Chapter 70: You, Become a Spy (1)

Chapter 70

“…….”

Pung Bitgaram.

Prepared for any potential situation, he transformed into a wisp of smoke and gazed ahead.

In the distance, the sight of the fortress entered his view.

‘What should I do…?’

There, he faced the most difficult decision of his life.

‘Should I just quit and run away…?’

If he turned back now, nothing would happen. He could continue playing the role of a thief and focus on survival until 24 hours passed.

‘…No.’

But Pung Bitgaram didn’t turn back.

‘Unless Yang Junggeun loses the thief communication earphone, the chances of survival are too low in this situation.’

Since Yang Junggeun obtained the thief communication earphone from Number 3, not a word had been heard through the earphone.

Communicating knowing that Yang Junggeun was obviously listening would be foolish.

The exchange of information among thieves was essentially over.

‘If only I could get help from Kim Jin-sung, I wouldn’t have to worry like this…’

The most painful thing was the loss of contact with Kim Jin-sung, the ace of the thief team.

For the thieves, he was their only hope, a mountain to lean on, which they lost in an instant.

‘Survive alone against 200 people?’

Pung Bitgaram shook his head internally.

‘In that case, it would be better to…’

Instinctively, Pung Bitgaram fiddled with the earphones in his pocket.

He currently had both the thieves’ and the pursuers’ communication earphones.

He had stolen the pursuers’ earphones from where Kim Jin-sung, transformed into a quagmire, and rampaged on Lee Deokgu’s pursuers.

Pung Bitgaram recalled the conversation he had heard earlier.

The pursuers, led by Yang Junggeun, were moving systematically as a group.

On the other hand, the thief team had scattered due to the communication breakdown.

It was clearly a very unfavorable situation.

‘It’s better to quickly join forces with the pursuers and eliminate the remaining thieves. Then… I can survive.’

Pung Bitgaram had a reason for this judgment.

He had witnessed Kim Jin-sung taking down over 40 pursuers in the forest.

If there were 48 casualties so far, the pursuer team could pass the preliminary round if they caught seven more thieves. They had already caught one thief.

‘Including me, there are eight thieves left. If I help catch seven, I’m guaranteed to pass the preliminary round.’

The problem was that Kim Jin-sung was among those seven.

But he was an enemy that needed to be killed today anyway.

Considering the relationship between Kim Jin-sung and Yang Junggeun and Yang Junggeun’s furious voice through the communication earphone, it was clear one of them would die today.

‘And when Kim Jin-sung is killed, dozens of others will die too. If enough people die, leaving only six thieves to catch, it’s the best situation for me.’

After making up his mind, Pung Bitgaram started slowly approaching the fortress.

‘If it looks too dangerous, I can run away. My ability is optimized for escape…’

Boom!

‘?!’

Suddenly, an explosion from the fortress startled Pung Bitgaram.

He thought he was being attacked, but that didn’t seem to be the case.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

The continuous explosions came from within the walls.

‘What’s going on?’

With a puzzled expression, Pung Bitgaram cautiously approached the fortress.

* * *

“…That’s the last of them.”

Lee Deokgu, who had activated his radar ability, pointed to the north wall of the fortress.

Yang Junggeun turned his gaze in that direction.

A small, previously unseen single eye was floating in the sky, appearing as if detected by a green radar.

The transparency of the “Eye of Surveillance” had been forcibly undone by Lee Deokgu’s radar ability.

“Destroy it!”

At Yang Junggeun’s command, several pursuers with long-range skills unleashed their abilities towards the Eye of Surveillance.

Boom!

With another explosion, the Eye of Surveillance burst.

Yang Junggeun, looking doubtful, glanced at Lee Deokgu.

“Is that really the last one? Are you sure? You’re not hiding one to screw us over, are you?!”

Lee Deokgu, suppressing his anger with superhuman patience, answered calmly.

“No, sir. You can trust me.”

Satisfied with this, Yang Junggeun smirked.

“Yeah, keep suppressing that temper. That’s how you’ll survive without dying by my hands. Right?”

“…….”

Lee Deokgu lowered his eyes, unable to speak, while Yang Junggeun looked at him smugly.

It was clear who held the higher rank.

