# Chapter 25
The research building of Naru was on the same grounds as the headquarters, yet it was quite separated from other facilities.
People often joked that the Naru Group kept aliens there, torturing them to create electronic devices and gate products with alien technology.
At one point, Lee Hwan had also enjoyed making such jokes. Especially since no one made combat gear from monster byproducts as sophisticated and high-performing as Naru did.
One of the places where all the technologies that constantly made news and raised Naru’s stock prices were born. The Naru Research Institute.
Though he had felt a strange sense of pride whenever new products were released, in reality, apart from both being affiliated with Naru, it wasn’t a place particularly close to Lee Hwan…
[40 minutes left. Research Building D. Don’t forget to cover your face.]
And now he was about to enter that place.
‘Sigh, fuck…’
Lee Hwan checked his phone 30 minutes before lunch and let out a deep sigh.
He had actually glossed over the comment about being spotted by Taesung. Because he already knew this, having exchanged glances with him from the tree. At that time, what struck him more was that Kang Dongying had taken an interest in him because of this, and as a result, he ended up hanging around Kang Dongha.
But now, hearing about Taesung again like this, he involuntarily swallowed due to the tension.
‘They said they wanted a mercenary, and it’s obvious they’re talking about me.’
Kang Dongha’s words echoed in his head.
He had never heard of Taesung doing gate activities outside of his Naru work. Of course, before the regression, he had stepped into auction gates to sharpen his combat senses, but he had never tackled gates overwhelming enough to require hiring mercenaries.
It couldn’t be for lack of money. There were no foreclosure notices on his penthouse either. Then, like Kang Dongha, it might not be for money that he was running gates, but for some “material.”
Material he didn’t want to leave a purchase record for.
Taesung was trying to form a minimal team on his way to obtain it. Taking an Awakened person skilled in handling abilities who could do the work of two.
He wanted to include Lee Hwan in that.
‘Doesn’t he know who I am?’
Since he was wearing a mask, naturally, he thought Taesung wouldn’t know. But somehow, there was a small expectation that Taesung might recognize him.
But it was just as he feared. What had he been hoping for? Did he think Taesung, who had lost his memories, would instantly recognize him just because of who he was?
[If you get caught and dragged away, I’m the only one who won’t die. You know that, right?]
Lee Hwan left a threatening message with his gloominess.
[You’re already at risk of being dragged away. 35 minutes left.]
Having become accustomed to it by now, Kang Dongha seemed not to care.
‘Huh…’
It was actually surprising that Taesung had pressured Kang Dongha using Lee Hwan as a condition.
He needs an Awakened person to run gates. He saw the skilled person you have. If you lend him out as a mercenary a few times, he’ll bury the C-17 incident without making it bigger. These were the words Taesung conveyed to Kang Dongha after checking the chaotic C-17 gate.
Even at this time, he was knowledgeable about gates beyond his years, brilliant, and quick-witted. So he had already noticed that Kang Dongha had messed with the gate.
Though Kang Dongha tried to hide it, Taesung also seemed to know about his poor relationship with Kang Dongying, as they were both under scrutiny.
Of course, even if Taesung didn’t cover it up, it wouldn’t be headline news. With no human casualties and a good resolution, Naru would have covered it up internally anyway.
The problem was that without Taesung’s silence, the story would flow to Kang Dongying. As soon as Kang Dongha heard this, he decided to lend Lee Hwan to Taesung.
‘This bastard keeps using me as a meat shield…’
And it wasn’t even his to begin with. Even while roughly guessing what Lee Hwan had gone through with Taesung.
Well, he had painfully realized it at C-17 gate too. That figure who didn’t show a moment’s hesitation while fleeing with the only flying tool. For Kang Dongha, no other life or value could compare to his own profit and safety.
Moreover, Kang Dongha’s insistence on calling Lee Hwan to the research building was partly to display his person to the people there, and partly a power play to make Taesung’s side come to him first.
Of course, Taesung wouldn’t go there in person. But someone sent by him would visit.
Though Lee Hwan was also quite annoyed by the idea of having to go all the way to where Kang Dongha was, he reluctantly accepted the location since he would be in the nearby field team building anyway.
‘With my foot still in this condition, it’s hard to travel far.’
