Passion Novel - Volume 2 - Chapter 30

To want to see the other person suffer terribly, even if it meant putting oneself in danger, was difficult unless it was a deep-seated grudge. He had seen so much of the dark side of humanity since coming here.

Jeong Taeui inwardly clicked his tongue. He had seen his fair share of dirty things in the military, but this place was no less worse. He had risked injury to get discharged to avoid seeing such things, but here he was, seeing them again. The tree desires stillness, but the wind never ceases; a white heron among playing crows…

But who on earth was receiving such ominous hatred?

“You saw him earlier, right? He was drenched in someone’s blood from head to toe, and he didn’t even bat an eye, the crazy bastard.”

“Honestly, I’m scared of that guy. If he killed people while looking happy, I’d just call him a psychopath, but he’s not even that. The face he makes when he kills someone is the same as his usual face. He’s not human.”

A low and gloomy voice muttered fearfully. The atmosphere grew chilly, as if infected by his tone.

Jeong Taeui sighed silently and looked at the ceiling. He had a feeling it might be the case, and his premonition had come true. Well, it would be a big problem if there were two people who were hated to this extent.

A human who regarded killing people as no different from sleeping or breathing.

Ilay Riegrow. A man who inevitably drew the word “crazy bastard” from everyone’s lips.

“But will it be okay? Even so, if they use a cluster, the entire martial arts room will be blown away.”

“It’ll be hard to kill him without going that far. Besides, the martial arts room is empty inside, so there’s nowhere to take cover. It’s the only way. To get rid of that guy.”

“Don’t worry too much. Blowing up one martial arts room is nothing. Besides, Kipenhan said he’d take care of it.”

The moment those words finished, the sound suddenly cut off. It seemed like the last person had made a slip of the tongue and shut his mouth immediately after speaking. The other men also didn’t speak, as if they were reading each other’s faces.

Jeong Taeui thought, “Huh…,” and leaned his head against the wall. He felt like he had heard something troublesome.

Judging by the fact that those men didn’t immediately drag Jeong Taeui out of the toilet stall, it didn’t seem like something that was considered highly confidential, but it was definitely not something good for other people to hear.

“What does it matter? If that bastard dies, not only our guys but even the European bastards will secretly be happy, even if they can’t say it out loud. As long as it doesn’t reach his ears, but does that guy even have anyone around him who would give him advice?”

One of the men’s muttering broke the silence. Then came the agreeing responses, “Yeah, that’s right.”

Jeong Taeui leaned his head against the wall until he finally pressed his forehead with his hand. A dull headache seemed to be coming. His heart beat erratically, and his neck felt cold.

With just a few words, he could immediately understand. These men were trying to end Ilay’s life. Moreover, they had the backing of Kipenhan—presumably Instructor Kipenhan from the information management side.

This was not good. This situation itself was very bad. A man who was practically a public enemy, who had committed countless deeds that, in a way, deserved death. Killing one such man wouldn’t warrant condemnation. Rather, there might be more people who would be greatly pleased and find relief.

However, the situation wasn’t simply a matter of those with grudges conspiring to kill one person. If Kipenhan was involved, no matter how he thought about it, it didn’t look good.

He didn’t know why Kipenhan wanted to eliminate Ilay—though with Ilay, it wouldn’t be surprising no matter who held a grudge against him for whatever reason—but if an instructor condoned the killing of a subordinate, wasn’t that a problem?

And then, the cluster.

Jeong Taeui nervously rubbed his bloodless lips. Why were all these guys here, this one and that one, so out of their minds? There was no one here who wouldn’t know what a cluster was, and they were going to detonate one? Were they planning to not only kill a person but also obliterate any trace so that even evidence wouldn’t remain? Or did they want to walk the path of mutual destruction?

In the context of that conversation, the cluster they were talking about wasn’t a CBU. It must have been referring to an improved anti-personnel cluster munition, miniaturized and usable by mounting it on a small launcher that could be carried on the shoulder. He had heard that even a small, improved version could devastate thousands of square meters. It was said that it could easily blow away an indoor swimming pool of average size.

If they were talking about an empty martial arts room, it was most likely Martial Arts Room 5 on the 3rd basement level.

If they put a person in there and threw in one cluster, not even bones would remain. The martial arts room itself wouldn’t survive, so there was no way a person could be safe.

No, putting everything aside, the very idea of detonating a bomb in an underground building was absurd.

During a lecture on the internal organization of the agency, the instructor had once added that the substructure of the building was built to the level of an air-raid shelter from the design stage. The gist of the story was that they could train with peace of mind because it wouldn’t budge with any ordinary impact.

