Chapter 42
We left the motel and went up to a nearby high-rise. Groups of people were gathered inside.
"Are you... part of the rescue team?"
A weary-looking middle-aged woman approached, hope shining in her eyes.
"No... But don't worry. The Association will send a rescue team soon."
Im Hwa-yeon reassured the middle-aged woman.
"…Yes."
The woman sat back down with a disappointed look. Everyone else nearby wore similar expressions. Their anxiety was plain to see; no one knew when this situation would end.
Im Hwa-yeon and I went up to the building's rooftop. The city below looked devastated. Fires raged amid the destruction everywhere, and black smoke covered the sky.
"Haa… The situation seems more serious than I thought."
"What are you going to do now?"
"For now, we need to find a way to contact our guild or the Association outside the barrier….“
"How are you going to contact them?"
"All ordinary communications must be blocked… The barrier is cutting off every radio signal."
Im Hwa-yeon reached into her pocket and took something out.
"I do have a special communications device, but…"
A device smaller than her palm rested in her hand.
"This is an emergency communicator issued by the Association. Maybe it's because it's so small, but I can't get a connection."
"Then if we find something larger,"
"we should be able to make contact. If I remember correctly, there should be a large communications device installed at the broadcasting station.”
Im Hwa-yeon pointed to the broadcasting station visible in the distance. A tall transmission tower stood against the sky.
“Wouldn't it be better to just stay put until support from the Association arrives?
"Even so, we have to move. If this terrorist attack involves an S-rank barrier user, staying put is dangerous too. If the Association can't arrive in time, we might die without being able to do anything.“
She was right. Even if it was dangerous, it was worth trying.
Then another explosion sounded in the distance. Amid the seemingly endless explosions, a red pillar of flame shot up, cleaving the sky.
We looked at each other with grim expressions.
"Let's go for now."
I followed Im Hwa-yeon as we moved. While traveling, I spoke to her.
"What are you planning to do if those guys from the Twilight Fangs have taken over the broadcasting station?"
"…I hadn't thought of that."
She stopped for a moment and fell into thought.
"You're probably right that there's a good chance they've taken over the broadcasting station. It's the only means of contacting the outside."
"Then it's dangerous."
"Let's just check the situation around the broadcasting station first."
We started walking again. Using cover wherever possible, we moved without drawing attention.
We moved quietly between the buildings.
"Maybe because we're taking such a wide detour, but it's farther than I expected."
It was as Im Hwa-yeon said. It would have been quick to go straight there, but taking a detour to avoid detection took more time.
"We have to go this way. If we went straight, we'd be spotted immediately."
We hid behind buildings, watching our surroundings as we moved slowly. So far, we'd managed to avoid the enemies' eyes.
Then it happened. I sensed someone moving with my heightened awareness. I couldn't feel any killing intent. It seemed someone was following us while keeping a set distance.
"Hwa-yeon, someone's following us."
”How many do you think there are?"
Im Hwa-yeon asked in a low voice.
"I can only sense one for now."
We stood back-to-back, keeping watch on our surroundings.
At that moment, I suddenly sensed someone's presence on the rooftop.
"Rooftop."
As I raised my katana and took a stance toward the rooftop, Im Hwa-yeon immediately prepared to attack.
"W-wait. I'm not an enemy!"
A trembling voice came from the rooftop. A man appeared with both hands raised.
"Mr. Godeok-bae?"
Im Hwa-yeon seemed to recognize him. The red flame in her hand slowly died down.
"That's right! Godeok-bae from Strong Guys!"
Still holding both hands up, he slowly descended toward us.
"You know him?"
"Yeah, I've carried out a few missions with him. His ability is concealment. Though I think he calls it No Trace."
While Im Hwa-yeon explained, Godeok-bae arrived in front of us. He was a middle-aged man in an ordinary suit.
"Whew, you startled me. You suddenly tried to attack me."
Godeok-bae breathed a sigh of relief, rubbing his chest.
"That's because you were secretly following us, Uncle."
Im Hwa-yeon shot back coldly.
"No, more importantly, how did you detect my presence?"
"It wasn't me. The guy next to me spotted you."
His gaze turned toward me.
"Heh, this kid's pretty clean-cut. Nice to meet you. I'm Godeok-bae from Strong Guys."
He held out his hand with a friendly smile.
"Hello. Jin… Kim Woo-jin."
I greeted him as I shook his hand. The fact that I'd detected his ability seemed to interest him.
"No, more importantly, why were you following us, Uncle?"
"There are criminals hiding around here. I was approaching carefully."
"Then why did you approach us?"
"I wanted you to join our group. We've gathered people who can still fight. Want to join us?"
Im Hwa-yeon fell silent for a moment at Godeok-bae's proposal. Having allies was good news, but it was something we needed to decide carefully.
"How many people have you gathered?"
"For now, including me, six B-ranks, two C-ranks, and about twenty-five people below that? If A-rank Im Hwa-yeon joins too, we'll make a pretty strong force."
At his words, Im Hwa-yeon glanced at me. She seemed to be considering what to do about our plan to head to the broadcasting station.
"We were heading to the broadcasting station."
"The broadcasting station? Things are no joke over there right now."
Godeok-bae's expression darkened sharply. It seemed clear that something had happened.
"Is something going on?"
He looked around at my question, then lowered his voice.
"The Twilight Fangs have taken control of it. They were installing something there.”
Im Hwa-yeon's expression hardened as well. The worst-case scenario we'd expected had become reality.
"Hwa-yeon. Let's join them for now."
"Yeah, join us, just like your boyfriend says."
