SPOT! PA-PA-PA-SPOT!

John Cossack sprinted hard toward Beijing.

Advance reconnaissance was extremely important.

Especially in a rescue operation like this.

Summoner Bong had given the order.

Save as many as possible, as safely as possible.

Then that’s how it had to be.

He would accomplish it.

No matter what.

No matter what happened.

A wide highway in his line of sight.

And beyond it, a forest of high-rise buildings—a massive metropolis.

It was Beijing, the capital of China.

From here on, slowly.

He slapped on a perception-interference talisman and reduced his speed.

There was plenty of time.

He’d already said he was leaving work early.

What Xiao Jun had blurted out before he finally lost it.

He said the Player detention site was in a building in Zhongnanhai, behind the Forbidden City.

Not just the address—he’d wrung out what the building looked like, and how to get inside, too.

First, the place he needed to go was the tallest building in Beijing.

To grasp the rough layout, a high-rise was perfect.

And right in the city there was a structure similar to Namsan Tower.

Maybe because it was a tourist attraction, the tower was packed with people.

Cossack hid in the crowd and went up to the top.

A city panorama that spread out at a glance.

The Forbidden City, and the buildings behind it, were visible.

‘That way.’

Location confirmed.

Every route was stored in his head.

Now, the on-site recon.

He left the ➤ NоvеⅠight ➤ (Read more on our source) tower and walked at an unhurried pace.

He crossed a wide plaza, looped around the pond beside the Forbidden City, and before he knew it, he’d reached the target area.

This district was a zone civilians couldn’t approach.

From now on, he used Stealth.

If he moved too fast, Stealth would break.

Carefully. Patiently.

With persistence.

He slipped into the building Xiao Jun had mentioned.

The building’s layout was complicated.

Guards were posted everywhere, and every tightly shut door had fingerprint recognition, iris scans, even facial authentication.

‘A door, huh.’

He casually put a hand on it.

With blade energy, it would cut clean through.

That’s how Chinese steel doors always were.

Of course, there was no need to cut it right now.

Wait for someone to come, then follow them inside.

‘This is it.’

A prison.

Or something like a psychiatric ward.

A stark white corridor, rooms lined on both sides—and inside them, people who looked like Players were locked up.

Mostly Southeast Asian people, all wearing the same color clothing.

About eight of them.

‘The escape route is...’

His brain spun fast.

Where to move for maximum speed, the locations and number of guards that needed to be dealt with, where the emergency stairs were, and so on.

Cossack went back outside again.

The surrounding buildings, the connecting roads, the locations of guard posts.

‘Good.’ 𝒇𝓻𝓮𝓮𝙬𝙚𝒃𝒏𝓸𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝓬𝓸𝒎

He remembered everything.

But there was still a lot of time left.

‘Should I look around a bit more?’

This was the core of Chinese power.

So it wasn’t a place civilians could casually approach.

And right then—

BWOOOOONG!

A line of black vehicles moved in formation, heading somewhere.

‘A big shot?’

And if it was someone big here...?

SPOT!

Cossack tailed the cars.

They stopped in front of a building.

A long line of people stood at attention, greeting the vehicles.

And from the limousine in the center, one person stepped out.

‘Oh!’

Cossack exclaimed.

He’d seen him on TV.

China’s top leader.

The very heart of Chinese power.

Could he really just look and leave?

Of course not. He had to plant the Mark of Tracking.

A tiny lump of energy shot toward the top leader.

‘Mark planted.’

An unexpected bonus.

He’d been needing to Cast Karma anyway.

Advance reconnaissance had gone extremely smoothly.

*****

The next day.

Juhyeok asked Cossack, who had been summoned and called out.

“Did yesterday’s recon wrap up well?”

“Perfect, sir. We can execute tonight.”

“Just the two of you?”

“We need Sergeant Caliber.”

“Sergeant Caliber... Ah! Veronica.”

At that, Veronica—who’d been dozing off beside them—snapped her eyes open.

“Sergeant Veronica Caliber! Ready for the operation.”

An assassin and a sniper. The best possible combo, sure, but—

“What about Rajix and Meatshield, and Princess Gyeon Dallae?”

“Ah, our worker Rajix can just stay home and clean, sir. Meatshield and Princess Gyeon Dallae too.”

“SQUEAK?”

“Still, you should all get together and talk it through. Even a sheet of paper...”

“Is stronger when you lift it together, sir. Heh heh heh.”

