Chapter 60: Heavy Rain (2)

After accepting Lee Woo-Hyuk's request, Kwon Oh-Jin used a disposable phone provided by the association to message the whistleblower, minimizing any risks. This wasn’t a matter to be delayed, so the meeting was set up quickly.

Three hours later, Kwon Oh-Jin sat in a local cafe near Banghak Station, where the rendezvous was planned. A middle-aged man entered, his clothes disheveled and a cap pulled low over his face.

Is it him?

Kwon Oh-Jin wondered.

He appeared to be in his early forties, with a weary expression etched into his wrinkled face. There were unmistakable traces of sorrow and despair in his eyes as he glanced around nervously, searching for Kwon Oh-Jin.

Of course, Kwon Oh-Jin hadn't intended to meet him ill-prepared. He had arrived at the cafe thirty minutes earlier and suppressed his presence with the Black Curtain as he quietly sipped his coffee. The skill allowed him to conceal himself so thoroughly that even Vega couldn't detect him. As long as he didn’t act recklessly, he could stay hidden from view regardless of ambushes or tailing attempts in the area.

A cafe employee approached the middle-aged man and handed him a note. “Excuse me... someone who came in earlier asked me to give this to you.”

The employee had gladly accepted the simple task for the fifty thousand won Kwon Oh-Jin had slipped him.

The middle-aged man gave a slight nod and left the cafe. Kwon Oh-Jin activated the Stigma of Canes Venatici and quietly followed him.

It doesn’t seem like anyone's tailing us.

None of his senses detected any suspicious presence nearby, but he couldn’t rely entirely on Canes Venatici—it wasn’t even his main Stigma, after all.

Following the directions on the note, the man walked into a secluded alley.

Kwon Oh-Jin disabled his Stigma and tackled him from behind, clamping his hand over the man's mouth.

“Mmph! Mmm!”

the man protested, writhing in vain.

“Be quiet,” Kwon Oh-Jin hissed—more a death threat than a warning. He swiftly tied his arms and legs with a wire and dragged him to his car, already parked nearby. After shoving him into the back seat, he started the engine and sped down the road.

Vroom!

“Haa!”

“You can talk now.”

The middle-aged man, whose arms and legs were still bound, furrowed his brow. “Quite a rough greeting, don't you think?”

“Well, we’re not exactly in a situation where we can leisurely sip iced americanos and chat, are we?” Kwon Oh-Jin smiled, glancing over his shoulder.

The man wriggled like a caterpillar, struggling to sit upright. “My name’s Jang Seok-Ho. I’m in charge of developing Astral Relics for the Black Star Society.”

“I’m Kwon Oh-Jin... I’m sure you know who I am.”

“Who wouldn’t know the Thunder Wolf?” Jang Seok-Ho replied calmly, staring at Kwon Oh-Jin. “But I've never heard of the Thunder Wolf being associated with the Valhalla Guild.”

“That’s why I’m here,” Kwon Oh-Jin said firmly. If his connection to the Valhalla Guild were public knowledge, Lee Woo-Hyuk wouldn’t have asked him to take on the job. “So, what do you know about the Black Star Society?”

“... I can’t tell you right now.”

“What?” Kwon Oh-Jin sharply furrowed his brow. “Then why did you even bother coming?”

“I came to propose a deal.”

“A deal?”

Jang Seok-Ho nodded. “If you accept my request, I’ll hand over everything I know about the Black Star Society.”

Kwon Oh-Jin sighed.

So he wasn’t just a whistleblower. He had his own motives.

“And if I don’t want to?” he asked. There didn’t seem to be any reason to comply—he had plenty of ways to make Jang Seok-Ho talk.

“Then, it'll be the afterlife,” Jang Seok-Ho replied.

“I won't die so easily, you know.”

“No. I’ll be the one to die.”

“What?” Kwon Oh-Jin slowed the car down and turned to look at Jang Seok-Ho biting his lip.

