Declaration Of Extra Strike

 

“Fuck, what did you do to Lim Cheong?!”

 

“I just gave him a little lesson for daring to challenge me.”

 

“A

little

lesson? The kid’s a bloody mess!!”

 

“He’s an idiot. The Center and Cheon Rang are like scared dogs, keeping their tails between their legs, just waiting for an opening, and yet he walks in here alone. Didn’t he?”

 

Tae Jae-heon muttered while poking Lim Cheong with the tip of his shoe. I gritted my teeth and glared at him. I was worried about Lim Cheong, who had been beaten, but with just one gesture from Tae Jae-heon, I knew I could really die, so I couldn’t open my mouth easily. 

 

As I watched his unreadable expression, I noticed the servants, trying to avoid our gaze, hurriedly moving the cart and I panicked, shouting.

 

“Food…! I’ll eat, okay?”

 

“Haha. So after all that thinking, is this the best you can come up with?”

 

“…What do you want from me? What do you want me to do?”

 

Just as Tae Jae-heon was about to say something, a sudden burst of flames shot up behind his shoulder. I didn’t know when it had happened, but Lim Cheong, his eyes wide open in fury, had jumped up and was trying to stab Tae Jae-heon with a knife. 

 

The heat from the flames was so intense that I could feel it, and my eyes widened. Just as the knife was about to reach Tae Jae-heon’s head, he vanished.

 

“Ugh…!”

 

“Cheong-ah!”

 

Appearing behind Lim Cheong, Tae Jae-heon kicked the knife out of his hand, sending it flying, then knocked Lim Cheong off balance, causing him to fall. He then stomped on his back, completely neutralizing him. Lim Cheong, unable to escape, glared at Tae Jae-heon with an expression full of frustration.

 

Lim Cheong’s hand, hidden under his body, twitched and moved. Lowering my gaze, I saw Tae Jae-heon staring at him like a snake waiting for its prey.

 

A chill ran down my spine. He’s going to kill him—he definitely plans to kill him. I noticed black smoke rising from Tae Jae-heon’s hand, and before Lim Cheong could make a move, I hastily shouted.

 

“Cheong-ah, no! Stay still!!”

 

“Boss…!”

 

As I waved my arms to stop him, Tae Jae-heon, who had been looking down at Lim Cheong with emotionless eyes, turned to look at me. He stopped in his tracks, still aiming toward Lim Cheong, and his thin lips parted.

 

“How about it? Should I kill him?”

 

Tae Jae-heon’s gaze was cold and indifferent, with not a shred of guilt in his eyes. Yeah, that’s the kind of guy he is. A psychopath who has always treated human life like squashing bugs—playing with it and throwing it away. I bit my lips, struggling to contain my rising anger.

 

“…Are you going to threaten me with another life?”

 

“….”

 

“What the hell are you asking for? You’ll pretend to spare me, toy with me, and then kill me anyway.”

 

As I approached Lim Cheong, Tae Jae-heon’s silent gaze followed me. Grabbing Lim Cheong’s arm, I pulled him behind me, blocking the way and said:

 

“Do whatever you want. But if you’re going to kill Lim Cheong, kill me too. Fine. It’s been a while since I’ve met some old friends.”

 

“Threatening is what

I

do, not you, Eui-jin ah.”

 

With a slight gesture from Tae Jae-heon, a woman standing to the side stepped forward, holding a bundle of papers. Tae Jae-heon scattered the papers at my feet.

 

“This is…”

 

Yeon Seung-yeon, Baek Da-in, Kim Jin-myung, Yoon Ha-yan… even Cheon Rang’s Seong San-ha and Han Seo-jin. The profiles of everyone I had met under the alias ‘Joo Ho-hyun’ were written there.

 

“How… how do you have all of them…”

 

While I stood there in a daze, Tae Jae-heon took a large step forward and grabbed my face with one hand.

 

“When you’re threatened, you have to make a choice. Resist, or submit… I’ll give in to your threat. I’m confident I can tame you without killing you. But what about you? Do you have a choice?”