So the summoned entities gathered in a corner of the living room.

“Sergeant Caliber, how far can you lower the output on your Magic Gun? Enough to knock someone out if they get hit.”

“I can use paralysis rounds.”

“Will it kill them?”

“Usually not. Well, if you’re unlucky, it might.... Want to get hit and see?”

“Shoot Meatshield.”

“I want to shoot you. Show me your ass.”

“Really, sir? I’m pulling my pants down?”

“Kkah!”

“SQUEAK?”

Warm, friendly conversation went back and forth.

Yeah—summon them often and live together, and it felt like they’d all gotten noticeably closer.

“Worker Rajix.”

“SQUEAK?”

“Give Sergeant Caliber plenty of ammo.”

“SQUEEEAK.”

“Princess Gyeon Dallae, use perception-interference talismans for us.”

“How many?”

“Eight. But I’d like the effect to last only about an hour. Can you do that?”

“That is not difficult.”

“And I saw someone there...”

He was so excited. So excited.

The meeting went longer than expected.

The more thorough the plan, the better.

And when all preparations were complete—

After the summoned entities returned—

Juhyeok called Cossack and Veronica out around midnight.

They entered Black Tower (Republic of Korea) Floor 1, finished setting the exit, and after killing the grubs—

SPOT!

The three appeared at Black Tower (China), China’s Tower No. 1 (NO.1), west of Beijing.

“Then good luck.”

“Certain victory! I will dedicate all glory to you, Commander.”

“...ATTENTION! Summoner Bong’s right hand, the master of guerrilla warfare, the ace of hostage rescue—this Cossack will complete the mission and return, sir.”

Was this a loyalty contest or what?

It was embarrassing.

SPOT!

Cossack and Veronica vanished quickly.

Juhyeok waited for a while.

Until they were far away from him.

If they were too close, they’d enter the Tower together.

Maybe about an hour passed.

‘This should be enough, right?’

Juhyeok entered Black Tower (China) Floor 1 alone again.

After abandoning the mission and coming back out, it was the penthouse.

‘This is seriously convenient.’

No risk burden, either.

He didn’t think the operation would fail.

Who would mess with those two?

If anything, he just felt sorry for the ordinary people on the other side.

He only hoped they wouldn’t cause a massive incident.

*****

Deep night.

The Special Intelligence Department for Tower Clearing compound in Zhongnanhai.

It was past 2 a.m.

But Nguyen, a Vietnamese Player, couldn’t sleep.

He still regretted it.

Why had he acted alone back then?

He’d been hungry, and going out alone to grab late-night bun cha had been a mistake.

After being dragged away by strangers, injected with a drugged syringe, and blacking out—he’d woken up here.

Kidnapping.

The Player kidnappings he’d only heard rumors about.

There were many others in the same situation as him.

They’d tortured him the moment he arrived.

They’d threatened to kill his family if he didn’t cooperate.

In the end, Nguyen gave up.

He stamped the paperwork saying he would renounce his original nationality and naturalize as Chinese.

It was a truly strange thing.

The moment he stamped the naturalization documents, his Black Tower affiliation changed.

To China.

And so began the forced clearing of Black Tower (China).

Nguyen cooperated as much as he could.

He even cleared upper floors that hadn’t been cleared yet.

If he didn’t, he’d be killed.

Three Towers in total.

They assigned teams for each Tower, and if an uncleared floor wasn’t cleared within the Time Limit, horrific torture awaited.

More than ten people had died that way.

They also kept threatening to murder families.

Once a week, they showed him photos of his family back in Vietnam.

He’d received them again today.

His wife riding a scooter to work, his young daughter walking to school, and his parents.

His family probably thought he was already dead.

If only he could tell them he was still alive.

How could anyone sleep in a situation like this?

He might not even get to see them before he died.

His beloved family—

In that instant!

TATAT! THUD! THUMP, THUMP.

Strange sounds coming from the corridor.

‘What is it?’

The sounds kept coming.

Nguyen shot up.

“Don’t tell me...”

Something was happening.

Nguyen pressed his ear tightly to the door.

The sound of doors opening, voices like people gasping in surprise.

Then, a moment later—

CLICK!

Nguyen’s door opened, too.

“Wh-Who...?”

Someone stood in the doorway.

It was definitely a person.

But he couldn’t make out their face.

“Shh.”

