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Chapter 25 - The Escapee (2)
Chapter 25: The Escapee (2)
TL: Enuma Novel
[Person123: Seo Dong-woo]
I didn’t send the Whisper with any real plan in mind.
The bastard who’d nearly killed my father was out there strutting around in plain sight, and it made my blood boil.
Е̃ ńum̌ǎ . іd
I’d sent it on impulse, and was just starting to think it had been pointless, when…
“…!”
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A reply came back immediately.
[So-yeong: Are you really that person?]
[So-yeong: You’re the first Nightmare clearer, right? I think you are?]
What should I do?
Еn u m a
A thousand thoughts raced through my head.
I swallowed the torrent of curses I wanted to unleash and forced myself to stay calm.
[Person123: Yeah, that’s me]
[So-yeong: Oh shit]
Dilarang mengopy novel dari Enuma.id.
[Person123: And you’re Seo Dong-woo?]
[So-yeong: Well duh, obviously]
Е nū m̄ а ..ї d̀
[So-yeong: You wanna talk? Why’d you Whisper me?]
[Person123: You’ve got the whole country in an uproar. I’m interested in what you’re up to.]
Showing hostility here and now would accomplish nothing.
I’d pretend to be interested in him. Maybe I could dig up some useful information.
[So-yeong: Hold on]
[So-yeong: Wait, don’t tell me you’re Korean?]
Dilarang mengopy novel dari Enuma.id.
[Person123: Who knows]
[So-yeong: Whoa, no way, you were actually Korean? The first Nightmare clearer?]
[Person123: So what’s the plan going forward? You just gonna keep running?]
[So-yeong: Hmm~ what should I do. Should I tell you?]
[So-yeong: You’re not some government stooge, are you? Like, setting a trap to catch me or something?]
[Person123: I’m an Unregistered Climber, just like you]
Еn u m̀ а̂
[Person123: I’m hiding the fact that I’m a Climber too, so why would I]
[So-yeong: But why are you hiding the fact that you cleared Nightmare? That’s a huge deal]
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I thought it over briefly, then answered.
[Person123: The government could use it as leverage against me]
[Person123: I actually agree with what you’ve been saying. That Climbers should rule the world]
[So-yeong: For real? You’re on that side too?]
Е̃ǹ_ùm а
[So-yeong: Hahaha man this is great to hear]
[So-yeong: Right? I knew someone like you would get it. We’ve got all this power and there’s no reason we should just sit around playing nice]
[Person123: Exactly. That’s why I’m interested in you. You’re out there doing what nobody else had the guts to do]
[Person123: So what’s next? You’ve gotta have more planned, right?]
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[So-yeong: Oh hell yeah I do! Too many plans, that’s the problem]
[So-yeong: What should I do for fun next? Maybe go wild somewhere packed with people?]
E ñ um ȧ
[So-yeong: Or maybe take over a building and do a hostage thing~ I’ve always kinda wanted to try that]
…Crazy son of a bitch.
What the hell am I supposed to do about this guy?
[So-yeong: Oh hey, why don’t we meet up in person and talk? What do you say?]
[So-yeong: I’m dying to know what the first Nightmare clearer is like]
[So-yeong: I’m super interested in you too, you know. I’ve read all your posts. They were insane. How the hell did you clear it?]
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Out of nowhere, Seo Dong-woo made an absurd proposal.
The guy breaks out of prison, goes on the run, and now he’s asking to meet up?
He was definitely not right in the head.
[Person123: Sure, let’s meet]
But I had no reason to refuse.
I stared at the Communication Channel with cold, sunken eyes as Seo Dong-woo gave me a location.
Е n̂_u m а . і d́
An abandoned school in Incheon.
[So-yeong: We’re already friends, right? You’re not gonna show up with a whole posse, are you?]
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“Don’t worry.”
I’ll be coming alone.
I pulled up a map on my phone and searched for the school’s location.
[Person123: By the way, what Level are you? Seems pretty high]
Еňǔm̌а̊ .і̌ď
[So-yeong: Curious?]
[Person123: If your Level’s too high, meeting you gets a little nerve-wracking for me]
[So-yeong: Fair enough. All I’ll say is it’s somewhere in the twenties. The exact number’s a secret~]
I closed the Communication Channel and headed straight out the door.
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I knew I wasn’t being rational.
What am I going to do when I get there? Fight him? What if he’s even stronger than expected?
Е̇ ṅ u m_ӓ
Father was badly hurt, but he was alive.
I could just chalk it up to getting mauled by some rabid animal and let it go.
I was letting the heat of the moment push me toward something I might not be able to handle.
…Fuck it. No, I can’t let this go.
Not until I’ve shattered every last bone in that bastard’s body.
Yeah, and it’s not just personal, either.
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There was no telling when he’d be caught, and if I left him alone, who knew what kind of rampage he’d go on next. More people could die or get hurt.
If nothing else, taking Seo Dong-woo down was a matter of preventing further damage.
I called a taxi in the predawn hours and headed for the meeting point.
*
Kang Ju-hyeok had gotten the call and was now racing toward the capital region.
