episode_0073

073.

“What’s up with you?”

Seong Yura furrowed her brow subtly.

It was understandable, considering Jin Soyeon had just effortlessly shattered the restraints with her bare hands after struggling a few times. It was like she had crushed a toy handcuff sold at a toy store when she was young. It was an absurd sight.

“How did you do that?”

Those restraints could even bind a professional hero.

Designed to immobilize and incapacitate the limbs of an active hero, they boasted considerable durability and restraint.

It was not something as trivial as Jin Soyeon could handle.

Of course, the story would be different if she had a powerful superpower.

For example, with Ryan Jones’s superpower, breaking such restraints wouldn’t be a difficult task.

But Jin Soyeon was not like that.

As far as Seong Yura knew, Jin Soyeon’s superpower was not of such a powerful kind.

She understood it to be a type of buff-type superpower.

An ability to slightly enhance or weaken objects in contact with the body.

In simple terms, making a blade a bit sharper or duller, making a shield a bit sturdier or weaker, and so on.

It had some versatility, but the effects were not particularly remarkable.

At least not enough for Seong Yura to be wary.

But how did she break those restraints?

Her superpower shouldn’t have been able to do that.

“Seong Yura…!”

“….”

Calling out Seong Yura’s name with a voice dripping with intense anger, Jin Soyeon glared at her with golden eyes filled with bitter resentment and malice.

Seong Yura unconsciously took a step back, feeling the overwhelming anger emanating from her.

It wasn’t that she was scared. It was more like a retreat? The atmosphere? It made her think of Yoo Dahee, which was a bit embarrassing.

That girl always smiled, so she didn’t know her expression could resemble Yoo Dahee’s when twisted.

As Jin Soyeon approached step by step, Seong Yura clicked her tongue slightly.

She seemed so excited that she might lose her composure, making communication seem unlikely.

She needed to subdue Jin Soyeon first.

“Hey, what are you all standing around gawking for? Subdue her right now!”

“Yes!”

At Seong Yura’s command, her subordinates quickly drew their weapons.

Four of her subordinates.

They all possessed skills comparable to those of active heroes, so they should be able to easily subdue someone like Jin Soyeon.

After all, hadn’t Jin Soyeon been subdued by a few villains before?

She wasn’t sure how Jin Soyeon had broken those restraints, but with this level of power, she thought it would be more than enough, and then some.

At least until she faced Jin Soyeon who had lost her sanity.

***

“It seems quite noisy in the mansion. The security personnel are fewer than expected. Hmm. It’s hard to sense any presence or magical flow within the mansion, so I can’t be sure.”

We successfully sneaked into Seong Yura’s study using a secret passage.

Occasionally, we encountered villains on the way, but Ishiwoon’s bodyguards quickly subdued them, allowing us to safely reach the study.

Indeed, were they Ishiwoon’s professional bodyguards?

Their skills were outstanding, and they truly lived up to the title of a large corporation’s bodyguards.

The followers brought by Roxanne also proved to be very skilled in providing rear support, subduing and incapacitating villains, and so on, providing great assistance.

In the game, we had to conquer this mansion solely with the strength of the protagonist’s party, so it was quite challenging, but with the help of these professionals, it was much easier.

If we hadn’t received their help, we wouldn’t have been able to reach the study without being caught.

That’s how perilous the path to this study was.

The security was quite strict, with security devices and CCTV cameras scattered throughout.

Because there was something very important hidden in this library.

“Let’s see… It must be here, here…”

As I carefully recalled my memories and touched the books on the shelves in order, a hidden safe started to reveal itself with a creak.

I quickly entered the password and opened the safe.

Inside, I could see Seong Yu-ra’s secret ledger, as well as items that could be weaknesses for figures in politics, business, entertainment, and more, stacked to the brim.

“It really exists. Honestly, I was a bit skeptical when you mentioned it earlier.”

“I never thought things like this would be hidden in a library.”

Ishiwoon and Roksanne looked impressed.

When I mentioned the location of the ledger and the password for the safe earlier, they had only looked at me with suspicion, wondering how I knew.

In a situation where I couldn’t properly disclose the source of the information, bringing them to the library without any suspicion was not an easy task.

But after showing them the way to the secret passage and gaining a bit of trust, with Yuseolhyun backing up my words, I was somehow able to get them to accept coming here.

“The source of the information was unclear, so I was suspicious, but it’s fortunate nonetheless.”

Ishiwoon quietly looked at me.

It was a look of suspicion about how I knew all this, but given the circumstances, she seemed to decide not to ask.

With Soyeon being held captive, there was no room for trivial matters.

