“I apologize for the long wait. Since we ended up working on both vehicles at the same time, and the vehicle inspection schedule got delayed a bit, it took longer than expected. I’m sorry it ran late.”
Park Jaehyun, the head of the specialty vehicle company ADT Mobil, bowed his head politely.
But Junho waved it off.
“No, it’s fine. I figured that if it took longer, it meant you were making it that much more perfect.”
“Thank you for understanding.”
The armored-vehicle work, which had originally been expected to take sixteen weeks—four months—was completed only after more than five months.
So Park Jaehyun, the CEO himself, had felt responsible enough to come out in person with an employee to hand the vehicles over to Junho.
“Then shall we take a look at the vehicles first?”
“Yes. Let’s go, President Baek.”
“Huh? Ah, right.”
With a gesture, Park Jaehyun led an excited Junho and a slightly tense, stiff-backed Baek Hail forward.
Then the shutter slowly rose, revealing the two completed ◆ Nоvеlіgһt ◆ (Only on Nоvеlіgһt) armored vehicles.
“...!”
A Santana finished in dark gray, and a Bionic5 in matte black.
At a glance, they did not look all that different from ordinary vehicles.
But anyone who knew even a little about cars would notice immediately.
These vehicles were different. Special.
Park Jaehyun assigned one employee to explain things separately to Baek Hail, while he himself spoke to Junho in a voice full of pride.
“As requested, both vehicles were modified to NIJ Level 3 standards. We completed ballistic protection from the engine bay to the entire cabin, the door panels, and the windows as well. They can comfortably stop up to 7.62mm rounds.”
“Excellent.”
“Haha. It’s a little early to be impressed already. Both vehicles have integrated infrared thermal imaging cameras and night-vision equipment installed in roof mounts, and we set it up so everything can be controlled from the center display. And...”
Opening the Bionic5’s door, Park Jaehyun got into the driver’s seat, and Junho climbed into the passenger seat.
As the doors shut with a heavy thud on both sides, all outside noise was completely cut off.
Resting a hand on the wheel, Park Jaehyun continued.
“The base interface keeps the Bionic5’s original layout, but since the ballistic modules were added, we also installed a few separate security and special-purpose functions.”
He worked the sliding menu beside the display and tapped Protective Mode.
A message came up on the screen: Electronic Window Control Activated.
“This is an electronically controlled window lock. Breaking the glass from outside is practically impossible anyway, but from inside, you can add an extra level of locking to maintain confidentiality in an emergency. If necessary, you can even set it to maintain cabin pressure. It’s not military-grade CBRN protection, but it’s more than enough to block toxic gas.”
He tapped another switch, bringing up the underbody camera and thermal imaging module on the display.
The ground and the front, rear, left, and right fields of view appeared in real time, linked to the map.
“This is the night thermal camera and the ground-threat detection system. It can be activated with a single touch even while driving, and it also supports automatic switching. It’ll pick up heat sources hiding on the road.”
Park Jaehyun grinned at Junho.
“And there are a few options we added as a special service.”
“Special... service?”
“Yes. Since we delivered more than a month later than the date we promised.”
He went on.
“First, we added a heat shield under the vehicle for blast response. The weight went up a little, but we included ride-height adjustment as well, so it can handle off-road conditions just fine. And we installed a small hot-and-cold storage box behind the driver’s seat. Enough to keep drinks or food stored simply.”
Then he turned his gaze to Junho, the smile on his face deepening.
“And one last thing. This wasn’t part of your request, President Lee, but considering that this is an electric vehicle, we added a multi-bulkhead structure and impact-absorption design to the entire battery module. Even in the event of external impact or fire, it suppresses cell-to-cell propagation as much as possible. Put simply, even if it gets hit, it’s hard to make it blow, and even if it does go up, it’s hard for it to spread.”
“Wow... I don’t know how to thank you for this.”
“No need. ADT Mobil’s motto is trust.”
Speaking with complete confidence, Park Jaehyun turned a small dial to the left of the steering wheel and switched the driving mode to Tactical Mode.
The dashboard immediately changed to a red theme.
“This is Tactical Mode. It’s optimized for pursuit or evasive maneuvers. Zero to sixty gets a little slower, but traction and stability are improved. A mode like this is essential for armored vehicles carrying extra weight. Overseas companies all use it too. And...”
