Perfect World [EN]: Chapter 171

173

‘Surely, with 120 security guards, they wouldn’t call the police over a staff riot. Besides, the person in charge of security is Aula herself. Heh heh.’

While Beomseok was leisurely fighting, Margaret’s voice reached his ear.

– Beomseok, I’ve just discovered a suspicious area that might be the Chairman’s office.

Beomseok, dodging a flying fist, whispered with a glint in his eyes.

“Where is it?”

– The entire southern area of the 80th floor.

“Are you sure?”

– Not exactly, but the possibility is very high. That’s the only place without CCTV installed.

Beomseok wore a faint smile. LHN, which had practically plastered the entire building with CCTV cameras, had left an entire section of one floor empty? It must be an area where surveillance shouldn’t be directed. There was only one place like that in this building.

“Like Chairman Balbar’s secret private residence?”

– Yes, that’s right.

“Got it. Okay.”

Beomseok answered cheerfully and rushed towards a security guard without hesitation. Now that he knew his destination, he intended to finish things quickly.

“What? What is it?”

The security guards stepped back at the sudden, rapid movement. Then came a powerful impact. Beomseok’s skillfully controlled fist struck the abdomen of one of the security guards.

“Ugh… This… Cough, cough.”

The security guard, about to say it wasn’t human strength, couldn’t hold on any longer and knelt on the floor. Despite Beomseok’s mercy, the vital point had been hit squarely, and his legs gave way. He vomited up his insides repeatedly, then breathed short, rough breaths and writhed on the floor.

Meanwhile, Beomseok subdued the remaining security guard, glared at the CCTV camera for a moment, and entered the building.

– Beomseok, five Elf security guards are heading to the rooftop in the elevator. They’ll be there soon, so be careful.

Beomseok, who was heading to the elevator to move, hesitated at Margaret’s advice and stepped back. Although it was a smaller number than expected, there was no way he could easily defeat five Elf security guards. If he got into a scuffle with them, other security guards might join in, so it was better to avoid them if possible.

He recalled the internal layout he had memorized and headed towards the emergency stairs.

Squeak.

The iron door opened with a strange creaking sound, revealing a dark space with endless stairs. Without any hesitation, he grabbed the handrail next to the stairs and jumped down to the floor below. After repeating this action several times, he checked the sign for the 143rd floor and rushed out of the emergency stairs to the elevator. He thought he had shaken off the Elf security guards by now.

“Please, come up quickly.”

Standing right in front of the elevator, Beomseok checked the numbers slowly counting up above the door and tapped his feet impatiently. It was coming up quickly, but it seemed endlessly slow to him, who was in a hurry. At that moment, the door of another elevator opened unexpectedly. It was the one that stopped on even-numbered floors, so he hadn’t paid much attention to it. Even more disconcerting was that several Elf security guards, armed with suits and batons, were pouring out of it.

“Arrest him immediately! Aula has ordered us to bring that human in!”

Beomseok hesitated but eventually decided to fight. He could easily get down to the 81st floor once the elevator he wanted arrived, so he didn’t want to back down now. Even if it meant revealing that he was a modified human, he had to hold this place for a while.

He looked at the Elf security guards slowly surrounding him and took a fighting stance.

“Heh heh. You’re going to catch me? It won’t be easy.”

“Everyone, attack!”

Without question, the Elf security guards rushed towards Beomseok all at once. They just had to grab the rioting guy as ordered and bring him to Aula.

Whoosh. Whoosh.

The batons flew without hesitation, brushing past Beomseok’s entire body. They were just security guards, but because they were Elves, they were unleashing truly powerful attacks. He dodged an Elf security guard’s club by a hair’s breadth, quickly moved forward, grabbed her arm and waist, and performed an over-the-shoulder throw.

As the ground shook with a thud, a strange light flickered in the eyes of the remaining Elf security guards. If the guy they were fighting was a normal human, their comrade couldn’t have been sprawled out like that. No matter how good the technique, it was nearly impossible for a human to subdue an Elf so easily.

“That guy isn’t a normal human. He might be a modified human, so everyone be careful!”