As for the others, they simply followed quietly if Ishiwoon and Roksanne agreed.

“Then, Jinho. Report to Yuseolhyun that we have secured the evidence.”

“Okay, got it.”

I took pictures of several pieces of evidence and the ledger and sent them over.

It would have been best to bring them in person, but due to the urgency of the situation, I decided to inform Yuseolhyun of the evidence through the photos.

Shortly after, Yuseolhyun gave the OK sign.

Oh, I thought she might reject it because it was a photo, but thankfully she didn’t. It seems Yuseolhyun isn’t that picky after all.

Yuseolhyun sent a message.

– When I give the signal, I’ll send my clan members.

– Then get them ready. I’ll probably send the signal in less than 5 minutes.

– 5 minutes?

– Yes.

There was no more time to waste.

Since Seong Yu-ra’s bedroom was nearby.

I wanted to send Yuseolhyun’s clan members right away to disperse the forces, but if I made a mistake, Soyeon’s life could be in danger.

Soyeon’s life was being held hostage.

Therefore, it was best to ensure Soyeon’s safety while having the Gaon Nuri clan members cause a distraction.

That way, we could prevent Seong Yu-ra’s reinforcements from coming all at once.

“In about 5 minutes, I’ll send the signal for Yuseolhyun’s clan members to enter and distract the villains, so let’s go straight to Seong Yu-ra’s room.”

Soyeon was in Seong Yu-ra’s room.

Thanks to the expensive tracking device, we could accurately pinpoint Soyeon’s location.

“Remember, everyone. Our top priority is Soyeon and Seong Yu-ra. There’s a high chance they have strong guards, so we need to act quickly.”

“Yes.”

“There may be top-tier villains present.”

James and Beom Taekyeong, Seong Yu-ra’s core forces.

These two could be considered Seong Yu-ra’s right and left arms.

Both possessed powerful abilities and, according to their character settings, could display skills at the level of top-tier rankings in a short amount of time.

In the game, it was difficult to take down both of them together, so we had to use individual tactics to defeat them.

Even if the protagonist and their party were somewhat leveled up, they were strong enough that engaging in a fight recklessly would only result in getting hurt.

“The only fortunate thing is that Beom Taekyeong is likely to have gone towards the abandoned building,” Rok San-neu said.

According to Rok San-neu, Seong Yura mistakenly believed that I was quite strong.

Furthermore, considering Seong Yura’s personality, she might have prepared a strong reinforcement in case she didn’t come alone.

If it’s the Seong Yura I know.

“Well, even if Beom Taekyeong isn’t here, there’s still James, the monster.”

Among us, there is no top-ranked ability user.

Handling James one-on-one is difficult.

Of course, with Seong Do-ha and the upper-ranked guards, it might be possible to match him to some extent.

Moreover, James is weak against strong light, as he manipulates shadows.

By using flash grenades emitting strong light, it was possible to restrain Soyeon and Seong Yura to some extent until they were captured.

There would be other guards in Seong Yura’s room besides James, but the problem was how we could take them down effectively.

If we could temporarily block the most threatening movements of James, that would be enough.

After all, capturing the queen would end the game.

If we just capture Seong Yura.

“Alright, shall we go then?”

We slowly moved towards the vicinity of Seong Yura’s room.

I thought there would be guards around the room, but Seong Yura’s door was empty.

“The room seems quite noisy. I can feel magic too.”

“Oh, yes. I see.”

I nodded at Seong Do-ha’s words.

Although the soundproofing was good, as we approached, it was clear that there were some problems inside Seong Yura’s room.

What’s going on?

“…Anyway, let’s start the assault now. I’ll open the door and throw a flash grenade, then we charge in.”

“Yes. Understood.”

“Is everyone ready?”

I quickly scanned the people.

Ishiwoon and Rok San-neu nodded vigorously as if they were ready, and other guards and believers also took out their weapons and assumed a combat stance.

“Then….”

I immediately signaled Yuseolhyun.

Then, a loud bang! echoed through the mansion.

The windows rattled sweetly, and the continuous loud noises seemed to be intentionally drawing attention.

What are they doing outside, not launching an all-out attack?

“Alright, let’s go in….”

“Ugh! Seriously, can’t you properly subdue that woman? What are you doing right now?!”

With a bang, a woman came out of the door.

“Annoying. Hey, you guys! I’m going towards the library, so subdue her properly and bring her here! Got it…?”

Seong Yura, with a weapon in hand, looked at us with a puzzled expression as she stood outside the door.

It was a bewildering face.

“…Uh, uh?”

Oh, our eyes met.

In that moment, Seong Yura gasped and shouted in shock.

“You, you, why are you alive?!”