Chapter 98: The Pied Piper (3)

"Dragon Punch!"

"Argh!"

After taking down the big man with one hit, Hwaryeon and Choryeon went down into the dark basement.

"Something smells bad! It's awful!"

Sniff sniff-

Hwaryeon wrinkled her nose and sniffed the air, but she had to cover her nose immediately.

"Ugh! What's this smell!"

"What's wrong, Hwaryeon?"

"There's a smell so bad it could kill!"

"Huh? I can't really tell..."

Sniff sniff-

Choryeon followed Hwaryeon's lead and sniffed the air, but she couldn't sense anything particularly strange.

"Hmm, I can only tell that the air quality is bad? It smells like it's not good for the environment."

Unlike Hwaryeon, Choryeon couldn't detect any major issues. Perhaps because of this, Mangmung popped out of the padding and sniffed instead.

"Woof-! Woof woof-!"

"What's wrong, Mangmung?"

"Grr-! Woof woof-!"

"Oh no, Mangmung! Be quiet! We'll get caught at this rate!"

Growl-

Mangmung started barking, on guard towards the direction of the basement. Hwaryeon saw this and smiled slightly.

"What, Mangmung! You've got good senses!? You smelled the strange scent too?"

"Grr-! Woof woof-!"

Pat pat-

Hwaryeon patted Mangmung proudly. Choryeon asked a question to resolve her doubts.

"So, Hwaryeon! What exactly is ahead of us?"

"Ah, about that!"

Grin-

Hwaryeon's mouth curved like a crescent moon. After smiling, Hwaryeon ran forward and said.

"You'll know when you see it! Actually, I don't know what's ahead either!"

"D-Don't go ahead, let's go together! I-I'm scared, Hwaryeon!"

"Hehehe! Follow if you can!"

So Hwaryeon started running towards the basement, all excited without any idea what would unfold ahead.

"W-Wait for me! Hwaryeon!"

Choryeon could barely keep up with Hwaryeon's energy.

***

After diligently closing dimensional gates again today, I greeted the employee waiting as I came out of the dimensional gate.

"Whew, I'm exhausted. Good job- Oh, I'm the only one who worked hard."

Since I close them alone anyway, I'm the only one who worked hard. I received the association employee's greeting and opened my smartphone.

"Gu Bong-gu? There's a missed call."

Just one missed call.

I wonder why Gu Bong-gu contacted me. I immediately pressed the call button.

Ring- Click-!

A call answered in 1 second. I spoke very casually to Gu Bong-gu.

"Hey, money-grubbing baldy Gu Bong-gu. What did you call for?"

-Dad. It's me.

"That voice... Suryeon."

Ahem-

Was that too childish?

Of all people, Suryeon answered. More importantly, why does Suryeon have Gu Bong-gu's phone?

I was a bit embarrassed, but to resolve my doubts, I asked.

"Ahem. Suryeon, what's going on? Why do you have Gu Bong-gu's phone?"

-It's a long story. I'll summarize it accurately in three lines.

Suryeon started briefing the situation in a sharp voice.

-The kindergarten children were kidnapped. Hwaryeon and Choryeon left to find the children. I'm alone, so come quickly.

Hearing this, I felt my head go blank for a moment. It was more serious than I thought. I asked as calmly as possible.

"So Hwaryeon and Choryeon left to find those kids?"

-Yes.

"What about you?"

-I... didn't go because it was difficult.

That feels like a vague answer. I spoke seriously to Suryeon.

"Suryeon. You know how to send me your location by text, right?"

-I'm a dragon, Dad. Of course I can do that.

"Then send me your location. I'll come right away."

There are still things to do, but I immediately started preparing to find the children.

'...They kidnapped the kindergarten children.'

I'm glad my children weren't kidnapped, but this smells pretty fishy.

"Whoever it is, they're dead if I catch them."

If we weren't lucky, my daughters could have been kidnapping targets too. So I wiped the smile off my face and rushed to the location Suryeon sent.

"Until I arrive, don't get into any trouble, kids."

As I ran towards the location, I clenched my fist so hard my nails dug into my palm. Perhaps it was the pain of a parent worrying about their children.

I didn't particularly feel the pain in my palm.

***

A corridor dimly lit by incandescent lights. Hwaryeon sprinted down that corridor and leapt towards the guard standing ahead.

"Dragon Jet Kick!!"

"Argh!!"

