AAGULT Ch 43

Chapter 43

“Hoo…”

Though it looked slightly different from the facility he had infiltrated before, all illegal guiding sites were essentially the same. With just one sweeping glance, he could more or less grasp how things operated here.

It was still dark since it was dawn. He was extremely relieved the lights weren’t triggered by motion sensors. Had they been, he would’ve been discovered the moment he arrived, and the alarms would have gone off—it would’ve been a disaster.

“……”

Pressed tightly against the wall, he waited for his eyes to adjust to the darkness. His heartbeat was so loud and forceful that he worried it might give him away, but fortunately, the surroundings remained silent.

Among the organizations operating illegal guiding facilities, Baeksan—the group Jaeha belonged to—had the most locations. He recalled that Black Dragon had two and White Tiger had one.

If he had to guess where Jiwon was being held, calling it a 50-50 chance was almost laughable. Of the two Black Dragon facilities, one was said to be exclusively for high-ranking guides and used only by executives. It was unlikely Jiwon, who had just been abducted, was taken there. Which meant, with high probability, he was here.

“Where could he be…?”

That was the problem. The guides would have been randomly collected and distributed across the rooms in fixed numbers, and Jaeha had no idea where he currently was.

“……”

He stepped out into the corridor, moving slowly. He had swapped his shoes for a pair of combat boots he had received earlier, so his footsteps didn’t make much noise. He even held back swallowing, fearing the sound it might make. Gripping a silenced gun, he moved cautiously. The hallway was long. He spotted a camera mounted high on the far wall and quickly ducked behind one of the pillars placed intermittently along the corridor. He hesitated. If he shot that, would the alarm go off…?

Infiltrating enemy territory alone—he had never lived as a coward, nor had he ever intended to. So this situation didn’t feel real. Perhaps that’s why reckless thoughts didn’t seem all that unreasonable.

He checked the wire connected to the camera. It was hard to see in the dark, but it didn’t seem to be the type directly wired to a central system. Even so, he didn’t feel the need to gamble. He decided to use blind spots as best he could to move forward.

“……”

At least, that was the plan.

WEEEEEOOOOO—

“……!”

It happened before he even had the chance to lower his gun. The blaring alarm filled the corridor—no, the entire building.

He was dazed. How long had it even been since he got in?

Was it his fault? Had he been caught? Was there an Esper-detection sensor? Was this his own lack of intelligence at fault? His thoughts began spiraling in that direction until a thunderous noise erupted from what he assumed was the upper floor. Dust rained down from the aging building.

“…Ha.”

The sheer absurdity of the situation made him let out a breathless laugh.

Soundproofing didn’t seem to be particularly effective. No, judging by the echoing racket, the passage to the upper floor must’ve been open. If he was currently on the basement level, then perhaps it was actually a stroke of luck. He might be able to escape in the chaos…

Jaeha closed his eyes and focused on the sounds coming from above.

—Is it the Association?! Damn it…!

—Get them out of here! Evacuate all the guides!

—Request backup from HQ!

“……”

The voices were too muddled by the echo to clearly make out, but he focused anyway. He could hear sounds of people clashing, and gunfire. That’s when he realized: Black Dragon and the Association were in direct conflict. It wasn’t an uncommon occurrence. Jaeha himself hadn’t experienced it firsthand, having worked as an undercover bartender at a bar for a long time, but the Association regularly disrupted growing criminal organizations by raiding and shutting down their illegal facilities one by one.

Jaeha let out a low groan.

Of all days, the day he snuck into an enemy facility without his boss’s permission—like a rat—had to be the same day the Association launched a crackdown on this illegal guiding facility. What were the odds? He could confidently say it was less than 1%…

“Ah, damn it…”

It was clear now that all his luck had been spent the moment he met the boss who saved him from debt, and again when he met Eden. There was none left. Could a situation get any more twisted than this?

Still, Jaeha didn’t want to be swept along passively in this mess. He decided to take advantage of the confusion. He loosened his grimace into a more neutral expression and took a deep breath. Now that the alarms were blaring, there was no need to worry about the surveillance cameras. He stepped out from behind the pillar and began swiftly checking each window set into the doors lining the corridor, searching for Jiwon.

“What the hell…!”

“—! Is someone there?!”

