NIS Agents Tearing Up the Japanese Empire - Chapter 148



Only Krnovel

Hunter and the Prey (7)

Chunsik’s condition wasn’t very good.

Even though he seemed to have lost a lot of blood, judging by his entire body being on fire, there was definitely something wrong.

If Chunsik was to be saved, he had to be sent to the hospital as quickly as possible.

“Fire! Fire!”

“Fire! Fire!”

“What are you guys doing! Get back to your positions!”

“Manage the inmates well so they don’t cause any disturbances!”

Because of the security at the entrance and the fire in the building, guards and imperial police poured in like a swarm of bees to put out the fire.

‘If we just redirect some people towards the Joseon Industrial Bank, there will be this many.’

The main gate was already full of police officers.

So, the only thing left was to use another exit, climb over the fence, or escape through the city gate.

‘It’s impossible for me to climb that high wall by myself, so it’s impossible to climb it while carrying Chunshik on my back.’

I gave up on climbing over the fence.

So, there were two things left.

They had to find another exit, or if not, they had to go through the city gate used to smuggle corpses from Seodaemun Prison to the cemetery.

‘Poem… … It’s the safest, but on the other hand, it takes too much time, which is a problem.’

If I were alone, I would have safely exited through the city gate to the cemetery, even if it took some time, and then returned to Gyeongseong.

But judging from the state of Chunshik, who was panting on my shoulder right now, if I escaped through the city gate, I would have to find a place for Chunshik’s grave in the cemetery as soon as I got out of the tunnel.

‘I haven’t even been to Kim Yang’s side yet.’

The problem was that Chunsik wasn’t the only one here who needed my help.

‘I don’t have enough hands.’

I’ve done many things like infiltrating places to get something or quietly dealing with someone, but this was my first time rescuing someone.

That’s why it was a real headache when unexpected problems started popping up one after another.

As Chunshik’s breathing becomes increasingly labored, it seems he doesn’t have much time to worry anymore.

‘If we take only Chunshik, the arrows will be aimed at Kim Hudong who will be left alone… ‘

Chun-sik originally got into this industry(?) knowing this would be the case, so it didn’t really matter, but Kim Hu-dong was someone I brought in by chance, so if you really look at it, he had no connection to this kind of work.

‘Wow… If it weren’t for those guys called the Black Dragon Society or the Black Earthworm Society, the plan wouldn’t have gone awry.’

I felt a little regretful, but regretting the past now would only result in Chunshik dying.

So now is the time to make a decision rather than worry.

‘What should I do? Throw away Kim Hu-dong?’

She probably doesn’t know anything about me anyway.

Who would be sad if she, whose only family members were children who had not yet entered elementary school (that is, not even elementary school according to the Japanese education law), disappeared without a sound in Seodaemun Prison?

So, it seemed like a good idea to quickly pack up Chunshik and leave the scene.

‘Use it.’

I had come to that conclusion in my head, but when I thought about her situation, where she had been dragged into this incident just because she was related to me, I couldn’t move my feet.

‘Tsk. This would be solved if we just had one more person, but the problem is that one person is missing.’

Even as he was pondering like this, time passed, and blood was flowing out of Chun-sik’s bandage that had been wrapped tightly as an emergency measure.

‘Ugh. I can’t help it.’

Kim Hu-dong is abandoned.

Let’s think of it as a sacrifice of cattle for the greater good.

Although it is uncomfortable, it is right for Asians to sacrifice the cow for the greater good.

“Hey! This, this teacher?”

“?”

… … I once thought that way.

That is, until I ran into Inspector Sasaki wandering around the front yard of the prison.

“Sasaki?”

“No, how is this teacher here… … ?”

“Why are you here?”

“Huh? Well… … I’m a police officer… … ?”

“I came here for work too.”

“… … ???”

Inspector Sasaki tilted his head, not understanding what I was saying.

“If you say it’s because of work… … ?”

“There is no time to explain.”

