283 – Corporation, Villain, Gang # 5
“Let me go! I’m not Lee Dong-sik! I’m just an ordinary elementary school student!”
A boy who seemed to be in the upper grades of elementary school was struggling wildly.
Ari tied him up tightly with a rope she had prepared, preventing him from moving.
“Now you can’t escape like you want. Even so, it’s strange. According to the documents, Lee Dong-sik should be 27 years old. This appearance is also different from the photo.”
Ari had once tied up prisoners in the underground prison “Level 0” in Namsan.
The Lee Dong-sik she had captured in the past seemed to look completely different from the Lee Dong-sik now.
Swoosh-.
I inspected the prisoner uniform of Lee Dong-sik that I received from the elf leader Freya.
The uniform was excessively large, indicating that the man who wore it had a huge stature.
He was over 2 meters tall and surely weighed more than 130 kg.
However, this boy looked barely 160 cm and appeared to weigh lightly.
Logically, it would be correct to evaluate that the boy and the giant Lee Dong-sik were different people.
– Growl…!!!
But Kkungkkungi was expressing clear hostility towards the boy.
This meant that the scent from the prisoner uniform matched the boy’s scent.
Could the escaped convict Lee Dong-sik have changed his appearance through plastic surgery?
It was common for fleeing criminals to undergo facial reconstruction.
However, the fact that both the physique and age had changed went far beyond any level of plastic surgery.
“Let me go! Let me go! I’m going to report you! You did bad things to an elementary school student! I’m going to report you all! Ma’am! Hurry up and untie this! Ma’am!”
The boy, Lee Dong-sik, tied up with the rope, squirmed wildly, and his writhing figure was similar to a salted snail.
I felt a bit confused by the ongoing commotion.
If the nymphs had been around, they would have just beaten him into submission.
Crinkle-.
Seo Ye-rim frowned.
“Who does that brat think he’s calling ‘ma’am’? Corebi-gi, cheek pinch!”
Pop-!
Seo Ye-rim tugged at the boy’s cheek.
It stretched with a squelch.
“Ahhh! That hurts! It hurts! I said it hurts!”
The “Corebi-gi cheek pinch” was a very powerful technique that inflicted pain without causing external or internal injuries.
It could be considered a highly effective torture and punishment technique.
Holding the boy’s cheek as she did, Seo Ye-rim spoke.
“If we take this brat to Golden Hand like this, wouldn’t we figure out what’s going on?”
It was a good idea.
Indeed, with so many people, good opinions keep flowing.
Feeling that way, we decided to take the boy to the Iljin Association headquarters.
However-.
A problem arose.
Step, step, step-.
As we were walking through the complex alleyways, a group of people in white suits blocked our way.
We were surrounded by people in white suits on all sides.
Seo Ye-rim said.
“Those guys are the troubleshooters of the Osa Group. They’re the ‘White Cleaners’ dressed in white clothes. Just like the rumors say, they’re really wearing white clothing.”
The Awakened squad in white suits.
What could be the reason the troubleshooters of the Osa Group appeared before us?
Thud-.
From among the people standing like a white wall, someone stepped forward.
She was a woman with silver hair tied back in a long ponytail.
“Seo Ye-rim, it’s been a while. I am Baek Yu-na. You might not remember, but I used to be in the ‘Illuminator’ team of the Telos Group.”
“Baek Yu-na. I remember. You were a B Rank ability user but got fired for embezzling supplies and resources. Did you end up at Osa after being discarded by us? It seems like the Osa Group takes just about anyone.”
“Since we have a connection with Telos, I’ll let you know that everyone here is B Rank or higher Awakened, reinforced by various equipment and procedures. If a fight breaks out, I can’t say you wouldn’t suffer as well.”
If around twenty of them were all B Rank Awakened or higher, that alone could be considered firepower capable of overtaking a city.
Of course, even so, it would be reckless for them to take on our party, which had two S Rankers and two A Rankers.
Nevertheless, seeing everyone so confident raised the tension.
Since they were elite agents of a corporation, it was impossible to predict what kind of advanced equipment they would pull out.
Baek Yu-na said.
“Hand over that brat over there to us, and we’ll let you pass without a fight.”
When she said “brat,” was she referring to Lee Dong-sik?
The corporation had been quiet all this time, waiting for us to capture Lee Dong-sik to launch their ambush.
I admired their clever strategy when Yu Ara asked.
“Why is the Osa Group targeting Lee Dong-sik?”
“You don’t need to know that.”
So sharp.
As I quickly thought about whether there was any room for conversation or compromise, the troubleshooters in white clothes moved first.
They pulled out something like buttons from their waists and pressed them.
What could that button be?
The first to notice the anomaly was Seo Ye-rim, who had a high concentration of mana.
“Mana is being blocked. Could that be a mana jammer?”
“That’s correct. It’s an effective item against Awakened. You are within the area of the mana jammer deployed by our Osa Group. And we have an effective weapon system even within that area.”
