# Chapter 118
It started with an ordinary greeting. The conversation, which began with the other party asking about his well-being without seeming particularly interested, tightened its grip as the questions continued.
Taesung pretended to be at ease. When asked about the gate, he talked about the advance team; when the topic of gatherings came up, he rambled on about research theories he had heard at the Health Promotion Association.
Finally, when the managing director brought up the story of a black-haired beast, seemingly referring to Lee Hwan, Taesung gently turned his head and looked into the wrinkled eyes behind the glasses.
His pupils contracted. The muscles in his shoulders and back tensed as his body shifted slightly backward. As if he might do something at any moment.
“Is the water available over there?”
Taesung asked calmly as he walked toward the water purifier installed near the door, sharpening all his senses. With each step that brought him closer to the corridor, his nerves became more alert.
Between the sounds of pouring water, he could sense numerous presences directed at him.
‘…’
There were Awakened people in the corridor outside the office. All of them seemed to be aggressive figures who might push in at any moment.
Though they weren’t making even a sound of breath, they couldn’t fool an S-class. They would all be Awakened people. Gathering this many people here at this time was as good as declaring they were going to subdue someone.
Taesung realized that the Vice Chairman had dug a pit and was waiting to capture him.
‘He must be quite angry.’
But really, to this extent? Did it mean the situation couldn’t be resolved with just words? It seemed that the ominous assumption he had felt before setting out was spot on.
Taesung’s gaze cooled. After taking a few sips of ice-cold water, he turned around and, as if suddenly remembering something, spoke to the managing director.
“By the way, do you know? Lately, I’ve been getting repeated calls from Taehyung and SW Group.”
“…What? Why from them?”
Despite the conversation taking an unexpected turn, the fox-like old man showed no sign of confusion. Taesung stared at him quietly as he took another sip of water.
The Adam’s apple that surged once over the wrinkled neck, the eyes that shifted to the left and back before answering, the slight twitch under the right eye for an instant…
Non-Awakened people usually think they manage their expressions well. Not knowing they leak all sorts of signals from head to toe. This time too, the information Taesung could read was overflowing.
He refilled the cup, which he hadn’t completely emptied, and continued speaking gently.
“Well, I’m not sure either. They keep talking about things I can’t understand…”
The sound of water pouring split the conversation.
“They say they’ve established good connections with the Management Bureau, so they can get me out even if there’s a commotion.”
“What strange things they’re saying.”
Though he responded as if it were nonsense, the tip of the managing director’s ear moved slightly.
The back of his neck would have felt cold. If one were to roll up his sleeves, the hair on his arms would probably be standing. As if suggesting he hadn’t secured his position merely through friendship with the Vice Chairman, he immediately grasped the meaning of what Taesung had insinuated.
‘The method of bribing the Hunter Management Bureau to frame me for all kinds of crimes won’t work. I know you’re trying to capture me. Let’s stop while we can still talk reasonably.’
It was a proposal worth considering. It would be quite vexing that he had diverted drugs from important research to save test subjects, but that wasn’t enough to make enemies with an S-class Hunter.
And the same was true for Taesung. He didn’t have the backing to confront them alone, and in terms of power, he couldn’t easily overcome them.
A thousand ants can eat a hornet without a trace. So, if possible, it would be better for both sides to step back half a step and catch their breath.
Well, even if they managed to resolve the current situation as best as possible, the Vice Chairman would join Kang Dongying in trying to bite him for years to come, but if he lived far away from company politics like before, eventually they would lose interest.
If what happened in the underground of the research institute ended up being just a drug theft.
‘…’
But Taesung suddenly recalled that he had instinctively felt threatened by Kang Dongha and prepared weapons. He had already realized that the situation could be more serious than his initial judgment.
Something wasn’t right. Just as Taesung was thinking this.
The managing director smoothly lowered his hand under the table. His eyes briefly glanced toward the corridor. Taesung dropped the cup he was holding to the floor and put his hand inside his jacket.
Bang!
The door opened as if breaking, and a group of Awakened people carrying ability control tools rushed into the office.
Whoosh!
Almost simultaneously, Taesung set fire to the glass wall to apply heat, then took out an anti-monster gun from his inner pocket and shot at the edge.
Bang-!
Crack!
The reinforced glass of the wall shattered into small pieces around the bullet hole and splashed in all directions like an explosion. The glass pieces scattered instantly, popping like popcorn.
“Argh!”
“Cover him!”
While the Awakened people rushed in without caution to protect the managing director, Taesung didn’t miss the opportunity and charged through the broken window. Going out into the corridor would be like walking into a trap, so this way was safer.
Bang!
“Ugh!”
A bullet grazed his leg. He hurriedly crossed the window and, using Whirlwind to lift himself slightly, ran along the building wall. Sideways, and then downwards.
The moment his running steps went slightly off-track, he would fall straight to the ground.