Certainly, if it was considered equivalent to an air-raid shelter, they might not have to worry about the ground collapsing due to a bomb.

However, even considering that, these guys seemed crazy. To mobilize a bomb and plan to blow up one side of the building just to get rid of one person. And if Instructor Kipenhan was involved.

This wasn’t mere tacit approval. Given that an improved cluster munition, which wasn’t something anyone could easily obtain if they wanted, had appeared, the instructor who knew their plan couldn’t just be turning a blind eye and cleaning up the aftermath. He was directly involved in some way. Perhaps Kipenhan was even the one who gave them the cluster.

Jeong Taeui thought of Kipenhan.

That instructor, who was of a similar age to his uncle, was a very sensitive person to his own interests. He was very good at inferring situations and outcomes to bring about results favorable to himself, and he was good at achieving maximum results with minimum investment. In that process, he often seemed to use somewhat unethical methods.

Jeong Taeui didn’t particularly like him, serving under a superior who was different from his uncle. He wasn’t a person he found personally likable. However, he was undoubtedly a very intelligent person, so Jeong Taeui hadn’t expected him to be involved in something like this. It wasn’t as if Ilay’s death would bring him any personal gain.

Jeong Taeui rubbed the furrow between his eyebrows with his index finger. And he thought about what he should do in this situation. The answer came very simply. It was to not go anywhere near the 3rd basement level.

He didn’t know if those guys would succeed in their plan. If they could successfully lure Ilay into the martial arts room and throw a cluster in there, then even that monstrous human being, being human, wouldn’t be able to survive. Then, should he warn him?

A moment of human conflict passed. And no answer came. He wouldn’t be sad if that man died. In fact, for Jeong Taeui, it would be a good thing. But he didn’t have a clear answer as to whether it was right to pretend not to hear about their plan to kill someone. Jeong Taeui wasn’t righteous or naive enough to believe in absolute ethics that disregarded cause and effect.

“I heard something I shouldn’t have, something I shouldn’t have… If that bastard dies because of this, I’ll feel guilty for nothing.”

Jeong Taeui grumbled so quietly that it wouldn’t reach outside. His bloodless lips were still cold. Maybe it felt that way because his fingertips touching his lips were cold.

Outside, the men still seemed to have more to say. Jeong Taeui thought that he had to make the best choice he could at this moment. Before hearing any more unnecessary words, he should just leave now.

As Jeong Taeui opened the restroom door and went out, the men standing outside fell silent again. Even though they knew Jeong Taeui had been inside, they looked at him as if he were a suspicious character. Jeong Taeui silently walked past them and washed his hands at the sink. Actually, he wanted to wash the back of his head, which had been leaning against the dirty restroom wall, but he couldn’t wash his hair here.

“Hey, you. You’re in Instructor Jeong Changin’s team, right?”

One of the men suddenly spoke. Judging by his cold and threatening tone, Jeong Taeui could easily guess what he was going to say without having to hear the rest.

“I won’t interfere with whatever you’re planning, so do as you please. Just don’t waste your energy on me.”

Jeong Taeui said flatly, looking in the mirror. He already felt uneasy just from hearing unnecessary nonsense, and if he had to endure threats here as well, his mood would completely sink. Above all, he didn’t want to get involved with these dangerous guys. Especially if they were Kipenhan’s teammates.

“We’ll finish it this time anyway, so there won’t be time to spread rumors, but don’t go flapping your mouth unnecessarily. Okay? We’re all comrades, aren’t we? We’re just trying to make a guy who deserves to die pay the price.”

The man continued to talk unnecessarily, as if Jeong Taeui’s short reply wasn’t enough. Jeong Taeui sighed softly. It seemed he had to say one more thing for these clueless men.

“You don’t seem to realize, but I didn’t hear the name of that guy who deserves to die. You guys didn’t mention it. In other words, I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

“……Ah.”

The man seemed to finally understand what Jeong Taeui was saying. Jeong Taeui didn’t know how much of his message—leave me alone, I don’t care and I’ll pretend I don’t know anything—had been conveyed, but the gist seemed to have gotten through.

“Yeah, buddy,” the man said, shrugging. Jeong Taeui pulled out a paper napkin and wiped his hands, thinking, Buddy, my ass, but he didn’t voice the thought. He simply hoped their memory was so bad that even if they ran into him again in the hallway or somewhere, they wouldn’t bother him by pretending to know him.

In the meantime, an hour seemed to have passed. The signal alarm rang throughout the building.

After a five-minute break, they would switch roles and start training again.

