Chapter 192 - Bait
"Hmm, how boring."
A continuous yawn escaped from Go Nam-cheol's lips.
Ever since Ryu Min, along with Ma Gyeong-rok, organized the former members of the Pseva guild, player crimes had decreased significantly.
There were practically no criminal players left, as most of them were upright players without personality issues.
That was why Go Nam-cheol felt bored.
"Even though there's no news, this is too boring."
The possibility of any incident happening was about once every two weeks.
It was a succession of quiet days.
Compared to how busy he expected it to be, it seemed like he was earning income without doing anything by coming to work every day.
"It would be nice to see the leader's face once more."
Go Nam-cheol suddenly remembered when he first met Black Scythe.
After overwhelmingly losing in a duel, he learned a lot by joining as a guild member and also corrected his dialect.
"I must have looked pathetic when I ran towards him like a reckless puppy."
Looking back, it was a valuable experience, even though it might have been humiliating at that time.
When else would he have the chance to face Black Scythe if not for that moment?
"You're really amazing. How did you manage to get 20 million points in round 11?"
As a guildmate, he felt proud just for that.
Although they hadn't seen each other lately because he had been busy these days, it would be nice to see him at least once.
"What do you do for three hours?"
While yawning and checking the time, Go Nam-cheol was about to close his eyes.
Ring, ring, ring...
Clear alarm sound.
Go Nam-cheol opened his eyes abruptly and grabbed the transmitter.
"Incident reported, incident reported, code zero one, code zero one, emergency alarm report for players at GS24 convenience store in Gwangjin-gu, please respond quickly. End of report."
"18."
After receiving the report, Go Nam-cheol temporarily left the Gwangjin police station in Seoul.
Since the reported location was nearby, it would be faster to run than to drive.
He was a little nervous as it was the first incident in almost two weeks.
"Did someone commit armed robbery or something? If so, they're really foolish."
Two months after the establishment of the CPF unit, security in Korea was practically stable.
Any citizen of the Republic of Korea would know about the CPF's public utility campaign, which featured Seo Arin, through television advertisements.
The warning that committing a crime in Korea would result in certain death.
"But what's going on here?"
Go Nam-cheol arrived at the reported location and opened the convenience store door.
Ding...
The sight was bleak.
The owner, a man in his 40s, was dead with his throat slit.
The sight reminded him of the first encounter with reality.
"Damn crazy shoplifter, if you get caught, you're dead! Remember that!"
Following the manual, he used the scanning skill to check for any movement.
He saw several red dots, but upon closer inspection, he realized they were ordinary civilians.
"Could it be him?"
There was only one dot moving rapidly.
After suspecting that it might be the suspect, he immediately started chasing him.
Tap, tap, tap...
The distance closed rapidly.
Anticipating this, Go Nam-cheol bought some shoes at the specialty store to increase movement speed.
"Hey, stop right there!"
Seeing the suspect, he shouted, "Stop!" but he fled.
Suspicion turned into certainty.
"Stop! Halt!"
Go Nam-cheol, seeing they were heading towards a dead end alley, smiled with satisfaction.
'Caught you, huh?'
Go Nam-cheol, upon entering the alley, halted his steps.
He had chased one, but in the alley, there were two people.
The way they stood as if they were waiting for him made Go Nam-cheol feel uneasy.
In an instant, upon turning at a hint, he saw two more appearing.
He found himself surrounded by four without realizing it.
'Who are these guys? Foreign players?'
From their faces and clothes, it was clear they were foreign players.
Go Nam-cheol, surrounded from the front and the back, nervously swallowed saliva.
"Who are you guys?"
There was no response to his question in Korean.
They just laughed as if this situation were amusing.
"Haha, this guy looks scared."
"You chased one and suddenly run into four? Surprised?"
"We can't communicate, so let's stop talking and get on with it."
"Yeah, first, let's subdue him. We need him as bait."
As the four raised their weapons simultaneously, Go Nam-cheol finally felt the seriousness of the situation.
'Damn, this isn't good. For some reason, I felt sleepy today...'
