episode_0169

On a November night, nearing midnight, a man lying in a hospital in the central district suddenly rose from his bed.

The first thing the red-haired middle-aged man did was look around.

“This is…”

The man strained his blurry eyes, surveying his surroundings.

The disparity between the last sight he remembered and the current scene was hard to accept immediately.

His mind gradually cleared, but Osprey Rodriguez still felt confused by the unfamiliar surroundings.

“This isn’t the lab… What in the world?”

The leader of the Brotherhood retraced his last memories.

‘I was tracking a human trafficking organization. Then they ambushed me, dragged me to some unknown lab, and…’

Immediately, Osprey groaned at the nightmarish memories that flooded him like a waterfall.

He frowned and examined his body. Dressed in a patient gown, his body was emaciated, and his arms and legs felt heavy like waterlogged cotton.

Yet, he was more intact than he expected. If he pushed himself a little, he might even be able to walk. What could have happened?

Just then, the nurse on duty entered his room.

“Patient, are you feeling more awake? Don’t strain yourself, please lie down for now!”

A moment later, a doctor arrived.

“…Where is this? What day is it?”

“This is a hospital. I’ll explain everything slowly, so please calm down for a moment. We’ve contacted your guardian, and they’ll be here soon.”

“It’s urgent. Hurry!”

Osprey urged the doctor in a hasty tone. He felt dismayed by the answer he barely managed to hear.

Time had passed much faster than he anticipated.

‘If the doctor is right, this is a hospital near the Brotherhood, and it’s November? I was definitely taken by them in late June, so did the Brotherhood members or Kalia get me out? How could they have…’

While pondering his situation, he felt a déjà vu-like instinct. It was his old sixth sense, warning him of danger, something he’d felt while working in dungeons.

As a strange sense of foreboding surged up his spine, he forced himself to stand.

“No, you must remain still for now…”

“Quiet.”

After extending his hand to stop the doctor, Osprey looked out of the hospital room.

Suddenly, all the lights went out, plunging the corridor into darkness. He drew upon his mana, enhancing his hearing.

From the floor below, faint yet ominous footsteps echoed.

An unsettling noise that ordinary people couldn’t make; these were trained Awakened Ones.

‘It’s them! But I didn’t expect them to come so openly. Could it be the Fixers?’

There was nothing around that could be used as a weapon.

He pulled out the IV line from his arm and held the IV pole upside down. The startled doctor asked,

“What are you doing…”

“It’s an ambush. There’s no time to explain, just hide where you can’t be seen. Now!”

While the medical staff scurried around in a panic, Osprey, tense, forced his stiff hands and arms to move, preparing for a fight.

‘God, my body is stiff. Running is impossible. I thought I finally got out… Where are the other Brotherhood members? Where’s Kalia?’

While he was lost in thought for a moment, a black shape suddenly rustled out from under the bed.

‘What?’

The doctor and nurse were so startled they couldn’t even scream, falling backward.

Osprey, horrified, tried to strike the unwelcome guest with the pole.

That is, if the black-clad intruder hadn’t quickly raised both hands and spoken.

The black entity whispered,

“Hello, Osprey Uncle-nim! You’re Kalia’s maternal uncle, right?”

“Who are you? How do you know Kalia…”

As he paused at the sudden mention of his niece’s name, the intruder handed him a cell phone.

Beyond the smartphone screen, as he saw the familiar features of a pink-haired girl, the man’s eyes widened.

-Maternal Uncle! It’s me!

“Kalia?”

-Just listen for now. See the black one next to you? That’s my friend! They’ll protect you. Just stay still. Got it?

“For goodness sake, what are you talking about…”

While the man hesitated, black shapes continued to slither out from under the bed, giving no time for surprise.

Now, the black entities, multiplied to ten, forcibly pushed Osprey and the medical staff under the hospital bed.

“Everyone, you must stay still here!”

Immediately, a masked man wielding an axe kicked open the hospital room door and burst in.

“Where are they? I was sure they were here…”

As the man paused, seeing the empty bed, the black entities clinging to the ceiling pounced on the masked man.