Three days of searching had turned up nothing, and then Seo Dong-woo popped up in Seoul out of nowhere.
Е̄ ňu m̄ а̇. і̄d̈
“How do you lose track of someone this badly…”
He muttered anxiously as he waited for the light to change.
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The police were apparently tracing Seo Dong-woo’s route, but Kang Ju-hyeok had a bad feeling about it. Unless a special forces unit surrounded him and opened fire all at once, catching the guy seemed next to impossible.
The rest of the Tower Monitoring Division was scrambling too, but Shin Su-jin was probably the only one in the division who could actually take Seo Dong-woo on.
“And why isn’t Team Leader picking up? This is driving me insane.”
But that very Shin Su-jin was unreachable. Not by phone, not through the Communication Channel.
Wē b̈nо̌ vеl En̈um̊а
They needed to move as fast as possible before they lost Seo Dong-woo again. There was no way she was just asleep and missing calls at a time like this.
The instant the light changed, Kang Ju-hyeok floored the accelerator.
*
[So-yeong: Bahahaha! You’re that girl from back then? Seriously? This is, like, total destiny or something]
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[So-yeong: Wanna know where I am? Should I tell you? Or nah?]
[So-yeong: Alright, alright. If you wanna see me that badly, come find me.]
Ӗ n̈ū m̆ а . і d.
[So-yeong: But keep it a secret from everyone else, yeah? If you don’t come alone, I’m gone~]
The sky was just beginning to lighten with the first hints of dawn.
Shin Su-jin had ignored every attempt to reach her and arrived at her destination alone.
An abandoned school in Incheon. She scaled the wall and slipped inside.
She crossed the schoolyard and entered the decrepit gymnasium. There, lying in the center of the main hall with his legs crossed, was a man.
“Oh, you made it?”
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Seo Dong-woo stretched and sat up.
Shin Su-jin stared at him, her eyes brimming with murderous intent.
“That name. What is it.”
She asked, cutting straight to the point.
Seo Dong-woo cocked his head with feigned innocence.
“Hm? What?”
Е n̄ù mа̂. і̊d̂
“Your Communication Channel nickname… what is it.”
Seo Dong-woo let out a snort of laughter.
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“Aah~ So-yeong? This?”
“…”
“What, not happy to see it? It’s your mom’s name, isn’t it?”
Blood seeped from Shin Su-jin’s clenched fists.
Е̂_ńu m̃ а .і̂ d
Ten years ago, when she was in middle school.
A burglar had broken into their home. The monster killed her father first, right in front of the mother and daughter, when he tried to resist. Then he went after her mother.
Her mother begged for her life, and Shin Su-jin was frozen beside her, unable to do a thing.
And the monster killed her mother too.
Dilarang mengopy novel dari Enuma.id.
Even as she was being stabbed to death, her mother didn’t make a single sound.
“You remember, don’t you? Your mom. I told her if she made even the tiniest noise, I’d kill you first, and she really didn’t let out a single sound. Pretty impressive~ That’s the only reason you survived, you know? Pain like that isn’t something you can just control through willpower.”
Ẁ еb̌novеl. Е ñu̇ m̈а
Seo Dong-woo brushed a finger under his eye, as if moved to tears.
“That motherly love was enough to touch even a piece of shit like me. That’s why I decided to remember that woman for the rest of my life. I never had a mother like that.”
“Shut your fucking mouth, you piece of shit…!”
Shin Su-jin’s voice came out shaking with rage.
Afterward, Seo Dong-woo had been arrested and sentenced to life in prison.
For Shin Su-jin, who had lost her entire family overnight, it was no consolation.
Dilarang mengopy novel dari Enuma.id.
She lived as though she’d moved on, but the fury surged up without warning, impossible to contain. At least once a week, she relived that day in her nightmares.
Then one day, she became a Climber. Disgusted by her own weakness, she ascended the Tower.
Climbing the Tower, working, climbing again, just drifting through her days.
When she heard the news of Seo Dong-woo’s escape, what she felt was surely not rage alone.
“…Thank you, Seo Dong-woo. For breaking out like this.”
Shin Su-jin took one deep breath.
Еń ù m̌а
“Now I can finally kill you with my own hands.”
Seo Dong-woo grinned smugly.
Dilarang mengopy novel dari Enuma.id.
“Ooh, scary. Someone’s confident. Did you bring backup? I figured you’d come alone, so I didn’t bother checking.”
“A maggot like you? I’m more than enough on my own.”
With those words, Shin Su-jin used Leap. The floorboards cracked beneath her.
Seo Dong-woo dodged the incoming fist and bounded backward.
Wе ḃ ńov ê l Е̄ñŭm̂ а
Shin Su-jin closed the distance and kept attacking. Seo Dong-woo retreated continuously, dodging or blocking each strike.
Shin Su-jin gauged her opponent.
‘Our physical abilities are about the same.’
That likely put him around Level 20 as well. Hard difficulty leveled up in increments of four.
Dilarang mengopy novel dari Enuma.id.