Clank-.
Seo Ye-rim, Yu Ara, and Lee Jin-A sweated coldly, feeling as if their bodies had become as heavy as lead when they saw the corporate agents drawing guns from their waists.
I would have never imagined that a mana jamming technique to block mana in a specific area had already been commercialized to this extent. It was indeed an excellent technique for combating Awakened.
However, I still had Kkungkkungi and Ahn Ahn with me.
“Ahn Ahn! Go! Time to shred them!”
Ahn Ahn and Kkungkkungi had impressive basic physical abilities even without being enhanced by mana. With a powerful whoosh, Ahn Ahn flew and shredded the troubleshooters dressed in white.
– Slice…!
Swish, swish, swish, shashashak!
“Guaah!”
“Gyaaah!”
Even if they claimed to be troubleshooters of the corporation, they were still ultimately human.
The ones who got shredded fell down in a heap, causing the buttons they held to drop and shatter on the ground.
Whoooosh-.
The unpleasant mana jamming surrounding us disappeared.
As if the rebar pressing down on my shoulders had flown far away, I felt refreshed when Lee Jin-A shouted.
“Everyone, charge in! Just beat them up!”
Pop-!
Without needing Lee Jin-A to shout, Yu Ara and Seo Ye-rim rushed towards the troubleshooters in white clothes.
Kkungkkungi, Ahn Ahn, and Kalilnoi also joined the fray in an instant, resulting in a chaotic battle.
– Hiooong, Hiooong, Hiooong…!
In this situation, the most relaxed one was Kkungkkungi, strumming a small guitar made from its own webbing and singing a song.
Kkungkkungi’s singing seemed to contain excellent mana that boosted the combat power of allies.
Benefiting from that effect, Kkungkkungi and Ahn Ahn also showed enthusiasm.
“Alright! Hyper evolution! Go! Kkungkkungi!”
– Kkungkkungi…!
I concentrated my mana projection onto Kkungkkungi.
Whap-!
Kkungkkungi’s fur shone golden, crackling with sparks.
The species value of 650 for Kkungkkungi transformed into a hyper squirrel beast with a species value reaching 700. It could truly be described as a legendary super squirrel.
– Growl…!!!
“Uwaah! The squirrel beast is way too strong…!”
“R-Run away…!”
“Hiiee…!”
The troubleshooters of the Osa Group fell helplessly before the furious super squirrel.
Every time Kkungkkungi collided with an opponent, the troubleshooters fluttered like paper in the wind.
# # #
The fight ended in five minutes.
Even if the corporation’s strike team was strong, charging into a group with two S Rankers was practically a suicide mission.
The corporate agents ended up either fainted or fell, leaving only Baek Yu-na, who appeared to be the team leader.
Yu Ara spoke to Baek Yu-na.
“Baek Yu-na, you need to tell us why the Osa Group is targeting this brat. Trying to keep quiet won’t work. I know ‘Confession Pressure Points’.”
Pop-.
Yu Ara pressed her thumb against the back of Baek Yu-na’s hand.
“Confession Pressure Points.”
That was a point that, when pressed, would cause so much pain that one would reveal even what they did not want to say.
There are a total of 18 confession pressure points on a person’s body, and it is said that only those who possess super sensing like Yu Ara can know all of these points.
Kkuuu-.
As Yu Ara pressed the confession pressure point on Baek Yu-na’s hand, the redness rose to her face in an instant. The composure she had was gone, and she struggled to breathe heavily.
“I…I can’t say…!”
Although she was our enemy, her composure was admirable.
I had tried having a confession pressure point pressed by Yu Ara once due to its health benefits, and it truly hurt so much that I almost cried.
She was pressing the soles of my feet and my back, and it felt like I had been struck by lightning, tingling all over.
To endure that pain.
While I was amazed, Lee Jin-A spoke.
“Step aside. This is my specialty. Getting someone to open their mouth requires the heat of the sun, not the cold north wind. Should I plant a hot delusion in their mind strong enough to melt their brain?”
Swoosh-.
Lee Jin-A’s hand touched Baek Yu-na’s temple.
Then Baek Yu-na let out an extremely high-pitched scream, twisting her body.
Drip-.
Blood gushed from her elegant nose.
Could her brain really be melting?
“Okay! I’ll tell you! Just stop! I can’t take it anymore! The order to bring Lee Dong-sik was the chairman’s command! That’s all I know! I really don’t know more!”
Chairman’s order?
Seo Ye-rim flinched.
“Who are you referring to as the chairman of the Osa Group? Which subsidiary?”
The Osa Group was divided into several subsidiaries.
Pharmaceuticals, defense, entertainment, electronics, and so on.
It was said that the different branches were run by half-siblings who competed with and kept an eye on each other.
Soon, Baek Yu-na spoke.
“There’s only one chairman for the Osa Group. That’s why they’re called the chairman. After all, that person is the founder of the Osa Group. Everything in this country started from that person’s hands.”
