abcnovels
Chapter 57
Chapter 57
[Translator - Hestia]
[Proofreader - Kaya]
Chapter 57
In the early morning, before dawn broke.
Lee Baejeong walked along the sidewalk and stopped in front of a building.
Reports from the team leaders came through the earpiece in his ear.
[Director, strike teams 1, 2, and 3 are ready.]
[Pursuit team 1 on standby.]
[Pursuit team 2 on standby.]
[Traffic control has begun. You can start anytime.]
During the recent Rank 1 Gate incident, Lee Baejeong had played his part.
He had set up multiple layers of barriers to buy time for civilians to evacuate even if the defense line was breached.
He had also used various illusions to disrupt the demons' advance.
Towards the end, he had thrown away his dignity and mystique as the director and stood on the front lines, casting binding spells.
'Heavenly Net!'
Even while bleeding profusely from his nose, he had managed to restrain nearly ten large demons. Now, no Ranker from any guild could ignore Lee Baejeong.
Using the popularity he gained, Lee Baejeong secured the cooperation of the managers and team leaders at the Bureau.
'Our director didn't seem like that type, but he's a real man.'
'With the demon army stretching from one end of the horizon to the other, he stood in front of them and cast barriers... That was impressive.'
'I thought he was a bit sly, but I guess you can't judge someone by their appearance.'
It seemed like he could solidify his position if he achieved one or two more feats here.
The Bureau Director's specialty was punishing rogue Rankers with the 'Hundred Punishments,' demonstrating the fairness of the law.
In South Korea right now, there was no one who fit the description of a "gangster Ranker" better than 'Magic Eye' Choi Gimin.
Lee Baejeong glanced up at the rooftop of a nearby building.
'He was brought in from the beginning for the 99th-floor raid. Ryu Haneul alone is enough of a variable. Now he needs to become a stepping stone for me to solidify my position. Farewell, Choi Gimin. Rot for a long time in the peaceful prisons of the Republic of Korea.'
The rooftop was filled with pursuit team agents and reporters gathered from newspapers all over South Korea.
Soon, the strike team would enter the underground room salon and engage Choi Gimin in combat.
'He'll resist fiercely. It's fine if he's eventually subdued, or even if he escapes once or twice. Either way, it'll be my achievement for successfully capturing that dangerous guy.'
There would be chaos, and that's what he wanted.
People cheered louder the more severely a terrifying Ranker was punished.
A voice came through his earpiece.
[Strike team 1 is entering.]
Management Bureau agents, hidden in the shadows of various buildings, armed with hunting devices and artifacts, poured into the underground room salon.
From the rooftop, Lee Baejeong saw countless cameras, like gun barrels, protruding and aiming at the entrance of the room salon.
'Good.'
The dawn sky gradually brightened.
Finally, a ray of sunlight rising over the mountain ridge stretched along the main street.
The morning sunlight illuminated the entrance of the salon precisely.
Click. Click. Click.
Silhouettes emerged from the stairs.
Lee Baejeong clenched his sweaty hands.
The cameras on the rooftop moved frantically.
Reporters eager to capture a spectacular scene.
Strike teams 2 and 3, gripping their weapons in preparation for a brawl.
Pursuit team agents blockading the area in case of an escape.
Even a few citizens who had gathered since early morning, wondering what was happening.
Hundreds of people were watching intently.
And then Choi Gimin appeared.
He had his braided dreadlocks tied up neatly, wore designer sunglasses and a sensual shirt, and his clothes were not even slightly disheveled.
"Yo! You found me?"
Choi Gimin ascended the stairs with an air of confidence.
He boldly shouted, facing the new sun of the day head-on.
He looked not like a notorious gangster, but like a magnanimous man who had voluntarily turned himself in to clear his name.
That image was captured by countless reporters' cameras and broadcast live on YouTube.
'Huh?'
Lee Baejeong sensed that something was wrong.
He didn't know what was wrong, but something was definitely wrong.
Cold sweat trickled down his back.
The Management Bureau agents, who had rushed in expecting a fierce battle, were coming up the stairs behind Choi Gimin with dejected expressions.
He heard the manager's flustered voice in his earpiece.
Lee Baejeong knew it too.
[D-Director!]
"I know. Get them out of there. We're heading back to the Bureau. Get rid of all the reporters."
[If we try to get rid of them now...]
"You want to broadcast that image? Something's off about that bastard. If we let that air, it won't be the picture we wanted!"
All the excitement had fizzled out.
The image of a fierce struggle ending with the capture of a gangster Ranker and bringing him to a solemn court was now gone.
Another team leader, oblivious to his feelings, rambled on.
[But at least it's a relief. I was really worried that someone might get hurt. Even if Choi Gimin doesn't kill...]
He was a true patriot hunter who had cooperated with Lee Baejeong from the beginning, but at this moment, he wasn't the talent Lee Baejeong needed.
Lee Baejeong, fuming, crossed the road and approached Choi Gimin.
