Chapter 244: Snatched (4)

One of the balaclava-wearing men muttered, “...What the hell is that brat even saying?”

His voice sounded relaxed and unconcerned, but everyone here still noticed his voice trembling at the end of his sentence. N0v3l--B1n was the first platform to present this chapter.

'Something feels a bit off here...'

They could instinctively tell this situation was going sideways. They were supposed to be the hunters, and they had successfully trapped their prey in this deserted location as well. But the prey they thought they had successfully trapped was smiling eerily at them after blocking the exit. It was as if... the prey wasn't him, but them.

If this was any other time, the balaclava-wearing men would have laughed their heads off. They weren't pushovers that would cower with some bluff. The number of martial artists they had dealt with unofficially couldn't even be counted properly, after all.

However, something about this situation didn't feel right. Their chests were getting tighter and tighter with every passing second.

Nothing seemed amiss while kidnapping Kang Eun-Yeong. This feeling of things going wrong only started to raise its head after Kang Jin-Ho burst through the door and announced his presence. However, no one dared to mention that out loud.

There were eight balaclava-wearing men here. But not one among them could be honest with himself and say that a lone brat was making him nervous. Even so...

When Kang Jin-Ho blocked off the doorway, the anxiety in the martial artists' hearts bloomed a little harder as it became more distinct as well.

One of the balaclava-wearing men, Yi Jae-Seok, repeatedly clenched and unfurled his fists to calm his nerves. He suddenly recalled the briefing for today's mission he received from the grave-looking Lee Hyeon-Su. When he was told that the target was a lone individual, hadn’t Yi Jae-Seok thought Lee Hyeon-Su had lost his marbles?

That wasn't surprising, as dealing with one target never required this number of operatives before. It was already strange to see nearly ten people join forces for one target, but they even had to lure that target to somewhere deserted instead of dealing with him promptly? That briefing sure was a flabbergasting one, wasn't it? So, the gathered martial artists asked what kind of nonsense they were about to get involved in, only for them to receive a firm reply from Lee Hyeon-Su.

This was apparently a direct order from the chairman.

So, everyone cursed, saying the chairman had gone senile. Anyone capable of rational judgment would realize how much of a waste this was on manpower, not to mention how pathetic it looked on paper, too.

But now, Yi Jae-Seok felt they should have noticed it back then. Neither Lee Hyeon-Su nor Chairman Kim was an idiot. If they had decided that this number of operatives was necessary, then their estimation was probably correct.

In that case, just who... or what was this brat? Before Yi Jae-Seok could finish his train of thought, Kang Jin-Ho started moving leisurely again.

After Kang Jin-Ho was done shoving the twisted and bent steel doors into the doorway, he started walking toward the martial artists. The eerie smile was still etched on his face.

Gulp...!

Yi Jae-Seok involuntarily swallowed.

“...F*ck!” Someone swore loudly from behind him. However, Yi Jae-Seok didn't blame that person. He also wanted to swear quite badly, after all!

'Just... Just what is going on?!'

Yi Jae-Seok couldn't understand what he and his colleagues were experiencing right now.

This situation didn't seem any different from their previous jobs. Just like before, they had successfully lured the target, and the only thing remaining was killing this brat. However, the feeling Yi Jae-Seok got from this job was just so different from the others.

Obviously, he had run into quite a few idiotic targets who thought too highly of themselves. Martial artists were walking, breathing bundles of pride, and some even had stepped into the realm of conceit, too. Such tendencies were especially pronounced with martial artists who dealt mostly with regular people. They always saw themselves as some kind of supermen and firmly believed they could ably deal with any number of enemies no matter the situation.

In the end, though, they were still trash that would beg for their lives while tears and snot flooded down their faces. After their limbs were ripped off, and they had to crawl on the floor like measly insects, they had done all that without exception!

But the brat standing before their eyes seemed fundamentally different from all of them. How could Yi Jae-Seok tell? He wasn't sure.

He couldn't put his finger on why he felt this way. He couldn't even begin to explain what separated Kang Jin-Ho from all those pieces of trash. However, he could sense it. His instincts were screaming at him.