He used Whirlwind again, but his body was still falling rapidly. Although he had started jumping from a high floor, the ground seemed to come close enough to be visible.
Taesung eventually made a rough landing on a decorative feature of the six-story building, then used it to jump to the side of the building in search of an open window.
Thud!
After nimbly entering through that gap and standing in the darkened corridor, Taesung finally took a long breath to regulate his breathing. The sprint that was more like falling had just ended. His hands felt numb to the bone, so he massaged them firmly.
Somehow he had escaped safely. It was quite an encouraging feeling to use Whirlwind in this way for the first time. With two new skills appearing out of nowhere not long ago, his research was still lacking.
‘Rather than Flame, this one… is more difficult to use consecutively.’
The day he first met Lee Hwan, he had escaped from home with exactly this feeling. He probably reduced his falling speed in a similar way during the gate disaster. This utilization was essentially thanks to that.
‘…I wonder if he’s safe.’
Perhaps because of that, he came to mind again.
They were merciless even to him. Let alone what they might do to a mere unregistered Awakened person. Even as he worried about his own neck, all sorts of thoughts kept crossing his mind, disorienting him.
In the darkened building, Taesung ran along the landing, recalling someone, when he heard the sounds of those pursuing him from far above. There would likely be many positioned at the entrance as well. It was an obvious situation.
Taesung crossed a window on the third floor and landed directly on the ground. And before being spotted again by the pursuers, he ran silently and quickly left the Naru premises.
* * *
From that day, Taesung wandered for days avoiding Naru’s pursuit. They were disgustingly persistent, but they seemed to aim for capture alive, as they didn’t deliver fatal attacks to vital points.
However, attacks that could shatter limbs if he made a mistake frequently came his way, as if they only cared that he remained breathing. After trying to disguise himself several times because he couldn’t fight every time, he realized that no clothes or hat could conceal him.
With a height approaching 190 centimeters, broad shoulders, and a tall, muscular body, he stood out wherever he went. Perhaps it was due to his physique. Even when he covered his body with loose clothes, everyone who passed by would turn to look at him.
Eventually, after the pursuit team came close to catching him once more, Taesung gave up on transportation and hid in the mountains. During the day, he would run across several mountains as if flying, and when the sun set, he would come down and move around.
Mountain ranges were connected everywhere, so if he kept his direction right, he could easily cross from region to region. That was fortunate at least.
‘I need to contact them.’
At least Jade needed to know that he was in this state. Only then could he be cautious and flee to meet at the safe house to plan their next steps.
He had been wondering why he wanted to buy a house. At the time, he had only thought about getting him out before the research intensified, but now it turned out to be the best choice.
When he was confident that he had completely shaken off the pursuit team, Taesung, after much deliberation, found a public phone and contacted Jade. Only after being cursed at for what felt like an eternity, he learned about the experiments that had been conducted in the basement of Building D, the current situation at Naru, and about Lee Hwan.
‘…So it was Kang Dongha after all.’
He had already suspected as much, since it happened after meeting him. It was only laughable that such a person tried to persuade Lee Hwan by giving him a separate time period.
‘Mr. Kang Taesung, let’s stop making this difficult and go quietly.’
Had some kind of measure been taken? Shortly after connecting the call, Taesung began to be chased again from daybreak.
And eventually, he ended up in this position, sleeping rough in the mountains. Barely getting any sleep, getting up to dust off the soil, and then walking south, south again.
But he didn’t feel like blaming anyone. Rather, it was a good thing. Since joining the Health Promotion Association, Taesung had occasionally imagined an even worse future than this.
Although it had been quite some time since he showed his face at their experiments, he was still mostly excluded from important information. When he tried to dig deeper, dubious tasks fell to him, as if asking him to prove his sincerity.
He knew very well that the moment he offered even one thing, it would become a weakness, and he would never be able to leave the research. There were several among the research staff who had become entangled in such a way and now had their lives at stake.
Gradually fading life, a solution that seemed within reach but wasn’t. If Lee Hwan hadn’t taken the drug from the basement, probably something he didn’t want to imagine would have happened.
Suddenly, the words he had heard from Jade came to mind.
‘Who are you worried about? I’ve never rebelled, and I’m going to die anyway, so they won’t touch me for now as long as I don’t do anything strange. You and that one are the problem.’
‘…’
‘That guy, he seems to be up to something. I had a bad feeling, so I told him about that house…’
Perhaps the situation was really bad for Lee Hwan. Whether Naru would try to capture him alive like they did with Taesung, or cleanly kill him, was unknown.
Fortunately, they said there had been no attacks or even summons for him yet. Jade would have immediately contacted him after receiving his call, so after hearing the situation with his limbs intact, he would head to the safe house.
‘I can hear his side of the story there.’
Although Naru’s clutches were gradually approaching, it still wasn’t a bad feeling. Taesung opened an energy bar, chewed it, and dusted himself off again with a thud.
