Chapter 150 – The Young Lady (2)
Vroooom—
Vroom—
As soon as we accelerated, the pursuing cars matched our speed perfectly. That confirmed it—we were definitely being tailed.
I asked Song Sun-young,
“Sun-young-ah. I’ve been lying down all day, so I have no idea, but… did you make enemies with someone?”
“If you don’t want to die, stop talking to me! I need to focus on driving!”
“Got it.”
Then who should I ask for answers?
Ring ring ring~♪
My smartphone, as if it understood its owner’s heart, rang at just the right moment.
“Hello.”
(Moo-soo-ya! Are you okay?! Is Sun-young next to you?)
“Coach-nim. Hello.”
It was Coach Jang Seo-yeon—also Song Sun-young’s mother.
(Thanks for finally greeting me after so long, but this isn’t the time for casual chit-chat! You’ve probably already noticed, but there are dangerous pursuers after you!)
“Who are they?”
(We don’t know yet. The Swimming Association ran the license plates for us—they’re all vehicles reported stolen.)
“Are they really targeting me?”
(Yes. No doubt about it. This is a classic retaliation tactic.)
“Retaliation?”
(Sports toto. Some conglomerate lost a ton of money and pride because of you. They’ve been quiet until now, but the moment you went out on an unscheduled trip, they moved!)
“…I see.”
My senior must have stayed safely holed up at Elmolance University Hospital precisely because he considered risks like this. He didn’t tell me, so maybe it really was just coincidence… or maybe not.
(Just hold on until the police arrive.)
“Will nothing happen until then?”
(…Be careful.)
“Yes, ma’am.”
Coach explanation was only circumstantial motive, but if my senior hadn’t gone around making enemies everywhere and piling up grudges, this was almost certainly the cause.
Sports toto.
I never touched a single won from sports toto myself, yet somehow I’m the one attracting all this random danger. It’s so unfair I feel like I could collapse from stress!
“Moo-soo-ya. So where do we go? Set the navigation.”
Song Sun-young, gripping the wheel tightly, spoke with an intensely focused expression.
Where to?
That depended on figuring out why the pursuers were content to simply follow us.
“What the hell? This is just harassment.”
Two massive trucks were perfectly blocking lanes 1 and 2 of the highway, running at the exact same speed side by side.
An iron wall!
There was no way to overtake them.
It was far too convenient to dismiss as mere coincidence.
‘Pursuers behind, iron wall in front?’
Even if we wanted to break out of this encirclement, the nearest interchange and rest area were still 21 km away.
If the trucks ahead suddenly slam on the brakes?
Instant traffic accident.
‘This is tricky.’
I had no intention of just sitting here and taking it, but if I acted first and things turned into a legal mess later, who would take the blame?
If it were just me—who can even dodge bullets—I could let them strike first and then counter in self-defense. But Song Sun-young is right here beside me.
I don’t see her as a hindrance. If I did, I’d have to live alone and lonely until the day I die!
Conclusion:
Cleanup can come later—for now, frontal breakthrough.
“I’ll handle it.”
“How?”
“Is this a convertible? Open the roof, switch to semi-autonomous driving, then duck your upper body as low as possible.”
“What are you going to do?”
“Hurry.”
“…If I die, it’s on you.”
“Of course.”
Whirr—
The roof of the yellow sports car folded back, fully exposing the cabin.
“Next?”
“I’m going to step on the seat for a second.”
“Huh?”
Hop!
I unbuckled my seatbelt, stepped onto the seat, and leaped high.
The calculations were pure instinct and intuition!
Compared to the time I climbed onto the back of an 8th-grade monster, the ‘Bat Sniper,’ in the world of the hunter novel <I Alone Am an SSS-Class Hunter>, this felt incredibly slow.
In other words, easy prey.
“Crazy?!”
“What the—?!”
The drivers and passengers in the pursuing cars following us widened their eyes in shock.
Car windshields are quite sturdy since they’re directly tied to the occupants’ lives.
But my legs aren’t exactly weak either.
Crash!
If I failed to break it, I’d be tumbling dangerously in the middle of the highway—but things went exactly as planned.
“Argh?!”
“Uwaaah?!”
The airbags in the driver’s and passenger seats exploded, blocking their view. The steering wheel jerked, and the cars collided with the ones beside them.
Screeeech—BOOM!
For an ordinary person, this would be a brief moment filled with nothing but screams as the accident unfolded.
But for me, it was more than enough time to see, hear, think, judge, and act.
“Hup!”
I dodged the flying glass shards aimed at my face and leaped out of the car that was about to ricochet around like a billiard ball.
I no longer had the monstrous physical abilities of my dream-body, but the reality I was in now was far from “normal” either.
