Unexpected Kindness

After finishing their conversation, Yoon Ga-eul stood up, saying she had to go to school tomorrow. Despite Cha Eui-jae repeatedly suggesting she go to the emergency room because the black aura was still swirling around her hands, she politely declined and put her hands back in her pockets.

"I won't come by unless it's really important from now on. I know it makes you anxious."

"You don't have to do that."

"No, sometimes the hunters from the Bureau follow me around… It's better if I don't come."

As Yoon Ga-eul headed to the sliding door, Cha Eui-jae quickly walked ahead to open it for her. He planned to see her off, but a sudden thought made him speak urgently.

"Wait, I have a question."

"Yes, go ahead."

According to Yoon Ga-eul, it seemed she was cooperating with the Bureau. Though there was no guarantee she knew about the people Lee Sa-young was chasing, Cha Eui-jae asked with a hint of hope.

"Do you know anything about those who artificially create Awakeners?"

"What? Oh… Yes, I do."

Her unexpected answer left Cha Eui-jae slightly stunned.

"…You do?"

"Yes! I overheard Jung Bin-nim talking about it. I think they move with the purpose of preventing the apocalypse too…"

Yoon Ga-eul muttered with a slightly disgusted expression.

"They kidnap people for experiments. Even if our goals align, I want to avoid them as much as possible."

Kidnapping, drugs, and the apocalypse just served as an excuse. They were nothing but a criminal group.

"Is there anything else you've heard?"

"Uh… Ah."

Yoon Ga-eul, after rolling her eyes, replied.

"I think they have something around Incheon Port… I overheard Jung Bin-nim's phone call, but I didn't get the details."

When she apologized for not knowing more, Cha Eui-jae said it was fine and thanked her. With her hands deeply tucked into her pockets, he watched Yoon Ga-eul's retreating figure until she disappeared completely down the alley.

Alone in the store, Cha Eui-jae stayed up all night preparing for business, mulling over the fragments of information he had inadvertently gathered.

Had he not directly experienced the fragments of the other world or if the background of the West Sea Rift and the fragments of the other world were not the same, he might have found Yoon Ga-eul's story hard to believe. He would have thought she was trying to hypnotize him with a mental skill.

'Another world.'

Could another world similar to this one truly exist? A world where J, Jung Bin, Mok Tae-oh 'Matthew' were all dead, and Bae Won-woo had lost an arm. Many events must have transpired to lead to that. The moments Cha Eui-jae and Yoon Ga-eul saw were brief and small snippets of the past.

It's uncertain when or how the apocalypse will arrive. Preparing for an uncertain future is like walking forward blindly. That's probably why the Bureau is so desperate to find J, to put an experienced guide at the forefront.

'…'

Since then, Cha Eui-jae often pondered over the destroyed world. When and how would the apocalypse come? Would there be any signs? Why did the world facing the apocalypse look like the West Sea Rift? His thoughts inevitably led to the dark room where he was taken without knowing why.

His thoughts continued to spiral and lengthen. As his words became fewer and minor mistakes began to occur while working at the shop, he received a text message from Lee Sa-young.

Sa-young: I have a job for you.

Lee Sa-young asked him to track down those bringing drugs near Incheon Port and confirm the routes. It was originally Seo Min-gi's job, but he was on a business trip abroad. Could the person Yoon Ga-eul overheard on the phone have been Lee Sa-young?

Eui-jae: Ok

Sa-young: Can you give a longer response?

Eui-jae: Okokokokokokokok

Sa-young: ㅗ

'This kid.'

Cha Eui-jae chuckled as he put down his phone. He welcomed Lee Sa-young's request.

After meeting Yoon Ga-eul, Cha Eui-jae had been overthinking. And the best way to clear one's mind is to stay active. This task would keep him from pointless worrying about how to respond when the apocalypse arrives.

So, starting that afternoon, Cha Eui-jae took the Pado Guild corporate card from the counter and headed to Incheon Port every early morning.

Since he had no car or license, he took taxis, even though the late-night surcharge was outrageous. But Cha Eui-jae didn't care. The Pado Guild leader always splurged anyway.

***

In the quiet early hours of a weekday, a black van slipped between the containers at Incheon Port. Soon, several burly figures with heavy backpacks got out, scanning the surroundings before heading into a hidden container.

From the rooftop of a container opposite, a young man named Cha Eui-jae watched through binoculars. Lowering them, he blinked hard.

The figures moving underground appeared as if he could see through the floor. Cha Eui-jae turned on the eavesdropping device in his ear. He heard footsteps, a heavy metal door opening, and voices greeting each other. A raspy voice asked,

"How much stuff did we get today?"

"Three packages."

"We've been getting less lately…"

A clanking sound, like a crowbar or metal pipe hitting the floor, was heard.

"…You're not skimming off the top, are you?"

"What do you mean by that… We're risking our lives to move this stuff. Those Sseurigo and Padak bastards keep hunting us down like rats."

