"Y'know, I never asked this but where are we going?" Evan asked Lee Seng. The others nodded in agreement with Evan's question. Where were they going? Lee Seng sighed and stopped mid-air. He didn't know where to go. The Failed Ones could be anywhere. He summoned his System's screen and looked at his Inventory. He clicked the serum and read the description - a failsafe created by Dr. Vang Chang. One injection of this and it could turn you into a super-weapon that could wipe out a Failed One. Will you inject it into yourself and hope to kill a Failed One or will you wait for Brood Mother?
"Great." Lee Seng whispered. He swiped the screen away and continued on his path towards the city. He looked at his friends and spoke loudly for all to hear, "I don't know where to go. Since we have what they possibly want, they'll probably come looking for me."
"What are we going to do with no leads?" Ritsuka asked. "Literally wait?" Lee Seng sighed and scratched his head. The Numbers came to mind.
'We kinda just left them… Should we go back to search for them?' Lee Seng wondered.
The burnt pine forest quickly returned and Lee Seng slowly descended the group back down toward the cabin. Lee Seng let out a sigh of relief.
'Holding a rune for that long is hard.' Lee Seng wiped his brow.
"Why are we back here?" Evan asked. Lee Seng pointed at the cabin in front of them. It was the one Manny and the three Numbers had led Lee Seng and Calis to.
"While we wait for doom, I'm curious about something." Lee Seng led the way to the cabin. He grabbed the door and tried to twist the doorknob. It was locked. He knocked on the door and waited. He didn't hear anything.
"I don't see anyone." Calis pulled away from a window. "It's dark."
"No one's home…" Lee Seng whispered. He took a couple steps back and started to look around. Their footsteps had made it harder for him to discern when the Numbers had left. "Screw it… Unlock." Lee Seng drew the rune and slashed it. The door clicked, allowing entry.
Lee Seng stopped at the door frame, looking around for any traps. 'None this time.' He stepped into the room, searching for the light switch. The lights flicked on as his friends filled the room. The place was still running at a comfortable temperature. The place was fairly clean, something he would've expected from his siblings. There weren't any indications the place was left.
Lee Seng headed over to the rooms, opening each door and taking a peek inside. He could see a bag of clothes next to one of the bunk beds. Akio was certainly still here. He stepped back out of the room and found his friends lounging on the couch with an opened piece of paper in Evan's hands.
"What's that?" Lee Seng asked, joining Calis. Evan's eyes scanned through the note while Ritsuka leaned into Evan to read it as well.
"Hmm…" Evan licked his lips. He began to lower the note and Ritsuka snatched it and continued to read. "They assumed you'd come back here. They said they wouldn't be back for a couple of days and left things locked up in case you returned."
"'In the event you managed to break your way in here, we've gone back to the city. Nikolai has spotted one of the Numbers.'" Ritsuka read aloud. He pointed towards the bottom. "They left you a number to call."
"I don't have a phone." Lee Seng shrugged.
"'P.S. you probably said you didn't have a phone. I'm leaving my phone behind. It's underneath all my clothes in a bag next to the bunk bed. Use that and call.'"
"It's like he knew…" Lee Seng stood up and shuffled over to the room. He sauntered over to Akio's bag and dug through the clothes until he found the phone. He pulled it out and clicked it a couple times. "He shut it off or is it dead?" He pressed and held the button, turning to exit the room once again.
The door closed behind Lee Seng as the screen lit up. Akio had shut it off to conserve battery. Akio's phone was clean like usual. He swiped up to unlock it and noticed the three by three grid. He filled the lines without much thought and sat down next to Calis, again.
"What's the number?" Lee Seng asked. Ritsuka handed him the paper and Lee Seng clicked the phone call button and entered the number. It was a number Akio didn't have in his phone. He clicked the call button and held the phone in front of his mouth. The phone trilled a couple of times before someone picked up. "Hello?"
"Hello? Who's this?" A deep familiar voice asked.
"Hmmm, this wasn't what I expected…" Lee Seng whispered. He cleared his throat and shifted in his seat. "My brother told me to call you. I guess you wouldn't happen to know where my brother is, would you?"
