A Familiar Face?
(2) 10: Chapter 10.
A Familiar Face?
(2) * * * The man had once come to Shin Daeho to sell him something.
—This is a really good item.
Hyeon-yul had not been able to see exactly what it was from where he stood.
Judging from the atmosphere, it had seemed like some kind of new weapon.
‘…He isn’t with the Poison King.’ Hyeon-yul could not remember hearing the Poison King mentioned.
It had been someone else entirely.
‘What did he say again?’ —…The Witch said she wanted it distributed discreetly.
‘The Witch.’ Hyeon-yul had already been on his way out, so he had missed the beginning of the sentence, but he clearly remembered hearing the word Witch.
Considering the man was still alive, he seemed to be fairly competent at his job.
Hyeon-yul covered even his ears and concentrated on their conversation.
“Did you make sure everyone nearby is dead?” The arrogant man asking the question was Hyeon-yul’s target.
“With the poison spread this far, how could anyone still be alive?” “Check anyway.
If those Eagle bastards catch onto anything, it’ll become a headache.
And clean up the poison you spread.” “Yes.
I’ve already ordered everything recovered.” “Then how long until you finish hacking the company’s internal data?” ‘Hacking…?’ Hyeon-yul’s eyes shifted slightly.
In this line of work, hacking usually meant one of two things.
The first was stealing a company’s internal information.
The second was crippling the company itself.
Villains had no reason to care about appearances.
Hyeon-yul had learned that rather than sending in industrial spies and going through all that trouble, some groups simply paralyzed an entire company and took whatever information they wanted.
He did not know which of the two these men intended, but he saw no reason to overthink it.
Capturing the target would be enough.
“…We’ll finish within an hour.” “An hour?
You worthless bastard!
Those Eagle bastards should be arriving any minute!
Finish it in twenty!” The man turned away after snapping angrily.
Behind his gas mask, Hyeon-yul’s eyes narrowed.
They had split into two groups.
One group was clearly handling the hacking, while his target seemed to be heading somewhere else to rest.
‘Perfect.’ That would make the job considerably easier.
DING.
Just as Hyeon-yul was about to move, an alert suddenly sounded near his ear and text appeared in front of his eyes.
<I can see something like a barrier.
What is that?> It really was an alert.
The magic converted sound into text through the wireless earbud in his ear.
Nayun had repeatedly emphasized that the device was essential, though he had not expected her to contact him right now.
Hyeon-yul touched the wireless earbud and spoke.
<You can see it from there?> His voice was transmitted as text instead.
<Of course.
My eyes are a little special, remember?
Fog like this can’t block them.
I even saw you flinch at the message just now.
Hehehe.> Apparently, even laughter could be transmitted.
<Does that barrier look magical?> <For now, yes.
Shall I break it?> <No.> Hyeon-yul stopped Nayun before she could act.
<Huh?
If I don’t break it, you won’t be able to see inside.
Wait, can you see through it?> <Yes.> <You can…?
How?
Are your eyes that good, or are you using magic?> How many question marks was she going to send?
Hyeon-yul cut through the growing stream of questions.
<They’re hacking the company from inside.> <Hacking it?
Are they insane?> <If you break the barrier, they’ll run immediately.
I’ll infiltrate the interior and…> Hyeon-yul abruptly stopped speaking.
He thought he heard footsteps, and then a sharp gust of air swept past.
SWISH.
A faint sound followed.
As Hyeon-yul turned his head, he caught sight of someone’s feet in the distance.
<Did you just take a shot?> Hyeon-yul spoke quietly into the wireless earbud.
<Of course.
A patrol was coming around, so I shot them.
You weren’t startled, were you?> <No.> <They’re carrying something.
Hyeon-yul, can you check what it is?> <One moment.> Black power rapidly spread around Hyeon-yul and then vanished.
No one else was nearby, so he casually walked over to the bodies.
