To strike
From reading a deep web community, I realized one thing:
People with abilities must never be noticed by ordinary people.
— Thud!
Before I could even gather my thoughts, the house shook slightly with a heavy thump.
"Did it move to this building now?"
My curiosity was burning, and I wanted to figure out what was going on, but I had no intention of going outside.
People were already starting to come out in their pajamas, sensing something was wrong.
I had gone through the trouble of moving to avoid their attention—there was no way I could let my location be discovered after just one day.
"What the hell is all this commotion?"
I tried to ignore it and laid back down, pulling out my laptop.
Before long, the red flashing lights of a police car that had responded to a report came streaming through the window, but I had no desire to get involved, so I ignored it.
— Crash!
The building shook again, just slightly.
A commotion like this, even with the police already here? Unbelievable.
Not long after, I heard knocking and the doorbell ringing at Seowoon's place.
When I went outside, a police officer was standing there.
"Sorry to disturb you while you were sleeping. We heard an explosion coming from the rooftop of this building. We're evacuating all residents. Please take only your most important belongings and come outside."
Before the officer had even finished speaking, the sound of sirens grew louder.
"Let's go for now."
Feigning confusion, Seowoon followed the officer outside.
Two fire trucks had already arrived, and a large number of local residents had gathered, all looking up at the top of the villa with puzzled expressions.
"Are you sure it's not a gas explosion?"
"There's no sign of fire. Maybe a meteor fell or something?"
"I heard sounds of fighting. Someone said there was shouting and then explosions."
Listening to the residents' chatter, I couldn't help but shake my head.
As the firefighters entered the building, Seowoon could do nothing but watch to see how the situation would unfold.
While standing with the residents and looking up at the building, Seowoon's eyes narrowed for a moment.
The presence that had been on the rooftop vanished in an instant.
If they were still fighting after causing this much commotion, they really were out of their minds.
Even though it was already past midnight, nearly a hundred residents were gathered outside, rubbing their eyes against the ruckus.
The flashing red lights illuminated the crowd.
Among the gathered residents, a small figure pushed their way through.
Or rather, I only noticed the figure after sensing a sudden wave of energy.
The person, slightly hunched over and clutching their chest with one arm, quickly disappeared into the crowd. And then, one by one, other presences began to be felt around me.
Looking around, I saw two casually dressed men and three men in suits scanning the area as if searching for someone.
"Why do things like this always happen around me?"
Holding his breath, Seowoon suppressed his presence as much as possible.
Ever since the commotion began, he had been hiding his energy just as he had practiced during training, just in case he got dragged into things.
As long as he didn't actively channel his energy or cast spells, there was no reason for his presence to be noticed.
Then, the men who had been scanning the surroundings focused their attention in one direction.
Seeing them seemingly find their target, Seowoon let out a sigh and slipped away from the crowd.
Dark shadows moved swiftly along the walls of the buildings.
The shadow in the lead stumbled unsteadily and soon landed on the ground.
The other shadows quickly surrounded it.
"Give it up. The damage you've caused is beyond repair. You don't want to make this worse. Cleaning up your mess so far has already been a nightmare."
The small figure in the hood coughed heavily, spitting thick blood onto the ground.
"Central Bureau… I'd rather die than go with you people."
Surprisingly, the voice was that of a woman.
"She's a woman…"
Seowoon narrowed his eyes, still wearing his cloak of concealment and watching from a distance.
In the end, his curiosity had won out, and he had followed them to see what was going on.
"She's a key target. Capture her alive, no matter what."
At the man's command, the others surrounding her simultaneously pulled black rods—like wooden swords—out of subspace.
A tense, sharp atmosphere filled the dark heart of the residential area.
"We don't particularly like that ridiculous nickname 'Central Bureau' either."
No sooner had the man spoken than all five of them rushed at the woman.
— Pababat!
The hooded woman dashed straight toward them, targeting the one who appeared slowest.
In her hand was a spear, the kind you'd only ever see in movies.
As the spear swung, a sharp force shot out.
— Crash! Bam-bam-bam!
Wee-oo! Wee-oo! Wee-oo! Aaaang! Aaaang!
Just as the burst of energy was narrowly avoided, a car parked behind the man crumpled with a loud crash, setting off its alarm. The men charging forward hesitated and glared at the woman.
As she tried to break out of the encirclement, one of the men shouted at her.
"Get her, now!"
The woman gritted her teeth, sensing this could be the end, and gripped her spear tightly—only to feel a sudden chill.
"Aaagh!"
Everyone's eyes widened as they saw the legs of two suited men quickly freeze solid, rendering them immobile.
"A mage—lying in ambush…!"
Before the man could finish his sentence, he collapsed on the spot.
As Seowoon, clad in a dark cloak, appeared where the man had fallen, a flicker of hesitation crossed the eyes of the remaining two men.
But they too collapsed the moment a sharp impact struck the back of their necks.
Only the two men whose legs were frozen stood watching, eyes wide open, unable to move.
Seowoon grabbed the woman's hand and ran from the scene.
They ran for a while, climbing up the dilapidated villa's outer wall and reaching the rooftop, where Seowoon finally let go of her hand.
"Cough! Cough!"
It wasn't clear whether she was coughing or spitting blood—she didn't look well at all.
"Th-thank you. Are you with the Front?"
Seowoon shook his head silently.
"Then… don't tell me—you're from Command?!"
Again, he shook his head.
The woman quickly backed away, pulling a spear from a pocket dimension.
"You're not with the Resistance, are you?!"
This time, he nodded for the first time.