Perhaps because of the sudden alarm and the explosions shaking the building, the guides who had been asleep were beginning to wake. Jaeha grabbed one of the door handles and tugged, just in case. It only rattled; it wouldn’t open.

Of course it was locked. This confirmed that the facility did indeed abduct guides and detain them illegally. He felt sick. But then again, it was hypocritical to feel that way, considering he himself worked at a similar illegal guiding site, even if the conditions were supposedly better.

Dust continued to fall from the ceiling as chaos reigned above. The guides he encountered had fear written plainly across their faces.

Some were cowering in corners, others were pressed up against the doors, watching the hallway through the small windows. When their eyes met Jaeha’s, they began pounding on the doors, pleading to be let out. But Jaeha had no keys—and he had to conserve his bullets.

He couldn’t save them all. The Association would be rescuing everyone anyway as part of the raid. Considering the gunfire and destruction going on upstairs, it might even be more dangerous for all these people to flood out into the hallway now.

All Jaeha needed to do was find Jiwon and get him out—if he was even here at all…

But whether it was by coincidence or miracle, just as he was nearing the end of the corridor, moving swiftly, he locked eyes with Jiwon, who was peering through one of the door windows.

“Jaeha!”

“Jiwon!”

He had almost walked past him but quickly turned around and rushed to the door. Relief hit him so hard his heart felt like it might leap out of his chest.

“H-How are you here…?”

“I’ll explain later… Step back. I’m going to open the door.”

“O-Okay…!”

Jaeha gripped the gun with both hands and aimed at the door handle. He steadied his slightly trembling breath and fired two quick shots.

Bang, bang.

It wasn’t hard to aim at a still target. He had the strength to match his build, so the recoil wasn’t much of an issue. Breaking the lock took no time.

Even with a silencer, the gunshots were audible. He worried momentarily, but they were masked by the loud explosions upstairs. That was fortunate. It spared the other guides from screaming or panicking further due to the sound.

Creak—

“Ah…”

“Hurry, get out!”

The battered door swung open. Jiwon rushed out, clinging close to him.

“Stick close behind me. Don’t fall behind…”

“Okay…!”

Eunyul had said he’d arrive in three hours. At the time, that felt tight. Jaeha never imagined he’d find Jiwon in just ten minutes. He hadn’t expected the situation to escalate this quickly either.

Now he had to avoid detection by both Black Dragon and the Association until then—either escape or hide and wait for Eunyul. The pressure weighed on him. The darkness made him narrow his eyes. He pulled a knife from the harness on his chest and handed it to Jiwon for self-defense. Jiwon accepted it with trembling hands, gripping it tightly.

“If you see anything, let me know.”

“O-Okay…”

Unlike Jaeha, Jiwon had no training. He was a complete civilian. Jaeha kept him close behind, slowly advancing down the hallway with his back against the wall. Explosions and crashing sounds continued above. Gritting his teeth, he pressed on.

At the end of the corridor, he saw a staircase. The other end was blocked by a wall, so this had to be the only exit.

Next to the stairs was a door that appeared to lead to a storage room. He peeked inside and saw rows of monitors displaying surveillance footage from the guide rooms.

Jaeha paused to think. But his decision was quick.

“Jiwon, I’m going to head upstairs and check things out. Hide in one of the lockers in here.”

“You’re going up there alone? It’s dangerous.”

“Eunyul said he’d be here in three hours. Until then, we have to either hide or escape. Since this is the only way out, I need to get a read on what’s going on upstairs. If it gets dangerous, I’ll find my way out.”

“……”

He pushed Jiwon into the room. Jiwon allowed himself to be guided, but his expression was one of unbearable guilt.

“Jaeha…”

Jaeha understood that guilt—and the reasons Jiwon had no choice but to make the decisions he had. So all he could do was offer a sheepish smile.

“If I don’t come back, go with the Association instead of Black Dragon. You’re a guide and a victim. If you testify, they’ll take that into account.”

“Okay…”

Jiwon wouldn’t be harmed if rescued by the Association. The ones who’d suffer would be Black Dragon—and the pride of the organization Jaeha belonged to, led by his boss, who’d invested resources into Jiwon. Still, Jaeha hoped things wouldn’t go that way. He didn’t want his organization to become a target.

But even more important than the pride of an organization was the safety of a person.