Though he didn't feel confident facing four, wasn't he a member of Busan?
"Damn, come fight. Even if you're going, bring at least two people with you."
He activated the Blade Master skills on his weapon, Dogi and Kwondo.
Under the clear sky on that long day, his attack power and attack speed increased.
Holding his sword with a determined look, those approaching hesitated and showed surprise.
"This guy looks like a loser just by his look, right?"
"There's nothing to worry about. We're four."
"Who said he got scared? Aren't I the number one in the Brazil zone?"
"Then, come at me. Try me first."
The Brazil ranked [Briggs] closed the distance in an instant.
Go Nam-cheol, surprised by the faster speed than expected, swung his sword.
Clang-!
Although he tried to block with his sword, it was blocked by the Monk's iron fist.
And so it began.
Clang- Clang- Clang-
Though there were several exchanges, all slashes were blocked by Briggs' iron fists.
"Are you trying to beat me with that insignificant blade? Haha."
When he grabbed his fist, the Monk's iron fists were practically impenetrable to all melee classes.
'Damn, why does it sound like metal hitting a fist?'
Confused, Go Nam-cheol decided he needed to keep distance using his sword's length.
But due to the foreigner clinging to him like gum, he couldn't get away.
"Eh?"
Briggs, in a moment, struck his palm at his stomach.
"Boom!"
With a loud crash, Go Nam-cheol was thrown about 10 meters and crashed into the wall before falling to the ground.
"Ugh..."
Though he wore armor, the impact didn't dissipate, and his insides trembled.
"What's wrong? Not a god, huh? It didn't even take a minute."
Briggs arrogantly taunted.
"Don't let your guard down and just watch. I'll handle him."
"I shouldn't be the only one having fun. I want to enjoy a bit too."
"Arthur. What if we end up dying?"
"Yeah. Let Briggs take care of that."
The three bumped fists as they joked.
It was a declaration to completely let loose, and Go Nam-cheol noticed it.
"These idiots..."
He got angry at feeling underestimated, but the reality was he couldn't even compete with their iron fists.
"Why am I tangled up with these idiots...?"
Though they were the top-ranked in their respective countries, the 12 apostles, ranked number one in their own countries, were unknown to Go Nam-cheol.
"Kill them... please."
"What are you saying? Damn it."
In an instant, Go Nam-cheol disappeared.
Briggs was surprised, but he didn't actually vanish.
He simply closed in quickly.
Though taken aback by the unexpected speed, Briggs instantly smiled.
There was no problem in blocking the iron fist with his own.
He watched the sword's trajectory and skillfully dodged it, then connected his fist accurately.
Sure, it should have sounded like "clang," but surprisingly, a different sound echoed.
"Huh?"
The sword, quickly changing direction, sliced through Briggs' wrist.
Though his iron fist could block any blow, it was still just a fist.
The wrist was vulnerable.
"Ah, ahh!"
As Briggs carelessly looked at his severed wrist, a mocking laugh emerged from behind.
"Briggs, I thought you'd be like this."
"Why the hell did you decide to do it alone?"
"The second ranker in Brazil will feel unfair."
He allowed it once, but he wouldn't allow it to happen twice.
"Clang, clang."
He blocked the slashes with a single fist, and Briggs extended his palm again.
"Fuu (Wind)."
Paaang.
"Ugh!"
Go Nam-cheol, struck by the wind blasting like a cannon, crashed into the wall again.
"Briggs, should we lend a hand a bit?"
"Shut up! I'll take care of this son of a bitch myself."
"Hey, shouldn't we kill him? Did you forget we need him to lure Black Scythe?"
"He's not the only bait available. Other teams will also find a bait."
"Shouldn't we at least try talking and see if we can use him as bait?"
Briggs's reasonable logic calmed down their excitement a bit.
"Fine. Let's talk a bit."
After stopping the bleeding on his wrist with first aid, Briggs approached Go Nam-cheol.
"Hey, do you get along well with your leader?"
"What?"
"Your leader. Boss, Black Scythe."
Even if Go Nam-cheol was ignorant in English, he understood the words "Boss" and "Black Scythe."
