Thud, thud, thud.
A one-sided succession of thuds.
The great sword created a tremendous noise wherever it struck. It was remarkable that the bank building didn’t immediately collapse.
Kim Seyun barely managed to keep dodging. Fortunately, she had no intention of striking back just yet.
“Phew. You’re quick, I’ll give you that. Is your mother not a goblin, but a flying squirrel, perhaps?”
Merely avoiding contact was ultimately futile.
Kim Seyun’s counterattacks gradually reversed the desperate atmosphere. It even created the illusion that she was on par with the enemy.
“It’s Kim Seyun after all…”
“Ha, she’s not being pushed back at all? And she’s up against Pest!”
A wind filled with hope blew.
A high school girl’s tightrope performance instilled a fighting spirit in the people.
“Go for it, Kim Seyun!”
“Kim Seyun! Kim Seyun! Kim Seyun! Kim Seyun!”
Even the bank staff shouted the name Kim Seyun. It was a name that bore the weight of all remaining lives.
“…This is serious. One wrong move and it’s all over.”
Only Park Jinsung assessed the situation with cold clarity.
It’s heavy.
The burden of expectations thrust upon her was too heavy. And the enemy was too strong to shoulder the names of others as well.
No matter how monstrous vice leader might be, she could not bear such suffocating weight.
‘Hmm.’
People wouldn’t listen to Park Jinsung even if he tried to order them, nor were they in a state to listen. So then.
“Hoo. Lee Sunghwa, listen carefully to me. Right now, you must flee immediately.”
“Huh? What are you talking about all of a sudden?”
“Right now, the best option is to jump upwards. Whether it’s hiding in the bathroom, a cabinet, or under a desk, surviving as long as possible is key.”
Park Jinsung had been hiding with Lee Sunghwa behind the battlefield all this time.
Going to the vending machine near the back door was a stroke of luck. From this position, they could at least create some distance by force.
“Your squad leader is holding on. Isn’t it better to attack when it’s a fair fight like now?”
“It’s not a fair fight.”
“Ah… What are you talking about.”
Lee Sunghwa swallowed hard under Park Jinsung’s seriously intense gaze. It was a look that slowly brought an overwhelming sense of pressure.
‘That trash…’
The third squad leader of the second company’s tenth platoon, Byun Kiyoung, frowned upon seeing Park Jinsung’s back.
He always thought he was out of luck, but today was exceptionally exceptional. Pest had attacked just when he was loitering behind Park Jinsung.
‘That trash is right.’
Just as Park Jinsung said, they needed to flee immediately.
Byun Kiyoung, unintentionally observing Park Jinsung, deeply agreed with the timing of his directions.
‘Huh. I must survive this.’
“Lee Sunghwa, do you understand? Running away actually helps the vice leader more… Huh?! L-leader?!”
The eyes of the third squad member and their squad leader met. Byun Kiyoung ignored Park Jinsung and ran towards the emergency stairs near the back door.
“You heard me! Leader!”
“Shouldn’t a flying squirrel be brought down to taste good? Don’t you think?”
Crack.
Kim Seyun, who had been only aware of the sharp edge of the great sword, got hit by its side. The game of dodging the great sword was devilishly difficult, and there was only one chance, one coin.
“Ugh.”
It was like a bug squashed by a fly swatter. Slammed against the wall, she was forced to cough up mouthfuls of blood.
“…….”
The shouts calling Kim Seyun’s name vanished as if they were a lie.
Despair that crushes hope is always stronger than ordinary despair.
The gazes of the people wandered aimlessly, lost. In a moment of realization, this despair transformed into fear.
“Hey comrade, can you still run away?”
“Cough, huff, huff, cough, try and see.”
“That’s right. I should do that.”
The moment the great sword rose again,
“Everyone scatterrrrrrrrrrrrrr!!”
Everyone’s attention converged towards the back door where Park Jinsung was.
“Uh, Pa, Park Jinsung?”
“Huh? What’s that brat up to now?”
Park Jinsung’s shout, normally ignored, triggered the already tense crowd into a frenzy.