Tap, tap-tap, tap—
Like an athlete slowing down right after crossing the finish line, I steadily reduced speed and came to a stable stop on the highway shoulder.
BOOM!
The cars burst into flames.
“…Perfect.”
Click—
Behind me, the sound of a pistol trigger being pulled rang out like thunder.
Bang!
I dodged this one without even looking.
“Mon… monster… cough cough!”
A blood-soaked man who had crawled out of the burning car let out a ragged curse.
First things first.
“Sun-young-ah. Stop the car and reverse.”
The highway was in complete chaos. There might have been onlookers, but after the gunshot, everything had gone eerily quiet.
Since the two trucks that had been running side by side were no longer blocking the way, reversing shouldn’t cause any issues.
Song Sun-young, having picked up my call, answered boldly.
(I still can’t reverse.)
“…How did you even get your license?”
(By my looks.)
“This isn’t the time for jokes.”
(I’m serious. They said pretty girls who have plenty of guys willing to do the driving practice for them can get a pass on some things.)
“Ah-ha!”
What an extremely realistic driving test examiner.
(Are you okay? You suddenly did something insane—I was so shocked!)
“Of course. What about you?”
(I’m fine. Reversing is out of the question, though.)
“You’re talking a lot, so I’m guessing you’ve completely stopped the car in the middle of the road.”
(Yep. You always told me never to touch my phone while driving.)
“You learned that lesson well. What about the trucks that were blocking us?”
(They just drove off.)
“No loyalty at all.”
Since we have their license plates, we can look them up later. They’re probably stolen vehicles too, though.
(Are you going to jail?)
“Will you come visit me?”
(I’ll come if you get on your knees and beg.)
“Oh! That’s so kind of you… I’ll call you back in a bit. There’s someone trying to run away.”
(Okay.)
Click.
After confirming Song Sun-young was safe, I hung up and ran toward the accident scene.
“Damn it…!”
Bang! Bang! Bang!
The limping man fired his pistol at me without proper aim.
“Hmm.”
Later, when the investigation comes, I figured I should play the pitiful victim a little—so I let one bullet graze my left arm.
Trickle…
It wasn’t a shallow wound, but compared to the missile bombardment I’d taken recently, it was barely a tickle.
“If I ask who sent you, are you willing to answer?”
I asked in the most polite tone possible.
“D-don’t come closer!”
Click, click—
The man’s terrified face twisted as he frantically pulled the trigger, but the now-empty pistol clicked uselessly in silence.
“If you answer honestly…”
“Stay back, I said!”
Swish—
He tossed the pistol aside and pulled a multi-tool knife from his pocket, swinging it wildly through the air to threaten me.
“Geez…”
About a year ago, the old me would have backed away.
Whoosh!
But now, I just smirked as if it were ridiculous and stepped forward even closer.
And then—a clean front kick!
“Don’t— Argh?!”
Crack!
The man’s right arm, still gripping the multi-tool, bent in an unnatural direction as he let out a wretched scream.
But that only lasted a moment.
Thwack!
A follow-up blow to the jaw forced his mouth shut, and he flew backward, collapsing in a heap.
“Now… then…”
Let’s take it easy and wait for the people who will clean up the mess in my place.
***
“Congratulations, son-in-law. You’re cleared.”
“Oh!”
Seo Hye-joo, the vice director, had come to visit me at Elmolance University Hospital where I was admitted to treat the gunshot wound on my left arm.
Is this the power of money? These days, she naturally calls me “son-in-law” even in unofficial settings.
“The National Security Agency is going to come groveling in droves to apologize.”
“To me?”
“For failing to protect one of the nation’s most precious national athletes from terrorist threats. From the director down to the lowest ranks, they’re all going to be stripped of their positions.”
“You don’t have to go that far…”
“Don’t worry about it. It just shows how seriously the government is taking this incident. It’s also their way of expressing how truly sorry they are to a national treasure-level athlete.”
“Hmm… I see.”
The rest was the usual story.
They couldn’t find the mastermind.
The truck drivers who blocked the highway were ordinary laborers who had been paid by the ringleader to do the job. Still, they were going to face severe punishment…
‘This reminds me of Nam Hae-soo.’
Next, will a sniper show up? Or will the plane I’m on get hijacked?
“Hmm. Looks like I won’t be able to go out comfortably from now on.”
“That’s exactly what the people behind this want.”
“Didn’t you say you couldn’t find them?”
“But they did have a message they intended to deliver to you.”
“I never received anything.”
“Because right before they could deliver it, a ridiculously dramatic traffic accident happened and everything went to chaos.”
“Ah-ha!”
“It’s not something to laugh about. The way you looked on the black box footage from the crashed cars was genuinely insane. I thought we were watching a movie being filmed.”
