BSAR Chapter 21

Shortly after regaining consciousness, Seojin realized that his body was bound somewhere. He was seated on a wooden chair with his head bowed, his arms tied behind him.

An ordinary person would have been startled enough to make the chair creak and look around. However, he didn’t open his eyes right away and cautiously moved only his fingers first.

Pretending to still be unconscious, Seojin slowly controlled his breathing and felt the ties that were securely binding his wrists with his fingertips, identifying their characteristics first.

‘Cable ties.’

The smooth, flexible yet hard surface of the plastic evoked a premature sense of relief. It was a material much easier to break than chains or thick ropes.

It was also fortunate for him that there was a fairly loose gap between the wrists crossed behind his waist and the cable tie binding them. The workmanship of the Red Faction seemed sloppier than he thought.

‘No, I mustn’t be complacent. I still don’t know the reason for my kidnapping, nor where I am.’

While reflecting on his complacency for being too easily kidnapped, Seojin, still feigning motionlessness with his eyes closed, began to keenly analyze the sounds around him.

The sound of someone breathing was audible not far away. The pace of inhaling and exhaling was steady, suggesting the person was either deeply asleep or not engaged in any vigorous activity.

No sound came from the sides or the back. It seemed that the only person in the space with Seojin was someone directly opposite him, with no one else present.

‘Alright, let’s start with a call for help.’

Seojin quietly closed his eyes and brutally twisted one of his wrists upwards, which had been limply hanging down. Soon, his pale fingers touched the cuff of his sleeve and quietly snapped off one of the cufflinks.

Embedded with a chip, it was a disposable security device that, when the center was pressed in a specific rhythm, would send his current location and a distress signal to Myeongseong Group’s secretariat and the nearby police station.

Not every chaebol heir would have such excessive protection, but his grandfather, Chairman Yeon Kyung-taek, was a man plagued by a somewhat paranoid need for safety.

Even if Seojin sought a life independent from the main family, he couldn’t deny that he was a blood relative of the Myeongseong Group’s chairman. In the event of a kidnapping, it would inevitably affect the main family. Carrying a safety device, as per the training he received in the past, even while living half estranged from his grandfather, was to prevent such situations. It was the least he could do for his bloodline.

After pressing the button on the cufflink in the predetermined pattern, he slowly opened his eyes. A spacious room without a single window came into view. It resembled an abandoned warehouse at first glance, but Seojin internally shook his head.

There were no signs of goods being stored. Considering the size of the room, about 50 pyeong (approximately 165 square meters), the thick pillars, the floor with only basic concrete work, and the unfinished ceiling…

‘An empty commercial space left on purpose. A room without windows, intended for special purposes from the start.’

It seemed to be a place frequently used by gangsters for their nefarious deeds. The faint stains on the floor where the rebar was clearly visible and the thick scent of blood hanging in the air hinted at its use.

The situation was better than what Seojin had feared immediately after realizing he was kidnapped, given that the air in the place was not damp and musty, characteristic of basements.

“Hey, you’re awake?”

Despite not concealing the fact that he had regained consciousness, the fact that the kidnapper noticed this only with a delay suggested that the individual might not be the sharpest, and also that the kidnapper likely didn’t have any accomplices nearby.

Seojin’s current goal was to escape on his own, before the police, clueless and possibly pressured by Myeongseong Group, arrived in response to the distress signal. However, even if he managed to free his tied hands, he couldn’t be certain he’d be able to exit the place.

‘That door is likely locked.’

Glancing at the visible entrance, Seojin considered the possibility that it was locked from the outside, recalling memories of learning that if surveillance was lax, the facility’s physical security would be correspondingly stringent.

‘The best strategy would be to make the thug open the door himself.’

Having quickly assessed his surroundings in an astonishingly short time, Seojin swiftly formulated an escape plan. With the training he had received since childhood and his talent [Dice of Fortune], he could easily suppress any fear.

“What’s with that expression? Are you naturally calm, or are you so scared you’re out of your mind?”

The gangster looked at Seojin with a baffled expression. Typically, someone suddenly kidnapped like this would be trembling with fear, questioning why this was happening to them, or begging for their life.

“You don’t seem to understand the situation.”

However, Seojin’s reaction was excessively calm, to the point of being odd from the perspective of the gangster, who was unaware of Seojin’s background and past. This attitude was strange enough to make the thug feel even more unsettled as he tried to hide his agitation.

The one who should be feeling fear was the kidnapper, yet strangely, it was the kidnapper who seemed to be feeling uneasy, wishing to deny the current situation. Of course, Seojin was fully aware of the kidnapper’s psychological state.