“Wo, Woooooah!!”
“Run away!!”
Students and squad members alike started to run desperately. The grown-up employees did the same.
There was only one place to escape to: upstairs. It was like flushing a toilet, everyone rushing to the emergency stairs in a chaotic flow.
The scene of them scrambling up the stairs.
The members of Pest leisurely waited for the command of the man with the great sword. The disdainful expressions hidden under their hoods were an added bonus.
“Huh. Seems like there’s at least one person with a good head on their shoulders. Right, comrades?”
“Your orders.”
“Catch them all.”
“Long live the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.”
The members who briefly saluted then proceeded to ascend the emergency stairs.
“Hey, goblin comrade. What’s the use of buying so much time? Isn’t that right?”
“…Well done, trainee.”
“Ho, you’ve come to your senses, have you?”
Park Jinsung’s shout worked wonderfully for everyone in the battalion.
It gave Kim Seyun time to get up, and it also created a variable for the students to change the situation.
Moreover, since the order was to capture them alive, the likelihood of them being taken alive was high. Just buying time was enough.
“I really like your strong spirit. Now that I see it, you’re quite a useful comrade, aren’t you? How about it, any thoughts on joining my side?”
“Hmph. No way, you brat.”
Kim Seyun said this while exaggeratedly waving her hand.
“I might look better without this on my head, considering the circumstances.”
“Hoo. Hurry up and tell me your name. I don’t want to reject someone whose name I don’t even know.”
“Alright. I’ll reveal it then.”
“Are you going to say it quickly?”
“My name is Kim Iljeong, the person who will liberate South Korea, tainted by the U.S., and become the sun of the great Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.”
Kim Iljeong, still holding the great sword in one hand, slowly removed his hood with the other as he spoke.
He had a side-swept hairstyle and a slim face without a trace of fat. However, despite this, he still bore the distinctive look of the North Korean leadership.
“North Korea… Kim Iljeong…?”
“Surprised that I look so young? I became the sun at an early age, so I’ve been through many hardships.”
Chairman of the Workers’ Party of Korea, Deputy of the Supreme People’s Assembly of North Korea, Supreme Commander of the Korean People’s Army.
Vice Chair of the Human Adversary Council, Pest.
A real monster holding all these titles alone.
“Why would Kim Iljeong be involved in something like this…”
The root of all global evil stood right in front of the female squad member of Haeun High Squad.
The fact that Kim Iljeong was Pest was unknown even to other major countries. Until now, there were suspicions but no concrete evidence.
In front of a high school girl, Kim Iljeong admitted that his nation was a group committing anti-humanitarian terrorism.
“Hmph. I wonder if there’s a bounty on Kim Iljeong? Hoo. How much do they pay for a major criminal?”
It was a bluff. Even the sharp Kim Seyun’s mind wavered in front of this overwhelming fact.
“Why are you trembling all of a sudden, comrade? This is why I can’t go around without my head covered.”
“Hooo… I should use the reward money to buy tteokbokki with Park Jinsung. Thanks. I’ll enjoy it.”
“Huh! You’ve got guts! Just change your attitude a bit and you’ll be fine.”
Kim Iljeong was also secretly excited.
‘Indeed, there was a reason why I, the vice-chair, was directly ordered to attack. Should I say it’s worthy of the chairman?’
Normally, a head of state wouldn’t be doing thuggish acts like this. The policy set by the chairman of Pest was extraordinarily drastic.
There’s a difference in the positions of mere underlings.
Initially, Kim Iljeong wondered why he, the vice-chair, was sent personally, and the purpose wasn’t even clearly explained.
But look at the state of South Korea now.
He hadn’t expected to find such strong soldiers in such a remote place. The chairman’s ulterior motives were indeed sharp.
“Perhaps it was about nipping the bud early? I did well to bring the Plague Squad comrades. Be impressed, comrade. You, a young comrade, turned out to be the most combative here.”
“I was also surprised how much the flat side of a great sword hurts. I almost regretted getting hit.”