Beomseok bit his lip and looked at the Elf security guard slowly getting up. Since she was wearing a suit, simple striking techniques wouldn’t work at all.

‘As expected. Does that mean only joint techniques will work? I don’t want to hurt the Elves, even if they serve a different master.’

However, there was nothing he could do now. If he hesitated and got caught, he would go straight to jail, and the Rainbow Group would collapse. The situation wasn’t good enough to risk it with unnecessary mercy. He glared at the Elf security guards showing hostility towards him and shouted.

“From now on, I won’t hold back. Come at me if you want to burden your master with huge medical bills.”

Even with those words, the Elves competed to attack Beomseok. They not only thought there was no way they would lose, but even if they did, the company would be responsible for any injuries incurred during work. There weren’t any Elves who wanted to quit this good job for fear of possible injuries.

Thud. Thwack. Thud.

Beomseok desperately raised his arms to block the baton strikes. It was an easy attack to avoid, but with five attacking at once, he couldn’t find a gap to counterattack.

At that moment, the elevator door he had been waiting for began to open slowly with a ding. Realizing his chance had come, Beomseok used a nearby wall as a stepping stone and jumped in with all his might.

“He’s trying to escape. Catch him quickly!”

The Elf security guards squeezed into the narrow elevator, not wanting to miss him. In response, Beomseok didn’t even think about running away and reached out to them. The space inside was only enough for about ten people, making it difficult to swing a baton. That meant it was a perfect place for him, who possessed joint technique skills and great strength.

He immediately grabbed the left arm of the Elf security guard in front of him and twisted it in the opposite direction.

“Aaaagh!!”

The scream echoing through the narrow space made the other Elf security guards stare at Beomseok with tense eyes. To instantly break the arm of one of their comrades with force, he definitely seemed to be a modified human. If so, they needed to be careful since he was on an equal physical level.

“That guy is definitely a modified human! Everyone, keep that in mind!”

However, there was one fact they didn’t know. Beomseok had been training his body for a considerable period as a professional gladiator, and his martial arts skills were among the best in the world. And he wasn’t even using his special abilities yet, so there was still room for him to become even stronger in an emergency.

“Hmm. Who is that guy anyway?”

Aula, watching Beomseok’s movements on the screen from the information control room, tilted her head with a serious expression. He seemed to be a modified human because he was exerting strength beyond that of a human, but she couldn’t figure out his exact identity. She had searched for information just in case, but there were no management staff who matched him.

At this time, a silver-haired man next to her approached and advised.

“Chief Aula, shouldn’t we contact the police?”

At those words, Aula smirked.

“Call the police because of one guy?”

The silver-haired man looked at the elevator space shown on the screen and replied with a worried expression.

“But he’s amazing. I thought he would easily subdue them by going into the narrow elevator, but our Elf security guards were instantly defeated. I definitely think he’s a modified human with considerable strength and martial arts skills.”

“Still, he’s just one guy. What will happen to my reputation if I call the police like this? We have 120 security guards.”

“However, I find it very suspicious that he’s attacking the LHN headquarters building alone. If there are other accomplices besides him, and this riot is a feint to distract us, something big could happen.”

Aula looked at him with meaningful eyes. There was no way he would have stormed in here alone unless he was crazy, so there was a very high possibility that other support forces existed.

“Yeah. He definitely won’t be alone. Then what are they aiming for?”

“Well, isn’t it obvious? The vault of the LHN Bank headquarters on the first floor.”

She nodded up and down as if it were obvious. He wouldn’t be causing such a riot just to cause trouble, so it was certain that he had another purpose. Then there was only one reason, and that was money. And the LHN Bank headquarters vault on the first floor was stocked with a huge amount of gold bars and cash to satisfy their desires.

“Anyway, humans… They’re like moths flying into a flame, not knowing they’re going to die. Tsk, tsk.”

“Then what should we do?”

“Well, how many people are currently stationed at the vault on the first floor?”

“30 Elf security guards and 10 human security guards.”

“What about the rest?”

