Chapter 89: The Awakened Criminal Organization, Dagger (1)

—In preparation for intrusions by criminals or monsters, the DG Guild had incorporated numerous traps into their headquarters right from the design phase. The variety of traps was straightforward. Inside the rooms, they placed gas canisters containing poison extracted from a toxic liquid that could slow mana flow. In the hallways and stairwells, they installed devices that launched poison-coated needles from every direction. On the outside of the building and in the parking lots, they built traps that shot out spear blades also coated with poison.

Tap tap tap tap tap.

As though imitating the Saw films, Kim Ki-Rok's ominous commentary drifted through the speakers.

—Are you wondering why we haven't installed lethal traps inside?

"

Gaaaagh!

"

The Awakened criminal sprinting ahead of the group suddenly screamed, prompting the Dagger leader, who had started at the front but was now near the back, to shout at his subordinates and temporary allies. "Stop!"

He elbowed his way forward, grinding his teeth in anger. Three Awakened criminals lay collapsed in the stairwell between the seventh and sixth floors, felled by needles fired from all directions.

—Ah, I forgot to mention... Oops... Looks like I messed up. My apologies. Ahem! By the way, the emergency stair traps can kill you just like the ones outside.

It was a useless explanation to receive only after people had already been shot, and the fact Kim Ki-Rok seemed to be doing it on purpose stoked the leader of Dagger's fury.

—Allow me to give you a hint on how to escape.

All the Awakened criminals glanced nervously at the speaker.

—The elevator.

It had to be a trap.

An elevator was a fully enclosed space, open above and below. If the builders held any malicious intent, there'd be no surviving once the doors closed. The criminals all shook their heads, but the leader of Dagger responded differently.

"So the elevator is the key," he murmured.

"But we'll die the second we get on," someone objected.

"He never said to ride it," the leader countered. "He only

mentioned

the elevator."

"Oh! Meaning the elevator shaft?" someone realized belatedly.

They could climb down the elevator shaft to the first floor and escape. The leader of Dagger gave a small nod, though he didn't actually move toward it.

"The problem is, it might be a lie," he said, still cautious.

They had good reason to suspect the elevator shaft might also be trapped. DG Guild's headquarters could be traversed via the emergency stairwell, the elevator, or the regular stairs. The elevator was likely unsafe, while the emergency stairs were clearly filled with traps. That left only the regular stairs.

The leader made his decision. "For now, let's head for the regular stairs. We might run into Hunters, but—"

A sharp hiss sliced through the air above. He and the other criminals froze, heads snapping upward as smoke began to pour from a hidden vent in the ceiling.

—Naturally, the emergency exit also has canisters of poison gas that slow mana flow.

He roared, "Scatter! Everyone find your own way out! The route with the best chance is the regular stairs!"

The leader bounded back up toward the seventh-floor emergency door, lifting both arms to cover his face while raising one leg to kick the door down.

Dozens of needles clinked harmlessly off the elbow-length gauntlets on his arms and the greaves protecting his legs. Still shielding his face, the leader spread his arms slightly to check the hallway beyond, but all he saw was darkness.

That doesn't mean there aren't more traps,

he reminded himself.

Kim Ki-Rok had installed these traps on the assumption that Awakened criminals or monsters might attack. Even a corridor like this could be rigged. While he hovered there, trying to sort out his next move, he heard frantic shouts from the criminals left in the stairwell.

"The traps are only on the steps!" shouted one of the criminals, swinging from railing to railing as he skipped the stairs entirely in his frantic descent.

The remaining Awakened criminals faced a choice. They could either follow the leader and search for a new path down from the seventh floor all the way to the first, or follow the one clever enough to descend the emergency stairwell without touching the steps, starting from the sixth.

Tap tap tap tap!

Except for the few loyal members of Dagger, every other Awakened criminal veered away, trying to descend via the railings without touching the stair landings.

"Boss," one of them called out.

Seeing the worry on their face, the leader of Dagger quickly laid out the situation for his subordinates. "We'll move through this hallway and head for the regular stairwell. From there, we take it all the way down."