The encrypted radio communication system, drone-operation integration, and infrared thermal imaging cameras that Junho had requested from the beginning had all been perfectly implemented in both vehicles.
In addition, they had emergency power, dual black-box storage, and EMP shielding technology for the batteries and major electronic equipment.
Perfectly satisfied, Junho spent thirty minutes circling ADT Mobil’s test track and parking area, getting used to the functions.
At the end, Park Jaehyun handed him a USB containing the manuals for both vehicles and video explanations of each function.
Then Junho got into the Santana with the employee, while Baek Hail—who had been hearing explanations in parallel—took the other vehicle, and the two of them drove out of ADT Mobil.
***
“Damn, this is insane. The door inlays use a silicone sandwich structure with high-strength ceramic in them. The vibration absorption is fucking unreal.”
The moment the armored vehicles were brought into the shelter, Baek Hail could no longer contain his excitement and threw himself into it with full enthusiasm.
“First thing, I gotta get it up on the lift and scan the subframe. Need to take a look at the body connection points and the battery-cell cover structure. Goddamn, this is killer. Absolute killer.”
“Haha. Go right ahead. Then I’ll head out and meet Lawyer Lee Dongcheol.”
“Yeah, go on.”
Leaving Baek Hail behind without a second glance as the man was already completely absorbed in examining the armored vehicles, Junho got into the electric car he had originally been driving and headed for Seoul.
The end-of-year Seoul night streets, rolling toward 2023, were badly congested, but Junho still managed to arrive at his destination somewhere in Jamsil without being late for the appointment.
Usually, when he met Lee Dongcheol, they used the KH Hotel.
But today there was a different, “special” guest, so they had agreed to meet at a café near an apartment complex in Jamsil, where foot traffic was relatively light and there were fewer people around.
Jingle.
As Junho, having parked the electric car, opened the café door, a bell rang.
“Welcome.”
Receiving the greeting from the employee standing behind the counter, Junho dipped his head lightly and went upstairs.
Even then, out of habit, Junho gave the café a quick scan, and soon noticed something strange.
No CCTV...?
Even neighborhood convenience stores usually had a couple of cameras, but this café had none.
Junho immediately understood why Lee Dongcheol had chosen this place as the meeting spot.
No—not Lee Dongcheol. The “guest” who had come here with him had probably chosen it.
Junho headed toward the edge of the second floor, where there was not a single customer.
He had already been tipped off by Lee Dongcheol about the location of the meeting room, so his steps were unhesitating.
And just as Junho rounded the corner—
a large hand suddenly shot out.
“Погоди. Это наше....”
(Wait. This is our...)
The incomprehensible Russian did not get to continue to the end.
Smack!
At the same moment he slapped away the hairy hand, Junho grabbed the thick coat flap, yanked the other man in hard, hooked his leg, and dropped him.
It was a perfectly executed Krav Maga technique.
As the man who had tried to stop Junho by suddenly reaching out sprawled to the floor in a thoroughly pathetic heap, another man flinched in shock, then immediately came at Junho.
“Ты кто, сука!”
(Who the fuck are you, bitch!)
At the Russian—who, for a mafioso, was fairly average in both height and build—Junho threw a punch.
Junho’s hook, sharp enough to go full sparring rounds with professional MMA fighters, landed cleanly on the man’s jaw, and with his arms dropping crookedly, he fell flat with a heavy thud.
“W-what the hell?”
At the noise, Lee Dongcheol jerked the door open and came out.
After spotting the two fallen Russians, he flinched in shock, and then his gaze swung to Junho.
“P-President Lee Junho...?”
Looking at the stunned, stammering Lee Dongcheol, Junho straightened his coat collar and said,
“Do you know these people, Counselor? They suddenly started speaking some weird foreign language and attacked me.”
“Ah... then just now, you...”
“Yeah. I moved on reflex. What are these guys?”
Lee Dongcheol stared in horror at Junho, who had taken down two Volcano Group enforcers in what had quite literally been the blink of an eye.
He had realized long ago that Junho, unlike a typical member of the wealthy uppermost class, had an exceptionally solid build and clearly worked out seriously.
But he had never imagined he was strong enough to turn rough mafia muscle into paste.
