Chapter 51 (2/2)

I knew Yoon Ji-hee and Yang Su-jin's addresses. The two people might have been killed in the dungeon. There was also the chance that if they were tortured, their ident.i.ties in reality would be revealed.  The more dangerous of the two was Yang Su-jin. Being the granddaughter of a chaebol protected Yoon Ji-hee to a certain extent.

I stepped out of the building and took a few steps in an empty alley.

Chobeok.

I felt someone approaching from behind me.  In addition, they were careful footsteps, so it couldn't be a pa.s.serby. This was just a guess but it absolutely wasn't an ordinary person. I pretended to be unaware as I took three steps. During the fourth step, I unexpectedly turned around.

Kwack!

I grabbed the neck of a man in a suit and immediately pushed him against the wall. I already knew that there was no CCTV in this alley.

“Keuk!” The man against the wall groaned. He pulled at the hand squeezing his throat, but the difference in strength between him and me was quite large.

“Good morning.” In a voice that was close to a growl, I said h.e.l.lo to Kim Tae-hyun.

”I… I… Cough…!”

I held Kim Tae-hyun with one hand.  Then I searched through his coat, suit and pants. Kim Tae-hyun was unarmed.  I released some of my strength around his neck.

“Pant… I… Not… Attacking you… ”

“I know.”

He wasn't at the level of being a threat to me. At least, not alone. “But we don't have a relations.h.i.+p where you can come every morning to say h.e.l.lo. Please be aware of this.”

I watched Kim Tae-hyun and the whole alley. I heard the sound of a car that hadn't turned off its engine. A somewhat older male sighed.

“This is just a personal problem. You have the right to leave immediately.”

”…”

The man who walked closer wasn't an explorer. He was a tired looking man in his 50s. He pulled out an electronic cigarette from his coat and started smoking. At that point, I had already released my hand from Kim Tae-hyun's neck. He leaned against the wall and I brushed the dust from his collar.

“Your boss?”

”…Y-yes.”

I turned Kim Tae-hyun's body towards the middle-aged man and hit his back. Kim Tae-hyun staggered in front of the man.  “That friend is a meal. Isn't that right?”

”…That…”

The middle-aged man looked at Kim Tae-hyun like he was pathetic and said. “So a person shouldn't be in a hurry. My world is like that. What do you think normal people would think if they saw this?”

”…”

Kim Tae-hyun's ears turned red. “Get into the car.”

”D-Director…”

“Go in. I don't think I can talk to this friend if you're here. It's better if I tell the story. At the very least, I wouldn't be so disrespectful.”

It was easy to understand that the middle-aged man wasn't normal just be looking at Kim Tae-hyuk's embarra.s.sment.

The middle-aged man started talking. ”On the third day, he came and gave me a direct report. It was about the dungeon.”

The middle-aged man pointed to where Kim Tae-hyun had disappeared before taking a step closer to me. “Every morning. I decided to check the status of his abilities through various physical tests and intelligence tests. I called his bluff. I had to make certain that his skills definitely improved in the dungeon.”

”I think that is a smart method.”

If they were aware of it, a person could survive in the dungeon simply by going down the stairs, even if they didn't grow.  ”Well. Although he is like this, it seems like he was doing fairly well. At least, until last night.”  The director sighed.

”But he was tearful as soon as he woke up this morning. He didn't obtain anything in the dungeon.”

”He ran away?”

“He said he met a good opponent. In his own words.”

The director trusted Kim Tae-hyun, so it must be right. If he ran away, with his pride, then it meant he met a really strong opponent.  ”There is a problem. The information about the opponent isn't in our data.”

“That is strange but can't there be some gaps in your data? The big data has only been acc.u.mulated for 11 days.”  The director looked up at me.

”Nine, including you. Yesterday, you ate one of them, making it eight. That is how many people we figured had the 'excellent survival gene.'”

Things started to slowly make sense.

“How many of those people are out?”

“If I include you… There is one more person who survived, but he isn't in a mentally stable condition.”

”…”

Nine people had gathered yesterday under the government's call. Of course, I didn't think all the people would be gathered.  But even I thought at least 80%, more than half, were gathered there.

“There are at least five monsters I don’t know about about. Furthermore, in the future, they will become stronger and smarter. I don't know if I can find them in the future but… Kim Tae-hyun said they would be impossible to control. Especially since yesterday's actions.”

At that time, my phone rang. The director motioned for me to pick up the phone.

”Yes.”

[Oppa!]

It was Yang Su-jin.

[Your absence was truly awful!! Where are you now?]

To be honest, it was a really welcome voice. But instead of laughing, I controlled my facial expressions and spoke calmly.  ”I'll call you later.” Yang Su-jin noticed quickly.

[I understand.]

She immediately lessened the volume of her voice and whispered.

[Ji-hee unni is with me.]

”Yes.”

[I have a city now.]

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