**Chapter 154: Bats Revealed in the Middle of the Night**
Juriell hit the gas pedal as soon as she entered the unique address "Gae-geon-gil xx" into navigation. As a person from the normal world, Juriell knew better than anyone how dangerous monsters could be.
Considering that most people in the world were ignorant about monster types and how to deal with them, this situation could easily have led to a major disaster.
As they sped along, Seo-woon's phone rang again. "What's going on?"
"The situation isn't very good. The news has spread to the public. Online players are flocking to the scene."
"What's the situation on the ground? Are the monsters there too?"
I'm not sure. The agents haven't arrived yet, so the nearby military base is trying to keep the area under control for now, but it doesn't seem to be working very well. Jung Soo-hwa didn't seem to have arrived at the scene yet either.
After hanging up, Ki-chan handed his cell phone to Seo-woon. "Check this out." News just arrived that monsters have appeared on Daebudo Island. I thought it would be a good opportunity to showcase my skills to my subscribers, so I went live.
Remember what I told you? If you don't prepare in advance, you'll be caught off guard in a situation like this. You never know when danger will strike. Even now, be prepared for anything. You can contact us for private lessons.
Seo-woon stopped the video. "There aren't one or two of them right now."
"They can probably handle themselves. It's not like an object-level monster is suddenly appearing. The real question is why this is happening..."
"Maybe if we go there, we'll find something."
"I hope so." A heavy silence descended on the car as he frowned thoughtfully.
***
Seoul's roads were so congested that by the time Seo-woon and his team arrived, the place was like a fairground, teeming with people.
The narrow side streets were clogged with countless cars parked in disarray; people with cameras made their way to the scene from a distance, some smoking, others sitting and muttering. Further inside, soldiers with guns in hand had cordoned off the area with yellow tape, as if it were a crime scene.
"Hey! What's going on? I'm a player!" Inside, agents in black suits were dragging people out.
"Let me go!" A man in his early 20s, perhaps even a minor, with both arms covered in tattoos, protested vehemently and pushed the agent's hands away.
"Don't you understand? You're just a substitute player, and you act like you're earning the government's keep. I'm a player! I'm different from you!"
Jung Soo-hwa, looking exhausted, quickly closed the distance between herself and the man.
"What's going on?! Do you think there's only one camera here? In this day and age, if you make a mistake…" She walked past him and approached Jung Soo-hwa, Seo-woon, and their team.
"Are you here?"
"You look so tired." Jung Soo-hwa smiled bitterly at Ki-chan's words. Although they somehow managed to keep them under control, it seemed that subduing such powerful individuals wasn't easy.
"So, how's the situation?"
"Nothing unusual has been detected so far. However, at the moment the anomaly was first detected, non-Earthly life forms and a new terrain that had never existed before appeared in the middle of the tidal flat, so we're restricting access."
From a distance, the forest, illuminated by flares, didn't look like it belonged on a tidal flat.
When Seo-woon's team followed Jung Soo-hwa past the controlled line and entered, the crowd that had gathered around began to protest. "Why are those people coming in?"
"Are you discriminating? They look like players too!"
"Are you protecting certain guilds or players?"
"What's going on here? Hey!" As skilled players and non-players alike rushed forward excitedly, the soldiers were naturally overwhelmed by their strength. However, unable to fire live ammunition, they began to retreat helplessly, and the black-suited agents ran towards the barriers.
"This is pure chaos." Seo-woon muttered as he saw this, while a tattooed man who had secretly crossed the line was caught and pulled back, frowning. The man, seeing Seo-woon, who looked to be his age but was receiving special treatment, probably felt a pang of resentment.
"Don't mind. Let's go." Jung Soo-hwa's words seemed to calm the chaos behind them. As they turned away, a sudden event occurred behind them.
"Aah!" Turning their heads at the short scream, they saw a soldier collapse to the ground, clutching his stomach. This sudden event momentarily calmed the chaos.
With a sigh, they approached, realizing the situation was more serious than they had thought. His pale face and the blood seeping from the corner of his mouth indicated he had suffered a serious blow.
At that moment, Jung Soo-hwa's icy expression, perfectly befitting her nickname "Ice Witch," emerged. She shot a sharp glance in the direction the fallen soldier had just blocked.
A few people raised their hands and backed away, as if they hadn't done it themselves. Looking at the other agents, they all nodded, seemingly oblivious to the incident; it appeared no one had seen what had happened.
"If you have a scroll with a healing spell on it, give it to him. His organs are damaged." Seo-woon asked, grabbing the fallen soldier's wrist. Ki-chan quickly pulled out a scroll and handed it over. "I don't know if one will be enough. Hey, if you're conscious, hold this."
At Seo-woon's words, the soldier gripped the scroll tightly in his hand and crumpled it. "Tear it." With that, the soldier tore the scroll with all his strength, and blood started to flow back onto his face.
"How are you feeling?"
"I'm better. Thank you."
"Be careful when you get up."
