Perfect Mission Chapter 40 - The Man Who Dies But Lives (4)

Chapter 40. The Man Who Dies But Lives (4)

 

Kim Jaeyong arrived at the designated location and parked his car. He got out of his black Jeep, put on his sunglasses and leather gloves, and checked his equipment, chewing his gum loudly.

“Damn, working on a day like this. On a day like this, I should be out with a girl, having fun.”

He grumbled but checked his equipment with the utmost professionalism. A large knife, a thermal imager, a Colt pistol, and a silencer were already secured to his body. He even had a syringe filled with a drug, just in case.

He wasn’t sure if he needed the pistol, but the person who sent him had insisted on it. Just in case Gorilla was really alive…

“Shit, what’s with all this Gorilla talk?”

When he first entered this world, Gorilla wasn’t considered a top-tier agent in Korea. He’d heard that he was well-regarded in Europe, but he’d only been active in Korea for a few years, and there were rumors that he was running from Black Turtle. So, Kim Jaeyong, who had never faced Gorilla, didn’t think much of him.

“Heh~”

He started moving towards the operation area, hoping that Gorilla was still alive. He had been promised a one-time payment of 3 billion won if he brought back his head. Black Turtle, despite his nasty personality, always kept his promises, so he didn’t doubt it.

He slowed his pace as the villa came into view. When he was about thirty meters away, he took out a large thermal imager from his bag. This device could render any enemy waiting in ambush useless, so he always carried it on reconnaissance missions.

He scanned the building with the device, opened the gate, and went inside.

Creak…

The annoying sound of the old gate grated on his nerves, but he knew that climbing the wall would be even more dangerous. Of course, he could act boldly because the thermal imager hadn’t detected anything.

He cautiously approached the front door, carefully examining the floor and the area around the door without touching the handle. His eyes, meticulously scanning the area like he was looking for a needle in a haystack, spotted a small thread wedged in the door.

His eyes glinted, and he grabbed the thread and slowly opened the door. The thermal imager hadn’t picked up anything, and the thread didn’t seem to be a trap. As expected, the thread was just wedged in the door. He placed the thread on the shoe rack and started examining the room. The thread alone told him that someone had been here, but he needed to find out exactly what they had done.

 

***

 

Junho, with one earbud in, was eating chicken and watching his phone. The owner and the waitress probably thought he was watching YouTube. He had chuckled a few times. Whenever they glanced at his phone, he quickly switched to YouTube.

“Oho~”

Junho, seeing the intruder find the thread wedged in the door, licked the seasoning off his fingers and was slightly impressed. He was a careful one. He thought to himself that the new generation was well-trained, unlike in Jo Gyeongcheol’s time, and watched his movements with interest.

He scanned the kitchen, the living room, and the bedroom with his flashlight, but he didn’t seem to find any noticeable traces. Of course not. Junho had moved with extreme care when he returned from the secret basement, making sure not to disturb anything in the messy room.

“Excuse me, can I have a wet wipe?”

Junho raised his hand to the waitress. It was time to move.

What should he do? Should he just kill him in the house? Or should he follow him and find out where he came from? Tailing was a basic skill for an agent, but tailing another agent was a whole different level of difficulty. Especially in a rural area, a successful tailing operation required the other agent to be an idiot. A careful agent would never miss a car following him.

So, the best option was to get as much information as possible while he was in the house and then kill him.

“Here you go.”

“Thank you.”

Junho wiped his hands with the wet wipe and looked down at the man on his phone, who was still searching for traces.

‘I have no choice.’

He would deal with them one by one, and eventually, he would reach the top. As he was about to get up, he suddenly remembered when Jo Gyeongcheol had faced Black Turtle. During the cat-and-mouse game in Eastern Europe, he had learned that Black Turtle was anything but sloppy. He was the type to check a bridge several times before crossing it. Most of the traps he had set were useless, and he was forced to confront him directly.

‘What if this is a trap?’

It was plausible. If Black Turtle had assumed that Gorilla was alive, he wouldn’t have sent a rookie who looked to be in his early thirties. Someone was probably watching him. Where was the best place to wait for someone who was tailing him?

Junho looked down at the spot where he had wiped his greasy hands. A place with a clear view, where you could watch people without being suspicious. It was obvious. Wasn’t that why he was eating chicken here?

A chill ran down his spine. He pulled out his other earbud and went to the counter.

“I’d like to pay.”

The owner, in his forties, the waitress, in her twenties, and the people at the other two tables. It didn’t have to be one of them, but Junho had a feeling he was right.

“That’ll be 23,000 won.”

“Here you go.”

