Chapter 34. Field Agent (1)
Thwack!
Chasing after airborne enemies from the ground was no simple task. However, for someone like Eun-Ho, it was well within reach.
"Acceleration!" he shouted the command, surging forward with increased speed.
He swept any obstacles that popped up with petrifying strikes and cutting gusts of wind. One after another, he cleared his path, pushing relentlessly forward until he finally arrived at Namsan Tower.
Namsan Tower?
He was back. However, this time, it wasn’t because of a trial or a designated safe zone, but because of those weird bowl-cut twins.
What? They disappeared!
Maybe they had gone inside? He scanned the area, searching for any sign of them.
Thump!
Suddenly, they descended right in front of him.
“Can you see us?”
One of the bowl cut twins filled his entire field of vision. Startled, Eun-Ho didn’t answer, but his reaction told them everything.
Boom!
As the twins stomped in unison, a bone-chilling cold surged up from beneath his feet.
Krrrrrk!
In seconds, it froze Eun-Ho solid.
I gotta... stay conscious...
However, his vision slowly faded.
***
“Ugh...” Eun-Ho groaned.
His teeth were chattering uncontrollably. His head pounded, and he felt soaked, as if caught in a downpour.
How long was I out for? Eun-Ho wondered.
He tried to move his arms and legs, but they wouldn’t budge. Looking closer, he saw that he was tied up with what seemed to be a rope. He had a pretty good guess who did it.
“... Sector.”
“Overall... average...”
“Suspicious...”
“Needs investigation.”
Eun-Ho could hear them faintly in the distance. It was those twins, talking as if the thought that he’d wake up never even crossed their minds.
Where am I right now? Am I in an office?
The ceiling stretched high overhead. Bookshelves hung like makeshift partitions, packed with books of all sizes and thicknesses. However, something about the space made him think of an office, and not a library.
“Where’s the investigation report for Sector 13?”
“It’s over there!”
Piles of file folders were stacked high on every desk. Therefore, he thought he was definitely in an office.
Still, for two little kids—ones whose heads barely reached the desktops—it was a bizarre setup.
Wait a second.
One of the twins squeezed between desks, digging through drawers and rifling through papers like he was searching for something.
Bathed in the golden light of sunset, the small figure stood framed by the vast floor-to-ceiling windows, a quiet shadow against the fading day.
The windows look like...
Outside the window, the Seoul skyline stretched out in full view. Stickers of tourist attractions dotted each window. A forgotten souvenir rack sat pushed into the corner, nearly hidden by a row of bookshelves.
Are we at the observation deck?
Of course they had set up their office inside one of Seoul’s most iconic landmarks. No wonder the tower had been surrounded by that strange dome.
What really matters is figuring out who these kids are, what they are doing here, and most importantly, why they attacked me.
However, he had a pretty good idea now.
[Excessive entity generation in current zone!]
They somehow noticed how his auto-hunting plan had caused far more monsters to spawn than usual. These two had probably shown up to investigate.
[That’s strange. It requires a separate report.]
[We’ll get in trouble. We need to assess it first.]
However, it seemed like they weren’t in charge. From the way they spoke, they were trying to understand the situation before reporting back to someone else.
They said the investigation report for Sector 13 though. Hmm...
“I found it!”
Wish I could take a look at that too.
"Subject, Lee Eun-Ho. He is a typical lower-class civilian."
“Typical? Then how can he see us?”
“I don’t know.”
The bowl-cut twins kept chatting, completely unaware that the typical human could hear every word.
That must be the report, Eun-Ho guessed.
It was a thick black file folder, filled with dozens of pages. The two of them sat side by side, flipping through it with intense focus.
They flipped through it page by page, forward and backward, brows furrowed in frustration.
“Ugh! There’s nothing useful.”
“How come?”
“Why?”
They looked genuinely baffled.
“This has never happened before though.”
“What do we do now?”
“I don’t know. What do we do?”
To someone watching from the outside, they’d have appeared like a couple of confused kids, worried and pacing nervously. They almost seemed innocent. However, Eun-Ho wasn’t buying it.
Even the Administrator looked like a kid before she sliced someone in half with a finger.
He had learned the hard way that appearances meant nothing in this world. Still, it was difficult to explain, but something about these two didn’t feel all that threatening.
They just don’t give off that intense vibe. Or maybe it’s because they really look like scared little kids.
“We didn’t even detect the error.”
“We can’t write the report then.”
“But, what about the subject? He spotted us!”
“I can’t believe stealth didn't work.”
“Haaa...”
“The investigator is going to be really mad.”
“We’re in big trouble.”
“We might even get killed...”