“Die!”

“G-gasp…!”

The blow, applied with a backstab effect, was clean. The man collapsed with a scream.

「Enemies approaching, commencing sweep!」

**

Unit 642 aimed at the enemy through their night-vision scope.

When the trigger was pulled, a red bolt flew through the air, cutting through it.

The next moment, the bolt clinked as it hit the ground.

「Ack! It bounced off!」

As they batted away the bolts with their swords, I clicked my tongue briefly. It seemed the attackers who raided the hospital weren’t just a regular gang.

「Observation team reports. Ten enemies on the map, all Awakened Ones!」

The enemies moved swiftly, all wielding axes or curved swords. Anyone could tell they were Awakened Ones.

Battles erupted both inside and outside the Violet hospital.

「These guys. They really did come for Kalia’s maternal uncle!」

Chaos broke out on the third floor of the hospital ward. Six enemies had invaded from all directions.

Fortunately, the escort team sent to the room succeeded in protecting the target and escaping.

「We’ve hidden the doctor and nurse well. We’ll bring Uncle out through the window!」

The window shattered with a crash.

Violets, carrying the red-haired man in a patient gown, descended from the third-story window.

The Violets waiting below quickly caught the man.

「Secured! Moving immediately.」

Command confirmed the numerous yellow and red dots appearing on the tactical map.

Several yellow dots were moving a blue dot towards the rendezvous point. On one side of the map, several red dots were moving.

The Violets initiated their sweep operation. Crossbow flashes illuminated the darkness, and burning sword energy flickered like torches.

「Magic Squad, operation readiness complete!」

「Command orders! Move!」

For this operation, the magic squad was deployed on a trial basis.

With ammunition scarce, it was a suitable time for magic to shine.

Since the surroundings were residential areas and a hospital anyway, the use of explosives was forbidden to avoid accidental harm to others.

The Violets herded the attackers as if on a drive hunt. A phalanx armed with spears and shields advanced, cornering them.

“Ah, no! Why are there so many of them! This isn’t what we were told before!”

A man wielding a curved sword was sent flying, crashing into a car in the parking lot. The fallen man sprang up like a coiled spring, evaded spears and swords, and charged again.

A Violet behind the phalanx aimed a staff.

「Ready to fire!」

In the brief moment the enemy overlapped with the staff’s holographic crosshairs, magic was deployed.

「Commence firing!」

The arcane memory chips stored in the data center within the Violet network began to glow and disappear one by one.

As heavy mana evaporated, translucent, glowing tracking blades poured out from the tip of the staff like a downpour.

“What the… Aaaaargh!”

The curved-sword man couldn’t evade the sudden barrage of tracking blades. He fell, stuck with blades like a target board in a circus knife-throwing act.

「Wow, that power is amazing!」

「Awesome! This is magic!」

The enemies were given no time to react while the spells were deployed.

Though mana consumption was not small, the firepower was incredible!

「Attention, 3rd Squad! See the map? Three attackers. Currently fleeing in the 1 o’clock direction!」

Command tapped the enemy on the map. The yellow dots, perceiving their intent, surged to chase the red dots.

“Help me! Argh!”

“Cough!”

The fools seemed to think they could escape by jumping over buildings.

The enemies were immediately struck by the pursuing Violets’ crossbow bolts, turning into cold corpses.

「We need to capture a few! Find someone who looks like a leader.」

「Here! He looks strong at a glance. He seems like the leader?」

As the attackers were almost dealt with, only the strongest one remained.

Immediately after a sword was plunged into the neck of another masked man wielding an axe, someone crashed through the third-floor hospital wall with a thud and descended.

The individual grabbed poor Unit 441 and used them as a cushion to land.

“Gasp! I’m gonna die!”

I decided to avenge poor Unit 441.

He was holding curved swords in both hands, and judging by the aura and power he exuded, he was undoubtedly the leader of the attackers.

「Be careful! Half of our squad was taken down. He’s a guy who knows how to fight intelligently.」

“Who are you people? In all my career as a Fixer, I’ve never seen anyone like you.”

