Chapter 340: Taking a Chance (5)

Chapter 340: Taking a Chance (5)

Kang Yu-Hwan asked in a weak voice. “...Are there still no word from the police, Yu-Min?”

“No, not yet, Uncle.”

Baek Hyeong-Jeong looked like not every part of her mind was with her at the moment. Even Kang Eun-Yeong, who would usually torment Park Yu-Min and Ju Yeong-Gi with unstoppable energy, looked depressed as she stared blankly at the empty air. Kang Yu-Hwan seemed to be still holding on, for now at least, but his voice also didn't sound too good either.

Park Yu-Min and Ju Yeong-Gi sitting in front of the Kang family also felt like they were sitting on beds of nails right now.

“I'm sure Jin-Ho is fine, Uncle,” Park Yu-Min spoke in a confident-sounding voice.

Kang Yu-Hwan forced himself to smile and nodded. “Yes, Yu-Min. I also believe he's fine.”

Everyone here knew how... empty those words were. It had been three days already, yet no news of Kang Jin-Ho's whereabouts had reached them. That could only mean something very serious must've happened to him.

Kang Yu-Hwan rubbed his tired-looking eyes. “The... folks at Jaegyeong still haven't told you anything yet?”

“They keep saying they're still looking for him.”

“I see,” Kang Yu-Hwan sighed, unable to hide his bitter expression.

Park Yu-Min cautiously spoke up again. “You know, Uncle...”

“Mm?”

“Jin-Ho has never caused any problems until now, right?”

“Mm, sure. He hasn’t.” Kang Yu-Hwan nodded. It might seem like he was boasting about his own child, but Kang Jin-Ho really had grown up into a fine, upright young man. No matter who he was compared to, Kang Yu-Hwan's son still filled him with endless pride.

“The truth is, Jin-Ho isn't as well-behaved as you think, you see?”

“Ehng?” Kang Yu-Hwan was going to ask Park Yu-Min what he was on about, only to notice that Ju Yeong-Gi was nodding along while making a dead-serious face.

Ju Yeong-Gi even began muttering, 'Yup, his personality is absolutely the worst,' prompting Kang Yu-Hwan to wonder what his precious son had been up to while his family wasn't looking.

“W-what are you talking about, Yu-Min?”

“I know it's difficult to understand, Uncle, but... Well, to us, it's weirder to see how Jin-Ho has been behaving himself all this time.”

“Huh?”

“...So, uhm, I was thinking that it was about time Jin-Ho caused a big mess somewhere. That's why you shouldn't be too worried, Uncle. It's not that he's involved in a big incident, but more like he's busy causing one, you see?”

Kang Yu-Hwan's jaw nearly dropped to the floor. Did... Did this punk think he could comfort anyone with those words? “What are you trying to say here, Yu-Min?”

Park Yu-Min's expression suddenly became weird. “...You see, we learned something strange yesterday.”

“Okay?”

“It's not just Jin-Ho who's gone missing, but... Miss Choi Yeon-Ha is also nowhere to be found, you see?”

“Choi... Choi Yeon-Ha?”

“Say what?!”

The shocked responses came not from Kang Yu-Hwan, but from Baek Hyeon-Jeong and Kang Eun-Yeong, instead.

“Yu-Min oppa! Are you telling us the truth?!” Kang Eun-Yeong hurriedly asked.

“Well, you can confirm it yourself, can't you?”

“Ah, that's right!” Kang Eun-Yeong's eyebrows shot up super-high as she continued to grill Park Yu-Min. “Are you saying the two of them are together right now?!”

“The thing is, well...” Park Yu-Min scratched his head. “We thought a car parked near the pizzeria without anyone coming to get it looked familiar, you see? And when we took a closer look, it turned out to be Miss Yeon-Ha's ride. Her manager showed up at our store yesterday and raised a huge fuss about how she has gone missing.”

“Heol?!” Kang Eun-Yeong grabbed and pulled at her hair as if confusion was too much to bear. “W-what does that mean? C-could it be?!”

“Uh, well...” Park Yu-Min smiled awkwardly. “I'm sure it's not really 'that', but, you know. They might be, uh, eloping together right now. That's why I don't think we should be too worried.”

“E-e-eloping?!”

“I mean, they could be at the island of Boracay or Cebu for all we know.”

“Huuuuuh?!”

The atmosphere in the Kang residence instantly descended into a chaotic mess.

Park Yu-Min smirked and continued to reassure the Kang family. “That's why, please don't be worried, everyone. Instead of something terrible happening to Jin-Ho, it's more likely he's doing something naughty right now.”

Kang Jin-Ho's family couldn't say anything and simply stared at Park Yu-Min in flabbergast.

***

“Yes?”

“I had my men search all the tunnels found on the routes between Mister Jin-Ho's home and his pizzeria, both the direct and indirect ones, just in case, and... They discovered holes just big enough for a child's fist to fit in all of them.”

