* * *
Shin Eun-ha checked the message and smiled.
“Gukbap? I should tell him to come up since I’ve secured a table….”
Suddenly, the restaurant door swung open. The staff near the door stepped back in surprise.
Following the staff, masked intruders flooded into the restaurant.
At first, Shin Eun-ha didn’t understand what was happening. Neither did the other customers.
The leader of the masked intruders scanned the people, then pulled out a silenced pistol. He extended his arm and pulled the trigger multiple times.
Bullets thudded into the wall decorations.
A few customers realized what was happening and let out short screams.
“Eek!”
“Huff!”
The leader of the armed intruders pointed the gun upward and covered his mouth.
“Shh. Anyone who screams from now on will get shot. Get up quietly and move to that corner.”
Terrified by the gun, people did as they were told and moved to the corner.
***
Na Kang-in sent another message to Shin Eun-ha but received no reply.
He grumbled.
“Looks like she didn’t secure the table after all. Should we just go eat gukbap?”
[I’m disappointed in Shin Eun-ha.]
“Me too. I won’t get to eat that delicious meal.”
Suddenly, AI Zinji warned him.
[An abnormal situation has been detected. Please be cautious.]
Na Kang-in immediately scanned his surroundings with sharp eyes and asked.
“Report.”
[Your smartphone has lost signal.]
Smartphones can lose signal momentarily for various reasons.
“Anything else unusual?”
***
Lee Tae-ho whispered to Shin Eun-ha.
“My phone isn’t working. Those guys must have a device that jams signals.”
Her eyes widened.
“Do such things exist? Like the equipment spies use?”
“No, you can buy them easily in this country if you have the money. It’s illegal for civilians to use them without permission, of course.”
***
Na Kang-in asked.
“Anything else unusual?”
[The shutters on the first floor are closing.]
Na Kang-in looked at the café floor. Of course, he couldn’t see the first floor through the concrete floor.
Instead, a semi-transparent holographic video of the first floor appeared on his AR lens. The fire shutters were shown descending.
[The sound analysis predicts the current state of the fire shutters.]
“Amplify the shutter noise.”
AI Zinji isolated and amplified the specific noise of the fire shutters from the sounds Na Kang-in heard. It was unmistakably the sound of shutters moving.
“Let’s hear what the people on the first floor are saying.”
Zinji analyzed and isolated the voices from the noises Na Kang-in heard, then amplified them. The voices were not clear due to the low volume of the original sounds.
[I’ve interpreted the four most intelligible voices. There may be errors, so the actual conversation might differ.]
The voice, once indistinct, became clear.
– What’s going on? Why are the shutters closing?
– Is there a fire in the building?
– No, I don’t hear any sirens.
– Is it broken?
Na Kang-In spoke up.
“We need to go down to the first floor and check.”
Suddenly, the AI, Zijin, issued a rapid warning.
[Armed personnel spotted on the second floor!]
Three human-shaped outlines appeared outside the second-floor café.
[The location was predicted based on the noise made by the enemy’s movements.]
“What about the enemy’s armament? We can handle three guys with knives, right?”
[I detected the sound of firearms being loaded.]
“Guns? In South Korea?”
[You must retreat. The enemy will breach in 10 seconds!]
“Where are we supposed to go? There’s no exit besides the entrance.”
[Break the café window and jump out.]
***
Shin Eun-ha whispered softly.
“But, I came here with Mr. Kang-In. He’s on the second floor right now.”
Lee Tae-ho swallowed hard.
“He’s in this building?”
“Yes. If he finds out I’m captured, he won’t stay put. Mr. Kang-In is a great fighter.”
Lee Tae-ho spoke gravely.
“No matter how strong someone is, everyone is equal in front of a gun. If Mr. Kang-In tries to fight those guys to rescue you, he’ll die.”
Shin Eun-ha’s face turned pale.
“He won’t come, right? He shouldn’t come to save me, right?”
“Of course. If it were me, I’d get out of this building immediately.”
***
Na Kang-In spoke.
“Rescuing civilians is the Earth Union Soldiers’s primary mission.”
[Of course.]
“So, retreat is not an option.”
AI Zijin could speak very quickly, but Na Kang-In couldn’t. As they exchanged a few words about the response plan, 10 seconds passed.
Three masked individuals entered the café, all armed with pistols. Each pistol had a long, cylindrical attachment at the front.
The first person in shouted, waving his pistol.
“Don’t move! Hands up!”
In a place like the US, where gun ownership is common, people would drop to the floor at the sight of a gun. But this was Korea.
In Korea, if someone is holding something that looks like a gun, it’s most likely fake. To intimidate people here, a sharp knife would be much more effective than a pistol.
Not many people cowered at the sight of the guns. Some even chatted, unaware of the severity of the situation.
“What’s going on? Are they internet streamers?”
“Are they comedians? Filming a skit for the internet?”
“Is someone proposing today?”
“This café sure knows how to put on a show.”
Some people even raised their phones to record the scene.
But they quickly realized something was wrong.
“Huh? Why is there no signal?”
“Neither Wi-Fi nor data is working?”
The masked person at the front raised his pistol and aimed at a ceiling light.
“You bastards! I said—!”
He pulled the trigger angrily. The gun made a relatively quiet sound.
The bullet shattered the ceiling light. The sound of breaking glass was louder than the gunshot.
Shards of glass and sparks rained down like a shower.
Although real guns are rarely seen in Korea, almost everyone understands how dangerous they are.
Screams erupted immediately.
“Aaah!”
“It’s a real gun!”
The masked gunman, now aiming his gun at the crowd, shouted.
“I told you to raise your hands! Do you all want to die?”
People hurriedly raised their hands.
Na Kang-In also raised his hands to avoid suspicion, giving a command.
“Confirm the enemy’s weapons.”
Instantly, weapon information scrolled in front of his eyes.
AI Zijin reported aloud.
[9mm semi-automatic pistols equipped with high-performance suppressors. The bullets are subsonic and designed for low noise. The guns have additional sound-dampening modules.]
“Look at their gear. They’re not just ordinary robbers.”
Getting a gun in Korea is extremely difficult. For a common thief to acquire a pistol with a suppressor and additional sound-dampening modules is almost impossible.
AI Zijin explained the current situation first.
[Agent, you currently have no equipment. The enemy’s armament is superior. The enemy’s bullet hit the center of the light exactly. They are skilled in weapon use.]
Then, it made a suggestion.
[The enemy is stronger than previously anticipated. There is a significant firepower disparity. You need to escape from here.]
“I said, there’s no retreat.”
[This is not a tactically sound decision. Is there another reason?]
Na Kang-In glanced upward.
“Eun-ha hasn’t come down from the 7th floor. It’s safe to assume that place has been taken over already.”
* * *
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