“It was a calculated action.”
A perfect plan—90% instinct, 10% calculation, perfectly blended.
“Son-in-law. Please take better care of your own body. Are you planning to make my daughter a widow?”
“Uh…”
We haven’t even gotten to a proper adult relationship, let alone marriage…
“You understand, right?”
“…Yes. I’ll be more careful.”
Still, I didn’t feel the need to make a big deal out of her pointing it out, so I just let it slide obediently.
“The demand from the people behind this was match-fixing. They wanted you to participate in Chivalry—the flower of the Winter Olympics—and lose on purpose.”
“Lose in Chivalry? That’s basically telling me to die.”
The only Olympic sport where killing is permitted.
In modern times without war, it’s also the only easy way for people with unnecessary murderous aptitudes to make money.
“If you refused, the trucks would have suddenly stopped, causing a collision. They would have disguised it as an accidental crash.”
“…So the truck driver you caught made that statement?”
“Yeah. But he said before he even received the order to stop, an unexpected collision really did happen. Once he realized things had gone wrong, he just ran away from the scene on the spot.”
“……”
Song Sun-young was also in the room. She’s my girlfriend, but that’s no reason for her to be attacked along with me.
And yet…
“Thank you. For protecting my daughter.”
Coach Jang Seo-yeon didn’t blame me at all—in fact, she thanked me instead.
…Isn’t this weird?
I’m the reason Song Sun-young—who did absolutely nothing wrong—was put in danger!
“No, I should be the one apologizing for putting Sun-young in danger.”
“Don’t think like that. Sun-young was prepared for this from the beginning… though she’s way too carefree for someone who was supposedly prepared. There are tons of posts online from girls saying they’re better than Sun-young.”
“Huh…?”
“It’s true. Go search it up. ‘Kang Moon-soo girlfriend.’ During the Olympics it was the number one real-time search term. Even now, I bet it’s still in the top 10 among women in their twenties.”
“……”
The wording is a bit off, but the reality is so painfully realistic that it almost doesn’t feel real.
“Rest well~”
“Yes, ma’am.”
Coach Jang Seo-yeon waved cheerfully and left the hospital room.
“Looks like the old saying about a mother-in-law loving her son-in-law is true.”
“…Aren’t you busy?”
I glanced at Seo Hye-joo, the vice director, who had been quietly listening in.
“I am busy, but this can’t take priority over my main job.”
“Your main job is being a doctor, isn’t it?”
“Oh my! How hurtful. My main job is being the personal physician to the national treasure athlete Kang Moon-soo. It’s an extremely honorable position.”
“Hmm. So, have the test results come out?”
“Your left arm started recovering rapidly right after we removed the bullet. At this rate, a good night’s sleep and you’ll be fine. It’s almost suspicious whether you’re actually human.”
“That’s a relief.”
Compared to the dream where my arm regenerated like an amoeba, my current real body is still relatively realistic.
“The real problem is your mental state.”
“Did a lot of brain cells get destroyed?”
“No. It’s just that so much anger is concentrated in your head that it feels like you might collapse from a cerebral hemorrhage. Maybe cool down a little?”
“……”
But the fact that I was one-sidedly attacked and still don’t know who was behind it is infuriating and frustrating beyond words.
“Do you want to find the mastermind?”
“Yes. Seriously.”
“Then calm your head and retrace things step by step.”
“Please teach me. My brain isn’t working well right now.”
“People who pour huge amounts of money into sports toto don’t think of it as gambling. They believe they’re betting on the best athlete based on their own scientific insight and analysis.”
“Right.”
They only bet big because they’re convinced they’ll win.
“But humans have limited time and money, so they don’t analyze every sport. They only bet on the ones they believe they understand best.”
“Ah!”
“The events you competed in were swimming, track and field, and taekwondo.”
“So the mastermind’s interests are obvious.”
“And they’re also very interested in Chivalry.”
“Exactly!”
“Plus, only someone with real power—not some random nobody—could pull off such a meticulous terror attack like this. It’s probably a well-known conglomerate or politician.”
“Ooh…”
The range had narrowed dramatically.
“But this much anyone could figure out. The National Security Agency probably got a little closer, but they still couldn’t find the decisive link or evidence. That’s why the entire chain of command is getting stripped.”
“Hmm.”
Good, then bad.
“Still, if you really want to find them, there’s only one method left.”
“What is it?”
“To catch a tiger, you have to enter the tiger’s den.”
“Chivalry?”
“Correct.”
“…No choice, then.”
I’ll have to show these ignorant modern people what real romantic fantasy chivalry looks like.
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TL Note:
The novel is fully completed (231 chapters)
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