“...Holes for dynamites?”

“In other words, those motherf*ckers had laid out their 'preparations' in practically every part of the town. It didn't matter which route Mister Jin-Ho took, it'd been the exact same result.”

“Can you do me a favor, Mister Bang?”

“Yes?”

“When you finally catch that son of a b*tch named Kim Seok-Il later, let me have a good look at his mug first. I don't think I can die in peace if I never get a chance to kick that man's teeth in at least once.”

Bang Jin-Hun nodded. “I give you my word.”

Just before Jo Gyu-Min could say something else as his follow-up, a man in a high-vis jacket and a hard hat jogged toward him. “Chief Jo! We've finished with the preparations!”

“...I see. Thank you.” Jo Gyu-Min nodded. He suddenly shuddered as if a deathly chill was running down his spine.

He... was scared. Honestly speaking, he dearly wanted to cancel this whole thing and start digging that hole instead.

“Goddamn it...!”

This... insane plan was definitely not his usual style. Even if humans couldn't always do what they wanted, this really was...

“Mister Gyu-Min,” Bang Jin-Hun patted Jo Gyu-Min on the shoulder.

“...Yes?”

“Even if things do go wrong, remember, it's not your fault.”

“...”

“Believe in Mister Jin-Ho, not your judgment.”

Jo Gyu-Min's expression stiffened, and he slowly nodded.

'Yeah, he's right.'

The person they were trying to rescue was Kang Jin-Ho. No, wait... It was not them trying to rescue him but merely assisting him with his attempt at escaping from the underground. That was it.

Jo Gyu-Min gritted his teeth and addressed the man in the hard hat. “Okay. Evacuate all personnel, then... Get ready to detonate!”

***

Kang Jin-Ho was keeping his eyes closed. A silent space bathed in nothing but pure darkness was, in a way, the most optimal place to cultivate. Although not being able to move in this cramped space was unfortunate, what he was trying to do right now didn't need him to move around a lot, anyway.

Kang Jin-Ho was currently meditating, observing the state of his body, then gradually accumulating internal energy, after all. And for the first time since his return to the modern era, he got a chance to truly analyze his physical body in minute detail.

'It's... different.'

He was reminded of this fact again. Kang Jin-Ho's physique was starkly different from that of Heavenly Crimson Demon Emperor. The soul might be the same, but the body was not. And no, it wasn't as one-dimensional in nature as the heights being different or the arms being longer or shorter. The locations of qi meridians, and even the method of qi flow, were different.

Kang Jin-Ho was well aware of minute differences existing in every human being, but these differences were now causing a massive variable in his calculations.

Kang Jin-Ho finally opened his eyes.

'Have I recovered around eighty percent of my internal energy?'

That was not going to be enough. Kang Jin-Ho required a lot more energy if he were to push aside all the mountain of dirt above and escape. Maybe, doing so would still be impossible even if Kang Jin-Ho was at his peak condition.

However, he no longer had the luxury of choice. Choi Yeon-Ha's condition had deteriorated too much. He wasn't sure how long it had been since they were trapped down here, but for quite some time now, Choi Yeon-Ha had not regained consciousness. Even her breathing was alarmingly weak.

If he wasted any more time, he would end up holding a corpse, not Choi Yeon-Ha! And that was something he could never allow to happen under his watch.

In that case, what should he do now? Kang Jin-Ho closed his eyes again and focused his hearing. His extremely-heightened hearing and other senses scanned the surroundings. He could 'feel' the movements of people on the surface of all the soil on top of him. Some people were busily moving about, seemingly preparing something.

It had been a few days since Kang Jin-Ho went missing. The 'Jo Gyu-Min' he knew should have figured out where Kang Jin-Ho was by now. After all, Jo Gyu-Min was like the embodiment of 'Competency' in Kang Jin-Ho's mind. So, that man would've definitely found a way. And not too tardy with the task, too.

.

Kang Jin-Ho never had to entrust his life to someone else, nor did he willingly seek others' help. But, right at this moment, he was getting ready to escape while solely placing his trust in the man named Jo Gyu-Min.

And... right at that moment!

RUUUUMBLE!

The surroundings began rumbling as if an earthquake had broken out.

'I get only one chance!'

Failure meant a certain death. Kang Jin-Ho quickly erased the word 'failure' from his mind, then quickly pulled Choi Yeon-Ha's briefly-flinching body close. And then... He rapidly roused up all of his internal energy.

Waves of crimson aura gushed out of Kang Jin-Ho's figure and began explosively extending all around him like scary tendrils.

1. Boracay is a well-known resort island in the Philippines. Cebu is also in the Philippines, but it's a city, or the entire province depending on what you're looking at. Not sure why the author chose those two specifically, though.