CH 336

“Where did you say it was?” Bang Jin-Hun narrowed his eyes.

“...Right here,” said Jo Gyu-Min while pointing at a spot on the map with a trembling finger.

Bang Jin-Hun checked the spot, then tilted his head. “But, did he have a reason to go this way?”

“I can't tell. We have no way of knowing Mister Jin-Ho's reasons, but this is where the signal from his phone was detected for the last time. But...!”

“But?”

Jo Gyu-Min wordlessly reached out to grab the TV remote, then turned the TV on. “...Please take a look.”

The TV was showing a news broadcast about a badly-collapsed tunnel.

“Mm? What about it?” Bang Jin-Hun tilted his head again after failing to connect the dots.

Jo Gyu-Min silently pointed at the tunnel marked on the map.

“...No way!” Bang Jin-Hun's eyes shot open wide.

“I also think it's unlikely. No, I... I'm hoping that it can't be true, but...!” Jo Gyu-Min muttered in a quaking voice. His hands were shaking just as badly. “This is... It doesn't make logical sense, but... But...!”

Jo Gyu-Min couldn't finish the rest of his sentence, but he didn't need to. Bang Jin-Hun could already guess what he wanted to say. Logically speaking, it shouldn't have happened.

What were the odds of Kang Jin-Ho being there at the wrong time? And what were the odds of him being trapped inside the tunnel? Such a series of coincidences couldn't logically happen. However...!

Bang Jin-Hun shot up to his feet. “Let's go and find out.”

Jo Gyu-Min dazedly looked up at Bang Jin-Hun.

“Chief Jo, we gotta go and see for ourselves,” said Bang Jin-Hun after sensing a hint of unwillingness from Jo Gyu-Min.

However, it wasn't as if Jo Gyu-Min didn't understand where Bang Jin-Hun was coming from. It was more like... He didn't want to acknowledge it.

Kang Jin-Ho was still a human being. Even if it was him... If he was really trapped in the collapsed tunnel and couldn't contact anyone outside, hoping for a positive outcome would be rather foolish at this stage.

Even though the situation required him to consider all possibilities, Jo Gyu-Min's honest thoughts were that he'd rather not consider this particular possibility. Unfortunately, his mind continued to drag the rest of him toward the worse and worse hypotheses.

The incident he was involved in had to be something as massive as the tunnel cave-in. Otherwise, Kang Jin-Ho would've called somebody by now. As long as he wasn't defeated by some unknown forces, that was.

“Chief Jo. No, Mister Jo Gyu-Min.” Bang Jin-Hun spoke in a stiff, cold voice. “For now, think later. The first thing we must do is to confirm.”

“...Of course.” Jo Gyu-Min shot up to his feet.

Bang Jin-Hun was right. If Jo Gyu-Min wanted to keep denying it, then all he had to do was go there personally and confirm that Kang Jin-Ho never went there.

'Right, he shouldn't be there.'

Jo Gyu-Min clenched his teeth while stepping outside his office.

***

“...This whole thing has turned into a circus, huh.” Bang Jin-Hun slowly shook his head while scanning the large crowd of various people gathered around the accident site. Starting from fire trucks, he could see varied vehicle types belonging to emergency services, the police, and even the reporters cramming the narrow street. That wasn't all, as the sea of onlookers didn't seem to have an end to it, either.

Trying to investigate anything in this mayhem was obviously impossible. Meanwhile, the police tapes had already cordoned off the site of the collapsed tunnel, preventing anyone from getting near. With all these cameras and witnesses around, getting closer to the tunnel was 'even more' impossible.

“...Goddamn it!” Bang Jin-Hun spat out a curse. Even as they stood around here doing nothing, time continued to tick by without a care. The longer they took, the lower the odds of finding anyone alive would get. One didn't need to be a genius to know that.

“Mister Bang, follow me.”

“Sorry?”

Jo Gyu-Min and his stiff face grabbed Bang Jin-Hun and dragged him away. They headed to a large tent located behind the throngs of reporters before being stopped in their tracks by several police officers.

“Gents, you are not allowed to go in there.”

Jo Gyu-Min glanced at them and asked in a cold voice. “Who is in charge here?”

“Why do you ask, sir? There will be a press conference later on, so you should go over there and wait like everybody else.”

“Go and call the person in charge, please.”

“What the... Does this guy have a hearing problem...?”

Jo Gyu-Min took out his business card and pushed it forward at the policeman. “I'm from Jaegyeong. I'm here to investigate whether or not this tunnel is connected to the construction arm of our corporation and, if it is, to figure out if there's been any irregularity. So, call the person in charge now. Please.”

