Chapter 143 – The Enemy Within (Part Five)

*Currently, Street B-2 is under control due to the appearance of a high-rank Gate. We ask all citizens to refrain from entering the restricted area…*

An announcement echoed through the city center of Paris, France.

Gates appeared regardless of country or city, and because of the grim state of the world, the areas around restricted zones were nearly deserted.

Even with a safety perimeter established, people avoided the vicinity as much as possible, wary of the possibility that an unexpected monster appearance could collapse the barricades or that a terrorist attack might occur.

It was clear that citizens now had a greater sense of crisis compared to the past.

Of course, the fact that economic activity in the surrounding area was paralyzed each time a Gate appeared, causing massive administrative losses, could not be ignored.

But there were always exceptions.

Boldly, a person was walking down the street right in front of the barricades, with a clear view of the rift inside.

It was a red-haired woman with a beanie pulled down low—Seo Jeong-hwa.

As if to savor the feeling of being in Europe for the first time, she hummed a tune with a bag containing a large baguette tucked under one arm.

Walking through the quiet, chilly European streets was quite a pleasant experience for her.

Before meeting Il-hyeon, she could never have dreamed of roaming the streets so freely without permission, so it was only natural she felt this way.

“Hmm?”

Suddenly, the bread bag in her hand rustled and shook.

Seo Jeong-hwa’s eyes widened as she plunged a hand into the bag and rummaged around.

After struggling for about ten seconds, a weasel emerged from within.

Seo Jeong-hwa shrieked at the creature, which was munching on the bread, wondering when on earth it had snuck into the bag.

“Hey, you little rascal!”

“Kik, kik!”

As the two bickered as usual, a benevolent-looking professor appeared on the other side of the street.

Even though the street was empty of cars due to the restricted zone, he stood motionlessly, waiting for the signal.

Seeing him with his bushy beard and briefcase, Seo Jeong-hwa and the weasel stopped their quarrel at the same time, as if on cue.

*The guy who took bribes from Jang Se-ho… Looks like I found the right one.*

Seo Jeong-hwa quickly regained her composure and casually began to estimate the direction he was heading.

She avoided staring overtly at her target, continuously scanning her surroundings for any potential problems.

Having seen the Woman in the White Mask in person, she knew just how dangerous the people she had to investigate were.

Although she had heard from Il-hyeon that safety measures were in place, she would never have gotten involved in this if she cherished the life she had barely managed to save.

But Seo Jeong-hwa followed Il-hyeon’s wishes without a moment’s hesitation.

The masterminds behind the organizations that had brainwashed her—as long as they remained in the world, she could be in danger again at any moment. She couldn’t just stand by and be a victim forever.

With her current skills, tailing them directly would get her caught immediately, but it was a different story with the ordinary people who collaborated with them.

Her abilities were far from negligible; she could dig up plenty of useful information.

*Most importantly… I have to repay my debt.*

She had been freed from a terrible bondage, and freedom was sweet, but simply being alive wasn’t enough.

Her expression turning serious, Seo Jeong-hwa tucked the weasel into her inner pocket and said,

“Let’s go.”

“Kik!”

* * *

Crash!

The glass window of a locked shop shattered into pieces.

Protesters wielding bats stormed in, smashing the store and looting money and goods.

It wasn’t just here; most of the nearby streets were in the same state.

The cover-ups orchestrated by nations and the international community regarding Gates had all been exposed by anonymous informants and were now widely known to the public.

When it was revealed that even the deceased victims had been deceived, the protesters who rose up began to resort to violence.

In other hard-hit regions and countries, large-scale riots were breaking out, and social chaos was only growing.

Amidst a tense standoff between the police deployed for suppression and the protesters, Jo Nam-seok, who was caught in the middle, hastily escaped the street.

“Whew, damn. This is complete chaos.”

Jo Nam-seok slipped into a nearby alley and heaved a sigh of relief.

The chaotic street he had just left was a scene of violence too overwhelming even for him, a C-rank Awakened.

“Squeak, squeak!”

“You saw that too, right, pal? This isn’t normal at all. There have to be people instigating this from behind the scenes.”

As the mouse that appeared on his shoulder squeaked, Jo Nam-seok shook his head and spoke.

The violence spread, showing no signs of being brought under control.

Even if it was people, already on edge from Gates and terrorism, lashing out in anger at their governments’ deceit, the speed and scale of it were too great.

Having spent years in the underworld and seen it all, Jo Nam-seok was certain that a force was intervening from the shadows.

And it was highly likely the work of “those guys” Il-hyeon had told him about.

After leaving the alley, Jo Nam-seok hailed a taxi on the street and, upon arriving at his lodging, glanced around once.

Once he was sure no one was tailing him, he quickly opened the door and went inside.

The lodging where the three of them would be staying for a while wasn’t very spacious, chosen to be as inconspicuous as possible, but the interior was quite nice.

Il-hyeon, who had formed the team, had provided an enormous amount for operational support, so they didn’t have to worry about money.

“Man, meeting one good client is really turning my life around, huh? Whoa!”

A phoenix swooped past just above Jo Nam-seok’s head.

