Episode 171 [ Age of Mana (3) ]
Buuuuung.
The trucks and cars scattered one after another as they left the port. North, South and Seoul.
Eve asked Kyung-hoon, who was following her from afar.
-Which car would you like to track?
“You’re tracking everything, right?”
-We are checking traffic through CCTV. All drones were also attached.
Some places were areas where drones were not allowed to fly, but the two people didn’t care about that.
“Then target the awakened person who creates the fireball. Let’s see who we’re connected to.”
-All right.
A new goal was set in the navigation system installed in the car.
The car in which the awakened person rode was heading to Seoul.
*
Time has passed. The sun was going down.
Buuuuung.
Kyung-hoon’s car stopped on the side of the road.
-Miss Eunhye immediately reported it to the police and government. However, the police arrived 30 minutes after the incident occurred.
“How on earth is it connected? Honestly, I hope it doesn’t go too high.”
Kyung-hoon clicked his tongue at Eve’s report. There were more people connected than I thought.
-The box of gold bars loaded on the truck was transferred to another truck and taken to a warehouse near Bucheon. We are continuing to monitor.
The warehouse was monitored by a drone powered by mana stones. There was no way he would miss his target as long as he didn’t get caught.
The awakened person that Kyung-hoon was chasing also changed cars midway. If the drone hadn’t chased me, I might have missed it.
The car that had been circling around downtown Seoul for a while stopped in front of a building.
The awakened person got out of the car.
He looked around and entered the building.
The car started again, but Kyung-hoon did not follow.
[Anju Building]
On the outside, it was an ordinary 20-story building in Gangnam.
-From the 1st to the 8th floors, ordinary businesses and restaurants are located.
The companies moving in were no different.
Above that?
-The National Strategy Research Institute is located from the 9th to 20th floors. And this building is owned by the same association.
Kyunghoon grinned. The connection was discovered.
“It’s the National Strategic Research Institute…”
– It’s an ordinary private association. It’s a fairly old association.
Gyeonghoon shook his head at Eve’s words.
“There’s no way an ordinary private association could have a building like this in Gangnam. What kind of money did they spend to build it?” “Check if you bought it.”
-There was support from several sponsors. Those sponsors… were all funds from the National Intelligence Service. It was
as expected. In the end, I turned a blind eye and said nothing. I couldn’t believe they were thinking of making up a name like that and hiding it. I couldn’t understand the thoughts of the officials. ”
Then . “This building will also ‘not go to the National Intelligence Service.’”
The National Intelligence Service. Kyung-hoon sighed. It was the worst outcome. Now he didn’t even want to secretly track him down.
Kyung-hoon put on his sunglasses and got out of the car.
“Then, shall we go and see the faces of the people who stole my money?”
An old backpack swayed behind Gyeonghoon’s back.
*
[National Strategy Research Institute Association President’s Office]
No one was seen in the room except the president of the association. The secretaries had already left work and other employees were nowhere to be seen. It
was natural.
The awakened person told his boss I lowered my head.
“I’m back.”
“Good job.”
He smiled bitterly at his boss’s words:
“It wasn’t a pleasant experience.”
“I understand.”
It was like pretending to be a terrorist in the country. It was for the good of the country, but it didn’t feel good. The boss also nodded. “Why did you
call me? There was no trace, but it still can’t be good to meet like this.”
Originally, it was a mission that required him to disappear for a long time after finishing his work. He should not have been called back to the company like this. “
After all, you are an employee of this company. There is no one who knows your connection to the higher-ups,”
he said. I realized why he had called me.
“…Is there anything else you would like me to do?”
“Please do one more thing before we rest. The gap you are leaving is too big.”
The awakened person’s expression darkened when he saw the document handed over by the president of the association.
“Is it necessary to do this?”
“It’s for the country.”
The Awakened sighed.
To be honest, he knew very well that it was not for the country. This incident and the new strategy were just a struggle to not lose vested interests.
And he himself had one foot in it. It was already too late to step down. .
He took the documents and stood up.
Grrr.
He lit a fire in his hand.
“Who are you?”
The awakened person threw a fireball towards the back.
Boom!
The door to the association president’s office was already open. The fireball passed through the open door and went out.
But no sound of the fireball exploding was heard.
Knock-knock-knock.
Instead, I heard footsteps outside the door. came.
The president of the association took out a gun from his desk drawer, and the awakened person floated several fireballs around his body.
The president glared at the door.
And the world turned upside down.
…
Kwajik.
The president of the association came to his senses. He had a puzzled expression on his face. I looked around.
In the blink of an eye, the scene in the room changed.
He was obviously pointing a gun at the door just a moment ago. But now he was lying on the floor.
The gun he was holding in his hand was broken and rolling around, and in a moment, The room was a mess.
“Ugh.”
The trusted subordinate was sitting on his knees and moaning. The fireball launched by the subordinate was not visible.
A man stood in front of his subordinate. It was a man wearing sunglasses. Strangely enough, I couldn’t see the face properly.
“Ugh!”
