Chapter 102: A Scammer's Winning Strategy (4)

Whoosh, whoosh!

Cheon Woo-Seong leaped from rooftop to rooftop with his subordinates, searching for Park Geon-Woo, who had seemingly vanished into the sky or sunk into the earth. No matter how thoroughly they searched, there was no trace of him.

“Where could he possibly be...?”

As Cheon Woo-Seong bit his lip anxiously, the communication marble in his pocket started to vibrate.

Buzz!

He urgently channeled his mana into the marble and encountered a call from Park Geon-Woo.

—Mr. Woo-Seong!

Park Geon-Woo was drenched in blood on the other end. His deep scar across his right eye, thick eyebrows, firm lips, and pronounced cheekbones left no doubts that it was him.

—

Haa! Haa!

The marble's view shook violently like he was in the middle of running away.

—I-I’m sorry! The Black Lion suddenly intervened, and I got caught—

“We can talk about that later!” Cheon Woo-Seong shouted. He didn’t have time to listen to Park Geon-Woo’s lame excuses. “Where are you right now?”

—I’m escaping through the sewers!

Is that why we couldn't find him anywhere above ground?

Cheon Woo-Seong thought.

“How many are chasing you?”

Park Geon-Woo stopped in his tracks and scanned his surroundings before answering.

—

Haa, haa

! Thankfully, no one has caught up to me yet!

Cheon Woo-Seong couldn’t see any signs of pursuit amidst the silence on the other end.

He let out a sigh of relief.

“Head to the location I'm going to mention.”

—I understand!

“And stay on the line.”

Cheon Woo-Seong monitored Park Geon-Woo’s movements in real time.

I need to meet him before he gets caught.

And then, he would need to decide whether to save him or eliminate him.

... I’ll have to get rid of him, right?

Although Park Geon-Woo was his trusted right-hand man, the association knew his face now.

Even if I forgave him, Father never would.

Cheon Do-Yoon was merciless toward subordinates who messed up. In that case, it would be better for Cheon Woo-Seong to finish off Park Geon-Woo with his own hands.

A trace of grief flickered in his eyes. Park Geon-Woo had been with him the longest among the Owl faction and understood him better than anyone.

I don’t have a choice.

He closed his eyes shut. It was as agonizing as cutting off his own arm, but his subordinate's mistake was too severe to overlook.

He tightly clenched his fist, recalling Park Geon-Woo's words from before.

“A noble sacrifice for the greater good.”

That’s right. Just like Geon-Woo said, this is for the sake of protecting many more lives. As long as I can take over the association...

He could save the innocent masses from the catastrophic threat of Awakeners.

—I-I’ve arrived!

“Wait there.”

Resolve burned bright in Cheon Woo-Seong's eyes as he started moving. Park Geon-Woo was currently at a secret hideout that only Cheon Woo-Seong knew about even within the Black Star Society.

“Let’s go,” he commanded, and his elite personal unit followed behind. These dozens of Owls were the faction’s strongest members—a mighty force that would allow him to handle any unexpected variables.

Splat, splat.

They navigated the damp sewer system and headed toward Cheon Woo-Seong's personal underground world, a forgotten place abandoned after a gate incident nine years ago during subway construction.

There, only a deathly silence lingered in the air.

“Hm?

” He raised the communication marble and asked, “Where are you now?”

There was no response on the line.

“Geon-Woo? I asked where you are!”

A terrified voice suddenly broke the silence.

—M-Mr. Woo-Seong. You're really... here to save me, right?

The King's Proxy stood still in silence.

—Y-You’re not... planning to kill me and silence me, are you...?

Cheon Woo-Seong scowled, furious.

Is he hiding in fear?

It was a pathetic move for a high-ranking executive to make.

“

Haha

. Don’t worry, Geon-Woo,” Cheon Woo-Seong replied, keeping his tone as calm as possible. “Think about all the time we spent together, all the blood and sweat we shed together for the will of the Black Stars... Geon-Woo, you’re my irreplaceable friend and the only person who understands me.”

He lured his prey like a Venus flytrap using its sweet aroma as bait.

“Even if you made a mistake this time, I don’t intend to blame you for it. You were unfortunately caught, but you succeeded in unleashing the demonic beasts on Guro-dong. And even after being captured, you didn’t utter a word about the Black Stars...”

He smiled warmly and spread his arms. “I have no intention of killing you, so rest easy. Come out, Geon-Woo.”

Immediately, someone emerged from the darkness.

Rustle.

However, it was someone else who shouldn’t have been there.

“So it was really you,” a frail, elderly man muttered and glared at him.

Cheon Woo-Seong's eyes widened as he stumbled backward. “H-Han Tae-Ho?”

Why's the old viper here?

