CH 207

“The man is on the 3rd basement floor.”

Cheon Sa-yeon asked me in a soft voice as I got into the elevator following Woo Seo-hyuk’s guidance.

“Are you mad?”

“Do you mean me?”

“You wouldn’t say no with that expression. Kim Woo-jin is scared.”

Kim Woo-jin was scared? I blinked and remembered Kim Woo-jin, whom I met in the hospital room a while ago.

He seemed surprised to see me unshackled, but I didn’t know if he was scared of me.

“It’s not like that.”

Various emotions were mixed that I felt sick inside and lowered my eyes.

“Just, a little…”

When I heard from Woo Seo-hyuk that Kim Woo-jin was injured, I was very agitated. I couldn’t calm myself down at all despite the explanation that it wasn’t a serious injury and that he was returning to the guild safely with Park Geon-ho.

‘I was losing my mind for a second without realizing it…’

I couldn’t hold out without seeing Kim Woo-jin with my own two eyes. In the process, I felt a little sorry that I had unintentionally vent my anger to Cheon Sa-yeon.

Ding, a light notification sound rang from the elevator that arrived on the 3rd basement floor. I took a short deep breath and closed my eyes tightly, then opened them.

Calm down. From now on was important.

I took the lead and followed Woo Seo-hyuk across the hallway into the depths. The man who Kim Woo-jin caught was tied to the third basement floor, which was full of training rooms that were no longer in use, especially in the innermost room.

It was made as a training room, so the soundproofing was good and even if there was a problem, there was no worry because the inside was so strong.

“Master.”

When we opened the door to the training room, Park Geon-ho, who was standing with his arms crossed, looked at us. Kwon Jeong-han, who was there in advance, was also with him.

“Is he still faint?”

“Yes.”

Like the person in the video sent by the Four Seasons Guild, the man with his arms and legs tied to the central chair had his eyes covered with a cloth and his head bowed.

As we gathered in the training room, Woo Seo-hyuk opened the file he was holding and opened his mouth.

“First, the basic personal information is as follows.”

It had been less than an hour since the man was caught, but you already found out? I listened to the explanation that followed, admiring Woo Seo-hyuk’s quick work.

“His name is Lee Myung-soo (이명수). 27 years old. He is a C-rank hypnotist. He doesn’t belong to any guild or doesn’t have a job.”

A C-rank hypnotist. Even if strong hypnosis couldn’t be applied, it was possible to interfere with the actions of others. He must have been the one who took the hand to prevent the general public from approaching the alley where Kim Woo-jin was.

“You haven’t touched anything yet, have you?”

“For now.”

“Then let’s do a quick physical check before he wakes up.”

As I strode towards the man, Lee Myung-soo, a large hand grabbed my arm.

“Why?”

I thought Cheon Sa-yeon caught me, but surprisingly, it was Park Geon-ho. He asked slightly perplexed as I looked at him curiously.

“Are you going to do it yourself? It would be dangerous.”

“What is dangerous? I just take a look.”

You were worried about everything. I shook off Park Geon-ho’s hand and started walking again, when I heard footsteps behind my back.

“……”

One person is enough, so just wait, why is everyone following me?

I couldn’t say anything because if I talked too long, the other person might wake up. In the end, everyone gathered around Lee Myung-soo.

“The gunshot wound on the thigh is Kim Woo-jin’s work, isn’t it? It’s very clean. He can’t get treatment?”

“He did bleeding, but that’s not enough to kill him, so it’s okay. It’s relieved that it’s summer though.”

He was wearing shorts and short sleeves, so there were many parts that could be checked without having to take them off.

After examining Lee Myung-soo’s arms, hands, knees, feet, and the area around the stomach and collarbone, I finally checked the back of the neck and back. But contrary to my expectations, no traces were found.

“Hmm… it’s neat.”

If they were active as a gang, there must have been a small mark. Cheon Sa-yeon’s eyes narrowed slightly as if he thought the same thing as me.

“Maybe it’s because he’s at the bottom of the line. Judging from Kim Woo-jin’s testimony, he said that he wasn’t able to even attack properly.”

Is that so. It wasn’t an impossible word. I nodded and asked everyone.

“I think this is enough, shall we wake him up?”

“That’s right.”

Park Geon-ho, who was touching the corner of his mouth, took a step closer. It was to wake Lee Myung-soo himself, but I acted faster.

Ppaak!

I slapped Lee Myung-soo in the back of the head with my fist without mercy. Then his body trembled with the sound of cracking a pumpkin. (그러자 호박 깨지는 소리와 함께 그의 몸이 퍼뜩 떨렸다)

“Oh…”

“Wow…”

“Hyung, isn’t that person’s head broken?”

“Then your hand gets hurt.”

While Cheon Sa-yeon, Park Geon-ho, and Kwon Jeong-han were in awe one after another, Woo Seo-hyuk alone was worried about my hand.

“Didn’t you put too much effort?”

“He woke up anyway.”

Cheon Sa-yeon’s teasing was roughly brushed off as I stepped back. Lee Myung-soo, who was moaning and making a sound of pain, lifted his head.

“Ku, uuh… ugh… here is…”

Even if he raised his head, he couldn’t see because his eyes were covered. He was pale and shaking his head haphazardly, he screamed when he realized that his whole body was tied up.

“Ple, please save me! Save me! I, I don’t know anything, I don’t know. Please…!”

Whenever Lee Myung-soo squirmed, there was a squeaking sound from the chair.

“Kwon Jeong-han.”

“Yes.”

