Declaration Of Extra Strike

 

Engulfed in the smoke, I opened my eyes to find myself in an unfamiliar clearing, far from the awards venue. Before I could resist, Tae Jae-heon’s lackeys bound my limbs, gagged my mouth, and threw me into the back seat of a vehicle.

 The Safety of Constellation is in Danger!  Sudden Quest! Protect the Constellation! Escape from the forces endangering the constellation’s safety. Time Limit: 03:00:00 

‘Damn it… How the hell am I supposed to escape in this situation…’

 

With my face pressed into the seat, I took a deep breath, and a system notification popped up in my vision: Activating Poison Resistance. 

 

I guessed they’d coated the gag with some toxin — probably one of my own concoctions, no less. Fortunately, my poison resistance was now strong enough to block it.

 

Restrained and fuming, I heard Rune and Root, panting as they climbed into the car. Rune jumped onto my calves, resting his chin on them, while Root nudged his head against my bound hands, as if wanting a pat.

 

“Mmph! Mmph!”

 

‘Too cramped, damn it!’

 

“Woof! Grrr… Woof, woof!”

 

As I struggled to shove Rune off, he stubbornly clung to his spot, and in the chaos, my bound hand scraped across Root’s head, who only panted more excitedly. The tussling stopped abruptly when Tae Jae-heon’s voice sounded from outside. Hearing the car door open, I went completely limp, feigning unconsciousness. I wasn’t ready to face Tae Jae-heon without a plan yet.

 

“Who’s coming now?”

 

“There are some Espers tailing behind! I don’t know the exact number, but there’s at least five or more.”

 

“Tsk. How annoying,” Tae Jae-heon muttered, irritation clear in his voice. He glanced back at me, his gaze as sharp as ever, then returned his attention to his lackeys.

 

“Keep them off us. Lead them off-course, and if they persist, handle it. Dump any bodies in the nearest dungeon,” he ordered, his tone icy and calm.

 

Rune and Root, oblivious to the tension, wagged their tails happily as they neared Tae Jae-heon. I kept my eyes closed, desperately holding my breath steady, but then I felt the vehicle begin to move. Just when I thought I was in the clear, Tae Jae-heon’s voice called out from behind me.

 

“Quit pretending and wake up.”

 

I ignored him, focusing on keeping my breathing slow and steady. A different voice, one I hadn’t heard before, chimed in with a hint of skepticism.

 

“But sir, he hasn’t regained his full power. With his current low-tier Guide body, there’s no way he could resist a sleep toxin.”

 

“So, he’s this weak?” Tae Jae-heon scoffed.

 

A pause followed, then someone behind me added.

 

“Guild Master, HQ has been sending urgent messages repeatedly. Even discounting those that can be ignored, some high-ranking officials from the Heavenly Wolf are holding up at HQ, demanding to see you.”

 

“Like toothless tigers,” Tae Jae-heon replied dismissively. “Ignore them and throw them out.”

 

I felt a presence close by, too close. Suddenly, I was shifted and positioned flat on my back. I felt a large hand grip my chin, tilting it left and right as though inspecting me. Tae Jae-heon’s cold voice rumbled just above my barely parted eyelids.

 

“I knew they must have placed you in something unique… but this is certainly beyond what I expected.”

 

His words held a touch of fascination, making me grit my teeth internally. Did he know something about me even I wasn’t fully aware of? His muttering was soon drowned out, though, as a flurry of panicked shouting erupted from the front of the vehicle.

 

The sudden thunderous sounds from outside shook the car, throwing me sideways as the tires screeched with a hard turn. Tae Jae-heon, gripping my waist to keep me steady, managed to calm the restless dogs who began growling at the disturbance.

 

“I’ll call the other team—let’s just shake them off!”

 

“No. I’ll handle this myself.”

 

“Guild Master—!”

 

“Take Eui-jin to the prepared location. Rune, Root, come with me.”

 

With that, the warmth of Tae Jae-heon’s grip and the weight of the dogs pressing close to my legs were gone. The car resumed its course as Tae Jae-heon left, and as soon as I was sure he was out of sight, I opened my eyes and sprang up with a muttered curse.

