Shhrrrk!clang!
"Is this… a firewall?"
No. A real firewall usually repels flames and incorporates simple escape doors for people to evacuate. But this… this grim steel grille had slumped over the main gate—where the masses were meant to flee.
Thud! Thud!
"How thick is this thing?"
It felt less like a shield against fire and more like a barricade built to stop solid mass.
"Tch… what a stunt…"
I recognized it immediately: a Catastrophe barrier. Or more precisely, an electronic filter to block anyone not wealthy enough to evacuate through the official gate.
"That electronic device is the sorting mechanism."
Where the grand gate should have glowed with polished steel and blinking lights, this heavy, matte grille had two small card slots and a camera-like sensor. That was the identification reader.
So right now I'm truly isolated. No external support, no knowledge of the enemy's numbers, no idea how they're armed or deployed.
First thing: ditch this paper bag. If my vision's narrowed, I'll never cope with multiple hostiles.
At least the power's still on. That means either they couldn't cut the external feed or the backup generators kicked in.
That's a relief. Night vision might not matter much to a Feline with bright eyes or a Fero who tracks by scent, but me—forced to stay alert in the dark—I'd burn through Movement Arts and collapse before long.
tap taptap tap!!!
Footsteps… already? Damn it!
I retreat toward the convenience store. Shit, no time to argue.
Do I fight now? No—I can't guess how many are coming.
Should I break through the barrier? Impossible. My most devastating cut is from Whirlwind—Sword Wheel, but every Arts blade needs to slice first. Those revolving slashes depend on wind whirling around the strike. Enemy metal and a reinforced barrier—worse than useless, it'd just waste my strength. Even a concentrated bull gale wind wouldn't penetrate.
"That blue flame trick that Magpie used…"
Maybe the strange Originium flame? No, that's out of reach.
"Hey, you hear me?"
"…"
"Hey! You damn—hey!"
"…"
"Christ, useless."
No response. Does this thing actually help?
"Alright, everyone get in position. Any stragglers, handle them."
Here they come… what do I do?
"This is… a real mess. The wealthy really do love their damned security!"
Inside the store, I sensed movement. Their boss's right-hand man—Yang Tae—strode in to investigate.
"…Hey, the phone."
"Here, boss."
The line buzzed with panic—whimpers, moans, and the lowest growl of a trapped wolf.
"What did you find?"
"Sir. We searched the first floor: eight waitstaff, two chefs, cleaners and other small fry—thirty-four in total. One rat slipped upstairs."
On the floor lay the crumpled paper bag. Punched-out eyeholes made it look almost like a child's mask. It bulged without tearing—so the wearer must be small, probably a kid.
"What? He got away?"
"I apologize, sir. We'll bring him in alive or dead."
"Fine. Switch to the speaker."
"Done, sir."
"Thirty-four, was it? Thirty-three? Dammit, that's too many. Halve it, then report back!"
"Yes, sir."
"Please—spare me! I don't want to die—"
"Too long-winded. Grab him."
"Yes, sir!"
"No! Let me go!"
"Help me!"
"Mother! Father!"
…Surviving on others' corpses. Just great.
"I said half—move!"
"Yes!"
They'd even installed this in a convenience store… the dumbwaiter shaft connected to the upper floors.
If that cage's elsewhere, I can't wait for it to return. I'd freeze in place and be caught like an amateur.
Climbing is my only option. Funny how scaling that cliff taught me this.
One deep breath. I don't need to find grips. The shaft's narrow—I can press arms and legs against either wall and inch up like a lizard. Not dignified, but fast.
Outside, the noise grows. With an incident this big in the city center, backup would arrive within five minutes. If Dragon Head got a look at the card and decoded it, even faster. Mobilize troops, plan an assault, breach… four hours at best. Maybe more.
What would Moejang do alone, isolated…?
…I don't have time for second-guessing.
brrrrrr!!
"Hold on—"
This is it, isn't it?
"Dammit!!"
The dumbwaiter cage plummets down. Hacking at it? Unstable posture, location unknown, huge risk, blatant attention—I'd be worse off.
The outside is rowdy—but I don't know where this shaft opens. Fine. Time for action. Baekhyun steps in.
"Here I am!"
I crash through the shaft wall onto the fourteenth floor. High up… Huh.
"Also—someone in, black hair and white face. Two million if you bring him alive, one million dead. Fetch him!"
…I leave again?
"There! Get him!"
"Two million! Two million!"
"Clear out—he's mine!"
"Everyone in here, now!"
This room hosts the Christmas Eve social gathering. Up here, terror reigns.
"Do you know who I am?"
"H-Harbin's Jang… Chen…!"
"Right. And you thought you could toy with me?"
"Kk… kk… you're all done for!"
"Fetch me an axe. Historically, it's effective."
"You too—everyone here's finished!"
CRACK!
Their employer, the man who orchestrated this atrocity, was cleaved in half. Once a successful capitalist, he'd been infected with Oripathy by an Originium fragment. In an instant, he lost everything—his mind consumed by corruption, and reality haunted by his brilliant former life.
He sold off his final business to hire a legend: the savage wolf from Harbin—Jang Chen—to make every guest share his fate.
He'd promised five hundred million, but failed. He got a small Originium bomb instead: limited blast, but the real terror is the leak of Originium shards afterward. It would turn everyone here into carriers.
But Jang Chen wasn't a dumb brute. A wolf must be cunning. He saw through the plan immediately.
Right now, I'm in the twenty-fifth floor banquet hall. For Christmas Eve, they'd booked exactly my level.
"Stop crying—make a sound like that again and you'll get the same treatment."
The wealthy always travel with bodyguards, but now they roll on the floor in panic. He marshaled his men, stormed the scene, distracted guards with gunfire, then slaughtered them in a single sweep. He owned this room.
Five hundred million? Not even a shadow. But what he gained… Beatrix Swaye. One of the richest families in Yongmun, no—Terra. Her ransom alone dwarfs that sum. She might hold the key to escaping this isolation.
And they say a kid who captured Yudori showed up too…
In the underworld, information is life or death. From glimpses under the hat and that crumpled paper bag, and the bag found on the first floor, he deduced I'd come through the dumbwaiter shaft.
"Go order the staff over there to bring him out."
"Yes, sir."
They'd force him into the dumbwaiter cage.
"Make way. No whining."
"If my father finds out…"
"What are you gonna do? I'm Harbin's Jang Chen!"
First, set an example. Let them see what happens when you cross me.
Bang!
"Aaah! My leg!!"
A fine pistol from Laterano, two magazines' cost from Rodos. It's a luxury, but swinging axes all day is exhausting. You buy it to use it.
"Look—this is what happens when you mess with me!"
He grabbed the mic intended for a broadcast and raised his voice.
"Also—someone in, black hair and white face. Two million alive, one million dead. Bring him in!"
You harmed my people—now you pay. This is your personal massacre.