# Chapter 190
“There’s a problem… oh no!”
Zhiiing-
With that sound, the automatic door that had been open in front of them began to close. Lee Hwan panicked and immediately grabbed the door with brute force, trying to hold it open.
Even though they had ID cards to get in and out, the flashing red lights and blaring sirens were ominous. A strong feeling overcame him that if the door closed once, it would be the end for them.
Jade seemed to have similar thoughts as he hastily used his telekinesis to pull objects toward them.
Kwang, ka-ang- kang!
A chair and a small metal storage cabinet flew into the door gap, crashing loudly against the wall and wedging themselves haphazardly in the opening. He flashed his eyes and shouted:
“I’ll handle this for now, go check the elevator first!”
Lee Hwan’s eyes widened, and without hesitation, he darted out.
The elevator… the only way to access this place.
There was no time to be dazed. There might be someone who would have taken the elevator as soon as security was disabled.
Kang Taesung.
His heart plummeted to the bottom of his stomach, and his vision blurred. With wavering sight, Lee Hwan turned and rushed toward the entrance of basement level 5.
Damn it. Why had things gone wrong? Had something happened to Kang Dongha? Or had that bastard belatedly decided to betray them?
No, that couldn’t be. If he were going to betray them, he should have done so much earlier. After already handing over evidence to Praxis and bringing Beolmae into the heart of Naru. At this point, whatever he might try wouldn’t merit any leniency.
He wasn’t the type of person to gamble with his life in such a strange way. It wasn’t so much that Lee Hwan trusted him, but rather he believed in Dongha’s shrewdness in always finding a way to survive.
‘The security was definitely disabled at first.’
If so, that meant Kang Dongha had definitely completed his mission on time. However…
‘In the middle of it, the electricity itself went out.’
That’s when things went wrong. Whether the power went out at just the right moment, or someone had tampered with it.
Suddenly, Lee Hwan recalled the security system Kang Dongha had explained.
‘Security commands are always inputted after a 100-second delay.’
If that were the case, there should also be a delay in canceling security deactivation commands. But the time between when the lights came back on and when these sirens started blaring was only about 100 seconds.
‘Did someone deliberately shut it down?’
Since canceling the deactivation command and activating another security command would take 200 seconds, someone must have cut the power during deactivation to stop the system and then activated security without any delay.
The delay in security commands was information that Lee Hwan, Taesung, and Jade hadn’t known until Kang Dongha told them. If that was the case, this was likely the work of someone who knew the security system well.
Since the problem occurred less than two minutes after security was deactivated, it must be someone stationed on the upper floors of Building D.
‘Near the control room offices…’
The upper floors were originally filled with administrative offices and multipurpose halls rather than research labs. Among them, the offices near the control room belonged to high-ranking individuals like Kang Dongha, the director, the deputy director, and others.
Roughly speaking, Kang Dongying’s people. They would know the security system even better than Kang Dongha.
‘Damn it.’
They had thought it would be fine since those people usually left their posts around two or three in the afternoon, but how had they responded so quickly?
‘Then what happened to Kang Dongha?’
With his life in imminent danger, there’s no way he would have just left because someone told him to. He might have been knocked out cold after taking a good beating.
With that cotton-like body that couldn’t even break a brick if he punched it.
‘Shit… what do we do now?’
Though he didn’t know the whole story, Lee Hwan could sense that things were falling apart. After roughly assessing the situation during his 10-second dash, he finally reached the elevator.
A tightly closed door. An elevator that was pitch black, not even displaying the floor number. The red lights still flashing everywhere.
Time-wise, Taesung would have been on his way down. If he was trapped inside, what should they do now?
“…Kang Taesung?”
Lee Hwan murmured his name with a trembling voice. Then, after a moment:
“Lee… Hwan.”
Along with a faint voice, suddenly, a strange sound came from the elevator.
Gigigigi- giiik-
And then, BANG!
The doors were forced open, and Taesung walked out casually, without a hair out of place.
“Lee Hwan, are you okay?”
As if he had been assessing the situation inside the darkened elevator and rushed out after hearing Lee Hwan’s voice.
“Haaa… shit.”
It seemed the elevator had reached basement level 5 before the doors locked. Lee Hwan sighed and pressed his forehead with his hand. Immediate relief that Taesung was safe washed over him, along with overwhelming uncertainty about what to do next, hitting him like a wave.
Taesung approached and carefully examined Lee Hwan from head to toe. Only after confirming there were no injuries did he look him in the eyes with a serious expression.
“What’s going on?”
“I don’t know either. It seems like the security was properly deactivated at first…”
Somehow, they had ended up isolated here. It was problematic that the Management Bureau agents couldn’t get in, but it was equally problematic that they themselves were trapped without any backup.
They needed to either escape from here or let the Management Bureau agents in.
“Should we tear apart the elevator?”
Though he blurted it out in confusion, even as he spoke, he knew it wasn’t realistic. Even for an Awakened person, how could one crumple and tear apart solid metal alloy?