As the men left the restroom, people who looked like they had been running the whole time started entering, one or two at a time, drenched in sweat.

Jeong Taeui left the restroom, thinking gloomily. His bad luck these days seemed endless. Instead of hearing things he would have been better off not hearing, he would have preferred running around and swinging a rubber baton at the wall for the entire hour a hundred times over.

There was such a thing as accessory to a crime. A crime that was established by helping another person’s criminal act.

Jeong Taeui picked out an isotonic drink from the vending machine, rummaging through his memories from when he had studied it.

He couldn’t claim to have lived an entirely spotless life, but he thought he had walked the right path without greatly deviating from the spirit of the law, but here he was, straying from the right path in this way. It was even accessory to murder. This branch was in a territory with extraterritorial rights, and it was currently in a situation that wouldn’t be strange to call lawless, but as he repeated the words “accessory to murder,” Jeong Taeui felt depressed and gloomily picked up the isotonic drink.

During the short five-minute break, people recharged. Those who had been chased fulfilled their desires to rest and drink, which they hadn’t been able to do properly while being chased, and prepared to chase, while those who had been chasing moved to a distance away from those who had been chased and changed their positions. Of course, there were some who calmly went about their business, thinking, “Whoever chases me, I can just fight back, so what does it matter?”

Jeong Taeui, if he had to say, was the latter. It wasn’t that he was good enough at fighting to think he could just fight back, but he felt that it was the same no matter where he went. It was just a matter of a few minutes’ delay in when the running started; in any case, he would have to fight off the enemies rushing at him, swinging their batons.

He had roughly looked around the inside of the building during the previous hour, but there was still no place to hide. Escaping was also practically difficult. If enemies attacked from the front and back simultaneously, he would likely be in trouble. Besides, he wasn’t Carl Lewis, so it was difficult to completely shake them off.

Then, the better option among them was…

“A dead end, a dead end… Where was that narrow dead-end alley?”

He took a sip of the isotonic drink he had gotten from the vending machine and walked briskly. Thinking for a moment while mentally going through the building’s layout, a suitable place quickly came to mind.

On the 5th basement level, between the library and the west staircase, there was a narrow hallway where a water purifier was placed. That path, just wide enough for one person to walk through to get water, was perfect. The only downside was that it was right next to the stairs, so people often went back and forth, but thinking about it differently, it would also be easy to escape that way in an emergency.

Let’s just try to hold out for an hour somehow. Then he could rest for an hour—or, if some bastard incurred his wrath during the next hour, he would spend the following hour chasing that bastard down and seeking revenge instead of resting. If he was unlucky, he would just spend the hour getting beaten up, but surely he wouldn’t die. Other than being an Asian branch member, he hadn’t incurred any personal and special grudges with any of the European branch members. Except for one very troublesome guy who had taken notice of him.

Thinking about that person made him gloomy again. More than gloomy, he felt unpleasant.

Perhaps it was natural to feel this way when you clearly knew that someone was plotting something bad and you were condoning it, but it was certainly not pleasant. Even though that someone was a person Jeong Taeui himself had fervently wished would disappear somewhere.

Five minutes passed while he was thinking such thoughts. Reaching the 5th basement level, Jeong Taeui felt the distant, noisy shouts behind him and ran towards his destination.

There was no one at the water purifier next to the library. It was such a secluded place that not many people came all the way there. Jeong Taeui went right up to the water purifier. Inside the narrow and long path, just wide enough for one person, he crushed the empty isotonic drink can.

People’s voices grew closer and then farther away. He could hear shouts and the sounds of fighting and tumbling not far off. Jeong Taeui lightly swung the baton in his hand.

It would be nice if no one passed by here for the next hour so he could hide, but that seemed unlikely. He could occasionally see the shadows of people going up and down the west staircase through the translucent glass. If one of those shadows opened the glass door and came in here, they would immediately make eye contact.

How much time had passed?

It didn’t seem like that much time had gone by when the situation Jeong Taeui had hoped wouldn’t happen finally did. The glass door burst open, and two or three men rushed in. And unfortunately, they were the chasers, the European branch members.

“Oh, found one!”

“What? You were hiding in a corner like this? But it’s right next to the stairs, did you really think you wouldn’t get caught here?”

“Oh. There’s a water purifier too. Good. Let’s quickly take care of this guy and get some water, I’m thirsty.”

The uneasy calm was broken like this. Jeong Taeui looked at his wristwatch, knowing there was still a long time left, clicked his tongue, and gripped his baton. Still, with this, even if he hit them hard, there wouldn’t be too big a problem…

Thinking humanely, Jeong Taeui lightly tapped the rubber baton on his palm, but when he saw the steel pipe one of the men raised, his face hardened in shock.

