🔊 TTS Settings
chapter 86
Am I just not cut out for traveling?
It happened back when I went on my elementary school field trip, it happened in Sydney, and now it’s happening here in London too.
Why is it that every time I travel somewhere new, I end up caught in a terrorist incident…?
Well… during my elementary school trip, it wasn’t so much that I got involved as it was that Sarang happened to be at the site of the attack, and things just worked out that I resolved it.
None of it was ever my intention—it was all more or less coincidence. But still, since I keep getting entangled in terrorism, I can’t help but wonder.
Of course, I’m not about to complain that being caught up in these attacks makes me unlucky.
If anything, it’s the opposite. Because I was there, the terrorists’ plans failed.
And compared to the alternative—the terrorists succeeding and causing countless casualties—it’s far better for me to be involved and stop them, even if it’s troublesome.
…Troublesome for me, that is.
Well, it can’t be helped.
After confirming that we had subdued all the terrorists in the exhibition hall, I went over to Rachel and my mother.
“…Gunwoo, are you all right?”
My mother, who had been retching just a moment ago, asked me in a worried voice.
Her complexion looked awful—so much so that I thought she should be worrying about herself more than me.
Not that I had any real reason to hear the words “are you all right” directed at me anyway.
Then again, from her perspective, her young son just fought terrorists—it’s only natural for her to be worried.
Even if I had completely overwhelmed them, it would’ve looked dangerous to someone like my mom who didn’t understand.
“I’m fine, Mom.”
When I said that, she let out a sigh of relief, though she still looked half doubtful.
Rachel, watching the two of us, turned to me.
“Gunwoo, what are you going to do now?”
“Hm?”
“Well, we’ve secured this exhibit hall. It wouldn’t be the worst idea to just stay here and wait….”
As she said that, she glanced around.
The place was full of people—ordinary visitors to the British Museum—watching us.
With all the guards killed, the only ones strong enough to instantly deal with terrorists were us—or, more precisely, me.
Naturally, the others here had no choice but to rely on me.
So, yes, we could stay here and wait for Arthur.
But….
There’s no telling what the terrorists will do next.
Even if Arthur and the Association’s awakened ones arrived, it didn’t guarantee the terrorists would be neutralized immediately.
Their target seemed to be the artifacts in the museum, but if pressed, they could easily use hostages to buy time for an escape.
In that case, the Association would be forced to move carefully to protect the hostages, dragging out the rescue.
Which means I need to secure the safety of the people in the other galleries too.
I felt bad about betraying the hopeful looks people were giving me, but the best option was for me to take the initiative.
“…I’ll go. You hold this place.”
“Mm. I figured you’d say that.”
Rachel seemed to agree it was better for me to actively cut down the terrorists’ numbers and rescue potential hostages rather than just guard this room.
“Don’t worry too much. I’m not as strong as you, Arthur, or Yeon Mirae… but I can hold my own.”
She began arranging her dolls into formation, ready to fight at a moment’s notice.
Honestly, if even two veteran-level awakened terrorists came here, she wouldn’t be able to hold them back—but….
Rachel can at least stall against most strong foes. That should be enough.
And stalling was all that mattered.
It wasn’t like I planned to just walk away carelessly—I’d leave measures in place and keep my senses trained on this hall so I could return at any time.
With this, Mom’s safety is ensured too.
After entrusting Rachel with the hall, I slipped out.
Some of the visitors panicked when they saw me leaving, but Rachel quickly suppressed the commotion.
“Now, let’s see….”
Once outside, I spotted more terrorists heading this way.
Maybe they’d realized their comrades had fallen. Or maybe it was just part of their patrol.
Clank. Clank.
Among them, one looked different.
He wore a full-body armored suit, plating like a tank’s—and not just armor. On his back was a power unit that assisted movement.
Rather than “wearing” it, it was more accurate to say he was piloting it.
“A powered suit?”
I’d seen such things in the future of my previous life.
They were rare—expensive and inefficient, built for ordinary soldiers to wield heavy weapons at the cost of mobility.
The one here was clearly an older model than what I remembered—understandable, since this was earlier in the timeline.
Still, a powered suit is a military weapon. How did terrorists get their hands on one?
Even outdated, it was too dangerous to be floating around.
Maybe they’d stolen it. Maybe they had blueprints.
But my gut told me otherwise.
They must have backing—or a black market dealer. Someone I know of.
Yeah…
Oracle.
I had no proof, but I was convinced Oracle was behind them.
…Not that that mattered right now.
“(Huh? Who’s that kid?)”
“(He came from the exhibition room….)”
“(And we’ve lost contact with that team. Must be related. Just shoot him.)”
The terrorists exchanged words, and the one in the powered suit raised a built-in weapon at me.
A machine gun, huh.
Looked like a heavy type—hard to tell the exact model. Normally, you’d need to mount something like that, but here he was wielding it one-handed.
Maybe an awakened user in a powered suit could do that.
Ratatatatatat!
Thick rounds thundered toward me—probably 15mm caliber.
I calmly dashed straight into them.
Shhhh…
The bullets, about to pierce me, disintegrated before they could touch my body.
That was thanks to the protective aura around me—Guardian Qi.
The rounds couldn’t overcome it and simply vanished.
“(…Huh?)”
Before they could make sense of what they were seeing—me running through gunfire unscathed—I smashed my fist into the powered suit user’s face.
BOOM!
The impact rang out like an explosion.
The suit kept him from toppling, auto-balancing itself, but it didn’t matter—his face was crushed, and he was out cold.
“(…Wha?)”
“(Huh?)”
The other terrorists hadn’t even processed what happened before I dropped them as well.
No need to describe it in detail—they all went down in a single strike each.
“Hm….”
I turned my gaze back to the powered suit.
If I remember right, most designs let you remove an unconscious or dead pilot so someone else could use it.
Powered suits were too hard to take off alone in an emergency, so they were built to be removed by allies.
Unless this older model was different….
Whirr—clank.
A bit of fumbling revealed the release mechanism.
I dragged the terrorist out and stuffed the suit into my subspace.
Not to wear it—it was far too big for me—but better not to leave it lying around.
“Okay, next is….”
Just then, noise erupted outside the museum.
“(Terrorists! You are surrounded! I repeat, you are surrounded! Release the hostages and surrender immediately!)”
Someone was shouting through a loudspeaker.
That voice… I recognized it.
The man I saw yesterday, the one who cleared his throat when Eliot and Elena were fighting.
If he was with them, then he must be royalty as well.
So he’d come here.
But then—
Bzzt…
“(…Tch. The police and Association got here faster than expected.)”
I turned toward the sound—it came from a nearby terrorist I’d just knocked out.
Bzzt…
“(We knew they’d come, but this is too fast. It’s like they knew instantly, even with our jamming.)”
I searched him and found a radio—the source of the voices.
Bzzt…
“(Either way, we can’t just sit still.)”
What were they planning?
They wouldn’t really march out hostages as shields… would they?
Bzzt…
“(Hey, go out there and fire the machine gun to scare them. That’ll quiet them down.)”
…Machine gun?
Bzzt…
“(Yeah. Even awakened ones will freak if a powered suit shows up wielding something that big.)”
Uh….
Bzzt…
“(…Wait. Why isn’t he answering?)”
Because I already knocked him out.
Did that mean I had to pretend to be him?
“……”
But I wasn’t good at mimicking voices, so I stayed silent.
Bzzt…!
“(Everyone, hold your positions! Something’s wrong inside! If it comes to it, be ready to fire on the hostages!)”
With no reply, they immediately grew more wary.
…Looks like the difficulty level just went up.