“Huh? Wait a minute. Comrade, did you deliberately get knocked out?”
“I found my sword.”
Kim Seyun had been narrowly dodging attacks on purpose. It was genuinely dangerous, but she had to get her hands on the sword somehow.
Originally, there was no time to confront the other hooded figures. It was necessary to stealthily plan her movements without being noticed.
She even considered the distance she would fly when hit. She allowed the attack at the right moment, but the damage far exceeded her expectations.
“Hmph. But in the end, I caught it.”
Park Jinsung’s strategy provided a sword to the unarmed swordsman.
“Huh?”
“I’m still inexperienced, so I need a sword.”
Kim Seyun’s grip on the sword hilt changed.
[White Jade Goblin]
World Spirit Grade Unit System (Idea): A
Manifests the White Jade Goblin in the caster’s body.
Current Generation Goblin: Sword Expert Intermediate
Overall Combat Ability: A(B⁺↑)
* * *
This building was quite tall, with 30 floors.
There were no people in the entire building, possibly because a joint class was scheduled. Although it’s hard to call it fortunate, it made a deadly game of hide-and-seek possible.
“Yeeeek!!”
“Follow me.”
“Let go! Let go of this!”
The person who ran away the fastest was caught before even reaching the 15th floor. By this point, about half of the people had already been captured.
“Huff, huff, huff.”
The current scene is at the end of the men’s restroom on the 5th floor.
Park Jinsung and Lee Sunghwa were huddled together on the toilet. They planned to wait here until the hooded figures climbed higher.
“Hmm. The toilets are incredibly clean for a bank.”
“Jinsung, sh, shouldn’t we hurry up too?”
“It’s okay. First… Yes, take deep breaths. Inhale, exhale.”
Everyone except Kim Seyun was terrified of the current situation. Some even lost their minds after witnessing the brutal scene involving the bodyguards.
“Jinsung, are you okay?”
“Eh? What do you mean?”
Lee Sunghwa had initially been attracted to Park Jinsung’s composure. However, now it seemed he was not just calm but on a completely different level.
‘This isn’t the mentality of a high school student…’
“The lowest floor is the safest. Most of the hooded ones will head upwards, so I think only two or three will sweep the lower floors as they go up.”
“Eh. If that’s the case, wouldn’t it be better if all the hooded ones started sweeping from the bottom up?”
“Huh. I didn’t think of that. That could be a problem.”
“…….”
Lee Sunghwa had thought Park Jinsung was incredibly sharp when he suggested escaping, but he had significant blind spots.
However, contrary to Lee Sunghwa’s thoughts, Park Jinsung’s reason for not fleeing was different. He didn’t consider himself as prey.
Having seen Kim Seyun fighting for her life, Park Jinsung had already made up his mind.
“We should escape too, Jinsung. Right? What can a C-grade and an F-grade do together?”
“Do you think grades define a soul, Sunghwa?”
“Huh? What does that have to do with anything?”
“I heard by chance before. The vice-leader, even as a child, was rated D-grade in combat.”
“I see… But what does that have to do with our current situation?”
“Then doesn’t it mean that Edeya cannot be the absolute standard for a person? There’s no need to feel depressed because of grades, right?”
Thud, thud, thud.
Footsteps began to echo from the other end of the eerily silent corridor.
“Oh, they’re coming. What do we do? A hooded one is approaching.”
“Sunghwa, you have a good Edeya. Much better than someone like me. If you set your mind to it, you can attach all sorts of descriptors to it.”
“Shh. Please be quiet, Jinsung.”
“If you trust me, do exactly as I say from now on.”
“What…?”
Park Jinsung whispered into Lee Sunghwa’s ear, gripping it gently.
Thud.
The footsteps that were echoing in the corridor had already reached inside the restroom. The dark color of the hooded figure stood in stark contrast to the bright restroom lights.
“You brats, come out quickly. The Supreme Leader dislikes those who dawdle.”
“That’s some flavorful dialect you have there. Could you teach me a bit of it?”
Park Jinsung peeked his face through the gap in the door, smiling.
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