n

n

nChapter 53 Hanguk Hospital (1)

nFahur gave more details about the level of challengers on Earth, but he might not be aware of any hidden talents lurking around. So it would be better to develop his strength first before returning. But Yoon-seok returned right away. He had to.

n「Return ticket (Rank F) was used.」

n「Returning to Earth.」

nThe rooftop of a building near Sinchon Train Station. On the illuminated moonlight bench, Yoon-seok opened his eyes. It was the last place he meditated to kill time during his last trip on Earth.

n“…”

nAfter checking his outfit, Yoon-seok felt uncomfortable and slightly empty inside. No Sun Sword and Moonlight Sword on his side, not even his special full-body suit. Shirt, knitwear, jeans, and a thick winter coat. It was undeniably an ordinary, modern outfit, but it felt so awkward.

nFirst of all, Yoon-seok took out his smartphone from his pocket and powered it on. Although he left it off while he was away, there wasn’t any battery left, and soon it shut down automatically. Still, he could check the date and time.

n2019.02.22. AM 00.26.

nThe rooftop door was securely locked. Yoon-seok stood on the railing and looked at the panoramic night view of Seoul. Then, he activated Invisibility and threw himself over the railing.

n

n

nBang!

nHe landed with a loud bang, but it was late, so he didn’t draw anyone’s attention. Even if it did catch someone’s attention, they wouldn’t be able to catch Yoon-seok, who was invisible anyway.

n‘Let’s go home for now.’

nBefore returning to Earth, Yoon-seok asked Fahur about the location of the Korean challenger group. But Fahur said he didn’t know the location since he was always transported in a car driven by someone. Well, there must be a way since he knew when he moved to America, but he said he wasn’t that curious…

nYoon-seok eagerly wanted to go to a payphone and contact his parents first. But he decided not to.

n‘Not yet, it’s not confirmed….’

nFahur might be mistaken, and his parents may be living as normal. Even if that weren’t the case, it would be the same. If his parents were caught, they’d start preparing once Yoon-seok called.

nSoon after resolving himself, Yoon-seok came down from the building and crossed the fence to enter the Gyeongui Line Railroad. The last train had already run, but he quickly ran atop the empty railroad tracks. As a result, it took less than ten minutes to get from Sinchon to Sangam-dong. Yoon-seok entered the apartment complex to his parents’ house.

nBeep, beep, beep, beep, beep!

nHe entered their house by entering the password and was immediately struck speechless. There were no signs of people in the house, but traces of a physical fight remained, and several pieces of furniture were knocked over.

n“…”

nSuddenly, Yoon-seok felt suffocated. He hadn’t used {Bloodseeker’s Ultimatum}, but unbearable anger rose from the depths of his heart. Yoon-seok headed to the living room so that he could find traces that his parents might have left behind. But then.

n“…?”

nSuddenly, he felt someone looking at him. Following the direction of the gaze, Yoon-seok immediately opened the veranda window. It was too dark to see, but he could see a figure wearing a hat looking through binoculars on the roof of an apartment across the street.

nSeeing how the person flinched after eye contact with Yoon-seok, he was convinced that the person was connected to this incident. Otherwise, it would be impossible to make eye contact with him while Invisibility was up. Yoon-seok jumped over the veranda on the sixth floor without looking. And…

nBoom!!

nAfter focusing all the Bloodseeker’s Energy on his legs, he took another big leap. Yoon-seok’s body bounced off like a spring that had been squeezed to its limit. When he reached the apartment’s roof across the street, he saw the person with binoculars trying to run toward the door.

n“Gak, ggagak!”

nYoon-seok grabbed the person’s neck as they back-tracked. The hat that was covering their face fell off, and the person’s face was revealed. Yoon-seok was a little flustered. Aside from the fact that the target was a woman, it was because she looked familiar.

nYoon-seok loosened his grip.

n“Who are you?”

n“Yoo, Yoo Hye-ri! I, I’m a reporter!”

nOnly then did he remember. This was the woman he saw at the hotel.

n“You’ll have to explain it quickly. Why you’re here, why you were observing my house.”

nYoo Hye-ri’s expression paled at his question. However, she stuttered and desperately explained what had happened the past few days.

n“I’m a reporter. Whether it’s a big company executive or a high-ranking official, it doesn’t matter. So I always move around and stay at hotels for safety…”

nYoo Hye-ri’s words began, and soon Yoon-seok’s brows furrowed. He didn’t care about how much pride she had in her job.

n“Get to the point.”

nYoon-seok briefly relented, and Yoo Hye-ri stopped talking. When she saw Yoon-seok’s eyes shining like the beast she’d seen at the zoo when she was young, she was speechless.

n“When you barged into my hotel room. I knew someone was there. And I saw you for the first time on CCTV in the hotel hallway that I checked.”

nYoo Hye-ri conveyed information quickly and accurately. She didn’t mention that she had a long scuffle with hotel staff to check CCTV. She decided to comply with Yoon-seok’s request thoroughly.

n“I also found out that you were a guest in my previous room. So I started digging into information about you.”

nShe traced him to his remote parents’ house. She heard something strange from a resident downstairs.

n“Gosh! The man looked normal, but he was a total psycho! He said he had a crazy bitch to kill, and he told her to stay still even if it’s noisy upstairs today…but thank God nothing happened….”