Bam-!

The man flew far from Hwaryeon's jet kick. He hit his head on the hard concrete wall and lost consciousness. Hwaryeon wiped the sweat from her forehead as she looked at the man.

"Phew, so weak! Why did they make this basement so unnecessarily big! It's annoying!"

It's nice that it became a wide playground, but maybe because she ran around too excitedly…

"Where am I! I don't know the way! Where did Choryeon and Mangmung go!?"

In the end, she was left alone and got lost. Hwaryeon scratched her head and tried to recall the path.

"Hmm, I came this way! Is the entrance that way? Or not? Ah, I don't know!"

Just run!

Hwaryeon stopped thinking and ran down the corridor.

"Hmph, if your body's good, your head doesn't have to work as hard!"

Pitter-patter-!

So Hwaryeon ran through the wide basement, looking around. Although the straight corridors were like a maze, she occasionally encountered humans in the rooms that appeared. Whenever that happened, Hwaryeon attacked without even listening to them.

"First strike wins! No need for questions! Come at me all at once! This is an idiom! Dragon Kick!"

"Aaagh!"

Bam-!

After taking down another human like that, Hwaryeon looked down at the fallen man.

"Hmm, what's this?"

Hwaryeon reached for the shiny object in the man's possession.

Jingle-

"This is a key!"

A bunch of keys with various keys attached. Fortunately, knowing how to use them, Hwaryeon hid the key bunch in her clothes.

"Hehe, let's see! Shall we go deeper inside then!"

Pitter-patter-

Hwaryeon ran down the corridor again. During this, Hwaryeon reached a locked door at the end of the corridor.

"Key! I should use it!"

Jingle-

Hwaryeon inserted the keys one by one into the hole, but for some reason, the door wouldn't open.

"Argh! Why are there so many keys! None of them work!"

She tried quite a few, but there were still many keys left. At this, Hwaryeon threw the key bunch and clenched her fist tightly.

"Oh, whatever! Dragon Punch!"

Crash-!

The iron door shattered and flew away from Hwaryeon's punch.

"Hmph, as expected of me! I'm amazing!"

Clap clap clap-

Applauding herself, Hwaryeon boldly entered the previously locked room. And inside, she found quite familiar faces.

"It's my underlings!"

Children were collapsed unconscious in the locked room. Hwaryeon quickly approached them to check their condition.

Slap-! Slap-!

"Hey! Are you guys okay!?"

"..."

"Hey! Open your eyes!"

Slap-!

Hwaryeon slapped the cheeks of every child to wake them up. But only handprints remained on the children's cheeks. The children didn't seem to regain consciousness.

"What? They're all breathing! Why are they all lying still like they're dead!"

Sniff sniff-

"They all smell bad too!"

Hwaryeon tried her best to think to understand this situation, but no appropriate thoughts came to mind. There was a strange smell, but it was hard to fully understand the situation.

"Could it be ghosts...!? I heard you need marines to catch ghosts...! I'm not a marine yet, so I can't catch them...!"

Just as she was thinking about supernatural phenomena, hitting a wall,

Whoosh-

White smoke started to fill the room thickly. At this, Hwaryeon instinctively covered her nose.

"Th-This smell! It's this smell! The bad smell!"

Hwaryeon covered her nose due to the stench and frowned. It was similar to the smell when Lee Ha-jun throws away food waste. As Hwaryeon was distracted by the smell,

Rustle-

"What! You guys are awake!?"

The children who were lying unconscious slowly started to get up. They moved their bodies like puppets with their strings cut.

Those children, with empty eyes, walked towards the door Hwaryeon had entered, towards the direction the white smoke was coming from.

At this, Hwaryeon, smelling the stench, desperately grabbed the children's bodies.

"Hey! Listen to me! I'm your boss! You're my underlings!"

"..."

"What! Why won't you move even with my strength!? Ugh! Don't go, I said!"

Grunt-

Hwaryeon pulled to stop the children, but the children didn't budge at all.

They just walked like zombies towards the direction the white smoke was coming from. Even to Hwaryeon, the sight of the children chasing that white smoke looked.

"W-What is this!?"

It just looked bizarre. So, Hwaryeon decided.

"I'll go first to see where this smoke is coming from! I'm going!"

It was reckless, but it was a solution only the brave Hwaryeon could come up with.

So Hwaryeon left her underlings behind and started running towards the white smoke, taking the lead.