"Boss..."

"What now?" he snapped.

"Is there any reason why we aren't taking the emergency stairs?"

The leader of Dagger frowned at the question. His subordinates usually followed orders without hesitation, but after a pause, he replied, "Because it's a trap."

"

Kuaaagh!

"

Right on cue, a scream echoed from below.

"Damn it! The railings are trapped too!"

"They've upped the gas!"

With the delayed springing of new traps and the intensifying poison gas, the criminals below had scattered, each fleeing through the nearest emergency door. The leader watched their panicked retreat.

"They were dead from the moment they split up," he said derisively.

***

Yoo Il-Sung, boss of the Il-Sung gang, stared at his trembling hands. He had no obvious wounds, but he had inhaled so much poison gas that his mana was sluggish and unresponsive.

He'd been part of the team climbing the building's exterior, but a trap set by that worthless Guildmaster had forced him to crash through a window to get inside. His main mistake was lingering too long in the room he broke into, trying to assess the situation.

"Damn it, this means I have to get out fast," Yoo Il-Sung muttered.

He could still draw on mana, just far more slowly than usual. To avoid fumbling in a real fight, he had to keep reinforcing his physical stats nonstop. The downside was that it burned through his mana. Annoyed that he had been cornered, Yoo Il-Sung lashed out at a nearby door.

Bang!

The door blew off its hinges and shot into the hallway. Seizing the broken door as a makeshift shield, Yoo Il-Sung ran down the hallway while sticking close to the wall for cover, only to stop in his tracks before even making it halfway. Trusting the instincts that had saved him in countless life-or-death moments, Yoo Il-Sung suddenly turned.

Crunch!

A blue arrow tore through his shield, barely grazing his cheek. A slower reaction and it would have skewered his head. The arrow had minimized explosive force in favor of raw piercing strength, and the only person in DG Guild who could create such a mana arrow was...

"The Vermillion Bird of the South, fucking bastard..." Yoo Il-Sung cursed. "At least it's not the absolute worst I could've faced..."

Fwoooosh!

Fire sprang up, instantly reducing his wooden shield to ashes. Even an A-Class criminal like Yoo Il-Sung felt real danger from those flames.

"Fuck this... shit..." Yoo Il-Sung groaned, quickly leaping back.

Swiiish!

A blade dropped from above, cleaving the empty space where he had just stood. The short-haired beauty who'd attacked clicked her tongue in frustration, then stepped back to rejoin her group.

"

Haa...

It looks like I really am fucked," Yoo Il-Sung cursed as he surveyed the group facing him.

Nam Dong-Wook drew back his bowstring, forming another mana arrow. Lee Ji-Yeon and the small Elemental on her shoulder glared in his direction. Beside them stood Yoo Seh-Eun, whose abilities included conjuring mana blades and boosting her allies with buffs.

Stomp stomp stomp.

Then there was Team Leader Min Gwang-Cheol from the Hunters Association's Awakened Criminal Pursuit Team. He glared at Yoo Il-Sung, blood dripping from his drawn sword, a clear sign he had already taken down at least one Awakened criminal tonight.

Yoo Il-Sung grimaced. "Surrender's not on the table, is it?"

"Guildmaster Kim Ki-Rok had some advice about that," Min Gwang-Cheol said.

At the mention of that name, Yoo Il-Sung frowned as he listened on.

"He said that even in the worst disasters, the Il-Sung gang wouldn't join forces—they'd stab us in the back without hesitation. That's why they have to die."

𝙛𝒓𝒆𝙚𝒘𝒆𝓫𝙣𝓸𝙫𝓮𝒍.𝒄𝒐𝓶

"

Heh,

even so, don't you think that it would be a pity to kill someone who possesses an A-Class skill like I do?"

"Guildmaster Kim Ki-Rok also mentioned this..." Min Gwang-Cheol's voice remained level, even as Yoo Il-Sung cursed internally at the repeated mention of that name. "He told us to remember every civilian and Hunter the Il-Sung gang has slaughtered, and to remember what your gang did to Pursuit Team Five."

