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chapter 127
About an hour before Han Geon-woo called 112.
Ding~
After finishing the hall cleaning since there were no customers, a young woman was resting in the kitchen with her mother when she noticed a group of people entering the store. She headed over to the counter.
“Welcome.”
Up until that moment, she had no idea that something terrible was about to happen to her family.
Although the group of people who walked in were armed, it wasn’t something unusual for Awakeners to carry weapons around.
Sure, civilians could feel uneasy seeing armed Awakeners, so it was usually avoided, but since there were a few small guilds nearby, she didn’t think much of it.
Strangers, huh? Maybe they’re from another neighborhood.
Since it was their first time here, she figured their order might take a little longer than usual.
That was all she thought—until the unexpected happened.
“Don’t move.”
“?!”
“Juri?!”
“You too, lady—don’t move!”
The group pointed their weapons, subduing her and her mother, and dragged them into the storage room at the back of the kitchen.
The two women couldn’t resist at all.
They had lived peacefully all their lives and didn’t know what to do in such a situation.
All they could do was obey as they were forced into the storage room.
“Hey, are you sure this is okay?”
“I told you, it’s fine. I disabled all the store’s security systems.”
“But still…”
The women overheard the kidnappers’ conversation.
Was one of them feeling guilty?
“What if the police or the Artist show up?”
No.
They weren’t worried about conscience—only about being caught.
“As long as we don’t mess up, the cops won’t come. And the Artist? No way he shows up now. I checked several times.”
Especially the Artist.
To these hostage-takers, he was the biggest obstacle.
“We’ve been eyeing this store for years, but we kept delaying because of that damn Artist. You know that, right?”
The Artist roamed all over Seoul every day, wiping out criminal organizations.
Rumor had it that if a serious crime broke out—even on the opposite side of Seoul—he’d rush over in an instant to stop it.
With someone like that around, especially when he was rumored to live in this very neighborhood, there was no chance of committing a crime here.
So, years passed as they only planned but never acted—until the chance finally came.
The Artist had been sighted in Japan.
“Even for him, returning to Korea from another country would take some time.”
“Are you really sure about that?”
“Positive. A contact told me—Japan’s crawling with the world’s strongest right now, and among them was someone believed to be the Artist. And next to him? None other than Yeon Mirae, his supposed disciple. That’s all the proof I need.”
They didn’t know why so many powerhouses had gathered in Japan.
“It’s still just speculation… you’re sure this is fine?”
“Damn it, if you’re that scared, just back out.”
Listening to their chatter, the two women finally understood why this was happening today.
But why their store, of all places?
Judging from their words, it seemed they had been targeting this place for years.
Just then—
Ding~
The dessert shop’s doorbell rang.
Someone else had entered.
“…Hey, you, girl.”
“Y-Yes?”
“Go check. And don’t try anything funny—you know what happens.”
“Ah… okay.”
One of the kidnappers pressed a knife to her mother’s neck. Terrified, the daughter obeyed.
“Oh, right. Leave your phone here. We’ll be watching you anyway, but just in case.”
“Okay…”
“And pin this on your chest.”
They gave her a strange-looking badge.
On closer inspection, she realized it was a hidden camera—there was a small lens on it.
For her mother’s safety, she walked back to the counter and acted like everything was normal, taking customer orders while desperately thinking of how to signal someone.
They said they’re monitoring me… and they hacked the security system too.
Trying to calm down, she glanced toward the store’s CCTV.
There aren’t many blind spots near the counter… except maybe under it.
The counter’s underside was invisible to both the CCTV and, if she was careful, the badge camera.
…There are pens and notepads here for jotting down credit orders from regulars.
She carefully scribbled “SOS” and “112” on a slip of paper without looking down, to avoid suspicion on camera. The writing was messy, but legible enough.
But how to pass it along without being caught?
The camera on my chest…
If she handed it directly, it would almost certainly be noticed. And what if it had a microphone too?
If the customer responded out loud, everything would be ruined.
And what if one of the “customers” is actually working with them?
She needed to give it only to someone she could trust.
Ugh… if only one of our regulars came soon!
As if her prayer was heard, a group of regulars arrived.
Local middle school Awakeners.
And especially—
Geon-woo… wasn’t he supposed to be some kind of Aura Master? A really strong one, anyway.
If only she could get the note to him.
When preparing his tiramisu, she slipped the memo beneath the plate—carefully avoiding the badge camera.
“Here’s your tiramisu.”
She succeeded.
But her odd movements must have been noticed.
Several kidnappers stepped out of the storage room and confronted her.
“When you were making that dessert just now, the camera angle was weird. You weren’t pulling anything, were you?”
“N-no! Nothing at all.”
She had shielded the tiramisu from view, and they had caught the unnatural motion.
“…Fine. The kids who got it seem too busy laughing among themselves. If you’d passed them something, they wouldn’t look so carefree.”
They dismissed it.
Phew…
She watched the kids discreetly, waiting.
And then—
“?”
Han Geon-woo noticed the note.
He looked back at her.
…Good.
He seemed to understand instantly, and quietly pretended to make a phone call.
Surely he was reporting to the police.
A little later, he came back to the counter.
“Excuse me, noona.”
“Mm?”
“I’d like two strawberry parfaits. I’ll eat one here and take the other to-go.”
“Ah, sure.”
As she prepared them, she couldn’t hide her relieved smile.
Report complete. Police SWAT team disguised as customers will arrive within five minutes.
The voice echoed in her mind—Geon-woo’s telepathy.
She didn’t know how it worked, but she understood at least that the kidnappers couldn’t hear it.
Police would end this soon.
Holding onto that hope, she carefully made the parfaits, turning her head so the kidnappers watching from the kitchen couldn’t see her expression.
Ding~
“Welcome.”
Moments later, another group entered the store.
Dressed casually, but she immediately sensed they were police.
They casually approached her at the counter—then suddenly—
“Keugh!”
“Urgh?!”
They stormed into the kitchen, taking down the kidnappers in seconds.
A policewoman came over, speaking gently.
“Are you okay?”
“Uh… wait…”
Something felt off.
Could it really end this easily?
“M-my mother is still in the storage room…”
If they rushed in recklessly, her mother could be in danger.
“If you mean the hostage in there, don’t worry.”
“What…?”
As she spoke, one officer donned a gas mask, opened the storage door, and sprayed something inside.
“…What’s that?”
“Just water mist. The storage room should already be filled with sleep gas.”
Before barging into the store, they had already pumped in a sleep-inducing gas that broke down harmlessly in water.
It put both the kidnappers and the hostage in the storage to sleep.
They couldn’t use it in the kitchen, since it was connected to the main dining area with customers, so that’s why they had stormed in directly there.
“Thanks to the detailed report from our caller, everything went smoothly.”
While she spoke, the officers cuffed the kidnappers and dragged them out.
Then they carried out the unconscious hostage—the store’s manager, her mother.
“Is there somewhere we can lay her down? She’ll be asleep for about thirty minutes.”
“Ah, yes! Over here…”
And just like that, the incident was resolved without harm.
Of course, the authorities still had to interrogate the culprits and put them on trial, but at least for the victims, there was nothing more to worry about.
