“Were we… kidnapped?”

Jeong Tae-ui quietly asked the man sitting beside him. Though he spoke softly, the room was so silent that everyone heard. Once again, all eyes turned toward him.

The man who had been addressed frowned and seemed to ponder for a moment before shrugging his shoulders.

“Looks like that, doesn’t it?”

“Hm… I was walking down the street when some people got out of a car and dragged me here. How about you?”

“Similar for me. I was jogging this morning when I got pulled in.”

Watching the man speak with such nonchalance despite being kidnapped, Tae-ui thought this guy was pretty tough. Now that he looked around, everyone seemed similar—there was almost no sign of panic or fear about the future. Faint discomfort or anxiety was visible, but none seemed frightened or intimidated by their situation.

Tae-ui stared at them a moment, then hummed and looked back up at the ceiling.

Indeed. He was just some insignificant guest who had stayed at Kyle’s house quite a while, but these others were not. Their attitudes suggested they were either used to this kind of situation or believed misfortune wouldn’t come their way. In other words, these were people seated high in society.

They were probably important business guests of Kyle’s or official acquaintances. Tae-ui thought, I poor soul with no support, I better try to cling tightly to these people somehow. Scratching his head, he looked down at his leg. Pain usually appeared once you became conscious of it. Having not thought about it until now, seeing the cast on his leg suddenly made his ankle start to ache.

Yeah, I ran on this ankle earlier. If it was going to end like this anyway, I shouldn’t have pushed it so hard and just gone quietly. This is probably pretty strained. If I survive this, first thing I do is go to the hospital.

“Damn. I’m going to be making a lot of hospital trips with this small fracture in my ankle…”

Tae-ui grumbled as he massaged his cast—even though he had no feeling in his ankle. The man next to him clicked his tongue and asked sympathetically,

“You must be having a hard time with your body already not in great shape.”

“Yeah, well… I’m not the only one. We’re all dragged here by people we don’t even know…”

Tae-ui nodded in agreement, and the man smiled vaguely.

Seeing that smile, Tae-ui tilted his head slightly. It wasn’t a satisfying answer. After thinking for a moment, Tae-ui bluntly asked,

“Do you know who those guys are?”

The man frowned, looked troubled, and thought for a while. Then he said,

“They’re probably people who want something from Kyle’s company.”

After saying that, he shrugged and fell silent. He didn’t want to talk long about uncertain matters. Others murmured some agreement. Tae-ui scratched his head again. Come to think of it, Kyle had mentioned something like this before.

“…”

Tae-ui slowly nodded. It wasn’t certain, but he had a rough formula.

Now comes the problem… How will Kyle ⊛ Nоvеlιght ⊛ (Read the full story) handle it? This probably wasn’t the first time something like this happened, so he must have his own way.

Tae-ui sighed in vain. He needed to find his brother quickly. He didn’t know how, but he had to find him first and travel with him if possible. Then, based on past precedents, he wouldn’t have gotten into this situation. Even if he had, he wouldn’t have worried. He’d just wait for the walls of this house to suddenly collapse due to shoddy construction or for a police chief to have a divine revelation and storm in.

…Really pointless thoughts.

Tae-ui closed his eyes. His headache had eased a bit, and he felt like if he slept and woke again, his dizziness and headache would clear away. After that… well, whatever happens, happens.

 

News reached Kyle after dinner.

When he returned home from work, he was in quite a good mood. The long-standing problem seemed to be showing signs of a breakthrough. For months, the trail of a missing person had been lost, but now it seemed possible to catch it.

When Gable, sent to Doha, circled the area for a long time and then reported “there’s a bit more to investigate,” before moving on to Saudi Arabia, Kyle felt a flicker of hope. Gable was not someone who moved easily and was excessively cautious when speaking. Though sometimes frustrating, if he said “there’s a lead,” it was generally close to the phrase “the trail has been caught” used by informants.

Finding the missing person was a favor from a close friend, but above all, Kyle himself desperately wanted to find him. It was a strictly profit-driven motive, but the person had left an unfinished blueprint behind. The internal company research center—a group of scholars promised the best treatment worldwide—had struggled long and hard over it but failed to complete the design.

More precisely, they had produced several different possible versions. Each outcome could be developed into a remarkable new product, but this only made things more complicated. They didn’t know which version was the developer’s true intention, and it might even be completed in some other way.

They could have developed and commercialized it as is, but if any suspicious parts remained, it could lead to a major accident later. That was the nature of this industry.