They screamed that the Kang Jin-Ho walking closer and closer to them was a different breed from the rest. That he was fundamentally different from all the trash Yi Jae-Seok had run into so far...! His heart, his blood, and even his soul were screaming at him!

Yi Jae-Seok spat out an expletive of his own before gritting his teeth. “What are you doing, you idiots? Kill that brat now, or—”

However, Kang Jin-Ho suddenly said something. “You've done something amusing.”

“...?” Yi Jae-Seok clamped his mouth again. But why?

Kang Jin-Ho hadn't done anything in particular. He hadn't even said anything of note, either. But why did everything he did grip and squeeze Yi Jae-Seok's heart so tightly? He just couldn't figure it out. However, the previously murky, uncertain feeling was getting a little clearer in his head as well.

“Yes, you have done something quite amusing.” Kang Jin-Ho smiled brightly and bared his teeth.

Those pearly white teeth... The way those teeth shone in the darkness came across as weird and unsettling.

Yi Jae-Seok was beset with a feeling of a powerful predator baring its fangs and growling mere inches away from his throat. He grew tense, imagining that even a slight movement from him would lead to the beast's sharp fangs tearing into his arteries.

Such intense pressure was coming from a lone man some distance away!

What a laughable notion. This was neither a manga nor a movie. To feel such an intense sensation from a person so far away? This experience went beyond the realm of 'mildly shocking' to enter the territory of 'incredible fluster.’ If Yi Jae-Seok hadn't experienced it and were only told of the experience by someone else, he would have laughed his head off.

He would have even mocked that person as a coward and an idiot. But now? He couldn't even laugh. He was the one going through that experience right now, after all! He was that guy getting piss-scared of someone who still hadn't even made any threatening gestures!

“Urgh...!” Yi Jae-Seok's parched lips finally managed to crack open as he let out a low moan. He opened his clenched fist and found his palm drenched in cold sweat. It should be the same story for everyone else, though, and he finally understood why Lee Hyeon-Su was so adamant back then.

~

“Do not let your guard down. Even the Fallen lost to him. He's a monster beyond your imagination.”

~?

Oh, how Yi Jae-Seok inwardly mocked that sentiment. He mocked, and then mocked some more, thinking that even Lee Hyeon-Su was no one special.

But now, Yi Jae-Seok realized the mockery should have been directed at himself rather than at Lee Hyeon-Su. Not underestimating one's opponent, regardless of who they were, was a basic mindset every martial artist should have. However, Yi Jae-Seok had looked down on his opponent, even though he still hadn’t laid his eyes on the brat. He thought this task would be a cinch, but now, he was about to get his just desserts.

This situation was reminiscent of entering a small cave to hunt a fox, only to run into a huge tiger.

Yi Jae-Seok desperately tried to stop his hands from trembling, but a low whisper dug into his ears first.

“Stop trembling.”

That voice sounded like an adult trying to pacify a child. There was no hint of mockery, only the gentleness of someone genuinely worried about others.

“The results will still be the same whether you're scared or not, so why tremble? Trembling pitifully won't change anything.”

How strange. Yi Jae-Seok felt himself settle down the moment he heard those words.

Those words, they were... right. Yi Jae-Seok and his colleagues had crossed a line they shouldn't have when they dared to kidnap Kang Eun-Yeong to lure Kang Jin-Ho here. The only result would be one of the two opposing sides present today ceasing to exist.

In that case, why was Yi Jae-Seok trembling like an idiot? What would change by shivering like a wreck?

'...It's either we kill him first, or we die trying!'

Accepting that reality suddenly broadened Yi Jae-Seok's field of view for some reason.

“If I'm being honest, I always thought saying this would make me look like an utter loser, but...” Yi Jae-Seok grunted loudly, prompting his colleagues to pay attention to him. “...That f*cker? I don't think he's a pushover, fellas.”

His colleagues slowly nodded in agreement. It seemed they held largely the same sentiment as Yi Jae-Seok. These men had been sharing banters and cackling away at their own jokes just a few minutes ago. But now, their expressions under the balaclavas were stiff as they glared at Kang Jin-Ho with their fists tightly clenched.

