Controlled by an AI chapter 53

Na Kang-In kicked out, his foot landing squarely in the enemy’s stomach.

The enemy’s body folded in half, flying backward and slamming into a corner.

“Ke-ek!”

Now, only one opponent remained. He had been firing at the table just like his comrade moments ago, but he was further back.

When Na Kang-In attacked his comrade, he jumped back to increase the distance. While his comrade was getting hit, he aimed at Na Kang-In with precision.

Na Kang-In was perfectly within the enemy’s sights. The enemy, confident of a hit, calmly pulled the trigger.

The AI predicted the bullet’s trajectory, displaying it as a virtual line along with a red warning sign. It also showed the enemy pulling the trigger.

If he stayed still, the bullet would hit his left shoulder.

Na Kang-In twisted his body to the side the moment the enemy pulled the trigger.

The bullet sliced through the air.

Na Kang-In advanced.

The enemy quickly adjusted his aim.

The AI again predicted the trajectory.

Na Kang-In twisted in the opposite direction as the enemy pulled the trigger and lowered his stance. The bullet passed through the space between his head and shoulder.

Na Kang-In continued advancing, closing the distance.

The enemy was shocked.

‘How can he dodge bullets?!’

Panicked, his judgment faltered. He thought that aiming for the upper body would be pointless as Na Kang-In would just twist away again.

Na Kang-In’s stance was slightly lower from dodging the recent bullet.

The enemy lowered his aim, targeting Na Kang-In’s lower body.

‘If the upper body is impossible, then at least the lower body!’

The enemy pulled the trigger.

Simultaneously, Na Kang-In pushed off the ground and jumped upward.

The bullet hit the floor, ricocheted, and lodged into the ceiling.

Na Kang-In landed on the ground.

The AI system reported.

[The enemy’s magazine is empty.]

The enemy’s gun was locked with the slide pulled back, a sign that it was out of bullets.

“Ugh, ugh….”

Panicking, the enemy fumbled to pull a new magazine from his pocket, so flustered that he forgot to remove the empty one from the gun. He struggled to insert the new magazine into the blocked slot.

Na Kang-In walked steadily toward the enemy.

The enemy realized there was no time to replace the magazine and shoot. He threw both the gun and the magazine at Na Kang-In.

Na Kang-In dodged with a slight tilt of his head.

The enemy pulled out a jackknife and swung it wildly.

Na Kang-In moved in, grabbing the enemy’s knife-wielding hand.

There were children here. He decided to subdue the enemy without drawing blood.

He snapped the enemy’s wrist and punched him in the side.

“Ke-ek!”

The enemy’s legs gave out. Na Kang-In kicked his legs out from under him, grabbed his arm, and threw him onto a stack of tables.

The enemy crashed through the tables.

‘Well, at least there’s no blood.’

Na Kang-In shrugged, turned to the children, and grinned.

“Pretty cool, huh?”

The adults were too stunned or frightened to speak.

“Huh? Huh?”

“Did you just dodge bullets….”

One of the older children asked Na Kang-In.

“Mister, are you a hero?”

“I’m not an Ahjussi (Uncle), I’m a hyung (older brother).”

He had completely subdued two out of the three enemies.

But the first one he had caught, the leader, only had a broken right wrist. By the time he picked himself up, the other two were already down.

The leader’s eyes darted around. His gun lay in a corner of the café.

Na Kang-In was talking to the children. The leader was behind him, out of his sight.

‘He can’t see me now!’

Realizing this, the leader dashed for the gun in the corner.

People shouted urgently when they saw this.

“Huh? That guy!”

“Catch him!”

Na Kang-In picked up a mug from nearby, turned, and threw it lightly. It was like a pitcher throwing a pick-off move, except this time it was a ceramic mug, not a baseball.

The hard ceramic mug collided with the enemy’s head and shattered spectacularly.

The running enemy collapsed forward.

Na Kang-In remarked.

“That’s what happens when you ask for trouble.”

A child asked in amazement.

“Wow! How did you know? Do you have eyes in the back of your head?”

Na Kang-In smiled brightly at the child.

“I can see everything.”

The AI system blinked, displaying the enemy’s position information on the AR lens.

[I showed it to him.]

