Ch.138138 – The Enemies Unite 2

# 138 – The Enemies Unite # 2

“Name: Kim Geonho Lv.5

Trait: «Destroyer»

Disposition: Arbitrary

Quirk: None

Possessions: Bat

A delinquent who looks down on the world and adults. His exceptional physical abilities make him effective at surviving in various places. However, it’s not guaranteed that he’ll make a good companion.”

“«Destroyer»: Can destroy locks and locked boxes without keys. Takes time and makes very loud noise, which may attract the attention of ghosts, so caution is required.”

“Bat: A heavy baseball bat. Swinging it hard enough to hurt someone is no big deal.”

Looking at the status window, I saw that Kim Geonho’s level had reached 5.

And the «Coward» quirk that I had nailed into Kim Geonho had somehow disappeared.

How could this happen?

“That Kim Geonho must have joined hands with Wang Jahyeon. I’m sure of it.”

A ‘talisman’ can also remove quirks.

Wang Jahyeon must have used that method to remove Kim Geonho’s «Coward» quirk.

And Kim Geonho must have agreed to cooperate with Wang Jahyeon in return.

“The fact that Kim Geonho’s level has risen to 5 means he’s done quite a bit of corridor exploration.”

This was my oversight.

I never imagined something like this would happen.

“Juhui, what’s going on?”

I asked Yang Juhui.

Yang Juhui had been spending time recently with Gong Yerin and Lim Huiyeon.

Though she personally disliked those girls, I had asked her to act as a spy and gather information.

Yang Juhui replied:

“I don’t know either. They must have done it when I wasn’t around. Those girls never talked to me about the corridor or anything like that. And whenever they went to Wang Jahyeon’s place, they always excluded me. Not that I wanted to go anyway.”

So Yang Juhui’s spy operation was a failure.

How did Wang Jahyeon end up approaching Kim Geonho?

If I had to guess, it was probably because of Gong Yerin and Lim Huiyeon.

They might have said something like, “There was this guy in our class named Kim Geonho who used to be the class bully, but then he suddenly stopped coming to school. And whenever he saw people, he’d foam at the mouth in fear…!”

Hearing this, Wang Jahyeon might have said, “Really? That’s interesting. Could I meet him?”

And when they met, Wang Jahyeon must have recognized it as a ‘quirk’ and treated Kim Geonho with a talisman?

That makes sense.

Just then, Kwon Sua blinked her large eyes.

“What’s going on? Who is this Kim Geonho person?”

Kwon Sua didn’t know who Kim Geonho was.

As I was wondering how to explain this, Jeongseok, who had been deep in thought, spoke up instead.

“He’s a guy who was training to be a fighter but got kicked out of the gym for nearly killing someone during sparring. He enjoys hitting people and is extremely cruel. A real tyrant.”

This was the first time I’d heard Jeongseok speak so harshly about Kim Geonho.

But everything he said was true.

I hadn’t heard about him being kicked out of the gym before, but it was entirely plausible.

Jeongseok continued:

“Remember when we met Gong Yerin and Lim Huiyeon’s group killing people in the corridor? If Kim Geonho has joined their group… it means they can kill people more easily.”

If we were to get randomly matched and encounter Kim Geonho with Gong Yerin’s group—

We’d be as good as dead.

Of course, we had Yang Juhui.

The current Yang Juhui could display superhuman strength and wouldn’t lose to Kim Geonho.

But the rest of us were practically useless in combat.

We would all die.

As everyone was wondering what to do, Jeongseok came to a conclusion.

“The good news is that we’re aware of them, but they don’t know about us. We need to use this informational advantage to target them. If necessary…”

If necessary—Jeongseok didn’t finish his sentence.

He was clearly about to say something frightening.

Humans more troublesome than ghosts.

I was lost in thought for a moment.

I wanted some time alone to come to various conclusions.

Swoosh—

As I slipped out of the secret base, the world outside was really hot.

How could the world be this hot?

“Hey.”

Someone called out to me.

It was Yang Juhui.

“Juhui, how are you feeling?”

“Much better. I still feel like I hear hallucinations sometimes and my body itches, but it’s not unbearable. So about last night… that wasn’t me. Got it?”

Yang Juhui spoke angrily with a flushed face.

Last night’s Yang Juhui had many cute aspects.

Thinking that I might never see that side of her again made me feel a little disappointed.

“Hey! Forget about it!”

“Alright.”

“So what are you going to do? You know as well as I do what will happen if we keep clashing with them like this. Either they die or we die.”

Die.

Yang Juhui bluntly revealed the conclusion everyone had been avoiding, stabbing it like a fork.

She was right.

There were many people but a limited number of escape talismans.

Those who couldn’t escape would accumulate quirks, and if that process repeated, they would eventually die.

My points were limited too.

In other words.

To survive, we had to kill before being killed.

Our own classmates.

“Ha Yeongwon. You can do it. Just make the decision. I’ll take care of the rest.”

Swoosh—

Yang Juhui placed her hand on my shoulder.

She seemed to be trying to give me courage.

But… this wasn’t something that could be done with courage alone.

“You can do it! It has to be you!”

