Chapter 106

On the top floor of the hotel, Kim stepped out of the elevator, bloodless. Corridors ran on both sides. Carpeted with colorful wavy embroidery.
I checked to my left carefully, keeping my back to the wall. The doors to the rooms are all firmly closed. Still no sign of anyone. There are no guards on the right side either.
“It’s flimsy.
This shouldn’t have been a surprise. In fact, it was expected.
Due to the size of the facility, it is unlikely that there will be a large number of residents. They couldn’t have had troops on every floor. From the looks of things, most of them were clustered on the second floor.
“They’ve probably blocked the emergency exits.
Pooka and Lium are waiting in the lobby. They’ll move when we give them the signal. We’ll be splitting the enemy even further, but if we time it right, we can create a distraction.
“Sometimes I’d rather be alone.
Pooka, who was nervous, was not trustworthy at all. Rium looked calm, but his performance was uncertain. In the end, there were only so many people Kim could trust to have his back.
I’m not going to get into another rant.
“Well, that’s what I came all this way for.
This is part of the process of increasing your value as an agent.
Kim entered the hallway with stealth in mind. Even though the carpeting muffles footsteps, there’s no shortage of sound when people move.
Clothes brushing, breathing regularly. I’ve removed all the elements that would make me feel like a ghost. Compared to the Ghosts, I’m a terrible skill, but I’m better than I was at first.
I was walking past room 507.
“……what are you doing…. Until when…….”
A horse was heard.
Not inside the room. Inside the hallway. Kim pressed back against the wall again and peeked around the bend in the path. Two men were arguing in front of room 510.
“You guys think I’m sponsoring you to work like this?”
“I’m always grateful for that. Don’t worry, we’ll take care of it.”
“Don’t run your mouth, asshole, we’re doing this here and it’s going to work out.”
“We’re protecting your safety, so please bear with us if you’re frustrated.”
“No, but this asshole.”
The young man in the robe pushed the other’s shoulder.
“Hey, hey, you got an attitude, what are you, do I look like a dick?”
“No, it’s just that things aren’t looking good, and we want to keep you safe….”
“Then you should’ve done a better job of not letting anything happen to you in the first place. If you’re in trouble, you should’ve put your head down, not locked yourself up like this. What’s so great about …….”
When I listened closely, I realized it was a one-sided affair.
“I see the situation.
It’s like they’re escorting a VIP who’s stuck in a hotel.
To keep an eye on them to make sure they don’t run amok.
Leaving it as it is doesn’t seem to do much harm, but…….
“I’d better clean up my mess.
The distance is approximately 15 meters.
With [Ivory’s] hit compensation, it’s hard to miss. Kim aimed at a man dressed as a hotelier with a gun mounted on the wall.
The man’s head turned, whether by coincidence or sensing something.
“I’m talking to you and you’re looking at me like-”
Bam!
A young man was pushed by a man into a cabin. A dull pain shot up his buttocks. As he was about to hurl a barrage of profanity, the young man was able to witness.
A squatting gang member holds a gun in one hand. His left arm is bleeding. But before he can pull the trigger, his head snaps back.
“Heh, heh, heh…!”
Suppressed gunfire continued to echo as the young man cowered.
Kim fired as he ran down the hallway. The woman guarding Room 512 collapsed clutching her stomach. After incapacitating her, Kim put one more bullet into her.
It was over in a flash.
“Phew. That was louder than I thought.”
Kim looked down at the silencer on his pistol and then looked up. He made eye contact with the young man. All traces of his gruff demeanor are gone, and he sits back, craning his neck.
Up close, it looks just like a goby.
“Ha, don’t.”
“What?”
“Please don’t kill me. Please, I’ll give you money. How much do you need, huh?”
“Hmm.”
Your gown is disheveled, showing skin in places. Her curly chest hair is quite messy. Kim kicked the gun dropped by the gang member away and entered Room 510.
A sweet scent filled the room, a smell distinctly different from scented candles or air fresheners. He glanced uselessly at the large bed and clicked his tongue.
It wasn’t a sight I wanted to see for very long.
It was then.
“Back, back!”
On the other side of me, a young man sneaked up on me and lifted my chair in a flash. The motion was very crude. Kim didn’t even feel the need to dodge, so she just stood still and lifted her feet.
Bam!
“Bam!”
A young man was punched in the face and fell to the ground. A chair fell, making a loud clattering noise. A shadow fell over his body, drool dripping from his mouth.
“I won’t use it, asshole.”
Bam!
Just two minutes ago, they were arguing, and now they’re both dead. I hope they’ll be a little more compromising in the afterlife. The money that was their only pride is gone.
Kim pulled the magazines out of the pockets of his tactical vest and replaced them. He had a lot of them, and they weighed quite a bit. Next time, he’d have to cut down on the variety.
“Now what?”
We didn’t have a lot of information, so we had to improvise. I’ve gotten better, but one bullet can kill you. You can’t just rush in blindly.
‘I don’t want to use the emergency exit….’
