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Translated by BiasNil
· · ────── ꒰ঌ·✦·໒꒱ ────── · ·
Late at night, in the best hotel in Busan.
Screams could be heard everywhere.
"Ugh… What the?! Who are you people?"
"Shut up and come out if you don't want to die! Hurry, hurry, move!"
The mysterious terrorists burst in at night.
They rode the elevator to each floor, broke down sleeping guests' doors, and took them hostage.
People jolted awake to find guns aimed at their faces.
The terrorists forced them up and herded them to the first floor.
"Is this the last floor?"
"Yeah. Let's finish fast or Boss will get pissed."
The corridor was already chaos.
Across the chaotic hallway where assailants waved guns and shouted at screaming hostages, two terrorists moved to their next room.
More hostages to collect.
As one terrorist readied to kick a door, the other grabbed his arm.
"Wait, there's something I wanna try. I've always wanted to shout this whenever I break someone else's door."
"What—"
"Just listen…"
The other stared at him, speechless, then snorted.
"I can't believe this… but fine. A man's dream, right? I'll do it with you."
"Thanks. On three. One, two… three!"
They kicked the door together and yelled in unison:
"FBI, OPEN UP!!!"
As they stormed through the shattered door, the half-asleep man in the bed flicked a hand—suddenly both men were smacked in the face by their own gunstocks and dropped like stones.
A very anticlimactic end.
***
"Who the hell are these bastards…?"
I woke up, rubbing my eyes.
Noise everywhere, and two masked men pointing guns at me as I sat up.
I was so startled I instinctively twisted their guns with telekinesis and cracked them both in the head.
They collapsed under my bed. Who even are these guys?
"Ugh… What's going on?"
Su-bin and Seo-eun, who'd been sleeping next to me, finally woke up. What were we even doing while all this was happening?
Now that I was fully awake, the sound outside was hell itself—screams, crying, shouting, things breaking, crashing, gunshots…
I could only say one thing.
"I think there's been a terrorist attack."
Seriously.
I'm a guy who doesn't swear.
But—fuck—it's a bit much, isn't it?
What did I even do wrong…?
I've only been on two trips so far, and both times disasters strike?
There are a ton of hotels in Busan!
WHY! IS THIS HAPPENING TO MY HOTEL?
No matter how I think about it, the world just hates me.
It's unfair. I'm sure I've lived decently… well, okay, not really, but I'm proud I've lived sincerely.
HOW COME! GOD CREATED ME, KIM DA-IN, AND ALSO CREATED THESE VICIOUS VILLAINS.
God, let me be a righteous villain again today…
"Yawn… What the hell is going on here?"
Seo-eun sat up, bleary-eyed, looking around like this was some minor annoyance. I guess nothing scares her anymore. Are we just used to terrorism now?
"Wait, I'll check the parking lot."
I blinked out, teleporting straight to our car.
"Move it, move it!!"
"Carry the supplies! Get your weapons!"
The underground parking lot was already a mess.
Dozens of military trucks and a swarm of masked men.
Nope. Hard pass. This place is hell.
I was going to bring Seo-eun and Su-bin here if it was safe, but—yeah, no. Very no.
Rummage, rummage.
First, I grabbed the essentials from our stash.
A yellow mask that covers my entire face. Check.
Wireless earphones and the connector—if we get separated, we'll need to keep in touch. Check.
Guns… By the original plan, a machine gun would be overkill, so I only took a couple of small handguns. For now.
After packing in a rush, I glanced outside the hotel once more and warped back to our room.
It all took less than a minute. Back in the room, I handed gear to a tense-looking Seo-eun and to Su-bin, who was quietly looking on.
"Okay, handguns first… Su-bin, you already know how to use it. Seo-eun, I taught you last time, right?"
Chaos still raged outside—screams everywhere.
If we hang around, we'll get swept up in this, so quick briefing only.
"It looks like a terror hit. Armed vehicles on the road, helicopters overhead—bad scene. From now on, stick with me. First, we blend in and act like hostages."
They both nodded.
