No. 115
For Yang Chang-guk, the past few hours had been agonizing.
When he’d learned that Yoo-seong had flown to Japan, he had arranged for real-time updates about his whereabouts to be sent to him. Worry had coursed through his veins.
Why had Yoo-seong done this now? Now, when the occurrence of cracks had been steadily rising all over the world…
Yoo-seong was a Single. He was a hunter powerful enough to handle low-level to intermediate cracks alone.
Such a Single had flown over to a neighboring country without Yang Chang-guk knowing. Of course, he knew that Oh Yoo-seong wouldn’t be seeking asylum there. He had flown over to Japan in search of their lost Tech, but that hadn’t made Yang Chang-guk any less worried.
He, too, was in a top-ranked government position. He knew that every government around the world wanted an Oh Yoo-seong on their side. They would do everything to get him to stay.
Then word had come in, just three hours after Yoo-seong arrived in Japan.
“What? A sudden rift?”
It had been early morning when he received the information. A crack had appeared earlier than expected in the middle of Tokyo.
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“Rather than a sudden rift, it was an error in calculating the time of appearance,” he’d decided.
Yang Chang-guk had honestly expected a catastrophe. A crack of that size in such a largely-populated area would surely result in three-digit civilian casualties. However…
“Why did Yoo-seong intervene?!”
Yang Chang-guk’s voice had resonated far outside his office. Oh Yoo-seong had just prevented a disaster in a foreign land. Pride and joy had filled Yang Chang-guk, but at the same time, he felt more anxious.
An emergency meeting had been called. The news had not reached the public yet. Yang Chang-guk knew he had to act.
He had organized all the information they had and thought about his decision a few times.
“Prepare the helicopter. I will go to Japan myself,” he had instructed his subordinates.
“What do you mean, Director?” His employees were confused.
“I want you to inform the Japanese embassy.”
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There had been no information about Oh Yoo-seong after the operation ended, but Yang Chang-guk had a few assumptions.
window.pubfuturetag = window.pubfuturetag || [];window.pubfuturetag.push({unit: "64ce79d606107d003c23ea27", id: "pf-5140-1"})There was a great chance that the Japanese Metropolitan Police Department had arrested Yoo-seong. They might have detained him and interrogated him harshly.
However, they might also be doing real harm to him.
“Director! I understand this is a matter that has to be taken seriously but do you have to go yourself?”
His subordinates were understandably puzzled by their Director’s decision.
“A Special Defense Agency director visiting another country without properly seeking permission…”
“I know.” Yang Chang-guk had put on his coat as he spoke. “But I have to go myself.”
He’d remembered the last conversation he’d had with Yoo-seong. The young hunter had asked him for a month. Once that month ended, and his expedition turned out to be a wild goose chase, Yoo-seong would take full responsibility.
‘Until Yoo-seong has been proven wrong,’ Yang Chang-guk had thought, ‘I have an obligation to support him.’
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Like every other hunter in this country.
‘Isn’t that my job?’
***
Now Yang Chang-guk was fussing over Yoo-seong.
“Are you alright? Your face… your injuries look serious!”
“Well… I’m fine,” Yoo-seong assured him.
Yang Chang-guk had no choice but to accept Yoo-seong’s words. He looked around.
When he’d arrived at the Japanese Police Department and the Disaster Management Office for a sudden emergency meeting, he hadn’t realized that a disaster of this scale was happening.
Several buildings had collapsed.
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The road was turned over almost like a gravel field, and everything on it – cars, streetlights, stalls – were smashed. That wasn’t all.
It seemed that a barrier line hadn’t even been successfully established.
Of course, there were no people around the area where Yoo-seong and the Thunder Ape had fought. However, just across the block, Yang Chang-guk could see a lot of people hiding in buildings.
window.pubfuturetag = window.pubfuturetag || [];window.pubfuturetag.push({unit: "64cc9e79c7059f003e4ad4b0", id: "pf-5109-1"})If Yoo-seong hadn’t been able to stop the Thunder Ape, who knew how many people would have been buried alive?