His footsteps quickened involuntarily with an overwhelming sense of frustration.
"What are you doing?"
He whispered to the handcuffed Choi Gimin.
"Who ordered you?"
Choi Gimin replied in an equally low voice.
With the most triumphant smile in the world.
"Fuck off."
He had been tipped off by Baekya the night before.
'If Lee Baejeong comes to arrest you, just let him.'
'What? Hey, you bastard! I told you everything you asked! That bastard might actually kill me!'
'He would if you resist. Then he could claim he caught you because he's so great. But what if you just surrender?'
'...He becomes the lucky one?'
'It's common sense that surrendering reduces your sentence.'
He had said that the best way to screw Lee Baejeong in this situation was to surrender willingly.
He had been half-convinced until then, but now he could believe it completely.
The expression on that bastard's smug face was priceless.
'I feel like petrifying him right here and now.'
* * *
At the Sun-Moon Divine Sect dormitory complex.
Wolha asked his brother, who was moving around busily—
"Hyung, where are you going again?"
The answer came not from his brother but from Ryu Haneul standing at the entrance.
"He's going to Busan for a guild workshop. For three nights and four days."
The tone was incredibly curt and annoyed.
It seemed like he shouldn't ask any more questions, but a strange sense of defiance welled up inside him.
Wolha asked Ryu Haneul—
"You are going too?"
Ryu Haneul nodded as if it were obvious.
"Of course."
A triumphant, twisted smile appeared on the 'Heavenly Demon's' face, which was usually as elegant and aloof as a landscape painting.
It was happening so frequently that it was hard to dismiss it as a misinterpretation.
'Why is this happening?'
Wolha tried to ignore the questions bubbling up inside him.
Ilha approached him and said—
"Can I borrow your ring again?"
"Ring?"
"I heard there's a good enchantment mage in Busan. The Deputy Sect Leader said he'd get one made for me. It would be great if we could add something to that ring, right?"
"...."
Wolha looked at the ring that Ilha had brought, claiming it was a fashionable silver-plated ring.
"Okay. Thanks."
He took off the ring without hesitation and handed it over.
Ilha and Ryu Haneul left the dormitory.
He saw a luxury sedan driving away from the window below.
Wolha stared at the ring and recalled the status window that appeared when he looked at it.
'What is it?'
He couldn't understand anything.
Not his brother giving him an artifact disguised as a fashion silver-plated ring, not Deputy Sect Leader Ryu Haneul's disdain for him, not this baseless wariness he felt towards him.
* * *
Busan.
The 'Black Sea Pearl,' a super-luxury, super-large hotel with a yacht marina, stood tall.
Its majestic black hull, like a wall, overlooked the sea, as if declaring itself the master of the Busan coast.
Ryu Haneul looked around and said,
"There are a lot of people."
Baekya nodded calmly.
"A lot of Awakened come here."
The area around the hotel was teeming with Awakened, each with a white ring above their heads.
There were various ethnicities: Koreans, Russians, Japanese, Chinese, and even Americans.
Anyone would think it was absurd that there were countries struggling with a shortage of Awakened in this world.
"Where should we go?"
"I haven't been here directly in so long, I'm a bit confused. Just a moment."
Baekya headed towards the hotel front desk with Ryu Haneul.
"I have a reservation for the 51st floor, suite room 5121, under the name Ryu Haneul. The reservation number is 165, 499, 888, 613."
The receptionist looked puzzled.
"Excuse me?"
Baekya smiled faintly and repeated himself.
The receptionist, still looking confused, asked again.
"Are you sure you're in the right place?"
Baekya said it for the third time.
Ryu Haneul seriously contemplated whether to activate his Trait.
Finally, the receptionist nodded.
"It seems you have the wrong room number. You should go to the 48th floor, room 4801."
She smiled brightly and handed them the key card.
Baekya headed to the 48th floor with Ryu Haneul.
Ryu Haneul asked—
"What happens now?"
Baekya muttered the reservation number and password he had received from Choi Gimin once more, then answered.
"There will be a staff member there. 4801 isn't a room for guests. Haven't I brought you here in the future? If you can't say because of causality or something, you don't have to answer."
"You've never brought me here directly. They always came to us from the Black Sea Pearl."
"That's true. Even before I died, I never came here myself. You know what this place is, right?"
"Yes. An international smuggling ring."
"You know well."
They got off the elevator and opened the door to room 4801 with the key card.
They sat on the sofa and waited for a while, and then a man in a black suit entered.
He was also a Ranker-level Awakened with a colorful halo above his head, and judging by his features, he seemed to be Russian.
The man asked in fluent Korean,
"Are you Mr. Choi Gimin?"
Baekya recited Choi Gimin's password.
"I'm here to get the new Versace collection. And I also wanted to hear the song of thunder and wind."
The man entered the hotel room nonchalantly.
Baekya rose from the sofa and followed him, and Ryu Haneul, his eyes darting back and forth, followed Baekya.
One of the rooms in the suite.
