Chapter 152 - The Kidnapping

The back of my head hurts like hell.

Whoever did it, they must be a real expert, Yoo Ho-jun thought as he struggled to open his eyes.

He was just about to go to the convenience store near the tower to grab some late-night snacks and beer, but to be knocked out in a single blow as soon as he stepped outside the tower, that must be the case.

At the very least, there were no signs of bleeding covering his face, and it wasn’t a head injury that made his consciousness hazy, so there was enough evidence to judge it that way.

“...”

Well, he had been knocked out like this a few times before, so he had plenty of comparison subjects to be sure.

Thinking back to the days when he was rolling around with that guy Kim Gyu-sik just to get by day to day, that kind of thing happened almost every other day.

“...Hmm.”

And just like then, a chuckle escaped Yoo Ho-jun’s lips as he saw his bound limbs, as if by promise.

A damp basement. The smell of mold. And the smell of rusty iron seeping in between.

Ah, I see. A familiar sequence. If it was a guy who liked to set such an orthodox mood, there was a line that was sure to come around this time...

“You’re awake.”

“What a shame.”

“...What?”

“I should be clapping, but my hands are tied, so I can’t. These days, a traditional ‘technician’ like you is a natural monument on the verge of extinction.”

When Yoo Ho-jun answered indifferently, the person who had spoken was noticeably flustered.

On paper, his reputation was predominantly that of a pure civilian who was sometimes thrown in as a bonus with Kim Gyu-sik.

But looking at his demeanor now, he felt like a specialist who had been tortured dozens of times.

“...Your impression is a bit strange.”

“Shut up. Cut the crap.”

A knife was pressed against his neck with those words, but.

Well, whatever.

Yoo Ho-jun didn’t even bat an eye.

He had a rough idea of what these people wanted. And for that, there was a high probability that they would keep him alive for the time being.

He had to avoid provoking them unnecessarily, but at least he had the guts to say this much.

“Whether I talk nonsense or not, it doesn’t matter because what you want will happen anyway.”

“...What did you say?”

“You kidnapped me to lure Gyu-sik here and lynch him, right? Something like, if you want to save your friend’s life, you must come alone. Something like that. Am I wrong?”

“...”

Silence is consent.

Yoo Ho-jun couldn’t help but chuckle at the other person’s reaction.

No, he had been thinking they were professionals until just a moment ago.

Is it really okay, Lancester? To outsource to guys like these.

[ That's because you and I are so twisted that our senses are abnormally strange. The people there are all professionals on average, you punk. ]

As he was thinking that, a familiar voice suddenly came from his chest.

It was a voice coming from a communicator that he didn't even know when it was attached.

When did he hide this? Yoo Ho-jun chuckled at the sight of it, but a look of bewilderment quickly spread around him.

“What, what is this? I’m sure we searched his body thoroughly!”

[ Let’s just say that you did such a shameful thing to another man. This is a dwarf-made special stealth communicator. It’s only natural that you couldn’t find it. ]

“What are you so proud of? Your friend was kidnapped.”

When Yoo Ho-jun chided him with an incredulous voice, a chuckling voice came from the other side of the communicator.

[ You can handle that much, can’t you? Don’t tell me Ho-jun’s lost his touch already? ]

“The guy who knew all along and just sold me out is really something...”

[ Yeah. Suffer a little. ]

The communication was cut off with those words.

It was a communication that was so fast that the surrounding ‘technicians’ who were fumbling all over his body trying to find and destroy the communicator would be flustered again.

As if he was treating this whole situation as a joke.

“Ah, by the way.”

And on top of the men who were looking at each other, Yoo Ho-jun’s words were indifferently added again.

“Your goal was to lure Gyu-sik out and lynch him, right? There’s a fatal flaw in that plan.”

To the men who were still looking at him in silence, Yoo Ho-jun chuckled and continued.

“That it actually worked.”

“...”

Looking at the people around him who had fallen silent, Yoo Ho-jun chuckled and began to stretch.

Well, he was probably going to be put through a lot until Gyu-sik came here.

He would have to warm up his body well to avoid any aftereffects.

***

The game developer of Conqueror was someone I was quite close to.

We coded together from time to time, shared settings a few times, and so on. I had assisted him in the development process more than once or twice.

It wasn't for nothing that I was looking into the game with the development tools before I transmigrated here.

The guys on the forums who estimated that I was definitely a developer after seeing all the bizarre things I did weren't entirely wrong.

So, why am I suddenly talking about that?

It’s because a conversation I had with him a long time ago suddenly came to mind.

‘By the way, this guy named Yoo Ho-jun here.’

