PASSION Chapter 5 Part 4

Chapter 5 Part 4

Tae-ui was the latter, if he had to say. Though he certainly wasn't good enough at fighting to think he could just fight back, he felt it would be the same wherever he went. Though it might delay the start of running by a few minutes, he would have to fight enemies charging at him swinging clubs anyway.

Though he had roughly looked around the building interior during the previous hour, there still weren't any good hiding places. Running away was actually difficult too. He would likely be in trouble if enemies came from front and back simultaneously. Plus not being Carl Lewis, it would be hard to completely shake them off.

Then the better method among them would be...

"Dead end, dead end... Where was that narrow dead-end alley?"

He walked quickly while drinking the ion drink from the vending machine. After briefly thinking through the building's internal structure, a suitable place soon came to mind.

On basement level 5, there was a narrow corridor with a water purifier between the library and west stairs. That path just wide enough for one person to pass through to get water was perfect. The one bad point was that people frequently passed by since stairs were right next to it, but thinking differently, it would also be easy to escape that way if needed.

Just try to hold out well for an hour somehow. Then he could rest for an hour—or if someone earned his grudge during the next hour, he would chase them seeking revenge instead of resting the following hour—. With bad luck he might just get beaten for an hour, but surely he wouldn't die. Besides being an Asian branch member, he hadn't earned any personal or special grudges from anyone among the European branch members. Just caught the eye of one very troublesome guy.

Thinking of that person made him depressed again. Rather than depressed, it was an unpleasant feeling.

Though it might be natural to feel this way when clearly knowing others were plotting something bad and abetting it, it was definitely not pleasant. Even if that person was someone Tae-ui himself had desperately wished would disappear somewhere.

The 5 minutes passed while thinking such thoughts. Reaching basement level 5, Tae-ui ran toward his destination while already feeling noisy shouts from far behind.

No one was at the water purifier beside the library. Being such a corner spot, few people came here. Tae-ui went right in front of the water purifier. In the narrow long path just wide enough for one person to enter, he crushed his empty ion drink can with crackling sounds.

People's voices grew closer and farther. The sound of fighting and rolling around shouting could be heard not far away. Tae-ui lightly swung the club in his hand.

Though it would be nice if no one passed by here and he could stay hidden until an hour passed like this, that seemed unlikely. Through the translucent glass, shadows of people going up and down the west stairs were occasionally visible. If any of those shadows opened the glass door and came in here, they would make eye contact immediately.

How much time had passed?

Though it didn't seem like that much time had passed, what Tae-ui didn't want finally happened. The glass door burst open and two or three men rushed in. And unfortunately they were chasers, meaning European branch members.

"Oh, found one!"

"What, hiding in a corner like this? But right next to the stairs, did you stay here knowing you'd obviously be caught?"

"Oh. There's a water purifier too. Perfect. Let's quickly take care of him and get some water, I was just getting thirsty."

The uneasy peace broke like this. Tae-ui clicked his tongue looking at his watch that still had quite some time left, then gripped his club. Well with this, even hitting hard shouldn't be too much of a problem...

While having such humanitarian thoughts and lightly tapping the rubber club against his palm, Tae-ui's face hardened in shock seeing the iron pipe one of the men raised.

"Wait, we were definitely issued these clubs. Why is your weapon different?!"

"What? Well that's the basic tool but I chose my own thing. As long as it's not a lethal weapon, any weapon... Ah, you're a newbie."

"An iron pipe is definitely a lethal weapon!"

He would really like to see anyone stay normal after taking a hard hit to the head with that. No, before that, it was even surprising to think an iron pipe wasn't a lethal weapon when there was someone in that branch who killed people with bare hands.

However, no matter how much Tae-ui argued against iron pipes, it was useless. "Then go get yourself a pipe too" the man said while swinging down the iron pipe. Tae-ui clicked his tongue.

Damn it. If it's training where people bet their lives, shouldn't they properly explain these unofficial rules hidden underwater too? How unfair would it be to die from accidentally getting hit in the head with an iron pipe here.

Come to think of it, there were rumors of many ghosts in the military. Especially when Tae-ui was at the front lines, it was rarer to find someone who hadn't seen ghosts while standing night guard. However, even amid all that, Tae-ui hadn't seen even anything ghost-like so he didn't believe in ghosts wandering around, but those rumors existing was true.

