Chapter 33

After I yelled once, the van went completely silent. With the passenger seat shoved all the way forward, I could finally bring my legs together instead of keeping them spread from the cramped knee space.

'Much better.'

Honestly, the whole tantrum wasn’t really about the seat. But having a bit more room did make things a hell of a lot more comfortable. That, and the fact that the assholes who’d been mouthing off earlier had all gone quiet.

The guy sitting beside me suddenly tapped my shoulder. His demeanor was nothing like when he’d been gleefully smacking the back of my head earlier.

“What?”

I turned my head halfway toward him. He stammered,

“Uh... y-you can lift your head now, right?”

At that, I finally raised my head from where it had been jammed against the seat. My neck was stiff, so I cracked it side to side, stretching a little. Better than before, sure, but still uncomfortable with my hands tied behind my back.

'Or, you know, you could just untie me.'

I gave him a look that said exactly that. He noticed, averted his eyes, and turned his head away.

'So that’s a no, huh?'

Fine. A kidnapping’s still a kidnapping—of course they weren’t going to untie my hands.

Resigned, I looked out the window. We’d driven far enough that the scenery had shifted to unfamiliar outskirts. Hardly any buildings, just scattered fields and paddies. Even streetlights were rare; the headlights were doing all the work.

'Where the hell are they taking me?'

But the van kept going. Past farmland, until we entered an industrial complex.

“How much farther?”

Were we even going to arrive tonight? I was honestly starting to wonder. The driver glanced at me in the rearview mirror.

“Almost there.”

“Right.”

After a few operational factories, the deeper we went, the more deserted it got—abandoned warehouses, empty facilities.

Desolate, isolated, abandoned factory?

'Is this a fucking movie?'

It was so cliché it actually drained my energy. Sure enough, the van pulled into one of those factories and stopped in an empty lot. With a lurch, the car halted, and the men piled out.

“Out.”

“Yes, sir.”

I got out without fuss. Before me stood a massive factory.

“Go in.”

“......”

So I had to walk in to my own death? Lovely.

But I followed without a word. The men who’d been calm in the van were suddenly brandishing knives again, threatening me as we marched.

After a long walk inside, we reached an open space.

'...Ha.'

And there, waiting, were at least a dozen more men, all lounging around.

'How many people did you call in just to fuck me up?'

Instinctively, I opened their Status Windows. All strangers—except one familiar name.

Name: Na Seokgyung

Age: 38

Rank: C

Title: –

Main Skills: Exploding Light (B), Tracking (D)

Growth Limit: B

The guild master of Infinite Guild. That confirmed it: this shitshow was their doing.

The only small relief was that Do Yehyun wasn’t among them. Then again, not much of a relief—he could already be dead.

'If I get out of here alive, I’m adding a function to track whether Yehyun’s alive or not.'

Might as well add it for Joo Seowon too. Not that my survival odds looked particularly high right now.

One of the men behind me, spotting Na Seokgyung, barked at the one holding me.

“Kneel him.”

'This fucker.'

The same guy who’d been stuttering before suddenly found his courage with his boss around, shoving my shoulder hard, acting all threatening.

'Wait. That’s the bastard from the passenger seat.'

If I reset, he’s the first one I kill. Actually, fuck it—I’d just wipe Infinite Guild off the map. Society would be better off without a nest of criminals like this.

As I fixed him with a steady stare, he flinched, then yelled louder,

“Wh-what! Hurry up and kneel!”

'...Ha.'

So I knelt in front of Na Seokgyung. Dropping to my knees didn’t mean much, but the thought of being beaten to death after this made the future look bleak. What burned me most was not being able to fight back with my hands bound.

'Should’ve copied Im Haekyung’s skill before coming.'

Never had I wanted a mental-type skill more. Sure, with my pathetic F-rank body, I’d only last two seconds, but still.

Na Seokgyung looked me over, then smirked unpleasantly.

