“Thank you for agreeing to our sudden request.”
I spoke into the phone.
[Think nothing of it. I should be the one thanking you for coming to TBC.]
It was Ahn Hyunggi’s voice.
[But I didn’t expect this. Just yesterday you said you’d be staying at Gwangcheon, and today you’ve withdrawn from the academy. Your actions are unpredictable.]
“Haha… honestly, even yesterday I really thought we’d stay.”
[So, what’s your plan now?]
“I’m preparing for a long fight.”
[Against Forward?]
“Yes.”
[And you believe it’s possible for you to oppose them?]
“As I said in front of the cara, our strength alone is weak. That’s why we’ll borrow the strength of others. Like what just happened with TBC.”
[It won’t be enough. Not even All Around can match Forward. All Around may be a guild with branches in every major city, but Forward is a global corporation. And they hold the kind of technology that makes the world side with them.]
“You an magic stone energy.”
[So you do understand. Then your words about fighting Forward weren’t just bravado.]
“That’s right.”
[Still, if you ca to Crystal Academy now, I could protect you. You’d even have the proper justification.]
“No. I can’t let myself owe you that much, sir. And my real goal is to return to Gwangcheon one day.”
[That, I can’t understand. But very well. Continuing this is pointless, so I’ll stop offering you the transfer.]
“I’m sorry.”
[Then let’s end the call here.]
“Yes. Thank you again for your help.”
[Hm.]
I slipped the phone back into my pocket after confirming he’d hung up.
“Alright.”
I lifted my head and looked ahead.
The three who had left Gwangcheon with stood there waiting.
“Ti to run.”
“R-run?”
Lumina’s eyes widened.
“After that broadcast, President Oh Sungcheon and Yang Len must have been furious. They’ll try anything to catch us and force us to retract our words.”
The most obvious move Forward could make was to brand us liars.
But it wouldn’t work the way they wanted.
“So what now? Are we calling All Around again for protection?”
“No. All Around has too many people.”
I shook my head.
“Isn’t that a good thing? More people to help us.” Lumina tilted her head.
“Not always. With too many, it’s also easier to hide.”
“You an there could be a traitor?” Seo Yui asked.
I nodded.
“Not necessarily betrayal. Soone could sneak in disguised.”
Black Hound were hunters of people. For them, infiltration and information gathering were routine.
“That’s why we’re heading sowhere with tighter security. I left a ssage earlier on our way to the station—they should be arriving any mont…”
A buzz vibrated against my wrist.
I pulled out my phone again.
“Hello?”
[We’re here. Don’t hang up, just get to the front gate as fast as you can.]
The voice was curt, tinged with exhaustion.
When we stepped out to the gate together, a familiar van was waiting.
“See the van?”
“Yes.”
[Get in.]
The call ended.
“Let’s go.”
“Who is it?” iling asked.
“On the side of justice.”
I grinned.
As we approached, the van door slid open.
“Ah.”
Lumina let out a sound of recognition.
“Hello, Captain Lee Seon.”
I greeted the man in the driver’s seat.
“Good. Get in.”
He kept his eyes forward, probably scanning the area for Black Hound.
Once we were inside and the doors shut, he started the engine imdiately.
“Where are we going? City Hall?” iling asked.
“Sowhere safer than that,” Lee Seon answered, eyes on the road.
“Strange, you’re not with your usual partner today.” I rembered the noisy woman who was always at his side.
“If you an Jang Hayun, she’s on another assignnt. Did you need sothing from her?”
“No, sir. It’s just quiet, that’s all.”
“Pfft.”
I couldn’t tell if it was a sigh or a laugh.
“Nam Yein.”
“Yes.”
“That was reckless.”
His voice had suddenly hardened.
“You’re nowhere near ready to take on Forward. By declaring war like that, you’ve only put yourselves in greater danger.”
“But we were already under threat before we made the declaration.”
“Then instead of broadcasting it, you should’ve asked us for help.”
“To fight a war, you need justification.”
“Justification?”
“Yes. A reason Forward must be eliminated—a reason for the city to cast them out.”
“So you’re sacrificing yourselves for that?”
“No. I have no intention of sacrificing anyone. Everything we’re doing is to survive.”
“…”
He stayed silent. Driving ant I couldn’t see his face.
Just then, my phone rang again.
“Who is it?” Lee Seon asked.
“A friend I t during HAUT.”
“Keep it brief.”
“Of course.”
I answered.
“Hello.”
[Yein. It’s , Toby.]
“Yes, hello.”
[I saw the news. Was it really Forward who targeted you?]
“Yes. Exactly as I said on the broadcast.”
[…I don’t understand. Why would they do that to the HAUT winners?]
“Good question. They’re difficult people to understand.”
[Are you still at the station? It’s dangerous to stay in one place too long.]
“No need to worry. I can’t say more than that right now.”
[Alright… actually, I called about sothing else, but this isn’t the ti.]
“You an the afterparty?”
[Yeah.]
Just then, my phone buzzed again in my ear.
“I’m afraid we can’t make it. We’ll et again another ti.”
[Yeah. Let’s et again.]
“Of course.”
I hung up and checked my screen.
A flood of ssages had co in.
[Yein, are you alright? I saw the news.]
That one was from Ao.