“How come you’re not drinking?”

The owner asked with a friendly smile.

“Hmm~ Coke is the best with chicken. I don’t want to ruin the taste of the chicken with alcohol. Speaking of which, I think the seasoning could be a little sweeter. What do you think?”

The owner’s eyes flickered.

“Oh, is that so?”

“I haven’t tried the fried chicken, but the seasoning lacks a little… oomph. Hahaha~ Don’t worry about it. It’s just one customer’s opinion. But my taste is pretty mainstream, and a lot of restaurant owners have hit the jackpot after taking my advice. Have you heard of Ochemanjok Jokbal in Suwon?”

“Huh? Oh…”

“Ah, you haven’t. It used to be pretty bland, but after they changed the recipe based on my suggestion, they’re making 80 million won a month. Sometimes even 100 million. And it’s a delivery-only place.”

“Haha, is that so?”

“Oh, you’re not interested. Anyway, the food was great. Hahaha!”

“Yes, thank you~”

Junho was sure as he left the restaurant. That owner was an agent. It wasn’t because he didn’t listen to his nonsense about the recipe. There were several other things that were off from the moment he paid to the moment he left. First, the way he handled the cash register was awkward. And when he asked if he wasn’t drinking, his gaze was suspicious, not curious. Also, his hands were calloused, like he had undergone extensive training or done manual labor for a long time, not like a restaurant owner’s hands. And most importantly, he hadn’t seen him exchange a single word with the waitress since he entered the restaurant.

As he was leaving, Junho called Gyeongsik.

“Report a break-in at this address. Use a payphone.”

[Understood.]

Junho sent Gyeongsik the address of the hideout and walked away from the chicken restaurant, pretending to look at his phone, while checking if anyone was following him. The owner might have thought he was just a talkative customer, but a real agent would never remove him from the list of suspects just because of that.

‘As expected…’

The owner came out with a pile of empty boxes and put them next to the restaurant. He glanced at Junho’s retreating figure. Junho saw it all on his phone. It was him.

‘Change of plans!’

He would leave the rookie who was searching the hideout and go after the real target, the one who was watching him.

Junho walked around the quiet countryside, pretending to enjoy the scenery, and returned to his car. He attached a silencer to his pistol and waited. The owner wouldn’t leave the chicken restaurant until the other agent was done searching the hideout.

About ten minutes later, a police car drove past. Gyeongsik must have found a payphone quickly. Junho slowly started his car and followed the police car, which had arrived earlier than expected, while checking the CCTV feed on his phone. The agent inside the hideout was still unaware of the police’s arrival. When the police car passed the chicken restaurant, Junho, who was about a hundred meters behind, pulled over.

The intruder inside the hideout suddenly ducked down. He must have realized the police had arrived. He rushed out of the hideout. But the villa was in a straight line, so he couldn’t avoid being seen as he ran out of the gate.

Beep! Beep! Wee-woo! Wee-woo!

The police siren wailed in the distance. It would be a hassle, but an agent wouldn’t get caught by the local police. From then on, Junho just watched the chicken restaurant from a distance.

Since the chicken restaurant and the building had only one entrance on the main road, it was easy to monitor.

“Should I have gotten an Avante?”

Junho licked his lips and waited for him to come out.

“That bastard… so impatient…”

It wasn’t even closing time, but the owner was walking away, talking on the phone. Junho didn’t start his car right away. He watched.

‘One, two, three…’

As expected, the owner looked back while talking on the phone and then started walking again. Junho waited again. The owner looked back twice more before disappearing around a corner. Junho finally started his car. He knew where he was going. There were only a few places to park in this neighborhood, and he knew them all.

As expected, when he turned the corner, he saw the owner entering a public parking garage.

Junho casually parked his car, partially blocking the entrance. Not completely blocking it, but making it difficult to pass.

A moment later, a mid-size SUV came out and stopped at the gate. It had no choice but to stop, since the entrance was blocked.

“What the…”

The owner, who had gotten out of his car, heard loud music coming from somewhere and sensed something was wrong. He was about to get back in his car when—

“Who parks their car like that?”

The moment he turned his head—

Thrust! Thrust!

Junho quickly approached and caught the man’s collapsing body.

“It’s people like you who are holding our country back. Right?”

“Gah… you… you…”

“It’s okay, it’s okay. You’re not going to die right away. I’ll save you, so just do as I say. We need to get to a hospital. Hmm? Let’s get you in this position so you don’t bleed too much…”

Junho quickly checked him for weapons and then helped him, who was gushing blood from his abdomen, into his car. And then he disappeared, as if nothing had happened.