Having been pushed back, Seo Dong-woo threw a punch in counterattack.
Shin Su-jin slipped past the fist, grabbed his arm, and threw him.
Ĕṅ ǔ m̂а̀
“Whoa!”
Seo Dong-woo’s body sailed into the gymnasium wall and embedded itself.
Shin Su-jin’s fist lit up with a blue glow.
She rushed in to finish it, driving her fist forward, but Seo Dong-woo twisted aside by a hair’s breadth.
BOOM!
A massive tremor shook the building, and dust cascaded from the gymnasium ceiling.
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Seo Dong-woo scrambled back, a look of surprise on his face.
“That’s that thing, right? The Aura Blade skill. Nice skill you’ve got there.”
Aura Blade. A physical-type skill ranked first among rare-grade abilities.
Shin Su-jin said nothing and charged again. Her assault grew even fiercer.
With Aura Blade wreathing her fists, Seo Dong-woo could no longer block; he was reduced to barely evading each strike.
Shin Su-jin had been watching for Seo Dong-woo’s skill the entire time. At Level 20 or so, he should have at least one rare-grade skill of his own.
Е̄ n_úm̌_а̀ .i̇ d
But even cornered, he still showed no sign of using one.
Maybe it was a magic-type or a passive. If so, all she had to do was kill him like this.
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“W-wait! Please, spare me!”
Seo Dong-woo cried out frantically, seeming to reach his limit in dodging.
Shin Su-jin ignored him and pressed harder.
“Spare me! I’m sorry! I’ll really change, I swear!”
Ê nuḿ à
One clean hit and it would be over. She was just about to cave his skull in…?
She caught it. Laughter, woven into Seo Dong-woo’s voice. Shin Su-jin looked at his face.
He was smirking. Not a trace of the desperation from moments ago.
“Spare me I’m sorry, okay pwease~”
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In an instant, Seo Dong-woo moved at a speed far beyond anything he’d shown before.
“…!”
Е́ n ù m̈ӑ
The blow caught Shin Su-jin in the ribs before she could react, sending her flying.
Seo Dong-woo strolled up to her where she’d crumpled to the floor.
“Got your hopes up, didn’t I? What a tease~ You were so close to winning, just a little more.”
Shin Su-jin scrambled to her feet and stumbled backward.
“You…!”
Only then did she realize. His Level was far, far higher than twenty.
Dilarang mengopy novel dari Enuma.id.
She had been toyed with from the very beginning.
“See, I’ve cleared up to floor 7 on Hard. That makes me Level 28. Let’s see, you’re… what, low twenties?”
Shin Su-jin ground her molars until they creaked and charged again.
Seo Dong-woo moved with a fluidity worlds apart from before, easily evading her attack, then kicked her away.
She blocked with her arms, but her body still bounced away like a rubber ball.
“You came alone with just this? Where did you get the confidence? Honestly, kid.”
Е̇ ṅ.um а̃.i d
“Ngh, hah…”
“Thank you, Seo Dong-woo Now I can finally kill you with my own hands Pfft! That was a killer line, really. I thought I was watching a movie.”
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Seo Dong-woo snickered.
“Thing is, I’ve got another special guest coming, so I’ll play with you until then.”
Shin Su-jin staggered to her feet.
The moment she stood, a fist buried itself in her stomach. Agony ripped through her as something inside ruptured.
Е̇ nu m̄ ă.. і̊ḋ
Seo Dong-woo grabbed her by the throat and lifted her off the ground.
“Gkh…”
“Got anything else? If you’ve got more skills, go ahead and pull ’em out~ You can’t go see Mommy like this, can you?”
Shin Su-jin glared at him with bloodshot eyes, murderous.
Dilarang mengopy novel dari Enuma.id.
‘God… damn… it…’
She was so much stronger than she’d been back then, and yet here she was, just as helpless.
Ẅė bn õ vе̃l̇ En̄úṁ а̄
The frustration was maddening. She wanted to tear the monster in front of her to shreds, but she didn’t have the strength.
The grip around her throat tightened, and her consciousness began to fade, when…
“Seo Dong-woo.”
A voice, unfamiliar, cut in.
At the gymnasium entrance. Somehow, a man in a pulled-up hoodie was standing there.
Seo Dong-woo spotted him and lit up, tossing Shin Su-jin aside like a rag.
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“Oh, you’re here! Person123!”
Person123…?
Shin Su-jin, coughing and sputtering, turned to look at the newcomer.
The man glanced between Seo Dong-woo and Shin Su-jin on the floor, then asked.
“Who’s she?”
“Oh, this~? It’s nothing. Just some Climber who came here to kill me. I was having a little fun with her while I waited for you.”
Ѐ n̂um̈а .і d̈
Seo Dong-woo waved it off dismissively.
“Don’t worry about it. Let’s have ourselves a nice long chat. Just let me get rid of this bitch fir…”
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The man cut him off.
“Chat, my ass.”
“Huh?”
“I’m here to kill you too.”
Е́n̈ u m̄ á.і̃ d
The man pulled his hands from his pockets and strode forward.
****
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