Chapter 21
I followed the flowing crowd toward the exit.
However, a firewall soon blocked the path.
“The path is blocked! Let’s move in another direction!”
“Where is another direction! Can’t you hear those gunshots right now? It’s a terror attack, a terror attack!”
The surroundings were chaos itself.
The sounds of people communicating with the outside, as if relying on the communication network, were frantically mixed, and with over a hundred people entangled in this passage alone, it was difficult to even take a step.
The bigger problem was that more than 90% of this crowd were ordinary people.
The weak, who were not accustomed to emergency situations caused by superpowers.
“Isn’t there anyone who can break through the wall!”
“That’s right! What are the Awakeners doing! This is Seoul!”
Breaking through the firewall to the exit.
It was a very simple and fundamental solution.
Cha Yeri could surely break through the firewall with ease, even without a gun.
But if such a simple method were to work, she would have already broken through it long ago.
“……Do you hear it?”
Cha Yeri’s voice asked cautiously.
She was staring at the firewall with a rather serious expression.
I replied while keeping my eyes on the firewall.
“The sound…… you mean?”
“Yes, I think there are about a dozen of them.”
The busy movements of the Psychic Mafia could be heard from beyond the firewall.
They were probably personnel prepared for those who would break through the firewall and advance.
As an aside, Cha Yeri’s agility was the highest among the main characters.
Based on that, she would have already predicted the scale and level of the enemy forces to some extent.
Furthermore, since she had an ability that could specify and see through discharged mana, there was probably no one who could judge this situation more accurately and meticulously than Cha Yeri.
Except for me.
“It seems a situation response team has already been formed outside the building.”
Cha Yeri slightly held up her smartphone.
It was a message from her aide, reporting the situation outside the building.
My smartwatch was also vibrating incessantly.
Our protagonist was hard at work contributing from outside the episode.
-Combat Division Lee Eunho: The organization’s name is Catalina. A Psychic Mafia organized by Awakeners from the American continent. We are currently waiting for their negotiation proposal. Please wait a little longer. I’ll let you know as soon as the Dispel investigators get any other information.
Negotiating with the mafia…….
It was ridiculous.
It was impossible to lead negotiations in a situation where their objective was unknown.
That was not to say we should recklessly force a breakthrough.
Bullets that had little effect on Awakeners were fatal to ordinary people.
“……A clumsy operation will only incite the deaths of ordinary people.”
“Pardon?”
“No, I’m just saying we can’t rely only on the outside.”
In the end, the situation had to be overcome from within.
An episode that had changed by 50%, and without the protagonist at that.
BANG!
A gunshot was heard nearby.
I grabbed Cha Yeri’s wrist and stuck as close to the passage wall as possible.
Soon, mafia members appeared from the passage we had just come through.
“W-who are you people!”
A man stepped forward gallantly in front of the mafia members.
He appeared to be an Awakener.
However, without hearing any reply, between the man’s brows…….
BANG─.
A hole was pierced.
“Kyaaa!”
“M-murderers!”
“Do you think you’ll get away with this!”
It was a pandemonium.
An unfiltered tremor was felt from Cha Yeri’s wrist, which I was holding.
She was not afraid.
She was just enraged.
Cha Yeri’s gaze was already fixed on the guns held by the mafia members.
She was probably gauging how much damage to the hostages there would be if she snatched the guns and killed them all.
I silently squeezed Cha Yeri’s wrist once more.
It was a signal to calm down.
However, she glared at me, shook off my hand, and leaned her body forward as if she would dash out at any moment.
Just as Cha Yeri was about to move, I grabbed her shoulder, pulled her back, and covered her mouth with one hand.
Simultaneously, I bound her shadow and used Stealth.
It would be revealed that I was not a non-ability user, and my relationship with Cha Yeri would worsen, but I could not just stand by and watch the episode get ruined.
Just then, a mafia member’s voice rang out.
“Shut up!”
As silence fell around them, the mafia member shouted again.
“We won’t kill you if you listen carefully! From now on, put both hands on the back of your heads and follow us quietly!”
We won’t kill you if you listen carefully…….
Could there be a sweeter whisper than this?
People began to follow the mafia’s control without a single peep.
One man’s brave sacrifice had, in an instant, turned into a catalyst that made people aware of death.
“Don’t dawdle, move it! The moment you take your hands off your heads, you’re dead!”
The people moved in a line, following the mafia’s control.
They were probably heading to Hall A, the main exhibition hall.
It would be advantageous in many ways to gather the visitors in one place.
More importantly, I wondered how many mafia members were inside the building.
Were there about 200, like in the original story…….
“……”
Around the time the lined-up people had almost disappeared from the passage, Cha Yeri repeatedly let out strong breaths onto the palm of my hand that was covering her mouth.
She was probably complaining that she had missed an opportunity because of me.
Fortunately, because I had sealed her lips tightly, she did not make a loud noise, but one mafia member who sensed something cast his gaze towards us, who were in Stealth.
“Hold on.”
“What is it, big bro.”
“I think I heard something.”
The man in his late 30s, referred to as big bro.
He was wearing a neatly tailored dark-colored suit and a typical mafia fedora, and he was staring at us intently as if he could see right through our Stealth.
“……”
“……”
The tension was so thick I wanted to cover my own mouth with my other hand, if only I could.
“Hmm……”
Soon, the man gave a cryptic smile and adjusted his fedora.
“No, it’s nothing. Let’s get going. There’s nothing to gain by dragging this out.”
“Understood.”
As they finally left the passage, I released the Bind.
Of course, the Stealth remained.
As expected, Cha Yeri lowered her voice and spoke sharply.
“Hey! What are you doing right now?”
“It’s a perception-impairing and action-restricting ability.”
“I’m asking why on earth you interfered.”