He had assumed it was just fashion muscles—someone who exercised hard to keep up his physique.
Then someone slowly stepped out from the open door inside.
A man in his thirties, about the same height as Junho, with a slim but tightly built frame.
His features were somewhat bold, but otherwise he had the typical appearance of an East Asian man. Yet beneath his carefully groomed brows, those sapphire-blue eyes gave him an air of both peculiarity and mystery at once.
Viktor...!
Before the regression, the second-in-command of the Volcano Group’s Busan branch—the very man who had gifted Junho the Glock 17 he used to end his own life—stood there.
Viktor Volk Choi (волк).
***
“My employees were very rude, President Lee Junho.”
“Not at all. I got startled too, so I moved without thinking. I should apologize as well.”
The two Russian men, both looking around thirty, stood by the door and bowed their heads to Junho.
“Solly.”
“Mistake.”
At their words, Junho let out a short laugh.
“Your Korean’s pretty good. But then why were you doing that in Russian earlier? You scared the hell out of me.”
But the two Russian mafiosi seemed not to know any more Korean than that, because they just tilted their heads, and Viktor Volk Choi said something to them in Russian.
At once, the color drained from both their faces, and looking utterly deflated—like dogs who had caused trouble and been scolded by their owner—they opened the door and left.
“What did you say to them? They don’t look too happy.”
“It was nothing. Just that they should do better from now on, that we should all work hard together. I gave them a little encouragement.”
The same words could mean very different things depending on who said them, so if Junho had to guess, it was probably something closer to When we get back to Busan, I’m going to beat you half to death.
In any case, although his accent was a little unusual, Viktor Volk Choi’s Korean was extremely fluent.
From what Junho had heard from him before the regression, he had strictly spoken nothing but Korean whenever he was with his family from childhood on, and as soon as his assignment to the Busan branch had been decided, he had worked hard to practice “Seoul speech” instead of the Korean used by Koryo-saram.
Junho knew a few other things about him too, but today he had to act as though he were seeing Viktor Volk Choi for the first time.
Which meant that Junho had to treat him not as a Russian mafioso, but as a mixed-blood Russian businessman of Koryo-saram descent from the Far East who, due to the nature of that region, happened to be involved in a certain amount of illegal business.
“By the way, your skills were remarkable... if you don’t mind my asking, did you serve somewhere special in the military?”
Viktor Volk Choi’s face was smiling as he looked straight at Junho, but his eyes had gone flat and cold.
Which made sense.
He had come in person because the lawyer said this was someone who might become a major client, only for that man to drop two ex-military enforcers in the blink of an eye.
It would have been stranger if he had not become suspicious.
“I just served in the Army Recon unit.”
“You mean... as a conscript? Strange. Your skills look like those of someone from a special operations unit.”
“Well, I do train MMA and Krav Maga as a hobby. But what is this? Why does it feel like I’m the one being interrogated here? Counselor, is this really how this is going?”
Speaking in a mildly displeased tone, Junho turned to Lee Dongcheol.
The reason Junho was not only roughing up the two mafiosi a little, but also deliberately taking a somewhat harder line with Lee Dongcheol, was simple.
As a mixed-blood Koryo-saram who had grown up suffering endless racial discrimination in that Russia, Viktor Volk Choi liked strong, manly men.
Junho needed to make a strong impression on Viktor Volk Choi from the very beginning, and that was why he had intentionally shown a somewhat aggressive side of himself.
“Ah, President Lee Junho, it’s just that...”
As the flustered Lee Dongcheol tried to explain on his behalf, Viktor Volk Choi cut in and stepped forward.
“This was very rude of us, President Lee Junho. Your skills were so impressive that I misspoke. I sincerely apologize.”
Junho studied Viktor Volk Choi for a moment as the man apologized politely, then lowered his own head as well.
“I overdid it a little too. Sorry, Director Choi.”
At that, Viktor Volk Choi—who, for a mafioso, and the strongest “enforcer” in the branch at that, wore a smile so gentle it was hard to believe—said,
“Please call me Volk. It’s the nickname my family and friends have called me since I was young, so that’s what feels comfortable. I have a feeling we’ll be seeing each other often, so please, call me that.”
“All right. Volk... Director.”
At the smile of the man from Sakhalin who was known as the Wolf of Vladivostok, Junho smiled back.