“By the way, where’s Pung Bitgaram? Didn’t you say he was detected in the direction we came from?”

Lee Deokgu nodded.

“He’s almost here. He just passed the east wall.”

“East? I don’t feel anything…”

Yang Junggeun, activating his mana, heightened his senses.

Then he nodded.

“He really is almost here.”

Soon, the heads of Lee Deokgu, Yang Junggeun, and others naturally turned towards the east, towards the fortress entrance.

There, a small wisp of smoke quietly entered the fortress.

“Welcome! Haha!”

Before Pung Bitgaram could transform, Yang Junggeun welcomed him with open arms.

Naturally, Pung Bitgaram transformed back into a person and ended up in Yang Junggeun’s embrace.

“Why come as smoke past the wall? We knew you were coming five minutes ago!”

“You knew?”

Pung Bitgaram asked, surprised, and Yang Junggeun laughed heartily.

“Of course. Do you know how many people with detection skills we have? This ugly guy here?”

Yang Junggeun pointed at Lee Deokgu.

“He has a radar ability. Once activated, he can detect all living things within a 100-meter radius!”

“……!”

“When I said I knew your location five minutes ago, I wasn’t lying! Don’t you think it was a good decision to join us? Haha!”

Though Yang Junggeun laughed heartily, Pung Bitgaram’s eyes still held surprise.

‘They knew I was cautiously approaching all along…?’

At the same time, he felt a chill run down his spine.

‘Yang Junggeun was right. It was a good decision to join them! With that radar ability, I couldn’t have survived 24 hours!’

Yang Junggeun patted his shoulder.

“I saw you following the direction we came from. Is that right?”

“Yes….”

“Good job! On our way back, we removed all the detection skills Kim Jin-sung set up! You probably weren’t detected entering the fortress!”

“……!”

“Even if you were, what would it matter? You’re not going to face all 200 of us alone. Right? Haha! Sit comfortably!”

Yang Junggeun led Pung Bitgaram to a central table.

As soon as they sat down, Yang Junggeun spoke again.

“You made a really good choice. And you’re lucky! Want to know why?”

“……?”

“Our pursuers’ casualties are exactly 48.”

“!!”

Pung Bitgaram’s eyes widened.

As he had hoped, the numbers were just right.

Yang Junggeun, noticing his expression, smiled.

“You understand right away. Yeah, now we just need to catch seven more thieves to all pass the preliminary round.”

“……”

“If we manage to eliminate seven people within 24 hours, we won’t have any reason to kill you. Isn’t that why you decided to team up with us?”

“…Yes.”

“Good! Then it will be easier to talk.”

Yang Junggeun got straight to the point.

“From now on, your role is to lure the other thieves into the traps we set up. Do you understand?”

“You want me to approach them as if I’m still one of them and bring them over one by one.”

“Exactly! You catch on quickly. Just help us take out those seven. But!”

Yang Junggeun held up one finger.

“Kim Jin-sung will be the last one we target. Do you know why?”

“He’s the strongest. There could be the most damage when capturing him.”

“Right. We’ll go after Kim Jin-sung only after we’ve dealt with the other thieves and are on the verge of clearing the preliminaries.”

“Then… you do plan to capture Kim Jin-sung?”

“Of course!!”

Yang Junggeun slammed the table, shouting. Seeing his eyes flare with anger, Pung Bitgaram quickly stepped back with his hands up.

“As I expected, you really hate Kim Jin-sung.”

“Now, tell us what you know.”

Yang Junggeun, having calmed down, asked Pung Bitgaram.

“There must have been information shared among the thieves before I shouted into the earpiece, right? Like each other’s locations…”

“Ah, yes. Kim Jin-sung is in the underground passage.”

“Underground…?”

Yang Junggeun looked surprised.

“What? This island has underground passages?”

“Yes. There are four levels…”

“Really?! This is crucial information! Mark the entrances on the map.”

Pung Bitgaram took a pen and circled an area on the map. Some of the taggers crowded around to see.

“It’s about 130 meters southwest of here?”

“It’s further than I thought.”

“It’s hidden under a tree. No wonder the sentinels couldn’t find it with their ‘Eyes of Surveillance.’”

“Everyone, get back!”

