Chapter 38 - FBI OPEN UP!

Deep into the night, at Busan's finest hotel.

Screams echoed throughout the building.

"Ugh... what? Who are you people!"

"Shut up and get out if you don't want to die!! Move, move, move!!!"

Mysterious assailants had broken in under the cover of darkness.

They rode the elevators to each floor, smashing down the doors of sleeping guests and taking them hostage.

People jolted awake in shock at the sight of guns pointed at their faces.

The assailants forced them up and herded everyone down to the first floor, gathering them all in one place.

"Is this the last floor?"

"Yeah, let's hurry up and finish. Otherwise the Boss will be furious."

The hallway had already become a scene of chaos.

Crossing through the corridor filled with gun-wielding assailants shouting and screaming hostages being dragged away, two terrorists went to complete their task.

Capturing hostages from the remaining rooms.

As one terrorist moved to break down a door, his companion grabbed his hand to stop him.

"Wait, there's something I've always wanted to do. Every time I break down someone's door, I've wanted to shout this."

"What is it?"

"Listen..."

The terrorist who heard him laughed as if exasperated, but said this:

"Ridiculous... but sure, why not. That's a man's romance too. I'll do it with you."

"Thanks. Then let's start on three. One, two... three!"

And so they kicked down the door simultaneously and shouted together.

"FBI OPEN UP!!!"

As they charged through the shattered door into the room, the groggy man lying in bed waved his hand once, and the gun butts they were holding suddenly flew up and struck them in the head, knocking them out cold.

What a pathetic end.

***

"What the hell are these bastards...?"

Woken from sleep, I rubbed my drowsy eyes and muttered.

I mean, suddenly there's noise coming from everywhere, and when I open my eyes, two masked guys are pointing guns at me.

Startled, I used telekinesis to manipulate their guns and made them hit their own heads.

Caught off guard by the sudden attack, they fell to the floor beside the bed. What the hell?

"Mmm... what's going on?"

Subin and Seo-eun, who had been sleeping next to me, finally woke up too. Wait, what were we even doing while all this was happening...

Judging by the sounds I could hear now that I was awake, this place was nothing short of hell. Screaming, crying, shouting, shattering, breaking, gunfire, and more...

I had no choice but to say it.

"I think... there's a terrorist attack happening?"

No, seriously.

I'm really a guy who rarely swears.

But isn't this just too fucking much?

What did I even do wrong to deserve this...

I've only gone on vacation twice in my life, and why do incidents like this happen both times?

There are so many hotels in Busan!

Why! Why does this happen at the hotel I'm staying at?

No matter how I think about it, the world seems to have it out for me.

I feel wronged. I'm confident I've lived diligently, if not exactly virtuously.

Why! Why did God create me, Da-in, and also create such vicious villains?

Oh Lord, please let me be a righteous villain today too...

"Yawn... Oppa, what's going on?"

Seo-eun, woken from sleep, looked around with tired eyes. As if asking what nonsense was happening now, she just looked annoyed. Wait, is she not even scared anymore? Did she already get used to terrorism?

"Wait, let me check the parking lot."

And so I quickly teleported to my car in the parking lot.

"Move, move!!"

"Bring the supplies! Grab the weapons!"

The underground parking lot was already a complete mess.

There were dozens of military trucks filled with people wearing masks over their faces.

Rookie, stop. This place is hell.

I'd planned to bring Seo-eun and Subin here if it looked safe, but that seemed impossible now. Damn it.

Rummage, rummage.

First, I gathered what I needed from the basket I'd brought.

A yellow mask that covers the entire face, check.

Wireless earphones and connection device. I'll need these to communicate with Seo-eun even when we're separated. Check.

As for guns... according to my plan, machine guns are overkill, so I just grabbed some small pistols. For now.

Having quickly gathered what I needed, I glanced outside the hotel briefly before teleporting back to the room.

Acting so swiftly that less than a minute had passed. Returning quickly, I handed the items to the anxious-looking Seo-eun and the quietly observing Subin.

"Here, first take these pistols... Subin, you know how to use them, and Seo-eun, I taught you last time, right?"

Outside, the situation remained chaotic with shouting everywhere.

If we stayed too long, we might get caught, so let me explain quickly.

"There's a terrorist attack happening, and when I looked outside, there are armed vehicles driving around the roads and helicopters flying around—it's not good. So for now, it's best to stick close to me. Let's pretend to be hostages and go downstairs."

Both nodded at my words.

I don't know who it is, but who dares wake me from my sleep?

Unforgivable.

The bastard will be on the first floor.

Hah, I just wanted to live a normal life.

I gripped the gun in my hand.

Ah, this cool and heavy sensation.

