Chapter 859: No. 1 (3)

“Fuck, where the hell is this place….”

Geum Jangmi, suddenly confined in an unknown place the moment she entered the dungeon, looked around with a bewildered expression.

I couldn’t even remember well what the last scenery I saw was. Because just as I entered the Forest of Phantoms for my usual solo hunt, I felt like something attacked me from behind.

And after that, I immediately felt the sensation of my body being transferred towards a warp gate, so it was clear I had used a warp gate at least one more time. But since the view of an unfamiliar place, not the Foundation’s, came into view, Geum Jangmi couldn’t help but be flustered.

Moreover, she hadn’t even been able to confirm who the unknown entity that attacked her was. With her mouth covered and hands bound, Geum Jangmi was moved by a force pushing her from behind, and then directly confined as if thrown into another room in one corner of the pure white space.

“Fuck, what is this…? I’ve never heard of a monster like this appearing in the Forest of Phantoms….”

Although it had the obvious physique and movements of a person rather than a monster, if it really was a person, they should have been crawling on the floor after being hit by the Burning Pain I reflexively used when I was captured.

Because that horrific pain, like the whole body burning up, wasn’t the kind of pain a human body could endure.

I could understand my attack not working on a golem-like monster that completely lacked pain sensation, but I didn’t feel any sense of it being such a monster at all. In the end, Geum Jangmi concluded that they must have endured my Burning Pain by some means to attempt a kidnapping like this.

“Even though it’s inside a dungeon, kidnapping me like this? Are they sane?”

It was absurd. The fact that they dared to kidnap and lock up the eldest daughter of the Geumhyang Group so recklessly.

I couldn’t know what the kidnapper was thinking, but it was obvious they would be caught soon. Because the sensation of being forcibly moved the moment I was kidnapped was definitely the sensation of using a warp gate.

That meant it was a planned crime, having installed a warp gate right next to the Foundation’s dungeon to carry out the kidnapping.

Obviously, warp gates aren’t the type of object that one or two people can install and dismantle in just a few minutes. Installation might be possible alone for a warp gate technician, but dismantling or moving it required at least three or four people working on it for several hours.

If it’s a kidnapping facility made with such large-scale work, naturally, many personnel would be involved during the installation and dismantling process. Therefore, no matter what kind of place this is, they were bound to be caught.

“Whoever the stupid bitch is, they sure prepared a lot. Anyway, once Geumhyang starts investigating, they’ll probably be caught within three days.”

Three days. Yeah, three days should be enough.

Just three days until Geumhyang notices I’ve gone missing and starts the search.

I don’t know who the kidnapper is or what their purpose is, but I’ll just stay put, acting as accommodating as possible, and get rescued in three days.

Or, I could use my awakened ability to subdue them. Anyway, if they want to negotiate with me, they’ll have to face me again, and once they get close, there will be an opportunity to use Phantom Pain.

…A little while ago, for some reason, I didn’t get the feeling that my awakened ability was working, but I vaguely thought it was probably just my imagination, or maybe they just held on for a moment, so if I use it again, it will work this time.

If, that’s not the case….

“…Ha, no way.”

My awakened ability weakened? That’s laughable.

Besides, finding it strange that it didn’t work on that damn guy the day before yesterday, Geum Jangmi called Geum Dallae as soon as she returned from the dungeon to try using her awakened ability.

Although Geum Dallae, who had been hit by my Phantom Pain for a ridiculous reason, looked at me tearfully, finding out that my Phantom Pain was working properly was more important to Geum Jangmi.

Geum Dallae’s glare, as if angry at me, was actually absurd to Geum Jangmi. She thought, ‘Anyway, since she no longer has memory capacity and has become useless, she should still be grateful that I keep her by my side and use her for things like that.’

In any case, the assumption that my awakened ability might have weakened disappeared completely during that process. Then, in the end, only one hypothesis remained.

“No way…. That guy back then….”

If the culprit was Kim Sungchul… no, Sung Taekyung, who had toyed with me beside Do Sihee as if showing off, it was highly possible.

