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Psst! We're moving!
Cheon Geon-young gazed indifferently at the numbers on the elevator as it approached his floor. The smaller the number, the more his heart pounded with agonizing intensity.
Finally, the elevator arrived at their floor. At the same time, Cheon Geon-young’s phone rang.
The elevator car that arrived was empty. The chimera, who had entered first, frowned slightly at him for not joining her.
“Aren’t you coming? You’re soaked with champagne.”
“It’s a call that requires a quick decision. I’ll handle it and come up.”
The chimera’s hand, which had been pressing the open button inside, soon dropped away, and the doors slid together, slowly closing. The bodyguards, judging it a private moment, had not followed the chimera and were still keeping watch on others in the hall.
Immediately after the target disappeared, Cheon Geon-young briefly made eye contact with the surveillance camera at the pre-notified location.
________________________________________
Finally, the elevator stopped.
Yoon Tae-ha, kneeling on the upper panel of the elevator, felt relieved as she took the bio-tube out of the box. Standing on the exposed wires and descending a high-rise building felt like being pulled into a deep chimney or a coal mine. She pressed and released her ears firmly, which kept trying to become muffled, then disengaged the bio-tube’s safety mechanism, ready to use it.
Soon after, a communication arrived, confirming that the target had boarded the elevator where she was located. The upper panel was opaque, so she couldn’t see the silhouette of the person who boarded. However, she could understand what was happening just by their voice.
‘It’s my voice. It sounds even more identical when heard up close.’
Her voice and the voice of the person she missed were heard alternately. Cheon Geon-young seemed to be retreating after letting the chimera board the elevator alone, as per the plan. Then the operation team spoke through the communicator in her ear.
• The decoy is retreating. The operation team is on the 72nd floor. I repeat, the operation team is on the 72nd floor.
The plan was to initiate the suppression after passing the 10th floor to prevent noise from reaching the hall. Soon, the steel box began to be rapidly pulled upwards by the wires.
• Descend in 5 seconds.
Yoon Tae-ha held the bio-tube in her left hand.
• ...3, 2, 1.
She prepared to pry open the upper panel with her telekinesis.
• Infiltrate.
Yoon Tae-ha, who skillfully opened the seam with her telekinesis in one fluid motion without error, infiltrated the interior as swiftly as an assassin. There was a thud as the intruder landed on the floor, and the elevator shook slightly.
The chimera, who had been standing with her arms crossed, facing forward, was choked by Yoon Tae-ha, who had descended from above, before she could even grasp the situation.
“What, cough!”
Yoon Tae-ha knew better than anyone that when fighting a teleportation ability user, one must absolutely fix the opponent in place. As she applied strong pressure just above the trachea with her right arm, the chimera gasped for air and struggled. The stained hem of her dress violently fluttered.
As the chimera haphazardly used telekinesis, flailing its arms to protect itself, the elevator they were in rattled precariously. It wouldn’t have been strange if it plummeted immediately.
Even in the dangerous situation, Yoon Tae-ha raised her left hand and swung it. At that moment, the chimera, who spotted the syringe through the mirror-like reflective entrance door, twisted her left hand with telekinesis. It was a force that would have torn off her arm or crushed her bones instantly if not for her physical enhancement.
• Passing 32nd floor.
The narrow space was densely filled with an intense murderous intent to kill the opponent.
Yoon Tae-ha, gritting her teeth, trembled but did not let go of the chimera, who kept trying to teleport. To avoid being pushed back in the fierce struggle, she had to scrape up every last bit of energy she had from the moment of her birth.
“Let... let go...”
The chimera ground its teeth and warned. And the next moment, the chimera’s fingernails grew long like awls and moved towards Yoon Tae-ha’s face.
In response, Yoon Tae-ha forcibly twisted the direction of the fingernails with telekinesis, and the chimera writhed in pain without making a sound.
The syringe was much closer to the chimera’s neck than before.
• Passing 48th floor. Medication must be administered before the 60th floor.
As if in a final struggle, grotesque animal bones erupted from the chimera’s shoulder. Resembling thick vertebrae, they clamped down on the joint of Yoon Tae-ha’s left arm and shoulder like pincers, clicking.
When a tearing pain struck that area of her muscle, her vision momentarily blurred, but at the same time, fury surged within her body from the utterly repulsive pain.
Using anger as a catalyst, it became easier to bring the tube closer to its neck. If she couldn’t even deal with an enemy who resembled her, how would she handle Kali? Recalling the snake’s face that had mocked her mother, Yoon Tae-ha thrust the tube’s syringe forcefully into the chimera’s neck the next moment.
• Passing 57th floor.
As the drug was injected, the chimera flailed like a fish caught in an electric wire. After about 5 seconds, it became astonishingly still and closed its eyelids. The bones that had erupted from its shoulder and its elongated, beast-like fingernails also retracted into its body.
• Drug reaction confirmed.
The enemy was completely unconscious and limp, but Yoon Tae-ha did not let her guard down and maintained her hold on the chimera. A trickle of cold sweat ran down her neck.
The elevator paused briefly on the 71st floor to avoid any potential witnesses, then ascended one more floor.