“Honestly, I didn’t want to believe it,” Han Tae-Ho said, clenching his fist tightly. “No matter how evil you are, I didn’t think you’d stoop as low as targeting the powerless. Cheon Woo-Seong... you’re under arrest for orchestrating civilian massacres and acts of terrorism.”

Cheon Woo-Seong froze, trembling in disbelief as a chilling dread crept up his spine.

The fact that Han Tae-Ho is here means...

“Park Geon-Woo...!” He spat the name like venom. His right-hand man had betrayed him and laid a trap to draw him out.

“You... You blasphemous bastard!” Cheon Woo-Seong grimaced. “How dare you?! Do you think you can betray the Black Star’s will and walk away alive?!”

His vengeful hatred boiled like an exploding volcano, and his bloodshot eyes glared into the darkness. “Show yourself, you coward! Come out now!”

“You seem to be mistaken,” Han Tae-Ho remarked.

“Mistaken?”

“The one who carried out the recent terror attack, his name was Park Geon-Woo?” Han Tae-Ho clicked his tongue. “He’s been dead for quite some time now.”

“What?”

Dead for some time? But I was just on the line with him moments ago! What the fuck is going on?

“What kind of nonsense—”

“I didn’t expect you to fall for a shabby disguise,” Han Tae-Ho uttered.

“A shabby... disguise?”

Cheon Woo-Seong’s gaze shifted behind Han Tae-Ho.

Han Jun-Man emerged from the shadows, disguised as Park Geon-Woo. “W-What do you mean, shabby?! It took me three whole hours to get all this makeup done!”

Cheon Woo-Seong scornfully chuckled. “That’s supposed to be a disguise?”

The scar by his eye and the shape of his lips showed some effort, but the rest of it was laughably messy.

No. What I saw, the one who lured me here, wasn't a disguised rat.

“You must have been pretty desperate yourself,” Han Tae-Ho said.

Cheon Woo-Seong stayed in denial.

This can’t be. That was... the real Park Geon-Woo.

There was no mistaking it. No matter how rushed or anxious he was, he would never fail to recognize his right-hand man.

“Come to think of it, you did seem quite frantic. Even from the moment you contacted him first in a frenzy.”

“What are you talking about?” Cheon Woo-Seong staggered backward, his face pale with shock.

I reached out first? No, I just picked up his call after he escaped.

Something was off—something critical, fatal even. Everything had been twisted beyond repair, and he couldn’t even pinpoint where it had all gone wrong. What Han Tae-Ho was saying and what he remembered weren’t aligning.

What's going on here...?

He felt unpleasant, as though an invisible hand was manipulating all the pieces on the board like puppets on a string.

Just then, another figure emerged from the darkness.

“Don’t you think that’s enough talking?” a young man asked, his icy eyes radiating a suffocating, ferocious aura.

“... Black Lion.”

Lee Woo-Hyuk wasn’t alone. He'd brought along his guild members and special agents of the association. All of them had been waiting for Cheon Woo-Seong here in a perfectly laid-out trap.

Damn it! Han Tae-Ho and his special agents alone are complicated opponents, but there's the Valhalla Guild too. There's no way I can fight them all off. I can't be captured—not here, not like this...!

“Go! My Owls!”

He commanded his subordinates to buy him time and turned to flee.

“Don’t let him escape!” the Black Lion shouted, chasing after him.

Boom!

A deafening explosion reverberated through the abandoned subway station.

***

Cheon Woo-Seong staggered forward, blood-soaked and ready to collapse at any moment.

“Haa... haa...”

He was riddled with wounds, both small and large, including a deep gash on his side.

“Agh...!”

At least... I managed to escape.

He bit his lip as he scanned his surroundings. Thanks to his subordinates sacrificing themselves to hold the enemy back, he managed to slip away.

“I need... to contact Father quickly,” he shakily mumbled as he stumbled forward.

Just then, he saw a pair of eerie blue eyes in the dark passageway ahead.

“Is this where you’ve been hiding?” a voice echoed.

“You’re...” Cheon Woo-Seong’s eyes widened. Emerging from the passage was none other than Park Geon-Woo.

Cheon Woo-Seong was certain it was him. Not Han Jun-Man in a bad disguise, but the face he had seen through the communication marble.

“Who are you?” he asked, his teeth chattering. A paralyzing terror gripped his very soul. “Who the hell are you, you bastard?!”

“Me?” Park Geon-Woo smirked slyly. “Who knows?”

Slowly, he tilted his head, and his face began to warp.

Squish.

Cheon Woo-Seong watched as his skin melted and his muscles contorted.

“Ah...”

Park Geon-Woo’s face morphed into Han Tae-Ho’s. Then, Han Tae-Ho’s face morphed into Lee Woo-Hyuk’s. Finally, Lee Woo-Hyuk’s face morphed into Cheon Woo-Seong’s. The face had transformed countless times in the blink of an eye.

“Who do I look like to you?” the man asked before his chilling laughter echoed within the dark passageway.