Na Kang-In picked up the handguns scattered on the cafe floor and placed them on the table. One was completely empty. Even gathering bullets from the other two, there wasn’t enough to fully load a single magazine.

The last guy he caught had pulled out a spare magazine from his pocket. Na Kang-In searched the pockets of the other guys. Both had a spare magazine each.

The AI Zijin spoke.

“Three 9mm semi-automatic pistols. Three and a half magazines. Agent, we have finally secured weapons. Take them.”

“How can I take them with so many people watching?”

He inserted a new magazine into one of the pistols and looked through the cafe’s glass wall.

“Ji-in, can this gun pierce that?”

“It’s thick glass with a protective film, but not full bulletproof glass. Even with subsonic silenced bullets, you can pierce it before you use up an entire magazine.”

There was already a bullet mark on the glass.

“What if I hit it?”

“You can break it if you use a tool, Agent.”

Na Kang-In approached the glass and looked outside. Below was a small garden attached to the building.

He glanced upwards. The roof wasn’t visible from this position.

“What’s up there, I wonder…”

The AI Zijin advised.

[There might be weapons aimed at the ground from the roof.]

In 2082, there are weapons perfect for that use. It’s not like they didn’t exist in 2022 either.

[Or snipers, perhaps.]

“This escape route is hard to defend. You can escape, but civilians could be decimated by attacks from above.”

[Looks like we need to secure this place as a defensive point and then attack upwards.]

[If you break the glass wall, you could get support from external forces like the police.]

Na Kang-In placed his hand on the glass wall.

“No, we’ll leave the glass as it is.”

[Why, sir?]

“Eun-ha is still on the seventh floor. The enemy mustn’t know our situation here. If they realize we’ve taken over the second floor, the people on the seventh floor will be in danger.”

[A wise decision]

“I am rather wise.”

[Retracting my assessment.]

The three armed assailants Na Kang-In had taken down were dragged to one side by the cafe patrons. Some people brought ropes and tied the unconscious men’s hands and feet.

All three were wearing full face masks.

Na Kang-In removed the mask from the leader.

“Hmm…”

The leader’s face had a slightly foreign look.

“Maybe their ancestors lived somewhere in East Asia?”

Judging nationality by appearance alone is difficult.

He removed the masks from the other two. They were the same.

“These three are probably from the same region…”

In Korea, most people speaking Korean are Korean. However, even if they speak Korean fluently and look Korean, their nationality could be different.

“If these guys are foreigners who speak our language well…”

He guessed the enemy’s intention.

“They thought they could freely carry guns in Korea.”

If a firearm incident occurs in Korea, the police will pursue it seriously. If the incident is large enough to be suspected of being a military incursion, the army will mobilize.

“These guys planned to gather something here and flee abroad before the police noticed. The police will think the perpetrators are Korean. If they’re confident they won’t get caught, they won’t hesitate to shoot people.”

[We lack firepower. Arm the civilians.]

“Civilians?”

[It’s one of the standard defense tactics of the Earth Union. It’s better than having unarmed civilians get wiped out without a fight.]

“You said you have no memories of 2082, yet you know that?”

[Basic tactics are stored in the initial data.]

Na Kang-In loaded a magazine into each of two handguns.

He asked the cafe patrons.

“Anyone with handgun shooting experience?”

Some people hesitated, glancing around.

Four people raised their hands without hesitation.

Korean men usually handle rifles well after military service, but opportunities to use handguns, even in active duty, are rare.

The AI Zijin advised.

[The enemy might have planted spies among the civilians. Choose carefully.]

Na Kang-In selected two from the group.

“Your experience?”

“I was a tank crewman in the armored brigade.”

“I was a Reserve Military lieutenant.”

Na Kang-In made his decision.

“That should be sufficient.”

The AI Zijin asked.

[Why did you choose these two, agent?]

“Both brought their kids. Terrorists might plant a spy among civilians, but it’s hard to do that with kids. Kids can’t act.”

He handed each of them a handgun.

“You two, defend this point.”

They nodded and took the guns.

“We’ll defend this place with our lives.”

He leaned in and spoke quietly to them.

“Don’t give these guns to anyone else here, and don’t let anyone in except the police.”

“Understood.”