Upon reaching the 72nd floor, the elevator doors opened. Changcheon agents who were waiting swiftly approached, gagged the chimera, and covered its head with a black cloth.
They each took one of the chimera’s arms and entered the room. Yoon Tae-ha hastily followed behind.
The chimera’s chip was to be extracted in the living room. Yoon Tae-ha, who had removed her mask and communicator, went to the bedroom as guided by an agent and lay neatly on the bed in a straight posture.
A mage, whom she had gotten to know while waiting in the hotel room, approached and explained what she was about to experience in a few minutes.
“Once the chip is safely separated over there, I will make an incision in your flesh and implant it. We will use an anesthetic, but it won’t entirely nullify the pain. That’s because using too much could make your movements unnatural.”
“It’s fine as long as there are no traces.”
The somber-faced mage left for a moment, then suddenly reappeared, handing her a soft-textured blindfold. As Yoon Tae-ha received it with a bewildered expression, he glanced towards the living room and muttered,
“They told me to give it to you from over there.”
Did Kwon Hyuk prepare this? Thinking he had a thoughtful side, she put on the blindfold. And she tried to be indifferent to the surrounding noise.
A moment later, she heard people entering the bedroom. There was also a slightly metallic smell. It seemed someone had gotten onto the bed next to where she lay. She felt the bed subtly tilt in that direction.
“Ms. Yoon Tae-ha, we will now insert the chip.”
“Yes.”
No sooner had he finished speaking than a pain like a hot blade gouging into the flesh beneath her collarbone struck. Yoon Tae-ha reflexively flinched her fingertips. At that moment, someone gently held her trembling fingertips, soothing them.
“Your body temperature will rise. I think it would be good to cool her down a bit.”
The mage spoke to someone. Then, a cool sensation flowed into her body through her fingertips.
It felt good even amidst the pain. Injecting cold air into a person’s body was something only a high-ranked Esper could do, and it seemed Changcheon had such an ability user. As the skin-burning heat disappeared, Yoon Tae-ha let out a silent sigh of relief.
“The scar suturing is complete. Do you see any traces?”
When the mage who had finished the procedure asked, Kwon Hyuk calmly replied,
“None at all. Clean, no traces. Can the Center Director see anything?”
Center Director? Surprised by the term referring to Lee Hae-kyung, Yoon Tae-ha sprang up and pulled off the blindfold. Her movement was so fast that she almost bumped heads with the man who had been holding her hand beside her.
“Who arrived?”
She blurted out in disbelief, then quickly turned her head.
Yoon Tae-ha’s eyes met the man sitting beside her, holding her hand. His features seemed sharper than usual, and he appeared to have lost a lot of weight, but it was unmistakably Lee Hae-kyung. Yoon Tae-ha was stunned by the appearance of this welcome face she had not expected at all.
“You almost broke an ally’s forehead just now.”
Moreover, Lee Hae-kyung wasn’t the only one in the bedroom.
Seo Do-jin, who had been squatting in the corner of the bedroom, suddenly stood up and pushed through the agents to approach. The shock to Yoon Tae-ha doubled. People she had grown up with were within arm’s reach. Her tongue stiffened with a joy and surprise slightly different from when she met Chertan.
“Look at her, not even pretending to be happy to see me.”
Seo Do-jin deliberately grumbled, nudging Yoon Tae-ha’s instep. She merely flinched her toes, unable to skillfully retort to his teasing. When there was no reaction, Seo Do-jin seriously asked Kwon Hyuk, who was standing beside him,
“Surely she hasn’t turned bad, has she? She seems not to recognize me. She’s not usually this quiet.”
Kwon Hyuk, hearing his words, replied with a gentle expression.
“Ms. Yoon Tae-ha will return to the field in 15 minutes. She needs to change, so I can only give you about 3 minutes. I will leave you to it.”
Kwon Hyuk left the bedroom with the agents for the three of them. As the large men poured out like an ebb tide, the bedroom regained its original quiet and tranquility. From the living room, a voice could be heard reporting the movements of the surveillance target.
Seo Do-jin quipped with a hint of disappointment in his voice.
“Yoon Tae-ha, you only have 3 minutes, are you going to keep your vow of silence? Are you really that suspicious?”
When she still didn’t react to his words, Lee Hae-kyung released her hand and poked Yoon Tae-ha’s still dazed cheek with his index finger.
“Ice.”
Yoon Tae-ha’s tongue moved then, recalling the way the boy, who had been much more mature than her, often played with her.
“...Unfreeze.”
Lee Hae-kyung wore an inexpressible expression. Such an emotional face was unfamiliar even to Yoon Tae-ha. Meanwhile, Seo Do-jin looked between the two of them and then got annoyed.
“Hey. There’s one more person here. There are three people in the room, but wouldn’t the remaining person feel a bit left out if you two are doing weird things with a code only you share? I know how to play ‘Ice and Unfreeze’ too.”
Yoon Tae-ha, acknowledging his complaint, extended her hand to Seo Do-jin as well.
“Take it.”
“Do you think pretending to make up will make my resentment disappear?”
Seo Do-jin, who had sharply retorted, quickly grabbed her hand, just in case she changed her mind.
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