"Lee Seng?" The deep familiar voice spoke his name. "Is this Lee Seng?"
"Yes. You sound familiar… Who are you?"
"It's Chan-Yeol. I didn't think the CEO was kidding when he said you'd call me."
"He warned you?"
"Well, he left it as a possibility. Wouldn't tell me what number you'd be calling on either, but here you are. Are you okay, Lee Seng? Things have been hectic. The city is barely holding everything together and the influx of monsters between the D31 faction has kept me busy. Where's the CEO?"
"You don't know where he is? He told me to call you." Lee Seng looked at his friends. Chan-Yeol sighed.
"He would do that…" Chan-Yeol muttered.
"Hyeong, where are you? I'll come to you. I'm not that far from the city."
"Is that really the safest option?" Chan-Yeol asked. "Between the monsters and D31… there's also been strange smart monsters showing up here too… But it is safe here… Can you make your way to me? I'll send you the coordinates."
"Send it to me on this phone. I'm pretty sure Akio won't mind if I take his phone. I need to find the Numbers."
"The Numbers?" Chan-Yeol asked. He was silent for a minute. "You don't know what happened to them?"
"No. Akio and Akali were searching for them… somewhat. He even said they found a Number, too."
"The Numbers aren't in the city. Whoever they saw wasn't them. Last I checked, the lab went down with them in it."
"What? That couldn't be… My brother couldn't have been wrong…" Lee Seng replied in confusion. He looked at his friends who were just as confused as him.
"Ah, well just come to me. We'll figure it out together. It was about time I got back into contact with the CEO…. I don't even know what to think since he's supposed to be dead." Chan-Yeol sighed. He cursed and said something in Korean about how Akio was always an unhinged man. Chan-Yeol cleared his throat and continued in Korean. "I'll send you the coordinates. Come to me."
"Alright, hyeong. See you later." The phone clicked and Lee Seng rolled his eyes before burying his face into his hands. "I forgot my brother faked his death… Ahhh, why is everything so complicated? The Numbers might be dead?!?" The phone buzzed and he picked it up and looked at it. Chan-Yeol had sent his coordinates and now all was left was to get there.
Lee Seng stood up and stretched. His stomach growled, loudly, drawing his friends' attention.
"H-hehe…" Lee Seng scratched his head. "I guess some food wouldn't hurt before we go see Chan-Yeol."
"Chan-Yeol?" Calis asked.
"Akio's right hand man." Ritsuka answered. "The dude's a beast from what I heard."
"I don't like the sound of the city being… a disaster." Evan sighed. They all stood up and stood around the coffee table.
"A shit show?"
"Yeah… that." Evan nodded. "Are we really going to go to him? He'll probably interrogate you even more." He looked to Lee Seng who simply shrugged and made his way to the kitchen to fix them something to eat. Evan followed after, continuing to voice his concern. "What if it's a trap? What if Number 10 didn't warn Chan-Yeol you were coming? What if someone is mimicking him?"
"If the Failed Ones showed up in the city with an influx of monsters and their Deimon henchmen, I'll take it as a sign that they're closer to us than expected." Lee Seng moved into the pantry and grabbed a couple cans of ravioli. "Let's just go to Hyeong and see what he has to say. The worst thing that could happen is it is a trap and we're brought straight to the Brood Mother. I can pop that serum into her and all of this can be over with."
Lee Seng set the cans on the kitchen counter and started his search for a can opener. Ritsuka and Calis made their way over, taking a seat at the dining room table.
"It's better than sitting here and doing nothing." Calis agreed with Lee Seng. "Let's just try."
"The faster the better." Ritsuka nodded. Evan turned and gave them a baffled look. They were suicidal. There were too many probabilities.
"Even if you want to end this, one wrong move could result in death." Evan reminded them.
"I know." Lee Seng nodded. He pushed the drawer closed and moved the can opener to the ravioli. He began to clamp it down and twist it. "We just need to end this before we're royally over fucked."
This content is taken from (f)reewe(b)novel.𝗰𝗼𝐦