Kyle muttered a sigh, even though the phone had already started ringing without him picking up.

Lately, his younger brother had been in a really low mood. He was looking for someone but seemed unable to find them. He was nagging Kyle to find the person as well. But the person Kyle was trying to find wasn’t easy to locate either. Now that he thought about it, the person his brother was searching for was the younger sibling of a developer Kyle had been desperately searching all over for. Thinking about that made him sigh again. The brothers were both failing to find the person they wanted.

“...Why did you call?”

The ringing tone, which seemed to last quite a while, suddenly cut off, and his brother’s unpleasant voice came through. Come to think of it, it was the middle of the night for him, prime sleeping time. The timing of the call wasn’t great, but there was no choice now. Helping his brother rescue the hostages was the top priority.

“There’s something I need help with.”

Kyle got straight to the point. Through the phone, he felt his brother’s expression turn cold.

“What happened with what I told you before?”

“Oh. I’m checking on that. No news yet, but I’ll keep waiting a little longer.”

“You can’t even find one person properly, what are you doing?”

His brother’s voice turned harsh. Kyle’s expression also darkened slightly. At the same time, a question that had crossed his mind several times before resurfaced.

“...While we’re at it, tell me—why exactly are you looking for that guy? I need to know to get any clues. If you just say ‘find him,’ that means I’d have to dig up the whole damn planet, right?”

There was no answer over the phone. It had always been like this. Whenever asked why they were searching, they never responded.

Kyle sighed and asked again.

“If it’s because he’s Jeong Jae-yi’s brother, I’ve told you before there’s no need to worry about that. Even if it’s someone named Gil Sang-cheon, that only matters to Jae-yi. Looking for that guy won’t bring any luck to you.”

“If you’re just going to say the obvious, hang up.”

At the word “hang up,” the call actually disconnected. Kyle clicked his tongue while staring at the handset emitting the disconnection tone. Nearby, two others also clicked their tongues, hearing the loud phone volume clearly enough. But nobody here was unaware that his brother had a very peculiar personality.

Kyle called again. No answer. Called again. No answer. On the third try, the call was finally answered.

“Ilay. I said I need help.”

“I don’t want to. Your business is your business.”

“This is company-related, so it’s your business too. A small armed group is staging a kidnapping.”

“So what.”

Hearing his brother’s indifferent and curt reply, Kyle immediately sensed it wasn’t going to go as he planned. His brother never changed his mind once he decided not to do something.

Kyle clicked his tongue.

“If you’re not going to get involved, fine. Just contact the old mobile squad members.”

“You do it yourself.”

The call disconnected again. Kyle stared at the handset longer this time, listening to the disconnection tone. Then he sighed and put down the receiver.

“That’s no good. That method’s not going to work anymore.”

Kyle said helplessly, shrugging his shoulders. The old mobile squad members didn’t respond well to Kyle’s calls. Besides, contact was difficult and the numbers weren’t certain.

 

Even if he tried talking to his brother again, judging by his current state, it was unlikely to get through.

“This guy’s been like this nonstop lately. Even if it’s company business, he pushes it aside and just rants about finding that person,” Kyle complained to the others, clicking his tongue. Then, almost venting, he added, “I don’t know why he’s looking, but let him rage all his life without finding him.”

But thinking back, this was rare. Actually, Kyle had never seen anything like this before.

Ilay often refused work when he was in a bad mood. He was the type to live as he pleased, doing only what he wanted. Forcing him to work was out of the question.

Still, he had a certain sense of responsibility. If he judged a task to be his responsibility after hearing about it, he would take it on. When he was recently sent to the Hong Kong branch, he had openly expressed reluctance and said he didn’t want to go. But since it was company business — in other # Nоvеlight # words, family business he was partly involved in — he grudgingly agreed to go.

Then, just before the Hong Kong branch was officially established and operational, he went to Hong Kong for joint training with UNHRDO for fifteen days. Unexpectedly, he liked Hong Kong and even showed enthusiasm about going back.

Yet now, he was ignoring his duties and focused on finding someone.

It was almost unbelievable. Kyle had never seen his brother obsess over anything like this. Of course, he had no forgiveness for those who harmed him, but he never chased after someone who had already fled far away.

...Well, more precisely, he had always caught them before they could get far.

Apparently, the damned developer Gil Sang-cheon had really screwed his brother over and escaped well. Kyle even admired the guy’s exceptional skills.

But right now, that wasn’t the point. The pressing issue was a troublesome problem right in front of him.