The unknown man put a finger to his lips, then pulled a sheet of paper from his pocket and handed it to Nguyen.

“Th-This is...?”

Yellow paper with red writing.

A talisman.

Something you could see often even in Vietnam.

Flick—

The man lifted his top.

A talisman stuck to his chest.

“...You want me to put it on? Like this?”

There was no choice.

He could only do as told.

Nguyen stuck the talisman on himself and stepped outside.

And he froze.

“Gasp!”

People lined up awkwardly in the corridor.

Players who, like him, had been kidnapped.

Strange.

He couldn’t tell who was who.

Was it because he was tense?

Nguyen looked around.

Guards and public security officers from the Chinese government were collapsed all over the corridor.

The only people still standing were the unknown man and the kidnapped Players.

Then—

KWA-KWA-KWA-KWANG!

A deafening boom, like an explosive going off, shook the inside of the building.

“Guh!”

“Aaah!”

“Wh-Where?”

The Players panicked.

But the man didn’t even flinch, like he’d known it would happen. He simply gestured indifferently.

‘Follow him?’

They had to.

If there was a way out, the kidnapped Players followed him—including Nguyen.

A closed door at the end of the hallway.

The man drew two daggers.

ZEEEEENG!

Blades shining like lightsabers.

KRK! KRK-KRK!

A steel door cut into neat squares.

‘Th-This is insane!’

A real lightsaber?

Or a laser.

No time to argue the details.

The kidnapped Players rushed through the cut-open door.

No one stopped them.

No—there had been people, but they were all down on the floor.

The kidnapped Players ran blindly after the man.

Chinese public security and guards poured out from all directions.

But—

PA-SHUT! PA-SHUT! PA-SHUT!

They dropped one after another to bullets flying in from somewhere.

Only then did the surroundings come into focus.

An old, palace-like complex—and far beyond it, high-rise buildings.

Nguyen felt overwhelmed.

How long had it been since he’d been outside like this?

Could he really make it home?

*****

Veronica, the peerlessly accurate ranger of the Magic Empire.

Her power came from the equipment she wore.

An enhancement suit that clung tight to her body without even a flutter.

And the magic eyes and assault combat walker that enabled automatic aiming.

Perched in a roadside tree, Veronica watched the rescue targets sprint out of the building.

Friend-or-foe identification complete.

Escort mission start.

They needed to draw attention one more time.

She fired one more large round into the upper floors of a dark, distant building.

PA-JUJUJUK! KWA-KWA-KWA-KWANG!

Then she jumped down from the tree and followed behind the kidnapped Players like a rear guard.

The assassin was in front, and she was behind.

With perception-interference talismans stuck on them, not many would be charging at them anyway...

Still, just in case, she put down any armed units that stood out with paralysis rounds.

PA-SHUT! PA-SHUT! PA-SHUT!

Their final destination was the U.S. Embassy.

The assassin said once he got them there, the mission was over.

‘He’s a strange man.’

Usually he was a sycophant, light and shameless to the point of being ridiculous.

Still, credit where it was due.

This whole plan had come out of his head.

Veronica kept running in the rear.

The U.S. Embassy came into view.

The operation was a smashing success.

*****

KWA-KWA-KWA-KWANG!

Chinese Chairman Lin Chaoming woke up after hearing the first explosion.

And then, shortly after, the second blast.

KWA-KWA-KWA-KWANG!

‘What the hell...?’

A call came in at perfect timing. From his secretary.

“Fine. We’ll talk in the office.”

Chairman Lin Chaoming hurried out of his bedroom and into his office.

“What in the world is going on?”

“It seems to be terrorism.”

Terrorism?

“And, and...”

“Say it!”

“Our naturalized Players... e-escaped.”

“What?”

If the naturalized Players had escaped...

“Special Intelligence Department?”

“Y-Yes.”

“Hah.”

He wasn’t even angry. Just stunned.

Explosions in the heart of Chinese power—and kidnapped Players escaping?

How was that possible?

“Did you catch them?”

“...”

“I’m going to lose my mind.”

Chairman Lin Chaoming dropped into his chair and closed his eyes slowly.

Whatever the case, it had happened.

What mattered now was damage control.

He had to handle it quickly.

“Declare an emergency security posture across all of Beijing. Mobilize everyone—public security, soldiers, all of them—and find the ones who escaped.”

One more thing.

“And the escaped Players—revoke their Chinese nationality immediately. Wipe the records and evidence too. Everything. Leave no trace.”

