Future Foresight (2)
China’s Dimension Management Bureau had been tracking AbsoluteSafetyFirst for a long time.
They used every possible method to uncover AbsoluteSafetyFirst’s identity, and during that process, they did obtain several pieces of meaningful information.
However, they still failed to obtain the most crucial details. The reason was simple.
The Republic of Korea Gate Management Bureau thoroughly controlled and managed all information related to AbsoluteSafetyFirst, and more decisively, Seon Yul himself had been extremely careful to avoid exposing himself.
Because of that, the most the Dimension Management Bureau had managed to learn was that AbsoluteSafetyFirst’s level at the present time was not as high as they had expected, and that there was a high probability he was in his twenties.
It wasn’t completely useless information, but with just that much, there was almost nothing the Dimension Management Bureau could do.
In this situation, the bureau decided to change direction.
If digging into AbsoluteSafetyFirst’s information was too difficult, then they would instead investigate magic users who appeared to be connected to him, and through them, track down AbsoluteSafetyFirst.
In a sense, it was an extremely brilliant move.
Even the Korean Gate Management Bureau had never anticipated such a method.
The only problem was that there were almost no magic users who had any connection with AbsoluteSafetyFirst…
But the magic user the Dimension Management Bureau focused on was ‘NoReasonAtAll.’
The only user AbsoluteSafetyFirst had ever formed a party with was precisely NoReasonAtAll, so they believed that if they dug into that user’s information, they would eventually reach AbsoluteSafetyFirst.
But another problem immediately appeared.
NoReasonAtAll also… had no information.
If AbsoluteSafetyFirst’s information felt completely sealed off, then NoReasonAtAll’s case felt more like the information simply didn’t exist at all.
Still, the Dimension Management Bureau’s intelligence department did not give up.
They mobilized all HUMINT assets, informants, and even community analysis teams, tracking down everything they could about NoReasonAtAll.
Eventually, they discovered a single, extremely thin thread of a clue.
That was where it began.
Clinging to that small thread, they kept digging and digging, and in the end, they managed to obtain one truly crucial piece of information.
NoReasonAtAll was a magic user who possessed a prophetic ability known as an ‘Oracle.’
This decisive information had been extracted from none other than the World Gate Management Bureau.
Now that they knew NoReasonAtAll was an Oracle, all that remained was to identify the prophetic magic user known as an Oracle.
Thus, the Dimension Management Bureau slowly… very slowly… approached NoReasonAtAll… or rather, Cheon Li Yu.
And everything up to this point had happened before Cheon Li Yu went on the Flame Soul raid with Seon Yul.
***
After resting in Hawaii for a full week, Seon Yul and Cheon Li Yu returned to South Korea.
As usual, the two returned to Seoul through Seon Yul’s small rented apartment, then parted ways for the moment after agreeing to meet again soon.
Naturally, Cheon Li Yu returned to her home.
Even though it had been a long time since she had come back, the house was clean as always. In the first place, a housekeeper came almost every day to handle the chores, so it had no chance of becoming messy.
After returning home, Cheon Li Yu casually changed her clothes, grabbed her car keys, and went down to the underground parking garage.
It seemed she had quite a lot to deal with after being away for so long.
She got into her yellow Lamborghini Urus, her personal car, and drove out of the parking garage.
She headed somewhere.
However, from the moment she returned home until she left, there were people monitoring her every single move.
Using all kinds of advanced equipment, they were surveilling Cheon Li Yu.
[She’s exiting the underground parking garage. Yellow Lamborghini Urus. Follow her.]
[Number 4 is tailing.]
[Everyone else, move as well. Do not lose the target under any circumstances.]
[Is it possible to hack the target’s mobile phone?]
[The target isn’t using her phone yet, so it’s not possible.]
[Remember this… never approach the target carelessly.]
The individuals tailing Cheon Li Yu continued exchanging communications as they maintained surveillance.
Although 16 field operatives were directly tailing her, there were far more support agents assisting from other locations.
Their identity was none other than the Dimension Management Bureau.
They had eventually discovered that the Oracle was Cheon Li Yu and had entered Korea to track her down.
But since Cheon Li Yu had not appeared, they waited in ambush near her house and office.
After several days of waiting, they finally located her.
Now all that remained was to find AbsoluteSafetyFirst through Cheon Li Yu.
[Keep an eye on the surroundings. If you see anyone from the Korean bureau, report immediately.]
The person currently commanding the sixteen Magic Assault Soldiers was Zhao Rui, the Intelligence Director of the Management Bureau.
He had secretly brought all the personnel and equipment required for this operation into Korea and was continuing to direct the mission.
The one thing he was most cautious about was, of course, the Korean Gate Management Bureau.
Korea could no longer be ignored, so the most important thing was conducting the operation without them noticing.
[She’s entered the highway. Looks like she’s heading toward the outskirts.]
After hearing the report from Magic Assault Soldier No. 4, who was tailing Cheon Li Yu most closely, Zhao Rui thought for a moment.
‘If she moves somewhere remote… should we just kidnap her?’
Their ultimate target was AbsoluteSafetyFirst, but there was no way of knowing when Cheon Li Yu would meet him.
So there was also the option of kidnapping Cheon Li Yu and extracting information about AbsoluteSafetyFirst directly.
‘Oracles don’t have combat-type awakening abilities, so kidnapping her shouldn’t be difficult… And extracting information would be easy with just a few drugs.’
The more Zhao Rui thought about it, the less kidnapping seemed like a bad option.
[Where she’s going is important. Keep checking and reporting.]
‘If the opportunity appears, we’ll consider kidnapping.’