“Getting Ilay involved would be the easiest and quickest solution, but since that seems impossible... I have to think of some other way. What could it be?”

Kyle muttered to himself, lost in thought. Some ideas came to mind, but none were particularly good. It was difficult.

They couldn’t hand over the weapons demanded by the criminals. It would have been easier if they had approached the situation through a trustworthy intermediary, but they had made a foolish mistake. Now, they couldn’t smuggle the weapons secretly.

There were tactics even in smuggling, but these people didn’t know that.

Still, not handing over the weapons didn’t mean he could ignore his friends. The people the criminals threatened weren’t just anyone they could kill or abuse recklessly, but Kyle couldn’t pretend not to know them. Personally and humanly, he couldn’t turn a blind eye to his friends; officially, he couldn’t sever important business ties.

“What should I do...”

Kyle clicked his tongue. Throughout his life, running a company of this scale, he had faced plenty of difficult problems. Every time, he had overcome them. Even more serious and critical problems had occurred several times. He always found ways to resolve them.

So, regarding this issue, he wasn’t too worried. With time, this would become just one of those ‘difficult problems from the past.’

However, to receive the grace of time, he had to find a solution now.

“Hmm...”

A low murmur caught his attention. Across from him, Morro rested his chin on his interlaced fingers, eyes closed, deep in thought.

This friend was an oddball. Among many people Kyle knew, a few could be called oddballs, and Morro was one of them.

Usually, he was a competent and intelligent young man, no different from others. When he worked at Kyle’s company a few years ago, he had shown notable talent. Saying “The best way to learn weapons is to handle and use them in battle,” he quit the company and joined UNHRDO, but they still kept in touch.

Unfortunately, his extensive knowledge and sharp mind were mostly used for weapons-related matters. He wasn’t particularly good at solving problems like this.

Still, now, he seemed deeply engrossed in helping Kyle solve the problem. Muttering to himself, “What to do, what to do,” he thought for a long time.

Then, slowly reaching a conclusion, he stopped talking. The intense, sharp-eyed expression turned into one of sudden resolve, and he spoke out.

“Kyle.”

“Yeah, speak.”

“That prototype you showed me a few days ago…”

Kyle raised his eyebrows slightly. The unexpected comment left him momentarily speechless.

Being a weapon enthusiast, his head was full of nothing but weapons. The development-stage prototype Kyle had shown recently seemed to perfectly match Morro’s ideals; he had trembled with excitement and openly expressed his desire to have it.

Well, someone once jokingly asked him, “Would you sell your soul to the devil for the 1890 model 22-caliber carbine you want most, which was discontinued 100 years ago and is only found in museum photos?” He had answered without hesitation, seriously, “Yes.”

So talking about guns anytime and anywhere wasn’t strange. But Morro wasn’t the type to bring up irrelevant topics out of nowhere.

Kyle nodded, curious.

“Yeah, that prototype, what about it?”

Morro was silent for a moment. Just thinking about the gun made his hands twitch with excitement and his cheeks flush.

With determination flashing in his eyes, he finally spoke.

“If you give that to me, I’ll help get Riegrow to take on this job.”

“What...?”

Kyle’s eyes widened in surprise. Jenkins beside him also looked puzzled at Morro.

Kyle had no idea how Morro could move Ilay, and looked questioningly at Jenkins. Jenkins gave him a glance that said he was equally clueless.

Morro and Ilay weren’t close. Nor were they hostile. They simply knew of each other but had barely talked.

“How do you intend to do that?”

Kyle asked skeptically. Morro confidently flashed his eyes but remained silent.

Kyle pondered for a moment. He couldn’t just give the prototype away carelessly. If the prototype left before the limited sales started, it would cause problems. It was unfinished and dangerous, making it even more important to keep it.

But in this situation...

Kyle looked intently at Morro.

“So, you say there’s a way. But what if it doesn’t work?”

“Then you don’t give it to me.”

Morro answered immediately, grinning mischievously. If it works, great; if not, whatever.

Kyle thought a bit longer, then finally nodded.

“Fine. If Ilay helps with this, I’ll give you that item. But even then, it’s strictly for your personal collection. You must never use it or give it to others.”

“Of course.”

Morro smiled. Lost in a brief trance, staring blankly at the ceiling, he snapped out of it only when Kyle tapped his shoulder.

“Alright, so what’s this method?”

Kyle asked. He accepted Morro’s offer mainly because it seemed like the best way to solve the problem, but more than that, he was curious how Morro planned to move Ilay.

Morro casually muttered, “Ah, that,” then said,

“Tell him Tae-i is among the hostages.”