Chapter 82: Novice 3
The white light disappeared, and Jeffrey slowly opened his eyes. He turned his head left and right and realized he was restrained.
"What...?"
He was lying on his bed, waiting. If he was restrained, someone would be there shortly. He waited until a bunch of lights turned on. The lights were hard on his eyes until he got used to them and realized they were coming from the second-floor window.
The lights were behind some men. Two of them were standing there, looking down on him. He didn’t know who they were.
Jeffrey checked them out and closed his eyes. He wanted to know how many men there were at his house.
He guessed there were about ten men. He had gone to the Dimensional Battlefield, and that’s when they restrained him. They had to be armed.
It was annoying.
Jeffrey sighed and said:
"Why don’t you introduce yourselves?"
Because of the lights, he couldn’t see the men’s faces, but one of them spoke up:
"You are not nervous."
"I feel bad, but there is a need for a conversation."
"Interesting fellow. We might be able to talk sensibly with him."
A man with his hands behind his back spoke as well:
"The name is Jeffrey. A Harvard University veterinary student. Age 22. Correct?"
"Yes."
"And you’ve been to the Dimensional Battlefield twice now..."
Jeffrey realized they knew a lot about him.
"You know your information. What do you want to talk about?"
"We are interested in the Dimensional Battlefield. Before you return to that place again, you should make a deal with us."
"A deal? Why don’t you release me?"
"Sorry. You must agree first."
Jeffrey moved his head and said:
"It looks like the deal would be one-sided."
"That’s not true."
Jeffrey shook his head.
"I don’t know who you are, and you have me tied up, and now you want me to make a deal?" Jeffrey said, looking at the man who was looking down on him. "We should talk face-to-face."
A huge wolf appeared. It was the size of a cow, and everyone became nervous. Jeffrey looked at the wolf. It walked over to him and destroyed the things tying his hands and feet.
He got up and stretched, and the men surrounded him, aiming their guns at him. Jeffrey laughed.
"You leave me no choice."
All of a sudden, Jeffrey was wearing a purple suit of armor.
"Take him down!"
The man staring at him shouted, and the guns fired off loudly, but the bullets bounced off the armor. Jeffrey cracked his neck.
"You need a strong defense to survive."
Jeffrey extended both of his arms, and a ten feet tall gorilla appeared next to him.
"Take care of them," he said.
The huge animals attacked the men shooting at him. They all fell with their pistols blazing. They were torn apart, but Jeffrey didn’t seem to mind.
He looked at the man.
"Are you coming down?"
"You are not a minion."
"You didn’t know?" Jeffrey said and smiled. "You messed with the wrong bull."
Everyone went down, and Jeffrey looked at the wolf, and the wolf attacked the man.
Crash!
The window broke, and the wolf went inside of the room, but it was empty. Jeffrey hopped on the gorilla and inspected the second floor. It was all a bunch of equipment, and he laughed.
"They are careful."
For fear that something might happen, the man wasn’t there. Jeffrey looked around and said:
"Spare no one."
The wolf and the gorilla ran out. He kept inspecting the room and smiled.
"If they want to be my enemies, so be it."
Jeffrey looked for cash or things he could pawn. He couldn’t lead an ordinary life anymore, and he needed money.
He picked out a few things and walked out. With a signal, the wolf and the gorilla came to him, and Jeffrey sent them away and looked around.
"What should I do now?"
The road outside was barren, so he sent his armor away and left.
He jumped over a wire fence, and a few cars approached him. There were three vans, and two men stepped out of them. Jeffrey just stared at them.
Who are they?
A grey-haired man stepped forward.
"Mr. Jeffrey?" He asked.
"Yes. Who are you?"
"We are from ST Capsule. If you are being followed, why don’t you come with us?"
"ST Capsule?"
"Yes. The CEO sent us."
Jeffrey laughed.
"This is America. What can ST Capsule do for me?"
"We will escort you to South Korea, where you will talk to our CEO."
Jeffrey shrugged and smiled.
"You are letting yourselves be known, so you must also want something. There is a condition."
"Speak."
Jeffrey pointed to the building from which he had walked out.