Yang Chang-guk tilted his head.
“I heard quite strange news on my way here,” he began.
“Strange news?”
“Tokyo’s top hunters were observed leaving the operation site after receiving a call from the Disaster Management Agency. A lot of civilians witnessed it. It’s all over the Internet now.”
Yoo-seong did not respond. The two men kept silent for a few moments.
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“What could have happened to the Japanese industry?” Yang Chang-guk thought out loud. “Their director, Kodama, is not an incompetent person…”
Pop-!
As Yang Chang-guk was speaking, Yoo-seong pulled something from his slot: a computer hard drive.
Yang Chang-guk’s eyes widened. “That’s…”
“I promised to bring it back,” Yoo-seong said before placing it back in his slot.
The surprise on Yang Chang-guk’s face did not disappear. “It really exists…”
“That’s not all,” Yoo-seong added. “But it’s too long a story to be told here.”
“I don’t know what else happened, but I have a feeling that you also know where the hunters went.”
“Yes.” Yoo-seong nodded and gave Yang Chang-guk a summary of what had happened earlier, who he met, where he went, and what he went through.
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“So, you mean that…” Yang Chang-guk could hardly believe it. “The first-class hunters left Tokyo because of Leto Group?”
“Yes.”
“They sent hunters after you? And Kodama was the Leto Chairman’s son-in-law?!”
Yoo-seong nodded. Yang Chang-guk’s mouth hung open.
Finally, when his brain accepted the situation…
window.pubfuturetag = window.pubfuturetag || [];window.pubfuturetag.push({unit: "663633fa8ebf7442f0652b33", id: "pf-8817-1"})“These guys are… god damn them!” Yang Chang-guk felt dizzy with anger.
The corruption of the Japanese Special Defense Agency had cost a lot of civilian lives.
“This is completely unthinkable! These men are… crazy sons of bitches!”
Yang Chang-guk had never felt this angry before. No matter how much he thought about it, he couldn’t comprehend the idiocy of his counterparts. They were monsters.
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Whatever the situation was, a Special Defense Agency should always make the private sector’s safety their top priority.
“Let’s go, Oh Yoo-seong.”
With iron in his voice, Yang Chang-guk pointed at the helicopter waiting for them.
“Perhaps, by now, a hold departure order has been made to prevent you from leaving the country. Whether it is to detain you or to thank you properly before letting you go, they will do everything they can…”
Yang Chang-guk clenched his fists.
“Once we arrive at our embassy…”
“Embassy?” Yoo-seong’s brows furrowed. “Are we just going to stay here?”
“Yes. Until the situation is over, things are about to get busy.”
Yang Chang-guk’s expression showed how nervous he was. He was literally risking his neck for this trip to Japan but, somehow, he felt confident.
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“Fortunately, there is plenty of evidence of your contributions to this country. Every post on the Internet is about you right now. No matter how much they fabricate information, the evidence will prove them wrong.”
Yang Chang-guk paused for a second before continuing. “And about what Kodama did… I will make sure he gets what he deserves. It is my duty.”
They had to arrive at the embassy without delay.
“Come on, come on!” Yang Chang-guk beckoned.
Yoo-seong agreed with Yang Chang-guk’s opinion. He had got their Tech on the hard drive but besides that…
The Leto Group still had debts to pay.
At this, Yoo-seong and Yang Chang-guk began walking towards the helicopter.
***
A tense atmosphere filled the room as they watched the video playing. It was a collection of action cam footage taken by a hunter and instantly stored in the cloud.
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Kodama and Tatsuo Sukune were silent.
-Fall back; the attack doesn’t work!
-Prepare an insulation suit…
-Oh!
The footage abruptly jumped into another scene.
A colossal ape was slaughtering helpless hunters one by one.
“What did you say the name of this beast was? The Thunder Ape?”
“Yes.” Kodama was flustered.
They were the first words Tatsuo had spoken since the video started. The old man looked exhausted. Still, his heavy eyes were locked onto the monitor.
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Kaah-!