“Yes!”

A leader must always assume the worst-case scenario.

If this became public, China’s prestige would crash into the dirt.

“...Purge the Special Intelligence Department too.”

A purge.

Meaning, kill them.

“The entire organization?”

“Yes. Executives, staff, field agents—bring back even the ones dispatched overseas. All of them. Fast.”

“Understood.”

The secretary left to carry out the orders.

Chairman Lin Chaoming was left alone in his office.

He pulled out a cigarette, put it between his lips, and lit it.

“Haah.”

It would be nice if they caught the escapees, but even if they got away, it didn’t matter.

Cut off the tail.

Play dumb.

As always, the Chinese government would deny every fact about Player kidnappings.

And besides, the kidnapped ones were Players from developing countries with weak national power.

They’d bark, sure.

But that was all.

What could they do?

Chairman Lin Chaoming walked toward the map hanging on his office wall.

China—vast territory, the world’s largest population.

So why were talented Players always in short supply?

Why couldn’t they cross the Floor 60 threshold, why did they keep floundering like this?

The neighboring country, the Republic of Korea, was the exact opposite.

Overflowing with talent.

The S++ clear record holder proved it.

“Damn it!”

Cigarette smoke rose thickly.

Lin Chaoming shook his head.

He’d purged his opposition and climbed all the way to the peak of power. He’d worked so hard for the glory of China.

‘The Republic of Korea...’

He wanted to annex it.

Even if it meant starting a war—he wanted to unify them into one country.

If it weren’t for the United States...

A war would have broken out already.

‘Use North Korea to push a full-scale war...’

Right then—

A chill shot through him. The back of his head tingled.

He heard footsteps, too.

Someone was here.

This was his office.

He tried to turn his head—

‘Damn!’

He couldn’t move.

Like his entire body was stuck in a spiderweb.

He couldn’t even open his mouth.

“Our Princess says...”

Korean?

“Usually, emperors and national leaders have different standards of karma than ordinary people?”

Cossack placed both hands gently on Lin Chaoming’s shoulders.

“The bad karma of a national leader is supposedly laziness, sloth, indulgence—those are the biggest sins.”

Whether Lin Chaoming understood or not, Cossack kept talking.

“Politicians who throw governance aside, guzzle booze, wallow in pleasure, and don’t care for the country. Because then the people suffer.”

Lin Chaoming felt like he was going to go insane.

“But dictators are different, apparently. Especially ones with plenty of supporters—ones who set their own policy standards and govern.”

“Because someone benefits from it, they can get judged as having good karma. Isn’t that hilarious?”

It was definitely Korean, but he couldn’t understand a single word.

“No matter how many people they kill and purge, if the country develops and grows rich, it counts as legitimate rule.”

“Tch. I can’t agree at all, but Princess says so, so I have to believe it.”

Twitch.

A suspicious energy pushed in through his shoulders.

And through it all, the man’s voice kept going.

“No, does that make sense? Why are the standards different? It’s not even a special privilege. That’s why I hate politicians.”

Who the hell was this?

Was he the one who’d shown up at HG Hotel?

The one who’d wiped out China’s Special Intelligence Department agents?

If so, he wanted to speak.

He’d give him anything he wanted—just come to China.

But his tongue was stiff, and he could barely breathe.

Suddenly, his head felt like it was about to split.

At the same time, his eyelids grew heavy.

“If karma won’t work, then I’ll have to find another way.”

“You’re someone who threatened my Summoner’s life—and someone who might keep threatening it.”

Lin Chaoming tried to stay conscious.

“Consider it luck you didn’t welcome the Mad Demon. Die quietly.”

His knees started to buckle like he was about to collapse—

“Cause of death will be a brain hemorrhage, got it? A blood vessel bursting in your brain. No one will be able to do anything. It won’t be just one spot, either.”

“But you won’t die right away. Suffer in bed for about ten days. After that, it’ll be peaceful.”

THUD!

Lin Chaoming finally fell to the floor.

“I wonder if you picked a successor. Honestly, I hope you didn’t. It’ll make China noisy.”

Cossack smiled darkly.

The poison injection was complete.

A poison he made by converting his own energy.

It wasn’t that strong.

If you could handle mana, you could detox it easily.

But an ordinary human would never endure it.

They wouldn’t even be able to find the poison component.

With everything finished, Cossack slid into the darkness and vanished.

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