I passed Chunsik, who was carrying me on my shoulder, to Inspector Sasaki.

“Uh, uh… … Who is this? Who have you taken care of this time?!”

“Enough with the nonsense. Let’s have Chunsik take her and bring her to a nearby hospital.”

“Yes? If it’s Chun-sik… … That Kim Chun-sik in the interrogation room?”

“Yeah, I don’t have time… … .”

A cool breeze passed across the nape of my neck.

That eerie feeling you sometimes get before something dangerous happens.

Usually, when I felt this kind of energy during a mission, something always happened.

So I reflexively looked around.

“Why are you doing that?”

“Something… is strange.”

“You think it’s strange? What do you mean?”

“Yeah, something feels strange… … Why is it strange?”

But there was nothing strange around.

The police were busy running around trying to put out the fire in the security and building, and trying to suppress the chaos caused by the prisoners who were startled by the smoke from the fire.

The police officers who were standing guard at the watchtower were only paying attention to the prison wing where the prisoners were being held, and they weren’t even paying attention to the front yard where I was standing.

“But there’s something strange.”

Obviously, this situation is going according to my plan and there is nothing strange about it.

But after running around the field for a long time, the danger siren that has naturally taken root in my head is now blaring like crazy.

That means there are still elements here that could pose a threat to me.

‘What is that?’

No matter how much I think about it, I still can’t figure it out.

I looked around but couldn’t see anything that seemed to pose a threat to me.

“This teacher?”

“… … .”

“Should I go first… … ?”

“Yeah, people be careful.”

“Okay. I’ll see you later at the Sparrow Cafe.”

“Before you go, tell me where Kim Hu-dong is being held.”

“Ah! That’s right. If it’s Ms. Kim, then you’re in the women’s prison cell over there… … .”

Even after Inspector Sasaki left first with Chunshik, I still couldn’t feel at ease.

But time was not on my side right now, so I put my anxious mind aside and melted into the shadows, heading towards the women’s prison where the female prisoners were kept.

‘Okay, everyone’s distracted by the fire.’

Fortunately, there were few guards guarding the women’s prison.

It seemed like everyone had gone to watch the fire at the Joseon Industrial Bank or the security office building, so there were only three or four people inside the prison guarding the prisoners.

Soon, those friends were hit on the back of the head by someone they didn’t even know, and they bought a one-way ticket to dreamland and went on a trip.

‘157, 157, 157… … .’

The inside of the prison was so quiet that you could hear rats crawling on the ceiling, perhaps because there was no one there.

It seemed like the prisoners had been moved to another place, perhaps because the prison was close to the entrance.

‘Has Kim Hu-dong already moved to another place?’

If that was the case, it would have been a disaster.

I already had a headache just thinking about having to search for Kim Hu-dong in Seodaemun Prison again, when I didn’t have much time.

‘Once you move that many people, there’s bound to be traces, so if you follow the traces carefully… … .’

At that moment, an ear-piercing scream was heard from far away.

“Gyaaaah!”

“?!”

When I turned around at the sound of a familiar voice, Kim Hu-dong was across the long, wide prison corridor between concrete and steel doors that gave off a hard, cold impression.

However, there is one very minor problem.

“Teacher Lee! Are you looking for this?”

“Ha, that little shit is still alive.”

Kim Hu-dong was held in someone’s hand.

The person who caught her was a grotesque monster with a burnt left sleeve and a police uniform with the rest of the body charred black. There was a part of her head that had been burned so badly that all of her hair had disappeared, and a deep burn mark had taken its place.

It was Miwa.

“I thought you liked hot things, so I gave you a hot sauna, but you ran away because you didn’t like it?”

“Haha! I don’t like hot things, you know.”

“… … How did you get out of there?”

Clearly, that bastard’s left hand was stuck deep in the ground with my dagger.

And just in case they could escape, they burned down the Chosun Industrial Bank, took the remaining gasoline, poured it all over the basement of the building, and set it on fire.

