The second day of the special task force experience arrived.
For breakfast, Yoo Ara and Choi Seo-yoon went down to the buffet restaurant on the first floor of the hotel.
After filling their plates with delicious-looking food, the two found a suitable empty seat and sat down.
Yoo Ara took a sip of water before starting her meal. Then, she glanced at Choi Seo-yoon, who was sitting across from her.
“…….”
Choi Seo-yoon wasn’t eating. Instead, she was looking around as if searching for something. Curious, Yoo Ara asked,
“What’s wrong?”
“It’s nothing. I just don’t see Kim Sunwoo anywhere.”
Choi Seo-yoon continued scanning her surroundings as if she was concerned.
“He’ll be down soon. And even though he can be a little strange at times, he’s actually pretty organized.”
At Yoo Ara’s words, Choi Seo-yoon tilted her head slightly.
Their conversation yesterday, as well as the way they interacted, made it seem like they shared some kind of secret she wasn’t privy to.
They seemed closer than she had initially thought.
Curious, she asked straightforwardly,
“By the way, senior, how did you become close with Kim Sunwoo?”
“Me and Kim Sunwoo?”
“Yes.”
Yoo Ara had a blank expression for a moment before furrowing her brows.
“……I’m not that close to him.”
“Come on, a lot of people have seen you two talking together.”
“That’s just because I don’t talk to many other people….”
Yoo Ara trailed off in a quiet voice.
Choi Seo-yoon somewhat agreed. It was well known at school that Yoo Ara wasn’t particularly sociable.
But even someone like Yoo Ara had a person she frequently talked to—Kim Sunwoo.
Thinking about it, it was quite ironic.
Kim Sunwoo wasn’t exactly the most sociable person either.
Yet, he was always surrounded by impressive individuals like Lee Seo-jun and Yoo Ara.
It was kind of fascinating.
“Then how did you become close with Kim Sunwoo?”
Yoo Ara turned the question back on her.
“Huh? Oh, um… it just kind of happened.”
Saying that she got close to him by following Lee Seo-jun around felt a little embarrassing, so she vaguely glossed over it.
“What kind of answer is that?”
“Hehe. I just kept running into him during school activities. Plus, I’m in the same special class as Kim Sunwoo, you know.”
“Hmm.”
Yoo Ara nodded.
“Oh! There he is!”
Choi Seo-yoon shifted her gaze toward the restaurant entrance.
Yoo Ara followed suit.
Kim Sunwoo looked slightly tired, as if he hadn’t gotten much sleep.
Did he stay up all night doing something else?
Come to think of it, he did go out last night, saying he needed some fresh air.
“Hmm….”
Her suspicion flared up, and she began observing Kim Sunwoo as he filled his plate.
Oblivious to her observation, Kim Sunwoo picked up his food and glanced around.
When Choi Seo-yoon waved at him, he headed their way.
“Senior, why are you coming down so late?”
“So what? As long as I eat on time, it’s fine.”
Yoo Ara watched him for a moment before asking,
“Didn’t sleep well? You look tired.”
“Yeah, I had a restless night.”
He answered casually before starting his meal.
“The food’s kind of bland.”
Somewhere in the western district of Incheon, inside Goldwin’s underground hideout.
About seventy Goldwin members were checking their weapons.
“My body’s itching for a fight.”
“Yeah. When are those Hyesung Guild bastards coming?”
As they chatted casually, a man slowly walked through the crowd.
He had a rough, scarred face that made it easy to guess the kind of life he had lived.
This was Jo Won-seok, the leader of Goldwin.
“Greetings, sir!”
“Yeah, keep up the good work.”
Jo Won-seok gave the guild members a brief greeting before heading toward his personal space—the guild leader’s office.
When he opened the door, he saw another man sitting in his chair.
At that sight, Jo Won-seok instinctively felt a wave of tension.
“Mr. Kim Sung-eun.”
The man in the chair—Kim Sung-eun, or rather, Baek Eun-seong—smiled warmly at Jo Won-seok.
“I took a look around, and everything seems well-organized. Impressive.”
Baek Eun-seong praised him in a gentle voice. Jo Won-seok quickly lowered his head.
“Oh, not at all.”
“So, what do the guild members think about attacking Hyesung Guild?”
“There wasn’t much opposition. Since we’ve been operating in the same area for a while, we’ve never really gotten along.”
“Really? That’s good to hear. Anyway, I hope everything goes smoothly tonight. No, it must go smoothly. This is a very important matter for me.”
His words carried a sharp edge, making Jo Won-seok break into a cold sweat.
“You understand, right?”
“Yes, I understand. We’ve been tracking Hyesung Guild’s movements through an informant, so there’s no need to worry.”
At that, Baek Eun-seong smirked.
“Good. Let’s make it a success tonight.”
Today’s schedule was the same as yesterday.
I was sitting in the waiting room, eating while waiting for something to happen.
The only difference was that, unlike yesterday, nothing major had happened so far.
Was this the calm before the storm?
I kept thinking about the fight between the two criminal guilds happening tonight, which made me anxious.
On top of that, I barely got any sleep last night while thinking things over, so I was exhausted.
As I yawned and rested my head on the desk, a small bottle suddenly appeared in front of me.
“Huh?”
The label read “Special Fatigue Recovery Potion.”
I looked up and saw Choi Seo-yoon smiling as she handed it to me.
“You looked tired, so I grabbed one from the convenience store.”
“Oh….”
That was unexpectedly touching.
For the record, I have a serious weakness for small acts of kindness like this.
“Thanks. I appreciate it.”
“Huh? You look kind of moved, senior.”
Her words made me flinch.
Did it show?