“Oh. Uh...” The police officers looked at each other, unsure of what to do. They hadn't been trained on how to respond in a situation like this one, after all.

Jo Gyu-Min spat out in displeasure. “If you don't know how to respond or don't think you can deal with the consequences, go and ask someone who does. If not, tell me who is in charge, and we'll take over from there. Do you understand what I'm saying to you?”

“A-ah, yes, sir. We'll confirm it right now and get back to you.”

“Yes. Do hurry up, please.”

Jo Gyu-Min stood there with a stiff expression, his arms crossed in front of his chest, as one of the officers hurriedly slipped inside the tent.

'Wow. This guy is no pushover, then?'

Bang Jin-Hun glanced at Jo Gyu-Min with a somewhat-stunned face. Despite not being a martial artist, the force of Jo Gyu-Min's ruthless pressure on the cops even took Bang Jin-Hun by surprise.

Since he accompanied Kang Jin-Ho, Jo Gyu-Min obviously couldn't be someone ordinary, but still... Wasn't he still a powerless civilian, regardless of his status?

As he started cultivating, Bang Jin-Hun developed a prejudice toward non-martial artists. He began thinking that they were all weaklings. But he now believed he owed Jo Gyu-Min a revised evaluation after this performance. Most average martial artists would have a hard time matching Jo Gyu-Min's determination.

“...Mister Gyu-Min, will it be fine to handle it this way?”

“All we need is the name of the person in charge,” said Jo Gyu-Min while chewing his nails. “Once we find that out, securing our way into the accident site will become easier by getting Chairman Hwang involved. And we should get our answers by investigating the site around the tunnel. To... learn if what we're thinking of has indeed happened.”

Bang Jin-Hun tilted his head. “And how will we do that?”

Jo Gyu-Min stared at Bang Jin-Hun in irritation. “Come on, Mister Bang. What are the odds of Mister Jin-Ho being inside the poorly-constructed tunnel just as it came down on him?”

“...Well, I'd say it's very unlikely.”

“If Mister Jin-Ho was really here, that means this tunnel didn't collapse on its own, but someone made sure it did. Either they drove Mister Jin-Ho in there or lured him in before blowing the place up.”

Bang Jin-Hun slowly nodded, his expression stiff. For sure, Jo Gyu-Min had a point.

“What we need to find in there are traces of artificial explosions. I won't know anything even if I look around, but you're a martial artist, Mister Bang. Your power of discernment should be better than mine. We'll head inside and confirm if there's anything out of place in there.”

“Oh... Sure.”

Now that they had a plan, Jo Gyu-Min's gears began churning so much faster than before. It was as if he was a completely different person.

'Yup, I have to admit it, don't I?'

Bang Jin-Hun inwardly chuckled. It seemed Jo Gyu-Min had analyzed the current situation, then decided on what to do and what to confirm on his way here.

Bang Jin-Hun never felt he was lacking in the brain department up until now, but staying next to Jo Gyu-Min quickly taught him how inefficient he had been all this time.

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In his effort to take care of everything in the shortest time possible, Jo Gyu-Min didn't hesitate to use the power vested in him and aggressively lobby the other side. Such an act might earn contempt and ridicule in the world of martial arts, but Jo Gyu-Min was an office worker, not a martial artist. He was simply very capable at his job, and that was all.

“There he comes,” said Jo Gyu-Min while locking his glare on an official hurriedly rushing this way. It seemed this official was one of the several dispatched to confirm the situation on-site.

“Shall we get going, then?” Jo Gyu-Min's expression stiffened as he walked forward.

***

“Wow, this is...” Bang Jin-Hun looked around in barely-contained disbelief.

After putting on the firefighter's bunker gear found inside one of the fire trucks, Bang Jin-Hun and Jo Gyu-Min began searching inside the cordoned-off area. The Commissioner of the National Police Agency, the head of the emergency task force, welcomed the duo with a less-than-pleased expression, but that was cleanly taken care of through Jo Gyu-Min's mobile phone.

The urgent voice of Chairman Hwang coming from the phone was probably shocking enough to stop the hearts of most bureaucrats. Bang Jin-Hun thought he'd never forget the pale, grave face of the Commissioner for the rest of his life.

That was how the two men managed to gain entrance, but now...

'...What are we supposed to look for in here?'

If the hill had just collapsed, finding traces might have been easier than their current situation. It seemed that during the cave-in, the hill's surface had also crumbled down, and now, it looked like a landslide had come down to cover everything up.

Finding traces of what it was like before the hill caved in would be a tall order even for Bang Jin-Hun.

Jo Gyu-Min asked while looking around. “Does a tunnel usually cave in like this?”

“Huh? How should I know? I've never seen a tunnel cave-in before, you know!” Bang Jin-Hun replied in irritation. The feeling of being lost seemed to have transformed into his temper just then.