He didn’t even know how the elevator was structured to begin with. Probably nothing would change even if they set it on fire.
Still, if the outer door of the elevator could be opened easily by an S-class’s hands, perhaps they could similarly tear it open from the upper floors.
Then, after jumping down through the elevator shaft to reach the fourth basement level, perhaps they could just break through one floor below.
‘It would take at least 20 minutes though.’
That wouldn’t work. In that amount of time, security personnel from far away from Building D would have more than enough time to arrive.
He considered sending a signal to Beolmae, who was on standby, to start a fight, but that wouldn’t be effective either.
What could they do without having gathered any evidence, without proper investigation authority, by barging into Naru?
Isolation. Complete isolation. If things were going to be like this, it might have been better if Kang Taesung hadn’t been able to enter at all.
But when Taesung forced a smile at Lee Hwan’s regretful gaze, oddly enough, some of the tension eased.
Right, even if he hadn’t entered, he wouldn’t have been safe anyway. Perhaps it was better to have him close by where he could be protected.
“Still, since it’s in lockdown, at least no one can come beat us to death.”
Under the annoyingly flashing red lights, Lee Hwan tried his best to look on the bright side. Reassuring himself that all wasn’t completely lost, that there must be some way to survive.
However.
Woong-!
As if the world was jealous of his positive circuit, the situation changed drastically once more. Suddenly, the elevator interior moved, and swiftly, it ascended and disappeared.
Ding-!
The arrival signal rang faintly from a distance.
“…Wasn’t the elevator supposed to be stopped?”
“Even the lights went out… Is there a way to move just the elevator separately?”
The sound of something rushing up was heard. He hoped those were Management Bureau agents, but whoever tampered with the security system wouldn’t have wanted that.
Someone was coming to deal with them.
The situation was deteriorating rapidly. Lee Hwan and Taesung exchanged glances and simultaneously ran back to where Jade was.
“Kang Taesung?”
Jade, who had been calling for him with a rising tone at the automatic door, frowned when he saw the two running faces.
As if understanding the situation roughly just from their urgent movements, he used his telekinesis to fling a potted plant, smashing all the nearby CCTVs.
“Run inside!”
Fighting Awakened people in the corridor would mean the end. The passage, designed to encircle a large pillar, was circular in layout.
That meant they could be stabbed from behind while blocking enemies coming from the front.
If that was the case, it would be better to go inside the area with the Red Room and secure the automatic door in advance.
And shortly after.
Tadadadadada- Tang! Taang!
Thunderous gunshots shook the ground.
“Haa…”
Those crazy bastards seemed to have fired wildly outside as soon as the elevator doors opened. It was painfully obvious what would have happened to them if they had remained there.
“Kill everyone who comes through the automatic door, and search the corpses to obtain the elevator control key.”
Jade seemed to have determined that these people had a control key that could operate the elevator despite the lockdown. Well, even if that wasn’t the case, the CCTV was completely down. The people who had been monitoring below and controlling the elevator would send the elevator back up at least once to retrieve the personnel they had sent down.
After escaping the basement, they would run with all their might. That was the plan that offered the slim chance of survival.
They expected the enemies to charge like wild boars, but surprisingly, they heard steady, urgent footsteps. They seemed to be cautiously closing the distance, aware that people were already inside.
Smart ones are troublesome. Lee Hwan frowned as he designated the space, and a light gleamed in his eyes.
Then suddenly,
Tatatatatataang!
The muzzle spewed fire, and the shower of bullets was deflected in all directions by Lee Hwan’s control.
At the same time, all surrounding objects were flying around wildly. Jade’s eyes had brightened to a jade color.
With a thud, one person collapsed forward. The gun he had been holding flew sharply toward Lee Hwan.
Nice. Lee Hwan inwardly muttered as he caught it and distanced himself backward. Then he looked at Taesung, who had likewise turned his head to check Lee Hwan’s position and was firmly tensing his arms.
Hwaaaak!
A blast of heat like a furnace surged forward. Thanks to the shield he had prepared in advance from years of coordination, Lee Hwan narrowly avoided the crisis of becoming roasted duck.
However, it seemed the enemies had also prepared for Taesung’s attack.
After the flames subsided and a couple of explosions ended, the corridor was covered in soot here and there and was completely soaked.
There were two ice-type ability users in the enemy camp. How did they know to respond to Taesung’s involvement?
“Well well…”
A clicking sound of disapproval was heard from the front, and someone stepped out, parting the ranks of the Awakened.
Slicked-back hair, a long scar running from the left eyebrow to the forehead, prominent cheekbones. Despite wearing a suit as if pretending to be an office worker, he exuded such a fierce aura that one could immediately recognize him as an Awakened.
“Director, the second team is coming down.”
“Tell them to follow right behind. Hah, the Executive Director said to prioritize the ice-type users if anything happens… he really saw far ahead.”
He twisted his thin lips, raising one corner of his mouth a bit more in a sneering smile, and stared at Taesung with vicious eyes.
