episode_0029

# 29

My head hurts so much it feels like it’s going to split open.

“Wow… What the fuck. You’re so damn pretty. Are you an aspiring celebrity or something?”

“Hey, don’t even think about it. Do you have something to lose to your brother?”

‘I have to go to work…’

What am I doing now? Am I lying down?

“Um… .”

“I think you’re awake?”

“What? It looks like the effect has already worn off. Hey. Can you hear me? Nod your head if you can.”

I heard the voices of strange men. I couldn’t see ahead.

Rather than saying that it’s dark and you can’t see, it feels like something is blocking it.

Yeah, it’s like wearing a blindfold.

And I can’t move my hands or feet. Are they tied up?

‘why?’

Question marks fill my head. It feels hazy, like there’s a fog in my head.

“What the hell is this kid’s dad doing, selling his own daughter?”

“He’s just an idiot. He said he borrowed money from his brother to gamble.”

I’m sure I was going to go to the store, sir.

I was hanging out with Min-ah, yeah. Min-ah went to meet a friend, and I was heading to the uncle’s store alone.

“Heh heh. If you look at it that way, this year is pitiful.”

ah.

I remembered.

“Ugh! Ugh!!”

“Ah. There’s no use screaming. It’s underground.”

“Ugh. Ugh ugh!!”

I tried to scream with all my might, but there was something stuck at the corner of my mouth so I couldn’t make a sound.

“Ah. It’s really noisy.”

I remembered everything. Meeting my father, and the strange people surrounding me.

“Up!!!!”

“Fuck! Shut up!”

The sound of a man’s screams filled my ears.

Thud. Thud. Something was coming towards me,

Bam─!

“Keuk… .”

Soon, I felt excruciating pain in my abdomen, as if I was being kicked by something.

“Kekeke… Eek… .”

It hurts. It hurts. It hurts.

The sudden pain left me unable to even breathe.

“Hey! What the hell. Aren’t you angry? I told you that if you get caught for hitting me just now, you’ll lose? ”

“Haa… It’s okay. It’s my stomach. You can’t see it, right?”

Tears streamed down my cheeks.

The fear that the pain might come again.

And amidst the anxiety about what will happen in the future,

‘Help me… .’

For some reason, I remembered the face of the old man I last saw this morning.

***

“Hey. I asked where Jia went.”

I spoke to the guy who was still struggling to keep his balance due to the shock of being hit.

“Ugh… .”

Instead of answering, the guy just groans in pain. But what can I do?

At that moment, I was contemplating whether to hit the guy one more time.

“Boss!” “Mr. Dohan!”

Yunseol and Hwayoung, their expressions clearly flustered, approached me.

“You said you were going to ask me leading questions!”

“Ah, somehow… .”

The questioning that was being conducted in a leading manner ended up being just a beating through leading.

Since both letters are the same, it’s safe to say that it’s half correct.

“… It turned out well. Fortunately, it doesn’t seem like he noticed the commotion… Let’s move to my car for now.”

While Yunseol was looking at me with dumbfounded eyes, Hwayoung said that it was a good opportunity and picked up the guy.

‘and.’

At first glance, it looks like it weighs more than twice as much.

Seeing Hwayoung lift it lightly, as if she were just lifting a slightly large teddy bear, I suddenly felt a sense of security.

by the way.

“What are you going to do with that guy by moving him in the car?”

Out of pure curiosity, I asked Hwayoung,

“Conversation.”

She answered like that and smiled faintly.

.

And a little later.

“Please save me. I beg you. I’ll tell you anything, but please don’t burn me with fire, fire… .”

The guy who had a brief one-on-one conversation with Hwayoung in the car became surprisingly obedient.

‘What on earth happened…?’

The change in the guy that happened shortly after I sent Yunseol and I out of the car for a while.

I thought I might get hurt if I tried to explain it in detail, so I decided to just understand it as being impressed by the charisma of the hero Hwayoung.

There are quite a few things in life that you don’t need to know.

“Ahaha.”

Judging from Yunseol’s expression, she probably thinks the same as I do.

anyway.

I asked the guy who had converted in a short period of time and started cooperating with us straight away.

“A girl with black hair, yellow eyes, wearing a white blouse and black skirt.”