He didn’t want to see him making a fuss either.
‘Damn, I really might break it in half.’
Lee Hwan felt suffocated just thinking about the white mask he had brought in his bag when coming to work, which had been modified to allow the chin to be removed. It was already a mask he didn’t like, and with modifications like that, it would end up looking like some monster tag.
[30 minutes.]
[Send one more and you’ll see the research building explode within 30 minutes.]
Only after venting his frustration in the message did Kang Dongha go quiet.
And so, without intending to, Lee Hwan found himself heading to the suspicious Building D. But since it was a weekday, the sad office worker Lee Hwan decided to see him during lunch break.
He went to the bathroom and put on the clothes he had splurged on over the weekend using Kang Dongha’s card. With the home shopping suit excluded, the only clothes he had to wear outside were either his Naru uniform or work attire.
That white suit… it attracted too much attention, and the more he wore it, the more focus it drew, which didn’t seem good for mental health.
Lee Hwan finally put the mask on his face and nimbly jumped through the bathroom window. After looking around the shaded area behind the building and confirming there was no one smoking, he landed on the ground.
‘That Kang Taesung is also funny. How can he trust someone whose identity he doesn’t know in a gate?’
On his way to Building D, Lee Hwan grumbled endlessly. It seemed Taesung saw Lee Hwan as Kang Dongha’s confidant or obedient subordinate. As someone who wouldn’t backstab if Kang Dongha gave an order.
Of course, even if that wasn’t the case, Lee Hwan had no intention of attacking Taesung from behind or messing with the gate and running…
‘This feels bad.’
Being tied to Kang Dongha like that, especially appearing to be in the subordinate position, wasn’t exactly pleasant.
Despite being quite far from the field team building, Lee Hwan reached the research facility grounds earlier than expected. At the entrance, while his identity was being checked, Lee Hwan stood silently with his masked face without even speaking to the guard.
As if they had been notified in advance, the blocked door opened easily. After entering and walking a bit, a familiar building came into view.
Research Building D, which stood facing Building B with its arms stretched out.
As he had glimpsed before, it was at least a normal-looking building. The few researchers walking around, perhaps not having eaten, mostly looked ordinary.
‘Hmm…’
If there’s a part that hunters care about the most before and after entering gates, besides traps, monsters, and other mechanisms, it’s the escape route. As a result, hunters tended to check emergency exits and escape routes in any space they entered. It was a kind of occupational hazard.
As Lee Hwan entered the research institute, he instinctively examined the exterior and structure. Peculiarities also caught his eye thoroughly.
The lower floor windows all had iron bars. While the upper floor he had seen last time seemed to have spacious corridors and structure, the lower floor had inefficiently intertwined corridors.
It wasn’t strange if you considered it as theft prevention, as is common in such buildings. However, it was a bit curious that a building of this size had only one entrance.
‘It must be packed at rush hour.’
The place where Kang Dongha was waiting was an office on the upper floor. Lee Hwan walked resolutely toward the elevator amid the glances of researchers. Based on what he felt while waiting for the button, this place also had a subtle sense of discomfort.
Usually, elevators are adjacent to stairs or emergency escape routes, but here there was truly just the elevator alone.
‘What kind of building…’
Lee Hwan was trying to identify the location of the stairs when he became suspicious. The building was a bit strange. Overall, it was designed to be difficult to enter and exit. Whether to call it inefficient or security-focused was uncertain.
Of course, there would be some facilities, but it was a perfect structure for everyone to die together if an accident were to happen.
‘Yet the opposite building is fine.’
In contrast, Building B, which was connected to it, had three entrances and large, numerous windows. As far as Lee Hwan knew, the main research on monster byproducts was conducted there, so security should have been stricter at Building B, not Building D.
Well, if one were on the upper floor, it would be possible to escape from Building D through the bridge connecting to Building B. So at least there wouldn’t be any issues with passage in that specific area.
At that moment, Lee Hwan naturally thought:
‘If the only people who need to escape do so and then cut off the passageway, Building D would be cleanly isolated.’
Then a chill ran down his spine.
“…”
Research Building D would become a completely isolated fortress if its only entrance was closed, the firewall lowered, and the corridor connecting it to Building B cut off.
Was this an intentional design?