The investigator? That sounds oddly familiar. Strange...
The word struck Eun-Ho.
“Haaaa.”
He followed the gaze of the sighing twin, toward the massive curved windows lining the wall. There they stood, the bowl-cut duo, looking out toward the sunset.
Wait a minute...
“Let’s just deal with that suspicious guy first.”
“So we investigate, then eliminate.”
Wait. Why can’t I see their reflection? No way...
Eun-Ho stared at the window, eyes wide. Only one figure looked back—his own. No matter how hard he searched the glass, the white-clad twins were not there in the reflection.
They don’t even have shadows...
“Shoot.”
“Why?”
Then, a sharp pain throbbed in Eun-Ho’s head, forcing him to shut his eyes. A few seconds later, he heard them talk but closer this time.
“You’re awake.”
Great. This cursed system is really testing me.
***
Eun-Ho finally remembered the Ghost Slayer title he earned at the end of a trial. He also remembered the system messages he received at that time.
[You have defeated nineteen Ghosts not native to this world.]
[You have acquired the title Ghost Slayer.]
This title also came with a very specific set of perks.
[You will be immune to the abilities of low-tier Ghosts.]
[You will deal 20% increased damage when fighting mid-tier Ghosts.]
[You will remain fearless even in the presence of high-tier Ghosts.]
So probably even to these little ghosts who look like kids.
“He woke up already.”
“He woke up on his own? How?”
Now it all made sense. Their powers were probably concealing themselves and freezing their target. However, thanks to the Ghost Slayer title, none of their powers worked on him.
So then that freezing earlier must’ve been cold radiating through the ground, not a direct hit from their ability. If it had been direct, I’d be in serious trouble.
“Yeah. He’s definitely suspicious.”
“Let’s just kill him.”
The twins placed the report down and walked toward him. One of them grabbed a wooden mallet that had been propped up nearby.
“Are you gonna hit me with that?” Eun-Ho asked.
They both nodded silently, their glossy bowl cuts bouncing as they approached like some horror movie duo.
Eun-Ho weighed his options.
Should I fight or talk to them?
If he used up the rest of his trial rewards, he would be able to heal the injuries he had gotten earlier. However, if he could make it out in one piece, Sol-Ah could take care of the rest.
He sat up straighter and said with as much authority as he could muster, “Hold up. Stop right there.”
Granted, he was still tied up on the floor, which made authoritative a bit of a stretch, but he gave it his best.
The two seemed confused.
“You don’t just go around attacking people. Who taught you that kind of manners?”
Hearing his firm tone, the twins flinched and froze in their tracks. They hadn’t expected pushback, so their eyes darted, not knowing what to do.
Eun-Ho let out a sharp, noisy sigh—short, but loud enough to rattle them.
“Get your boss out here, now,” he said it like he meant it, which made the twin flinch again.
It was the kind of line he had heard a thousand times during his part-time jobs from angry customers.
I never thought I’d be using it on ghosts.
Ridiculous or not, it actually seemed to have an effect.
“The boss?”
“Why?”
Their round little faces scrunched up as they looked at each other, clearly anxious, nervously fidgeting with the edges of their white robes.
Did it work...?
He had taken a gamble, banking on their earlier comments about getting in trouble, about dying, and about some higher-up. It turned out he was right.
“I said bring your supervisor!”
He went full nightmare customer mode, channeling every obnoxious diner he had ever served.
Eun-Ho swallowed hard, trying not to show it, and held his chin high with practiced defiance.
Just like that, one of the twins, still hesitating, finally asked, “Do you know the Investigator?”
Perfect. It worked.
“That’s none of your business. Just go get your boss. I’ve got a formal complaint to make about how poorly you underlings are being managed.”
The twin ghosts flinched and trembled visibly. Then, they waved their hands at the empty air in front of them, whispering to each other.
[Saetani has activated the skill, Silence.]
[Due to your title Ghost Slayer, you are unaffected by this skill.]
Ah, so they’re trying to talk in secret now, huh?
“Is he a friend of the Investigator?”
“But what if he’s lying?”
“We’ll get in big trouble.”
“I’m scared...”
Now was the chance for Eun-Ho to make a move.
“Petrify.”
With barely a whisper, he mouthed the word, and began groping around for the rope binding his wrists.
He risked a glance upward to make sure he wasn’t spotted, but the twins were too deep in their hushed debate to notice.
“What if we erase his memory?”
“The Investigator won’t find out.”
“And we won’t be in trouble.”
Eun-Ho carefully finished cutting the rope and then moved slowly to untie his ankles as well. Just as he freed himself, the two ghosts seemed to reach a decision and approached him.
