RFH Chapter 12 — [R15]

 Episode 12

***

It might be a somewhat cliché sentence, but when she opened her eyes, what she saw was an unfamiliar ceiling.  

Min Hyemi blinked for a moment before realizing she had fainted and regained consciousness.  

Wait a second, then this place is...!  

“Aagh!”  

Min Hyemi screamed and abruptly sat up. The moment she felt the soft bed beneath her back, she couldn’t hold it in any longer.  

'I’m sick of fainting and waking up on a bed!'

Since this isn’t rated 19+, there’s no need to explain the reason.  

In any case, when she got up, what appeared in front of her was a well-built man wearing a black hat and mask.  

He was the one who had hidden in the backseat of her car and knocked her out.  

“Hey, hey. Don’t waste your energy.”  

The man’s voice, playful and cheerful, was utterly out of place in the situation.  

“You’ve been kidnapped, you know...”  

“Ugh! Could you all stop kidnapping me for once?!”  

“Kidnapped...”  

“Stop kidnapping me, you crazy bastards! Stop! KIDNAPPING ME!”  

Min Hyemi couldn’t hold back and exploded in anger.  

But considering her circumstances, anyone would understand.  

“Aaaagh!”  

“C-could you calm down a bit?”  

“I am calm.”  

“No, I mean, don’t suddenly act calm...”  

Even though his face was hidden under a deeply pulled hat, the man now seemed to regard Min Hyemi as a lunatic.  

‘I have the location-tracking artifact, don’t I?’  

She had been told that breaking it would send out a signal.  

That artifact was definitely in her pocket, but...  

‘If I take it out now, I’ll get caught.’  

Rather than risk losing the artifact, she decided to wait for the right opportunity.  

[Skill <Steadfast Rationality> Activated!]

She tried her best to stay composed and started a conversation with him.  

“What’s your reason for kidnapping me?”  

“Well, that’s...”  

The man shrugged and glanced toward the door.  

“Our boss will explain it to you.”  

“Are you part of Exodus?”  

“Hmm, that’s correct.”  

“Then why did you kidnap me?”  

“Well, uh... the boss was supposed to make an appearance by now, but they’re not showing up...”  

The man stammered in a slightly flustered tone.  

As Min Hyemi looked at him with a disappointed expression, he shrugged helplessly.  

“What were you expecting from a mere subordinate like me?”  

“Hm...”  

The <Genre Shift> skill was still on cooldown.  

Even if she used it, being alone in a room with this man would only lead to undesirable outcomes.  

At that moment, the man, seemingly exasperated, removed his hat and mask.  

Seeing his face, Min Hyemi was briefly taken aback.  

‘He looks completely normal.’  

For a member of Exodus, the nation’s largest terrorist group, he had an unexpectedly wholesome face.  

No, rather, he was strikingly handsome.  

His black hair and distinct features stood out. In terms of sheer beauty, he was comparable to Seon Jejun, though his eyes seemed a bit more... unhinged.  

“...Are you sure it’s okay to show your face like that? This isn’t one of those scenarios where you’re planning not to let me go alive, right?”  

“Well, I don’t really have any reason to kill you.”  

From those words, Min Hyemi found a sliver of hope. What mattered most to her now was negotiating with them as effectively as possible.  

“Besides, I think my face will be known to the public soon enough...”  

“What do you mean by that?”  

“Well, the boss plans to present me as the face of Exodus.”  

“...Why?”  

At that moment, a thought flashed through Min Hyemi’s mind.  

When Exodus attacked the headquarters, it was mentioned that they had recruited a new S-Class Awakener...  

“Because I’m the strongest?”  

As expected, those words came from the man.  

“Even if my face becomes known, no one will be able to catch me.”  

“Wait, are you saying you’re an S-Class Awakener?”  

“That’s right. Smart, aren’t you?”  

The man smiled with a satisfied expression.  

“Call me Yoo Seongtae.”  

“Ah, okay...”  

So much for being a mere underling—what a lie.  

Min Hyemi scrutinized Yoo Seongtae’s face again.  

He appeared entirely at ease, which only made her more tense.  

It’s always the ones with the smiling faces that are the most dangerous.  

At that moment, the door swung open with a loud noise.  

Yoo Seongtae’s gaze immediately shifted in that direction.  

“Ah, boss.”  

‘Exodus’ boss?’  

There had been reports from high-ranking hunters tracking Exodus that they had crossed paths with the boss several times. However, since no photos were secured, the boss’s face had never been revealed to the public.  

As soon as Min Hyemi came face-to-face with the boss, she was startled again.  

‘They’re far more ordinary-looking than I expected.’  

The woman’s appearance seemed entirely out of place for this setting.  

Her bright makeup and pink dress would have been much more fitting in a vibrant area like Seoul Forest rather than this dim, dreary room.  

Even for the leader of the country’s largest terrorist organization, she had an unexpectedly youthful face—she looked to be in her early twenties at most.  

“.........”  

“Surprised, huh?”  

The woman’s cheerful voice rang out.  

"Sorry. It wasn’t our intention to bring you here using violent methods. We actually have a rather positive view of you."  

"You know me?"  

"Ah, we gathered information about you when we raided the headquarters recently."  

"My information?"  

When Min Hyemi asked in disbelief, the boss smirked and replied, 

"What did you think was the reason for your kidnapping?"  

"...Because I recently entered a dungeon with Hunter Seon Jejun?"  

"Ah, while that’s interesting, this time, it’s for a different reason."  

Min Hyemi couldn’t make sense of the situation but decided to listen attentively.  

"We believe you might sympathize with our ideology."  

"...A terrorist organization?"  

"We’re an organization with principles!"  

The boss spoke brightly.  

"Sure, our goal is to throw this country into chaos for now, but we have an ultimate objective beyond that."  

"What kind of...?"  

"We’re going to turn the world upside down!"  

The woman’s words started becoming more and more absurd.  

"Returnees found themselves in unfamiliar worlds before coming back. We’re going to reverse that and bring people from other worlds here."  

"And what’s the purpose of that?"  

"Revenge."  

For a moment, Min Hyemi thought she saw sparks in the boss’s eyes.  

"I think you’d agree with our cause. You’re a returnee from one of those extreme 19+ romance fantasy worlds, aren’t you? Didn’t you suffer at the hands of those bastards too?"  

"........"  

"Don’t be so wary. I’m a returnee too. We’re just gathering undiscovered returnees like ourselves. We constantly collect information about other returnees."  

Min Hyemi finally understood what she was saying.  

Like herself, this woman must have faced terrible experiences in another world. To exact revenge, she was gathering other returnees who shared her hatred.  

"Those returnees who work in headquarters or reveal their identities to work as freelancers have all had relatively peaceful lives, haven’t they? Even your team includes someone who was a school idol or from a soccer manga world."  

"But not all cases are like that, right?"  

"True. There are those from apocalyptic worlds. But even they often thrive because they receive protagonist perks."  

Min Hyemi thought of Kang Jinhyuk. He fell into an apocalyptic world and immediately received powerful skills like “Alone” or “SSS-Class,” which allowed him to build shelters and lead a relatively comfortable life.  

"So when we obtained your information, we became very interested in you."  

The boss smiled softly and leaned closer to whisper to Min Hyemi.  

"How about it? Wouldn’t you like to drag those bastards who tormented you here and make them suffer?"  

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