Chapter 176
In-Ah struggled to understand the scene in front of her. As if a fragment of time had been sliced off, the landscape surrounding her had changed when she opened her eyes.
Her body felt weak. She looked down because she felt a cold sensation on her wrist, and she saw that her hands were bound by handcuffs.
"..."
When she lifted her head, she saw Sun-Woo, and next to him, she saw Dae-Man covered in mud. When she saw the two of them, her fragmented memories came back to her.
She had been wandering around searching for tokens, and she encountered Sun-Woo who was covered in blood. He said that he had fought with Dae-Man and was injured as a result, and he said that he would give up on the exam before hugging her. In-Ah had been unable to push him away, and she let him do as he wished. She had no memory of what happened after that.
"You said that you fought with him..." In-Ah said while looking back and forth between Dae-Man and Sun-Woo.
Dae-Man stared at Sun-Woo as if this was news to him. Sun-Woo lowered his head with a troubled expression and avoided eye contact. The atmosphere felt awkward, but no matter how anyone looked at it, there were no signs of a fight between them.
She was missing her memories and the situation was different from what Sun-Woo had described. If she combined this with the fact that she had become a hostage after opening her eyes, it was clear what had happened.
"You...!" In-Ah exclaimed with wide eyes and a trembling voice.
It was evident that he had deceived her with false sympathy in order to narrow the distance. After doing so, he took her consciousness and turned her into a hostage. She didn’t know what method he had used to take away her consciousness. If it was Sun-Woo, he could have used any method, whether it was by hitting her vital point or by skillfully utilizing a blessing.
"You tricked me!"
Sun-Woo trembled and dropped his gaze to the ground upon hearing her resentment. In-Ah glared at Sun-Woo with a betrayed expression.
"I trusted you...!"
"..."
Sun-Woo lowered his head. Those unfamiliar with the situation could only watch the two fighting from a distance. Su-Ryeon watched the situation with a faint smile as if she were enjoying it.
After a brief silence, Sun-Woo raised his head as if he was determined to say something.
"So, so... um..."
"So what? Speak properly!"
"...So you shouldn’t have trusted someone like me!"
"What? Huh, what kind of...!"
In-Ah repeated the word what several times, showing how astonished she was. She was so astounded that she couldn't even finish her sentences properly. Sun-Woo turned his back completely on In-Ah and looked around. It looked as if he was checking his teammates’ reactions.
Eventually, he calmly started a strategy meeting. In-Ah glared at Sun-Woo with resentment, but he didn't even glance at her. They were clearly in the middle of an exam, and Sun-Woo had only mentioned giving up, but he hadn't actually given up on the exam.
Sun-Woo had strategically lied, and he hadn't done anything wrong. Despite that, In-Ah felt resentful toward him, and in a way, even sad. He clearly promised not to lie to her during the night with a sky full of stars, on the deserted bench at school.
"From what I’m hearing, it seems like Sun-Woo was in the wrong. Am I right?" someone said in a mischievous tone.
In-Ah had been looking at the ground with a bitter expression, and she raised her head. Su-Ryeon was speaking to her. Like In-Ah, she was also a hostage.
In-Ah didn't say anything, but Ha-Yeon was next to her and interjected, "No, it was your fault for getting tricked."
In-Ah continued to remain silent. Su-Ryeon had nothing to do with the situation, but she got angry.
"How can you say that? How is it her fault for getting tricked?"
“It’s foolish to trust someone else’s words during an exam.”
"Hey, it's wrong for clergymen to lie in the first place! And these two are not just strangers to each other."
"What do you mean by 'not just strangers to each other?’"
"They're not just strangers to each other, so what I mean is..."
Su-Ryeon glanced at In-Ah. She didn’t seem to be thinking of anything in particular. It looked like her mind was in too much of a state of chaos to form thoughts. However, her eyes were still fixed on Sun-Woo.
Su-Ryeon pursed her lips in hesitation before letting out a deep sigh.
"Anyway, I’m just saying that they aren’t strangers."
"Does that kind of relationship really exist?"
"Yes, it exists. For example, like family, or... lovers, or something like that?"
Ha-Yeon bit her lower lip.
"...If you think about it, even family can be considered strangers."
"What? How can your family be considered strangers? Then are your friends strangers as well?"
"No... You’re saying something so obvious that I’m speechless...”
"I’m not saying something obvious... But what’s wrong with your complexion?"
"Don't worry about it, my complexion is always like this... Anyway, friends are obviously─"
A debate between Su-Ryeon and Ha-Yeon about the standard for someone to be considered a stranger continued.
In-Ah didn't listen. She didn't have the energy to listen to such pointless conversations. She felt mentally and physically exhausted. She even felt a headache coming on. Above all, the shock of betrayal was overwhelming.
After the meeting ended, Sun-Woo approached In-Ah and suddenly reached out his hand. She stared blankly at the extended hand. There were many wounds on his hand, and one finger was broken and twisted in a grotesque manner.
"What, are you saying we should reconcile?" In-Ah deliberately shot back curtly.
It was her way of giving him a chance. Sun-Woo had clearly done something wrong by lying, but she also had some responsibility for blindly believing the other side's words during the exam. If he apologized now, she was willing to gladly accept it.
"No, I just want my clothes back."
Sun-Woo pointed with his chin to the coat that was covering In-Ah. Her expression hardened coldly.
"...Ah, okay."
"Are you sulking?"
"No? Not at all."
"Really? Then I suppose it’s fine," Sun-Woo said.
He then took the coat and put it on. Both his words and his actions were shamelessly audacious. In-Ah could only resentfully gaze at his back. She didn't even want to talk to him anymore.