 

Following Tae Jae-heon’s gaze, I looked down. The profiles of people, scattered beneath my feet, were crumpled under his black shoes.

 

“This is just punishment. If you behave, I’ll spare you. If you resist, I’ll kill you.”

 

“Really… you crazy bastard.”

 

“If you understand, kneel.”

 

He threatens to kill me, but then says it’s just punishment. To him, human life is nothing more than a tool to make me obey. But as Tae Jae-heon said, I didn’t have a choice. People like Seong San-ha or Han Seo-jin? Maybe, but the others? No—without exception…

 

My knees hit the ground. Lim Cheong, who had been staring wide-eyed in surprise, collapsed from the item one of the guards had used to knock him out. Tae Jae-heon wiped the blood from his shoe onto Lim Cheong’s clothes as he spoke.

 

“Put him in restraints and lock him in a cage.”

 

“…Let Cheong go. There’s no need to keep him here.”

 

“There’s no reason to release an untamed beast into the wild when there’s no need to risk it.”

 

“You said you wouldn’t kill him!!”

 

“I won’t kill him. If you behave. The floor’s dirty, so get up.”

 

Fck. He tells me to kneel and then acts like nothing happened. I struggled to get up, stumbling as I walked and collapsed into the chair. 

 

Tae Jae-heon didn’t seem pleased with my careless attitude, but he didn’t scold me further.

 

Soon after, warm food was set before me again. As I picked at it with my utensils, I heard Tae Jae-heon click his tongue in annoyance.

 

“…I really said I have no appetite. I told you I wouldn’t eat…”

 

“Kang Eui-jin.”

 

He spoke my name softly, but that bastard’s ears were as sharp as ever. I picked up some meat with a sulking mouth. Whether it was to keep an eye on me or something else, Tae Jae-heon didn’t touch his own food, instead drinking whiskey.

 

“I’ll be leaving in ten days. I’ll be staying abroad for a while, so get used to it.”

 

“Suddenly, abroad? No, I want to stay here.”

 

I voiced my dissatisfaction at the sudden announcement, but Tae Jae-heon didn’t even acknowledge my words, continuing to say only what he wanted.

 

“If you want to make potions, let me know. How much of your skills have you regained?”

 

“…I don’t know. The quest reward was a skill, but I lost the constellation and failed. If I can’t get all my skills back, will you take responsibility? Just… can you give me back the constellation?”

 

I buried my head back into the plate at his silent stare. Only then did Tae Jae-heon respond.

 

“Forget about the constellation. It’s not something you should get involved with.”

 

‘It’s mine, so why isn’t it something I should be involved with? You bastard.’

 

“…..Okay.”

 

I answered obediently, and Tae Jae-heon said in a somewhat satisfied tone.

 

“You can take a walk with the guards for a while.”

 

“…Then, can I just go for a quick walk to Wolgye Naru?”

 

“Is that distance really considered a walk? Well, do as you like. If you want to see your little shop blow up again, go

ahead.”

 

‘Fck……’

 

That bastard. I cursed inwardly, then finally managed to calm down and said.

 

“There’s nothing to see around here, so I’ll just make potions. Get me some ingredients.”

 

“What kind? Do you need a research journal as well?”

 

“That’s not necessary. Just the basics. Healing potions or vitality potions.”

 

***

 

A few days later…

 

“Have a nice dream, you bastards.”

 

After amplifying the tranquilizer I had hidden before and putting all the guards to sleep, I secretly snuck out. Avoiding the CCTV cameras I had seen last time, I circled around and after three days, I arrived at the old building of the orphanage. As usual, Han Chang-sik was there. He was repairing the collapsed brick wall and waved his hand with a bright smile.

 

“Hey, it’s been a few days! I thought you were gone for good since you didn’t come back after saying you’d visit tomorrow!”

 

“Something came up in the meantime.”

