006. Reapers (2) Pang—! With a rupturing sound like the ground caving in, a sole appeared right in front of his eyes. Seoyeong's leg was covered in protective gear made of steel. If that hits properly, it's over. Kaang—!! Hyunseo dodged the kick by a hair's breadth. Previously, he wouldn't have even been able to follow it with his eyes, let alone react. 'I can do it now.' His senses had grown sharper, his ability to sense danger stronger, and his reflexes quicker. As long as he kept his wits about him, he could follow Seoyeong's movements and respond to them. Kagagakang!! "Not bad. Looks like you got yourself a nice implant. Let's see how far it goes, shall we?" The steel foot shredded the steel door behind Hyunseo as if it were paper. The attack didn't end there. Continuous blows followed naturally. Kang! Kwaang! Kung! Kagagakak!! Spinning kicks, stomps, back kicks, whirlwind kicks. She even jumped once and then unleashed a torrent of kicks in midair. Dodging them all was impossible. Bbakak—! "Urk...!" As he twisted his waist to block, a spinning kick flew toward the side of his head. He barely blocked with his arm, but the shock reverberated through him. His body was pushed back several steps. Barely regaining his balance, Seoyeong sneered and said, "I know guys like you real well. The bottom-feeders in the gutter always say the same thing, right? 'If only I had bioware too...' So, scraping together every last dime, they buy combat bioware and come back for revenge. But reality's harsh." The moment she put power into her ankle, Seoyeong appeared right in front of Hyunseo. A rising kick aimed at his chin. He barely blocked with both arms but his guard broke. A sidekick slammed into the opening in his chest. Pang—! There was an explosive sound in his solar plexus. Hyunseo's body flew back and crashed into a box filled with chains. "Khrrk...." "You need at least a week of training to shoot a gun properly. What, you think you can master intricate bioware and move like it's your own body overnight? Not a chance. That's why people who don't know their own limits come here, offering up their bioware as tribute." "You're just saying you only go after the easy prey." "I'm a hunter. Of course I only catch what I can beat. If I wanted to fight someone out of my league, I'd have become a hero or a knight." Clatter— Hyunseo freed himself from the box of chains. It was just as Seoyeong said. He wasn't used to fighting yet. Not long ago, he'd been a slaughterhouse worker. 'I can't just whine about dying.' "Hup...!" He swung what he was holding with all his might, sweeping it horizontally. Seoyeong leapt lightly, easily dodging the attack. "Don't make a scene. Let's not wear each other out for nothing." What he swung was a thick, heavy chain used for industrial cargo. Clumsy as it looked, he couldn't even get close enough for a punch against swift-moving Seoyeong. So, if nothing else, he had to swing something like this to apply pressure on her. 'He's swinging that thick, heavy chain so easily? His strength's monstrous.' Seoyeong didn't take what she just saw lightly. If she hadn't dodged in time, she might have been crushed. She'd thought he only had bioware for toughening up, but that might not be all. 'I'll have to fight carefully.' Once again, Hyunseo swung the chain with all his strength. It was the only way to attack Seoyeong, who was suspended in the air. At the end of the chain hung a heavy hook, swinging like a weighted pendulum; the tip of the hook was sharply pointed, making it dangerously lethal. With Hyunseo's strength, it was obvious the chain could pierce walls or even the ceiling. Seoyeong dodged and moved to another spot. Then, the swung chain snagged on something invisible. Clank— The chain was left hanging in midair. That alone was enough for Seoyeong to instantly realize why she was able to float. "So you're going to use wire like that...." There were wires, used for restraining demonic beasts, crisscrossing overhead like a spider web. The building was a dark space with not even a single window. Because of that, the wires were hard to see. Seoyeong was moving across them freely. Movements only possible with extraordinary athleticism. Or bioware designed for that. 'Black Leopard is an older model, so it doesn't have those capabilities. It only purely augments muscle strength. So, that must all be her own skill.' As soon as his analysis ended, Seoyeong prepared for another lightning-fast charge. She crouched and pulled a wire taut behind her. The moment the tension peaked, she shot forward again. Pang—! "!" This time, Hyunseo barely dodged by rolling to the side. With that kind of headlong charge, there'd surely be a gap. He immediately tried to subdue her by swinging another chain— Chak—! He only smashed the bare ground. Failing in her attack, Seoyeong did a somersault and-nimbly landed on another wire. Then she charged again. Once she went on the offensive, it was Seoyeong's show. Hyunseo grit his teeth, continuing to dodge her attacks. He couldn't see any way to catch her. 'At this rate, it'll never end. Huh?' He noticed the height of the chain caught on the wire had dropped. It was hanging much lower than before. 'Weirdly weak to weight, maybe?' He traced the wires to the wall. There, he saw fine cracks spreading along the concrete. All evidence of where the wires had been installed. "Losing focus?" Pang—!! He'd let his guard down, distracted for just a moment. This time, he couldn't dodge. It didn't hit his solar plexus, but landed right on his forearm, sending him flying. Clatter— Hyunseo crashed into the box of chains and fell. He quickly came to and stood, clutching his bruised forearm. This time, his whole arm was numb. His hand was shaking badly, the injury was serious. "That really almost broke it...." Seeing him walking around just fine, Seoyeong stuck out her tongue in exasperation. "I'll admit you're tough. But let's not overdo it. All you can do is take hits. If you surrender quietly, I'll just break your limbs and call it a day." "And then you'll take me and cut me open." "I'm even giving you a chance—" Whoosh-!! Hyunseo swung the chain again. However, this time he rotated his entire body, sweeping the chain in a huge horizontal arc. The chain swept a much wider area than before, its sharp hook aiming for Seoyeong. But being slow and wide, there was no way she'd just stand