[Nam Yein, are you okay? You were on a call so I sent a ssage instead. Contact when you can.]
The next ssage was from Eleanor.
[When I heard you wrote withdrawal papers, I had a bad feeling… And right after HAUT ended, sothing like this? I wish there were so way I could help.]
And another was from our student council president, Park Gwang-a.
Along with those, ssages had co in from Leona, Zen, and several others.
“Hey, is it safe for you to use that phone? What if they’re tracking your location?” iling asked.
“Once is fine. This car has a jamr. But just to be safe, we should keep the phones off,” Lee Seon answered.
At that, Lumina and Seo Yui imdiately powered theirs down, along with the All Around terminal.
‘I already contacted Zeke this morning. It should be fine. I didn’t give him details, just that we were heading sowhere safe.’
A short while later, we stepped out of the car.
Lee Seon walked up to a phone booth, pressed a button, and the wall slid open to reveal a hidden passage.
“Whoa…!”
Lumina’s eyes went wide with shock.
The other two looked just as stunned.
“Hurry inside.”
As soon as we entered, the wall closed behind us, making their eyes widen again.
Lee Seon swiped a card key, unlocking a heavy door, and guided us through.
“Ah!”
A loud voice startled us.
Turning, I saw Jodie, her monstrous arm exposed, staring in surprise.
“Ah! Jodie!” Lumina cried, her voice full of relief.
“So this is where you were.” Seo Yui smiled softly.
“Tch.”
iling only clicked her tongue.
“What are you doing here?” Jodie demanded.
“Because Forward threatened our lives too.”
“Whaaat!?”
The look on her face was even more shocked than when she’d first seen us.
“For now, you’ll stay here. I have another task to handle. If you need anything, ask Mr. Kim Sang-sik. For outside contact, use that phone on the wall. Mobile phones won’t work here.”
We turned together.
A single receiver hung from the wall.
“That thing? Looks broken to ,” iling muttered.
“Just pick it up and it connects directly to the Peacekeeping Force. And rember—you are never to step outside without us.”
“Understood.”
Once Lee Seon left, I turned to Jodie.
“Where’s Teacher Kim Sang-sik?”
“Asleep.”
“He’s still asleep? It’s almost eleven,” iling said sharply.
Jodie’s face darkened.
“Is he sick?” I asked.
“No.” She shook her head. “He just can’t seem to sleep at night lately.”
“I see.”
It wasn’t surprising. Even if this was called a safehouse, it was still essentially a prison.
To the Peacekeeping Force, Jodie and Kim Sang-sik were nothing more than dangerous elents disturbing public order.
That was why Jodie had confessed everything to —so I could help her get revenge.
“Well, good timing. I was about to eat lunch. Join .”
Jodie seed fine on the surface.
But I couldn’t relax.
Even if she’d sworn not to lose control again, being trapped here too long might drive her into another rampage.
“How do you handle als here?”
“Like this.”
Jodie opened the refrigerator.
Inside were stacks of lunch boxes and ready-to-eat foods.
“The Peacekeeping Force keeps restocking. Since you’re here now, they’ll probably send even more this afternoon. So eat up.”
I nodded and pulled out a lunch box.
‘For now, we’ll eat and wait for Kim Sang-sik to wake up.’
In a building in Seoul, Black Hound’s hidden office, Yang Len sat glaring at his subordinates.
His narrowed eyes made sweat bead down their temples.
“So…”
He tapped his palm with the neck of a liquor bottle.
“You lost them after they left TBC?”
“Y-yes, sir.”
One mber at a computer spoke up nervously.
“We did find one call record afterward, but the location read as Jamsil. The timing doesn’t match up. It’s impossible they got there that quickly after leaving TBC…”
“aning they used a trick to mask their location.”
Yang Len tapped the bottle against his shoulder this ti.
“What about the CCTV?”
“We hacked into the TBC feeds and all nearby caras. We combed through the entire tifra when they should’ve left, but they never appeared anywhere.”
“So the conclusion’s obvious.”
He stopped tapping the bottle.
“They’ve got the Peacekeeping Force covering them. The video was probably doctored, and the strange location data too.”
“Then Mayor Cheon Jiweon might also be involved…”
“Of course. Hell, this whole thing might be his sche. The way those brats kept provoking us—maybe it was all his plan. And look at today’s broadcast. In one move, he made Forward and Black Hound look like garbage. Well, we already are garbage, but still. Kah-hah-hah!”
He burst out laughing.
But none of the others joined in. They all froze, faces blank.
If they laughed without thinking, that bottle might be smashing across their skulls.
“So. They want a fight, huh? Seems the mayor’s lost his damn mind. Keep searching for their trail.”
“Yes, sir!”
“Understood!”
Yang Len left the office, pulling out his phone.
“This is Yang Len.”
[Len. Have you found them?]
“Not anyti soon, I’m afraid.”
[What are you talking about?]
“Cheon Jiweon. The brats are under Peacekeeping Force protection. Likely smuggled out of Seoul already.”
[The Peacekeeping Force? Again!?]
“Yeah. The sa bastards who captured our n. Which is why I say it’s ti to teach them a lesson.”
[What do you an?]
Yang Len’s lips curled into a grin.
“I an it’s ti we pay City Hall a visit—and drop off a little present.”
(End of Chapter)
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