“Shall I explain the situation to you? Unless you’re a fool, you should be able to guess just from being tied up.”

Seojin intended to plant a seed of unknown fear in the mind of the thug. Regardless of what the thug might say or do in response, Seojin was focused on preparing for his escape.

Seojin was determined to first acquire a power that could assist in his escape attempt. He wanted to use his talent [Enhance] to aim for a higher-grade talent, but he was not confident he could endure the immediate chest pain penalty.

[Would you like to view one of your Gold Talent Cards? Y/N]

For starters, he decided to view just one of his Gold Cards, hoping for a talent that would significantly increase the likelihood of obtaining the necessary ability, relying on his talent [Dice of Fortune].

[You have acquired the talent ‘Penalty Delay’.]

Indeed, the system responded immediately to his wish.

[Talent Name: Penalty Delay]

[Grade: B+]

[Category: Status / Active]

[Effect: You can delay the onset of penalty symptoms from a specific talent for up to 24 hours.]

[Cooldown: None]

[Penalty: After the penalty symptoms start, you will suffer from high fever for 24 hours. (If applied multiple times, the first onset of symptoms will be the basis.)]

‘Yes!’

Seojin skillfully concealed his joy and immediately designated a target for this talent.

[Talent ‘Penalty Delay’ will be applied to the talent ‘Enhance’.]

He then proceeded with the action he had been hesitant about due to the worry of the chest pain penalty.

[Talent ‘Enhance’ is being cast.]

[Enhancement Target: 1 Gold Talent Card]

[Enhancement Material: 3 Silver Talent Cards]

[Enhancement Successful! You have obtained 1 Platinum Talent Card.]

[Would you like to view the Platinum Talent Card? Y/N]

[Talent ‘Enhance’ is being cast.]

[Enhancement Target: 1 Gold Talent Card]

[Enhancement Material: 1 Gold Talent Card]

[Enhancement Successful! You have obtained 1 Platinum Talent Card.]

[Would you like to view the Platinum Talent Card? Y/N]

Hoping to gain abilities that could properly support his escape plan, Seojin viewed both Platinum Cards at once.

[You have acquired the talent ‘Vitality Manipulation’.]

[Talent Name: Vitality Manipulation]

[Grade: A]

[Category: Health, Status / Active]

[Effect: For 10 minutes after casting, you can freely manipulate breathing, pulse, body temperature, blood pressure, pupil dilation, and physical reactions to external stimuli.]

[Cooldown: 10 minutes]

[Penalty: Immediately after the effect ends, you will faint and fall into a comatose state for 6 hours.]

The results were astonishing.

[You have acquired the talent ‘Sensation Conversion’.]

[Talent Name: Sensation Conversion]

[Grade: A+]

[Category: Status / Passive]

[Effect: Pain from penalties and external stimuli is converted into a painless state, and pain below a certain level is converted into pleasure.]

[Cooldown: None]

[Penalty: The frequency and level of exposed pain are inversely proportional to suffering from chronic hemoptysis.]

‘Perfect.’

It was as if the system knew Seojin’s plan and provided exactly the talents he needed to assist him.

“You do realize you’ve been kidnapped, right?”

All of this had unfolded in the span of a single breath. Having finished his escape preparations, Seojin, despite the gangster’s mocking words, calmly opened his mouth without any change in expression.

“I have a chronic illness that I usually manage with medication taken at specific times… Could you possibly fetch it for me?”

With a calm voice, he made an unexpected request. The gangster looked incredulous at such a bold demand.

“Is this some kind of joke? Are you crazy?”

“I don’t know why you’ve kidnapped me, but you must have kept me alive for a reason, right? If I don’t take my medication, I might not be able to breathe properly and could even die.”

Regardless of the gangster’s astonishment, Seojin stuck to the script of his outrageous lie, maintaining a face as serene as if he were speaking nothing but the truth.

However, the gangster, initially uncertain, seemed to decide to ignore Seojin’s plea, his eyes narrowing fiercely. He then raised his arm high, as if to instill some discipline into Seojin, who was still tied up.

“Shut up! Enough with your nonsense!”

The gangster’s thick palm harshly slapped Seojin’s delicate cheek. With a loud smack, Seojin’s slender neck whipped almost 90 degrees, and his pale cheek instantly swelled up, turning bright red.

Seojin’s long eyelashes trembled. The calmness in his eyes began to shake wildly from the shock, but not because of the gangster’s predictable strike.

‘What is this…?’

A strange, never-before-felt pleasure emanated from the cheek that had been ruthlessly struck.