< Superior Rank Bait (3) >
The place I had gone to first, as soon as the kidnapping plan was made, was none other than ‘Happy Hamster’s’. A shabby hamster specialty pet shop that looked like it had no intention of running a business. Do Hamin was there.
Once you got to know him, you realized the private detective agency was a side job and the main job was the pet shop. Though the main job gobbled up all of the money made by the side job. I grabbed Do Hamin at the shop that was decorated centered on hamsters neatly, unlike its outer appearance.
‘I just helped a little in finding people!’
Wheedling the guy who shouted that wasn’t hard. It was thanks to the easily scared disposition due to being much softer than the Do Hamin I knew, maybe because he had suffered less.
‘You’ve become too well known. If you keep on going like this, you’ll have to worry about your life.’
When I revealed the several people who would aim for him, based on the difficulties that Do Hamin had told me about before the regression, that guy’s complexion quickly became pale. At the words that I would take care of his protection as well as pay him a satisfying amount if he came to work under me, Do Hamin didn’t think long and nodded his head.
‘If you let me open a pet shop in the building.’
I said that it was hard for ordinary people to come and go, but he said that he did internet business, so it didn’t matter. He said that he sold hamster goods near to no profit margin. It was an ordeal, in that I had to listen to the now completely relaxed Do Hamin go on impa.s.sioned speeches about the various charms of hamsters for a long time, but I was able to acquire him without much hardship.
“Would you like to have some?”
Do Hamin would probably be checking my location regularly even now. At my words while gesturing at the lunchbox that Myeongwoo had brought while visiting, Song Taewon placidly replied.
“I will decline.”
“It is delicious, though.”
I had already eaten dinner and the remaining were snacks. Though even that was about half empty. Everything that Myeongwoo made for me was tasty, but the yakgwa[1] were especially amazing. If I put it into Song Taewon’s mouth, wouldn’t that face that was hardened like a rock also melt down a little?
“You seem excessively comfortable. As you yourself are the objective, please do not relax, even if harm will not befall you.”
“Are you worrying about me? You should have some discontent towards me, but you are being kind.”
“I do not have anything like discontent. From my position, it is obvious to worry about Han Yoojin-ssi.”
It was a wooden response. It seemed like he was acting stiffer towards me for some reason, after the conversation in the interrogation room. After giving a farewell, telling me to be careful, with a polite and businesslike att.i.tude, Song Taewon left.
When I was putting the last remaining yakgwa in my mouth while doing a crossword puzzle, the closed door opened again. ‘There is a bone inside a word’[2] – what was this again?
“Hunter Han Yoojin, due to outside circ.u.mstances, you will be moving to a different detention center.”
The man who entered the holding room said. His attire was the uniform of a detention-center-affiliated Hunter.
“I was about to grow fond of this room; that is unfortunate. But are you working even at this late a time?”
“As there is no such thing as late nights for incidents.”
I put the pen down and stood up from my seat. The man held handcuffs out towards me. I obediently held out both my hands as I opened my mouth.
“My younger brother – the Haeyeon Guild Leader Han Yoohyun, I mean. He is AB type. I am B type. What is your blood type?”
The man put on an expression asking what nonsense was I saying, and then I felt the curse resistance working. Not telling others Han Yoohyun’s blood type. It was the first condition of the drawn up contracts.
Breaking a contract once meant ‘the kidnappers came to find me’.
We used contracts as a communication method, relying on my curse resistance. So that my state could be conveyed to Yoohyun anytime, even in circ.u.mstances where I couldn’t use a phone. Just in case I forgot, I had put a note with the list of the contracts written on it in my inventory. Since, inventory sealing also didn’t work thanks to the curse resistance.
‘It was a feeling of having used all the contracts I would use my whole life……’
The price shouldn’t be overlaid, so all sorts of things were staked.
“Let us go.”
While going outside, we met other Hunters, too, but they all similarly didn’t show any particular response. The number of guards characteristic to the detention center for Hunters was small, but to think that all of them were unresponsive even so. Did they get a false notice that I would be moved, or were they all in on this?
I really hoped it was the former. Even if it was rotten, it should be reasonably rotten.
***
Noah Luire silently crossed the night’s sky. The fancy yellow gold scales didn’t lose their shine even in the darkness, but he had a hiding skill. Dragon Inside a Fog, one of the skills of the Dio Valshesis’ Twin t.i.tle. It made the user’s appearance blurred and could also fool an A-Rank Hunter’s senses.
[He just left the detention center.]
