* * *
Na Kang-In, pointing to the glass wall, spoke loudly so others could hear.
“That glass won’t break easily. Inform people about what happened here by posting something on the window after I leave.”
Someone in the back raised a hand and asked urgently.
“Even if it’s bulletproof glass, won’t it break if we keep shooting at it? It’s only the second floor, so if we break the glass, we can get down.”
“I think the other floors are occupied by the enemy, maybe even the roof. If we break the glass, the enemy will notice, and if they shoot from above when we try to escape, there’s nowhere to hide.”
“Oh…”
“And if we break the glass, the enemies on the other floors will know what’s happening here, which will endanger me when I move. Do not break that glass, under any circumstances.”
A person asked urgently.
“Excuse me. Does that mean you’re leaving here? Can’t you stay here with us? There are a lot of people here, and it’s safer.”
“I have to go.”
Na Kang-In pointed upward.
“There’s someone I need to save.”
***
Among the three guys who entered the café, only the leader had a walkie-talkie.
AI Zinji spoke.
[It’s not a military walkie-talkie. It has been modified.]
“They probably bought a civilian walkie-talkie and modified it. What’s the communication range?”
[It appears to be for short-distance communication. It’s not certain.]
The leader’s walkie-talkie was intact.
The leader had a broken wrist and was knocked out, but unlike the others, he hadn’t been thrown and slammed into something.
Suddenly, a voice came from the walkie-talkie.
[Café. There was some noise from upstairs, what’s going on?]
The café is on the second floor. Naturally, below the café is the first floor.
Na Kang-In subtly pointed to the neck of the unconscious guy.
“Let’s use this guy’s voice.”
AI Zinji spoke.
[I will modulate the voice to resemble the target.]
Na Kang-In spoke into the walkie-talkie.
“There were some guys who didn’t understand, so I punished them.”
The people in the second-floor café widened their eyes.
They weren’t surprised by what Na Kang-In said.
Na Kang-In’s current voice was quite similar to the armed leader’s. It wasn’t exactly the same, but it was close enough to sound like an impression.
When communicating through a walkie-talkie with poor sound quality, that was enough to deceive the other party.
[Did you act according to your temper?]
“We need to show these guys that there are more than just three of us. Come up for a moment.”
[Okay.]
After finishing the communication, Na Kang-In glanced at the CCTV.
He asked the café owner.
“Does the café manage that CCTV?”
“No. All the CCTVs here were installed by the building management office.”
If someone was checking the café situation through the CCTV, they couldn’t be unaware of what happened on the second floor.
“Then can they not see here? Or are they pretending not to see?”
Which it was could be determined by observing the actions of the approaching guy.
He walked towards the café door.
A reserve lieutenant suggested.
“It’s dangerous to go alone. I’ll go with you.”
“Then who will guard here?”
“Ah…”
“Defending the base is also important, so two people should hold this café. No one should go out through that window because they could get shot, and after I leave, gather the tables to barricade the entrance.”
“Then you can’t retreat, and we can’t support you, right?”
“I’ll manage, so don’t worry.”
He was about to leave the café but then turned back.
“Does anyone have a hand mirror? A small one would be good.”
A young woman quickly approached and held out her hands. In her hands was a pink hand mirror with a cute character drawn on it.
“You can use mine.”
Na Kang-In smiled broadly.
“Thank you.”
Her face blushed.
Na Kang-In left the café.
As soon as he went outside, the remaining people piled tables and chairs in front of the entrance.
The reserve lieutenant suggested.
“Let’s leave a narrow passage. If necessary, we can block it by throwing a few tables and chairs.”
They left a space wide enough for one person to pass through.
Na Kang-In stood at the top of the stairs leading to the first floor.
The elevator in this building was already out of order. If the enemy wanted to come up, they had to use these stairs.
He heard someone grumbling as they climbed up from below.
“With more of us going to the café, how can they not properly control unarmed civilians? Are they amateurs?”
Na Kang-In gathered information from the enemy’s mumbling.