I don't know who these punks think they are, waking me up like this—
Unforgivable.
Their base is probably down on the first floor.
Haa… I just wanted a normal life.
I gripped my gun.
Ahh, that cool, heavy feel.
It's been two months.
Time to be the 'Villain' Egostic again.
"Da-in… Why are you posing right now?"
Catching Seo-eun's baffled stare, I hurriedly stuffed the gun deeper into my pocket.
Fortunately I'd gone to bed in black sweatpants, so the pocket space was fine. Imagine how embarrassing this would be if I'd worn those sky-blue cloud pajamas.
Guns packed, earbuds in, mask shoved deep into my pocket. Prep complete.
"Well, let's go."
I looked back; they nodded and fell in with me.
Outside our room: total wreckage.
Shattered pottery, sprinklers going off. Madness.
"What are you doing? Move! Faster!"
The assailants barked orders, guns raised.
"Oh, yes, yes—we're going, we're going."
I shuffled along with a faint, nervous smile.
"If you don't hurry—ugh!"
I flicked the talkative man's gun with telekinesis; the stock slammed his nose. He crumpled.
Too chatty.
Luckily no one noticed in the chaos.
The hostages looked out of it.
Of course they did—who expects to be dragged out in their pajamas at a hotel?
Men, women, families, bald guys—everyone was being herded along.
Isn't this what a red-bean bun looks like at night? Packed and squished?
Blending in, I reached the stairwell with the crowd.
"Down the stairs! Now! Move!"
They were forcing people into a narrow stairwell.
…This is the 27th floor—and you want us to take the stairs?
Seriously?
I gritted my teeth at the cold-blooded cruelty.
It's not enough to wake people from sleep—you're making them rock-climb now?
I'm going to kill you all.
We are not going down there.
I whispered to the two beside me:
"Hold tight."
And then I teleported—smooth and casual.
It's a bit… tiring, but it can't be helped.
I'm not walking down 27 flights.
If anyone saw us vanish? They'll think they imagined it.
***
Hotel lobby.
A few hours ago, calm classical music and genteel chatter. Now, the vibe of Jagalchi Market*. *TN: Korea's largest seafood market—always crowded and noisy.
In the cathedral-sized space, people sat packed like bean sprouts while masked terrorists patrolled with guns.
At this late hour, people should've been ending their day peacefully. Instead, the hotel had become a nightmare.
They'd piled the lobby's scattered chairs into a barricade tower at the main doors.
The stacks faced inward to block the entrance, and in the middle of the pile, a single luxurious chair sat alone.
On that chair, legs crossed:
A-class villain, Monkey Spanner.
He sat with a cigar clenched between his teeth, twirling the twisted beard ends on both sides like some pirate king.
"…Did you gather all the hostages?"
He chewed his cigar and called down to a goon at the base of the chair pile. The underling shouted back, brimming with bravado:
"Yes! We've moved everyone from all 30 floors down here!"
"…Good. All right."
Monkey Spanner toyed with his beard for a moment, then rose.
His massive muscles flexed as he stood.
As he straightened up, a masked cameraman hurried to frame the shot.
In this vast, crammed space—
The crowd held its breath. The only sound was that man rising to his feet.
He squared to the front—at the camera—and bellowed:
"I'm informing the Association and the Government."
A weighty opening—then he sucked in a breath and roared:
"Right here!!! We're holding thousands of hostages! If you don't deposit the ransom into the account I'm about to give you!!!! I'll kill every last one of them! My account number is—One! Zero! Zero! Two!—"
While he was screaming like he owned the place—
Suddenly, from somewhere among the hushed hostages, clapping started.
Clap, clap, clap, clap.
In this silence, aside from his shouting—
The sound of someone applauding was bizarre.
Even Monkey Spanner paused mid-broadcast.
The whole place went dead quiet, and only the clapping remained.
Citizens nearby whipped their heads around, horror-struck, to find the lunatic who was applauding.
I stood up quietly under those stares.
And I kept clapping.
If you want aggro, you draw it like this.