Thanks to that, the research expenses spent analyzing the blueprint were enormous. Money aside, no one knew the blueprint’s true level of completion. It was concluded that the original developer was necessary.

But the developer had vanished, leaving behind only an unfinished blueprint. The research director at the institute barely went home for months, obsessed with the blueprint and countless diagrams, and recently exploded in fury. Whether genius or not, that bastard clearly planned to screw them all over.

Kyle wanted to agree.

Then a phone call shattered their harmony.

While discussing defense-related matters with Morro and Jenkins, Rita informed them a call had come. The moment Kyle answered, he heard words that instantly destroyed his good mood.

From the moment he heard the unfamiliar voice in a slightly lowered tone, he felt uneasy. Rarely had such calls ended well. And his intuition was right. This had happened a few times before. For years recently, he’d had peace of mind, but that was a mistake.

“…”

Kyle hung up and returned to the living room with a dark expression. The two friends waiting and chatting read his face and lost their smiles.

“Bad news?”

Morro cautiously looked at Kyle and asked. Jenkins waited for the answer.

Kyle muttered a low sound then said,

“It was an armed group in Bolivia. I don’t recall their name, so they’re probably small, but they say they have my friends.”

The two fell silent. They frowned, waiting for Kyle to continue. They soon realized the situation—this happened rarely. They were demanding weapons.

Actually, if any weapons were acceptable, getting them wouldn’t be difficult. Numerous brokers illegally facilitated arms deals, and defense contractors unofficially participated. So even poor groups without weapon procurement channels could find ways if they looked around.

The problem was when they wanted specific weapons.

Common weapons were everywhere and easy to get with little effort. But if the desired weapons were only available through limited channels, that changed everything. And those weapons’ sellers had to be cautious. The more limited the route, the easier it was to trace the weapon’s distribution. If problems arose, the cover-up possibilities were extremely risky. So sellers didn’t give such weapons to just anyone, especially through unofficial channels. Without trusted intermediaries, they rarely traded with unknown parties. It wasn’t a financial but a trust issue.

What Kyle received was that type of problem.

When groups wanted specific weapons but had no prior transaction history, brokers had to be found to mediate. If they couldn’t find one, they had to give up.

Sometimes, very rarely, those groups resorted to threats, the dumbest method they could use.

“So who are the hostages?”

Jenkins asked with a frown. Kyle listed the names they gave him.

“...Haines, Ludwig, and Kim.”

When Kyle said the last name, Jenkins raised his eyebrows slightly. Having known Kyle for a long time, Jenkins knew the other names but seemed to not know the last one. Kyle explained,

“Oh, that’s a young man I met recently who’s currently staying at my place.”

Morro rolled his eyes as if thinking.

“If there’s any relief, it’s that they only gathered people they can’t treat roughly.”

Jenkins said that with relief but dissatisfaction. Kyle nodded, troubled.

The names were all Kyle’s close friends. But before being friends, they were also business partners. They all worked in different fields but were top in their domains. Killing them would be a big problem for the kidnappers. Of course, it was also troublesome for Kyle.

“This has happened before.”

Jenkins muttered, grimacing.

“Yeah, a couple of times.”

Kyle nodded. Morro, who had worked briefly at Kyle’s company research lab before joining UNHRDO and understood the company’s structure somewhat, nodded heavily.

“Back then, there was a way to solve it.”

“That’s right. There was a way... back then.”

Morro muttered seriously, and Jenkins agreed. Kyle sighed deeply, his face darkening.

“Hmm… is it hard to use that way now?”

Morro asked subtly. Kyle pondered. Couldn’t really use it now. At least not the same way as before. If there were time, he’d think of alternatives, but with hostages, there was little time.

“Can’t help it. I’ll have to contact them anyway. That guy’s been uneasy lately.”

Kyle sighed and picked up the phone. Morro kept silent, sipping coffee.

Kyle reluctantly made the call. When this happened years ago, solving it was simple. Then, there was a special task force separate from T&R Inc. It was a private mobile unit with separate corporate registration, a distinct company. Even if T&R requested it, payments were as per regulations. But public criticism arose since the private unit’s relationship with the arms company was too close—likely influenced by competitors—and it was disbanded after about two years. Kyle’s eccentric younger brother, who thrived there, later joined UNHRDO and reached this point.

Though that elite task force scattered, Kyle’s brother still contacted them. They all had strong personalities and were hard to gather, but only Kyle’s brother could assemble them.

“Not keen, but can’t avoid it.”