episode_0068

068.

“What on earth is going on from the early morning breeze….”

On the rooftop of the tactical training ground where the sharp wind was blowing.

“…So Jin Soyeon was kidnapped?”

“Yeah.”

Yoo Seolhyun, who brushed her golden hair behind her ear, looked at me with a puzzled expression.

There were a total of four people gathered on this rooftop.

Me, Lee Siwoon, Yoo Seolhyun, and Rock Sanneuda.

I roughly explained the situation to Siwoon and Seolhyun, who listened quietly, and they seemed to realize that the current situation was not good at all.

It was not a normal occurrence for an academy trainee to be kidnapped.

Especially if it was someone from the same class that they knew well.

“Seong Yura, I knew the rumors were not good.”

“Hmm, kidnapping. That must be quite a headache.”

Perhaps because they already knew some of Seong Yura’s bad rumors, my somewhat awkward explanation was accepted without much doubt.

“Yeah, anyway, thanks for listening to the story. Lee Jinhyuk.”

Suddenly.

Seolhyun slowly raised her head.

With her arms crossed, she looked at me askance.

“So?”

“Huh?”

“Why did you tell me this story?”

It’s not that I really don’t know.

It’s just that I’m reacting bluntly because I don’t like it.

It might be because the favor I asked Seolhyun for could be quite awkward from her perspective.

But it might be difficult to refuse outright in the current situation, so maybe she’s being stubborn for no reason.

“You and Siwoon need help from me. As you know, the police, instructors, and others won’t believe you if you tell them.”

It was truly a regrettable statement, but I alone cannot rescue Soyeon, who has been kidnapped by Seong Yura.

Not even someone with the power of a high ranker would be able to do so.

An individual cannot defeat an organization.

Even the talented Yudahee would not be able to avoid death if she were to storm Seong Yura’s mansion alone.

At the moment, we are far from being able to confront them head-on, so the help of people like Siwoon and Seolhyun is urgently needed.

To be precise, the power that SL Group and Gaon Nuri Clan possess.

“In games, we solve almost everything with the power of the protagonist’s party, but in reality, there’s no need to do that, right?”

The reason I tried to get close to Siwoon and Seolhyun in the first place was because they had a strong background.

SL Group, which is one of the top five in the Korean business world, and Gaon Nuri Clan, one of the leading clans.

How does that sound?

Doesn’t it make you feel secure just hearing about it?

Of course, Siwoon and Seolhyun are not official heirs, and they know very well that they cannot use their family’s power recklessly.

But at the moment, it could be a great help.

“Hmm. Should we hear the plan first? Do you have any good ideas? Seong Yura is not someone to be taken lightly. You can’t act recklessly when there’s a hostage situation, right?”

Seolhyun’s question made me pause for a moment.

The plan.

In fact, there is one simple plan.

I don’t know if it will work or not.

“Before saying that, Seong Yura sent a coordinate. It seems to be directing us to a location, which is an abandoned building on the outskirts of Gyeonggi Province.”

“….An abandoned building?”

“I checked it on the satellite map.”

I continue speaking.

“She probably set up a lot of traps there.”

After discussing with Rock Sanneuda, it seems that Seong Yura thinks I am underestimating her strength.

“Does that mean Seong Yura’s forces are scattered?”

I nodded at Ishiwoon’s words.

“Yeah, you’re right.”

“But it’s useless if we don’t know Soyeon’s location.”

“Soyeon is probably at Sung Yura’s mansion right now. The mansion is located in the middle of Hajung Mountain. The name is probably someone else’s.”

“How do you know that, Lee Jinhyuk?”

“I was the one who told them the location of the mansion. We’ve been gathering various information about Sung Yura for a while now.”

“And we were able to confirm Soyeon’s location thanks to the tracking device.”

“…Tracking device?”

Ishiwoon looked at me with a slightly furrowed brow.

The mention of a tracking device seemed to bother him a lot.

Well, there was that stalker incident not too long ago.

Surely he doesn’t think I’m also a stalker of Soyeon, right?

“…Oh, don’t misunderstand. I installed it with Soyeon’s consent. It’s because of what happened at the academy recently.”

“…”

Hmm.

Could you please stop giving me that look?

“Anyway, now that we know the location of Sung Yura’s mansion and where Soyeon is being held hostage, all we have to do is rescue her.”

“How?”

Ishiwoon seemed to be unsure of how exactly we would rescue Soyeon, considering that Sung Yura’s forces were probably waiting in the mansion.

“Sung Yura’s large mansion has several secret passages. By using the secret passages, we can easily infiltrate deep into the mansion.”

The so-called escape secret passages.

In case of emergency, several secret passages were created to allow for a secret escape from the mansion.

I remembered the locations very well, as I had used them extensively during the game.

During the first playthrough, I didn’t know the locations of the secret passages, so I ended up fighting all the villains unnecessarily.

From the second playthrough onwards, I used the secret passages freely to sneak past the villains and secretly conquer the boss room.

“If we successfully rescue Soyeon by sneaking in, the team waiting outside will create a distraction and take advantage of the chaos to escape from Sung Yura’s forces.”

“…How did you know there are secret passages?”

You could just say ‘I saw it through my future vision’ to Yuseolhyun, but not to Ishiwoon.

Now that I look at it, Roxanne also seemed slightly puzzled as she looked at me.

How do I explain this?

Ah, do I really need to explain?

“I can’t tell you how I found out. It’s my secret.”

“…”

“Well, you don’t have to believe me. Even if you don’t help, I’ll still go to rescue Soyeon.”

“…”

Ishiwoon, you don’t have any other sharp moves.

