* * *
Na Kang-In’s voice wasn’t completely identical to the second-floor team leader’s.
The pronunciation and speech patterns were accurate, but the tone was slightly different. It was like how a celebrity does a voice impression.
The voice came through the walkie-talkie with unclear sound quality. At that level, it was hard to distinguish.
Jackal was misled into thinking there was no problem on the second floor. He switched the communication channel on his walkie-talkie.
“First floor.”
***
Jackal’s voice came through the second walkie-talkie Na Kang-In had taken.
[First floor.]
AI Zinji reported.
[The enemy uses different communication channels for each floor.]
“The guy calling between the first and second floors must be the leader.”
[Logical assumption.]
“Change my voice to the one coming up from the first-floor stairs.”
[Mimicking the voice of the first-floor enemy.
Na Kang-In pressed the call button on the walkie-talkie taken from the first-floor guy.
“First floor.”
[Police have arrived outside.]
“I know.”
[Tell the police that the café has been cleared of customers due to internal repairs. Say that the doors won’t open because the company is replacing the security system.]
“I’ll take care of it.”
***
Jackal switched his radio to receive-only mode. He grinned widely as he stood in front of Scarlett Kelly, the CEO of OmegaTech.
“You heard that, right? Even if the police come, they can’t enter the building without a warrant. There’s no suspicious evidence, and they have no reason to force their way in. By the time they get a search warrant, we’ll already be gone. So, let’s continue talking about the access code.”
***
Na Kang-In put the radio back in his pocket.
The AI, Zijin, asked:
[Should we move back to the first floor?]
“No. I tricked them to buy us some time. We keep going up.”
He slowly climbed the stairs to the fifth floor.
***
An external operative watching the building from a nearby café was flustered.
One police officer approached the front door, and another walked towards the side of the building.
However, no one came out from inside, even though the police were standing right in front of the first-floor entrance.
“What the…? I reported it for sure. Are they handling this properly?”
***
The police officer who had walked to the side of the building complained.
“If people in the café are waving their arms, they must have rented the place to dance or something. Why report such… Huh?”
As he looked up, he was startled.
A large crack, shaped like a spider web, ran through the middle of the glass wall on the second floor. He also saw people urgently waving their hands from the window.
Large sheets of paper with big letters were plastered on the window.
He swallowed hard and read the papers. While the letters were too small to be read from another building, they were clear enough from the first floor.
[Terrorists have taken over the building!]
[They have guns!]
[We are being held hostage here!]
[Please report to the police!]
There were several other sheets explaining the situation.
The officer realized what the spiderweb crack in the glass was.
“A real gunshot mark?”
He immediately radioed his partner in front of the first-floor entrance.
“Sir. Act like you know nothing and head back to the car. I’ll meet you there.”
“What? Why?”
“I’ll explain in the car. The situation here is serious.”
After finishing the radio call, the officer waved at the people in the second-floor café window and then motioned for them to be quiet.
***
The two police officers returned to their car. The external surveillance operative grinned as he saw the police car leaving the building.
“Idiots.”
He reported via radio.
“The police have left.”
Jackal responded.
[Keep watching. Everything is going according to plan.]
***
The police officers, after inspecting the scene, reported the situation to their superiors from the returning car.
A report from the police on the scene holds much more credibility than a civilian’s report.
The local police station went into a frenzy.
“Everyone, grab your handguns!”
“Captain! We’re up against armed terrorists. Will handguns suffice?”
“Are we going alone? The SWAT team is coming too!”
***
Na Kang-In entered the fifth floor. There was no one there.
“These guys must be running low on manpower. That’s a relief.”
[There will be more forces on the seventh floor than on the second.]
“Of course. Their target is on the seventh floor.”
Na Kang-In had taken over the fifth floor alone.
Now, only the sixth floor remained before the seventh.
***
In the police van heading to the scene, the detective team leader asked.
“Do we know who’s in that building now?”
A detective next to him answered.
“We’re checking all card usage records, phone location tracking, and nearby CCTV footage.”
All the detectives’ smartphones chimed simultaneously with new messages.
“What? We’ve got the list from phone tracking already? That was fast. How did it come so quickly?”
“It’s an emergency. They must have contacted the higher-ups at the telecom companies directly.”
The youngest detective asked.
“But guys, I don’t think the perpetrators are on this list. They wouldn’t be dumb enough to bring their own registered phones into the building, right?”
