Chapter 72: Essential and Indispensable

Chapter 72

“Damn it!! Again, it happened again!!”

Yang Junggeun shouted in rage.

The seekers, who had already been drawn by the commotion, were watching from a distance.

“Kim Jin-Sung, you worthless piece of trash!!”

The seekers glanced at each other and shook their heads slightly as they watched Yang Junggeun. On the other hand, Yang Junggeun was going mad with anger. If a few combat members had died in a straightforward fight, he wouldn’t have been so furious. But the people who were dragged away by an unknown skill were crucial reconnaissance operatives essential for carrying out their mission.

“You damn bastard!”

Yang Junggeun’s anger naturally turned towards Lee Deokgu, who was still lying on the ground. He approached briskly, grabbed Lee Deokgu by the hair, and roughly pulled him up.

“You did this on purpose, didn’t you? You intentionally left the reconnaissance team outside so Kim Jin-Sung could easily kidnap them!”

Yang Junggeun spoke through gritted teeth, glaring with eyes burning with anger. Lee Deokgu reacted unexpectedly.

“You bastard!!”

“…!”

Lee Deokgu, who couldn’t even meet his eyes properly, shouted with a desperate expression. Surprised, Yang Junggeun flinched, and Lee Deokgu began to spew his anger like a machine gun.

“You think I knew Kim Jin-Sung would do this and gathered the reconnaissance team separately? Now you’re accusing me of being a spy?”

“What…”

“You’re framing me as a traitor without any reason? Stop this nonsense, you bastard!!”

Yang Junggeun stared blankly at Lee Deokgu, who was swearing at him. His face turned red with anger that had finally reached its peak.

“You must have a lot of guts…!”

Mana surged through Yang Junggeun’s body, causing his aura to explode outward. He raised his fist as if to strike, but,

“Go ahead, kill me!!”

Despite Yang Junggeun’s threatening stance, Lee Deokgu continued to shout defiantly.

“Kill me and see how well you find the thieves without a single reconnaissance member!!”

“…!”

Yang Junggeun’s movement halted.

‘Damn it…!’

Yang Junggeun realized that Lee Deokgu was the only one left who could use reconnaissance skills. He suddenly remembered what Pung Bitgaram had said.

– “The thieves were selected for their survival skills. They will be extremely difficult to find if they are hiding.”

Finding the thieves required the power of a reconnaissance expert more than anything. This was why Yang Junggeun had formed a separate reconnaissance team.

‘But I can’t let this bastard live… No, no! Think rationally, Yang Junggeun!’

If he killed Lee Deokgu out of a momentary emotion, finding the thieves would become incredibly difficult. Yang Junggeun began to struggle between his emotions and reason. Lee Deokgu, seeing Yang Junggeun’s wavering eyes, sighed in relief internally.

‘Phew… It worked…!’

According to Kim Jin-Sung’s plan, Lee Deokgu needed to be in a stable situation where he could interact with Kim Jin-Sung while staying beside Yang Junggeun.

– “You need to create a situation where Yang Junggeun can’t get rid of you no matter what you do.”

At first, Lee Deokgu didn’t understand Kim Jin-Sung’s words, but after hearing the whole plan, he understood. If only one reconnaissance expert remained, Yang Junggeun would never be able to dispose of him.

The plan was clearly working. Yang Junggeun, who would have usually swung his fist without hesitation, was now hesitating, his fist trembling.

‘Considering the other seekers, he can’t kill me!’

While thinking this, Yang Junggeun glanced at the seekers. Most of them were looking grim or cold.

‘Damn it…!’

Yang Junggeun couldn’t afford to lose the support of nearly 200 seekers over personal emotions. He slowly lowered his raised hand.

“…I’m… sorry.”

Yang Junggeun unclenched his fist and extended it towards Lee Deokgu, then awkwardly coughed.

“I was too angry and jumped to conclusions.”

Lee Deokgu, holding his aching jaw, slowly got up while Yang Junggeun awkwardly explained.

“I apologize for hitting you. But you must understand that drinking before a mission is unacceptable!”

“…”

“Let’s call it even. Hahaha…”

Lee Deokgu turned away with a cold expression.

“I’m going to get ready.”

Lee Deokgu walked away, leaving Yang Junggeun to grimace alone.

‘Damn, the situation has become a mess.’

Now, to catch the thieves, Yang Junggeun needed Lee Deokgu’s ability. He could no longer treat him harshly.

Meanwhile, inside the base, Lee Deokgu was messaging Kim Jin-Sung.

– It went according to plan.

* * *

‘It had to.’

Kim Jin-Sung, checking Lee Deokgu’s message, put down his smartphone and looked at the notification window in front of him.

▷ Infrared Vision: Injects mana into the eyes to detect infrared energy of life forms within a certain range.

▷ Vibration Detection: Sensitively detects vibrations on the ground. The higher the owner’s level, the greater the distance and accuracy.

▷ Enhanced Hearing: Greatly improves hearing ability.

These were the abilities obtained by eliminating the kidnapped reconnaissance hunters. There were also two skills acquired, but they were discarded due to low utility.

‘With this, I can now detect my surroundings more sensitively.’

Already possessing ‘Location Detection’ and ‘Animal’s Sixth Sense’ traits, Kim Jin-Sung believed the more detection abilities, the better. Now, unless in a special situation like a status abnormality, he was confident that no one could ambush him.

Lee Deokgu:

– What should I do now?

At that moment, a notification popped up on his smartphone again. Kim Jin-Sung quickly typed a response.

Kim Jin-Sung:

– When are you departing?

Lee Deokgu:

– In 20 minutes.

Kim Jin-Sung:

– Contact me in 20 minutes. I’ll give you further instructions then.