Cha Eui-jae groped for a roughly tossed leather notebook. On the label stuck on the cover, neat handwriting read:

[A Beginner's Guide to Stealth and Infiltration by Seo Min-gi]

Flipping to the 'slang' bookmark with his fingertips, Cha Eui-jae found the relevant page. 'Sseurigo' referred to the Bureau, and 'Padak' to the Pado Guild. Good, they even noted slang terms.

Seo Min-gi gave him this notebook before his business trip, apologizing for the previous task not going smoothly. Apparently, he predicted Lee Sa-young would give this kind of task. The day he spontaneously put rice bowls in the hot food storage and gave this as a freebie showed his commitment to customer satisfaction.

Cha Eui-jae focused back on the voices.

"Yeah. Busan's dried up completely. Only Incheon has some supply."

"Fuck, how do those bastards always sniff us out?"

"I heard the higher-ups are talking about it. This place won't last long either, so they said to move out immediately, before we get caught."

"Dammit, another big move, huh."

"Shall we start packing?"

"Start packing up the big stuff now. We need to get out before the Sseurigo shows up. Deliver the drugs to each place."

"Understood. They asked to increase the supply a bit for the Songpa-gu area since there's someone about to enter the mutation stage."

'Each place'… Cha Eui-jae quickly skimmed the contents. They intended to deliver the goods to suppliers across different locations.

A mutation is expected to occur in Songpa-gu soon. Jotting it down in his notebook, Cha Eui-jae lay down and propped his chin, lost in thought.

How long had it been since he took on Lee Sa-young's request? About a week now? With the Tracker's Eye, finding these suspicious guys was a piece of cake. Every dawn, munching on convenience store kimbap, he observed them. This criminal group had a predictable pattern, making them oddly entertaining to watch.

But now, the guys he had finally tracked down were about to pack up and disappear as a group…

Cha Eui-jae put the empty kimbap wrapper into the black convenience store bag, then held his phone and tapped his fingers on it as if hesitating for a moment. The hem of the apron he hadn't managed to take off fluttered in the early morning breeze.

'I'll report to Lee Sa-young…'

If he contacted him, he would send support. They had that thin level of trust now. But these guys were packing up to leave soon. Cha Eui-jae unlocked and relocked his phone repeatedly, watching the container below.

'Will the support arrive in time?'

Now he had two choices. First, to track them as they fled. Second, to throw himself into the fray and stop them from moving.

The first option was good overall, but there was one major problem. Since he had Tracker's Eye, he could certainly track them, but no matter how much of an S-grade Cha Eui-jae was, and even with his skill to conceal his presence, it was impossible to chase after those escaping by car or boat on foot.

'I don't have a flight skill…'

Never had he envied those with flight skills so much. Pursing his lips, he considered the second choice.

That's right, the method of hurling himself to block their movement. If he chose this, Cha Eui-jae would be diving right into the midst of them. The advantage was that he could definitely immobilize them in exchange for sacrificing himself.

Though he had never been kidnapped before, he was confident he could keep them tied down. If things went wrong, he could just use a multi-strike to take them out.

'Oh?'

He rubbed his chin.

'This might actually be good.'

Indeed, having a strong body saves mental effort. Cha Eui-jae texted Lee Sa-young.

Eui-jae: (map link)

Eui-jae: They're packing up to flee tonight.

Eui-jae: I'll hold them off.

Message sent. Cha Eui-jae put his phone in his pocket and bravely dove into the container.

***

Heavy footsteps approached. A voice clicked its tongue nearby.

"Is this the guy? The one who jumped in like a madman?"

"Yes, sir."

Though he planned to faint after being hit with a club, it broke instead, but he managed to get tied to an old metal chair inside the container.

The criminals, thinking he must be an Awakener to dive in so bravely, tied each of his limbs with about ten cable ties.

"Connected to the Bureau?"

"Doesn't seem like it."

"Why are you uncertain? Didn't you check properly?"

"No government ID, just a hunter license in his apron pocket. A common D-grade."

"How does a guy who's only a D-grade have the guts? … He looks too clean to be a drug addict who sniffed something and crawled here."

"He doesn't show any signs of mutating either."

"Well, we'll find out by asking him."

The man who had been muttering to himself lit a cigarette.

"Hey, wake him up. We don't have time."

"Yes, boss!"

There was a flurry of movement. Someone grabbed Cha Eui-jae's hair roughly and pulled him up into a sitting position. Amidst the faint sound of waves, there was also the sound of something splashing in a container. Cha Eui-jae twitched his closed eyes. Surely they wouldn't do something as barbaric as pouring water on him…

Splash! Cold water hit him forcefully.

'Fuck, they really did it.'

Judging by the saltiness, it seemed they had scooped seawater directly. His head and upper body were completely soaked. Damn it, I'm not even asleep. Cha Eui-jae gritted his teeth discreetly.

'Maybe I should have just beaten them all up from the start…'