There were about 300 people gathered in the first-floor lobby. As well as thirty terrorists. Well, this was just great. Of course, if the 300 people attacked the 30 people at once, the 300 would win. But there’s no chance of that happening. A lot of them knew they’d die if they did that.
‘I can smell the fear.’
There were locals and tourists. I could see them all shaking with fear. Including Miyeon.
“Sian…I’m…I’m scared…”
“Don’t worry. I’ll protect you,” I said with a big smile. Miyeon looked confused as to how I could be smiling, but soon enough she trusted me enough to return with a smile of her own. I went back to thinking. How could I get us out of here without anyone falling victim to these terrorists? Just then, the police arrived outside the department store. They approached the militant group and soon they were talking.
“What are they saying?”
“Maybe something about money?” Miyeon said. She was trembling like a leaf. The sight of her made my overprotectiveness surge. How dare these men make Miyeon scared like this? I’ll make them pay for this. But just then, one of the men stupidly approached Miyeon and began to aim the gun at her. I moved quickly.
Wham!
The man flew through the air, through an open window, and out of sight. I think he went out of the third-floor window. I’m pretty sure he’s dead now. Anyways, at that noise, all the terrorists turned to stare at me, but I was still on the floor with my hands on my head. With the most innocent look on my face. The terrorists looked confused, but just then one of them shouted.
“Ssaigaisaiye!”
It sounded like he was asking What the hell was going on? But no one answered. Because no one saw. Well, except maybe the people behind me. Anyways, now that two terrorists were gone, that left 28 of them.
“If I could just get to the leader.”
Usually in a battle, if you got rid of the leader, that was enough to make the other side surrender. But something told me that wasn’t the case here. It seems like they all had a mission to do. But just then, one of the terrorists approached me. He was dark-skinned and had a very nasty look about him. The kind of look that could scare anyone with just a stare.
“Hey.”
The way he was talking made me want to pull his tongue out.
“What?”
“Stand up.”
“And if I don’t want to?”
But even though I said that, I still stood up. Another man approached me with his gun aimed at me. They looked up, heads tilting in confusion. I guess I couldn’t blame them for being confused. There were human-shaped holes through the upper windows, all the way up to the 3rd floor. It would confuse anyone.
“Come on,” one of them said, gesturing to me. I followed him. Miyeon looked at me with concerned eyes, but I gave her an assuring smile.
They took me to the leader while I kept both of my hands behind my back. Not by choice. They tied my hands behind my back. Still, if I wanted to, I could break free at any point.
“That. You?” The leader asked, pointing up at the holes on the windows. He was surely asking if I had done that. I guess he wasn’t that good at English because it was very broken. So, of course, I said no.
“No.”
“No? Are you kidding me?”
“Shit the fuck man,” I said without thinking. No, seriously, I didn’t mean to. Sometimes, I just curse without thinking. Of course, the man was not happy about that.
“What? What the hell! You die! Okay?!”
“The hell are you saying, you bastard?”
“You! Reading! Asuka!”
I was getting nowhere with this guy, but I understand what he just said now. Asuka. The scripture representative of a terrorist group that was notorious throughout the Middle East. He told me to read it, which means he wants me to remember the text? But of course, I didn’t know it. So, I just recited the national anthem.
“Until the day when the East Sea’s waters and Mt. Baekdu are dry and worn away, God protect and preserve us, long live our nation! Three thousand li of splendid rivers and mountains, filled with roses of Sharon, Great Korean People, stay true to the Great Korean way. The pine tree atop the mountain stands firmly unchanged under wind and frost as if wrapped in armor, as is our resilient spirit. Three thousand li of splendid rivers and mountains, filled with roses of Sharon, Great Korean people, stay true to the great Korean way.”
I sang two stanzas while the terrorists looked even more confused. Because I had recited so long without stopping, they were wondering if I was a follower of Asuka as well.
“More?”
‘Do you want more?’ is what I meant. The national anthem is long. I had two more parts left. After this, I was planning on reciting King Sejong’s letters word for word. Anyways, the leader seemed impressed by my recitation and gave me a thumbs up.
“You. Get out of here,” he said, gesturing towards the door. With that, I pointed at Miyeon.
“My best friend. And my student.”
“Okay. Together. Get out of here,” he said, giving us permission in broken English. Miyeon and I were now free.
“Bye, bye, man. See you again.”
“Okay.”
