NOVEL NEXT Chapter 65
Chapter 65: Different Species (2)
The man continued to hesitate despite the given time.
“You must have known I was following you.”
“…….”
Szz—
When Yoo Ji-han drew his sword, the man flinched.
But his tightly sealed lips still didn’t open.
With a cold expression, Yoo Ji-han pointed his sword ahead and spoke.
“As a hero belonging to the guild Sweet Fun, since you’re exercising your right to remain silent in response to my question, I have the authority to arrest you as a hero who has discovered a crime scene and can exert life and death control over you.”
“W-what…!”
Yoo Ji-han informed him of his brief identity and the principles of a hero.
As his face turned pale, he shouted.
“I-I’m a citizen with no magic!”
“And you’re a kidnapper.”
“Cough!”
Given the circumstances, it was clear they were kidnapping a different species.
Furthermore, heroes have equal or greater authority than the police in emergencies.
Thus, even if a hero exerts force against a human and not a monster, as long as they can prove it was a justifiable action later, they will not face severe punishment.
Even if it involves taking the opponent’s life.
Avoiding senseless killings is basic, but the principle was established so that heroes with power could protect the safety of citizens.
“This is your last chance. You need to explain what you’re doing here.”
“……Damn.”
Only after the tip of the sharp sword was right in front of his neck did the man slowly begin to speak.
*
In the office hotel’s long hallway, all the lights were off except for three.
At the end of the narrow, elongated hallway was a large window, but due to the adjacent building, sunlight barely entered the space.
A man holding a white sack placed it down in the hallway.
“Ugh….”
A faint voice came from within the tightly bound sack.
After a moment of staring at each other, the men nodded and slowly untied the bindings.
Out came a cat-eared beast girl in a school uniform.
“Wake up already.”
Tap, tap.
One of the men, who looked rough, roughly slapped the girl’s cheek with his palm.
The girl, who had her eyes closed, finally opened them.
“……Who?”
“Who could it be, right?”
“……!”
The men chuckled.
The girl recalled what happened just before she fainted.
“These bastards!”
With her hands and feet bound, she tried to channel her magic.
Her physical age was the same as any typical student, but she had been handling magic even before coming to Earth.
Earlier, she had been too shocked to react appropriately.
But now that she had regained her senses, she could use magic.
Yet….
‘My magic isn’t moving?!’
She failed to channel her magic to create any spells.
It felt like the paths through which her magic flowed had been locked tight like a solid padlock.
“Eek! Ugh!”
“Hehe….”
“Trying hard, aren’t you?”
One man smirked at her confusion and said.
“It’s not working, huh?”
“What the hell are you doing…!”
“We fed this beastkin a magic suppressor. You’ll have to give up using magic for at least a day or two.”
“Maybe for life?”
“Yah, why say that now?”
Magic didn’t obey her will, and the people in front of her mocked her.
Fear began to creep into the girl’s eyes.
Seeing her fear satisfied one of the men, he continued.
“Anyway, different species kids all rebel so much, even the young ones… It’s such a hassle.”
“Stop messing around and take her to the room.”
“Messed around? We haven’t even started yet. And this is a harvest we haven’t seen in ages, so it’s fine, right?”
Harvest.
The men referred to kidnapping her as a harvest.
Hearing their conversation, the girl realized the situation she was in.
While she didn’t know their exact intentions, it was clear that money was involved.
“……Do you want money?”
“Exactly.”
“What? You think this is some sort of product negotiation?”
“Hold on. She might be the daughter of a rich family.”
“You lunatic.”
“We’ll sell her to our client, so you just go inside and take it easy.”
“I take 4 and you guys take 6. You know that, right?”
“Y-yeah.”
“Make sure to settle properly. Don’t even think about trying to play us. We’ll check later.”
“Got it clearly.”
Having said everything he needed to, the man opened one of the doors and entered.
Now left in the room were the three men who had initially abducted the girl.
One man, who was watching her with fearful eyes, said.
“Little girl, did you just mention money?”
“……Yes.”
“How much can you give me?”
“Are your parents rich? Are they company presidents or something?”
“If you pay me, will you let me go…?”
“Let’s hear the amount first.”
“Uncles here are very good at negotiating.”
“…….”
In the end, it was all about money.
If the amount was sufficient, they were willing to let her go.
After all, once this job was finished, they planned to leave Korea forever.
“I have….”
“…….”
“About 2 million won….”
The men’s eyes widened at the amount.
“Wow! 2 million won?!”
“No way! You can give us 2 million won?!”
“It’s all my money from working part-time every weekend!”
“Wow, you really worked hard to save this money!”
The girl felt a spark of hope from their words.
Perhaps she could survive here after all.
Delighting in the girl’s reaction, they soon smiled and said.
“But what do we do now?”
“Excuse me?”
“We’ve decided to sell you for 900 million won.”
“……!!”
“You can’t pay 900 million, can you?”
900 million won.
An amount too far beyond what an ordinary student could bear.
Especially for her, who had crossed over to this world alone and had no parents, it felt even more impossible.
“Do you have more to say?”
“…….”
“Hey. Give me the tape.”
One man turned to his colleague and received a roll of blue tape.
He tore off a long piece of tape and bit it with his teeth before bringing it to the girl’s face.
“Wait, hold on!”
