NOVEL NEXT WORLD Chapter 54 - War Against Crime (3)
Chapter 54: War Against Crime (3)
The situation on Yoo Ji-ah’s side was evenly matched.
The security firm and four national team rankers were defending against the gang’s invasion.
Meanwhile, more than twenty gang members were throwing themselves at them with reckless abandon.
“Ugh, these disgusting bastards.”
Hong Ah-ri scowled as she controlled her summons, her frustration evident.
“Shouldn’t they back off when it’s clear they’re losing? Why are they so persistent?”
No matter how low Korea’s standards might be, this was still four national team members.
Ordinary gangsters would have fled after testing the waters a bit.
But these ones were different.
They were desperately trying to break through the encirclement and get inside the premises.
More specifically, into that apartment complex.
“They’re targeting Player Baek Jin-woo’s parents!”
Yoo Ji-ah shouted urgently.
“They know this is their last chance to get a foothold in Korea!”
There was no one in Korea who could face Baek Jin-woo with brute force.
That was true for both rankers and the gang alike.
“Kill that bitch first!”
Ta-at!
One of the enemy’s summons lunged at Yoo Ji-ah.
But—
Crunch!
A wolf from the Five Wolves (Oh Rang) bit down on the summon’s neck.
“Do they think we’re that easy to deal with?”
Oh Sun-young’s voice was as cold as ice.
That was just her nature.
If the guild leader Hong Ah-ri was lively, the deputy guild leader Oh Sun-young was nicknamed “Ice.”
“Just holding them off won’t be enough. Our Arirang guild members are coming to support us.”
Flinch.
At her words, the gangsters trembled.
Arirang—one of Korea’s Big Three guilds.
Compared to that, their side was severely lacking in manpower.
Not to mention, their gang leader, Jo Ji-hak, wasn’t even here.
‘Is continuing this fight the right call?’
‘Soon, the headquarters and Daeseong will arrive… And now even Arirang is coming?’
‘This is starting to feel bad.’
They felt wronged.
The information they received said this would be an easy target.
Baek Jin-woo was in Dubai, and they were supposed to have support from ranks 9 and 10.
But what was this?
Leaving aside the lack of support, why were Arirang executives standing firm here?
And that wasn’t all.
The kids from Carpe Diem were fighting like they were possessed by battle demons.
“Kahaha! Die, you bastards!”
“Wow, boring, isn’t it? So dull, right? Not fun at all, huh? Infuriating, isn’t it?”
Hearing the high schoolers’ taunting tone almost cured their low blood pressure entirely.
‘These brats.’
‘Are they elementary schoolers or what?’
Still, the twenty here weren’t nobodies.
They were players who could hold their own in a fight.
Even in the gang’s decentralized structure, they were among the notable members.
That’s why they could still hold their ground against the four national team rankers.
However—
The gang didn’t have strong internal cohesion.
Rather than being united by a shared cause, they were gathered by individual greed, making them weaker in spirit.
“Hey, let’s just run!”
Eventually, one of them turned to flee.
“That bastard Jo Ji-hak just used us like pawns. Why the hell should we fight for him?”
At that moment, the precarious balance collapsed.
But what they feared most was—
Jo Ji-hak’s retaliation.
He hadn’t become the head of a crime syndicate for nothing.
Jo Ji-hak was vicious, calculating, persistent, and terrifying.
“Whatever, screw it! I’ll just leave Korea entirely!”
“You think leaving Korea will solve anything? He’ll track us down no matter where we go!”
“But if you think about it, won’t he get killed by Baek Jin-woo anyway?”
YooBaek.
And they had attacked his family.
No sane player would let Jo Ji-hak live after that.
He’d sharpen his blade and strike mercilessly.
“That’s true! Alright, I’m out!”
“Me too!”
“Same here!”
They all summoned high-mobility summons to escape the area.
But it was already too late.
Kiaaaaaaaah!
The roar of a wyvern echoed from far above, as if heralding doom for those attempting to flee.
