Chapter 127 – Headhunter (Part Seven)

*Crash!*

A baseball bat swung with full force shattered the building’s glass window.

Men with menacing looks stormed into the already empty grocery store, smashing everything in sight as they gathered food.

“Haha, yeah. This is practically heaven.”

“It’s nice and all, but you don’t think this will cause problems for us, do you?”

“Haven’t you seen the chaos outside? No one’s going to notice a few guys like us.”

A city in the Middle East, seized by criminal organizations.

With all major systems destroyed, the city had fallen into a state of complete anarchy, allowing criminals to roam the streets freely.

With no law and order, citizens were left defenseless and exposed to violence.

Awakened, including government military and police forces, surrounded the city for a reclamation operation, but this wasn’t the only urgent crisis they had to deal with.

The emergence of Gates and terrorists everywhere made it impossible to concentrate their forces, leading to a prolonged and sluggish stalemate.

As long as countless citizens were trapped inside the city, drastic options like airstrikes were out of the question.

“We just have to enjoy this, and when things calm down, we can just pretend to be victims. Of course, it wouldn’t be so bad if things stayed like this. Hehe.”

The man, laughing sinisterly, twirled the bat in his hand.

As they were smoothly gathering their goods, a sudden clatter from a corner threw the inside of the building into a commotion.

“What? What’s going on?”

“Look at this. A little rat was hiding here.”

A small child was dragged out, held tightly in the man’s grasp.

Terrified, the child couldn’t utter a word and just trembled, looking visibly starved.

“Caught him trying to steal some canned food. What should we do?”

“Stealing from our territory? We need to teach this brat that the world isn’t so easy.”

“Agh!”

A rough hand threw the child to the floor.

Then, the man’s thick leg kicked him in the stomach.

The child rolled a good distance, then curled up into a ball, moaning as if he couldn’t breathe.

Already weakened, a little more beating could have been fatal, but the men didn’t care at all.

*Squeak!*

A mouse suddenly appeared on the beaten child’s waist and started squeaking.

The men paused their kicking and stared at the unwelcome guest.

“What’s this now?”

“Haha, just like you said, a real rat showed up.”

The laughter was short-lived. The man raised his foot again, intending to crush the mouse along with the child.

But the scream came from the man who had raised his foot.

“Kuaargh!”

“Wha-what?”

The man’s foot, bitten by the mouse, was horribly gouged and dangled as if it would fall off at the slightest touch.

Red blood splattered everywhere, stunning not only the man but his companions as well.

*CRASH!*

Before they could even grasp the situation, a hole was punched through the wall, and an arm shot out.

The unidentified arm grabbed one of them by the scruff of the neck and pulled him toward the wall.

The man crashed through the wall, shattering it as he was dragged beyond.

“*Keoheup!*”

“C-Crazy. What’s happening all of a sudden!”

*CRASH!*

The wall the man had been dragged through now collapsed entirely, and a man walked out from the other side.

“It’s an Awakened!”

Seeing the man wearing a Defensive Coat and carrying a sword, another man shouted and drew his pistol.

The barrel, loaded with special anti-Awakened bullets, aimed at him.

But before he could pull the trigger, the walls and floor of the building began to writhe, transforming into vines that lashed out at them.

Their weapons were easily snatched from their hands, and they were subdued, unable to move.

“No matter how much trash you clean up, more just keeps appearing.”

Il-hyeon muttered, glancing around.

He quickly approached the still-crouched child, checked his condition, and lifted him onto his back.

The mouse, sensing something, climbed onto Il-hyeon and made a fuss.

*Squeak squeak squeak!*

“Go on ahead. I’ll get the kid out first and then follow.”

* * *

“You son of a bitch… You backstab me after we came all this way? I never should have trusted a piece of shit like you, you bastard who deserves to be ground into dust…!”

The man, lying on the hard floor and bleeding heavily from his head, spat out harsh words mixed with curses.

But his opponent paid him no mind, letting out a cheerful laugh.

“Now, now, look here and smile. I need to get a good video to send out. The price on your head is pretty high. I might as well put it up for auction.”

Jo Nam-seok held up a camera and continued to film him.

The man gritted his teeth, but unable to move even a finger, he could only watch as he was being filmed.

“And since when were we partners? Didn’t you do your homework on me?”

“What…?”

“The number of people you’ve stabbed in the back is countless… How does it feel to be on the receiving end for once? A little different? I’ve only ever done the stabbing, never been stabbed, so I wouldn’t know.”

Struck by Jo Nam-seok’s pointed words, the man trembled, unable to retort.

Jo Nam-seok grinned, turning the small artifact in his hand over and over as he let out a sound of admiration.

“Wow, it’s a beauty. I don’t know why the client would go to such lengths to get something like this, but anyway, I’ll make sure to take your share too.”

The request was to take advantage of the chaos in the paralyzed, crime-ridden city to steal an artifact from a private safe in a mansion here.