He knew they had to check and confirm, but how were they supposed to do that? The lack of options was leaving Bang Jin-Hun frustrated and irritable.

“We don't need to find something concrete here, Mister Bang,” said Jo Gyu-Min. He seemed unperturbed by Bang Jin-Ho's irritated response. “We only need to find something strange. Something that shouldn't be here.”

“...When you say something strange, like what?”

Jo Gyu-Min muttered in a hushed voice. “If they really blew this place up, then... There must be remnants of explosives. Fuses and things of that nature. They should have retrieved most evidence, but retrieving them all should've been impossible.”

“Oh!” Bang Jin-Hun slowly nodded.

'Yeah, he's right about that.'

To figure out if Kang Jin-Ho was involved with this tunnel cave-in, they only needed to discern whether this tunnel was blown up or came down on its own accord. And the decisive evidence would be things like explosives or fuses.

“But, uh...” Bang Jin-Hun cautiously piped up.

“Yes?” Jo Gyu-Min glanced at him.

“I'm pretty sure uncovering things like that here won't be easy.”

“That's why I'm leaving it to you, Mister Bang.”

“...Ah. Got it.” Bang Jin-Hun groaned and stopped talking there.

'Bloomin' hell, you think a martial artist is a superman or something?'

It seemed staying next to Kang Jin-Ho all the time had warped Jo Gyu-Min's concept of martial artists. The truth was that a martial artist simply boasted slightly better senses and physique than regular people. But Jo Gyu-Min seemed to view most martial artists as folks possessing some kind of a cheat key for every situation.

Bang Jin-Hun shook his head. “Hold on. This won't get us anywhere.”

“I'm sorry?”

“We won't find anything using our naked eyes. I'm going to try something, so wait for a sec.”

“...Of course.”

Bang Jin-Hun promptly sat down with his eyes closed in a lotus position.

Jo Gyu-Min wasn't sure what the big man was trying to do but still stepped back silently to not bother Bang Jin-Hun. The world of martial arts was mostly beyond his comprehension, anyway. As such, not getting in the way was the best thing he could do to help out Bang Jin-Hun.

Around five minutes later...

Bang Jin-Hun's eyes flew open, his fists tightly clenched. “...Excuse me, Mister Gyu-Min?”

“Yes?”

“How should I describe this... I was searching for something warm like heat signatures until now, you see?”

“Something like heat signatures?”

“Yes. If explosive powder or fuses still remain in the area, they should be warmer than their surroundings since, well, they were in an explosion, right?”

Jo Gyu-Min squeezed his eyes shut. Explaining a scientific principle that even a middle schooler should know to this adult martial artist would be way too time-consuming. So he chose not to. “...I see. Shall we get to the next step in our search, then?”

“No, hang on. That's not it...”

“Sorry?”

Bang Jin-Hun grimaced a little and pointed below. “It's down there.”

“...Huh?”

“The heat signature. It's down there. Below this collapsed tunnel, I can sense the body heat of a human being. You do understand what that means, don't you?”

Jo Gyu-Min shuddered. “Someone... is down there?”

“Yes!”

“And you can actually sense that?”

“You think I got the Assembly Master position through a game of poker or something!? I may not look it, but let me tell you, I'm one of the top martial artists in this country! Even if there's a mountain of soil here, I'm still good enough to sense stuff like that!”

“...W-which means?”

Bang Jin-Hun's complexion paled as he nodded slowly. “Yes! I've sensed the presence of two people. Right down there!”

Jo Gyu-Min squeezed his eyes shut in despair.

'Goddamn it!'

This... This wasn't the absolute worst situation. They just confirmed that Kang Jin-Ho was still alive, after all. However, the one scenario Jo Gyu-Min feared the most had become a reality instead.

“Below that thing...?” Jo Gyu-Min opened his eyes and scanned the debris and soil piled up like an imposing hill. He unconsciously grabbed his trembling arms.

'We... We need to dig through all this to rescue them?'

The realization of how absurd that task was swept across Jo Gyu-Min. He staggered and fell on his butt. “But... But how are we...”

His mind went blank just then. He knew they had to rescue the trapped people. Bang Jin-Hun implied that the two trapped people were still alive, after all. But how were they supposed to do that?

“For now...” Bang Jin-Hun groaned loudly. “...Let's hold an emergency meeting or something first. We need an expert's opinions on this.”

Bang Jin-Hun reached down and held Jo Gyu-Min's shoulder. However, the latter couldn't get back to his feet immediately.

'Mister Jin-Ho...!'

Jo Gyu-Min's fingers dug into the soil as his head powerlessly faltered.