 

“Ha…..Fck.”

 

He knew I came into this body. I felt goosebumps prickling my neck.

 

This wasn’t just a random grab anymore. Tae Jae-heon had a reason to keep me close, a reason that had him seeing through my disguise. And with him on my trail, escape felt nearly impossible. I scanned the car—a driver and an assistant, both clearly awakened and both shooting wary glances in my direction. I turned to the assistant, who wore an expression halfway between shock and exasperation.

 

“Where the hell are we? Where are you taking me?”

 

The assistant raised an eyebrow and asked cautiously, “…You’ve been awake all this time?”

 

“No. I just woke up. Answer me. Where are we going?”

 

He frowned and ignored my question, busying himself with his phone. Gritting my teeth, I pushed him further.

 

“Hey, didn’t Tae Jae-heon tell you to answer when I speak?”

 

A vein pulsed in his forehead, but he exchanged a look with the driver, muttered something, and then resumed ignoring me. I leaned forward with a mocking tone.

 

“What’s the matter, Tae Jae-heon’s little lapdog? Can’t hear me?”

 

The assistant sighed heavily, putting on a stony expression. 

 

“There is nothing I can discuss with you. Save your questions for the Guild Master.”

 

“Can’t you at least tell me where we’re going? Or do you just enjoy acting all high and mighty while kidnapping people?”

 

Nothing. Not even a flinch. The assistant remained as rigid and silent as a statue.

 

With a sigh, I crossed my arms and looked out the window, trying to memorize the winding mountain roads in case I’d get a chance to escape later. But I didn’t even know where we’d started from, so it was probably a useless effort. 

 

Finally, we reached a massive wall, towering over the mountain scenery, with several buildings hidden within. As soon as the car stopped inside one of the structures, I was dragged out, escorted by men in suits to a room tucked in the farthest corner of the place.

 

 After they finally untied my restraints, they left me alone, though with guards stationed outside. There wasn’t much room for escape if Tae Jae-heon had planned this himself.

 

‘I can’t run away from Tae Jae-heon anyway. So….’

 

Instead, I glanced over at the assistant and the guards lingering at the door and tilted my head, gesturing dismissively.

 

“Out.”

 

“Excuse me?”

 

“I’m going to sleep. Turn off the lights and get out.”

 

“……..”

 

“Didn’t Tae Jae-heon tell you? That I can’t sleep with people around”

 

“……….You can’t escape anyway.”

 

After a beat, the guards exchanged a glance and decided to comply. They closed the curtains and left, shutting the door behind them. As soon as they were gone, I sprang up, moving quietly as I scanned the room. 

 

Fortunately, there didn’t seem to be any visible surveillance cameras. I took a deep breath and opened my small inventory, which had only three slots: a potion, a dagger, and a special collar that Seong San-ha had given me. 

 

My fingers closed around the collar—

Laelaps’ collar

. My heart was racing as I searched the room for a decent hiding spot. There was no way Tae Jae-heon’s people would leave without a thorough search.

 

Bathroom plumbing access? No, Tae Jae-heon had already caught me there once. Instead, I walked along the walls, tapping lightly with my foot until I heard a hollow sound. I pushed a molding piece aside and pried up a floorboard, revealing a tiny space barely big enough for two fists.

 

“Perfect,” I muttered.

 

Quickly, I wrapped the collar in a cloth and stuffed it into the gap, then covered the area with the floorboard. I smeared the surrounding area with the blanket to mask any scent.

 

Just as I stepped back, relieved, a dismal sound echoed, and the quest window popped up in front of me again.

 「Quest Failed!」   「Warning – If the majority of constellations lose their light, the countdown will begin.」 Sudden Quest!   Constellation Protection   Condition: Fail if ownership of the constellation under protection is lost.   *Number of constellations under protection: 2   Failure triggers D-day countdown. 

The failure notification had barely appeared before a new sudden quest popped up—a completely unfair quest with no reward and no time limit, stacked entirely against me. 

 「Warning – If the majority of constellations lose their light, the countdown will begin.」 

Annoyed, I ruffled my hair, glaring at the system window that kept hovering in front of me.