We answered the Fixer leader’s words.

“We are the Obsidian Legion. Surrender!”

“What? What nonsense…”

Before he could finish speaking, a volley of bolts flew at him. The Fixer recoiled in shock, parrying the attacks.

While he struggled against the bolt barrage, the magic squad finished aiming.

「Fire!」

A barrage of stored magic bullets poured down like rain. Although it was their weakest magic attack, it was enough to subdue him.

“Ugh…”

He lay on the ground, groaning in pain.

We cuffed the Fixer leader with mana restraints and took him away, bound by chains.

I could see Kalia and the Brotherhood members reunited with their awakened leader.

“The Leader-nim has woken up!”

“Hyung-nim, why did you go alone…!”

“Maternal Uncle!”

The overjoyed people turned cold as they saw the Fixer leader being brought in, bound by chains.

“Kalia! And Uncle. We caught a bad guy here!”

**

The next morning, Kalia and the Brotherhood members moved busily, cleaning up the aftermath of the previous night.

First, they returned to the hospital to apologize and discuss future compensation for the destroyed ward.

Fortunately, people’s perception of the Brotherhood was positive, while their opponents were Fixers who did dirty work. The agreement proceeded smoothly.

However, the local police arrived, munching on donuts.

-So it looks like it’ll be a bit late. These idiots just stand by when gangs harass people, but the moment we retaliate, that’s when they finally show up.

-It’ll be self-defense anyway.

-Alright. Take your time.

Bitterly, Kalia was currently suffering from the stupid, bureaucratic communication of the pig-like police.

「It seems they can’t communicate!」

「How dreadful. To think there are problems that cannot be solved through dialogue and communication.」

Humans are beings who communicate through language, so if communication fails, one can never truly understand the other.

Perhaps this is a limitation of human language.

Because it’s difficult to fully convey what lies deep within one’s heart with only spoken and written language.

Therefore, the Violets decided to research a more direct and faster method of communication using electricity.

The method is simple: put a person in a dark warehouse, then attach two live wires to them.

“Tell you who’s behind this? Screw off! What kind of Fixer spills the beans about their clients?”

“I see. Lightning Strike!”

“Aaaaargh! I’ll talk! Stop! I’ll tell you everything!”

The Violets were delighted by the success of their electric communication method.

The other party actively engaged in communication, confessing everything, even what was deep in their heart.

It didn’t work on Lera. Is there a personal difference?

In terms of actively engaging in communication with others, this Fixer guy definitely seems like an extrovert.

A while later, Kalia entered the warehouse.

“…Ugh, to think I feel nothing watching torture. I must really be going crazy.”

“It’s not torture, Kalia! This is communication.”

“As if…”

As we exited the warehouse, we conversed.

“Pinnacle Trade Network?”

“Yeah, I looked it up and it’s some kind of company. Kalia, do you know anything about it?”

Kalia shook her head.

“I’ve never heard of it either. My uncle might know something…”

They were definitely not a local gang.

Most of the thugs who swarmed around this dilapidated neighborhood had provoked the Brotherhood after losing their leader, and half of them were wiped out by us, while the rest either lived by running quiet businesses or fled to other neighborhoods.

The Fixer confessed that they are an organization that outwardly runs dungeon operations but secretly engages in illegal drug dealing and human trafficking.

They said it was a group founded by former hunters, but I don’t know how strong they are.

「Wait, illegal drugs?」

Illegal drugs, huh? We were already out of Black Ice, which we used in the last battle. It was so effective, I wanted to use it again.

There was a suggestion to obtain illegal drugs through a temp agency, but it was immediately dismissed.

The reason we were protecting Director Leslie was because he refused the gang’s demand to participate in their drug business.

The Director detested drugs.

-Drugs are terrible things that corrode the mind. I’m not exactly a clean guy myself, but at the very least, I don’t want to handle them directly.

Ultimately, it’s faster to obtain them ourselves.

「If we raid them, something good might turn up, right?」

My interest was piqued. Perhaps we could get some good drugs.