The moment he saw the man, the president of the association felt a burning pain in his shoulder. A bone broke.
“Each awakened?”
If a subordinate who was an awakened person was treated in vain like that without even recognizing himself, the other person was clearly an awakened person as well.
“Woman, this is a private research institute! There is nothing here.”
He also raised his gun at the awakening person shooting fireballs, but the president of the association had no choice but to say so.
But the other party did not even listen to him. He walked in front of the president, took out a cell phone from his pocket,
and connected the cable to the cell phone.
The cell phone password was automatically unlocked, and phone numbers streamed across the screen.
The man found the last number in the call list and pressed it.
The association president’s face turned white.
It was a call reporting the success of the operation a while ago. I hadn’t deleted the number yet… ..
Rumbling. Crashing.
[We talked on the phone a little while ago. Is there some problem?] An
old voice came from the phone.
I couldn’t let the conversation go on like this. The president of the association tried to scream in a hurry.
Kwajik.
But the president of the association He couldn’t get the words out. He had to roll on the ground, holding his mouth full of broken teeth.
The man opened his mouth.
“Here’s an agent’s report that there are additional gold bars hidden away. What should I do? Should I wait for a call from the VIP?”
The eyes of the association president, who was rolling on the ground, widened. It was clearly his own voice.
[What are you talking about? Why is there a VIP there?]
Kyung-hoon chuckled at the sound coming from the phone.
Hold.
He turned off the phone.
“You’re saying the president wasn’t involved. “Then does it extend to the head of the National Intelligence Service?”
The person I was talking to was the head of the National Intelligence Service. At least it wasn’t the worst.
The president of the association looked at Kyung-hoon with eyes filled with fear.
“Eve…”
Kyung-hoon nodded as the association president muttered words with his broken mouth.
As expected, people in this group were quick to notice. But it was already too late.
“Have the rules become meaningless anymore?”
A state agency broke its own laws and systems and shook its fist.
He was helpless. At least in Korea, he was trying to follow the rules.
Kyung-hoon shrugged.
“It won’t change anything. An eye for an eye. A tooth for a tooth.”
Anyway, there was nothing more to hear here. I was planning to hear more details from the Director of the National Intelligence Service.
He took out a document from the arms of the fallen awakened man. After checking the document, Kyung-hoon whistled.
“I think we can use this.”
He said the document . He put it in his backpack and took out something else from inside.
It was a mana bomb.
He blew mana into the end of the mana bomb and threw it in front of the awakened person.
The awakened person’s eyes widened when he saw the stick rolling in front of him.
At a glance, it looked like a bomb. It was. Looking at the red-hot tip, it seemed like it was going to explode at any moment.
But he couldn’t move. The mana that Kyung-hoon had infused was moving around in his body.
Kyung-hoon went out the door.
Bang.
The door closed.
That day, Korea was in a sudden state of shock. They were shocked by the terrorist attacks.
A shootout in Incheon and a bombing at a building in downtown Seoul.
But what surprised people most was the disappearance of the head of the National Intelligence Service that night. The
government was shaken up and the military was put on high alert.
But the culprit was It was not discovered, and no one knew the reason except those involved.
The president’s anxiety deepened.
***
Another world. New York.
The girl took a deep breath in front of the radio.
[…Now we are in Palm Strings, California. We are passing nearby. The air is clear and the desert seems endless…. Are you listening to this? Anyway, I am running hard with my dog. Hmm. What else can I say….] On the radio
, A male voice was heard. It was a voice that had been heard a few days ago.
The other male and female voices that had been heard on the first day were not heard since the next day.
On the broadcast, it was said that they had broken up for a while because they had some other business to attend to…
But it was the voice she wanted to hear. was still being heard.
[Woof! Woof!]
A dog was barking amidst the man’s voice.
“Bailey…”
The girl opened the book she had brought with her on the desk. It was a book she had found after searching for several days.
A book with Morse code written on it.
There was a title titled “World Encryption Techniques,” but that wasn’t important.
It’s been a while since I’ve talked to people, but fortunately I haven’t forgotten the words yet.
She put her hand on the recorder button.
The broadcast my father recorded continued to play on the tape recorder.
Hold.
She played with the button.
[… And what?]
The moment she pressed the button, the other person’s broadcast also stopped.
The dog didn’t even bark. She took another deep breath.
She started typing Morse code.
‘W’
‘H’
‘A’
‘T’
Little by little she got used to it.
The other person waited quietly and she continued writing.
What is the name of the dog?
The dog’s name.
This was the question she was most curious about.
She gave the final signal and glared at the radio.
There was silence and
then an answer was heard.
[Bailey. The name engraved on the necklace is Bailey. Is this someone who knows Bailey?]
[Whoop, whoop, whoop]
Is it because he heard his name? The dog started barking again.
The girl couldn’t answer the question.
Pop. Pop. Pop.
The book got wet.
Tears fell on the book.
It was a tear that had not been shed for a long time.
But now I couldn’t stop crying.
She started crying loudly, just like she did when she left Bailey.