Jo Nam-seok, who was quite skilled in this line of work, had received an offer of cooperation from the man before him, and this was how it ended.

With his free hand, Jo Nam-seok grabbed the man’s cheek.

“You were probably planning to bury me somewhere as soon as the job was done. But you picked the wrong guy. In this business, being able to pick out the suckers is a skill in itself. Suckers just like you.”

“You son of a bitch…!”

“Hahaha!”

Jo Nam-seok’s laughter filled the large hall.

The more indignant his opponent became, the more amused he was.

“Well, my business here is done. I’m eager to get out of this crazy town. Hand over the contact info for the client. Do that, and I’ll spare your life.”

“What…? Spare me? Do you take me for a complete idiot?”

Trying to regain his composure, the man exploded in anger at Jo Nam-seok’s grating words.

He knew Jo Nam-seok was aware that if he let him go, he would be hunted down. The idea that Jo Nam-seok would show mercy and let him go quietly, now that he had no use, was utterly absurd.

If Jo Nam-seok were the type to make such a soft-hearted choice in the underworld, his head would have been long gone, and he wouldn’t be standing here today.

“Haha, suit yourself. It’s a bit of a hassle, but I can find out on my own. It’s not that big a deal.”

Jo Nam-seok began to rummage around the hall, looking for any other potential sources of income.

Anything that looked valuable had already been thoroughly looted, first by the criminal organizations controlling the area, and then by gangs of thugs. There didn’t seem to be much left to take.

Fortunately, their target artifact had been stored in a separate hidden compartment, which was why they were able to retrieve it intact.

“Yeah… laugh while you still can.”

“Hmm? What was that?”

“You think I came here alone for a job this big? They haven’t heard from me, so my guys will be storming this place any minute.”

*CRASH!*

The sound of the outer door being torn off its hinges was followed by several burly men entering the premises.

At that, the composed expression on Jo Nam-seok’s face changed.

“How about that? The tables have turned, haven’t they?”

“Damn… I’m in deep shit.”

Seeing the panic on Jo Nam-seok’s face, the man’s spirits lifted, and he began to gloat.

“Haha, why don’t you get on your knees and beg for your life? Who knows, I might change my mind and spare you.”

“Wait, wait. My situation has changed. But yours is still the same, isn’t it?”

“What…?”

*CRUNCH!*

Jo Nam-seok stomped on the man’s head, and his breath was extinguished in an instant, before he could even register what was happening.

It was unlikely he’d be useful as a hostage anyway, so quickly taking one of them out was the right move.

“Hmm, now what?”

He had already scouted the mansion’s layout, so he knew that with them storming in like this, his escape routes were limited.

A head-on fight wasn’t a good option either.

His opponents were likely C-rank Awakened like himself, and while he was confident in his skills, facing multiple opponents would be a risk to his life.

“It’s a bit of a distance, but the window is the answer…!”

Jo Nam-seok broke into a sprint.

Thugs in Defensive Coats closed in from all sides, but Jo Nam-seok picked a direction, threw a punch at two of their faces, and broke through their line head-on.

*CRASH!*

Jo Nam-seok shattered a fifth-floor window, landed safely, and rolled on the ground.

But just as he tried to quickly flee, something caught his ankle.

“Ah, damn it all.”

It was a goddamn ability.

A binding ability, used by someone from above, had caught both his ankles. They hardened as if turned to stone, rooting him to the spot.

*Thud!*

The Awakened who had jumped down after him approached Jo Nam-seok.

Having seen the corpse of their comrade in the hall, there was no need for words. They intended to kill Jo Nam-seok immediately and retrieve the item.

But the sudden appearance of an unexpected guest prevented them from doing so.

*Squeak!*

“Uwaaah!”

A mouse running on the ground suddenly leaped up and charged at one of the Awakened.

Jo Nam-seok watched with astonished eyes as a random mouse went berserk and attacked an Awakened, but that was nothing compared to what happened next.

With its tiny body, the mouse subdued all the Awakened in a fierce fight, then scaled the wall of the mansion and easily took down the one who was maintaining the binding ability.

“Is the world finally coming to an end?”

A single mouse taking down several Awakened.

To top it off, the mouse then leaped from the fifth-floor window of the mansion and landed gracefully in front of Jo Nam-seok.

Setting aside his astonishment for a moment, Jo Nam-seok first checked that the artifact in his hand was still intact and let out a sigh of relief.

“Damn, it’s tough making a living.”

Jo Nam-seok squatted down and looked at the mouse that had, by a twist of fate, become his savior.

It was hard to believe, but thinking rationally, nothing was impossible in a world rife with Awakened and their abilities.

An animal so ridiculously strong it could defeat Awakened…

In that case, there was only one possibility.

“Aha, right… you’re a shapeshifter. No wonder… I’d heard there were only two or three in the entire world, but I never thought I’d actually see one. Let’s have a talk.”

*Squeak?*

“Hey buddy, how about you release this ability? I may not look like much, but I’m the type who repays his debts.”

*Squeak…*