I don’t know the principle, but he definitely completely ignored the mental magic I used and instead crushed my hand with his grip strength.

Moreover, Do Sihee watched that sight openly right beside him, so perhaps Do Sihee, who has a grudge against me, saw his ability and commissioned this kidnapping.

“Anyway, she pretended to be so pure, but she was the same kind of bitch, wasn’t she?”

It was Geum Jangmi, downgrading her, who had nothing to do with it, to her own level in reality.

Meanwhile, thinking about the possibility that the one who kidnapped me was Sung Taekyung himself, or perhaps someone else who used his method to block Phantom Pain, Geum Jangmi became a little scared. Because if my awakened ability doesn’t work, my chances when things get tough would also be blocked.

It felt like the pain of crushing hands, which I felt when I clasped Sung Taekyung’s hand the day before yesterday, was happening again.

I don’t know by what method he inflicted the pain without leaving a trace, but perhaps he too has an ability similar to mine. I heard the media talking about him as a multiple awakener, so it’s highly possible.

“……”

“……If the one who locked me up here is really that bastard?”

If it’s not about wanting something from the Geumhyang Group, but simply because Do Sihee and Sung Taekyung have a grudge against me and are doing this?

Although I was a little scared, Geum Jangmi tried hard to calm her mind. Because Geum Jangmi still firmly believed, without a doubt, that she would be rescued within three days, no matter how late it got.

However, what was making me uneasy for some reason was the overall scenery of the place where I was trapped.

“A warehouse somewhere…? For something like that…”

For something like that, there were many items whose purpose was unknown and couldn’t guess any commonality.

Including a batting machine used for baseball players’ practice and a pile of baseballs, restraints seemingly made to bind limbs, and boxes filled with various long, hard objects.

And besides those, various items of unknown purpose caught Geum Jangmi’s eye one by one.

“A funnel…? What is this now…?”

Maybe there was a tool to help escape, so Geum Jangmi searched around, but it was hard to figure out the purpose of most of the items she picked up.

At least I could guess the purpose of the restraints with handcuffs was for binding my body, but the purpose of the other items was unknown.

It couldn’t be helped.

Because in this world, ‘sexual torture targeting women’ wasn’t a familiar concept.

“Seeing that the phone shows ‘out of service area,’ it really seems to be a place like some building’s underground storage….”

Just to kidnap one person like me, they used a warp gate and set up an underground storage. Geum Jangmi thought the effort put into preparation was commendable.

Seeing they prepared so thoroughly actually made me feel a little relieved. Because the kidnapper would surely demand a large ransom from Geumhyang, targeting me, even just to cover the cost of this kidnapping.

The facility and kidnapping method clearly involved a considerable amount of money, far more than what would be needed just to settle a grudge.

“If necessary, I’ll make them betray their financier and join my side. If he’s a man motivated by money, he’ll be easy to use.”

Geum Jangmi thought at the time that nothing is easier than handling someone whose desire is money. It was the composure she could afford, thanks to not predicting that the information she got while looking around the warehouse… no, her own ‘torture room,’ was actually pointing to something completely different.

Even now, my younger sibling was in the next room undergoing ‘self-punishment’ following Sung Taekyung’s orders, but due to the perfectly soundproof structure of Belle’s dungeon, it couldn’t be heard. If I had heard those agonizing screams even just a little, I might have become a little wary, but that didn’t happen.

“Cleaning up seems to be taking some time. After all, since they used a warp gate as a kidnapping tool, dismantling it must take ages too.”

It would be disastrous if the warp gate were discovered once the search officially begins, so my calculation was that they must be busy dismantling it right now.

Thus, about five hours passed while I was confined alone, without the kidnapper or anyone else.

Just as boredom began to creep into Geum Jangmi’s mind, while she was still feeling composed. The door opened, and the kidnapper who abducted her revealed himself.

It was the appearance of the man who would plunge Geum Jangmi’s future into hell, despite her acting so composed even in this situation.