‘Yes?’

‘His setting seems familiar for some reason.’

‘Right?’

The developer who said that then continued with a broad smile.

‘This character is based on you.’

‘Pardon?’

‘From the slums. Tenacious vitality. In a crisis, his head works like crazy. It’s a character where I crammed in all the impressions I got from you.’

‘...Was that your image of me? No, in the first place, living in the slums has nothing to do with the latter, does it?’

‘That’s true, but. I said it’s a character ‘based on you,’ didn’t I? This much should naturally be included, right?’

Well, that’s what he said.

And I remember very well the sentence that followed the conversation we had back then.

‘There’s also a separate character named after you. With the setting that the two of them are best friends.’

So it was thanks to that that I was able to get along with Yoo Ho-jun without being too awkward after coming to this game.

Come to think of it, that makes sense. Before I transmigrated, the guy named Kim Gyu-sik must have had his own personality and experiences.

The fact that I was able to get along well without any strangeness despite my sudden intrusion was all for a reason.

What did I say after that?

‘...Then can you just make them both extras?’

‘Why?’

‘I don’t want to see guys who look like me causing a mess in a game they made.’

I also remember the developer chuckling at those words.

‘Huh, why? Don’t people usually like that more?’

‘They would. I probably would have too. If it weren’t for a situation like this.’

A few images followed after that.

A woman lying in a hospital bed. A hospital. A fluctuating heartbeat. A bouquet of flowers. A pale hand. A smile.

Like a broken videotape playing on a TV full of static in my head, fragmented scenes crushed with emotion flashed by.

And.

‘Thank you.’

A final thanks.

“...Damn it.”

I scratched my head in annoyance.

It felt like I was remembering things I had forgotten so well because I was thinking about the past too much.

It would be better to focus on what I was doing now.

“H-how...”

“Well.”

I sighed and answered the opponent who was falling with his eyes wide open.

‘Well, each one of them is at a pretty decent level.’

My Martial Arts skill was maxed out, and after the Third Ordeal, my stats had also started to rise above average.

Now, even the guys who acted as ‘cleaners’ in the Climber world could be easily dealt with in close-quarters combat.

‘Well, those guys probably thought this much would be enough...’

I could understand their mindset of hiring some decent guys to give me a hard time since I had mentioned them on the broadcast, as it was the typical stance of a villain.

But the point the Lancester guys were overlooking was that they shouldn't judge my actual combat power based on what I had shown in the Ordeals.

It was ridiculous to even imagine that there was a guy in the world who could get stronger immediately just by earning points and clicking a few times.

So, even though A-rank Climbers, who would be treated as elites anywhere else, were pouring out in droves right now.

They just felt like guinea pigs.

I hadn’t even used all of the Share (Stage 2) combinations yet, so it was fun to test them one by one.

“...Huh. What.”

And as I was playing with the training mode on, subduing them one by one, I arrived at the room where Yoo Ho-jun was being tortured at some point.

It was much easier than I thought.

As I was preparing to enter the room, a sound from inside reached me.

“...D-damn it! Hurry up and talk! Or I’ll raise the voltage!”

-!!

-!!!

With those words, electricity crackled on the chair Yoo Ho-jun was sitting on.

Hmm.

Orthodox. An effective and simple method.

But how should I put it? They were guys who reeked of having learned interrogation from a textbook.

Considering that the character named Yoo Ho-jun was created based on my past experiences, it was quite clear how he would react to such a cliché torture.

“...Ah, haa, ah. Right. I know one person he cherishes very much.”

Yoo Ho-jun, with his hair disheveled and covered in wounds from the harsh treatment, said with a grin.

And as if pleased that Yoo Ho-jun, who hadn’t said a word during the continued torture, had finally opened his mouth, one of the nearby technicians quickly approached Yoo Ho-jun.

“Who is it? Name him!”

“Claus.”

“What?”

“Santa Claus.”

I couldn't help but burst out laughing.

Ah, yes. Mr. Developer.

So that was the image you had of me.

-Double Pulse

-Shadow Secret Arts: Forceful Blow

A lightly combined attack shattered the door, revealing the scene inside.

“Hmm.”

And I made eye contact with each of the men inside who were looking at me in a fluster.

In fact, there were many reasons why I had overlooked Yoo Ho-jun being captured and subjected to such treatment.

But the biggest reason was that there were dozens of ways to use these guys.

Mainly in a way that awakened my deepest malice.

“...Hey. Look at that expression. What are you going to do to these people?”

“...”

It was a little funny to see the guy who had been tortured just a moment ago worrying about his torturers.

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