nAccording to her investigation, the man was Lee Chang-hoon, a middle school classmate of Yoon-seok. At that moment, a strong intuition hit reporter Yoo Hye-ri, and she began to dig more into Lee Chang-hoon instead of Yoon-seok, whose whereabouts were unknown.

n“Then I saw the CCTV from the department store. I’m sure Lee Chang-hoon pointed at you on the screen, but the staff testified that he only pointed into the air. It sounds crazy, but I thought you were superhuman. After all, I saw you today, and I was right.”

nRealizing the seriousness of the situation, Yoo Hye-ri investigated Lee Chang-hoon and Yoon-seok with all her might. However, Yoo Hye-ri’s persistent pursuit came to a ridiculous end.

n“Reporter Yoo Hye-ri of K-News, right?

nMen in black suits barged into her hotel room. They took all the data she had collected without explaining any of it. They didn’t listen to her even if she threatened to go to the police, and when she tried to report it, it didn’t work.

nThere was something huge involved. All they said was to stop investigating if she wanted to continue to live. But Yoo Hye-ri didn’t give up. She observed Yoon-seok’s home with binoculars remodeled with a camera, even going so far as to skip meals.

n“Meanwhile, the men who came to the hotel went to your house. It feels like they’re looking for you. I don’t know why, but they took your parents and left.”

n“…And you just stood here watching?”

n“What more can I do? Even if I report it to the police, the application disappears in a few hours!”

n“…”

nYoon-seok shut his mouth. He knew that he shouldn’t blame it on Yoo Hye-ri, but he just couldn’t control his anger. First of all, Yoon-seok had to ask this question.

n“Is all of this true?”

n“Yes.”

nYoo Hye-ri answered without hesitation, and Yoon-seok didn’t ask the same question again. There was no need to do that. The Eyes of Truth affirmed it. Yoon-seok couldn’t help but blame himself for his incompetency; they had the government on their side. Such a reporter could even find him from scratch, so he could feel how much he had underestimated the problem. At that, he could feel his anger rising…

nHe decided not to direct the arrow into a harsh place this time.

n“At least I know that you’re not involved in this. So don’t get caught up anymore; just go. As they said, stop investigating.”

nAfter saying so, Yoon-seok turned his back. It would be fortunate if the woman called Yoo Hye-ri understood his warning and backed off. Even if she didn’t, it wasn’t her place to interfere. If this incident damaged her, it would be her responsibility.

n“H-hang on! Don’t you want to know where your parents were taken?”

nYoon-seok’s feet stopped at Yoo Hye-ri’s urgent cry. Soon, when he turned and looked at her again, Yoo Hye-ri expressed her opinion while shaking with a frightened look.

n“I-I can tell you where they are! But when it’s all settled, please cover it with me!”

nSurprised by her boldness of negotiating, Yoon-seok had no choice but to ask about this unexpected suggestion.

n“…Cover?”

n“Yes, coverage. The government is hiding those with superpowers. It’s the people’s right to know….”

nWas it her first time speaking? Or was her mouth moving on its own? He didn’t know, but Yoo Hye-ri continued to ramble on. Yoon-seok pretended to listen and nodded.

n“All right, let’s do that.”

nPeople’s right to know? To be honest, it was a good idea. It didn’t matter how much trouble each government would have as information about the Tower was spread to the public. That wasn’t important right now. Yoo Hye-ri, who was a little hesitant to believe that Yoon-seok readily agreed, soon confessed his parents’ whereabouts.

nAlthough she thought it was a good opportunity to ask for coverage, she thought it was right to let Yoon-seok, their family member, know their whereabouts.

n“…They are hospitalized in Hanguk Hospital.”

nWere they hospitalized? Yoon-seok somehow couldn’t understand what she said, so he closed his lips tight. Looking at Yoon-seok’s face, Yoo Hye-ri continued carefully.

n“There was a fight when people from the government came. At that time, your father was seriously injured, and your mother collapsed from shock.”

n“…”

nYoon-seok’s eyes turned ice cold. Yoo Hye-ri further explained that Hanguk Hospital was closely related to high-ranking government officials, but he didn’t listen at all.

n“Thank you. You’ve bought me time.”

n

n

nYoo Hye-ri was speechless. He was saying thank you in a calm manner, but why was she getting goosebumps? Feeling like something bad was about to happen tonight, Yoo Hye-ri shouted urgently.

n“Wait! Are you going to go there right now? I’m sure their people are guarding the hospital room…”

n“It doesn’t matter.”

nYoon-seok cut her off at once. With no time to react, he jumped down the railing of the roof. Yoo Hye-ri hurriedly approached the railing and checked the bottom with binoculars and could see Yoon-seok running somewhere in good condition. Yoo Hye-ri belatedly realized what had happened.

n“You said you’d cover…!”

nYoo Hye-ri wasn’t someone who couldn’t read the situation. Therefore, the conditions were set to resolve urgent issues first and then cover them later. She had no intention to stop him, even if he was currently heading to the hospital. But if he planned to keep his promise later, shouldn’t he at least ask for her contact number before leaving?

n“Hey, bad guy!”

nYoo Hye-ri screamed toward the quiet darkness where Yoon-seok had already disappeared. Then she rushed down and got into a taxi.

nHer destination was Hanguk Hospital.

n