There’s no point in rejecting it when you’re going to rescue Soyeon anyway.

You become quite reckless when Soyeon is in danger.

“Jinhyuk, I listened to your story, but even if we use the secret passages, it doesn’t seem easy to rescue Soyeon safely, right? There are also Sung Yura’s forces inside.”

Despite Yuseolhyun’s words, even if we successfully infiltrate through the secret passages, there are many villains inside the mansion.

With our current strength, we won’t be able to reach Soyeon’s location without being noticed by the other villains.

That’s why I asked for their help.

The power of Yuseolhyun and Ishiwoon’s households.

“So you’re asking us to help using the power of our households?”

“Bluntly speaking, yes.”

“…”

Yuseolhyun gave a bitter smile at my shameless words.

“Well, well.”

She shook her head as if she couldn’t believe it.

Then, she slowly moved her gaze to meet my eyes.

There was a chill in her eyes.

“I’m sorry, but it seems like it’s going to be quite difficult.”

“Is that so?”

“Yeah.”

I wasn’t disappointed by Yuseolhyun’s negative response.

Yoo Seol-hyun had no reason or merit to help.

It was indeed unfortunate that her friend was kidnapped, but the responsibility Yoo Seol-hyun carried was not something she could easily dismiss.

“Well, I do want to help… but the risk is too high.”

Yoo Seol-hyun absentmindedly twirled a lock of her hair.

“I can’t just send clan members into Seong Yura’s territory without proper authorization, nor can I recklessly endanger them. Just based on your word.”

“Okay.”

“Rescuing the kidnapped trainee is a noble cause… but it’s not our clan’s duty. We have no reason to convince the clan members, no justification. It’s beyond my authority in the first place. Do you think Gaon Nuri clan members see me as their commander?”

“No, of course not.”

The trainee was just a trainee.

She had no authority to mobilize Gaon Nuri clan members.

Especially in a situation without proper justification or excuse.

“…Of course, it’s not entirely impossible to push through. There are factions that support me, and clan members who are willing to lend a hand in situations like this.”

She trailed off before continuing.

“But the risk outweighs the reward.”

This was a crucial issue.

“Even if we could gain more than we lose, and convince the clan members and household members, we would still be drawing attention from Seong Yura. It could become quite troublesome if she seeks revenge…”

“What if there’s enough gain and no need to worry about Seong Yura’s retaliation?”

“Huh?”

“I know the illegal transactions Seong Yura has been involved in, the weaknesses of prominent figures, and the location of hidden secret assets in some underground vault.”

I raised my voice slightly.

“Documents, gold bars, opportunities to exploit clan weaknesses. Gaon Nuri should be able to handle it. Don’t you think?”

“Hmph.”

“The funds are substantial, so there’s plenty to gain.”

Unlike Ishiwoon, Yoo Seol-hyun was skeptical without evidence, but she had benefited from my advice in the past.

Thinking she had precognitive abilities, she trusted my words enough.

And she hadn’t suffered any losses from following my advice, Yoo Seol-hyun.

“I don’t ask for much, Yoo Seol-hyun. I’m not asking you to take down the villains. Just give a signal when rescuing Soyeon, to distract the mansion guards. So they can’t chase us recklessly.”

“…Okay.”

Yoo Seol-hyun nodded hesitantly.

“Are you sure about the documents and items that could be used as leverage against others… is it certain?”

“You know, my abilities.”

“Still, the risk remains significant.”

“I’ll ask a favor, Yoo Seol-hyun.”

“Ah, even you? Geez, Jin Soyeon must be popular, with so many eager to help her.”

“Yoo Seol-hyun.”

“…Fine, I got it.”

Yoo Seol-hyun nodded as if understanding.

“If you all insist so much, I can’t help it.”

She chuckled lightly.

“But remember. Securing the documents and items is a priority. If we succeed, I’ll signal the clan members waiting outside Seong Yura’s mansion.”

“Okay.”

This time, I looked at Ishiwoon.

“Ishiwoon, what do you think?”

“I probably won’t be of much help.”

“Oh, really?”

“If my involvement in this matter is discovered by the household, they’ll likely try to stop me.”

“True. That makes sense.”

“However, there are a few guards who have been watching over me since I was young. They might help without informing the household. They’re skilled. Top-tier heroes.”

“Oh, that’s good.”

If they were top-tier heroes, they would be a great help.

“I’ll do my best to help, even though our side is weak.”

Before I knew it, Roksan had approached.

His blue eyes were looking at me.

Clear and beautiful ocean-colored eyes without any flaws.

“That would be great.”

“Yes.”

“There’s less than 2 hours left, so let’s all get ready quickly.”

Ah, it would have been great if Kang Daehan was here at a time like this.

If Kang Daehan had made up his mind to move, the gang would have followed without question.

“Well, I’ll do my best, but I wonder if it’ll be okay.”

If things went wrong before saving Soyeon, it would be a difficult situation. Moreover, there are many troops under Sung Yura.

Although the troops are currently scattered elsewhere, the security inside the mansion would not be easy.

It would be nice if someone appeared to divert attention or reduce the troops a bit.

…But will such luck come to me?

***

“Ah~ I kept moving all night… Is this the place?”

A man wearing a black hat and mask muttered as he looked at the large mansion in the distance.

“I don’t know why it kept alternating between being detected and not, but I won’t let it slip anymore. Let’s finish it this time.”

The man clenched his empty scabbard tightly and quickly walked towards the mansion.

“How much more do they train those damn dogs? I won’t let them get away with it.”

Finally, the time had come to retrieve the lost sword.

Damn.