It's been two months.

It's time to return as the 'villain' Egostic.

"Oppa... why are you trying to look cool even in this situation?"

At Seo-eun's bewildered look, I felt embarrassed and shoved the gun deep into my pocket.

Fortunately, the clothes I'd slept in were just black sweatpants, so putting it in my pocket wasn't a problem. If I'd been wearing sky-blue cloud-patterned pajamas, how embarrassing would that have been?

Gun secured, earphones in, mask stuffed deep into my pants... yeah, all preparations complete.

"Alright, let's go too."

As I turned my head to glance at them, the two nodded and followed behind me.

Stepping out of the room, it was absolute chaos.

Pottery shattered everywhere, sprinklers going off—complete pandemonium.

"What are you doing! Move it, move it!"

An assailant snarled, shoving his gun muzzle forward.

"Oh, yes, yes. We're going, we're going."

I gave a slightly servile smile and slipped past him.

"If you don't hurry... urgh!"

The guy who kept running his mouth—I used telekinesis to manipulate his gun and smacked him in the nose with the butt.

He let out a yelp and collapsed.

You talked way too much.

Fortunately, it was such a mess that no one noticed.

The hostages dragged outside all looked like they'd lost their minds.

Of course they would. Who would've expected to be sound asleep in a hotel, only to suddenly be dragged out in their underwear?

Men, women, families, balding middle-aged men—all kinds of people were being hauled along.

This was the very definition of a bolt from the blue.

Mixed in with the other hostages, I shuffled awkwardly down the corridor until we reached the elevators.

"Alright, take the stairs down! Hurry, hurry!"

These bastards were cramming people into the narrow stairwell.

...We're on the 27th floor, and they want us to take the stairs?

Seriously?

I ground my teeth at the ruthlessness of these heartless bastards.

Not content with waking people from a sound sleep, now they wanted to make us practically rock climb?

You're all dead.

There's no way I'm going down those stairs.

I whispered to the two beside me.

"Hold on tight."

Then, as casually as could be, I teleported smoothly.

It'll be a little... okay, quite a bit exhausting, but there's no choice.

Like hell I'm going down all those stairs one by one.

No one probably saw us vanish.

And if they did? Ah, they'd just think they saw wrong.

***

The hotel's first-floor lobby.

Just a few hours ago, this place had been filled with gentle classical music and people conversing elegantly—but now it had suddenly transformed into the atmosphere of a fish market.

In this cathedral-like expanse, people sat packed together like sardines in a can, without a gap to spare. Weaving between them, masked assailants patrolled with guns—a brutal scene.

Late at night. What should have been the pleasant conclusion to a peaceful day at the hotel had transformed into a chaotic, nightmarish ending.

And there, scattered throughout the lobby, chairs had been mindlessly stacked up near the main entrance—a tower of chairs.

With a barricade blocking entry from outside, the door at their backs, and amidst the heap of piled chairs stood one luxurious chair, upright in the center.

And sitting in that chair tower, legs crossed, was a man.

A-Rank Villain, Monkey Spanner.

Acting like he was the Pirate King, he stroked his curled mustache while chomping on a cigar.

"...Have all the hostages been gathered?"

As he chewed his cigar and asked his aide standing at the base of the chair mountain, the aide shouted in a voice brimming with vigor.

"Yes sir! Everyone from all thirty floors has been secured down here!"

"...Good. I see."

After sitting there stroking his beard for a while, the man finally stood up.

The moment he rose, his massive muscles rippled.

As he began to stand, a masked cameraman hurriedly started setting up filming equipment.

In this vast space, packed with so many people.

In this crowded lobby, not a single breath from anyone else could be heard—only the sound of that man rising to his feet.

Once he'd fully raised his massive frame, he shouted toward the front—toward the camera, that is.

"I address the Association and the government."

After speaking heavily, he drew in a breath—whoosh—and bellowed loudly.

"Right now, here!!!! We're holding thousands of hostages!!! If you don't immediately transfer cash to the account we're about to give you!!!! We'll slaughter them all!!!! The account number is one! zero! zero! two!-"

And while the bastard was shouting at explosive volume.

Suddenly, from among the hostages sitting there holding their breath, the sound of clapping began to echo.

Clap clap clap clap clap clap clap.

In this space, silent except for his shouting.

The sudden applause was utterly out of place.

Even Monkey Spanner himself, who'd been broadcasting live, faltered mid-speech.

In the space that had suddenly gone quiet, the only sound that continued was that applause.

As nearby citizens turned their heads in shock and terror, searching for the lunatic who was clapping.

I stood up quietly from my seat, receiving those stares.

Still clapping with my hands.

You need at least this much aggro.