Chapter 172

"Ngh…"

As my vision cleared through a splitting headache, something rough and thick made itself felt, wrapped around me.

"What…?"

A massive fishing net, woven with steel wire.

A frantic look around — and there wasn't just one net hanging in midair. There were several.

I was trapped with Hajun and Suho — the ones I'd grabbed onto right before we fell — and in the net beside us, Sea-ah and Cha Yul; next to them, Inho and Kang Taemin, all tangled and unconscious.

Aside from me, none of them was moving. Dead still.

"Haah… how many times am I going to have to burn through these expensive mana blockers because of these guys."

At the complaining voice from below, I looked down — and ground my teeth.

The very hulk who'd kidnapped Hayun at the café.

In one hand he held a chain shackled to the unconscious Hayun's ankle.

He'd clearly snatched Hayun alone the instant we dropped into the trap.

And in his other hand was that same familiar device — the one that had knocked out Kang Taemin and the kids in one shot at the café.

"Only had three to begin with and I've burned through two already. Single-use, can't even reuse the damn things."

But the moment his griping eyes fell on us caught in the nets, his face lit up with the satisfaction of a fisherman landing a monster catch.

"Well — hauled in this many Awakened, not a bad haul."

"What the hell did you do to us!"

At my furious shout, he snickered and waved the device at me.

"What'd I do? Put you all to sleep, nice and quiet. This one temporarily cuts off the mana inside you. For an Awakened, it's basically the same shock as your blood suddenly stopping mid-flow. Slick, huh? Can't even get this on the market~."

"You crazy bastard!"

Twisting with fury, I yanked hard at the net.

I threw my whole weight into thrashing, even bit at it with my teeth, but under my pitiful strength, the thick net didn't stretch a single millimeter.

All the pointless struggling did was scrape my palms raw and draw blood.

"Oh, come on. Save your breath. Even a B-rank Awakened can't tear this — what's a non-Awakened going to do about it?"

Watching me thrash, his eyes suddenly took on a snake's glint.

"By the way. You're pretty famous, aren't you? Word is you can trigger a secondary awakening?"

"!"

Thick greed pooled in his eyes.

"Requests to kidnap you have been pouring in from all over the world. Money's no object, they say. But weirdly enough, our brass turned every one of them down."

He snorted and gave an oily sneer.

"Because of that fine daddy of yours, no doubt… but if you ask me, it's just the excuse of pathetic cowards! You want to achieve a great cause, you swallow that kind of risk!"

People from all over the world are after me…?

At the moment my head went white with the unexpected information —

Vwoooooo—!

Along with a massive foghorn hammering my eardrums, the heavy vibration of the engine ran up through the steel floor beneath my feet.

The ship had started moving.

Watching the shock on my face, the hulk crowed in glee.

"All right, let's all cross the sea together! Just selling you lot at a premium is going to bring in more than enough funding for our Liberation Front's cause. Numbers like this, and the branch chief seat is mine! Hahaha!"

"You… piece of trash…!"

"Ha ha, don't get worked up. You're a precious top-grade product — wouldn't want you scuffed."

With an oily grin, he pulled a black gas mask down over his face.

"So — time you had a nice quiet sleep too."

Sssss—!

The words had barely left him when white gas came pouring out of the vents on every side of the hold.

"Cough! Th-this is—"

"The mana blocker's only a momentary cut-off, so the strong ones wake right up, y'know? Would be a pain if any of them came to along the way. It's sleep gas — harmless to the body — so rest easy."

Just a few seconds of breathing it in, and my vision was blinking heavily, like lead weights had been hung from my eyelids.

No… if I fall asleep here, it's over!

To hold onto the reason slipping away from me, I drove my fist into my own face without hesitation.

Whack—!

A dull impact — the metallic taste of blood spread through my mouth.

Whack! Whack! Whack—!

Even through pain like my jaw was about to fly off, I hammered my cheek again and again.

But the sleep gas had already sunk in deep, and even that physical pain went distant, numbed away.

Please…! Just a little longer, a little longer—!

I screamed inside like I was coughing up blood and fought it, but with strength draining out from my fingertips, my body soon slumped like a broken doll.

Beyond my blurring vision, the voice I'd thrown out with such confidence up on the deck just minutes ago echoed in my head, phantom-like.

If I have no mana, I'll block them with my body. If I don't have Awakened abilities, I'll grab hold and hang on even if my bones break. If that doesn't work, I'll bite them and stop them with my teeth.

So if you want to take them, you'd better cut my throat clean first. As long as I've got one breath left, whatever it takes, I'll stop you.

Ha ha… what a fucking joke.

A hollow, self-mocking laugh burst out of me.

Block with my body?

Cut my throat first?

Some measly sleep gas and I couldn't even hold my own body up.

I could feel bloody saliva trickling from the corner of my mouth, but there was no stopping the empty, useless laughter leaking out.

I never should have brought the kids here to begin with. Even if I came, I should have come alone.

No — before that, I shouldn't have taken Hayun and Hajun to that café at all. Shouldn't have trusted those so-called parents even for a second.

No — I should have just kept the kids somewhere no one could find them, safe, and never let them out into the world for the rest of their lives.

No — from the start, I should have had nothing to do with these kids.

If I'd just stopped the original's experiments and abuse, and cut ties.

If they'd never crossed paths with the variable that was me, they wouldn't have been kidnapped like this, at least.

Misery and helpless rage — in the end, blood and tears tangled together and dripped from my chin.

