding the way.
“Huh?”
Duhyeon opened his mouth as if slightly surprised.
“What?”
“I thought I saw a person around that corner just now…… I was wondering if I had seen wrong.”
“It was probably a person.”
“Are there people here? Other than us?”
“Many. Even now, there are probably more than several dozen.”
“But…….”
“This is not the kind of place you are thinking of.”
“Pardon?”
“You will know once we go.”
I grinned at Duhyeon and continued moving.
***
“……Does it make sense that you lost him?”
Minister Ahn frowned after receiving the report.
“I-I apologize.”
Captain Im lowered his head as if ashamed.
“You attached six agents to him, yet it was possible to lose him?”
“He entered the subway and blended into the crowd, so…….”
“For just that reason?”
Anger appeared on Minister Ahn’s face.
That was understandable, because the agents the Defense Strategy Department had assigned to Eunseong were by no means ordinary nobodies.
All of them were 3-Star Hunters who had received professional training not only in surveillance and tailing, but also VIP protection.
For such people to lose their target simply because of a crowd in the subway was unacceptable.
To begin with, they had been trained to follow, monitor, protect, and sometimes even carry out assassination missions in precisely such situations…….
“Th-That is…… According to the judgment of the field agents, it seemed to be a kind of Disruption ability.”
“Disruption ability?”
“They even reviewed the CCTV footage, but although he did blend into the crowd, there was nowhere at all where he could have disappeared.”
“Hmm. Are you saying he used an ability?”
“There is a high possibility.”
“If that is the case, there is room for extenuating circumstances…… Did Cha Eunseong have an ability like that?”
“Nothing has been reported so far. However…….”
“However?”
“We were able to hear some quite interesting testimony from those who returned alive from Jebudo.”
Captain Im handed Minister Ahn a folder of documents.
“A Healing ability…… Summoning? He even fought Major Kim one-on-one and won?”
“It is hard to believe, but it is true. All the testimonies are consistent.”
“And in the middle of that, even the Mudflat Lord? Ha!”
Minister Ahn was dumbfounded, as if the situation made no sense.
“That boy Awakened…… about two months ago?”
“Approximately a month and a half ago.”
“What are the chances that he was an Unregistered Awakened?”
“None.”
Captain Im spoke firmly.
“Even looking at the testimonies from the Transference Crisis that occurred near Eunseong’s home before, it is certain that he Awakened then.”
“This guy is completely and properly insane.”
The wording was a bit crude, but it was high praise.
Only a month and a half.
That was the time it had taken Eunseong to climb to 4-Star after Awakening.
Such an abnormal growth speed was rare even in the history of the Republic of Korea, so it was not unreasonable for Minister Ahn to call Eunseong insane.
“From this moment on, organize a dedicated QRF for him, and make it so they can be deployed immediately if anything happens.”
QRF.
Quick Reaction Force.
Translated directly into Korean, it meant a rapid response unit.
It referred to troops kept ready twenty-four hours a day so they could deploy at any time in an emergency.
“And thoroughly block agents from other countries from contacting him. Make sure even contact attempts themselves are cut off at the source. In particular, pay special attention to the Chinese side.”
The outflow of talent to China was not limited only to the field of technology.
The Republic of Korea had already had several outstanding Hunters stolen away by China, and the resulting damage had been considerable more than once or twice.
“Wi Taewoong…… Keep a close watch on the Abyss Clan as well. By now, they must already be drooling over him so much they cannot stand it, while digging up every bit of personal information they can find.”
“Yes, Minister.”
With a grave expression, Captain Im wrote down Minister Ahn’s instructions.
***
As expected, the pathfinding ability of Lumos, the Card Spirit of the [Search] card, was beyond imagination.
The interior of the Electronics Land building had its time and space warped and twisted, so if one did not know the exact route, there was a high chance of becoming lost.
In fact, white bones of people who had wandered the hallways and starved to death could occasionally be seen here and there.
But Lumos was different.
He guided us to the destination without losing his way even once, finding the path as if by magic.
“This is the place, Young Master.”
Lumos pointed at a shabby office.
It was a place with a worn-out signboard and faded neon lights spelling out [Yongpal Trading Company].
In the middle of all that, part of one character in “Company” had half fallen off and was dangling.
“Thank you, sir.”
“It is nothing. Please call me anytime you need me. Then, I will take my leave now.”
Lumos vanished with a faint rustle.
Duhyeon clearly looked curious about Lumos’s identity, yet somehow managed not to open his mouth.
Good.
The more I saw him, the more I liked him.
“Sling the gun behind you.”
“Yes, Big-brother.”
Following my instruction, Duhyeon slung the rifle behind him.
“Luckily, there are no customers. We will not have to wait.”
“Pardon?”
“The sign is lit.”
“…….”
Duhyeon looked utterly unable to understand.
“Let us go.”
“Yes, Big-brother.”
Creeeak.
When I opened the door, a completely different world unfolded.
From the outside, it had looked like a junk shop with old camcorders, laptops, and similar items crammed on display, but when I opened the door, it was a jungle that felt like a resort in East Africa.
It was slightly warm, but not hot at all, nor was it humid. A cool breeze blew gently.
“H-Big-brother?”
“Yes.”
“Where is this?”
“Yongpal Trading Company.”
“Pardon……?”
“Did you not see what was written on the sign earlier? This is Yongpal Trading Company.”
“What in the world does Yongpal Trading Company do……?”
“A Black Market.”
“Pardon?”
“Exactly what it sounds like. A shop where all kinds of illegal things are traded illegally, more or less.”
“Gasp.”
Duhyeon was startled out of his wits.
It seemed he had never imagined there would be a Black Market in Yongsan Electronics Market, a place thick with sinister ghost stories.
“But why are we here……?”
“Why do you think?”
“Haha, hahaha…….”
When I asked back, Duhyeon laughed awkwardly while breaking into a nervous sweat.
It seemed he was anxious that he might get caught up in crime, but I did not know why he worried about something like that.
Duhyeon would probably realize soon enough.
Once one got involved with Hunters, crossing between legal and illegal was normal.
“Big-brother, forgive me for saying this, but is it all right to visit a place like th…….”
Before Duhyeon could even finish speaking.
“Drop your guns!”
“Hands up!”
Armed forces equipped with heavy weapons sprang out from the dense jungle and aimed their gun barrels at us.
“……I do not think this is all right.”
Duhyeon slowly raised his hands, looking as if he were about to cry.
“It is fine, so smile.”
“Pardooon……?”
“You cannot shoot someone who is smiling.”
Grin!
I smiled.
“Haha, hahaha.”
Duhyeon forced himself to smile after me.
It was a strange face that was neither smiling nor crying.
Rainy Lotus
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