“We’ll erase your memory.”
Erase my memory?
Eun-Ho’s mouth twitched with a sly grin. “Yeah, good luck with that.”
Thwack!
Then he sprang to his feet, shoving the stunned twins aside and bolting for the nearest table.
Their wide eyes turned to outright shock as their little faces twisted into expressions of disbelief, then fury.
Eun-Ho dashed over and snatched up the report they had been looking at earlier.
“No!”
“That’s ours!”
“Give it back!”
"Sector 13: Investigation Report and Restructuring Efficiency Plan."
He barely managed to read the title before shoving the document into his inventory. Who knew what lengths they would go to in order to reclaim it?
I gotta run.
However, before he could take more than a few steps, a wave of murderous intent slammed into him from behind like a cold slap.
Baaaam—! Crack!
The ghosts stomped hard, and two icy trails split across the floor, racing outward from beneath their feet. They stretched like lightning, freezing everything they touched, until they met at the exit.
Crack—! Thoooom!
A towering wall of ice formed, sealing off the only way out.
So this is their power.
“Give it back!”
“Now!”
They launched themselves toward him like human cannonballs.
Whoosh—!
“He hit us!”
“We’re gonna kill you!”
Arms tight to their sides, they hurtled through the air, anger fueling them like jet engines. Eun-Ho just barely dodged by diving and rolling out of the way.
Thwack—! Thoooom!
The twins smashed head first into the wall behind him. The impact shook the floor and ceiling as if a bomb had gone off.
“You rat!”
“You’re not getting out!”
“You’ll die here!”
The exit was completely frozen, radiating icy fog in all directions.
What now? I can try using Acceleration or Petrify, but would I even have the time?
Those two weren’t going to just stand by and watch.
Clack!
Besides, before he even knew it, he had been pushed far from the doorway. The cold touch of the glass pressed against him, trailing from the back of his head all the way down to his tailbone.
“Give us the report first and then die!”
“Or die first and we’ll take it anyway!”
They grinned, seemingly thinking they had him cornered. Then, they flew straight at him again like projectiles.
And of course, those two don’t have a cooldown on their charge attack, Eun-Ho thought bitterly.
Unlike his own Acceleration skill, theirs could be spammed without limit.
If I fight head-on, I’ll lose. Alright then...
Whoosh—!
They were coming. One aimed for his head, the other for his gut, just like twin missiles zeroing in on their target. Every instinct screamed at him to dodge now, yet he waited.
Not yet. Wait for it... Now!
“Acceleration!”
He locked eyes with them, just for a split second, before activating the skill. Then he twisted himself out of the way in one fluid motion.
Tick—!
A ticking noise echoed in his ear.
Crash! Booom—!
𝓯𝙧𝓮𝓮𝒘𝓮𝙗𝙣𝒐𝒗𝒆𝓵.𝓬𝓸𝒎
Instead of Eun-Ho, the twins' heads slammed straight into the glass wall behind him.
Crack!
Craaaaack—!
Spiderweb cracks spread from two perfectly round impact points, both at head height. A beat later, the entire observation window shattered, glass erupting outward into the open air.
Their heads were bleeding.
“Aaaaargh!”
“Ooooow!”
“I-is that blood?”
“How dare you!”
“I’m gonna kill you!”
Rage twisted their little faces as they lunged again, but it was too late.
Thanks for making me an exit with your own heads.
“I’ll be going first. Petrify!”
Brushing away the shards of broken glass, Eun-Ho jumped from the top of Namsan Tower’s observation deck.
Swoosh—!
“He jumped? He just committed a suicide?”
“That is the worst!”
The two ghosts shrieked in horror.
“Suicide?” he muttered mid-air, wind howling past him. “You really think I’d do something that dumb?”
Eun-Ho rolled his eyes.
“Huh?”
“Is he dumb?”
“What floor is this?”
“No clue!”
Eun-Ho didn’t know how many floors up he was, or how far the drop below. However, he’d most assuredly die if he hit the ground.
Fwooosh!
Then I won’t fall.
“Summon!”
A green card appeared in his hand. It was small enough to fit neatly in his palm.
“Activate!”
Energy fizzled from his fingertips with a faint buzz, and a tremor ran through him.
Maybe it was the card—or maybe just the wind screaming past him at terminal velocity—but either way, a cold steel doorknob suddenly materialized in mid-air before him.
Clack—!
Eun-Ho grabbed it without hesitation, yanking hard. Then, a plain metal door that was floating in nothingness opened.
I guess I’ll be seeing that bastard again soon.
He was heading back to the Training Institute sooner than he had expected.