What good is transmigrating into a novel. What good is knowing the future. All I did was drag the kids into worse danger.

I crushed Suho's and Hajun's warmth to me, tight enough to break something.

Through blood-crusted lips, a mad prayer burst out.

Please…! Anyone, anyone at all, please…!

God or the devil, I didn't care.

Just once — in place of powerless me, who can't do a thing — send someone with the strength to save these kids. Just once, let that goddamn miracle happen.

That short, forever-long moment as my vision faded into the far distance —

Vwoong—!

From Hajun's body, cradled in my arms, an inexplicable, strange pulse rose up.

It started as the faintest tremor, then turned in a heartbeat into an unknown power surging into me.

My breath stopped.

Soon, from somewhere deep in my gut, a searing, uncanny heat began to spiral up.

"Nn — ngh…!"

Not just heat. Something like living, boiling molten iron being poured straight into me — a savage, alien sensation.

Pain like every organ in me was about to burn away — I clutched my stomach, groaning like an animal.

And just as that enormous, unbearable energy hit its limit and was about to burst out —

BOOM——!!

Along with an enormous explosion that shredded my eardrums, the entire massive freighter began to rock wildly.

"Fuck! What is that!"

The steel nets suspended in the air bucked and thrashed like living things, and I felt my body float up too, weightless.

By reflex, I hugged the unconscious kids even tighter.

"Wh-what is this?! There's a huge hole in the ship—!"

Something enormous was clearly happening.

But I couldn't see the horrified face of the shouting hulk, or make out any of what was in front of me.

Because at the same moment my vision burned to white, agonizing pain — like my eyes were about to burst — hit me like a lightning strike.

"Aagh!"

Like both eyeballs were being seared raw with a red-hot iron — a vicious pain.

"Ah — ngh…"

Unable to even scream, gasping — inside the pitch-black nothing where I could see none of it, phantom voices hit my ear.

"Ngh… wh-what is this…!"

"…Director!"

"Direektuh!!"

Ah, finally.

Thank god…

With those familiar voices calling my name desperately as a lullaby, I let go completely and dropped away into the far-off abyss.

Whooosh—.

Cha Yul came to at the sound of a biting sea wind rushing in.

"Ngh…"

He forced his heavy eyelids up, and the cargo hold — a wreck, like it had been bombed — came into view.

He was still blankly taking in his own suspended-in-midair state and the whole side of the ship blown open when a desperate voice hit his ear.

"Director! Please, open your eyes!"

Cha Yul turned toward the desperate cry — and his heart dropped.

There, the man with dazzling blond hair hung limp — a marionette with its strings cut.

The sight was pure horror.

His cheeks were puffed up with bruises, as if someone had beaten him without mercy, and his split lips were a mess of dark red blood; from his tightly shut eyes, blood was dripping without pause.

But even in that state, he was holding the unconscious Hajun crushed to his chest, tight enough to break something.

"Director! Hnngh, please, Director…!"

Awake alone at his side, Suho was sobbing and pouring healing light onto the drained body, wild and desperate.

Thanks to that desperate healing, the injuries on his face were closing quickly — but for whatever reason, the red blood flowing from his firmly shut eyes showed no sign of stopping.

The instant that agonizing sight registered, Cha Yul's blood-red eyes trembled, and his breathing turned rough.

He didn't need to see what had happened; it was obvious.

That damn fool of a man — sacrificed something for us again.

The moment he saw the blood leaking from the Director's eyes drip off his chin, soak through the net, and pool red on the floor —

A familiar panic that paralyzed reason began to creep up from somewhere deep inside Cha Yul.

But.

Snap out of it!

That awful day in the past, when he'd frozen in the same kind of panic and had to helplessly watch the Director's arm get torn off.

Since that day, he'd sworn to himself, again and again.

Never again — never again would he just stand there, watching, unable to do a thing.

Once he'd confirmed the faint rise and fall of the Director's chest, the boy scrubbed the tangled thoughts from his head.

He fixed every nerve he had on what he had to do right now — and on what he could do.

He pulled up his mana without hesitation, and vicious blue sparks crackled off both hands.

Zzzt—! Thunk!

Cha Yul dropped lightly through the torn net.

Then Sea-ah, Kang Taemin, and Inho — each using their own power — broke through their nets and landed, one after another.

Thud, thud, thud—!

Fury-laced killing intent poured, all at once, from the four Awakened onto the hulk.

"You hurt the Director again…?"

Sea-ah growled it, wiping her tears, and Kang Taemin, face blank, cracked his knuckles — pop — and closed the distance, cold.

"Ee-eek…! I-I didn't do it! I really didn't do anything!"

Ashen, backing away, the man snatched a pistol out and pointed it, frantic.

The trembling muzzle pressed hard against the fallen Hayun's temple.

"D-don't come near! One step closer and I'll blow this brat's head off!"

"…"

At the man's mad screaming, the Awakened stopped in their tracks as one.

A silence like thin ice, ready to shatter at any moment, settled over the scene.

Everyone froze, breath held, watching for the perfect opening —

"Who's blowing whose head off!!!"

The slumped Hayun snapped her eyes open and let out a shrill shriek.

"?!"

"Our Direektuh! You did that to him! You bad guyyy!!!"

The moment the man flinched, thrown, something bizarre happened.

A sharp stone flew in from somewhere — ping! — cut through the air, and struck him squarely on the forehead.