NOVEL NEXT WORLD Chapter 53 - War Against Crime (2)
Chapter 53: War Against Crime (2)
Hanam City, Private Café.
Grrr…
The sudden tremor caused Baek Ah-jin and her friends to jump in surprise.
“What, what’s that?”
“An earthquake?”
Crash!
The coffee cups on the table spilled over.
The tremor was so intense that some of the friends shouted.
“Guys, get under the table!”
“Ahhh!”
When shaking like this, running around is dangerous.
The first step is to protect yourself under something sturdy, and when the shaking stops for a moment, you need to evacuate.
As Baek Ah-jin was about to move quickly, guided by her friends who knew what to do in case of an earthquake, one of them pointed outside the window.
“Look, over there!”
“…A Golem?”
A massive golem filled the window.
“Crazy.”
“Why is there a golem?”
“Wasn’t this an earthquake?”
In South Korea, if you want to summon a creature larger than a certain size in a regular area, you need permission.
Especially summoning something like that golem in a city could cause significant damage to public property, which is why it’s more strictly regulated.
But the appearance of such a golem in a café in Hanam City could only mean one thing.
“…Terrorism?”
Just as Baek Ah-jin furrowed her brows.
BAM!
Three figures roughly kicked open the café door and entered.
They were all armed with summoned creatures.
Those people…
Baek Ah-jin immediately recognized them.
Her friends did the same.
“Oh Ji-myung!”
“Park Ho-seop is here too!”
It was impossible not to recognize them.
They were famous players ranked 9th and 10th in the country, and just a few days ago, they had been thoroughly beaten by her older brother.
“Why are they here…?”
“The atmosphere’s kind of off, isn’t it?”
Her friends swallowed nervously.
Thud.
Oh Ji-myung stepped forward.
“Which one of you is Baek Ah-jin?”
He wasn’t asking because he didn’t know.
He had already gathered her appearance information from the gang.
“It’s you.”
Oh Ji-myung leisurely scanned the room and pointed at Baek Ah-jin with his finger.
Grrr.
A Shadow Wolf howled from the shadows.
“What do you want with me?”
“I won’t beat around the bush.”
With a flick of his eyes,Crash!
The café’s glass window shattered, and a massive hand from his signature summoned creature, the Rampaging Stone Golem (B-grade), reached in.
“All of you. Disarm yourselves and get on top of this. If you do, I’ll treat you with respect, I promise.”
It wasn’t hard to figure out.
“Kidnapping.”
Baek Ah-jin was stunned.
“W-why are you doing this to us?”
Could it be that they were seeking petty revenge because her older brother had wiped the floor with them in a multiplayer match?
“Ah-jin…”
“What’s going on?”
“I’m scared.”
Her frightened friends gathered behind Baek Ah-jin.
No one dared to climb onto the golem’s hand.
And the tense standoff continued.
“Rankers. You probably don’t know this since you’ve only just joined the gang, but you can’t treat people like this nicely.”
It was then that the most disreputable-looking player among the three stepped forward.
His eyes gleamed with a sinister hunger.
“I’ll give you 10 seconds.”
At the same time, he raised his fingers.
“If you don’t get on that golem within 10 seconds, I’ll kill you all. And…”
Swish!
A mysterious summoned creature appeared near the Shadow Elf who was drawing her bow behind Baek Ah-jin.
And then.
Thwack!
A dagger was stabbed into the Shadow Elf’s neck.
A single strike!
In that instant, Baek Ah-jin’s summoned creature was destroyed.
“How dare you arm yourselves? Want to die?”
“C-crazy!”
Baek Ah-jin and her friends were shocked.
“The gang!”
“Oh Ji-myung and Park Ho-seop joined the gang?”
“Crazy, these filthy bastards!”
The public had always lived in fear of the gang’s threats.
Many had wondered if they would ever face a gang in person, but they never thought it would happen right in front of their eyes today!
“Guys.”
Baek Ah-jin’s voice trembled.
“Don’t move. Don’t you dare. Trust me.”