"Are you talking about our leader?"
"What are you saying? Does this kid understand anything?"
"Seems like it."
"Hey, phone number. Do you know your leader's phone number? Call him. Call here."
Go Nam-cheol's expression changed drastically upon understanding Briggs's words.
"Screw you."
"What are you saying?"
"Screw you, you bastard."
"What the hell? Wow, this is unbelievable. Guys, how should we deal with this guy?"
It was at that moment Briggs turned his head to his comrades.
"Watch out!"
Go Nam-cheol's blade swiftly approached his throat.
But Briggs, deliberately leaving an opening, had already twisted his upper body to the side.
"Do you think I look like a fool for using him as bait?"
His iron fist struck the side of Go Nam-cheol.
Pak
"There we go!"
As ribs broke, Go Nam-cheol fell with groans of pain.
Chas-!
"No!"
As he stepped on the wrist, the knife fell from his hand.
"Look, look. Doesn't it seem like this guy intends to reveal his number while writhing?"
"Seems like it."
"Is it okay then? Can I play with this guy now?"
"Yeah, do as you please. But don't dawdle too much. We're short on time."
"Okay."
A devilish smile spread on Briggs's lips as he looked at Go Nam-cheol.
"You've made a mistake. How dare this damn guy let my hands reach this point? Crush the bones of your entire body like kneading dough and make you suffer until the end."
"Grrgh...."
At the moment Briggs's angry fist was about to fall,
"Hey, are there four guys who could be used as corpses?"
A man dressed in a cloak approached from the alley.
It was Joo Sung-taek, who appeared following Black Scythe's instructions.
"What about that guy?"
Briggs looked at him sharply, but it was a mistake.
It gave Joo Sung-taek the chance to cast a terror curse.
"Ah..."
While comrades looked strangely at Briggs, who trembled as if he'd seen a ghost,
Joo Sung-taek, who approached swiftly, stabbed a knife into his throat.
Puk-!
After easily killing Briggs, he tossed the body where there were more people.
"Corpse explosion."
Ka-ka-ka-boom!
As three careless followers were propelled like springs, the power was not insignificant due to the explosion enhanced with soul storage skill.
"Ugh, ugh...."
"Nooh...!"
"Noooh...!"
In an instant, the 12 apostles, with the lower half of their bodies flying, died after releasing cries of pain.
"These guys I can't even beat, dare to aim at me?"
After spitting on the corpses, Joo Sung-taek stored only the souls of the dead and returned to Go Nam-cheol.
"Are you okay?"
Though his stomach ached and his ribs were shattered, Go Nam-cheol managed to rise quickly.
"T-Thanks for your help. But how did you get here...?"
"I was just passing by and heard the noise."
He didn't mention anything about Black Scythe, as per the owner's instructions.
Indeed, thanks to the order to monitor the members, he could appear at the right moment.
"Well, then I'm off."
"Wait, wait a moment."
Leaving Go Nam-cheol behind, Joo Sung-taek exited the alley and called someone.
"Owner. As suspected, there are people closing in on the members."
-Really? How many were there?
"There were four, but there was no mage like the one you spoke of."
-It seems they're moving in separate teams. How did you handle them?
"I killed them all."
-Well done. Keep an eye on other members too. If you see a necromancer, don't kill them unless necessary.
"Understood."
After finishing the call with Joo Sung-taek, Ryu Min put on his cloak.
"They're moving faster than I thought."
It was a good decision to have his followers monitored.
"In this situation, I also have to move."
Probably, the 12 apostles would target the members simultaneously.
Using his position as leader as bait, they intended to lure people.
"Despite Joo Sung-taek's intervention, I avoided one victim, but who knows if someone else has already died. Someone might have deserted."
Someone might have been betrayed or expelled.
No difference.
Dududu- Dududu-
He received a call from a unit member.
"Hello?"
-Leader, c-can you come? We have something to discuss.
"Oh yeah? Where at?"
Ryu Min chuckled ironically after hearing the location and hung up the phone.
"It seems there's a traitor even in this instance."
His prediction was correct.
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