Ch. 195
Chapter 195: The Avengers’ Resistance
Baek Woohyun and the panelists, including Jeong Nayeon, agreed that now that the SSR Cup had completely ended, it was time to resume the ‘Hack Tour’ content.
More precisely, it was closer to saying they needed to progress through PVE—that is, the story. PVP was sufficiently covered by Team All-In practice and Event Match: Chaos Arena.
The one who advocated most strongly for this was, as expected, Chloe, the iTuber who specialized in ‘Reverse Planet’ story content. Although the others agreed with her opinion and affirmed it as well.
However, the Otherworld Management Bureau storyline was currently blocked by new raid content, and they had only just finished assembling a raid party to break through.
Therefore, it was only natural that Baek Woohyun chose the other story—the one viewers had dubbed the Avengers Route.
In the first place, unless they were going to break into some new story route, that was the only one available to progress.
“……”
That was why Baek Woohyun, who had logged into ‘Reverse Planet’ alone for the first time in a while as he did when running regular ‘Hack Tour’ content, was lost in deep thought.
He was calmly contemplating and pondering how to lead the Avengers Route going forward.
He had accepted Kim Youngjun and Jeong Beomu’s proposal to join the Avengers in order to see a different future from ‘that side,’ where everything had ended in ruin.
To achieve that goal, he actually only needed to prevent one thing. The terrible incident of Captain Jeong Beomu’s betrayal.
If he could just prevent the event that had brought the Avengers to the brink of annihilation, a future better than ‘that side’ would be guaranteed at the very least.
‘The problem is.’
The problem was that Baek Woohyun truly knew nothing about why Jeong Beomu had betrayed them.
When he reunited with Jeong Beomu, who had betrayed them on ‘that side,’ he had pierced through the heart of that bastard who was spouting that it wasn’t his intention in one strike.
Whatever the reason, betrayal was betrayal. His desire for revenge wasn’t shallow enough to listen further to the voice of the disgusting traitor who had driven them all to ruin.
Thus, Jeong Beomu, with the badge identifying him as belonging to Hellhound embedded deep in his heart, died without being able to utter any excuse.
At the time, it had been utterly satisfying, but now that he needed to change the future of the captain’s betrayal, it was somewhat regrettable.
Of course, it was only regrettable to that extent. Even if he could turn back time and return to that moment, Baek Woohyun’s choice wouldn’t change at all.
Rather, he would grant the traitor Jeong Beomu an even more cruel death.
That bastard had died too easily compared to the price of his sins.
‘First, I need to find out why he betrayed the organization.’
Until ‘that side’s’ Jeong Beomu actually carried out the betrayal, the organization members hadn’t suspected at all that he would betray them.
No, they hadn’t. Jeong Beomu was in that kind of position, that kind of man. How else could a single person’s betrayal have driven everything to ruin?
Therefore, finding out the reason for the betrayal wouldn’t be easy, but to create a better future, he had to start from there.
Naturally, directly asking Jeong Beomu was out of the question.
Suddenly asking someone whose betrayal might not even be confirmed yet, “Why are you betraying the organization and destroying everything?” would just be slander.
The viewers who would soon be watching would also wonder what the hell he was talking about.
Therefore, Baek Woohyun acknowledged the necessity of Avengers activities. He had no choice but to do it as ‘Hack Tour’ content anyway, but also for investigating the reason for the betrayal.
-Jeong Nayeon: ㄱㄱ
“……”
Seeing Jeong Nayeon’s start signal after a long time, Baek Woohyun took out the smartphone provided by Manmulsang.
This was because the trigger to progress the next Avengers story—a message sent by Kim Youngjun—had arrived there.
[Sender: Kim Youngjun
I’ve got a decent job. Want to come along?
If you’re interested, give me a call]
‘They should have all seen it by now.’
Baek Woohyun, thinking the panelists and viewers must have finished checking it too, immediately pressed the call button. Since the message had requested a phone call.
After the connection tone rang about three times, Kim Youngjun’s voice saying, “Hello,” was heard from beyond the smartphone.
Baek Woohyun skipped the tedious exchange of greetings and wasting time, diving straight into the main point.
“You said you have a decent job?”
“Yeah, that’s right. It’s a pretty big job. If we do it well, we can really stick it to those bastards.”
“I’ll do it.”
“I like how straightforward you are! Then I’ll send you the address, so come over there!”
After the call ended, the text from Kim Youngjun that arrived contained only a single line with an address. As if he couldn’t tell him anything until he came there first.
However, that wasn’t very important. The moment he read the text containing only the address, system messages appeared in front of Baek Woohyun in a stream.
They were system messages stating that the 「The Avengers’ Resistance」 mission had begun.
‘Shall I go?’
After searching for and traveling to the address’s location, the place Baek Woohyun arrived at was an abandoned building.
Despite being a building in Seoul, it hadn’t been managed at all, perhaps because it had been abandoned for quite a long time, and was filled with an eerie atmosphere.
Of course, that wasn’t a problem at all for Baek Woohyun, who was always with vengeful spirits. He had no reason to fear ghosts.
Moreover, as he’d said several times, he had belonged to and operated with the Avengers on ‘that side’ continuously until they collapsed from betrayal.
Therefore, he couldn’t help but be very familiar with places like this. Since the Avengers, who had to avoid the Research Facility, Corporate Alliance, and Otherworld Management Bureau, always wandered the underworld.
Except for a few secret hideouts, they had always favored abandoned buildings, construction sites, and secluded mountains.
“……”
Baek Woohyun, who had entered the abandoned building, naturally moved toward the basement. Because he felt a very faint presence of people there.