“Wait, the one we were issued was clearly this baton. Why does he have a different weapon?!”

“What? Well, this is my choice, even though the basic tool is that. As long as it’s not a lethal weapon, any weapon is… Aha, you’re a newbie.”

“A steel pipe is a lethal weapon, plenty lethal!”

He would like to see a person who could be fine after being severely hit on the head with that. No, before that, the very idea that a steel pipe wasn’t a lethal weapon was astonishing, especially with a guy in that branch who could kill people with his bare hands.

But no matter how much Jeong Taeui argued against the steel pipe, it was useless. “Then you go and grab a pipe too,” the man said, swinging the steel pipe down. Jeong Taeui clicked his tongue.

Damn it. If this was training where people risked their lives to participate, they should properly explain even these unofficial rules hidden underwater. What was he supposed to do if he got hit in the head by a steel pipe here and died unfairly?

Come to think of it, there were rumors in the military that there were many ghosts. Especially when Jeong Taeui was at the front lines, it was rarer to find a guy who hadn’t seen a ghost while on night duty. However, Jeong Taeui himself had never seen anything even resembling a ghost, so he didn’t believe the rumors of ghosts roaming around, but it was true that such rumors circulated.

Somehow, he felt like he knew the reason. There must have been many people who died unfairly like this. If he were to die absurdly here, he would surely become a ghost and appear. …And even as a ghost, that ferocious man would surely laugh gleefully and tear him apart.

He had thought of Ilay again. In the midst of the confusion, Jeong Taeui, who had momentarily forgotten his guilt, clicked his tongue as it resurfaced. He used the baton in his hand to block the steel pipe the man swung down. And then, in quick succession—even if he was called cowardly, he couldn’t help it—he jabbed the end of the baton into the man’s eye.

Since it was a blunt baton, it didn’t cause injuries like a punctured eyeball, but the man, who probably felt much more pain than if he had been punched in the eye, let out a shriek and dropped the steel pipe. Jeong Taeui, who had been aiming for that, quickly picked up the pipe. As he grabbed the warm piece of metal, still carrying the man’s body heat, he definitely felt more relieved than when he had been holding the rubber baton. Indeed, he understood why those guys had discarded the rubber batons. There was this psychological advantage too.

As their comrade collapsed, clutching his eye, the men rushed at Jeong Taeui, shouting things he had heard countless times before, like “You cowardly bastard!” and “This punk’s gonna get it!” Only then could Jeong Taeui fully appreciate the geographical advantage of his position.

The inside where the water purifier was located was narrow, allowing only about one person to enter. So, unfortunately for the men, they couldn’t use the tactic—which was also cowardly—of ganging up on one person with two or three of them simultaneously to beat him down. One by one, they faced Jeong Taeui in that narrow space where they couldn’t swing their arms freely.

“Indeed, I took your advice and picked up a steel pipe, and it’s great. It’s also long, so it’s perfect for keeping approaching people at bay. Thanks for the advice. You really should listen to what others have to say.”

Jeong Taeui was greatly benefiting from the fact that the steel pipe he had luckily picked up from the man was the longest of their weapons. He could keep a certain distance by stabbing the necks of those who came close with the pipe, and they couldn’t engage him in close combat with their batons or pipes, which were only useful in close quarters.

As Jeong Taeui whispered “Thank you” and smirked, the man confronting him seemed to be boiling with anger. He suddenly pulled out a chilling object from his pocket. It was a tactical knife with a blade that looked to be about two spans long. Jeong Taeui’s face hardened.

I told you, your mouth would be the death of you, he heard Tou’s voice, clicking his tongue, like an auditory hallucination. He had enjoyed teasing and watching the reactions, but it was coming back to bite him like this.

“No, why even bring out a knife like that… I was just kidding, just kidding. A joke. You know?”

“Shut up, you bastard!”

This is dangerous, he thought.

Even if the man had drawn a knife, nothing immediately changed. The comrade behind the man was still anxiously muttering, “Hey, it’s too narrow, I can’t even get in,” and the man who had drawn the knife actually had a shorter reach than when he had the pipe, making it harder for him to properly approach Jeong Taeui.

However, if the man was willing to give up his own flesh to cut away at his opponent’s bones, and charged in, ready to take a severe blow, Jeong Taeui would be in absolute danger. And since Jeong Taeui himself would probably do that, the possibility of the man doing so felt even more precarious.