“Ooh…?”

I felt strength surging through my body.

Yang Juhui shouted with even more vigor.

“Ha Yeongwon! Everything depends on you! You have to decide!”

“Oooh!”

“Believe in yourself! You’re stronger than you think!”

“Yes! But I still need to think about it.”

We were exploring the corridor to return to our normal lives.

But would there be peace in a life we returned to with blood on our hands?

I felt that crossing that line might be something I’d regret for the rest of my life.

This gathering in the secret base, eating chicken and laughing together—it would all disappear.

But we couldn’t just sit back and take it either.

I pondered so deeply that I worried I might develop alopecia from losing hair, and finally came to a conclusion.

# # #

This was the conclusion I reached.

“Let’s steal the talismans.”

Everyone’s expressions widened in surprise.

Was my explanation too vague?

Soon, Jeongseok nodded in understanding.

“I see, I was thinking the same thing. What Yeongwon is saying is this: Gong Yerin and Lim Huiyeon didn’t want to show Wang Jahyeon’s house even to Yang Juhui, right? That means there’s something precious and secret in that house that shouldn’t be shown to others. There’s a chance that it’s talismans. Right? Let’s steal those talismans to make them more passive?”

What’s with this guy Jeongseok?

It felt like he had looked inside my head.

Is this the power of the «Computer» trait?

He had sharply penetrated my thought process.

Jeongseok wasn’t done talking.

“Since they were able to remove Kim Geonho’s quirk, they likely have physical talismans. That must be what gives their party confidence to roam the corridors. If we steal them, it benefits us a lot too. A talisman is a 400P item. It can treat quirks and enable escape.”

Well, I have nothing more to say.

It’s convenient that he’s saying everything I wanted to say.

“Honestly, I think it would be easier to just take them out. But stealing the talismans is a good idea too. Yeongwon, that’s an excellent answer for such a short time of consideration.”

“Uh… yeah. That’s what I wanted to say. Let’s steal the talismans!”

I thought that there might be talismans and other ‘secrets’ in Wang Jahyeon’s house.

We’ll sneak into Wang Jahyeon’s house and… steal everything, whatever it is!

“How?”

Bong Jiyeon, who was looking at her phone, asked.

“How are we going to steal what’s in their house?”

“We’ll have to make a plan. I think once Dahui and Sua finish their training, we can somehow use their traits.”

“What if things don’t go well in the middle? For example, what if they return while we’re robbing the empty house?”

I thought for a moment about Bong Jiyeon’s question.

There was no guarantee that such a situation wouldn’t occur.

Plans always tend to betray our hopes.

“Then we’ll have to… be prepared to get blood on our hands.”

Everyone’s expressions became solemn.

And so our “Wang Jahyeon House Robbery Operation” began to take shape.

We planned to maximize everyone’s capabilities.

“The operation will take place on Sunday. Wang Jahyeon goes to church, right? According to Juhui, Gong Yerin and Lim Huiyeon also follow Wang Jahyeon to Yeong-gwang Church?”

“Yeah.”

Wang Jahyeon’s family home was in Seoul, and he lived alone in Gaeryong.

Sunday.

During worship time, his place would definitely be empty.

The sooner the better, so this Sunday would be the day of the operation.

“Juhui, can you keep them at church for a long time?”

“I’m not confident.”

“I’ll go to church with you.”

Jeongseok volunteered.

Yang Juhui and Jeongseok became the church team.

Then Yu Dahui, Bong Jiyeon, and Kwon Sua would come with me to ransack the house.

Hong Miri asked:

“What should I do?”

“Ms. Hong, could you possibly lure Kim Geonho away? I know that Kim Geonho had some connection with you when you were Hong Yeri.”

“How are we going to pick the locked doors? There will be digital locks and such.”

Dahui wondered.

After thinking for a while, I looked at Bong Jiyeon.

I remembered Bong Jiyeon’s updated character sheet.

“What?”

“Jiyeon can pick the locks. Actually, we won’t be entering through the door.”

“Name: Bong Jiyeon Lv.3

Trait: «Wall Climbing»

Disposition: Sassy

Quirk: None

Possessions: None

An arrogant and disrespectful female student. If you can’t control her, you’ll be controlled by her, making her difficult to handle. However, she is versatile and may be more helpful than expected in unexpected situations.”

“«Wall Climbing»: Good at climbing walls. Can easily hang onto any surface with even the smallest groove.”

When I first saw Bong Jiyeon’s «Wall Climbing», I sighed a little.

It felt like, “What good is being good at climbing walls in the nightmare corridor?”

But in reality?

“I heard Wang Jahyeon’s house is on the third floor. Jiyeon will climb up to the third floor through the window and open the door for us!”

“Me? How am I supposed to do that!”

Bong Jiyeon started trembling in shock.

Soon, Dahui firmly held Bong Jiyeon’s hand.

“Jiyeon. You need to be careful not to get hurt.”

Drip, drip—

Attacked by Dahui’s moist, pure gaze, Bong Jiyeon made a groaning sound before finally nodding.

It seemed Bong Jiyeon couldn’t refuse Dahui’s words because she was Dahui’s follower.