 

“Right, you must have a lot to do. You must be really busy.”

 

“By the way, you didn’t tell anyone about meeting me, did you?”

 

If Tae Jae-heon finds out, everything will be ruined. He might even try to kill Han Chang-sik. That’s why I’ve been pretending to make potions quietly, to make sure the orphanage wouldn’t be suspected. 

 

When I asked seriously, Han Chang-sik burst out laughing.

 

“Hey, of course not. And look here, who would I tell? Anyone to talk to?”

 

“Now that you mention it, I don’t see the kids around. What happened to the other teachers?”

 

“They’re all at the shrine. It’s been years since new kids came, and these days there aren’t any kids who can’t awaken. This place is shutting down by the end of this year.”

 

“So, what about you? If the orphanage is gone, where will you go?”

 

“They’re transferring me somewhere else. Actually, it’s better. If I get assigned as a security guard at the Nox headquarters, that’s a pretty good deal, right? The building’s all fancy, and my salary will almost double.”

 

The orphanage is disappearing? It was a place I had tried to forget, burying it deep in my memories. Yet hearing it was going away made me feel a little nostalgic.

 

While Han Chang-sik finished his work, I borrowed his phone and looked through the news from the day I was kidnapped. I had expected it, but it was even more nonchalant than I thought. 

 

The news didn’t mention my kidnapping at all, and in the videos people had filmed, there was only the first appearance of Tae Jae-heon. None of the things he did, or the part where he called me ‘Kang Eui-jin,’ appeared anywhere, no matter how hard I searched. 

 

It was clear that Nox or Novarion had intentionally hidden it. I tried to access the awakened community, but since I was using Han Chang-sik’s phone, which wasn’t a special one, it was impossible to access. Eventually, I gave up after feeling disappointed.

 

With nothing else to do, I tossed Han Chang-sik’s phone into the air and caught it. The numbers for Seungyeon, Han Seo-jin, and Seong San-ha lingered in my mind.

 

‘I could call them right now.’

 

But if I did that, both Han Chang-sik and I would get caught by Tae Jae-heon and end up in serious trouble. Calling them right now wouldn’t change anything either.

 

Just like Cheong said, Seong San-ha and Han Seo-jin probably know I’m here. I can’t engage in a direct battle with Nox, so they must be looking for another way.

 

“Kang Eui-jin! Look! Look at what I found!”

 

I turned around at the call and saw Han Chang-sik running toward me holding something. What he brought was an old, worn-out photo. It was a group photo of children huddled together, with the word “Alpha Room” written beneath

it. In the center of the photo, making a V sign and smiling widely, was…

 

“Is this the handsome little kid… me?”

 

“Hey, Kang Eui-jin. You look the same now as back then. I haven’t seen this in a while. Here, there’s Kim Seon-jae, Yang Tae-oh, Jeong Su-jin, Shin Ha-neul…”

 

As Han Chang-sik pointed to each name, my heart twinged with guilt. Every other name, one by one, was filled with a sense of responsibility. I turned my gaze away from Han Chang-sik’s finger and suddenly fixed my eyes on one spot. 

 

It was a small child standing right next to me, holding the hem of my clothes tightly, staring at the camera without a hint of a smile. Even in the faded photo, the child’s beautiful appearance was undeniable, and I couldn’t help but open my mouth in surprise.

 

This face… 

 

I couldn’t have forgotten it. I furrowed my brows, staring intently as the memory floated, elusive yet vivid. Han Chang-sik, noticing my focus, immediately teased me.

 

“See, I knew it. Even back then, you’d always hang around with this kid, and now you can’t take your eyes off him as soon as you see him?”

 

“Kid? Are you talking about him?”

 

“Yeah! This kid followed you everywhere. You always had him by your side. Don’t you remember fighting with Kim Seon-jae because of him?”

 

“I fought because of him…?”

 

Just as I was about to respond, a voice suddenly brushed against my ear, as if carried by the wind. I widened my eyes in shock.

  Flo here!

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