* * *
Min-ji had been suddenly abducted.
She couldn’t scream when her mouth was covered, but once dragged into the van, she managed to dial a number while struggling.
The call connected to Na Kang-in, the last person she had spoken to.
However, she couldn’t speak as her mouth was covered. The kidnapper grabbed her phone and smashed it.
The boss in the front seat turned and asked.
“Hey, we weren’t detected, right?”
The subordinate, who had covered Min-ji’s mouth, replied.
“I smashed it right away, so they’ll just think the call dropped.”
“You idiot! What if they get suspicious because the call didn’t go through?”
“I grabbed it quickly and….”
“Damn it. Who did the kid call?”
“Before I smashed it, I saw the screen. It said ‘Snack Uncle.’”
“She called a bakery or something?”
“Looks like it.”
The boss relaxed a bit.
“Then if they try calling back and can’t reach her, they’ll just think the phone is off.”
“Of course. Hehehe.”
The boss gave a command.
“First, quietly move the car from here. We need to get away before anyone notices.”
The person in the driver’s seat looked at the side mirror and said,
“Boss, someone’s coming this way.”
The boss urgently responded,
“Damn it! Everyone, duck down! Act like the car’s empty! They probably haven’t seen us yet. They won’t know what’s happening. Make sure to shut that guy up!”
***
Lee Tae-ho was startled to see Na Kang-in walking alone towards the temporary parking lot.
“What the… why…”
If Lee Tae-ho hadn’t seen the footage of Na Kang-in in action at the collapsed set, he might have thought he was running away after being caught embezzling production funds. But after seeing the footage, he no longer thought that.
Lee Tae-ho was next to Na Kang-in when he received a call from Lee Min-ji on speakerphone. The call was cut off with static almost immediately after it connected.
Calls cutting off abruptly were quite common.
However, as soon as the call ended, Na Kang-in moved with a serious expression.
Lee Tae-ho also felt uneasy. It was related to his daughter.
Lee Tae-ho shouted at Na Kang-in, who was walking towards the parking lot.
“Why are you making people nervous!”
People on the set turned to look at the commotion. Some sensed that something was wrong.
***
The AI voice, Zijin, spoke.
[Activating hostage rescue protocol.]
[Analyze the surroundings to locate the hostage’s current position.]
[I have found the footprints of a 10-year-old child, presumably Lee Min-ji. I am tracking the footprints towards the parking lot.]
Zijin’s voice grew slightly more serious.
[I have found signs of resistance on the ground. The child’s footprints have disappeared.]
“Are there any adult footprints moving from where the child’s footprints disappeared?”
[I have found them. They also lead towards the parking lot.]
“Which car did they go to?”
He looked at the parked cars. The AR lens marked three of them with a translucent red indicator.
[I cannot collect video data on the footprints due to the vehicles obstructing them. The footprints of the girl have disappeared among the three marked vehicles.]
Na Kang-in walked towards them.
“Let’s check it out directly.”
***
The man in the driver’s seat spoke urgently.
“Boss! That guy is coming towards us!”
“Could he have noticed us?”
“What should we do?”
The boss lifted his head slightly to look behind. Na Kang-in was walking directly in their direction.
“Damn it! I don’t care anymore. Just go! Get out of here quickly!”
***
Zijin reported,
[The enemy has noticed us!]
“I know!”
Na Kang-in ran towards the car.
Almost simultaneously, the van’s tires spun rapidly, kicking up dirt noisily. The car surged forward.
This was not a city with paved roads but a set in the mountains. The road leading here was not straight but had a bend in the middle.
AI Zijin advised,
[You need a weapon to confront the vehicle.]
There was a signpost stuck in the ground in the parking area. It was an improvised sign made from a steel pipe and plywood used during the set construction.
Running after the fleeing car, Na Kang-in grabbed the steel pipe with his right hand and yanked it out. The steel pipe, firmly embedded in the ground, came out smoothly.
The plywood attached to the top as a sign was torn off by his hand as he ran.
AI Zijin suggested,
[If you switch to javelin mode and aim the steel pipe at the tires, you can stop the car.]
The van sped forward, taking a sharp turn on the downhill curve without reducing speed sufficiently.
The car swerved heavily.
[If the tire bursts and the car flips, the kid will get hurt!]
This was a clearing in the mountains. The only dirt road bent sharply in a V-shape halfway down the slope.
The van, after making an almost U-turn, sped downwards as soon as it regained balance.
Na Kang-in didn’t run on the same road as the car. He cut across the slope, running directly downhill.
A person can run much faster downhill than on flat ground. If they fall, they could get seriously injured, but Na Kang-in didn’t fall.
With every push off the ground, his body lifted slightly. The ground he had to step on next was lower than where he had just pushed off from. When he pushed off, his foot flew farther than usual before landing on the slope.
The direction he was running and the car’s path were almost perpendicular. Na Kang-in and the van were getting closer.
AI Zijin warned,
[The ground on the slope is uneven!]
The guys in the van noticed Na Kang-in running down the slope.
“Boss, that guy’s running towards us!”
The boss sneered.
“Crazy bastard. If he thinks he can catch up to a car by running, is he even human? There are always idiots who try the impossible.”
The slopes of Gangwon-do Province are far from the smooth, flat terrain of a sports track. There are depressions, rises, rocks, and slippery patches of grass.
Running at this speed, even a slight misstep on such terrain could result in tumbling down the slope or falling flat.
The AI quickly marked the safe and dangerous spots. Na Kang-in ran, focusing on the safe zones.
However, he couldn’t always step on the safe spots. Sometimes, he had to step on risky areas.
In those moments, he firmly planted his feet on the ground.
The distance between Na Kang-in and the van was closing.
“Is there another rendezvous point?”
[No, there isn’t.]
That meant he had to catch the fleeing van now.
He was running down a steep slope, and he could see the roof of the approaching van from the left.
Na Kang-in commanded, “Land on that van’s roof. Plot the jump path!”
The combat support AI quickly drew a virtual line in his AR lens.
It indicated the exact route and the point from which he needed to jump to land precisely on the road.
The optimal jump point appeared.
However, it was far ahead of his current position, and the remaining time was short.
He needed to increase his speed. At the current pace, jumping from that point would make him land after the van had passed.
Na Kang-in accelerated. It looked more like he was falling down a steep slope than running. The optimal jump point kept adjusting slightly.
The AI reported urgently.
[You need to jump. Now!]
A cross mark appeared just ahead.
He had to succeed in one try. If he failed, he would lose the van that kidnapped Lee Min-ji. There was no other point where the slope met the road again.
Na Kang-in planted his foot firmly on the cross mark and jumped high. His legs stretched out forward and back.
The film crew and actors watched him run with jaws dropped.
They didn’t understand why he was running so dangerously down the slope or why a van was speeding away.
They were shocked by his final jump.
“Did he… fly?”
“Is that a person flying?”
“Is this real?”
It was an illusion caused by his jump down the steep slope, but to them, it looked like he was flying.
Na Kang-in flew through the air. The roof of the van racing down the unpaved road came closer quickly.
The AI’s calculation was accurate. He landed forcefully on the moving van’s roof, causing the metal roof to dent heavily.
As he landed, he drove a metal pipe he was holding down through the roof. It pierced through the metal and interior, embedding itself firmly into the passenger seat’s backrest like a pillar.
Na Kang-in gripped the pipe tightly to steady himself on the roof.
The kidnappers inside were terrified by the sudden appearance of the metal pipe.
“What the…!”
“Shit! What is this?”
* * *
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