"I wanted to live in peace and made a mess of things. Can you take care of it?"
"Of course."
Jeffrey smiled, and his eyes turned violent.
"There is one more thing. Tell me who they were."
"We will explain everything. Get in the car first. We are still in danger."
"Well, shall we?"
Jeffrey got in the car. As it started off, Jeffrey sighed. His pointless wandering was over.
"What happened to my younger sibling?"
"He’s on a plane bound for South Korea."
"I like you."
Jeffrey leaned back on his seat and closed his eyes. He was going with their flow, but he didn’t let his guard down. He had experienced how dangerous it was to trust someone while at the Dimensional Battlefield.
He was the only one he could trust.
ST Capsule would offer him a deal. He would talk to their CEO, and if they held him or his sibling hostage, they would know what kind of a guy he was.
---
Over the weekend, they finished the construction, and Junhyuk trained. He didn’t want to talk to Sarang on the phone. Someone could be wiretapping their phone conversation.
He couldn’t meet her either. He had made a space for him to train, and she also needed a space to train.
More money was needed. So, he had to give her some money. If she had money, she could find somewhere to practice.
Junhyuk withdrew some cash, careful to lose the tail on him. He was not an ordinary person and he could teleport to hide from people.
He didn’t tell her, and on Monday after work, he left his cell phone on his desk. It was possible to track him by using the phone’s GPS.
Then, he got on the subway. People couldn’t follow him easily there. He would be able to catch anyone who tried.
He arrived at Sarang’s school by walking, running and teleporting eight different times from the top of one building to another. He ended at the top of the building next to Sarang’s school.
He had to give her money, so he waited until students started leaving the school one by one. Junhyuk spotted her.
Her soul had grown, and she was easy pick out.
Junhyuk dropped down and walked over to her. Sarang was talking to her friends when she saw him and ran toward him.
"Big brother!"
Junhyuk stopped her as she tried to give him a hug.
"We are in front of your school."
"Hm."
"Follow me. I want to talk."
"Get me something to eat."
"OK."
Junhyuk took her to a family restaurant, and she ordered her food with joy.
"Is anyone following you?"
"No."
"Can’t be so sure."
"Why?"
Junhyuk told her what had happened, and she listened attentively.
"It’s like a spy movie!"
"I think so too."
"Should we be meeting like this?"
"No," he answered calmly. "They might wiretap our cell phones, so I left mine at my desk."
"You don’t know what will happen."
"I know. After today, we might not meet again until the Dimensional Battlefield. We shouldn’t talk on the phone."
Sarang looked at him.
"Why did you come to see me?"
Junhyuk pulled an envelope out of his backpack.
"Here."
"What is this?"
Sarang opened the envelope and gasped in surprise.
"It’s fifty thousand dollars. Use the money to get a place to practice. Get a studio or a loft, some place where you can be alone," he explained calmly.
Sarang was touched. That was a large sum of money, and he was giving it to her just like that. She thought he was very cool.
"OK," she said and put the money away.
"You shouldn’t come looking for me, and train on your own instead. Have you been practicing?"
"Yes." She said, lifting her hand and generating a light orb. "I’m very used to it now."
"That’s nice."
Sarang’s skills had improved. Junhyuk cut a piece of the steak and offered it to her. She felt happy and ate it gladly.
Junhyuk started to eat his port rib. He had been training, and now he could eat a lot more than he was previously able to.
Sarang patted her belly.
"That was delicious."
Junhyuk caressed her head, picked up the check and stood up.
"We should separate."
"Really?"
"Nothing good will come of staying together."
"Hm," Sarang nodded slowly. "OK. I’ll spend the money wisely."
"It’s not for shopping. It’s for survival in the Dimensional Battlefield."
"Trust me," she said and nodded. "Actually, can I buy a couple of things?"
Junhyuk laughed.
"Just two things."
"Fine," he liked seeing her happy. "Just be as careful here as you are at the Dimensional Battlefield."
"Don’t worry."
He patted her head gently and said:
"We will meet on the battlefield."
Junhyuk went away, waving his hand, and Sarang strapped on her backpack.
"I have a fat wallet now. I feel full," she said and smirked.