“Yup, Chairman Kim and Lee Hyeon-Su wouldn't have given us an easy task. You know what, though? I think those two also have no clue who the hell that brat is, so one slip-up here, and all of us might—”

...Die.

Yi Jae-Seok didn't say the last bit out loud. However, everyone here knew what he had chosen to omit. It was rather funny and unbelievable that he could predict their likely fate solely based on the vibe their opponent oozed, but no one was laughing at Yi Jae-Seok.

“Are you guys done getting ready?” Kang Jin-Ho asked gleefully. Joy could oh-so-clearly be seen from his expression and tone of voice. The smile on his face hinted at how much he was enjoying this situation to the point of going mad, but that fact was tightening around Yi Jae-Seok's throat like a noose.

'This guy is a bona fide psychopath!'

Kang Jin-Ho leisurely opened his mouth. “Well, then...”

A short bout of silence ensued. Everyone waited for Kang Jin-Ho's next words with bated breaths. All he did was build up some anticipation, yet everyone in the factory had no choice but to pay him undivided attention.

“Who should I start with?”

Yi Jae-Seok chuckled hollowly. If there was an award for the most fitting utterance in this kind of situation, what Kang Jin-Ho said would walk away as the overall winner. Not only did he announce the commencement of the hostilities, but he also managed to shrink the hearts of his opponents with sheer terror!

“You son of a b*tch!” Someone behind Yi Jae-Seok cried out before jumping out of the group.

It was unknown whether Kang Jin-Ho's words had angered him or he couldn't withstand the sheer pressure anymore. However, one thing was for certain—Yi Jae-Seok could no longer stop that man.

No, it would be more correct to say that he didn't want to stop that man. Because Yi Jae-Seok was curious—he was curious about just how strong Kang Jin-Ho really was.

Was he as strong as the pressure he emitted suggested? Was he strong enough to instantly kill Yi Jae-Seok and his colleagues? He wanted to see it. He wanted to witness the truth with his own two eyes!

And the result far, far exceeded anything Yi Jae-Seok could imagine, and in various ways as well.

Kang Jin-Ho smiled while staring at the one charging straight at him. His white teeth were bared in full. That smile contained no other emotion than pure, unadulterated joy. At least, that was what it looked like to Yi Jae-Seok.

Kang Jin-Ho's right hand rose up to greet the one charging straight at him. The speed of that hand was slow, incredibly slow. It was so slow that, in fact, he would have trouble trying to catch a mosquito buzzing around nearby. It was slow, even by normal people's standards, too. However, that languid, relaxed movement made all of Kang Jin-Ho's posturing until now seem like a well-acted bluff, yet it still produced a truly bizarre result.

The balaclava-wearing martial artist charging forward inexplicably shoved his own throat into Kang Jin-Ho's grip as if he had been hypnotized. And Yi Jae-Seok was so shocked that his heart nearly leaped out of his mouth.

How...! How could such a thing even be possible?!

That balaclava-wearing man was definitely a martial artist. In other words, he wasn’t an ordinary, powerless person. Moreover, even an ordinary person wouldn't 'entrust' their neck to a hand moving that slowly, so how could a martial artist...

Unfortunately, Yi Jae-Seok failed to finish his train of thought. Actually, it would be more correct to say that he couldn't finish it anymore.

Riiiiip-crunch!

It was such a bizarre noise. It sounded like something was being torn apart while also being pulled out. However, the noise alone wouldn't qualify as bizarre unless the thing producing that noise happened to be a person's neck. Now that would be a serious problem.

Yi Jae-Seok finally witnessed it.

Splaaaaash!

The bizarre noise instantly changed. Now, it resembled someone forcibly plugging up water wildly gushing out of a tap. In a way, such noise shouldn't be anything remarkable. But the story would drastically change if that noise were a result of blood exploding from a person's neck.

Just like that, a storm of blood whipped inside the factory. The balaclava-wearing martial artist charged in only to have his head completely ripped off, causing his blood to gush up into the air like a fountain.

Plop...

Drop...

The two noises of a headless body and a human head falling to the ground echoed simultaneously. And the devil standing in the center of this scarcely-believable spectacle with its figure soaked in crimson blood slowly opened his mouth.

“Next.”