Lee Deokgu:

– Understood.

After confirming the content, Kim Jin-Sung put his smartphone in his pocket and headed towards the sewers where the Quagmires were. Feeling their presence with his enhanced detection abilities, Kim Jin-Sung increased his speed.

‘I have to keep hunting. If I want to gather 5,000 points by the next operation, time is tight.’

To execute the plan in his mind, Kim Jin-Sung couldn’t afford to stop hunting.

“Let’s move out!”

Twenty minutes later, with Yang Junggeun’s shout, a large group of over a hundred participants began to move out from the main base. Lee Deokgu glanced at his smartphone. As expected, a message from Kim Jin-Sung had arrived.

—

Kim Jin-Sung:

– First, destroy only half of the surveillance eyes I’ve set up. Just remove the ones that are hovering low.

—

Lee Deokgu followed Kim Jin-Sung’s instructions to the letter.

“Surveillance eye on the left!”

Bang!

“One more on the right!”

Bang!

“It’s done! All clear.”

Upon Lee Deokgu’s shout, the long-range skill users relaxed their stances. However, there were still three surveillance eyes remaining in the sky.

“Are you sure we got them all?”

Yang Junggeun asked with a skeptical look. Without turning to him, Lee Deokgu replied.

“Absolutely. Trust me.”

Then he walked forward without hesitation. His confident demeanor left Yang Junggeun with no further words.

“…Keep moving.”

Ultimately, Yang Junggeun directed the group without further comment. Lee Deokgu caught a glimpse of Yang Junggeun’s uneasy expression and smirked internally.

‘Hehe, now that he can’t boss me around, he’s going to lose it.’

In a sudden shift, their relationship went from boss and subordinate to equals… or possibly reversed. Lee Deokgu found it amusing.

“Hey! What are you doing?! The monsters are approaching!”

Yang Junggeun shouted, pointing to a flock of man-eating birds descending from the left sky. His tone and voice were the same as when he used to berate Lee Deokgu, indicating his seething anger.

At the moment when the left side participants attacked the approaching birds, Lee Deokgu checked his smartphone again. Another message from Kim Jin-Sung had arrived.

—

Kim Jin-Sung:

– Remember the key conversations among the participants and report them to me regularly.

—

‘Looks like the surveillance eyes can’t eavesdrop.’

Just as he thought that, a buzzing sound of a laser being fired echoed nearby. Turning his head, he saw a laser-like shot hitting and downing one of the man-eating birds approaching Yang Junggeun.

“Good job, Hwang Bokyung!”

Yang Junggeun grabbed the shoulder of the young man who fired the laser and praised him.

“Keep it up! You need to be at the forefront when we catch the first thief. Got it?”

“Yes.”

After hearing Hwang Bokyung’s response, Yang Junggeun shouted to everyone.

“As I said earlier, the ‘Ace Team’ I picked must stay close to me at all times! That way, we can concentrate our firepower if we encounter Kim Jin-Sung! Understood?”

Standing beside Yang Junggeun, Lee Deokgu quickly took out his smartphone and typed.

—

Lee Deokgu:

– About 20 participants clustered around Yang Junggeun are the ‘Ace Team.’

—

Even with just this message, Kim Jin-Sung could identify the Ace Team through the remaining surveillance eyes. As expected, a reply came quickly.

—

Kim Jin-Sung:

– Confirmed.

—

“Another flock of man-eating birds approaching from the front!”

After reading the reply, Lee Deokgu put his smartphone back in his pocket and shouted, pointing ahead. Watching everyone prepare for battle, he thought to himself.

‘I must always be cautious and careful not to get caught.’

The most important thing was not letting anyone know he was in contact with Kim Jin-Sung. To do that, he had to constantly show Yang Junggeun and others that he was vigilant about surveillance.

* * *

A little while later.

“Looks like this is the western river.”

Yang Junggeun muttered as he stared at the wide river in front of him. It seemed to be the downstream area at the western end of the island, where the river met the sea. Yang Junggeun looked at Pung Bitgaram.

“You said someone was hiding by the river, right?”

“Yes. Although there’s a chance they’ve moved by now…”

“No, they’re still there.”

At Lee Deokgu’s interruption, both Yang Junggeun and Pung Bitgaram turned to look at him.

“I’m detecting someone hiding in the bushes near the beach, precisely 320 meters ahead.”

“…I thought you could only detect within 100 meters?”

Yang Junggeun questioned. Lee Deokgu responded with a puzzled expression.

“I said roughly 100 meters, I never specified an exact distance.”

Lee Deokgu’s insolent answer made Yang Junggeun’s veins bulge in anger. It felt like Lee Deokgu was getting increasingly cocky now that he was the only remaining scout.

‘That insolent bastard… just wait until we catch the thieves. I’ll make him regret it!’

Grinding his teeth in frustration, Yang Junggeun shouted at Pung Bitgaram, unable to hide his irritation.

“What are you doing?! Go to the location he mentioned and bring the thief back!”

“…”

The sudden outburst made Pung Bitgaram’s face contort. However, he couldn’t openly defy Yang Junggeun. If Yang Junggeun’s mood changed even slightly, he could easily order the participants to kill him.

‘Damn it, I’m only holding back because I have to…’

Engraving patience in his heart, Pung Bitgaram transformed into mist and moved towards the river. Meanwhile, Lee Deokgu received another message from Kim Jin-Sung.

—

Lee Deokgu:

– I relayed the location exactly as you mentioned to Yang Junggeun.

Kim Jin-Sung:

– Confirmed. Now we will commence the operation to eliminate Yang Junggeun.

—

The operation to eliminate Yang Junggeun!

Lee Deokgu’s eyes trembled with anticipation as he read the message.