Do Hamin’s voice came out of the thin headset hung on Noah’s ears. The dragon wrapped in hazy fog slowly went one circle in the air above the detention center. His eyes saw one car entering the road.
-I found him.
The car started to increase the speed, but Noah quickly caught up with just one light flap of his wings. After checking the license plate and telling it to the other person, he continued to follow behind. The car stopped at a quiet side of the road, and they switched to a different car that was on standby.
When Han Yoojin appeared, Noah unconsciously moved his head a little. He could s.n.a.t.c.h him away at any time, but since he had to hold back even with him in front of his eyes, the anxiety made his scales itchy.
-He moved to a different car. The license plate number is ○○U ○○○○[3]. They are departing again.
The place where the car arrived after driving for a long time was none other than an airport. A foreign woman went toward the car that stopped at a remote place. Right after she grabbed Han Yoojin’s arm, the two people’s appearance disappeared.
-It seems like an instant movement skill was used!
[Please wait a moment, about 300 meters to the northeast. And again?]
Noah moved following Do Hamin’s instructions. Maybe they had gone inside, because Han Yoojin couldn’t be seen from the air. The place where Noah discovered the two people again was next to a private plane. Noah quickly let the other person know the plane’s marking.
-It seems like they are getting ready to take off. I will follow like this.
[I will leave it to you.]
It was Han Yoohyun’s voice. The golden dragon landed lightly on top of the plane.
***
It was a world good for committing crimes.
If you Awakened with a good rank, your power became stronger, and useful skills also appeared. The ordinary people you could wield that against were overflowing, so it was natural that there were a lot of people who felt wrong impulses.
If just Awakened People appeared, without dungeons, severe social problems could’ve occurred. Of course, it wasn’t that dungeons fulfilled Awakened People’s desires so entirely that crimes didn’t occur.
‘Instant movement is quite a good skill to use on nasty deeds.’
Teleportation was the best, but I hadn’t seen anybody with that except for the Dokkaebi. Even if it was just instant movement, it didn’t leave evidence and it was enough to do bad things.
Like bringing me over to the plane.
‘I didn’t know I would be made to leave the country this fast.’
Even if I left Korea, I thought it would be by sea, but to think that it was a private plane. They sure prepared a lot. I stared at the female Hunter who was sitting on the opposite side of the seat that was wide enough to make you believe that it wasn’t inside of a plane.
“Excuse me, can I ask where we are going?”
“To Hong Kong.”
It wasn’t that far, huh. If it was Hong Kong, was it a distance you could get to with one time through Yoon Yoon’s ultra long distance gate? Though Noah was supposed to follow, so I could get his help in an emergency .
‘And I have Eunhye and the earring’s shielding skill.’
I blocked my earrings from being taken by pointing out that there needed to be a way to protect me in case of an emergency. I had put Eunhye in my inventory and secretly taken it out after a frisk and put it on my ankle, hiding it with my clothes.
When I pretended to be timid and quietly stayed sitting, the plane slowly started to move.
‘To think my first overseas trip is kidnapping.’
It was illegal departure and arrival to a country without a pa.s.sport. And I didn’t have a single cent. According to the plan, it was decided that I would be kidnapped for about 3 days, so I wanted to buy a souvenir at least, if I had the time. Should I ask them to lend me some money?
While I was trying hard not to doze off, the plane landed.
Hong Kong was one of the places where there was a lot of damage from dungeon breaks. Above all, a big part was thanks to a considerable number of high rank Hunters being robbed to the China mainland. High rank dungeon management wasn’t done properly, so they burst open several times, and the amount of land was small, so the downtown area was uncontrollably destroyed each time.
Because of that instability, the level of security had dropped at a high speed. I had heard that the anti-China sentiments had become much worse compared to before dungeons appeared. It made sense.
“Please come over, Hunter Han Yoojin.”
When I got off the plane, a middle aged man with a good appearance smiled widely and met me. What was this? As a kidnapping victim, I wasn’t sure how to respond. On top of that, he took off the handcuffs right away. Though the inventory sealing bracelet was still on.
“I am Henry Gregson.”
Gregson-ssi, who looked like an Easterner, requested for a handshake. What was this, really?
“Now that you have come all the way here, please be at ease.”
“…Ah, yes.”
Be at ease… what bulls.h.i.t was this from a kidnapping b.a.s.t.a.r.d? Was he telling me to get Stockholm syndrome? When we left the airport without even an inspection, a limousine was waiting. The driver opened the door for me along with a smile that was full of a heart for service.
…It was an atmosphere like if I said I wanted to sightsee, they would introduce a full course on top of taking care of the travel expenses. What was this? Did I have to buy a souvenir to give to the kids?