Somehow he felt he understood why now. There must have been many people who died unjustly like this too. If he died absurdly here, he would definitely come back as a ghost. ...And even as a ghost, that vicious man would definitely happily tear apart ghosts too.

He thought of Ilay again. Tae-ui clicked his tongue at the guilt that raised its head after being briefly forgotten in the chaos. He first blocked the iron pipe the man swung down by knocking it up with the club in his hand. Then—though he would be called extremely cowardly—he stabbed the end of the club into the man's eye.

Though the blunt club didn't cause injuries like piercing the eyeball, the man who probably felt much more pain than being punched in the eye dropped the iron pipe with a short scream. And Tae-ui who had been waiting for this quickly picked up the pipe. Picking up the metal still warm with the man's body heat definitely gave him more peace of mind than holding that rubber stick. Indeed, he understood why those guys had thrown away mere rubber clubs. There was this psychological advantage too.

When the men rushed in shouting things Tae-ui had heard countless times like 'You coward!' 'You bastard need to learn a lesson!' as their comrade collapsed clutching his eye, only then could Tae-ui fully taste the geographical advantage of that position.

The inside where the water purifier was placed was so narrow only one person could enter. So unfortunately for the men, they couldn't use the—also cowardly—method of ganging up two or three at once to crush one person. One by one, they faced Tae-ui in that narrow space where they couldn't freely swing their arms due to the width.

"Indeed, following your advice and picking up an iron pipe was good. The length is perfect for repelling people trying to approach too. Thanks for the advice. Really should listen to others' words."

Tae-ui was thoroughly benefiting from the fortunate fact that the iron pipe he had picked up from that man was the longest of their weapons. He could maintain some distance by stabbing the pipe at the throat of anyone approaching closely, and they couldn't enter close combat with their clubs and pipes that were only useful in close quarters.

When Tae-ui whispered "Thank you" with a slight smile, the man facing him seemed heated to his hair tips. He suddenly pulled out something cold from his clothes. It was a tactical knife with a blade about two hand-spans long. Tae-ui's face hardened with a flinch.

I told you you'd be ruined by that mouth, Tou's voice seemed to echo clicking his tongue. Who knew enjoying teasing them would be repaid like this.

"No need to go as far as a knife... It was just a joke, a joke. Joke. Don't you know?"

"Shut up, you bastard!"

This seems dangerous, he thought.

Actually even though the man drew a knife, nothing changed immediately. His comrade behind him was still anxiously muttering "Ah, it's too narrow for me to enter too," and the man with the knife actually had more trouble properly approaching Tae-ui due to the even shorter range than when holding the pipe.

But if the man came charging ready to sacrifice his flesh to carve the opponent's bones, prepared to take one hard hit, Tae-ui would be in absolute danger. And because Tae-ui would probably have done that himself, the possibility of the man doing so felt even more precarious.

This was dangerous, somehow escaping and running would be best. But what to do. If he pushed past this man and got out, those two guys watching with blazing eyes would join in and rush him. Anyway if he could just get out for a moment he could dash to the stairs.

If little time remained he could just stall like this, but unfortunately there was still plenty of time to get beaten by that man.

This is troublesome, troublesome.

Just as Tae-ui was clicking his tongue while swinging the iron pipe, he saw a familiar face going up the stairs through the glass door. A man unmistakable even from behind. Ilay Rigrow.

As in that video, his hands still wore pitch black gloves as he climbed the stairs leisurely with an unburdened bare body carrying nothing. Behind him as he lightly touched the railing, black traces in the shape of hands remained dotted where his hands touched. Those gloves were still soaked in blood even now.

He was going up toward somewhere with an interested face without seeing this way. Above here was level 4 which was locked and off limits. Above that was level 3. Where the martial arts room was.

Suddenly he recalled the men's conversation from earlier.

—I'll drive that bastard in there somehow, then finish him inside.

—But will it be okay? Even so, using a cluster would blow up the whole martial arts room.

—Without going that far it would be hard to kill him... That's the only way. To eliminate him.

Tae-ui clicked his tongue. Perhaps Ilay was heading there. Or it could be somewhere else. But the men's words weren't lies, and it was already planned in advance. Ilay was heading there.

Should he have told him? But if he told him, that man would probably massacre the men who plotted this nine times out of ten. Still, having become acquainted, was it right to just watch him walk into death?

A faint guilt suddenly sprouted. Seeing him in person, the increasingly vivid sense of crisis changed color to pitch black regret in his chest.