Even with the silencer, the gunfire was still loud. Firing from an emergency exit will quickly give away your position. Subsonic bullets are supposed to be smaller, but they don’t usually roll around.
While I was thinking about it, my eye was drawn to a window.
Cautiously, I poked my head out and looked down, just in case. The fifth floor. High up, of course. If I fell, it would be more than just a broken leg.
But I didn’t feel like it was going to fail.
“I use this one a lot, too, on the sly.
I took out my [tactical hook] and hung it at a good height. Stepping onto the window sill, I grabbed the wire with both hands. I carefully stepped out of the window.
There were eyes looking this way from under the bed.
“Do, please help….”
It was a little boy.
The young man who had just died had unimaginably bad taste. Unable to ignore him, Kim made a simple comment.
“An hour, no. I’m only doing it for 30 minutes.”
It didn’t seem like it would drag on for long.
* * *
“Marco, Mattia, come in!”
Veldes shouted nervously into the radio. But no matter how hard he tried, no answer came. Finally, he released the transmit button and looked up at the ceiling.
“What’s going on up there?”
I had long since lost contact with my men on the fifth floor. The same was true on the fourth floor. After a radio call that an intruder had popped out of a guest room, there was no further news.
They couldn’t rush them without knowing their exact location. Veldes fortified the second floor and sent only a few men up. He waited for word.
Chirp, chirp.
The signal arrived just in time.
We’ve reached the fourth floor, but there’s nothing but bodies, all of them ours.
“Shit. Are the customers okay?”
Let’s check it out…….
Boom!
Binge drinking blasted over the speakers.
This was followed by a tearing noise.
“What’s going on!”
Eek, eek, eek….
I don’t have a good answer. He just groans like he’s been hit in the head. A few more shots rang out, and then the sound of human voices became muffled.
An uncomfortable silence descended.
“Tongue, brother. Isn’t this dangerous?”
“…….”
“Let’s run now, we’re up there.”
“Don’t say anything you can’t take responsibility for.”
Veldes’ orders were to be the gunner of the stronghold. He could not abandon it and run. And as far as he could tell, there were fewer than five of them.
I’m sure they do.
“Why should we feel pressured?
I couldn’t figure it out.
The inter-organizational struggle itself was not unusual. Veldes had seen it many times before, but this situation was new to him.
It felt like the monster was getting closer and closer. No, the entire hotel felt like the belly of the beast. The hairs on my body stood on end.
“What a ridiculous idea.
Veldes shook his head to clear his fears. There is no reason to be afraid. He’s just another human.
They’re outnumbered. The enemy will try to reduce your power by any means necessary, because they believe they are at a disadvantage.
That’s when I made my decision.
“Follow me.”
You can’t get away with it anymore.
* * *
Boom!
Kim Yi-hyun was loading ammunition in Room 405 when his head snapped up. A loud bang came from outside. The booby trap in the emergency exit had been activated.
“My patience has run out.”
You’ve decided to trust the side numbers and push through. So far, we’ve processed seven people. That’s a lot of heads to cut, but it’s a lot of work.
‘I’m still in good shape.’
I didn’t even take out my 4-star gear. I loaded the bullets manually, and even though I used the first smoke bomb and the flashbang for surprise earlier, I’m not tired.
“It’s a con skill.
I always thought [Specialized Armor Crafting] was a pretty low-cost option, but as anything gets older, the downsides become more noticeable.
It’s something to try to avoid being a pearl in a swine’s neck.
“Come on up.”
Gee, is that okay?
“So you’re going to leave it all on me?”
I was actually confident of surviving on my own. At best, Ekidna has given me a henchman, and if I don’t use it, I’m screwed.
If you want to get the beans, you have to share the risk, and the risk is much lower than here because you’re getting all the aggro.
We’re in, Pooka, get a grip.
Okay, damn it.
It was a strange feeling.
I feel like I’m watching the old Turkam.
“I should probably get moving.
Kim put down the loaded [Ivory]. He then crafted a new piece of equipment.
A drone with a smartphone-like display and wheels. This is a special weapon that comes in a set of two, identical to the Sticky Brushes you took out against Shadow.
[Ob-013 Scorpion].
Remote-controlled reconnaissance drone. In-game, it has a special ability to disable enemy stealth. Out of the four stars, it’s the best output.
“Not all stealth is the same stealth.
Funnily enough, this is where things go downhill again.
For example, the Daran you encountered in Atlanta would not be detected if you used the invisibility spell. It’s not a spell, it’s just the normal stealth that applies to assassin classes by default.
No matter how skillfully you fake it, you’ll still be caught on video. That alone is enough to make it useful. Enemies with spells and so-called “absolute stealth” don’t appear very often.
That’s irrelevant for now.
I’m going to use this drone for something else.
“Yeah, that’s it. I knew it would work.”
Kim smiles with satisfaction as he finishes his work. In his spare time, he would think of ways to use the special weapon, and the results were right in front of him.
“Come on, go.”
Kim picked up the controller. Soon, the drone was racing out the door of the room.
─Benefit!
With an opened smoke bomb hanging from his body.
It was a bit like the farthest thing from my mind.