From the tone of her voice, she seemed ready to spew curses.
But she did not seem to be digging into the matter of me being a non-ability user.
She probably judged that it was not a topic that needed to be discussed right away.
I looked around, pretending to be on edge, and replied.
“Interfered? Don’t tell me you were planning to take on the mafia members by yourself?”
“Yes, it wasn’t a plan, I really could have done it, if you hadn’t interfered.”
Cha Yeri possessed a more objective perspective than anyone.
Clumsy persuasion would only bring about a counter-effect.
In the end, if I could not find a way to resolve this episode, it would be impossible to convince Cha Yeri.
“Cadet Cha Yeri might have been able to do it. But…… who on earth asked for your help?”
“What did you say? If you hadn’t interfered just now, I could have resolved the situation with minimal casualties!”
“And then what? Are you going to take on the mafia members beyond the firewall too?”
“At least, if we could rally the power of the Awakeners mixed in the crowd, it’s not like we wouldn’t have a chance of winning.”
She was not wrong.
Minimizing casualties and rallying forces to resist the mafia.
It was indeed a rational choice befitting Cha Yeri.
However…….
Cha Yeri was under one misconception.
“Rallying……. Who on earth would show such courage?”
“The people who were waiting for a chance to counterattack!”
“No, the mafia said, ‘We won’t kill you if you listen carefully.’”
“We were being threatened.”
“And at the same time, a deal was struck. It’s an easy thing, to just listen carefully. ……Did you say minimal casualties? People weren’t expecting or hoping for anything from you. They were hoping for it from the active-duty hunters and experienced investigators outside the building, not you.”
“……What are you talking about right now?”
“I’m saying that it was a better choice than you stepping up and getting innocent people sacrificed.”
Improving our relationship was now a secondary concern.
Though she did not say it out loud, Cha Yeri’s once calm face was already deeply scowled.
“So what are you planning to do now? Are you just going to save your own skin and that’s it?”
I did not answer right away.
Because even now, I was still wandering through my thoughts.
First, I had to figure out the mafia’s objective.
The item they were after was a single thing, an item called the ‘Core of the Earth.’
There were many valuable items in the exhibition hall, but even all of them combined were not as valuable as the Core of the Earth.
Of course, it did not become their objective solely based on its value.
The Core of the Earth was the core of the Ancient Golem that the Sword Saint had felled.
The established status of the item was comparable to a Dragon Heart, the source of magic power.
It was one of the purest mana power sources existing on Earth, and a source of mana that could be used for almost several hundred years.
The problem was how the 50% intervention rate was applied in this episode.
Since there was no depiction of killing hostages in the original story, there was a high probability that the development would turn for the worse.
I spoke, as if organizing my thoughts.
“Their purpose must be to steal something.”
“You know that’s obvious, right?”
“Yes. But isn’t it strange? They could just steal and run, but they took hostages, brought a large number of people, and are stalling for time by occupying the building.”
“That’s……”
“That’s probably because they don’t know where the item they want to steal is.”
“……!”
It was one of the confidential matters of the exhibition hall officials.
That the displayed Core of the Earth was a replica.
The problem was that Catalina also knew that.
“The best move considering this hypothesis is to call in the Awakeners from outside the building before they find what they want. In other words……”
“Wait a minute……! If it’s a terror attack of this scale, hunters of considerable skill would have been summoned, right? Subduing them would be quick……”
“No, a Psychic Mafia that has a district-level force in the outskirts of Seoul under its thumb would not have overlooked that.”
“……”
Cha Yeri fell into thought.
As if she had never shown a sharp demeanor.
I pressed on with my opinion.
“The power has been cut. But the communication network is still live. It wouldn’t be a problem for them to restrict wireless communication.”
“What if the reason is for negotiations with the outside?”
“That makes sense too, but it’s more likely that ‘If you pull any funny business, we’ll blow up the whole building’ is a more fitting answer.”
Wireless detonation using the communication network, in other words, a bomb threat.
Catalina had prepared explosives throughout the exhibition hall.
To stall for time, by any means necessary, to find the Core of the Earth.
Cha Yeri gulped and said.
“If that’s the case, Dispel would be completely immobilized. But on the other hand, wouldn’t it be hard to secure an escape route too? Especially considering their numbers……”
“There’s no need for everyone to escape. Only a few of the top brass need to get out.”
“What?”
“I’m saying that if you just dress them in some fancy suits, the outskirts of Seoul are overflowing with worker bees who will follow them blindly.”
“……”
Seoul was a mega-city with an ultra-high population density.
Especially for the mafia groups based in the outskirts of Seoul, humans were an inexhaustible resource.
The mafia’s leadership would not bother caring about the lives of their grunts.
I opened my mouth to add more.
But just then, Lee Eunho’s message made my and Cha Yeri’s smartwatches vibrate.
The content was a situation report that the mafia was stalling for time by threatening to blow up the building.
Cha Yeri looked back and forth between the message and me with a surprised expression.
I did not act smug and urged her on.
“It seems the general context fits. Shall we get moving? I happen to have a few places in mind where the explosives might be hidden.”
She nodded her head without hesitation.
“Alright. I’ll follow your lead.”
As expected, just as she was strong in her assertions, she was quick to acquiesce.
At least for this episode, she would not act on her own.
More importantly, the real problem started now.
Under a 50% intervention rate, nothing could be guaranteed.
The only thing that could be said for certain right now was that there was not much time left.
Whether we removed the bombs or suppressed them with force, the moment Catalina seized the Core of the Earth, the episode would end just like that…….
“……”
Wait, there’s no time?
If there’s no time…… couldn’t I just make time?
If the deadline was the moment the Core of the Earth was handed over, then I just had to prevent them from getting their hands on the Core of the Earth.
In other words…….
I just had to steal it first.