Chapter 28: The Black Cat and the Four-Leaf Clover (2)

It was already evening.

The curtains were drawn tightly, every gap sealed with tape, leaving the room in total darkness.

The man sat in the corner, staring at the terminal screen on the small table beside him, his face full of anxiety and worry.

Suddenly, the terminal screen lit up with a faint glow.

The man scrambled for it as if grasping at a lifeline.

With trembling hands, he unlocked the screen.

The terminal had nothing but a messaging app, and now a small red dot was showing on it.

The man eagerly tapped it, his fingers shaking as he scrolled through.

The message was only a few lines long, but it took him several minutes to read it.

He didn’t look away until the screen automatically turned off.

He collapsed to the floor, letting out a hoarse sob.

After a long while, he turned on the terminal again and deleted the message.

Just as the information was completely erased, a faint knock came from the entrance, followed by a young voice.

“Hello? Anyone home? I’m here to deliver your food!”

The man stood up warily, tiptoeing toward the door.

He pressed his eye to the peephole, peering outside.

A young man dressed like a delivery guy was standing in front of the door not far away, holding a lunchbox and knocking impatiently.

The man didn’t answer.

He just silently observed.

Two minutes later, the delivery guy seemed to reach his limit.

He muttered, placed the lunchbox by the door, then turned and left.

The man pressed his ear to the door, listening quietly to the sounds outside.

The delivery guy’s footsteps faded from near to far, until only the hum of the air conditioner and the drip of condensation remained.

Drip. Drip.

Five minutes later, the man stood up.

A sudden lack of blood to his brain made him stagger.

He held his head with one hand and slowly undid the four or five security chains on the door with the other.

His movements were light and slow, so quiet that even the metal scraping made no sound, as if a monster that could hear through walls was lurking outside.

Finally, the last chain was undone.

With trembling hand, he gripped the door handle and slowly turned it.

He pushed the door open a crack.

Immediately, a thick hand grabbed his wrist.

“Huh?”

Realizing something was wrong, the panicked man tried to pull his arm back, but the hand held it like an iron clamp.

“You’re pretty good at hiding, huh?”

A gloomy voice sounded from outside the door.

The man’s face turned pale.

The large hand squeezed through the gap and clamped onto the door panel.

The man tried to resist, but a piercing pain shot through his palm.

A knife had stabbed through the man’s arm.

“Ahhh!!!”

The excruciating pain forced the man to let go, writhing on the ground in agony.

The door’s hinges snapped, and the last fragile defense of the room fell, opening itself to the invaders.

Several thugs stood at the entrance, looking down at the man wailing on the floor, then positioned themselves on either side of the door.

Then the delivery guy from before appeared.

He crouched in front of the man, a half-smile on his face.

“We had a hell of a time finding you.”

“I—I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

The man said, his voice trembling from the pain.

The delivery guy said nothing.

He just grabbed the knife stuck in the man’s arm and twisted it hard.

“Aaaaahhh!”

The man’s scream echoed through the hallway, even more shrill, but still only the sound of the air conditioner outside.

This apartment building was full of tenants, but no one responded to his cries.

Everyone kept their doors tightly shut, trying to keep danger out.

“Aren’t you going to invite us in?”

The man ignored the delivery guy’s joke, just glaring at him with hatred—the only thing he could do.

One of the thugs picked up the man like a chicken and threw him into the living room.

Ignoring the rotten smell in the room, the delivery guy pulled up a chair, sat in front of the man, and lit a cigarette.

“You sold that data, didn’t you?”

“…”

“Yeah. Otherwise why would you suddenly disappear without a word.”

The man still said nothing.

“Who did you sell it to?”

“Don’t make me keep talking to myself.”

The delivery guy blew out a puff of smoke, then suddenly pressed the cigarette butt against the man’s face.

The sound of flesh burning.

The man let out a pained groan.

The smoke and burnt smell dissipated.

The man spoke up.

“How did you find me?”

The delivery guy reached out, touched the man’s bleeding arm, then stopped at his hand.

Suddenly, the man understood everything.

He laughed bitterly.

“Right. I’m still carrying your stuff. No way I could run.”

The prosthetic arm he relied on for survival had become the company’s tool to track him down.

“Can you answer my question now?”

The delivery guy leaned close.

The lingering smell of his cigarette drifted into the man’s nose—a very expensive brand.

The man sighed.

“…I don’t know.”

“You don’t know?”

“It was an anonymous deal on the black market. Neither side knew the other’s identity.”

The delivery guy took the terminal handed over by a thug, unlocked it, searched through the messaging app, then pocketed it.

“We’ll find them.”

The delivery guy seemed to remember something and asked, “Why?”

“What do you mean?”

“You know what I mean. Why betray the company? You knew it wouldn’t end well.”

“My wife had a serious illness. I couldn’t afford the medical expenses.”

The man seemed resigned, finally telling the truth.

“Mm-hmm. Every traitor has a hard-luck story. I get it. So, did you succeed?”

The delivery guy listened calmly to this plain tale.

The man showed a tragic expression.

“She passed away last month. Organ failure. Who knows if it was because of that. But you guys can easily check the death certificate, right?”

The delivery guy looked at the man who seemed to have given up.

He probably wasn’t lying.

“Do what you have to do.”

The delivery guy nodded, then pulled out his pistol.

Creaaaaak—

The sound of the broken door opening and closing came from the entrance.

Everyone turned to look.

The delivery guy turned to the man, but only saw confusion in his eyes.

The first group of invaders warily pulled out their guns.

Tap. Tap.

A strange sound came from the entrance.

Everyone tensed, ready for a second wave of invaders.

Tap. Tap.

“Meow~”

It was the black cat.

It licked its nose, curiously observing everything in the room.

The invaders all let out a sigh of relief.

But the next second, the door was slammed open again, and a figure rushed in.

In just a few minutes, a third group of invaders had appeared.

“Got you!”

The girl laughed triumphantly, holding the squirming black cat in her arms.

Then she met eyes with the invaders inside.

“Huh?”

The man was now completely stunned.

What the hell was going on?