"Who are you? Surely not from Central Intelligence."
Seowoon nodded again, then drew on his inner energy and spoke.
"Just a passerby. Think of it as good luck and move on."
His voice came out hoarse, almost distorted, like it was being masked.
Leaving only those words behind, Seowoon jumped off the rooftop.
The woman ran to the edge and looked down, but there was no trace of him.
He could have just stood by and let her be taken.
His curiosity had been satisfied—just as expected, it was a chase between an ability user and the Central Intelligence agents.
But the stories circulating in the community about CI's torture rooms weighed heavily on his mind.
Besides, hadn't he been forced to move and take on unnecessary debt because of those CI bastards?
Watching the actions of those men, whom he despised for various reasons, made his blood boil.
So in the end, he decided to interfere.
He was no stranger to ambushing enemies with his stealth cloak, and taking down distracted opponents was easy.
Once back home, Seowoon sank to the floor and let out a sigh.
"Sigh… What the hell is going on?!"
Red emergency lights flashed all around the neighborhood as firefighters continued inspecting buildings.
Especially the residents of the building where the initial explosion happened—they still hadn't been allowed back inside.
Understandably so. With scorch marks still on the rooftop, no thorough fireman would let people into a potentially dangerous building before identifying the cause.
Just then, his phone rang.
-Young Head of Household-
Seeing the name on the screen, he answered the call.
"What's up?"
—That's what I should be asking! What happened?!
"Huh? Well, something did happen. How did you find out?"
—It's already trending—'Mysterious Explosion in Bupyeong'—it's all over the real-time search rankings!
"Already?"
—Articles are coming out, too. This wasn't normal, was it?
"Don't get me started. CI agents and a Resistance member had a major clash."
At his answer, he heard a relieved sigh through the receiver.
—Don't tell me you got involved. You should've just stayed out of it.
"Kichan."
—Yeah?
Seowoon suddenly dropped his voice, becoming serious. The tension in Kichan's voice was palpable through the line.
"Do you know what 'just in case' really means?"
—…It kills people?
"Exactly. I got involved."
—Hyung!!! What were you thinking?!
"I wouldn't have done it if I wasn't confident I wouldn't get caught."
– Are you sure you didn't get caught?
"I only went in because everything lined up. I don't like the way those guys operate. And the way they stir things up at night is just annoying."
– Sigh. If something goes wrong, moving all the way here will have been pointless.
"That's true, but still, I couldn't just pretend not to see a bunch of guys ganging up on a single woman."
– What, are you some knight in shining armor? And weren't you the one who shot and killed that woman backed into a corner in Cloyd?
"Man! That was in Cloyd. It's not the same as real life."
– Anyway, be careful! If it were Chin Jung-yeon, maybe. But meddling in what Jung-jung is doing will never end well.
"I know. Anyway, let's end it here. I'm tired from doing gymnastics under the moonlight."
– Haah. Seriously, you need to be careful.
"I got it, okay?"
He hung up and lay down on the bed.
It wasn't a joke — the tension from being in real combat again after so long had finally released, and fatigue hit him all at once.
Skipping even his usual energy exercises for once, Seowoon closed his eyes and fell asleep.
***
A small hospital room lit by white fluorescent lights.
Jung Suhwa walked in.
"What happened?"
At her sharp voice, the two men with both legs wrapped in bandages kept their heads low in silence.
"I asked what happened."
At the chill in her voice, one man reluctantly opened his mouth.
"We were ambushed during the operation. The other agents are still unconscious. We… suffered some frostbite, at most…"
"Did I ask who got injured and how much? I asked why I wasn't informed of an active operation to capture a Resistance target. Who authorized this unsanctioned mission? And who's taking responsibility for this mess, which ended up trending in real-time searches with no results to show for it?"
The mention of real-time search made the men's faces go pale.
"Who authorized the operation?"
"That is…"
Just as Jung Suhwa was about to explode, a young man entered the hospital room.
Tall, dressed in an elegant navy suit, he said:
"I approved the operation. Is there a problem?"
"On what authority did you approve an operation for our team, Mr. Kim?"
"What choice did I have? The administrator was already off duty. We got intel. I had to approve it. We had a lead on a high-ranking Resistance member. I couldn't just ignore that."
"Then you'll be taking full responsibility for the failure, of course."
"Oh, that? Don't worry, it's all taken care of. The higher-ups smoothed it over, and the report's done. You can't expect perfect results on every mission, right? Failure's part of field work too. Still not used to it, Team Leader Jung?"
With a sneer, the man glanced at the wounded and left the room. The two injured men, despite their injuries, stood and saluted him.
Watching this, Jung Suhwa glared at them and clenched her teeth as she exited.
***
How did it all end up like this?
All she wanted was to buy some basic supplies, but she felt countless presences around her.
Even from a street cleaner sweeping the pavement, she sensed faint energy. Small ripples of mana were constantly detectable from all directions.
Even the shabby drunk dozing off at a convenience store table in broad daylight gave off an aura.
'This whole neighborhood's crawling with them. If Kichan saw this, he'd foam at the mouth.'
Trying not to pay attention, Seowoon went into the convenience store, bought some bottled water and a few simple lunchboxes, and shook his head as he walked back out, still feeling all the energy around him.
Just then, his phone rang.
– Boy Head of Household.
"Yeah."
– Are you home, bro? I'm coming over now.
"No, don't come. I'll head over there."
– I don't mind, but… did something happen?
"I'll explain when I get there."
READ MORE CHAPTERS HERE : https://ko-fi.com/pokemon1920