 

“I know! I know it’s dangerous as hell if I fail! But what the hell am I supposed to do about it?”

 

I can’t escape from Tae Jae-heon… I slid down the wall, leaning against it, and sank to the floor. The system window wordlessly opened the quest notification for the fifth time, urging me to complete it.

 

Soon enough, Tae Jae-heon arrived in my room. Unlike him, who sat leisurely on the sofa, I was restrained by his subordinates and forced to kneel before him.

 

“Tae Jae-heon.”

 

“Shh.”

 

“……”

 

“I’m angrier than you think. Just listen quietly.”

 

The people beside Tae Jae-heon opened a black case on the table. Inside were three items, one of which I had seen before—Thoth’s Eye.

 

At Tae Jae-heon’s nod, the woman beside him used Thoth’s Eye on me. It activated once on my hand, once on my ankle, and then lost its power.

 

“Two, huh. Surprising.”

 

Raising an eyebrow, Tae Jae-heon reached out to the case. His fingers slowly grazed the items until he picked up a short rod-like item. The moment he did, warning notifications flooded my vision, red system alerts filling my view.

 「Protect the constellations.」 「Warning – If the majority of constellations lose their light, the countdown will begin.」 

‘Damn it, I know. It’s not like I can do anything.’

 

The end of the rod had strange symbols engraved into it. Holding it, Tae Jae-heon slowly approached me. I struggled to break free from the two massive guys holding me, but overpowering these bear-sized men was impossible. They grabbed my left foot and extended it toward Tae Jae-heon. 

 

As the system popped up an endless stream of red alerts, filling my vision entirely, my shoe was pulled off, exposing the marking on my ankle. As he brought the item close to it, I couldn’t hold back anymore and shouted.

 

“Wait, wait a second!”

 

Luckily, his hand paused. His eyes met mine, as if telling me to speak, and although my voice was caught in my throat, I clenched my fist and yelled.

 

“Damn it… Do you have to do this the moment you see me? Can you at least listen to me first?”

 

“And why should I listen to your request?”

 

“It’s not a request, dam—”

 

The sound of Tae Jae-heon clicking his tongue made my curses die in my throat. Seeing his displeased expression, I hesitated, unsure of what to say first. 

 

But before I could get a word out, a searing pain flared up in my ankle. Shocked, I looked down to see that he had pressed the item against the mark on my skin.

 

“Ah… ugh! What… what are you doing…?”

 

“Mehhh!”

 

“Cloud!”

 

A flash of white appeared briefly, and before I could even reach out, Cloud’s cry faded, and he was sucked into the rod. A deafening crack echoed from outside the window, like the sound of the sky splitting open on the day the meteors fell.

 「You have lost ownership of a constellation.」 「Quest failed!」 

I frantically checked my ankle. There was no pain anymore, but the mark was gone.

 

“What the hell are you doing?! Give it back!”

 

“Such poor manners.”

 

This time, Tae Jae-heon grabbed my right hand. I struggled with all my strength, yelling at the top of my lungs.

 

“Listen to me! A disaster is coming if you do this!”

 

For a moment, he paused, examining my palm. Seizing the chance, I continued urgently.

 

“You… you know the fake Eui-jin, right? The imposter Kang Eui-jin? He and Novarion are planning something big. But if you take that, it’ll trigger a catastrophe…!”

 

“I don’t care.”

 

“What… what did you say?”

 

I couldn’t believe my ears. He laughed softly and murmured,

 

“I said I don’t care about that.”

 

With that, Tae Jae-heon slammed the item down onto the mark on my palm. In horror, I watched as an overwhelming flood of notification windows filled my vision, appearing so quickly that I could barely read them.

 「The majority of constellations have lost their light.」 「Planetary alignment has begun. Initiating D-day countdown to catastrophe.」 

.

.

「Sudden Quest!」 

As searing pain surged through me, my consciousness slipped away.

 – End of Declaration Of Extra Strike Part 1 –Oh no....

Not me leaving you guys at a cliff-hanger before 2024 ends LOL