‘There are fewer people downstairs than here, and this guy isn’t alone. There are three on the second floor, so two on the first floor.’
He also gathered other information.
‘This guy doesn’t even know if his second-floor colleagues are amateurs or professionals. They’re not colleagues he’s worked with before. Someone gathered these guys for this operation.’
Na Kang-In analyzed the upper situation.
‘On the seventh floor, there’s someone important enough to cancel the reservation of a popular actor, Shin Eun-ha.’
His analysis had some errors. It was THO Entertainment’s president, Lee Tae-ho, who hijacked Shin Eun-ha’s reservation.
But the conclusion was the same.
‘Then the boss must be on the seventh floor too.’
AI Zinji used the footsteps data to create a hologram image of the enemy’s current position. The outline of a human figure walking beyond the wall was visible.
[Enemy contact in 2 seconds!]
The enemy reached the top of the stairs and turned the corner, startled.
Before the enemy could make a sound, Na Kang-In covered his mouth with his left hand and struck his neck with his right hand.
“Keh…”
The enemy couldn’t even groan properly and collapsed limply.
AI Zinji suggested.
[Guns can malfunction for various reasons. You need a spare pistol. Use the subdued enemy’s pistol as a backup weapon.]
“Why didn’t you stop me when I gave two pistols to the café people? You should have told me to give only one.”
[Civilians need to keep each other in check. One pistol has insufficient firepower. One of them might panic in a firefight.]
“I was just saying. I’m not complaining.”
After Na Kang-In took the pistol, he dragged the unconscious enemy back to the café and pushed him inside.
The people inside immediately grabbed and tightly bound the enemy. There were plenty of tools in the café for tying someone up.
Na Kang-In left the café again and went down the stairs to the first floor.
‘There’s one person on the first floor.’
He subtly extended the hand mirror to the first floor and moved it left and right to check the situation before retracting it. The time the first floor was visible in the mirror was exactly one second.
AI Zinji gathered and analyzed the visual information collected through the mirror.
[Reconstructing the current situation on the first floor.]
The image of the first floor appeared immediately on the AR lenses. Despite being at the corner of the stairs, Na Kang-In could see the first floor behind the wall.
“Zijin, this is almost like a x-ray skill, isn’t it?”
[We created a virtual model of the first floor by combining the images captured when the mirror was extended. The enemy’s position is not accurately reflected.]
“It’s showing the enemy moving, though.”
There was one person moving within the semi-transparent first-floor hologram.
[We predicted the location based on the footsteps and expressed the movement. There may be an error in the enemy’s position.]
The person moving on the first floor was dressed in a security guard’s uniform.
“What are the chances the security guard is working with the enemy?”
[I will show you the footage of the security guard that we checked when entering the building.]
The face of the security guard seen when entering the building earlier appeared in front of his eyes. The face of the person currently on the first floor also appeared.
They were different people.
Na Kang-In spoke.
“If the one roaming the first floor is a fake security guard, where is the real one? Zijin, can you find him by the sound of his heartbeat?”
[Agent, your hearing isn’t that good.]
“The independent auxiliary module in my ear is just for decoration then?”
[That module has the function to control sound waves, but I cannot directly hear the sounds through that device.]
“Because direct input is prohibited to prevent hacking?”
[Yes. All information input must be through the agent’s senses.]
“Then let’s catch this fake first and find the real security guard afterward.”
Na Kang-In looked around.
He saw a small ornamental flowerpot nearby.
The flowerpot was empty and the flower in it was a fake made of plastic and fabric. Still, the flowerpot itself was quite heavy.
Na Kang-In picked up the flowerpot and spoke briefly.
“To his head.”
The enemy on the first floor turned in the opposite direction, showing the back of his head.
He took a step forward and turned the corner as he said,
“Let’s plant the flower!”
He threw the flowerpot at the enemy.
AI Zijin slightly adjusted his arm movement.
The flying flowerpot struck the enemy’s head accurately.
“Argh!”
* * *
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