Substitute-Chapter 129

Choi Sucheol was not flustered by an unannounced power cut. They periodically cut power to prevent a shutdown, and even if the blackout had another cause, the technicians usually restored power within five minutes, so there was no need to rush.

Hold the power post.

He gave his subordinates the order calmly for now.

Still, the VIP’s departure bothered him.

He hadn’t expected someone to turn their back and leave with the Chairman watching. “Leaving” was a polite word — it was basically running away.

He must have been terrified from seeing someone die right in front of him. He'd be scared because he’d done something that pricks the conscience.

What a waste of size.

Choi Sucheol looked down on the man in his head.

Besides, where could he have gone in these mountains? In this weather, no less.

The car the target had come in was parked thirty minutes away by road. They’d been brought from the lot in a private limousine, so the VIP wouldn’t know how far and rough the road out here was. And he didn’t have a secretary to carry him.

Like every guest gathered here, he had come alone.

And yet he got scared and made a stupid decision without thinking ahead.

“Leave him.”

The Chairman glanced at his wristwatch and said.

“If we leave him like that in this weather, he’s likely to fall. The path is so rough.”

He pretended to show concern.

Even a stupid guy was one of the Chairman’s grandsons, so he had to care about his safety.

But an unexpected line came from the Chairman’s mouth.

“It won’t be a fall. It’ll be a disappearance.”

“Huh?”

Seeing the flustered Choi Sucheol, the Chairman smiled thinly.

“Let’s leave him for an hour.”

Then he added casually.

Was he joking? Sure, it must be a joke.

The Chairman often joked like that, so Choi Sucheol just laughed it off. But inside he felt different.

What if something happened in that hour?

He had already kept the witness alive a short while ago; he couldn’t follow the Chairman’s intent at all.

“Captain Choi, you can take care of your business. We’ll stay inside.”

Choi Sucheol, who had assumed he would go into the building with them, was slightly taken aback by the Chairman’s words.

There were four rats inside. No — with the one tied to the punishment frame, it would be five.

They were clearly going to interrogate them, but they wanted to leave me out?

He grew uneasy for no reason.

“You needn’t worry about internal and external security. I will escort them inside—”

“Captain Choi, you misunderstood me. That guy, he’s still my grandson. Of course you should follow him.”

The Chairman cut him off.

“What if he falls?”

He glared at Choi Sucheol with a dead face.

What he’d said earlier wasn’t a joke.

“Ah, yes. That’s true.”

Damn, this isn’t what I wanted.

Choi Sucheol felt sour.

“So the rats—”

“It’s not your concern. Don’t bother yourself.”

The Chairman showed an expression of annoyance and openly rebuked him.

Choi Sucheol had been sure it was his duty to deal with the rats. Manager Kim had gathered the information and caught the rats, but it was Choi who’d assigned the guards to make that possible.

More than that, he and the Chairman had several prearranged codes. He’d planned operations spanning five different contingencies, but none of them had been used. His plans, crafted over days, had become useless. He felt used and discarded.

“Understood. I’ll do my best with my assignment.”

He was displeased that things weren’t going his way, but he didn’t show it.

He knew better than anyone that insisting further against the Chairman’s words was useless.

The Chairman turned his back without a word of thanks.

Choi Sucheol watched the Chairman’s retreating back and vowed to make the guards regret their current negligence.

The VIP he was supposed to chase had already vanished from sight, but he didn’t hurry.

Instead he radioed his men. He first called in the four posted at the building’s main entrance, and ordered half of the men currently attending guests to assemble immediately.

Let’s see them manage without me.

Choi Sucheol cursed inwardly, certain the Chairman would radio him urgently for help soon.

When the Chairman’s group had faded into a dot, one umbrella-carrying dot collapsed. Two guards trailing them lifted the fallen dot and helped it along.

Serves him right.

Choi Sucheol sneered inside, and then his radio crackled.

It was the Chairman.

Choi Sucheol straightened with a start.

“Yes, Chairman.”

[Captain Choi, do not fire thinking it’s a wild animal.]

“Huh?”

[Do not fire thinking it’s a wild animal. I’ll give you one hour.]

Wait. That was one of the two codes they had made.

The code they’d agreed to use when ordering to open fire.

He never imagined the Chairman would use that code in this situation.

By saying he’d give an hour, the Chairman hinted at the target.

The VIP.

He was said to be one of the most cherished grandsons. The Chairman had even said he would hand the project to him.

And yet he ordered to fire.

Is it safe to kill him with no repercussions?

“Damn.”

Choi Sucheol frowned at the iron gate where the VIP had disappeared.

The Chairman’s radio continued.

[And you, be fully armed and on standby. Stay as close as possible so you can run when I call.]

This was another prearranged part of their plan.

Ah. So the Chairman hadn’t been dismissing me.

Choi Sucheol scolded himself for his earlier hastiness in cursing the Chairman without understanding his deeper intent.

“Yes, Chairman! I will keep as close as possible!”

He shouted, moved by relief.

Calling in the men earlier out of pique turned out to be prescient.

Choi Sucheol assembled the rest of his men by radio, then encouraged those already gathered around him.

“You’ve worked hard. From now on we’re the stars of this project. You are the masters of this place. Understand?”

His voice rang out through the rain.