“Jin-woo!”
Yoo Ji-ah was the first to recognize him.
‘That Sky Wyvern.’
It was the one she often petted during their training sessions in the open field.
Kiaa! Kiaa!
The wyvern dived vertically from the sky.
Despite the incredible speed, Baek Jin-woo’s posture remained steady.
The result of relentless training and experience in high-tier weekly dungeons!
“Poryong.”
When Baek Jin-woo muttered the name—
“Yes, Jin-woo Nim.”
Poryong, who was clinging tightly to his back, responded softly.
And then—
Whooosh!
Explosive Dragon Technique.
Secret Art.
Transformation.
A massive wall of fire began to engulf the entire premises.
The explosive energy Baek Jin-woo had been gathering erupted in an instant, blazing fiercely.
“Arghhh!”
“What, what is this?!”
Of course, the gang’s summons couldn’t cross those flames.
Relying on a shield to cross alone?
It was meaningless.
The moment they lost their summons, it would only be a matter of time before they were caught.
“Damn it!”
“We can’t escape!”
“What do we do? Fight again?”
“Fight? Against him? That’s Baek Jin-woo!”
Even gang members were players.
Ridiculously, they had also felt national pride watching Baek Jin-woo’s achievements.
They knew full well that no matter how many of them banded together, they wouldn’t stand a chance against him.
This was the guy who defeated Korea’s number one ranker in under a minute.
Still—
They didn’t have much time to debate whether to flee or fight.
“Dol-dol.”
Krk…!
The speed at which Dol-dol charged with its scythe was insane.
It had built up stacks from its time training with Ja-sim before dinner.
Squelch, rip! Squelch, rip!
The invisible summon struck with incredible speed, piercing the summons’ backs and tearing through them.
The result was immediate.
All nearby summons were shredded like paper.
Kiaaaaaaah!
By the time the wyvern landed on the ground—
All the gang’s summons had been destroyed, and their shields were down.
Now they couldn’t even cross the flames if they wanted to.
“C-crazy.”
The one who cursed wasn’t a gang member.
It was the national team member, Hong Ah-ri.
“Is he even human?”
She knew Baek Jin-woo was strong, but to annihilate gang members who had been holding off four of them, all by himself?
Calling them twenty gang members was an understatement. With summons included, they had a total of 300 units.
Each could summon three teams of five, a total of fifteen summons per person.
“…Truly amazing.”
Oh Sun-young murmured quietly.
“As expected of Baek Jin-woo hyung…!”
“Wow, he’s so cool!”
Ki Jae-hyuk and Kang Ji-ho gave a thumbs up in admiration.
‘Why are they here?’
Baek Jin-woo tilted his head briefly, but soon scanned his surroundings with cold eyes.
The war was not over yet.
“Let’s take them all down first.”
The gang’s attack shocked the entire nation of Korea.
[Gang boldly attacks YooBaek! Bloodshed in Hanam City for 20 minutes! All members captured!]
[Two dead, five critically injured in gang terror. All victims confirmed to be security firm-affiliated players.]
[Yoo Ji-ah expresses condolences to bereaved families. Compensation procedures underway.]
Public opinion boiled over in an instant.
The intent was crystal clear, wasn’t it?
└ Are those crazy bastards insane;;
└ They were trying to kidnap the family, weren’t they?
└ Of all people, they chose Baek Jin-woo? You shouldn’t have touched him.
The outrage was palpable.
The sole hope of the nation for the upcoming World League had been targeted.
And the gang dared to provoke him.
To make matters worse—
[Breaking News! Oh Ji-myung and Park Ho-seop collude with the gang!]
[Attack on a café near Hanam City! Was Baek Jin-woo’s sister the target?]
[Eyewitness account from female college student: “Baek Jin-woo took them down in a second.”]
└ Wow.
└ What insane lunatics;;
└ Why betray the country so suddenly?
└ Was it because of that loss in the last team match?
└ No way. That would be pathetic.