With a wave of my hand, I got out of the department store with Miyeon. The terrorists were looking at me like I had just saved them. I guess the Asuka scripture was really important to them. All I did was memorize the national anthem, but there’s something else they don’t know. I had managed to steal the button to the bomb that was attached to the leader’s hip. Anyways, Miyeon and I were safely in the arms of the police. They asked us if we were okay and I kept telling them I was. Soon, the film staff was running towards us, asking us if we were okay and making a fuss.
“Hang on.”
I turned my back on the film staff and began to head back to the department store. Lobster Head followed me.
“Where are you going?”
“Oh, to save the others.”
“What?!” Lobster Head exclaimed. With a smile, I continued. Lobster Head began shouting after me.
“You’re kidding, right?”
“Why would I joke about something like this?” I muttered, still heading towards the department store. I was now at the back entrance. Except there was none. What kind of department store didn’t have a back door?
***
“This is…”
A corpse. It was the guy that had been thrown out the second-floor window. The one who kept poking Miyeon in the chest. His fault for touching her. He deserved to die so I didn’t feel bad at all looking at him.
“Well then.”
I scaled the building up to the third floor. And that’s when I saw another one.
“That’s…”
Another corpse. The one who flew up to the third floor. The one who had aimed the gun at Miyeon’s head. He shouldn’t have done that either. Since he also deserved to die, I didn’t feel bad at all. But then, I just thought of something. Why aren’t the policemen and special agents trying to get into the building? Ah, the reason was simple. There were bombs planted throughout the department store. Just a simple push of a button would set all the bombs off and everyone would die. Fortunately, I had the button. But still, it would be much safer for the people inside if I were to rescue them, rather than the police.
“Well, then.”
I climbed in through an open window and looked down the first floor. A man was standing right below me. I took my slingshot and aimed.
“Bye, bye.”
Then, I shot.
Ping!
The stone flew at the speed of a bullet and hit the terrorist right in the head.
Thwack!
The pebble had flown so fast that it nailed the guy in the head. The guy swayed on the spot for a few seconds before finally following over. He died instantly. I think I’m too nice, killing all these guys instantly. No suffering. I guess it’s up to the heavens to punish these people. Anyway, the others immediately ran over to surround him, but they had no idea how he’d died. There was no evidence. Oh, the pebble? It had created a hole in the guy’s skull and disappeared into his head. Thankfully, the guy’s hair covered up the hole so no one could see it. The only way for them to find is if they shaved his head. The stone was tiny. About the size of a BB gun bullet.
“So now there’s 27 left,” I said. With a smile, I began to walk down from the third floor to the second floor. But as I was walking down, my foot caught on one of the steps and I tripped all the rest of the way down.
Bam! Bam! Boom! Crash! Boom!
It was like a tree had just fallen. Anyways, at that, the terrorists all looked up and my eyes met with all of theirs.
“Haha…nala sami…”
“Kaissamari!” some guy shouted. The guys immediately ran up to the second floor.
***
“One…two…three…four…five. Five.”
There were five of them running up. They all had different expressions on their faces. One looked confused as to how I was here. The other one seemed to recognize me as the one who had recited earlier. Another one looked rather eager to kill me. One seemed to be rather attracted to me. While another one was giving me a lewd smile.
Anyways, I got up and ran deeper in the second floor. They all aimed their guns at me and began to shoot.
Bang! Bang! Bang bang bang!
Crazy bastards. They had been complimenting earlier for reciting the Asuka so well and now they were shooting at me?
Pow!
A bullet ricocheted off the force field that I had created around myself. That surprised me. Was it that strong?
“Heh.”
Now I felt a lot more confident. I stood in front of them with a smirk. They aimed their guns and fired, but I bent back like that guy did in the Matrix and avoided every bullet. The terrorists all gasped.
“Fire!” one of them shouted. And one of them threw a grenade.
Bang!
That idiot. How could he think a grenade would be a good idea in a place like this? Anyways, the grenade flew towards me, growing closer and closer with every second.
“Ha!”
I avoided it. The grenade flew over my head and blew up behind me.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
The grenade caused part of the second level floor to collapse. The terrorists cheered.
“Good!”
“Very good!”
“Nice shot!”
That last one was one of the terrorists, but for a second, I thought it was a Korean. Anyways, I managed to make my way to a pillar behind them and they thought I had died. To their eyes, it would look like I had. So, I slowly made my way down the pillar.
“Hey, boys.”
At that, the terrorists all whipped around to find me and shouted in shock. They were shouting things here and there that I couldn’t understand. But they were all surprised.
“Ready?” I asked with a big smile. None of them answered. I quickly jumped down towards them.
