# Chapter 142
“—Clouds have suddenly begun to form in the southern region. The Meteorological Administration forecasts that from this evening, the south-central region will experience rainfall of 5 to 10 millimeters per hour. This autumn rain after so long……”
The radio sound brushed past Lee Hwan’s ears. He endured the aching pain throughout his body while breathing in the cold, damp air.
His head, pressed against the floor, throbbed. He had thought that since his pursuers were the silent type, they would take him quietly, but he was beaten like a punching bag before being bound.
He wasn’t exhausted enough to collapse, but he pretended to be nearly unconscious. After using so much of his ability and then getting severely beaten, he felt like a deflated party balloon. To escape at the right time while waiting for Taesung, he needed to conserve his energy.
Fortunately, as he lay sprawled on the floor, breathing heavily, the venting stopped. Afterward, his wrists were bound with something like handcuffs, and he was loaded into cars multiple times before being roughly dumped in some unknown clearing.
Even with his head pressed down, he could assess the situation around him. Given that the sounds of the trackers didn’t echo, this wasn’t a narrow space enclosed by walls. However, since sounds didn’t seem to travel far, he guessed there were trees or similar objects nearby.
Apart from the trackers who had brought him, there was no sign of any other presence. Not even city sounds could be heard. This place was definitely far from any inhabited village.
Taking a risk, he slightly turned his head to survey his surroundings and confirmed his suspicions. A small clearing had been created in the middle of a forest path resembling flat land. Coniferous trees were planted around the edges, making it perfect for an ambush.
As footsteps approached, Lee Hwan quickly pressed his head back to the ground and closed his eyes. His arms, tied behind his back, felt strained. Even if he wanted to try freeing himself with his ability, he couldn’t summon any strength—it seemed to be the kind of restraint device reportedly used by government agencies.
‘It feels somewhat shoddy, though.’
They wouldn’t have stolen restraints that were under the vigilant watch of the state. They must have purchased illegal equipment somewhere.
‘Still, seeing how it blocks abilities, it’s functioning properly.’
They were probably getting scammed. Lee Hwan frowned with his eyes tightly shut.
As expected, Jade wasn’t at the place he’d been brought to. He was an experimental subject who had cost too much money to simply kill off, and the only one who had come close to success. Moreover, despite his significant deviation, he was strangely the type of person who would truly keep quiet when silence was demanded.
He would probably be captured by another group and dragged to the Naru laboratory. If Taesung came to rescue him and then headed this way, with Spatial Control and telekinesis alone, they could perfectly defend against elemental mineral bullets.
Lee Hwan simply waited for Taesung, pondering how to make the situation advantageous until his arrival.
“—…years of excessive manpower and resource waste due to competition between companies for gates has been pointed out…”
The radio chattered endlessly. Lee Hwan held his breath and perked up his ears to hear the voices of the trackers beneath the radio noise.
Since arriving at the clearing, they seemed somewhat more relaxed, occasionally exchanging personal conversations.
“…I mean, how many days have we been suffering like this now?”
“The instructions were unclear from the start… we have no choice but to run around here and there as ordered.”
“Haah, thinking about it, that bastard is the main problem. Talking nonsense about Cheorwon and Sokcho, making us go around military areas. I want to hit him one more time.”
“Then he’ll die. He was already coughing up that much blood earlier.”
There was an ominous sound of a stone being kicked. Lee Hwan tried not to show any signs of alarm as he deliberately steadied his breath, which was trembling with anxiety.
“It was easier to sabotage the Taehyung gate and create casualties. This is just making us run all over the country.”
“Director Kang’s gone crazy again? Haah… I don’t want to go to Seoul.”
“One of the guys who joined in the second round came down with a splint on his shin. His violent tendencies are getting worse. I heard last time he finally hit a civilian too… that half-wit. All his molars got knocked out.”
“His brother? Looking at it, that family’s a mess too. No matter what, they’re still blood relatives, but he turned him into a cripple.”
It was obvious whom they were talking about. That bastard Kang Dongha had his teeth completely knocked out by Taesung before the regression, and it seemed in this life he’d lost one of his five blessings as a semi-Awakened person.
“He got hit more for talking nonsense. Are we supposed to bring that bastard back alive?”
“You lack tact in strange ways.”
“With how many casualties we’ve had, would his jaw stay intact if he said that?”
Another stone-kicking sound echoed, followed by a momentary silence. Along with cheerful advertising music, only the distant clanking of weapons from others could be faintly heard.
Tap. The pacing footsteps stopped. A male voice was heard again.
“Anyway, when the fire-wielder comes, shoot the elemental bullets all at once. Keep feeding money to the remaining reporter bastard to stall for time, and if their higher-ups notice, throw him in the sea or something.”
“I’m not sure if letting that monster go was a good idea.”
“We need him for the fire-wielder to come here. To save him. This isn’t some game, shit. If we take one down, the other comes to save them, then we take them down again, and they save each other again… We should just deal with them all at once.”
Clunk. Lee Hwan felt his heart shake. He almost flinched.
‘Fire-wielder’ clearly referred to Taesung. The ‘monster’ they caught and released would be Jade. He had guessed that they would also know Taesung would come to rescue him.