"Ugh!" The soldier, trying to get up, suddenly vomited, and Seo-woon nodded. "Take him to the hospital right away. He's been treated, so I don't think it's anything serious... But just in case."
"Thank you!"
Seo-woon, with his upright military stance, watched the soldier leave in a car with a high-ranking officer. Sorrow washed over his face.
Seo-woon, who had recently completed his military service and been discharged, understood that private's feelings all too well. He knew how difficult it was to adapt to the unit, how heavy a burden it was to be injured and leave your friends and superiors behind.
He also knew that there was nothing more painful than being injured in the military.
"Even if it was a civilian, if he was hit hard enough to tear his intestines, it had to have been intentional." His expression hardened as he was cut off. When he looked away, people who made eye contact instinctively took a step back.
"I didn't do it!"
"I didn't do it either!"
"You know what?A player threatening an ordinary person with no special abilities is punishable by life imprisonment without trial."
Hearing Jung Soo-hwa's icy voice, a man quickly opened his mouth.
"It was him! I saw him. He squeezed between us and threw a punch!"
At those words, the tattooed man who was pointed at roared in anger. "Bullshit! Do you have any proof?!" As the man said these words, Seo-woon suddenly appeared in front of him, arms outstretched, and the man backed away in surprise.
"Those two are clearly magicians. The man next to them is a martial artist, but he specializes in sword techniques. You're the only one here who knows martial arts." The man retorted. "Don't be ridiculous! Is this proof of my actions? Show me proof!"
"There's no proof. I don't know if anyone was filming, but even if they were, it wouldn't have been possible to get a clear image." As soon as he finished speaking, Seo-woon grabbed the man's tattooed arm. The man didn't even realize when his arm was grabbed, a look of surprise spread across his face.
"A fast punching technique, isn't it? Your inner strength is like lightning. Unparalleled." The man's face froze as he analyzed the man's inner strength. From the moment his arm was grabbed, he tried to break free, but it didn't move an inch. Unable to grasp the difference in their stats, the man paled.
Seo-woon turned away from the man and looked at Jung Soo-hwa. "He injured a soldier, not a civilian. How long will he serve?"
"According to the Specially Able Individuals Act, harming an ordinary person without special abilities carries aggravated penalties. It varies at the discretion of the arresting officer, but the sentence carries a minimum of four years and a maximum of fifteen years. Since the injury was severe enough to damage internal organs, it could be construed as intent to kill, so fifteen years would be appropriate."
Suddenly, the left hand of the man sentenced to fifteen years in prison swung sharply toward Seo-woon's face, who was looking away from him. A small spark flew from his hand and was about to hit Seo-woon in the face.
– Bang! Seo-woon swatted his hand away without looking back, smashing the man's nose into the ground.
"Ahh!" The man's nose was crushed by the light blow, and blood flowed down his chin. "Damn it! This is violence! If you're going to arrest me, arrest that bastard too!" Seeing the man yell like that, Seo-woon was immediately reminded of a bully prototype.
"I don't like to judge people by their appearances, but is this how people live?"
– Shrak! In an instant, Seo-woon appeared behind the man and slammed his fist into the back of his head. The man's vision blurred; as his nosebleed stopped, excruciating pain coursed through his body.
It was masterful control of internal power to inflict maximum pain without causing fatal damage. This new skill Seo-woon had learned from Nam Sagwang was now on full display.
– Thud! Thud! Thud! The brief brawl, which had begun as one-sided violence, lasted for over ten minutes before the room fell silent.
Only the erratic sounds of blows could be heard. The man now cowered on the ground like a turtle, covering the back of his head with his arms, but Seo-woon's blows pierced past his arms and landed right on the back of his neck. This was made possible by the subtleties of mu jek kwon being embodied in his palms.
"Please, stop hitting…" What finally stopped Seo-woon's hands wasn't the arrogant, booming voice he used, but his natural, youthful voice.
"I know you well. I also know that a few blows won't change you. That's why you need to be beaten more. Someone told me that when you start to think you might die from being beaten, that's when you might start to change."
As soon as he finished speaking, the violence began again. Seo-woon's hands beat him mercilessly, not just the back of his head, but his entire body.
When he fell, they stepped on him and kicked him, and when he tried to get up, they beat him again. Each blow penetrated his body, jarring his bones, stimulating his brain with intense pain.
As these agonizing moments continued, the man went through a series of emotional upheavals. He moved from anger to injustice, from there to fear, and finally, surrender.
When he had given up, Seo-woon saw the last glimmer of life fade from his eyes and dealt the final blow to his solar plexus.
– Boom! The sound echoed in the man's head, and blood spurted from his mouth. "You may not have a decent life from now on, but at least don't hurt anyone else. You bastard."
A heavy silence fell over the room as the men in black suits dragged the man away, clutching his stomach and crying desperately.
No one dared to break the silence, until one man finally managed to get a few words out with difficulty.
"You're going too far. Even if you're the same player, was this really necessary?"
Seo-woon turned around and smiled in response. "I have immunity, so I can do whatever I want."