Had she predicted this kind of day?
Her older brother had given her a skill as a gift.
“Desperate Call.”
She activated the skill she had registered with the Shadow Wolf in a desperate attempt.
And at the same time, she prayed earnestly.
“Oppa.”
Please come quickly!
The meal that was so delicious, prepared by Ja-sim, was suddenly interrupted.
[‘Shadow Wolf’ (B-grade) is urgently calling for Player Baek Jin-woo.]
[Would you like to respond?]
[Y/N]
“…!”
Baek Jin-woo’s eyes widened.
The Shadow Wolf was his sister Ah-jin’s summon.
He had told her to activate it in a real emergency.
“Ja-sim.”
Baek Jin-woo called to Ja-sim, who was eating across from him.
“I’ve got an urgent situation. I need to go ahead. I’ll contact you later.”
There wasn’t even time for a proper goodbye.
He quickly pressed Yes.
***
“What did you say?”
Yoo Ji-ah sprang to her feet.
She had just received a call from the security company she had hired.
– It looks like gang members have broken into the headquarters! The player response team is already on it, but we’ve already had casualties! There are too many players!
“Crazy.”
Why would the gang come after them?
The situation was urgent.
Even though she had hired a pricey and trustworthy security firm, the fact that casualties were already reported meant the gang was clearly throwing everything they had into this attack!
“Ahhhh!”
“Ahhh!”
Screams echoed from outside the building.
At the same time, she understood.
Why were they risking everything to attack them?
There was only one answer.
“Jin-woo-ssi.”
They were here to either threaten or bribe him.
They must be planning to kidnap something or someone that was his weakness.
“Son of a bitch.”
Yoo Ji-ah, biting her lips, blamed herself.
She had been too complacent.
She should have at least signed an agreement with a large guild.
At the very least, she should have stationed top-ranked players at the headquarters whenever Baek Jin-woo wasn’t around.
She called the headquarters through the emergency bell and requested support from Daeseong, but there was no time.
“Should I call Jin-woo?”
She briefly thought about activating the desperate summon.
No, in fact, she was about to call him.
But then…
– “The gang has also attached themselves to Director Baek Ah-jin! It’s near a cafe, and it seems like Oh Ji-myung and Park Ho-seop, who were swayed by the gang, are there too! Oh Ji-myung has a golem!”
She hesitated due to the words of the security company.
She feared that calling him from both sides would only add to the confusion for Baek Jin-woo.
Still, at least they had a security company here, but wasn’t there no one on Baek Ah-jin’s side?
“Damn it, what should I do?”
At that moment, as Yoo Ji-ah was pacing nervously…
– Huh? Reinforcements have arrived!
Huh?
Reinforcements?
Already?
It didn’t make sense.
Only about 30 seconds had passed since she pressed the emergency call.
– No way! It’s Carpe Diem, and the leaders of the Arirang Guild! They stopped by near Yoo Baek, and sensing something was off, they joined the fray! This should be doable!
Ki Jae-hyuk, Kang Ji-ho, Hong Ah-ri, Oh Sun-young.
The four of them had arrived.
They were the absolute strongest figures in the country, not to be underestimated.
“Why are they around here?”
This was still a development area, with nothing but mountains around…
She had questions, but at least it was a relief.
“5, 4, 3…”
The terrorist counting down twisted his mouth.
“Look at these guys. They’re not moving, right? 2.”
Even though he gave them 10 seconds, no one moved.
At this point, there was no choice.
Blood would be spilled.
Baek Ah-jin had great value as a hostage, so he couldn’t kill her, but if he killed a few of the others, it would be easier to control the situation.
“1.”
In the end, was it unavoidable?
Swish!
The assassin summoned to reverse summon the Shadow Elf pulled out a dagger again.
Yes.
He should have just started by cutting off one of the girls’ necks.
“0.”
Whoosh!
Just as the sword was about to move…
Skratch!
Something shot out from the air, slashing the assassin’s body at an incredible speed.
– Kiyeek?
The assassin tilted his head, a line drawn across his body.