Yoo Il-Sung spat at the floor, readying himself in a combat stance while sneering. "Your intel really is top-notch!"

Min Gwang-Cheol clenched his jaw. "So it was true. You did kill them."

A mocking grin was Yoo Il-Sung's only reply, a blatant provocation. Seeing Min Gwang-Cheol bristle, Yoo Seh-Eun and Lee Ji-Yeon stepped forward. Min Gwang-Cheol forced himself to stay calm, keeping his eyes on the enemy.

***

Meanwhile, the leader of Dagger pressed forward through the building's intricate, almost nauseating array of traps, aiming for a route to the regular stairs. His underlings followed close behind.

"How many are hurt?" he called back.

"Twelve," one replied.

Not all the needles were poisoned. Some were forged from a special mana-conductive metal that maximized penetration, which only made life harder. A needle like that could shatter someone's internal flow of mana, leaving them wide open for the next, truly poisonous arrow that spelled certain doom.

Though these injuries weren't immediately fatal, it would still be disastrous if the criminals had to fight DG Guild's Hunters, whose mana remained unhampered.

Keeping his eyes forward, the leader of Dagger spoke over his shoulder, "I trust you're all ready to do what needs to be done if it comes to that."

With that grim reminder, they arrived at the regular stairs. The leader narrowed his eyes as he read a sign that had been erected in front of the stairs.

[I will be waiting for you on the rooftop.]

Whoever posted it seemed certain they would head for the regular stairs, And there was only one member of DG Guild who addressed even Awakened criminals so politely.

"You guys head down," the leader of Dagger ordered.

"But, sir..." a subordinate began.

"We can't keep letting this play out," the boss growled, adjusting the sheathed dagger on his belt and checking the gauntlets on his forearms.

That subordinate, his most loyal follower whose life was once saved by the leader, tightened his fists. "Then I'll go with you."

Unlike those who joined Dagger purely for money or shelter, he was bound by true gratitude. The leader of Dagger had saved his life, and he fully intended on repaying that debt.

However, the leader shook his head. "You just need to focus on escaping."

"But, sir, this is obviously a trap."

"Of course it is. But if I can kill him on the rooftop, it will be much easier for us to make our escape."

"But if you don't—"

"And once I'm on the rooftop, no matter how tall the building is, I'm confident that I can make a safe descent."

The subordinate fell silent. He knew the leader of Dagger had taken point escorting them from the emergency stairs to the regular staircase—not for himself, but to shield them, even though escaping alone would've been easier.

After considering their options for a moment, the subordinate nodded. "Understood. In that case, I will take over and lead this team to escape."

The leader of Dagger simply nodded in return. As his subordinates took the stairs down, he looked up at the stairs leading to the upper floors. The eight and final floor was where Kim Ki-Rok and Kim Ji-Hee lived.

Considering the fact that the DG Guild had predicted this attack and were fully prepared to deal with the Awakened criminals, there was no way that Kim Ji-Hee would still be in the guild. Even if she was, he was sure that Kim Ki-Rok must have fully prepared for her safety.

Click.

As soon as he stepped foot on the stairs, the leader of Dagger had to deflect a rain of needles that came pouring down onto his head.

Click.

Not two steps further, more arrows and needles fired from the walls and ceiling. Cursing, he kicked off the floor. With every step triggering fresh projectiles, the only option was to avoid the stairs entirely.

Throwing himself forward, he trusted the mana armor wrapped around his body to hold. Once he confirmed that the needles were harmlessly bouncing off, the leader of Dagger glanced up to check his landing spot.

A quick burst of mana-enhanced vision revealed small holes dotting the walls and ceiling, where more traps were waiting. Without hesitation, he launched off the stair railing, using his left foot to propel himself toward a nearby window frame.

With a wobbly landing, he quickly grabbed the wall with both hands to steady himself.

Tch.

Having felt a small sting in his fingertips, he looked at his right hand with a tightened expression. Pulling it back from the wall, he saw small needles embedded around the window frame.

"Nasty piece of work, that fucking bastard..."