Besides that one, Il-hyeon’s other summons, which had previously operated with Alpha Team, were with them.

The task was still too much for them to handle in many ways, so Il-hyeon had provided them with maximum support, and the mouse on his shoulder was part of that.

“Alright pal, you can come down now.”

“Squeak!”

Jo Nam-seok still called the mouse ‘pal’.

He had been incredibly shocked when he first heard from Il-hyeon that the mouse was a summon, not a shapeshifter, but even after learning the truth, he had no choice. The mouse wouldn’t respond unless he called it ‘pal’.

It seemed the mouse had really taken a liking to the title.

Bzzzzt!

A vibration came from his pocket, and Jo Nam-seok quickly pulled out his phone.

Just as he expected, Il-hyeon’s name was on the screen.

Jo Nam-seok cleared his throat, wanting to make the best impression on his big-shot client, and pressed the call button.

“Ah, yes, this is Team Il-hyeon 1. You rang?”

— …What did you say?

Il-hyeon asked, doubting his own ears.

“What’s wrong?”

— No, it’s not that. What’s with that team name?

“You told us to come up with one ourselves, didn’t you?”

— You didn’t actually register it officially with that name, did you?

Il-hyeon asked, a sense of dread creeping in.

But unfortunately, an ominous silence followed.

“Ah, um. We did.”

— Haaah… Change it by tomorrow.

“Ah, well, we’re currently abroad, you see. We’ll change it as soon as we get back. Ms. Seo Jeong-hwa said the Team Leader would like it if we named it this way, but I guess she was mistaken.”

— I’m going to lose my mind.

A groan came through Jo Nam-seok’s phone.

It seemed he had completely misjudged his client’s needs.

While Jo Nam-seok scratched his head with an awkward expression, Il-hyeon spoke.

— Anyway, I’m sorry for giving you such a dangerous job on short notice. The contract was clearly for handling Gates…

Originally, they were scheduled to be deployed to the site of a C-rank Gate.

They had smoothly completed their registration as a private team, and with the shortage of manpower due to the danger cycle, that part wasn’t an issue.

But things changed when Il-hyeon suddenly took on the role of Aegis’s team leader, and they ended up investigating the masterminds behind this incident.

It was clearly a task beyond their current capabilities.

That’s why he had assigned his summons to them, and he also had a way to pull them out safely if things went south.

As long as they stayed with the summons, he could call them back at any time using Kang Hyeon-seo’s Spatial Leap ability.

Nevertheless, the fact remained that this job was extremely dangerous.

If they were to encounter a monster with unimaginable power, like the Woman in the White Mask, all variables could be thrown into disarray.

However, Jo Nam-seok himself didn’t seem too bothered by it.

“The incentive is triple, right? I’m thankful for that. Besides, the other two don’t seem to mind either.”

— …In any case, thank you. I have to head to the site now, so I’ll keep updating you on Jang Se-ho’s location. If it gets dangerous, don’t push yourselves. There’s a way to get you out, but unexpected situations can always arise. These guys are not to be underestimated.

“Yes, sir! I’ll keep that in mind. You have a good day! Sir, yes, sir!”

* * *

Click.

The call ended, and Il-hyeon wore an awkward expression at Jo Nam-seok’s burdensome salute.

Ever since hearing the amount he would be paid, Jo Nam-seok had been excessively pledging his undying loyalty to Il-hyeon.

*Well… they’re not untrustworthy people, at least.*

None of the new team members had hidden pasts, at the very least.

Furthermore, he had already scanned their minds to check if they were under mind control or had any intention of cooperating with the enemy, but he hadn’t found any trace of it.

He might have his doubts about the other new recruits, but he could definitely trust Seo Jeong-hwa.

The mind control on her was completely gone, and she was the biggest victim of those bastards.

*The problem is whether I’m asking too much of them…*

Il-hyeon didn’t expect them to catch the fugitive Jang Se-ho.

In fact, it would be more troublesome if they did.

All he wanted was for them to maintain a safe distance and gather information.

Since Jang Se-ho’s location was being fed to Astrid in real-time, the priority was to confirm the enemy’s base and what they were up to.

Once enough information was gathered, Il-hyeon planned to step in and deal with them himself when he had a surplus of Gate generation.

“How are the results?”

After finishing the call and putting away his phone, Il-hyeon asked Gwen, who was sitting across from him.

Looking at the test results, she nodded and replied.

“You’re much better than when you were discharged. Mostly back to normal… You should have no problem going out into the field right away. Still, there’s a minor defect remaining in your left calf, so you’ll need to be a little mindful of your balance when making big leaps.”

“Hmm, that’s a relief.”

Having signed an additional contract with Il-hyeon, Gwen also became Alpha Team’s doctor, joining Aegis as a contractor.

When the famous figure, who had seemed completely out of reach, suddenly joined, Aegis’s medical team fervently courted the talent they had always coveted.

Of course, Gwen remained consistently uninterested in anything other than her contract with Il-hyeon.

“Well then… shall we get going.”

Il-hyeon picked up the sword he had set down and stood up.

Three hours from now.

An S-rank Gate was waiting for him.