Then…
Pwoosh!
As it split in half, he was reverse-summoned.
“What, what is this?”
Amid the surprised shout of the terrorist, the figure that appeared was the most famous summon in South Korea.
Training Instructor.
And…
“Ah-jin.”
Behind him, Baek Jin-woo, narrowing his eyes as he took in the situation, appeared.
“Oppa!”
“Baek Jin-woo?”
“It’s Player Baek Jin-woo!”
The pale-faced friends regained their color.
Understanding the situation wasn’t difficult.
Gangsters armed with weapons, Oh Ji-myung and Park Ho-seop in front of the trembling girls.
What could that mean?
“…These bastards.”
Baek Jin-woo’s anger flared.
This was the purest rage he had ever felt in his life.
“How dare you touch my family?”
“Oppa! They were trying to kidnap us! They even brought a golem and said they’d kill us if we didn’t follow within 10 seconds!”
“That’s right! We saw it!”
“Sniff, we were so scared!”
Kugugugu…
Had the summons sensed Baek Jin-woo’s emotions?
An enormous pressure radiated from Hun-gyo’s body.
The intense killing intent seemed to question Baek Jin-woo as it pressed down on every being in the area.
Master.
How should we handle this?
“Take them all down.”
Baek Jin-woo’s voice quietly reverberated through the cafe.
Swoosh!
Hun-gyo’s sword moved.
“Mi, madness.”
Oh Ji-myung was stunned.
Not only was he shocked that Baek Jin-woo had appeared so suddenly, but seeing Hun-gyo’s power again was on a completely different level than before.
“How can something like that…”
Ten seconds.
It took just ten seconds.
It took that long for Oh Ji-myung, Park Ho-seop, and the gang members’ summoned creatures to all be reverse-summoned.
A total of 45 monsters.
Swish!
Hun-gyo, elegantly sheathing his sword after slicing through all of them, looked almost unnaturally graceful.
“How is that an E-rank summon!”
Clunk.
Hun-gyo didn’t stop at just cutting down the summons.
With an indifferent expression, he walked toward them.
“Wait a second.”
“Let’s talk, let’s talk!”
At Oh Ji-myung’s frantic gesture, he drove his front kick into his abdomen.
Pewk!
It wasn’t a kick from an ordinary person.
The shock was enough to send him spiraling.
“K-khaack…”
Oh Ji-myung, collapsed on the floor, unable to breathe.
Naturally, Park Ho-seop, seeing this, was terrified.
Ranker or not.
Without a summon, they were just the same as any other human.
“S-save me!”
Immediately, he dropped to his knees and begged, but Hun-gyo responded by sending a soccer-style kick.
Pwooosh!
He flew into the cafe wall with a tremendous crash.
The sound of bones twisting could be heard.
Although Hun-gyo controlled his strength to avoid killing him, that single strike could leave him with lifelong injuries.
The remaining gangsters weren’t spared either.
After taking a few punches…
Thud, thud!
Hun-gyo lightly touched their pressure points, easily subduing them.
The situation was over.
Hun-gyo looked at Baek Jin-woo.
Just as Baek Jin-woo was about to nod…
Zing!
His phone rang.
It was a message.
[Yoo Ji-ah: Jin-woo, you’re still in our country, right? There’s a mess near YooBaek! Ah-jin is in danger too, do you know about the situation?]
The quick-witted Baek Jin-woo immediately understood the situation.
‘If it’s Yoo Baek…’
These bastards.
It was clear they were targeting not just Ah-jin but even his parents.
“Hun-gyo.”
Hun-gyo silently nodded.
“Keep these three safe here. And Ah-jin.”
“Yeah?”
“Are those your friends?”
“Yeah!”
“Tell them to go home quickly and stay close to Hun-gyo here.”
Perhaps sensing the urgency in Baek Jin-woo’s expression, Baek Ah-jin hurriedly nodded.
“Ah, okay.”
At the same time…
Whoosh!
Baek Jin-woo flew out the broken window, riding the Sky Wyvern.