“Shut up. Be quiet.”
“……Mmm!”
The girl’s mouth was sealed with tape.
“Mmm! Ugh!”
“The customer is coming in 40 minutes, so get ready.”
“Got it.”
“If you resist too much, we can just put you to sleep.”
No matter how much she struggled on the floor, she couldn’t stop her body from being dragged away.
And just as they were about to haul the girl into a room…
Bang! Bang!
Someone knocked on the locked door of the office hotel hallway.
The men dragging the girl stopped in their tracks.
“Who is it?”
“No one else is coming in?”
“Didn’t you give the driver the money?”
“I gave him cash on the double. He said he’d handle it himself.”
“Is the door locked?”
“Locked it up.”
In this shady world, missing time commitments isn’t a welcome occurrence.
But this customer was apparently someone who had shopped here several times before.
Those familiar with such transactions were difficult to read.
Bang! Bang! Bang!!
The knocking outside grew louder.
It was definitely not a friendly act.
“You go check it out.”
One of them headed toward the entrance of the hallway.
On the camera above the door stood a man with his hands behind his back.
“Who are you?”
“I’m the one who agreed to visit today.”
“……Alpha?”
If there was someone visiting the office hotel today, it could only be Alpha, the pseudonym of a wealthy customer who planned to purchase a different species.
But for him to suddenly show up like this…
“Where’s the item?”
“She’s still being prepared since she was too rebellious.”
“Rebellion is just cute charm. I’ll educate her myself, so just open this door.”
“…….”
The man watching the camera screen frowned.
He had heard Alpha was a wealthy man in his 50s.
But the man showing on the screen looked far too young.
If only he had received a photo in advance, he might have recognized him.
“Please tell me the predetermined password.”
“……Are you doubting me right now?”
“I’m sorry, but yes.”
*
“Tsk tsk….”
Standing at the door, Yoo Ji-han shook his head slightly with a very disappointed expression.
‘They’re not opening up.’
The driver of their vehicle had said that those in the back seat probably didn’t see Yoo Ji-han’s face.
With the information he extracted, he thought he could pass easily, but……
That didn’t seem to be the case.
He raised one hand and dialed Kim Si-hu on his mobile phone.
“Hey. Mr. Kim, where are you right now?”
—……Who is Mr. Kim?
“Cut the small talk. Where are you?”
—I’m on my way to the place you mentioned.
“I found that supplier I mentioned last time, but their service is terrible! How long till you arrive?”
—It’ll take at least 20 more minutes.
“I’ll be inside first, so come up to the second floor.”
—I don’t know the situation, but you’ll be going in to fight, right?
“Uh, yeah.”
A phone call to convey the situation.
Kim Si-hu detected Yoo Ji-han’s intent.
—I’m heading over as fast as I can.
“See you later.”
After hanging up, Yoo Ji-han looked at the door again and said.
“I planned on doubling the payment today based on the quality of the item, but it’s disappointing how it turned out.”
“……!”
“I’ve done this sort of deal more than once. I’m quite disappointed.”
900 million won doubled would be 1.8 billion won.
Even after taking out all the fees, as someone in charge of the transaction, he could have made a huge profit.
Indeed, among wealthy people, there are those who value pride more than money.
The man looked at his comrades and said.
“Should we just let him in?”
“No way!”
“Quick, demand the password. Something seems off.”
They kept insisting on the password till the end.
Ultimately, with no other options, Yoo Ji-han brought his hand forward.
His sword, hidden behind his back, came into view of the camera.
“What’s that?”
“None of your business.”
“What?”
Yoo Ji-han slashed the steel door with his sword.
Clang!
The door, unable to withstand the magic imbued in the sword, bore a long gash.
A small hole formed in the deepest part in the middle.
“W-what?!”
“You crazy!”
As the long blade tore through the door and plunged inward…
Bang!
“What’s going on?”
“What’s happening?”
As multiple doors in the office hotel hallway swung open, adult men burst out.
Some wielded sharp knives, others long baseball bats, and even one had an axe in hand.
Screech—!
As Yoo Ji-han pulled, the hole in the door widened.
And finally, he stepped into the office hotel hallway.
“Is there a student you just kidnapped over here?”
“…….”
“Hand her over.”
“…….”
The ten men armed with weapons and Yoo Ji-han stared each other down.
Suddenly intruding was a hero wielding a sword.
But the men, enjoying their numerical superiority, didn’t back down easily.
“Die!”
At the door closest to the entrance, a man brandishing a knife lunged at Yoo Ji-han.
Yoo Ji-han twisted his body and deflected the attack, slashing the hand that held the knife with his sword.
The man dropped his knife and fell to the ground.
“Damn it!”
“What the hell! Attack!”
As each one charged forward with their weapons, angry shouts filled the air.
Swoosh!
An axe came crashing down towards Yoo Ji-han’s face.
A baseball bat swung towards his side.
A chaotic ensemble of various weapons!
However….
Thump!
Yoo Ji-han deflected every single attack and counterattacked instead.
“Gyaah!”
A man screamed in pain as a sword embedded itself in his shoulder.
No matter how hard they tried, they were merely ordinary people.
Starting as heroes from Hero Academy and experiencing countless Monster Areas for survival in battle, they stood no chance against a trained hero.