*
[The Prophet is really awkward at apologizing,] Granbwa said.
Legba added, [No, the situation just now was one where he had to not apologize. He intentionally didn't apologize.]
[What are you saying?]
[My point is... Hm. If you don't know, just stay quiet, Granbwa. Don't interfere.]
[What? What did you just say just now—]
Legba and Granbwa argued back and forth, and I ignored them.
The reason why I didn’t apologize to In-Ah was to show to my teammates that I knew how to separate personal and professional matters.
It wasn’t like I did anything wrong, so apologizing out of personal emotions was not appropriate. A leader who didn’t know how to differentiate between personal and professional matters would not only find it difficult to gain the trust of team members, but they might even create animosity.
In-Ah was a friend outside the exam, but inside the examination zone, she was a competitor. I had to clearly remember this fact and I had to make sure my team members knew it.
"Which side should we start negotiating with?" Dae-Man asked as we were moving.
I looked at the hostages and the team members following from behind. Although it was unlikely, I arranged one team member per hostage just in case the hostages tried to escape.
Su-Ryeon and the other unnamed hostage followed silently, but Ha-Yeon and In-Ah reluctantly followed with faces full of discontent. In-Ah, in particular, openly glared at me.
"Let's go to the Department of Priests..."
Ha-Yeon and In-Ah were valuable hostages. As time passed, the value of the hostages would decrease, so it was wise to start with the students from the Department of Priests in order to negotiate and obtain as many tokens as possible. It was also because it made me slightly uncomfortable when I saw In-Ah glaring at me with handcuffs on.
"Alright. Then I'll request for the negotiation."
"Sure. You remember the plan, right?"
"Of course," Dae-Man said as he began manipulating the digital watch.
The procedure for negotiations was simple. First, we would request a negotiation with the desired group using the digital watch. Once the request was accepted, the digital watch would determine the negotiation point based on the location of each group. Then, we just needed to go there and proceed with the negotiation.
During the negotiation and immediately after the end of the negotiation, it was impossible to capture any additional hostages for ten minutes. It seemed to be a rule to prevent tactics such as launching a surprise attack during the negotiation.
Technically, it was possible to neutralize the other party before the ten minutes were up, and then wait ten minutes before putting on the handcuffs. I couldn’t tell whether teachers had made a mistake during the planning of the test or if they had deliberately left loopholes so that students could incorporate these loopholes into their strategy.
"Uh, Do Sun-Woo!"
At that moment, one of my team members urgently called me. It was the team member that I had instructed to guard Ha-Yeon. There was panic in his voice.
When I went over, Ha-Yeon was breathing heavily with a pale face. Wasn’t her face originally pale? Anyway, she didn’t look well.
I approached Ha-Yeon and asked, "What's wrong?"
She raised her hands which were tied with handcuffs and said, "Th-these."
"What? The handcuffs?"
"Please untie them, even just one side. It's suffocating, I can't breathe..." Ha-Yeon said.
Ha-Yeon’s dry lips trembled and her eyes were glazed over and unfocused. Because her breathing was uneven, her speech was stuttering unevenly. Her skin was beyond pale and was now approaching a bluish hue.
It seemed like she had some trauma related to being restrained. There must have been a reason why she had been whining since earlier about having her handcuffs removed.
"Dae-Man, the key please."
"Got it. Just a moment... This isn't working well. This is why touchscreens..."
Dae-Man was busy trying to get his digital watch to work. His fingers were too thick, making it difficult for him to operate the watch. With furrowed brows, Dae-Man looked at the watch screen and then sighed before taking out the key from his pocket and handing it to me.
"Sorry. I’m struggling to send the negotiation request."
"Take your time. If it doesn't work, have someone else do it."
"No, I want to do it. But it's not easy..." Dae-Man said while trying to manipulate the watch again with rough hand movements.
I nodded and inserted the key into Ha-Yeon's handcuffs.
Click.
I released one side of the handcuffs. Ha-Yeon looked at me with a surprised expression on her face.
"Did you really unlock it?"
"Just one side."
I grabbed one of the unlocked handcuffs and pulled it toward me. Ha-Yeon weakly fell toward me as she was pulled. She blinked in confusion and looked up at me.
"I'll be the one carrying the unlocked side," I said.
"...What is this? It's like I’m a pet dog!"
"If you're unhappy, I can lock both sides."
"Why not just unlock both sides?"
"What if you try to escape?"
"I won't run away."
"How can I trust you? Just shut up and follow me."
After speaking a little harshly, Ha-Yeon finally closed her mouth. Although she glared at me with hostility, she didn't seem as unwell as before. It was actually a good thing because it meant that she had enough stamina to be able to glare at me.
"Sun-Woo!" Dae-Man called out.
"I’ve requested a negotiation. Now all we have to do is wait right?" Dae-Man asked.
"What? What’s this?"
Dae-Man frowned and looked at his watch. His eyebrows twitched strangely as if he saw something strange.
At first, he thought that he had made a mistake. He thought that he had requested a negotiation with the Department of Crusaders instead of the Department of Priests or that he had chosen the wrong team to negotiate with.
"...What’s this? They responded to our request as if they were waiting for it.”
Fortunately, that was not the case. However, the phrase “as if they were waiting for it” bothered me.
With a serious expression, Dae-Man said, "The negotiation point is right here. There's no need to move. Something feels off..."
Dae-Man looked up and glanced somewhere. I also turned my gaze in that direction. In the distance, a man with blond hair that was wet from the rain approached with threatening steps.
It was Yu-Hyun.
He was alone, but there was a confident ease in his stride. It was as if he knew that we would request negotiations right here at this exact time and exact place.
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