Kwon Jeong-han smiled and opened his mouth at Cheon Sa-yeon’s call, who looked at it for a moment.

“Lee Myung-soo-ssi, ‘Calm down.’ You don’t have to be afraid.”

“Gasp…”

Lee Myung-soo, who had struggled, suddenly drooped his body with those words.

It was fortunate to have Kwon Jeong-han here. Without him, we would have spent quite a bit of time interrogating him.

“Lee Myung-soo-ssi, ‘Let go of your resistance.’ How about it, isn’t it much better?”

Kwon Jeong-han’s ability to control emotions was equally applied to him, so he had to control it with words that would help the interrogation while taking as little damage as possible.

“Uh, huu…”

The effectiveness of the ability to control emotions quickly became apparent. Lee Myung-soo looked calmer than before when he was trembling in fear and screaming.

“It’s safe here. ‘Have faith.’ Trust us more than anyone else.”

What kind of pseudo-religious was this. The more Kwon Jeong-han used his ability, the more Lee Myung-soo relaxed and seemed more comfortable.

“Now, let’s take a closer look at why this happened.”

“Yes? Bu, but that’s…”

Kwon Jeong-han spoke again to Lee Myung-soo, who was hesitant as he bit his lip.

“Don’t you want to be honest and feel at ease? ‘Trust us.’ We are the only ones who can understand your difficult situation.”

“Ah, I understand…”

After finishing the work, Kwon Jeong-han looked back at Cheon Sa-yeon. Cheon Sa-yeon, who had been watching with his arms crossed, spoke.

“Explain everything from start to finish.”

“…they approached me saying I could make money.”

They? I frowned.

“Are you talking about the other three with you?”

“No, they’re not. I met those bastards by order. They told me to move as a team. If we succeed, they will… give 5,000…”

I glanced at Cheon Sa-yeon, who was standing next to me, with a feeling of suffocation. His black eyes gleamed heavily under the pure white fluorescent lamp.

“I, I didn’t want to, but I didn’t have money. Money… because I need money, so I had no choice but to do what I was told.”

“What exactly did they tell you?”

“They told me… to get talented people, give them a drink, and release them. They said all we have to do is feed them… if we succeed feed more than ten people, they will give us more money.”

“Which alcohol?”

“That… I don’t know. It’s in an ordinary plastic bottle… It has a stronger scent than soju, but…”

“Do they provide alcohol?”

“Yes, yes. But to get it, you had to go in person.”

“Where?”

Nerves soared sharply. I swallowed dry saliva and waited for an answer.

“Cl, club, it’s in a club. You can get it by going to the Ayton Club (에이튼 클럽) in Nonhyeon-dong. More than that…”

“Club…”

Worst. I put a hand on my forehead and sighed.

They must have been drinking alcohol inside the club. I was tired just imagining how many people were actually addicted.

Woo Seo-hyuk, who found information on a tablet PC, opened his mouth with a heavy voice.

“Ayton is one of the bigger clubs. It’s made up of four basement floors and has a VIP room and secret room, so famous celebrities and children of chaebol families often use it.”

“Tha, that’s right!”

Lee Myung-soo suddenly interrupted with a loud noise. The calm figure with Kwon Jeong-han’s ability shouted, trembling all over his body.

“I, I’ve seen it many times. Just look at the way the bastards who look like they have a lot of money are buying the alcohol! While talking nonsense like they’re going to use it to play…”

Well, I guess so. When it came to drugs, there were many people who would buy them for fun. However, in this case, they weren’t going to drink it themselves, but use it somewhere else.

“Do they sell them separately?”

“I, I didn’t see the deal, but I’m sure it’s on sale! Damn it, some people are going through a lot, but those bastards…”

There was a long murmur filled with malice. Cheon Sa-yeon, judging that he had obtained enough important content, spat out the last question.

“What do you know about them?”

“To be exact… I don’t know. I met some kind of strange woman. She described it as ‘they’.”

“Woman? What did she look like?”

“In a black suit that fits the body perfectly… a woman with her dark hair neatly tied up. Pretty, yes, she was pretty… other than that, I don’t know.”

“Did she not wear a suspicious-looking mask or say anything about the Praus Cult?”

“There was no such thing.., there wasn’t…”

Lee Myung-soo, who stuttered as if recalling his memories, tilted his head to one side.

“She, she was wearing a special earring. Pointed up and down… I mean about half of the diamond shape was painted black and the shape was… kind of weird.”

It was time for Kwon Jeong-han’s ability to slowly come to an end. I concentrated on Lee Myung-soo’s words until the end.

“There is a pattern like an earring on the inner wrist… black and small… kuuk!”

Lee Myung-soo, who continued to explain, let out a painful moan. The skin exposed under the black cloth that covered his eyes turned pale and he was sweating a lot.

Emotional control was over. I blinked at once to give a signal to leave.

When I got out of the hallway and closed the door to the training room, Lee Myung-soo’s screams disappeared cleanly. I immediately asked Cheon Sa-yeon.

“Do you know anything about the last tattoo description?”

“Yeah.”

He blinked with a smile on his face. As I met the black eyes that were exposed under the long eyelashes, I noticed his mind.

“That’s a pattern used by the Praus Cult.”

“……”

As expected. It was a result of concern.

“I will contact Ha Tae-heon-ssi immediately.”

We need to deliver the information we got today to Roheon as soon as possible. And.

“Let’s make the next plan.”

I spoke firmly to everyone who looked at me.

“I think I will have to go get some alcohol myself.”