The team leader checked the list and replied.
“Of course not. Even if they did, it would be burner phones. But this list shows us how many people we need to rescue, right?”
“Ah!”
As the detective quickly scanned through the list on his phone, he made a startled sound.
“What? Shin Eun-ha?”
“What?”
The team leader also scrolled through the list to find Shin Eun-ha’s name.
“Really? Is it the actress Shin Eun-ha? No way. Tell me it isn’t.”
A detective in the back, who was on the phone with another department, reported.
“Boss, it’s the real Shin Eun-ha.”
The team leader rubbed his face with his palm.
“This is insane. Why is a movie star there?”
Their phones received additional messages with brief personal details of a few people. The new list included Shin Eun-ha and Lee Tae-ho.
The team leader checked the new names and frowned even more.
“What is this? Why are there so many VIPs in that building?”
The youngest detective answered.
“There’s a high-end restaurant called Penelope on the seventh floor. It’s too expensive for people like us to dine there. Maybe they’re the customers?”
“This is a nightmare. Hey, how do you know about that restaurant?”
“My girlfriend took me there.”
“Lucky you, having a rich girlfriend.”
“Yes, I… Ah, no, sir.”
The team leader sighed heavily.
“That’s not the point. Shin Eun-ha is in there. This is a huge problem.”
The youngest detective asked.
“Um, boss. Aren’t all lives equal? Why is it just Shin Eun-ha…?”
“Because if such a famous person becomes a hostage, it will be a bigger deal in the media.”
“What?”
“That means our activities will be more restricted, and even a small mistake will be widely reported. Then we’ll get reprimanded.”
“But if we do well, we’ll get the benefits, right? Like promotions?”
“If we do well, sure. But listen.”
The team leader frowned as he explained.
“The building is occupied by suspected armed terrorists holding numerous civilians hostage. It won’t be easy to subdue them, right?”
“Yeah, that’s…”
“What do you think will happen if there are casualties during the operation?”
“Ah…”
“And if one of the casualties is a beloved celebrity like Shin Eun-ha? Do you think the media and public will stay quiet?”
“Would they… chew us up?”
“They’ll chew up the first responding detective team. And that’s us.”
“I completely understand.”
Another detective who was reviewing the list spoke up.
“Team leader, there are foreigners among the hostages.”
“From which country?”
“An American. The CEO of OmegaTech? Where is this place?”
“Even the president of an American company? This is driving me nuts. Find out what kind of company OmegaTech is.”
“Maybe it’s a nutrition supplement or watch company?”
“I hope so. As long as it doesn’t blow up into an international issue.”
The police van arrived at a location a bit away from the scene.
The detective team leader got out of the car.
The first floor of the seven-story building had a fireproof shutter made of metal plates covering all the windows.
“Damn, this makes it hard to grasp the internal situation.”
Another detective reported.
“We can see the people trapped in the second-floor cafe from over there.”
“What about the seventh-floor restaurant? It’s hard to see from the ground.”
A junior detective asked.
“Should I go up to the rooftop of that building over there?”
“Don’t waste time asking, just go.”
“Yes, sir!”
The junior detective climbed to the rooftop of a nearby building to check the situation on the seventh floor.
– Team leader. All the windows are covered. We can’t see inside from here either.
The detective team leader’s frown deepened.
“Damn. First, find a way to rescue the people trapped on the second floor.”
Two detectives slowly approached the second-floor cafe window. But a problem arose before they could reach their destination.
Another detective who was checking the entrance shouted.
“I found an explosive at the main entrance on the first floor!”
The detective team leader urgently shouted upon hearing this through the radio.
“What? Everyone fall back! Do not approach that building!”
There was an object resembling a bomb at the main entrance on the first floor. The detective team leader looked at it through binoculars, feeling tense.
“Is that a bomb? If they placed something like that at the main entrance, they might have done something to the second-floor cafe too.”
“Team leader, what should we do?”
“The command will soon transfer to the counterterrorism unit. They’re the experts, so until they arrive, be careful not to cause any civilian casualties.”
“Yes, sir!”
“Make sure no one escapes and maintain the perimeter!”
“Yes, sir!”
The detective team leader looked up and spoke.
“Damn. The second floor is dangerous, and we can’t even assess the situation on the seventh floor.”
* * *
*Summary page is only available for login users. Non-users can view the chapters on the chapter list.*