In the end, Zhao Rui decided to seriously consider abducting Cheon Li Yu and interrogating her.
***
After leaving her house, Cheon Li Yu drove out of Seoul.
Anyone looking would assume she had business in another region as she drove down the highway.
The place she eventually arrived at was Yangpyeong in Gyeonggi Province.
More precisely, it was a pension she owned in a secluded area of Yangpyeong.
She occasionally came here to clear her head or compose music, and since she had intentionally looked for a place far removed from others to avoid outside attention, it was an extremely quiet location.
Screeeech.
After parking the car, Cheon Li Yu casually entered the pension.
To anyone watching, it simply looked like she had come here to rest.
Naturally, the Dimension Management Bureau, which had been monitoring her since Seoul, watched the entire scene from a distance.
[The target has entered a secluded house.]
[There are too many trees and the surroundings are too quiet to deploy drones. We’ll switch to thermal cameras.]
[The hacking team is investigating the owner of the house.]
Listening to the continuous reports, Zhao Rui felt the moment to make a real decision had arrived.
‘If we’re going to kidnap her, now is the time.’
Kidnapping and interrogating her immediately… or continuing surveillance and waiting until she meets AbsoluteSafetyFirst.
Comparing the two options, Zhao Rui eventually made his decision.
‘We’ll go with kidnapping.’
He concluded that continuing surveillance while avoiding the Korean Gate Management Bureau would not be easy, and there was no guarantee when she would meet AbsoluteSafetyFirst. Forcing the information out of her seemed far more certain.
[From this moment forward, we will execute the target capture operation. Everyone focus.]
Naturally, Zhao Rui had already prepared the kidnapping plan in advance, so he slowly began briefing the operation.
[No.1, approach the target’s location as closely as possible and wait. No.2 will…]
He first issued orders to the Magic Assault Soldiers and was about to deliver detailed instructions to the support personnel as well.
Thus began the Cheon Li Yu kidnapping operation.
Since the Dimension Management Bureau ultimately intended to either eliminate or abduct AbsoluteSafetyFirst, all the preparations at this stage appeared somewhat excessive.
Of course… that standard of ‘excessive’ existed only by the bureau’s own standards.
***
The pension in Yangpyeong truly was a place Cheon Li Yu had purchased for rest or composing music.
But at least right now, that was not the reason she had come here.
After entering the pension, Cheon Li Yu quietly sat in the living room and waited.
What she was waiting for… was the future.
‘It should start around now.’
After checking the time, Cheon Li Yu wore a slightly bleak expression.
The future she had seen about a week earlier had been clearly related to herself.
Unlike before… when the more a vision involved her, the less accurate it became, this time the foresight had been clear, even though it concerned her own future entirely.
Because of that, she even knew the exact timing.
‘Trust it and wait.’
She was nervous, but there was nothing she could do in this situation except wait.
And while she waited, just as she had foreseen, the future she saw had already begun.
Rustle.
Sixteen Magic Assault Soldiers slowly closed in, tightening their encirclement around the pension where Cheon Li Yu was.
The Dimension Management Bureau had created 16 Magic Assault Soldiers using the remaining test batches of Mana Prohibition.
Numbers 1 through 16 had mostly become temporary magic users with awakening abilities that enhanced physical capabilities.
Since Mana Prohibition itself was a drug created by researching the mana patterns of enhancement-type magic users who strengthen the human body, this result was natural.
Only two of them had slightly different awakening abilities.
No.12 had obtained Telekinesis (D-rank), though the rank was low.
No.15 had obtained Clairvoyance (C-rank).
Except for those two, the rest had all gained C-rank-level physical enhancement abilities on average.
Although their rank wasn’t particularly high, gathering this many magic users was not easy.
Moreover, they could now produce such magic users continuously, which made Mana Prohibition an incredible invention.
Even now, the number of personnel was more than enough to capture their target, Oracle Cheon Li Yu. In fact, it could be considered excessive force.
[No.15. What is Cheon Li Yu doing?]
[She’s just sitting quietly in the living room.]
Their voices, spoken into ultra-small microphones, were transmitted through in-ear communication devices.
[Once we get as close as possible, Nos.1–10 will enter first. Nos.7–12 will follow. The rest block the escape routes.]
Zhao Rui issued orders while watching the action cameras mounted on the helmets of the Magic Assault Soldiers from inside a large van parked far away.
‘This won’t be difficult.’
To Zhao Rui, this mission seemed about as easy as flipping over the palm of his hand.
So he didn’t even bother feeling tense.
However, while he sat inside the vehicle thinking this…
Through a small gap in the rear door of the van, four thin strands of white thread were slowly and secretly slipping inside.
There were four people inside the van.
All of them were focused on the multiple monitors installed inside, so none of them noticed the four white threads slowly creeping in behind them.
Naturally, those four white threads were Arachne’s threads.
And the one controlling them was Seon Yul, who had concealed himself using Real Painting [Camouflage], positioning himself as close to the van as possible.
Since Seon Yul was receiving Divine Eye [Vision Sharing] from Cheon Li Yu, he could see everything inside the van and precisely control the four Arachne threads.
From the very beginning, Cheon Li Yu and Seon Yul had seen all of this through future foresight.
And in response, they had deliberately lured the Dimension Management Bureau in.
Making them move.
Then striking the back of their heads and destroyed them in return.
That was the plan Seon Yul and Cheon Li Yu had devised.
Sssssss.
And that plan…
Whiiir… CRACK!
“Guh!”
…began with the assassination of Zhao Rui and the three other intelligence agents of the Dimension Management Bureau inside the van, who had been directing the entire operation.
Comments (0)