“…What are you talking about?”
“Ohh~ so you like things like this, huh?”
Choi Seo-yoon smirked and poked my arm.
“Look at you, getting all embarrassed~.”
“…….”
Feeling awkward, I quickly chugged the fatigue potion.
It must’ve been made with special ingredients because I did feel a little less exhausted.
Just as I was starting to get bored again, Officer Kang approached us.
“Oh, right. I forgot to mention—there’s a night patrol tonight. Keep that in mind.”
What?
I frowned in confusion.
“A night patrol?”
“Yeah. It’s scheduled from 8 PM to 10 PM.”
I furrowed my brows.
8 to 10 PM?
The fight between Goldwin and Hyesung Guild was set to start at 9 PM.
For my plan to work, I needed to be free during that time.
“Do we have to do it?”
“Of course. It’s all part of the special task force experience program.”
“…….”
What should I do?
An unexpected variable arose.
This wasn’t part of the plan.
Come to think of it, I think I heard that there was a night patrol during the special task force training before my regression.
Am I an idiot? Why am I only remembering this now?
As I was lost in thought, Officer Kang looked around at us and spoke.
“Oh, and we need to decide on the patrol area. Does anyone have a preferred location?”
8:10 PM, 50 minutes before Goldwin Guild’s attack.
As Officer Kang had announced, the night patrol began.
Though it was called a night patrol, the sun hadn’t fully set yet, and the sky was tinged red with the colours of dusk.
“Well then, shall we begin our patrol?”
Our assigned area was the northern coastal region of Seo-gu, Incheon, not too far from Jinwon Port, where the incident was set to occur.
Thanks to my strong insistence, we were patrolling this area.
It was all to naturally create an opportunity to intervene when the incident happened.
The plan had become a bit tangled, but it wasn’t a major issue.
In fact, if I used this situation well, an even better opportunity might arise.
“But Sunwoo, why did you want to come here?”
At Officer Kang’s sudden question, I hesitated for a moment.
“…It’s a place I have some memories of.”
It was a completely made-up excuse, but Officer Kang overreacted.
“Really? Did you use to live around here?”
“No, not exactly.”
“Oh, then is it a place from your childhood memories?”
“……”
When I didn’t answer, Officer Kang gave a embarrassed smile.
“Alright, alright. Seems like a sensitive topic. Let’s not pry, okay?”
He turned to Choi Seo-yoon and Yoo Ara as he spoke in a joking tone.
The two, who had been looking at me curiously, eventually nodded.
And so, we continued patrolling the area.
Oddly enough, there weren’t many people around.
This was still Incheon, part of the metropolitan area, so there should have been more people.
Apparently, I wasn’t the only one who found it strange.
Choi Seo-yoon turned to Officer Kang and asked,
“Why is this neighbourhood so empty? Most of the buildings seem abandoned too.”
“Oh, this place? It used to be quite populated, but there was an incident.”
“An incident?”
Choi Seo-yoon’s curiosity deepened.
Yoo Ara also looked at Officer Kang with questioning eyes.
“Yes, about fifteen years ago, a group of crazy terrorists attacked this area, killing a lot of people.”
“…Ah.”
Choi Seo-yoon nodded.
Then, she subtly glanced at me.
Yoo Ara did the same.
This is awkward.
I had no idea there was such a backstory to this place.
“That wasn’t the only thing. Over the years, this area had several other unfortunate incidents—outbreaks of disease, unexplained deaths, things like that. People started saying the land was cursed, and no redevelopment projects ever took place.”
“Aha.”
“That’s why I was surprised when Sunwoo said he had memories here.”
“……”
Everyone’s eyes turned to me.
I blankly met their gazes.
Should I take back what I said earlier?
“Any other unusual movements?”
“No, nothing so far.”
Inside an abandoned building somewhere in Jinwon Port, the entry point for Hyesung Guild’s illegal arrivals.
Baek Eun-seong was listening to Jo Won-seok’s report.
“Oh, and we spotted a special operations patrol team in the area. Some of them seem to be magic academy students participating in the training program.”
“Students? Oh, I see. You mean those trainees, right?”
Baek Eun-seong smiled.
Having kept tabs on Lee Seo-jun recently, he had learned quite a bit about the academy’s curriculum.
“Yes, that’s right.”
“Just ignore them. If we end up killing young students, the media and the Association will make a huge fuss. I want this incident to remain just a simple guild war.”
Right now, their preparations were incomplete.
If the name ‘Jaun’ surfaced early, it could restrict their future movements.
Jaun’s identity should only be revealed when the time was right—when the world was ready to see them.
“Yes, understood. But what if they accidentally stumble into the scene?”
“Set up a barrier beforehand so they can’t get in.”
“Oh, that should work. Got it.”
Jo Won-seok gave a deep nod before disappearing somewhere.
Left alone, Baek Eun-seong’s phone suddenly rang with an incoming call.
“Yeah, hello?”
— Is the plan going well?
A young woman’s voice.
It was Bert.
“It’s going smoothly. But we’ll only know for sure once they arrive in Korea.”
— You know you can’t make this too big, right?
“I know.”
— Not a single trace of Jaun should be left behind. If we get exposed, the Association will conduct a full-scale investigation.
“Yeah, yeah. Don’t worry. The media will only report it as a conflict between crime guilds.”
— Hmm, alright. Call me when it’s done.
“Got it.”
Click.
The call ended.
Baek Eun-seong got up and checked the time.
8:47 PM.
He walked to the window and gazed out toward the open sea.
Beyond the horizon, a ship was approaching the shore.
Watching the scene, Baek Eun-seong gripped his massive spear—Bangcheon Hwageuk.
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