‘There were two?’ They had been lined up and pierced through together.
The shot had struck them squarely in the head.
‘She hit a shot that precise from that far away.’ Hyeon-yul admired the feat inwardly before examining what Nayun had noticed.
It was an object slightly larger than his palm.
‘What is this?’ When Hyeon-yul opened it, he found an empty test tube inside with a small amount of liquid still clinging to it.
—And clean up the poison you spread.
‘Is this the poison he mentioned?’ Hyeon-yul removed his gas mask and tasted a single drop of the remaining liquid.
‘…Poison.’ The sharp, tingling flavor confirmed it.
It was the same poison being used throughout this area.
<It’s poison.
It appears they’re continuing the process of spreading it.> <What in the world is inside that company…?
Ah, wait.
While you were checking, I requested information on the company.
The reply just came in.> Hyeon-yul waited briefly for Nayun’s next message.
<It’s just an ordinary liquor company.
There doesn’t seem to be any reason to spread poison around it.> <Then it may not be an ordinary liquor company after all.
I’ll have to go inside and check.> Hyeon-yul now had even more reason to infiltrate the building.
He would have to see it for himself to understand what kind of company it truly was.
<While you’re inside, I’ll smash the people still spreading the poison.
I’ll contact you again once I’m finished.> <Understood.> Just as Hyeon-yul was about to end the communication, another message from Nayun appeared.
<Oh, and don’t do anything dangerous.
You’re still in your probationary period, so leave the rest to me.
Avoid fighting and just look around as though you’re taking a nice, relaxing walk.
Got it?> <…I understand.> Hyeon-yul answered and ended the connection.
Shinwoo and Nayun both kept saying things he had difficulty understanding.
The environment here was simply too different from the villain-run companies where he had worked before.
His conviction that he needed to prove his usefulness before getting fired was beginning to blur.
‘Get a grip.’ He absolutely had to protect his health.
To stay healthy, he needed money and time, and finding a job that let him balance both was unavoidable.
No matter what happened, he had to adapt.
‘I should read that book again when I get home.’ 101 Ways to Navigate Office Life Smoothly.
He had come to believe he genuinely needed that book.
‘Right now, though, I need to get off work on time.’ He had a hospital appointment scheduled for later that day.
Hyeon-yul drew the daggers at his waist, one in each hand.
After moving somewhere outside Nayun’s line of sight, he disappeared.
* * * Hyeon-yul moved to the floor he had observed earlier.
There were plenty of people here, but there was no reason to wipe out everyone indiscriminately.
Targeting only the key personnel was more efficient.
‘I’ll start with the men in the hallway.’ Hyeon-yul stepped backward and melted into the wall.
Bodies of people who had tried to flee the poison lay scattered across the floor.
Some had died while using their phones.
On one screen, the victim had managed to type only the beginning of the word “Mom” before dying.
Every corpse had a hole somewhere in the body.
‘They weren’t killed by poison.
They were shot.’ Hyeon-yul shifted his gaze.
Two men were walking down the corridor, apparently part of a patrol.
From inside the wall, Hyeon-yul threw a dagger.
SWISH!
The blade pierced the throat of the man closest to him.
“What was…?” The second man began speaking in surprise at the unfamiliar sound, only to freeze halfway through.
Someone wearing a gas mask had suddenly appeared in front of him.
The moment an outstretched hand reached him, blood burst from his throat.
“…Kgh.” “Shh.” Hyeon-yul covered the man’s mouth with one hand and raised a finger over the back of that same hand.
Darkness writhing from Hyeon-yul’s body engulfed both men and the bloodstains.
Once everything had been quietly dragged into the darkness, nothing remained behind.
Hyeon-yul continued walking and melted back into the shadows.
A door opened on the left side of the corridor.
“…Huh?” Someone stepped out and looked around the corridor in confusion.
“Where did those guys go?” “…Good question.” “I told you to keep your men under control.