If he had been a normal person, he would have burned to death there and died, but why is this crazy guy Miwa standing in front of me?

The answer was simpler than I thought.

“Hahaha, humans really do show their obsession with life when faced with death.”

Miwa showed me her left hand as if she was bragging.

His left hand was red from the burns and pus was oozing from various places, but that was nothing compared to the wounds running across his left hand.

“When faced with a crisis, humans tend to shed their limitations.”

Miwa’s left hand was torn on both sides.

It seemed like Miwa, who was unable to pull out her dagger, tried to escape by force, which is how it ended up like that.

“… … .”

“What do you think, Mr. Lee? This is your work.”

“That crazy guy.”

I left him in the fire because I wanted him to suffer, but it turned out that my actions gave Miwa a chance to survive.

“Teacher Lee, I think it’s time to put an end to our long-standing ill-fated relationship.”

“I agree with you.”

He slowly pulled the pistol from his waistband and held it in his right hand, ready to fire at any moment.

Miwa must have known that too, as she grabbed Kim Hu-dong’s neck with her right hand and smiled strangely with a distorted face.

“Teacher Lee! I don’t think I can fight the way Teacher Lee wants because my hands are like this. But don’t be too disappointed! Instead, I can do something about Teacher Lee’s colleagues.”

“… … .”

“Okay, let’s throw the gun away and try to resolve this through dialogue like civilized people.”

“… … .”

When I didn’t answer, Miwa grabbed Kim Hu-dong’s neck even tighter.

“Ugh, ugh… … .”

“Okay. Just say it.”

It seemed like I had no choice.

He threw the pistol he was holding on the ground.

“Um… … I’ve been waiting for this moment for so long, but now that it’s time to talk, I have nothing to say. Seriously.”

“Then, how about we ask each other questions and answer them?”

“Oh… … Good? As expected, it’s the ghost of Gyeongseong.”

Miwa, whose lips were completely torn off, asked me with her gums showing.

“Who is the Ghost of Gyeongseong?”

“grow.”

“No, more specifically.”

“It’s the Republic of Korea.”

“Any more details? Like your real name?”

“… … I’ve long since forgotten my name. But if you insist on my name, I’ll just call you ‘King’ here.”

“King… … King… … So that means king.”

Miwa nodded as if she was satisfied.

Now it was my turn.

“This time I ask, why did you follow me around like that?”

“Of course, it is for the justice of the Empire of Japan.”

In Miwa’s distorted and crushed face, two eyes that had not yet lost their light sparkled.

“Your very existence has caused the Empire of Japan and the Government-General to falter, and the Empire has fallen into disarray. The proud subjects of the Empire of Japan no longer trust each other, and have now found themselves in a terrible situation where they point guns at their fellow countrymen at any time.”

“Is it my fault? I just gave them a little push because that’s what they wanted.”

“That’s why you’re the problem. You know too well the desires of our subjects.”

“… … .”

“It’s my turn now.”

Miwa approached me, led by Kim Hu-dong.

“Ghost of Gyeongseong, what do you want?”

“Isn’t the scope of the question too broad?”

“What exactly is it that you want?”

“For now, let’s say it’s Korea’s independence.”

Miwa laughed at my answer.

“lie.”

Miwa, who had come close enough to touch me if I fell over, threw Kim Hu-dong at me and at the same time pulled out the gun that had been stuck on the back of her waist.

“Ghost of Keijo! For the Empire of Japan! For justice! I must die here!”

Should I take Kim Hu-dong or pick up the pistol?

The moment of choice.

I chose the third option.

-Whew, bang!

Just as Guan Yu had the Green Dragon Crescent Blade and Lu Bu had the Heavenly Sword, I always had the Three-tiered Staff, a reliable companion who was always by my side and who defeated countless enemies who stood in my way.

“Now go back to the afterlife, ghost!”

-Bang! Bang! Bang!

-Boooosh, bang!

NIS Agent Tears the Japanese Empire Episode 149