there and take it. Seoyeong leapt easily and transferred to another wire. The hook at the end of the chain didn't even graze her clothes and flew toward the wall. Shlak- Kwaang!! With overwhelming weight and a sharp hook, the end of the chain smashed a cracked, decaying section of the wall and burst outside. The tremendous force shook the tensioned wires attached to the wall, sending Seoyeong off-balance as well. "You really are a goddamn monster...!" The surprise didn't end there. While Seoyeong regained her balance, Hyunseo grabbed the chain embedded in the wall with both hands. As the hook outside caught on the wall and the chain grew taut— "Hup...!" Just like when he fled from the Dragon Centipede, he exploded his whole body's strength and pulled as if to tear the chain apart. It was enough strength to shatter concrete. With that kind of strength, it'd be normal for a person to get dragged along. But the Veno-Webber body hair's suction ability kept Hyunseo anchored in place. The destructive force, transmitted through the thick chain, was directed entirely at the wall. Krrrrr-!!! It was a wall that hadn't been maintained in a long time. On top of that, as Seoyeong had embedded wires in it, cracks had already formed and grown—it was at its limit. Kwajijijik-! Paaaaaang-!! That was more than enough to utterly destroy the wall to which the chain and wires were attached. The wall shattered in an instant, and all the wires snapped. "What the...." Seoyeong, standing atop the wires, never imagined the wall would collapse. And as soon as one side of the building started to fall, the entire structure started to crumble. He had brought down an entire factory with sheer brute force. "Freaking, goddamn monster...!" By the time she realized the wires had snapped, it was far too late. There was nowhere to step. The wires were all broken, and now even the roof was collapsing above her. But in truth, this wasn't a big problem. The Black Leopard could land lightly from a fall of tens of meters. The moment she touched down, she could flee and contact the gang without issue. 'It'll dock me some credit.... But surviving comes first.' Seoyeong misunderstood one thing. She thought bringing down the building was the extent of Hyunseo's plan. "You're fast on your feet, but your eyes aren't so sharp." Hyunseo was already in position. It was the same stance he'd instinctively used when escaping the Dragon Centipede. The stance he'd used to leap tens of meters up a sheer incline. He himself didn't realize it, but it was similar to the ambush pose taken by a Veno-Webber when it pounces on its prey. A peculiar crouch, his body weight pitched backwards. Every muscle in his body was tense for the leap, and the body hair's suction made a perfect launchpad. The Veno-Webber jumps at over 100 km/h in this pose. And Hyunseo was even lighter than a Veno-Webber. Taaang—!!! Like a human bullet, he shot up. The spot where Hyunseo had been was crushed down by the force of the leap. He was even faster than Seoyeong's wire-powered jumps. Given Seoyeong was falling down and Hyunseo was leaping up, it was no contest. "Shit...." Seoyeong had nowhere to go. There wasn't a single foothold left. Paaak—!! "Kuwek...!" Hyunseo's feet struck Seoyeong's abdomen in midair with pinpoint accuracy. Unable to withstand the impact, Seoyeong was knocked unconscious. Hyunseo smashed through the factory wall and flew outside with her. Krrrrr.... Once outside, Hyunseo landed gently in a deserted lot. He glanced back and forth between the collapsing factory and the unconscious Seoyeong and sighed. "I guess I really did resolve it with brute force, huh." Not that it was incorrect. * Hyunseo took Seoyeong to an abandoned building for interrogation. He'd long since stripped her of her armor, and having injected her with paralytic poison, all she could do was speak. Threatening that she wouldn't get the antidote without proper answers, Seoyeong turned pale and began to spill. "I don't know. I'm just a grunt." Unfortunately, she didn't know much. All she could offer was that the main office info team had taken the USB drive. Apparently to see if there was anything inside worth money. "... If you want the main base location, only Choi Minho, who just made gang officer, would know. I live without a proper safehouse myself." "Is there anything you do know? Are you really with the Reapers gang?" "..." There was nothing more to get. Hyunseo moved on to the next question. It was time to cut to the chase. "Tell me everything you know about Park Jin-ah." But the answer was unexpected. "Who's Park Jin-ah?" "You really won't talk unless I start cutting—" "I-I really don't know! I've never heard that name!!" "Are you kidding? You went into the rift as a five-man party. Support Unit Park Jin-ah. Are you pretending not to know someone you worked with?" "I really don't know! There were only four of us from the start! Kang Dojin, Lee Kyungsoo, Choi Minho, and me! The last one was you!" Listening to Seoyeong's desperate explanation, Hyunseo's eyes narrowed. He thought back on one of his earlier hypotheses. There's only one way this could be possible. 'A psychic ability related to mind-manipulation.' Bioware powers vary widely depending on the demonic beast used for materials. Among them, some can manipulate the mind. Magitech crafted by magitech engineers or magi-weapons could, in theory, have that ability too. But mind-manipulating items are strictly regulated by the government. At least, civilians absolutely cannot get their hands on them. The truth was sinking further into the abyss. "This is crazy, seriously...." If his guess was true, there was no longer any way to chase the target. Worse, they might end up suffering blowback. 'Should I look for Professor? I do need to make contact.... But if Cheonseong Group catches on, I'm dead....' Just thinking of the Professor darkened his face. The thought of meeting him filled him with guilt. His sins weighed so heavily that thinking of it made him sigh. 'For now... I'll keep it as a last resort. I might already be on the run from Cheonseong Group; if I slip up, I'll get them involved. I absolutely can't burden him like that.' He sighed and made his decision. "Call Choi Minho." Now that he'd made officer, he should know the location of their base. He would hunt down Choi Minho and head for the base. Reclaiming the USB came first.