I…” The irritated voice stopped abruptly as a blade protruded through the man’s throat.
“I’m sorry!
I’ll manage them better from now…
T-Team Leader!” His superior collapsed forward.
The subordinate instinctively started to catch him, only to meet Hyeon-yul’s gaze.
Sparks suddenly flashed in the subordinate’s eyes.
CLANG!
The blade was knocked aside, and the impact forced Hyeon-yul’s hand backward as well.
A sharp sting ran through it.
‘…Hah.’ Hyeon-yul almost laughed.
He had actually encountered a superhuman.
The man’s power was clumsy, as though he had only recently awakened it.
Hyeon-yul’s hand melted away, and a blade emerged behind the subordinate’s neck.
One swift horizontal slash sent him collapsing beside his dead superior.
Hyeon-yul examined the hand that had collided with the superhuman ability.
‘These gloves are reinforced enough to survive an explosion.’ The dead man must have possessed a reasonably strong ability.
‘Not that it helped.’ Hyeon-yul immediately removed the glove and inspected his hand.
The skin had been lightly scraped.
‘…Hah.’ Irritation rose inside him.
Because of the drugs injected into him when he was an experimental subject, his blood had difficulty clotting properly.
He extended his other hand, and a first-aid kit emerged from his shadow.
He applied a special bandage to the wound.
His body was already such a mess that even minor injuries could not be treated carelessly.
If the wound became infected, there was no telling how far the complications might spread.
Holding a dagger in one hand, Hyeon-yul covered his eye with the bandaged hand and observed the area where his target was located.
Two men guarded him.
‘Security is surprisingly loose.
Are they relying on the poison?’ That was good news for Hyeon-yul because it meant the situation would be easy to handle.
His hand melted away.
It reappeared beside one of the guards protecting the target.
Hyeon-yul’s hand emerged silently from empty space and swiftly cut the guard’s throat.
“…?” A hand was floating in midair.
The guard died while still wondering what he was looking at.
Before the first body could hit the floor, Hyeon-yul cut the other guard’s throat as well.
Only after both guards dropped to their knees, dark blood streaming from their necks, did the target lower his phone.
“…W-What the hell?!” The man’s eyes widened and shook with violent alarm.
“What do you think?” Someone suddenly appeared directly in front of him.
The fluttering darkness made it look as though a living manifestation of evil had stepped into the room.
The man swallowed hard, while Hyeon-yul asked one question before taking further action.
“Are there any survivors?” The man’s head moved very slightly from side to side.
He was saying there were none.
Hyeon-yul had no intention of believing that answer.
He raised one foot and gently placed it back down.
Black, smoke-like power rippled around his shoe before sinking through the building and spreading downward.
Thin tendrils extended above and below like the branches of a tree.
A moment later, Hyeon-yul smiled.
“There are survivors.
This is why I can never trust what you people say.” There were three of them.
It was almost surprising they had survived at all.
Hyeon-yul activated his wireless earbud.
He could hardly believe he was about to say these words himself.
After a brief breath, he spoke.
<I found hostages.
I’ll rescue them.> Even while saying it, and even after he finished, he felt an odd sensation as though his fingers wanted to curl in embarrassment.
<I’m almost done too!> <Then prepare to destroy the barrier from where you are.> <The barrier…?
You said I shouldn’t break it before.> <I found the ringleader.> <But you said there are survivors?> <I’ll protect the ringleader and the survivors.> <Then that works.
We’re going to wipe out all the villains inside, right?> <Correct.> <Great!
Give me the signal, Hyeon-yul.> After the connection ended, Hyeon-yul grabbed the man by the hair.
“Close your eyes and hold your breath.” “W-Wait!
Hup!” The moment the man sucked in a breath, Hyeon-yul melted into shadow with him.
* * * The survivors were underground.
Hyeon-yul did not know whether they had been trapped in the logistics warehouse, but they had somehow managed to avoid the poison.