└ Reality check: He went down in one second. He actually lasted longer in the team match. LOL.
All 23 gang members were captured on-site.
Their eyes were blindfolded, their hands tied behind their backs—necessary measures since summoning requires visual or manual input to click “Y.”
They were locked up in a highly secure facility.
And as expected, Baek Jin-woo was furious.
[Baek Jin-woo announces his stance! Declares war on the gang, vows to eradicate crime in Korea!]
[Headquarters fully supports Player Baek Jin-woo’s decision!]
└ Whoa!
└ Baek Jin-woo looks terrifying when he says stuff like that;;
└ The gang members must be peeing their pants……
└ Did you see his expression during the press conference? Gave me chills.
└ He has every right to be angry. They didn’t confront him directly; they cowardly went after his family.
└ Jo Ji-hak is done for; this is the end for him.
Baek Jin-woo even added:
For players who are currently or have ever been affiliated with the gang…
They would be given one day to turn themselves in and face justice.
What would happen after that period was left to their imagination.
└ So cool.
└ For real. The guy oozes charisma.
└ Does this mean we don’t have to fear the gang anymore?
└ Not so sure. Jo Ji-hak isn’t an ordinary person.
└ So what if he’s extraordinary? The opponent is Baek Jin-woo. LOL. A rank 30 nobody.
└ Even Jo Ji-hak doesn’t know how much stronger Baek Jin-woo has become.
At that very moment.
Baek Jin-woo was meeting with Congressman Park Chang-seok at headquarters.
Since establishing YooBaek, Baek Jin-woo had grown quite close to Park Chang-seok.
Frequent meetings had naturally led to open conversations.
“You’ve really been through a lot. All this should have been the headquarters’ responsibility.”
Park Chang-seok smiled bitterly.
This time, Baek Jin-woo had captured over ten gang executives.
Something the headquarters had failed to accomplish despite three years of relentless effort.
“You’re the one working hard, sir.”
“So, you want to meet the detainees?”
“Yes.”
Baek Jin-woo didn’t smile.
His expression remained stiff.
Park Chang-seok exhaled lightly.
“…Don’t kill them.”
Normally, gang members would face immediate execution.
But these were executives.
There was too much valuable information to extract, so they had been kept alive.
Additionally, their summons and items needed to be confiscated.
“Yes, they absolutely can’t die.”
Baek Jin-woo smiled faintly.
The sight made Park Chang-seok shiver slightly.
What did that mean?
Did it imply he couldn’t let them die so easily?
“There won’t be any issues. You promised to help, didn’t you?”
“Right, right.”
Park Chang-seok had already set everything up.
The headquarters had agreed to follow Baek Jin-woo’s wishes.
After all, these were his captives.
Whatever he chose to do with them was, frankly, up to him.
“Go ahead.”
“Yes, sir.”
“Ngghhh!”
“Nggh! Nggghhhh!”
The 23 detainees were held separately in well-equipped isolation cells.
The cells were made of reinforced steel, and all the prisoners were blindfolded, gagged, and tightly bound.
Human rights?
Why consider human rights for dangerous individuals capable of handling summons?
There were no guards present.
Park Chang-seok had arranged for the facility to be vacant for an hour.
“Hun-gyo.”
“Yes, my lord.”
Shhkk!
Hun-gyo was summoned.
Since its awakening, Hun-gyo had been a reliable force.
Even without Lamba stacking additional buffs, who could defeat him now?
Perhaps not even Rachel could manage.
He pondered.
The Yin energy of the Nine Yin Absolute Pulse was that potent.
“You said you could extract all the information, right?”
“Yes, my lord.”
Hun-gyo nodded.
His mind held knowledge of the world’s most advanced torture techniques (Grade A), from basic acupuncture to muscle dislocation and bone-breaking methods used by martial artists.
Breaking the will of these weak-minded humans was child’s play.
“Shall I begin immediately?”
At Hun-gyo’s question, Baek Jin-woo nodded slowly.