However, it was honestly chilling that they had predicted Taesung would first rescue Jade to reinforce his strength before coming here, and had set a trap based on that.
“If we had just put a few elemental bullets in him, he wouldn’t have been able to use his ability… This has become troublesome.”
“That bastard isn’t using telekinesis, so what ability is he using? Don’t fully release the restraints.”
As they began discussing him, Lee Hwan suppressed his pounding heart and lay still on the floor as if dead. He could almost feel their gazes on his back.
[Causality is being restored.]
[0h 3□m 5□s]
With not much time left until causality was completed, he couldn’t send Taesung and Jade into a death trap. Lee Hwan clenched his teeth.
They needed at least one person to support them in battle while Jade blocked incoming attacks with telekinesis and Taesung set fires everywhere within range.
If he couldn’t stop them from coming, he had to fight alongside them. Lee Hwan tried to apply force to his tightly bound wrists, then inwardly swallowed a sigh and went limp again.
The restraint was the problem. It was fortunate that they hadn’t taken other precautions, relying solely on it… probably because they knew he absolutely couldn’t fight while wearing it.
Lying there with an anxious feeling, Lee Hwan wondered what Taesung might be doing. Since they deliberately released Jade, the two were probably rushing to find him by now.
He wished Taesung would come after the 30 minutes had passed and causality was complete. If his memories returned, his combat skills, honed by years of experience, would be revived as well.
‘Whenever I hope for something, the exact opposite happens.’
Life after regression had always been that way. Ominous feelings always came true, while the occasional hopeful circuits of happiness always ended up in the gutter.
‘At least until his memories return, I need to support him.’
He had to do that even if it meant cutting off his hand. He couldn’t leave Taesung in danger.
He came back to save the world. So that he could live with Taesung in that world.
Drip. Tap.
It started to rain slightly. Only an overflowing killing intent lingered in the now-quiet clearing.
At some point, Lee Hwan gradually moved his body to position himself favorably for getting up without using his hands. He had no intention of quietly playing hostage in their grasp.
As long as Lee Hwan was held captive here, Taesung wouldn’t be able to use fire freely. If he didn’t want to burn him along with the others, he would have to continuously restrict his actions.
So the main objective was to use his legs, which they hadn’t bound, to successfully dodge the attacks of the Awakened without using abilities and get to Taesung.
Bang- Bang!
Boom! Splash!
Vicious battle sounds began to be heard from a distance. From the familiar explosion sounds, Lee Hwan realized that Taesung and Jade were approaching.
The pursuers stationed around Lee Hwan scattered throughout the clearing. Lee Hwan turned his head sharply and noticed that only one person remained guarding him.
Lee Hwan curled his legs for a moment, then kicked out forcefully as if his feet were attached to springs.
Whack!
“Argh!”
The man who received the kick to his legs staggered and fell to the ground. Seizing the opportunity, Lee Hwan jumped to his feet without using his hands.
‘This crazy bastard is carrying an axe.’
No wonder they left only one person behind—he was already armed.
Lee Hwan with no weapon, his ability sealed, and hands bound versus an Awakened person holding a weapon as thick as an arm. It was crystal clear who would win this fight.
The man seemed to think so too, as an unpleasant smile appeared on his anger-filled face.
However, Lee Hwan’s sudden attack wasn’t meant to kill him with a single blow. Lee Hwan just needed hands that weren’t tied up. Hands that could break his restraints for him, since his arms were bound.
‘Please. It has to work on the first try.’
As Lee Hwan rushed forward with threatening movements, the heavy weapon resembling an axe came slashing down from the front.
‘The angle is awkward.’
He hurriedly dodged by turning his body sideways, but his chest was almost split open. Lee Hwan breathed heavily with tension and kicked the man away.
‘Center… when he swings down at the center.’
The only thing prominently attached to the center of his body was his head. Since he couldn’t risk fighting with his head, Lee Hwan had no choice but to turn his shoulder and ram it into the man’s solar plexus.
The man gasped for breath and tried to bring the axe down on him. Lee Hwan quickly withdrew his body and raised his arms to block the axe with the center of his restraints.
‘…Success.’
Crack!
The restraint binding both hands split into two. Lee Hwan, sensing his chance, tried to use Spatial Control but realized his ability was still blocked, so he took a deep breath.
‘Damn it.’
For now, he struck the man’s head with the half-broken restraint. During the brief moment when the man fell face down, squirming before getting up, Lee Hwan breathed heavily while alternately looking at his hands and the restraint.
He thought it would release automatically if he just split the middle.
‘…No choice.’
Lee Hwan gritted his teeth and glanced once toward Taesung’s direction. And then.
Crack!
“Arghh!”
Lee Hwan’s left hand, or more precisely, the half restraint, struck his right thumb bone. An awful pain as if his entire hand was being shattered washed over him, and a scream burst out involuntarily.
Lee Hwan ignored the tears flowing from the pain and pressed his broken thumb completely flat with his left hand, pulling his hand out through the restraint.
Although his finger now dangled loosely, to the extent that the half restraint was gone, his ability returned slightly.
Lee Hwan screamed in pain as he swung his intact left arm wide.
“Die, you bastard!”