“…Ughhh.” The captured man retched, but Hyeon-yul treated him as though he did not exist.
“I’m with the Black Eagle.
Here, put on a gas mask.
You too.” After speaking, Hyeon-yul pulled gas masks from his bag and handed them to the survivors.
“…The Black Eagle?” The survivors immediately looked at Hyeon-yul differently.
Their faces brightened so dramatically that he could recognize the emotion as hope at a glance.
Hyeon-yul found the hopeful looks directed at him deeply unfamiliar.
‘…What?
He’s a Black Eagle?’ Only then did the captured man understand Hyeon-yul’s identity.
Until now, all he had really seen was some stranger in a gas mask.
“I’ll ask why you came to this company later, so start thinking about what you need to tell us.” Hyeon-yul issued the order to the captured villain.
He expected the man to lie and planned to search the surroundings anyway, but something else mattered more right now.
They needed to eliminate every villain positioned throughout this building.
After confirming that everyone was wearing a gas mask, Hyeon-yul contacted Nayun.
<Destroy the barrier.> <I’m doing it!
Here it comes!> Nayun answered immediately without the slightest hesitation.
Wondering what exactly she intended to do, Hyeon-yul covered one eye and observed the situation outside.
A flash of light appeared in the far distance, and then something poured toward the barrier.
It moved too quickly for him to see clearly.
All he could make out was a continuous stream of light that looked like one perfectly unbroken line.
‘Those are bullets?’ The instant the rounds struck the barrier, an enormous explosion echoed all the way down into the basement.
BOOOOM!
The building shook violently immediately afterward.
<It’s gone!!!> Nayun’s message appeared.
With the barrier destroyed, the poison outside would now begin circulating freely through the entire area.
“If you remove your gas masks, the poison will kill you.
Keep them on at all times.” Hyeon-yul spoke firmly to the survivors.
Safety was directly tied to health, which made this a matter he refused to compromise on.
“Then stay here.” “W-Wait.
Where are you going?” “This place is safe.” “But…” “I have something to discuss privately with this villain.
Would you like to watch how I handle it?” Hyeon-yul raised a hand and pointed directly at the villain.
“…No.” “Then remain here quietly.
Someone should come rescue you soon.” Hyeon-yul had not learned the formal procedure yet, so he gave them the best explanation he could.
After seeing that the survivors were still nervous, he grabbed the villain by the hair and disappeared.
* * * “Hah…
Hah…” The man’s breathing accelerated.
Poison had apparently spread everywhere, and the subordinates who had been attempting the hack were all dead.
The sight of their skin blackened by poison sent his heart pounding violently.
‘…This is the Black Eagle?’ Did this man even know how many of his subordinates had been inside this building?
A Black Eagle had killed them this brutally.
‘This is the kind of thing we do!’ The man wanted to tear Hyeon-yul apart on the spot.
Rage boiled inside him as he thought about avenging his subordinates.
“All right.
I’ll ask my questions now.” Hyeon-yul spoke while examining the surroundings.
The man watched for an opening and suddenly reached for him.
He seized Hyeon-yul’s gas mask and ripped it away.
“Now you can die like my men…” The man began speaking with a grin, only to stop halfway through.
Hyeon-yul simply continued breathing as calmly as before.
“Oh.
Were you saying you wanted to die?” Asking in the same composed tone, Hyeon-yul grabbed the man’s gas mask.
“W-Wait!
Wait!” “Do you know Shin Daeho?” The name came so suddenly that the man flinched reflexively.
‘Why is he bringing up Shin Daeho…?’ “Ah, I should have asked whether you were one of the Poison King’s subordinates first.
My mistake.” Hyeon-yul casually corrected the order of his questions.
“But this works out nicely.
You aren’t the Poison King’s subordinate, and you clearly know Shin Daeho.” At those words, the man’s eyes widened sharply.
‘…What the hell?
Just how much does he know?’