Chapter 135 – Headhunter (Part Fifteen)

“……”

Il-hyeon, sitting on the hospital bed, stared silently ahead.

Gwen sat across from him, skillfully peeling an apple.

“Why the sudden apple…?”

“Well… that is.”

Gwen paused her knife at the question, her face flushing with embarrassment.

When no answer came, Il-hyeon shifted his gaze to Astrid, who stood beside them with her arms crossed.

She wore a look of deep satisfaction as she watched the perfectly peeled apple.

*How on earth did she win her over?*

Il-hyeon thought, glancing down at the contract on the table.

Given Gwen’s initial attitude, persuading her had seemed like an impossible task. Yet, as soon as the hospital incident was resolved, she had come of her own accord and signed the contract.

Of course, until she Awakened, he couldn’t expect her to serve as a combatant. They had agreed she would act as Il-hyeon’s personal physician while also serving as the team doctor for the new team. They had also found a reasonable compromise regarding her personal duties as a doctor.

Her request for the hospital’s protection as a condition of the contract suggested the recent attack had played a major role, but he hadn’t expected her to yield so easily.

*Thwack!*

Just then, Gwen finished peeling the apple and stood up.

“Our discussion is over, so I’ll be on my way. Please take care of yourself.”

“Yes, I look forward to working with you.”

“The conditions… Please make sure you uphold them.”

“Of course.”

The hospital room door closed, and Astrid quickly moved to occupy the seat Gwen had just vacated.

She picked up a slice of apple and savored it as if it were some grand delicacy.

*The summons should be enough for her protection.*

His contract with Gwen finalized, Il-hyeon’s mind began to race.

Summoning a few familiars using cores to guard the hospital and Gwen seemed sufficient.

It didn’t seem like a bad idea to assign the task to the weasels, who were currently lazing around with Seo Jeong-hwa.

“But why was she suddenly targeted? Could it be… because of me?”

When the attackers first appeared, he had assumed they were after him, injured as he was, or targeting the hospital as a key facility.

But listening to their conversation, he realized that wasn’t the case.

They had been after Gwen from the very beginning, even intending to drag her away somewhere by force.

For a moment, he wondered if his approaching her had put her on their list, but he quickly shook his head.

If that were the case, the people around him and the other recruitment targets would have been attacked as well, and there would have been no need for a kidnapping.

“Did you hear anything else?”

“No. They all died before they could talk.”

Astrid uttered the chilling words with casual indifference.

Il-hyeon scratched his head, thinking of Marco, who hadn’t returned even after the scene was cleared. He asked her,

“The cleanup finished a while ago. Why isn’t he back yet?”

“I don’t know… He said he had something to take care of.”

***

*Screech.*

The cars came to a stop in a dense, snow-covered forest.

As the Awakened stepped out of the five vehicles, organization members who had been waiting for them approached.

Dozens of them had gathered at the pre-arranged meeting point.

“What happened with the job?”

“A failure. There were two monsters beyond compare, not mentioned in our intel. They were so strong we didn’t stand a chance.”

The man answered, his expression one of utter defeat.

Not only that, but the other returning members were all in terrible shape.

It was a wonder they had even made it back without being captured, considering the beating they had taken.

“You weren’t followed, were you?”

“Don’t worry about that. We shook off the cops easily enough.”

*CRASH!*

No sooner had he finished his boast than a figure fell from the sky, landing before them.

Jet-black wings spread wide behind the man who had appeared by crushing a vehicle under his feet.

The organization members who had attacked the hospital recoiled in terror at the sight of the white-haired Marco.

“It’s… it’s him!”

“No way!”

Marco hadn’t lost them; he had let them go.

Those who had witnessed his power backed away in fear, but the others did not.

“Kill that bastard!”

“You think you can take on dozens of us?”

The muzzles of pistols loaded with special anti-Awakened rounds turned toward Marco.

But just as triggers were about to be pulled from all directions, the firearms were ripped from their hands.

All the weapons and communication devices the members carried floated into the air.

The organization members stared, dumbfounded, at their weapons hovering just out of reach.

Marco was the first to speak.

“I don’t wish to see any more blood. Cease your meaningless resistance and surrender.”

He could have easily annihilated everyone present, but Marco chose not to.

However, his opponents were not the type to surrender so meekly.

“Don’t be arrogant!”

The man at the very front shouted and stomped his foot hard.

The ground around him erupted, and jagged shards of earth flew violently toward Marco.

“Huh…?”

But the shards stopped dead in their tracks right in front of him.

Marco didn’t stop there; he used his ability once more.

*Crumble!*

The ground was torn apart, pits forming everywhere as chunks of earth broke away.

Massive slabs of land, on a scale incomparable to the previous man’s attack, rose into the air, kicking up clouds of dust.

Their weapons stolen, the sky around them now filled with colossal fragments of earth, the organization members lost all will to fight. They dropped to their knees in unison and raised their hands.

Only the man who had used his ability remained standing alone, a vacant look on his face.

“I have a few questions. We can start with you.”

The man’s face turned pale as Marco slowly approached.

***

Black Hand, a large-scale criminal organization with considerable influence in the western United States.