“We have 10 Elf security guards stationed in our information control room, 20 on the 80th floor, and 5 in the financial information room. And all the others are currently waiting in the security office on the 2nd basement floor.”

Aula answered immediately.

“So that means we can spare about 40 more people?”

“Yes, that’s right.”

“Send half of them up to the vault on the first floor and have the rest surround him through the emergency stairs on both sides of the building. Oh, and before that, cut off the power to all the elevators and lock the emergency exit doors that he might pass through. Trap him so he can’t move, then catch him.”

“I understand. Then what about calling the police?”

Aula shook her head wildly with a fierce expression. If the police came and caught him, she wouldn’t be able to make him pay the price for insulting her earlier. Calling the police wouldn’t be too late even after some time had passed after the arrest.

“No. Not the police later. Do you know what I mean?”

The silver-haired man sighed deeply and then bowed. He thought it would be better to call the police, but he didn’t have the courage to disobey Aula’s orders.

“I understand. I will handle it quickly.”

“Okay. Then go.”

As the silver-haired man left the chief’s office, Aula stared at the screen. Beomseok was carefully pulling the Elves who had fallen to the floor and were groaning out of the elevator. He had defeated all five Elf security guards in this short amount of time.

Recognizing that he was no ordinary person, Aula opened a new screen next to her and began searching for information. If she searched for a modified human with a height of about 190, strong in martial arts, and with criminal tendencies, she thought she could easily confirm his identity.

“Whew~ Sorry. I have something urgent to do, so I have to go first.”

Beomseok, who had pulled the injured Elf security guards out of the elevator, looked at them with regret and pressed the 81st floor button. He felt sorry, but he didn’t have time to dwell on them now.

After a while, as the elevator moved down and the floor number display counted down in reverse, he braced himself and prepared for anything.

‘Hmm. Once I get to the 81st floor, the Chairman’s office is right below. There will definitely be a considerable number of security guards waiting, so it will be a difficult fight.’

While thinking about this and that, the lights went out and the elevator stopped just as he was approaching the 100th floor. At first, he was flustered and nervous, but soon he calmed down and groped for the flashlight in his pocket.

‘Why did the power suddenly go out? Could it be them?’

There was no way the power could have gone out by chance, so it seemed clear that LHN had done something. It was a very critical situation, and if he lingered here, he could be surrounded by a large number of security guards who had been tracking him and suffer great hardship.

He forcibly pried the elevator doors open to the left and right and shone the light. It was because he might be lucky enough to be straddling the floor doors. But this time, he was out of luck. The entire front of the door was covered in concrete, so there was no way to escape.

“Damn it. This is driving me crazy. I’m completely trapped!”

Beomseok, looking around meaninglessly, looked at the top of his head. In movies dealing with tense material, there was always a small door on top when an elevator scene came out. If so many movies dealt with it, there might really be an escape route to get out of here.

He immediately raised both arms, removed the cloudy transparent acrylic panel, and looked inside. Fortunately, his prediction was correct, and there was a small exit above him. It was very narrow, but it was enough for one person to pass through. He jumped up, smashed the door with his fist, and climbed up.

“Whew~ This is scary.”

A dark and bottomless cliff where the floor could not be seen even when shining a flashlight was spread out in front of him. Slightly frightened, Beomseok quickly moved to the center and grabbed the supporting steel rope. It was strong enough to support this heavy elevator, so he thought it would be very sturdy.

Feeling stable, Beomseok raised his head and looked up. There was an elevator door between floors about 1.5 meters above his head. It was a distance that he, a modified human, could easily jump up to, but he was a little worried because there was only a small gap where only two fingers could barely fit to grab onto. If he made a mistake and slipped, he could fall to the bottom of the endless cliff.

============================ Author’s Notes ============================

I didn’t play the game for a day, and I’m completely hooked on the drama. This Deep-Rooted Tree is incredibly fun. Each episode is full of tension, and I’m worried about how I’m going to endure a week waiting for the next episode. It’s fascinating that the story can be continued in this way with the simple theme of creating the Korean alphabet.

Well, everyone have a good day. I’ll see you again tomorrow. Hahaha.