The man opened a complex lock that required both a keycard and a halo mana pattern recognition.
A secret elevator was revealed.
"Let's go."
"Yes."
The elevator descended, and descended further.
Ryu Haneul couldn't understand why they were going down again.
"Are we going down?"
"It's better to be on the first floor or underground if you need to escape quickly. Also, the meeting place changes depending on who you're meeting. Since this is our first time, they're bound to be cautious."
Ryu Haneul groaned in displeasure.
The halo of Heaven and Earth above his head flashed once.
The Russian hunter glanced at his halo and then looked away.
After going through a few more procedures, they finally arrived in front of the room where the owner of the Black Sea Pearl was waiting.
Seeing Ryu Haneul's expression stiffen with each passing moment, the Russian man hurriedly said,
"I apologize. Even for VIP customers, all procedures must be followed on your first visit. S-rank hunters can receive a number on the same day, so this won't happen again next time."
"I hope so," Ryu Haneul replied coldly.
The door then opened to both sides.
The owner of the Black Sea Pearl was waiting inside a room with a view of the sea.
"I wondered who it was when Gimin said he was sending someone, but it turns out to be quite a remarkable guest."
He was a cheerful-looking seafarer.
A halo shaped like a yellow cogwheel floated above his head.
His beard, which looked like it hadn't been shaved for about three days, was impressive, and he was wearing a naval officer's uniform.
He asked playfully,
"What brings the King of Heaven down to this sea?"
In the Aitel era—
Artifacts, mana stones, and spirit cores were all core resources designated as strategic materials by each country.
Their export or sale overseas was strictly prohibited.
However, while the leaders of each country didn't want their own resources to leave, they did want resources from other countries to come in.
'It would be great if we could export our artifacts minimally and acquire their mana stones to the maximum.'
This was the reason why the dark organization Black Sea Pearl, which handled artifacts, mana stones, and even the secret immigration of Awakened from various countries, could continue to exist.
"Just tell Fengyun, and I can get you anything. Hidden in clouds and carried by the wind."
The owner of Black Sea Pearl was the man in front of them, Fengyun.
Ryu Haneul knew it was a nickname but didn't know his real name.
"Haneul was going to introduce me, but today I'm here because of me."
Baekya stood silently for a moment before speaking.
Fengyun narrowed his eyes, looking slightly displeased.
"Who are you?"
Baekya chuckled and reached for his wrist, where a handkerchief was tied.
"Senior!"
Ryu Haneul tried to stop Baekya.
How could he reveal his identity to this gangster?
But Fengyun seemed to have already figured it out, his eyes wide open.
It was the look one gives to a benefactor to whom they owe an unrepayable debt.
"The sea devil who was enchanted by magic?"
Baekya leisurely shook his head.
"No."
"I heard he was definitely dead."
"He was."
"Then who in the world..."
"It's better you don't know."
Fengyun's expression turned serious, then he nodded.
"Alright. It's better to exercise the right not to know."
Ryu Haneul understood why he said that.
'He's got some sense.'
Fengyun was a skilled hunter, but he wouldn't be able to defeat the one who killed Baekya.
It was better to remain ignorant than to become a target unnecessarily.
He was a bit wary of this stranger who seemed to be an acquaintance of his senior, but with that level of discernment, it didn't seem like there was much to worry about.
Baekya asked—
"I'd like to request repairs on a few artifacts. Can you do it?"
Fengyun answered before even seeing the items.
"I'm Fengyun. If I can't do it, no one can."
Baekya, as if he had been waiting for that, opened his inventory.
"Yes. That's why I came to you."
His movements were hurried, and to Ryu Haneul, it seemed like he was trying to drive the point home before any distractions.
Artifacts emerged one after another with flashes of mana light.
Pop! Pop! Pop!
?Winter Vanguard's Standard (Legendary ? Heroic)?
?World-Reflecting Mirror (Legendary ? Heroic)?
?Aesthetics of Reversal (Heroic ? Master)?
Fengyun muttered, looking slightly flustered.
"That's... more than I expected."
Pop!
?Guardian Aegis (Status Conditions: Confusion, Rampage, Loss of Self...)?
Crash!
When the Guardian appeared and slammed its head into the office ceiling, Fengyun's face hardened noticeably.
Finally, Baekya untied the handkerchief from his wrist and placed it firmly on the desk.
Tap.
?Ghost Princess's Handkerchief {Heroic (Status Condition: Wear and Tear)}?
"That's all."
His sparkling eyes and the relieved smile on his lips looked a bit smug, even to Ryu Haneul.
"Ha, haha."
Fengyun let out a deflated laugh and nodded.
"Alright. I'll try my best."
A moment later.
He tilted his head, examining the 'Aesthetics of Reversal.'
"This ring... it's a twin ring. It used to be two attached together."
'Two?'
Ryu Haneul felt his gaze drawn to it involuntarily.
'So two people can wear one each?'
[Translator - Hestia
[Proofreader - Kaya]