Booker, the boss of Black Hand, had appeared in one of their many hideouts.

Remarkably young for the head of a massive organization and a skilled Awakened himself, he had made the rare trip to the East Coast and was now observing the chaotic situation unfolding around him.

In the dim underground space, illuminated by red lights, Booker took a drag from a thick cigar before speaking.

“It’s no different over here. Nothing but a bunch of lunatics.”

“Y-Yes, sir. Even the reliable partner organizations in this area have joined them without a word. I’m worried about what might happen… It’s a complete disaster.”

An executive with elaborate tattoos on his face said, shaking his head.

It was as if everyone had suddenly lost their minds, waging all-out war against the government with immense manpower and capital, all while the number of Gates continued to increase.

Although humanity had prepared for this kind of chaos ever since the incident twenty years ago, it couldn’t completely prevent the global economy from faltering or the systems and order that sustained society from crumbling.

The extreme social turmoil was so severe that even career criminals, who usually couldn’t care less about the state of the world, considered it a disaster.

But Booker, sitting across from him, didn’t see it that way.

“A disaster? Not at all. Crisis is opportunity. The chaos engulfing the cities is our stage.”

“S-Sir?”

The flustered executive stammered in reply.

At his reaction, Booker set down his cigar and laughed heartily.

He then leaned forward, fixing his gaze on the executive.

“Haha, it’s quite simple. Drug distribution networks have been shattered in every country, and impatient consumers are getting desperate. Drugs that you could get anywhere with a little cash are now priceless.”

“Does that mean, perhaps…”

“Yes. We’re going to use this mess to make a killing. Thanks to all the organizations around the world going up in flames like moths, it’s the same situation for weapons, Core smuggling, and human trafficking. We took a hit too, but we’ve mostly recovered. Should we be lying low at a time like this? Not a chance.”

“O-Of course. I see.”

The executive muttered in admiration.

Booker intended to use this opportunity to massively expand Black Hand’s illegal enterprises beyond their primary focus on drug distribution, and he planned to aggressively expand their sphere of influence from their base in the West.

Just then, a knock came from outside.

“Sir… you have a visitor.”

“What? I gave explicit orders not to let any outsiders in. Are you insane?”

The executive shot up from his seat, erupting in anger.

He had given his subordinates strict instructions multiple times before Booker’s visit, so his fury was understandable.

As the subordinate was about to bow his head apologetically, a man appeared, pushed him aside, and strode into the room.

The powerfully built man, who confidently took a seat between Booker and the executive, wore a green mask that concealed his identity.

“Who are you?”

“Booker Hoffman, join us.”

The man spoke with a peculiar accent.

“What insolence!”

“Cooperation?”

Booker asked, ignoring his growling executive.

The man, in turn, seemed to have no interest in anyone else, his eyes fixed on Booker as he spoke.

“Gullart has summoned you.”

“Gullart? Pahaha! Ah, I see. I think I know where you’re from.”

Booker said, his interest piqued.

Gullart was the boss of the IRC and the one leading the charge of criminal organizations currently attacking the world.

“Your boss was a simple-minded fool, but he could at least do basic math. I wonder what happened to him. I’d heard rumors he’d gotten into some strange ideology, but I never thought he’d pull a stunt like this.”

Booker paused to gauge the man’s reaction, but he remained silent.

“Alright, so you want our organization to join yours, which doesn’t even have a tangible form?”

“Fear without form is the most effective.”

“Cut the crappy wordplay and tell me the terms. I don’t have much time, but I make it a policy to hear every offer.”

“Terms? There are none. You simply get to join our great cause.”

At the man’s resolute words, Booker let out a short, dry laugh.

“Hey, you don’t know business, do you? Business? There has to be something in it for us if we cooperate. You want me to make such a risky investment for no reward? Then again, I didn’t think you guys were capable of that kind of thinking in the first place. Goodbye.”

*BANG!*

A .50 caliber bullet flew through the air and blew the man’s head apart. His head snapped back.

Booker brushed off his blood-spattered suit and muttered.

“Hmph, unpleasant bastards. Let’s see what this one looked like.”

Booker gave a slight nod, and the executive beside him nodded back.

He approached the corpse and pulled off the blood-soaked green mask.

Upon seeing the man’s face, Booker shot up from his chair as if he’d seen a ghost.

“How are you here…”

Booker took a step back, his hand trembling.

Just then, the eyes of the corpse, which had been staring blankly at the ceiling, slid to the side.

“You know me? I’m flattered.”

The man, who should have had a hole in his head, smiled.

The man who should have been dead massaged his creaking neck and turned his head.

“How could I not know your face… Did you set this whole trap just to catch me?”

Booker’s voice trembled.

The man shook his head in response to his question.

“No, the offer was real. You just rejected it, but you’ll join them anyway. The forces in the West have been depleted, so they’re short on power. Black Hand should be quite helpful.”

“What… what? Are you saying you orchestrated all of this? No, that’s impossible. Why would you…?”

“Enough chit-chat. I have no interest in talking for long with someone who won’t remember any of this.”

*POW!*

A fist, too fast to be seen, struck out, and the heads of Booker and the executive snapped back simultaneously.