“Have we met before?”

What the hell kind of line was that? Came off like sleazy flirting, and his face was ugly enough that I had zero interest in replying.

When I stayed silent, he walked over, crouched down in front of me, meeting my eyes.

“No, if we had, I’d remember. Right?”

“That’s right.”

'Idiot.'

I agreed with him, and he went quiet, face twisting into a strange expression. Then he suddenly slapped me across the cheek—loud enough to sting, but not painful.

'This thug’s lost his mind.'

Barely hurt, but it pissed me off. Straightening my head, I glared at him. He twisted his mouth and asked,

“So this is our first meeting, then?”

“......”

“Look at this bastard. Hey.”

Should I just mouth off and get beaten to death? Playing along clearly wasn’t extending my lifespan.

Then Na Seokgyung suddenly opened his mouth with some random bullshit.

“Hey. I dug into your background.”

'...My background?'

There’s nothing to dig up.

As expected, he just repeated things I already knew.

“No parents, no relatives. Got a fat inheritance, awakened in that Kraken dungeon mess recently, F-rank. A little rich boy. Tossed some pocket change at Yehyun for charity.”

'Huh. Not bad intel, actually.'

Why the hell were they so good at this? Was Infinite Guild’s info network this sharp? Suspicious, I stared at him, which only seemed to piss him off more. He laughed harshly and smacked me across the face again. Once, twice.

“You think this is funny, asshole?”

“......”

“I thought maybe you had some big shot backing you, huh?”

“......”

“Kidnapping people, wrecking my place, turning my guys into bloody pulps.”

“......”

“Money can’t buy everything, shithead. You hear me?”

And yet here he was, running a loan shark guild. The irony was killing me.

I checked the swelling in my cheek with my tongue. Each slap was harder, and sure enough, it was puffing up. Right—he was a C-rank.

The point was clear: debt or no debt, I’d pissed him off, so he wanted to crush me. Classic thug logic.

When I stayed silent, he smirked, grabbed the back of my head, and forced my face upward. He twisted my head side to side, studying my face, then abruptly let go.

“Wouldn’t it be a shame to mess up that face?”

“A little?”

“Smart-ass.”

He’d asked first. My speech slurred slightly from the swelling. Na Seokgyung crouched again, locking eyes with me.

Though it was no effort at all, he let out a heavy sigh, twisted his lips into a sneer, and said,

“I don’t plan to kill you. Not right now.”

‘Not right now,’ huh?

When I looked at him, he tugged up his belt and muttered,

“Maybe your F-rank’s real, maybe not. Either way, you beat my guys bloody, so you’ve got some fight in you.”

“......”

“Know why I dragged you here?”

'Nope.'

I answered only in my head. Na Seokgyung laughed to himself, nasty as hell.

“Ha...”

He exhaled, then gestured toward the outside of the factory.

“Out there, something interesting popped up.”

“......”

“A Gate. Pretty new.”

A Gate? That, I didn’t know about.

Regardless of my confusion, he kept rambling.

“But the mana waves are irregular.”

“......”

“You heard about that dungeon in Sokcho? Same deal. Started as B-rank, waves kept growing stronger.”

Hold up. Another unstable dungeon? Unstable mana waves meant a precursor to Apocalypse. That shouldn’t be happening again here, not now.

I didn’t know all the details of this timeline, but this was wrong. Still, he kept talking.

“If it climbs to A-rank, S-rank, the rewards will be even greater. That’s what I want.”

Unbelievable. I couldn’t help laughing under my breath. He kept yammering.

“So. Bring it to me.”

“......”

“Bring it, and I’ll let you go. Don’t, and you die here. Your choice.”

With a grunt, he rose to his feet. I tracked him with my eyes as he looked down at me, lips curling.

“Think it over. I’ll give ✧ NоvеIight ✧ (Original source) you plenty of time.”

And with that, Na Seokgyung left the factory.