“Look, I saw it!”

also.

“Are you in that store right now?”

“Oh, maybe.”

Amara. The answer of a guy who is extremely ambiguous.

If it exists, then it exists, and if it doesn’t, then it doesn’t exist.

Hwayoung also said something to the guy, as she didn’t like his attitude.

“Maybe?”

“Hee, heeek!!!!”

Then the guy got really surprised and started spewing out words like a waterfall.

“And a few hours ago, I saw the guards drugging them and taking them away! But I’m a guard so I don’t know what happens inside, and I don’t see them leaving so I think they’re still inside!”

“ Medicine? You wouldn’t do that to that little kid… ”

“It’s just a simple sleeping pill! My older brother is sensitive to damage to products, so I know that he’s put to sleep with sleeping pills first! ”

“… You, a product to a person?”

Yunseol’s voice sounded cold, as if she was completely angry, unlike usual.

At the same time, my body began to tremble.

“Please, save me! I’m, I’m sorry! I made a mistake! ”

“… Seol-ah. Calm down.”

“Ah.”

Yunseol glances at me as if his excitement has subsided again due to Hwayoung’s persuasion.

It seems like he’s a little embarrassed to show that he’s angry.

But I understand it well. I am like Yunseol too…

‘no.’

Because I was even angrier than that. To the point where my fist, which I had been clenching just a moment ago, was starting to hurt.

But finding Zia’s whereabouts is a greater priority than taking out my anger on the guy.

“You said that those guys called Su-geum-jo definitely took Jia inside, right?”

“Yes, yes! Oh, I probably didn’t touch it! Normally, when you catch a woman, you taste it first… ”

Ah, I can’t stand it.

Bam─!

Unable to bear it any longer, I hit the guy in the face, and he lost consciousness with the whites of his eyes showing.

“Honey, I know how you feel, but calm down a little. It won’t do you any good to be excited right now.”

“… Yes.”

“I think it’s Jia. She seems to be in the store over there… If I tell her to wait here, she won’t listen, right?”

I nodded to Hwayoung’s words.

“Okay. Let’s go. If it’s dangerous, Seol and I hide behind each other.”

Then she smiled bitterly as if she had known this would happen.

Yun Seol also added:

“… Don’t push yourself too hard, sir. Once we get in, we’ll subdue them. ”

“Yes.”

After that, we got out of the car and went straight into the store where Zia was being held.

.

The inside of the store was dimly lit with soft pink lighting.

Similar to a regular karaoke bar, but with a slightly more decadent atmosphere.

“What is it?”

There was a rough-looking man sitting at the counter, and he spoke to us when he saw us coming in through the door.

“… I didn’t hear that there were any guests. What are you guys doing? Are there any women?”

I told the guy straight away.

“The girl you said you caught a few hours ago. Where is she now?”

“… Are you a police officer?”

The guy who heard me made a slightly cowardly expression, perhaps mistaking us for police officers.

“As I told you last time you came, our family would never do something like that… ”

“Shut up. Where are you?”

“Haa. What the hell… . You brought a warrant? I’m going to sue you!”

A guy who yells loudly instead.

I lightly ignored the guy and moved into the passage behind him.

Rooms lined up in a hallway. They are blocked by translucent glass, so you can’t see inside.

It looks like I’ll have to check everything one by one.

“Don’t stop there… Huh, what is it, ice? Now, wait a minute… !”

“… Get your hands off me, sir.”

The guy who soon followed me and grabbed my shoulder,

“Mom, body!!!!”

All parts of his body except his face were rapidly frozen, and he let out a lifeless scream.

After that, the guy lost his balance and fell to the floor.

I crouched down in front of the guy and asked.

“Hey. I’ll ask again. The black-haired girl you guys caught a few hours ago. Where is she now?”

“That, that’s… ”

In a way, it’s amazing. You’re not saying anything even in this situation?

“Answer quickly. I don’t mind if you freeze the rest of the body.”

“Hi, eek!!! I, I’ll answer!!”

Unable to withstand Yunseol’s threats, he finally opened his mouth.

“There is a door leading down to the basement behind the karaoke machine in the innermost room. The merchandise was originally hidden there, and later on, for training… ”

‘goods?’