The Thunder Ape’s horn glowed with the energy of the lightning from the crack.
The beast turned its head side-to-side, spewing lethal voltage everywhere.
Ka-!
Finally, the ivory horn lost its light. From then on…
Dooung-!
The Thunder Ape’s six humps sustained its offensive.
It was enough to finish off every remaining survivor in the center. The action cams captured the agony of the hunters’ faces as life faded out of them.
“This is useless,” Tatsuo said. “Move forward.”
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Kodama skipped about twenty minutes and resumed the video where the Thunder Ape had already moved beyond the barrier line. The next pieces of footage were from the dead hunters.
Although their owners were already gone, the action cams had continued to film their surroundings. They had captured the duel between Yoo-seong and the Thunder Ape from different angles.
The Thunder Ape, perhaps in a desperate move after getting stunned by Yoo-seong’s blow, began to summon his lightning once again.
Its ivory horn glowed intensely as lightning continued to be stored in it. However, before the final bolt could reach it, Yoo-seong attacked.
“He cut off the horn!” Kodama exclaimed as he witnessed Yoo-seong’s wrist blade shooting fire.
The chairman’s eyes also lit up with excitement as they watched the Thunder Ape’s horn disappear.
“I have to recover that thing. Do you understand, Kodama? He took it.”
Kodama didn’t respond.
“Kodama!”
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“Ah, ah, yes!”
“What’s with that stupid expression?!” Chairman Tatsuo barked.
“Sorry, sorry…” Kodama bowed.
However, he was having other thoughts. What had happened was their responsibility.
If they had not pulled back the top hunters, no matter how great the Thunder Ape was, it wouldn’t have gone beyond the barrier line. Civilian lives could have been saved.
“Are you scared?!”
“No, Chairman.”
Upon seeing this, the old man growled with displeasure.
“Anyway, all the evidence that he caught the monster is in our hands. If you could secure him, we would have no problem assigning the recognition to our hunters.”
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“You’re right, Mr. Chairman.”
“How could he be in Tokyo, by the way? He must have escaped this facility, but he shouldn’t have reached as far as Tokyo.” The chairman couldn’t even guess how Yoo-seong had arrived in Tokyo with several hunters after him. “Anyway, Yang Chang-guk is with him now, right?”
“Yes, Chairman. He arrived exactly fifteen minutes ago, and three minutes ago, we received a report that their helicopter had left the site.”
Kodama was 100% sure that they were heading for the Korean embassy.
However, before Yoo-seong and Yang Chang-guk could reach it, several measures would be put in place.
At Kodama’s instructions, the top hunters who had been looking for Yoo-seong earlier were deployed for another mission.
Any of them could fly and intercept the helicopter. As a safety measure, he also instructed the Metropolitan Police Department to send a squadron of police officers near the embassy.
Yoo-seong wouldn’t be able to fight police officers on the ground, with civilians all around them.
“I hope he gets upset and hurts some of the police,” Tatsuo remarked. “Can’t we make it seem like he beat up the police even if he doesn’t?”
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Before Kodama could answer, his phone rang. “Hello?”
-This is Team D. We found the helicopter. We’re in position.
“Do it right away.”
Tatsuo Sukune looked satisfied as he watched his son-in-law give commands.
The pieces were now in place to recover what Yoo-seong took. More than that, he was determined to get the horn filled with lightning energy.
The dragon flame that Yoo-seong had shown in the battle and whatever Yoo-seong had used to leave this place and reappear in Tokyo…
Tatsuo Sukune must have them all. However…
“What?!” With his phone to his mouth, Kodama raised his voice.
“What do you mean that he’s not in the helicopter?!”
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Tatsuo shifted in his wheelchair. “What happened?”
“Then where is he?!” Kodama was now yelling at his phone. “Find him right away! He couldn’t have left Tokyo!’
After a few hours, they would learn what Yoo-seong had done, and it would stun them as if they had been hit with a hammer.
***
Meanwhile, Yoo-seong was moving.
“Huh… Huh!”
Despite his heavy breathing, Yoo-seong felt indescribable joy.