When he descended the stairs littered with all sorts of miscellaneous items like garbage, a space that would probably have been used as a parking lot when it was intact greeted him.
It was a place where visibility wasn’t easy to secure, as it was filled with temporary walls that seemed to have been used briefly on the upper floor. In other words, it looked good for hiding.
Thinking it was exactly the kind of place the Avengers would prefer as a temporary gathering spot, he impassively continued moving forward.
He didn’t try to remove the temporary walls blocking the view separately, because he didn’t want to leave artificial traces unnecessarily.
Furthermore, there was also the possibility that placing these here was an action by the Avengers’ side in the first place.
“You got here faster than I expected.”
“……”
Not long after navigating through the basement parking lot while avoiding the trash, Kim Youngjun suddenly popped out from the deep shadows.
He seemed to have expected some startled reaction as he smiled faintly, but not even a hint of disturbance could be felt in Baek Woohyun’s expression.
A more mature period’s concealment in the future might be different, but the current clumsy concealment was far from enough to deceive Baek Woohyun.
Kim Youngjun seemed to have realized that too. Clicking his tongue, he shrugged his shoulders.
Come to think of it, this was the same Baek Woohyun who had effortlessly blocked the ambush attempt to put a knife to his throat the first time.
When even using deception had failed, it would be impossible to deceive Baek Woohyun with concealment that didn’t even use full power.
“Follow me. The other comrades are waiting inside.”
“……”
Baek Woohyun followed Kim Youngjun, who took the lead, and soon reached an open space at the end of the basement parking lot, created by appropriately clearing away trash.
Just as Kim Youngjun had said, ‘comrades are waiting,’ two figures were already sitting casually there, looking at Baek Woohyun and Kim Youngjun.
They were respectively a man with shaggy hair and a somewhat weak-looking impression, and a woman whose build seemed a head taller than most men.
“Now, everyone say hello. This is the newcomer who just joined our organization, Lee Jun. Over there are Jang Eunsu and Seo Dain, veterans like me!”
“……”
“”……”
Despite Kim Youngjun’s somewhat lively effort to introduce them to each other, a chilly silence hung in the basement parking lot.
Baek Woohyun was gauging opponents he wasn’t familiar with because he hadn’t seen them on ‘that side,’ and Jang Eunsu and Seo Dain were doing the same.
As the three people’s gazes intertwined, the first to break the silence was Jang Eunsu.
“Nice to meet you. I’m Jang Eunsu.”
“…I’m Lee Jun.”
“I see.”
Jang Eunsu, dressed in entirely black clothes from head to toe—this wasn’t just an exaggerated metaphor, it was really true. Everything from his hat to his shoes was completely black.
After a brief greeting mixed with no emotion whatsoever, he turned his head away from Baek Woohyun and Kim Youngjun and quietly stared at his own shadow as before.
It was an attitude as if declaring he would greet them since they would work together, but had no interest in Baek Woohyun whatsoever.
“Kim Youngjun, you fucking idiot.”
However, the fact that Jang Eunsu’s attitude bordering on indifference was actually better was quickly proven.
Seo Dain, who had been standing crookedly as if something didn’t sit right with her, suddenly spat out curses toward Kim Youngjun.
When bewilderment rose on Kim Youngjun’s face at being suddenly called an idiot, Seo Dain sprang up and strode toward Kim Youngjun—or Baek Woohyun.
“……”
Swoooosh.
Baek Woohyun’s eyebrows twitched at her clearly threatening attitude. The power of his supernatural ability silently boiled up inside him.
He had seen Jang Eunsu coming and going a few times on ‘that side,’ but he had never met Seo Dain at all. Therefore, he didn’t know what kind of personality she had either.
Since she might be the type to throw punches first because she didn’t like something at their first meeting, it was only natural that he harbored wariness.
“Don’t you know how important this operation is? What were you thinking bringing a newcomer here?”
“Whoa, whoa— Calm down. Why are you so angry?”
“Why am I so angry? Didn’t you hear what I just said? Are your ears plugged? Should I drill them out for you!”
Fwoooosh!
Flames spewed threateningly from Seo Dain’s mouth as she shouted. Even from her body, bright red flames surged threateningly.
The dark basement parking lot brightened considerably with the crimson flames that seemed to express the anger she felt on her behalf.
Of course, no one was intimidated by such things. Even Kim Youngjun, the person being threatened, was still wearing his slick smile.
“Lee Jun is a talent that the Captain personally accepted, you know? Why don’t you try trusting him once?”
“That’s exactly the problem, you damn bastard!”
Without a doubt, Captain Jeong Beomu was the core of the Avengers’ core. Precious enough that he had to be protected at all costs, even if no one else was.
Seo Dain snapped at him about what would happen if such a precious person met with someone who hadn’t been properly verified yet and ended up in a dangerous situation.
Of course, it was unfair for Kim Youngjun. The person who had first come forward to meet Baek Woohyun was Jeong Beomu, after all.
He argued that he had only followed the Captain’s will, that it was the Captain who wanted to meet Baek Woohyun, and the Captain who accepted him, but—
“Even so, you should have dissuaded him properly!”
“Huh.”
“……”
It didn’t work at all on Seo Dain, who was already half out of her mind. She just growled that he should have attended to him well anyway.
Watching this, Baek Woohyun thought he somehow understood why he hadn’t met her on ‘that side.’
It would have been impossible for someone with anger management issues like this to survive for long while avoiding the Research Facility, Corporate Alliance, and Otherworld Management Bureau.
“Tsk.”
Baek Woohyun, clicking his tongue lightly, glared at Seo Dain.
He felt no need whatsoever to persuade her here and prove that he was harmless. He didn’t particularly want to either.
Therefore, as always, he decided to just push through with force.