“Mr. Yoonseol. Please freeze it.”

“Yes.”

After that, the guy was frozen like a frozen fish with a terrified expression on his face.

It looks like the nose and mouth were left behind, so he probably won’t die.

“Products? Education? … You keep talking nonsense. You said the innermost room, right? Let’s go there, honey.”

“Yes.”

Afterwards, while heading to the inner room, one by one, the ground spider guys came out after hearing the commotion.

Yunseol immediately,

“Brother. What’s wrong… What are you guys doing?”

Freeze.

“What the hell?! These little shits!!!”

And freeze again.

“What’s the fuss… ”

Freeze again.

Before I knew it, the inside of the store was like this,

“Wow.”

It was transformed into a scene reminiscent of Ice Age.

“… I don’t really have anything to do.”

Hwayoung, who seemed a little embarrassed, smacked her lips again.

Hwayoung’s ability is a fire-based ability, so it is difficult to use it in a confined space like this.

Squeak.

After that, we moved to the inner room that the guy had mentioned.

“What are you guys?!”

“Gyaaaah!!!”

‘Ugh.’

We left the guests behind, who were engaging in somewhat embarrassing behavior, and pushed the karaoke machine to the side as the guy had said.

“Oh, there’s nothing?”

“… Wait a minute.”

The pattern of the wallpaper on the floor is slightly misaligned. There is a small handle-like thing on the side, so I lift it…

“That’s thorough.”

… something like an iron attic door appeared.

‘You can’t find it because you hid it like this.’

I understand why the police said they found nothing when they searched last time.

As I open the door, I see something like a ladder leading down. It looks like Jia is down there in the basement.

“Wait a minute.”

Just as I was about to go down, Hwayoung whispered softly as if she noticed something.

and.

The sound of several footsteps came closer and closer,

“Our kids lying around at the entrance. Are you guys like that?”

Swarm, swarm. The room we entered was barged into by spiders.

‘There are so many of them.’

The bald head of the leader, who looks like he might be the leader at first glance, and dozens of typical tattooed pork broth soup addicts who look like they have bigger bellies than the others.

It seemed like the security guard I had been talking to at the entrance had called for backup.

“Oh my god. I never thought the day would come when I would say something like this… .”

Hwayoung had a slightly excited expression. After that, she coughed once and spoke softly to me and Yunseol.

“Leave this to me and go down first.”

Finally she added:

“Jia, you should bring her.”

And then Hwayoung carrying Yoonseol and I on our backs.

‘I wonder if it’ll be okay… .’

Even if you say Hwayoung, there are too many of them. The room is also small.

Was that worry reflected in my expression?

Yunseol gently taps my shoulder.

“… It’s okay. We’re not called heroes for nothing.”

Yunseol’s eyes were more serious than ever as he spoke like that.

I said to Hwayoung, who had no choice but to face the guys.

“Be careful, Hwayoung.”

Hwayoung gives me a thumbs up for what I said.

“Let’s go. Mr. Yoonseol.”

“Yes.”

I felt strangely relieved at the sight, and went through the door in the floor.

*

‘A musty smell.’

The floor wasn’t that deep considering there was a ladder there. It was about 2 meters deep.

It seemed like the building’s original basement had been renovated.

Incandescent light bulbs hung from the ceiling, creating a slightly gloomy atmosphere.

‘There it is again.’

As we moved forward, another iron gate greeted us.

… I have a feeling that Zia is over there.

But of course, the door was locked.

Just when I was thinking about pretending to be a member of the organization and knocking on the door, Yunseol said to me.

“… Step aside, sir. ”

I thought maybe they were trying to freeze the handle and remove it,

“Sigh.”

Yunseol closed her eyes for a moment and took a deep breath…

Boom─! Bang─! Kwakwang─!

…with three roundhouse kicks, he crumpled the iron gate into a piece of paper.

‘and.’

The admiration was fleeting, and soon the interior was revealed.

In the place where there were operating tables and surgical instruments of unknown purpose, several human-looking figures appeared.

“What?!”

“Hey, what the hell. Wait a minute, isn’t this an iron gate?”

Two men who appear to be spider-like cubs.

and,

“Jia… ?”

… a girl was seen lying motionless, tied up and blindfolded.