Yang Junggeun’s shout made the other taggers back off. He continued.

“Is Kim Jin-sung the only one in that underground passage?”

“Yes.”

“Are you sure? I hate false information!”

“Kim Jin-sung warned everyone not to enter because it’s dangerous. And with all the strong monsters down there, no one would have gone in.”

“Hmm… Okay!”

Yang Junggeun quickly made a decision and instructed everyone.

“We’ll save dealing with that underground passage for last. Let’s focus on clearing the small fry on the surface first. Got it?”

everyone nodded .

“Don’t even try to approach that area! If it’s Kim Jin-sung, he could use his shadow abilities to escape no matter how many guards we post.”

everyone noded again.

“Good. All officers, gather around! We need to finalize our strategy. Pung Bitgaram, you join too. You have a crucial role to play.”

About ten people gathered around the table for a quiet discussion. After about 30 minutes, Yang Junggeun stood up.

“Alright! Let’s proceed as planned.”

Yang Junggeun looked at his watch.

“It’s past noon, so we’ll head out after lunch. Keep that in mind!”

Yang Junggeun’s voice rang out as he addressed everyone.

“Until we leave, no one steps outside the fortress! Unless you want to end up like those three earlier. Got it?”

“Yes.”

“Everyone, take some time to get ready!”

The taggers began to disperse. Lee Deokgu also turned to walk toward the entrance.

“Hey, Lee Deokgu! Where do you think you’re going?”

Yang Junggeun called out.

“I was going to take a break and head up to the third floor.”

“Really? I thought you were planning to sneak out with the others.”

“……”

“What are you looking at? If you’re going up, then get lost! I can’t stand your ugly face….”

Lee Deokgu’s face turned red, but he said nothing and headed up the stairs. Watching him go, Yang Junggeun smirked and lit a cigarette, one of the spoils from the third thief they had caught.

* * *

The fortress had three floors. Each floor was spacious enough to accommodate almost 200 taggers.

“Man, I really need a smoke….”

Two young men standing guard in a corner of the third floor were talking while looking out at the view through a large, square hole.

“Is there any place to get some cigarettes?”

“Try asking Yang Junggeun.”

“Are you crazy? He’d chew me out for sure.”

“Haha…!”

“I heard the cigarettes Yang Junggeun is smoking came from the bag of the thief we caught. So maybe there are more hidden on the island?”

“Probably? We found a lot of stuff in abandoned houses during the first preliminaries.”

“Really? I didn’t find any in the first preliminaries…?”

“You were just unlucky. Haha.”

“…Damn.”

As they chatted, a voice interrupted them.

“Want a smoke?”

They turned to see Lee Deokgu offering them two cigarettes from a pack.

“Oh, thank you!”

“Where did you get these?”

“I found them in an abandoned house on the way back.”

Lee Deokgu kindly lit their cigarettes for them. They took a puff.

“Ah~.”

“Oh, that hits the spot.”

Feeling better, they started to sympathize with Lee Deokgu.

“It must be tough for you, right? We all know Yang Junggeun is too harsh on you.”

“Yeah, it’s over the top. What did you do to him, anyway?”

“It’s fine. Don’t worry about it.”

Lee Deokgu smiled and gestured for them to go downstairs.

“Go get your lunch. I’ll cover for you.”

“What? Oh, you don’t have to…”

“I’ve lost my appetite. And I want to be alone for a bit… You understand?”

“Oh….”

The two young men exchanged glances, remembering how Yang Junggeun had yelled at Lee Deokgu earlier. They nodded and headed downstairs.

Left alone, Lee Deokgu activated his radar skill.

‘…No one is focusing on me.’

Seeing that everyone was far away, he looked up. In the sky was an ‘Eye of Surveillance.’

He had removed the other eyes as per Yang Junggeun’s orders but had deliberately left this one intact.

The eye seemed to stare back at him as if questioning his motives.

– Why did you leave this ‘Eye of Surveillance’? You must have a plan.

Lee Deokgu took out his smartphone, opened the memo app, and enlarged the text.

– I want to kill Yang Junggeun. I need your help, Kim Jin-sung.

He then held the phone up to the ‘Eye of Surveillance’ so it could clearly see the message.