He soon ordered the men to put on full combat gear.

From now on, this place is a battlefield.

Meanwhile, Kim Taehyun felt a chill that was nearly driving him mad.

“Yeol, why is that bastard Michael acting like that?”

He asked in a voice so thin it sounded like a bleating goat.

He felt as if he were standing naked outside in midwinter rather than summer.

He remembered nearly getting frostbite two years ago in the snowy mountains when he’d been a smartass about sex. At least that time had been fun; this felt like hell.

Until he ate the chocolate bar, it had felt close to heaven.

No — before the chocolate bar he couldn’t even imagine witnessing a murder, so maybe seeing a murder had turned it into hell.

“Let’s go in.”

He had been waiting for those words from the Chairman.

Kim Taehyun bowed without meaning to and shouted, “Thank you!”

A lightning bolt struck so bright it hurt to look.

Kim Taehyun, bracing to avoid being struck, collapsed at the thunder that burst his eardrums.

Thank God the wetsuit kept my butt from getting wet. He giggled.

Laughing to himself, he felt something was off.

Fuck. The drug.

Why of all times would the drug kick in now?

But that couldn’t be. With that amount...?

He tilted his head.

Before the game started he’d taken one pill, and then one here and there — three in total — and thirty minutes ago he’d swallowed three at once, saying it was the last dose. The number sounds large, so someone might worry about side effects, but this amount never caused hallucinations for Kim Taehyun. Taking them spaced out had merely acted as supplements or stimulants.

Maybe he’d developed a tolerance?

Since learning about the Chairman’s “booster” two years ago, Kim Taehyun had taken it like a nutrient. He took two pills morning and night, up to three on occasion, and afterward he’d been full of energy. People always marveled at his stamina.

Because he usually ❖ Nоvеl𝚒ght ❖ (Exclusive on Nоvеl𝚒ght) took that much, he’d often taken about five pills for sex, sometimes as many as ten. Only then did the drug fully take hold.

By contrast, Kim Hansoo was conservative with drugs. He only used them at parties. So the three he’d taken at once earlier must have affected him badly. He wouldn’t normally do something so absurd.

But this reaction shouldn’t be happening to me.

Kim Taehyun took his pills himself and didn’t trust others, so there was no way anyone else had mixed something into them.

So why was he laughing?

And why was he cold?

It was truly strange. After taking the booster he’d never felt cold; his whole body should have been burning hot.

Even though the downpour was strong, he’d taken six pills in total, so his body should be flushed and aroused. The time he had sex naked in the snowy mountains had been because of that drug.

But this was different.

He was cold. Bitterly cold. That made no sense.

He had never, not once, felt this cold after taking the booster.

“Yeol, why am I cold?”

He grabbed the arm of the man walking ahead.

The man turned.

It wasn’t Gwak Yeol. It was the Chairman.

“Chairman?”

His vision spun.

Kim Taehyun realized instinctively.

Something else... had been mixed in.

His consciousness began to fade.

At the same time, Platoon Leader Hwang Seungmin of 3rd Squad received a radio call from Choi Sucheol.

The VIP had slipped away during the blackout.

The order was simple.

[Do not fire thinking it’s a wild animal.]

In other words: shoot on sight.

To kill the VIP.

Tsk, he clicked his tongue.

Hwang Seungmin had ordered his entire squad of fifteen to maintain 24-hour emergency alert when Hide-and-Seek began, and they were all diligently watching their sectors without moving.

He only called four of his men who should still be outside guarding the perimeter — specifically those watching the wire fence.

There was no need to send more. The target was drugged and acting irrationally. Running away in front of the host was proof. Anyone could see it was a foolish choice.

Turning one’s back to the enemy.

If he'd wanted, Choi Sucheol could have run up and cut his throat.

Honestly, it could have been handled alone, but the terrain was vast and searchers were needed.

Hwang Seungmin left the post with night-vision gear, raincoats, and a modified shotgun for the patrol.

This summer had never seen a real rain, and the first storm they’d had was this torrential downpour. In weather like this it would be hard to tell if a saboteur had slipped in.

Water dripped endlessly from the sentinel’s roof.

Hwang Seungmin kept working on the shotgun under the eaves until his men gathered.

Around that time, Gwak Yeol felt something odd watching Kim Taehyun being led away by a guard. His cousin’s earlier error looked like a clear case of misjudgment from overdosing on the booster, but Kim Taehyun was not that kind of person. He was a junkie’s junkie; he’d only shown such symptoms when using cheap meth.

Whatever it was, Gwak Yeol was convinced something had been mixed into the pills Kim Taehyun had taken.

Especially since Kim Taehyun always kept his pills himself; no one else could have touched his pill bottle. That meant the suspicion should fall on something else he ate or drank.

The bottled water and the chocolate bar.

He hadn’t touched them, but did the Chairman eat the same things given to everyone?

Not bad, old man.

Gwak Yeol chuckled.

The sting on the back of his head made him think he, after his cousin and Kim Taehyun, might be the next target.

He’d been waiting for that; he was inwardly delighted.

No doubt the old man was internally screaming with joy too.

We’re alike. We’re of the same blood.

But he didn’t plan to play much longer.

They’d had enough fun; now it was time to pay.

A very painful price.