“There's an Astral Relic strapped to my chest that will explode as soon as I channel mana into it," he said. "The blast itself isn’t huge, but it’s more than enough to kill me.”

Right. He was in charge of developing Astral Relics,

Kwon Oh-Jin recalled.

“Of course," Jang Seok-Ho added, "if that happens, your chance to obtain any intel on the Black Star Society will disappear along with me.”

Kwon Oh-Jin studied his eyes closely. There was no need to verify if he was bluffing—his gaze was unwavering, gleaming with resolute determination.

“Pffft!”

Kwon Oh-Jin accepted his loss. “What’s your request?”

“My son is being held captive by the Black Star Society. Save him, and the information is yours.”

Kwon Oh-Jin mulled it over.

His son is being held captive, huh?

“Is that why you’re working for them?” he asked.

The Black Star Society could grant Stigmas to ordinary people who weren’t awakened—a power exclusive to Celestials. How they achieved this was a mystery, but it allowed them to expand rapidly. After all, there were as many people desperate to awaken as grains of sand on a beach.

I'd assumed he was the same, but he's working for them against his will?

Kwon Oh-Jin thought.

If so, his resentment toward them makes sense.

Jang Seok-Ho nodded stiffly. “That’s right. It’s already been three years now.”

It was hard to imagine the despair he must have endured, forced to obey the Black Star Society’s orders for so long. Kwon Oh-Jin asked, “Was it necessary for them to go to such lengths to keep you?”

Holding his son hostage was an effective but costly strategy for the organization. Managing the hostage while constantly surveilling Jang Seok-Ho would have taken considerable effort. Was he really worth that much trouble?

“Skilled Astral Relic developers are hard to come by," Jang Seok-Ho replied. "This might sound strange coming from me, but... I’m pretty talented in this field, though I’m not as good as that kid in the association.”

...

Is this the same kid Han Jun-Man mentioned before?

Kwon Oh-Jin glanced down at the wire shooter strapped to his wrist. The weapon, crafted by someone whose name he didn’t even know, had proven to be invaluable.

Jang Seok-Ho must have been supplying the Black Star Society with Starstone-based equipment like the wire shooter.

Kwon Oh-Jin nodded. He understood why they had taken Jang Seok-Ho’s son, but one thing still didn’t sit right.

“Is it really okay for you to meet me like this?" he asked. If they were holding his son hostage, they were surely keeping a close eye on Jang Seok-Ho.

“It’s fine," Jang Seok-Ho replied. "Things have been chaotic since the Valhalla Guild’s raid. For the first time in three years, their surveillance on me has loosened.”

Kwon Oh-Jin narrowed his eyes.

“Hmm.”

It wasn't entirely convincing, but if Jang Seok-Ho insisted it was safe, it was hard to argue otherwise.

He wouldn’t have come without thinking it through, not with his son’s life on the line,

Kwon Oh-Jin thought.

“So, you’re saying if I rescue your son, you’ll give me the information?” he asked.

Jang Seok-Ho gave a small nod.

“What kind of information is it?”

“I’ll tell you once you save my son.”

Kwon Oh-Jin frowned harshly. “Are you kidding me?”

The man expected him to rescue his son without revealing what kind of information was at stake. There was no way Kwon Oh-Jin could make a deal under such uncertain terms. He firmly said, “I need to know what kind of information you have before I can even consider making a deal like that.”

Jang Seok-Ho bit his lip, seemingly anxious as to whether the information he had was worth the price of his son’s life.

“There are seven factions within the Black Star Society," he began. "Each faction operates in a different country, covertly expanding its influence.”

So the organization spreading in Italy is a different faction than the one in Korea,

Kwon Oh-Jin concluded. He had already considered the possibility that the Black Star Society wasn’t led by a single Celestial. Factions based on Celestials wasn’t unique to them.

Jang Seok-Ho declared, “The intel I have is on one of the factions—the Owl Nebula.”

“That’s the one operating in Korea, right?”