"W-who's your boyfriend?!"
Im Hwa-yeon flared up and her face reddened. The stiff atmosphere shattered in an instant.
"Huh? Isn't he? You've been exchanging glances, and the atmosphere between you…"
"Shut up! Let's just join them!"
Im Hwa-yeon quickened her pace. Godeok-bae continued guiding us with a meaningful smile.
"This way. Everyone's gathered in the underground shopping arcade nearby."
Godeok-bae led the way. Even while moving, we proceeded carefully, keeping watch on our surroundings.
"The Twilight Fangs might be around, so move quietly."
We moved along the ruined street, on edge at the explosions that occasionally sounded.
"You can go in through that entrance over there."
The place Godeok-bae pointed to was the entrance to a half-collapsed underground shopping arcade. We followed him carefully down underground.
Once we went down, there were more people than I'd expected.
"Uncle, there are more people than I expected."
"Yeah, most of them are ordinary people. Still, they're not just sitting around; each of them is trying to find a way through this situation."
About a hundred people had gathered in the underground arcade. Some were treating the wounded, while others had maps spread out and were discussing something.
"The people gathered over there are combat ability users."
Godeok-bae pointed to about twenty people gathered off to one side.
Among the people gathered there, I spotted a familiar blonde woman. She was the blonde I'd fucked after meeting her at the club.
Just then, she met my eyes. The corners of her eyes curved as she approached me.
"Oh my, honey. Fancy seeing you here again."
She smiled as if delighted to see me.
As Im Hwa-yeon looked back and forth between us, I could feel her gaze sharpening.
"Honey…?"
Im Hwa-yeon muttered uncomfortably. Unaware of her reaction, the woman grabbed my arm.
"Honestly, your manners are terrible. How could you leave a woman all by herself and abandon her so coldly?"
”Haha… I had an appointment.“
”Why are you suddenly speaking so formally, honey? Relax, like you did last night.“
Im Hwa-yeon's expression hardened even further at her words.
A small flame flickered and died in Im Hwa-yeon's hand. Unaware even of that, the woman continued clinging to my arm.
"What? Ms. Do-eun, you know this guy?"
Godeok-bae cut in.
"Yes, we had a special encounter last night."
Jeon Do-eun smiled meaningfully while still holding onto my arm.
"Oh, I see. By the way, this is Im Hwa-yeon of Hwayangyeonhwa. She's the famous A-rank flame-type ability user."
"Oh my, it's nice to meet someone so famous. I'm Jeon Do-eun. I'm a B-rank lightning-type ability user with the Association."
Jeon Do-eun spoke with a bright smile, but still didn't let go of my arm.
"Hello. I'm Im. Hwa. Yeon."
There was a chill in Im Hwa-yeon's voice. Her cold gaze was fixed on Jeon Do-eun's hand clutching my arm.
"Haha…, come over here and introduce yourselves.“
Godeok-bae looked at me and gestured as if telling me to do something, trying somehow to change the atmosphere.
The tense atmosphere between the two women drew fascinated looks from everyone nearby.
Then it happened. A sharp-eyed man stepped forward from among the ability users.
"It's nice to meet you both. I'm Kim Jeong-hu, a B-rank ability user. My ability lets me freely manipulate shadows."
He greeted us politely.
”I'm Im Hwa-yeon of Hwayangyeonhwa.“
”I'm Kim Woo-jin, a physical-type ability user.“
"Thank you both for joining us. I'm temporarily in charge of the combat ability users here."
His calm tone and manner eased the tense atmosphere considerably.
Starting with him, the other ability users introduced themselves one by one. Each briefly explained their ability.
While the ability users were introducing themselves, Jeon Do-eun spoke to me in a small voice from behind.
”Honey.“
”Ms. Jeon Do-eun?“
”Oh my, just call me Do-eun.“
At her words, I glanced at Im Hwa-yeon. She was talking with Godeok-bae and Kim Jeong-hu.
”Do-eun?”
”I like hearing you call me by my name. And all this time you've been pretending not to know you have a girlfriend.“
”Sorry. And she's not my girlfriend. If you say that in front of her, there'll be a fight."
“Oh my, I could tell from one look that her gaze was unusual. She wasn't? Then would it be okay if I got in there too?”
“Let's meet separately later and talk about that.”
“Sounds good. Speaking of which, honey.”
“Hmm?”
“You did this for me, right? Thanks to you, I've risen to B-rank.”
She stroked her lower abdomen and moved even closer, whispering softly.
“What…?”
“Are you pretending not to know? I'm talking about ether. It increased tremendously after I had sex with you.”
“I don't know what you're talking about.”
“Playing dumb?”
It seemed she'd already decided that I was the one who had increased her ether.
Since it looked like she'd already figured it out, I decided to admit it. Besides, it was obvious from her gaze that she was attracted to me.
I moved even closer, pressing against Jeon Do-eun's body.
"In that case?"
I whispered softly into her ear.
"I knew it. This is a secret, right?"
“That's right, you'll keep it a secret, won't you?”
“Of course. If people find out I have an ability like this, I'll be dissected immediately or kidnapped somewhere and squeezed dry for the rest of my life.”
“Please.”
“Don't worry. But you'll have to meet me often and use my pussy, okay?”
“Sure. I'll fill your pussy with plenty of semen too.”
During my conversation with Jeon Do-eun, Im Hwa-yeon seemed to have finished talking with Godeok-bae and Kim Jeong-hu, and was beckoning me over.
“Your lover's calling you. Go.”
Jeon Do-eun lightly patted my butt and sent me over to Im Hwa-yeon.