“Truthfully, I am considerably baffled; I have been kidnapped and Gregson-ssi is the kidnapper… is that correct?”
Gregson-ssi, who had gotten into the limousine with me, laughed. Of course it wasn’t just him alone, and Hunters that seemed like guards also rode with us.
“If Hunter Han Yoojin was even stat C-Rank, it would not have been that mild of an atmosphere. But there is no need to purposely persecute someone who is no different from an ordinary person.”
Saying so, Gregson introduced himself as an Awakened People manager. He said that he mainly found usable Awakened People from developing countries and found them places to work.
“Isn’t that just human trafficking?”
“It is merely that the mediation fee is slightly expensive. I think that Hunter Han Yoojin’s fee would become the highest price of all time, so there is a lot of antic.i.p.ation.”
There was a lot to say, but there was nothing to say. He was truly impressively shameless. I wanted to kill this b.a.s.t.a.r.d and go home. I repressed the urge to immediately call Noah over, and asked that guy.
“Then, is Gregson-ssi the one behind kidnapping me?”
“Would that be so? Unfortunately, I really am the mediator this time. There is a different person who acquired and delivered the goods.”
So it wasn’t this guy. As expected, it seemed to be a person within the country, related to the a.s.sociation. They were probably steadily being discovered by Haeyeon and Seseong around now.
After pa.s.sing places where there were traces of destruction here and there, the limousine stopped in front of a grand hotel. When we went into the lobby that was shining glossily from the ceiling to the floor, I was more and more dumbfounded. This wasn’t what I had imagined. I mean, well, a 5 star hotel was better than a terrifying prison.
“You should be tired after coming a long way, so please rest well.”
Telling me to let him know if I needed anything at all, the slaver guy laughed. So I tried asking him to give me a smartphone for which communication was possible, but he refused, saying that wasn’t allowed.
Then the place I was guided to was a highest cla.s.s suite room with an incredible view. To think my first 5 star hotel suite room was the imprisonment place for my kidnapping. The way life goes, you really couldn’t know the future, huh. Yoohyun, it looks like hyung will comfortably spend time well, so don’t worry so much.
“So that it will not be uncomfortable during your stay, the security will be placed in front of your door. Please use the hotel service to your heart’s content. Using the swimming pool, fitness club, lounge, and other various facilities is also possible, of course.”
“Yes… yes.”
f.u.c.k, I was about to say thank you. The slaver told me again to comfortably rest and then left the room. I mean, was he really leaving me alone? Of course, I wouldn’t be able to run away alone with my own strength, but still, what was this?
Wondering if Noah had come nearby, I tried to go out to the terrace, but the door was firmly locked. I tried pushing and pulling several times before giving up, when a sheet of paper stuck lightly to the opposite side of the gla.s.s door.
[Are you okay?]
They were letters that were shaky like the work of a young child who had just started to learn how to write Korean. I couldn’t see him, but it was Noah, huh.
‘I am okay. OK[4].’
I thought there might be security cameras, so I just moved my mouth and nodded my head.
[Careful. I am here.]
He’s here? Um, was he standing guard on the terrace? He should just go sleep. I couldn’t say anything to him and just smiled.
I went to the sofa, and while hiding my hand with a cushion, I took out a Tillira branch[5] from my inventory and broke it. Not breaking the Tillira branch that Yoohyun gave me. It was the condition of the fifth contract.
The curse resistance came into effect. The contract’s meaning was ‘I’m well, I’m safe’.
***
The next morning, after I had slept well since it was a comfortable expensive room, a guest came to find me. It was a familiar face that I didn’t know I would meet here.
“…Why are you here?”
“I’m a guest staying here.”
The Seseong Guild Leader said. What was he talking about, what the heck.
[1] type of fried wheat-based cookie made from honey
[2] referring to an idiom that goes ‘there is meaning and bones in words’, so since this is a crossword and usually the answer to a crossword riddle is a word, the answer is probably 언중유골(言中有骨), which is the same thing literally and metaphorically (it’s the krn p.r.o.nunciation of a presumably chn idiom); they both mean ‘there is genuine meaning hidden in words’ or ‘even insignificant words have meaning behind them’. The crossword answer is just conjecture on my part, though.
[3] the plate number was all censored except for one character, so I just put a random letter where it was in the raws. I picked ‘u’ since the syllable used was ‘oo’
[4] written in eng
[5] I’m a.s.suming ‘tillira’ is a made up name, and it could either be ‘branch’ (as in tree branch) or ‘eggplant’ but I a.s.sumed it was branch… who knows tho