Jang Seok-Ho nodded. “It’s the faction led by Cheon Do-Yoon, the King of Owls, ranked sixth among the Executors.”

“... Ranked sixth?”

The person who single-handedly wiped out the Valhalla Guild was only sixth in rank.

Shit. Does the Black Star Society really wield as much power as the Seven Stars?

Kwon Oh-Jin wondered.

“Just how could an organization of that scale stay hidden until now?” he asked.

“It’s because most of them were hiding in the Demonic District. It hasn’t been long since they came out of there.”

The Demonic District, often referred to as humanity’s final frontier was accessible through a massive gate in the Arctic with a diameter of fifty kilometers. Beyond that gate lay the land of monsters.

Even after nine years since gates first appeared on Earth, less than five percent of the Demonic District had been explored. Some even speculated that it was as large as the Earth itself; calling it "vast" didn't do it justice.

If they were hiding there, it's no wonder no one heard of them,

Kwon Oh-Jin thought.

“So you're saying you know everything about the Owl Nebula faction,” he remarked.

“I don’t know everything," Jang Seok-Ho admitted. "Especially not about Cheon Do-Yoon’s headquarters, which is classified as top-secret information. Someone like me could never get access to that.”

“Then what

do

you know?”

“... I know the approximate locations of their branches and some details about certain high-ranking executives.”

“Hmm.”

That’s not too bad,

Kwon Oh-Jin thought. Given the current lack of intel, even the smallest lead couldn’t be overlooked.

But I should still press for more.

“Anything else?” he asked.

“...”

“This doesn’t seem like enough if I'm saving your son’s life,” he added.

“...

Ugh

.” Jang Seok-Ho clenched his fists, hesitating before finally speaking. “I do... have some more information about the Black Star Society’s plan. I don’t know the specifics, but I know why they left the Demonic District and started operating outside.”

“Oh?”

Kwon Oh-Jin raised an eyebrow since that was something he had been curious about. He asked, “Do you have a picture of your son or something?”

Jang Seok-Ho glanced down at the wire binding his limbs. “Can you untie me first?”

“

Ah

, hold on.”

Kwon Oh-Jin pulled the car over to the side of the road and undid the wire.

Jang Seok-Ho handed over his phone. “This is a video I took with my son three years ago.”

Kwon Oh-Jin saw a young boy in elementary school running forward with a bright smile.

—

Hehe!

Daddy! Hurry up!

Watching the video, Jang Seok-Ho teared up.

“Hngh!”

Overwhelmed by his emotions, he stepped out of the car and fell to his knees. “P-Please! Please, save my son! I’ll tell you everything I know, so please...!”

Thud!

He slammed his forehead onto the ground in a desperate plea for help.

Kwon Oh-Jin silently watched the boy in the video smile so brightly and innocently, unaware of the darkness in the world. He wondered if every child born with parents could smile like that.

Who knows? I’ve never had one.

𝗳𝚛𝗲𝕖𝕨𝕖𝗯𝚗𝚘𝕧𝕖𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝕞

“Name,” Kwon Oh-Jin echoed.

“Hmm?”

“What’s your son’s name?”

“Hyun-Woo. Jang Hyun-Woo.”

“His age?”

“He should be ten by now.”

“When’s his birthday?”

“... Why are you asking that?” Jang Seok-Ho asked, confused.

“Just answer.”

“March twelfth.”

“What’s his favorite food?”

“He used to love oranges.”

“Height and weight from three years ago?”

“Well... I never measured his exact height, but he weighed around twenty-five kilograms.”

“Is that so?” Kwon Oh-Jin muttered.

Now then—

“Repeat what you answered me but in reverse. Weight, favorite food, birthday, age, and name.”

Jang Seok-Ho paused for a moment, questioning if there was a point to this. He then answered without hesitation. “Twenty-five kilograms, oranges, March twelfth, ten years old, Jang Hyun-Woo.”

Kwon Oh-Jin smiled and nodded. “Get in the car.”

The deal was sealed.