OMH Chapter 54

Oh My Hero – Episode 54

54. Hooligan (18)

Cha Woojin woke up due to a strong impact to his head.

“Ugh…”

He groaned and tried to grab his head. But his hands wouldn’t move as he intended.

Both hands were tied behind his back.

Unable to move his body freely, the bumped head felt even more painful.

Cha Woojin couldn’t even open his eyes properly due to the pain and thrashed around, but he couldn’t budge.

Only then did he realize that he was still inside the sack.

Cha Woojin endured the pain and carefully reopened his eyes.

Light entered through the coarse fabric of the sack, revealing his miserable state crumpled inside.

Cha Woojin examined the gap caused by his ankle sticking out of the sack.

Through that gap, which was less than a hand span, he could see the bright blue sky.

The hooligans had come out of the underpass.

“This bastard’s really damn heavy! I dragged him all the way up, so now it’s your turn to carry him. He’s been freaking out inside. He’s so damn heavy.”

One of the hooligans cursed and kicked the sack.

Cha Woojin’s head was currently at the very bottom of the sack. The hooligan’s kick hit Cha Woojin’s chest.

“Ugh!”

Cha Woojin twisted in pain. There were many jagged stones on the ground, and the hard, sharp edges stabbed directly into Cha Woojin’s body.

“I need to use my ability now. I’m going to hit him once, so put him down.”

The hooligan who had been getting angry dropped the sack roughly. Cha Woojin, inside the sack, hit his head directly on the ground.

Judging by the hooligan’s attitude, it seemed he had hit his head on the stones on the ground earlier too.

Unable to maintain his balance, Cha Woojin fell sideways as soon as the hooligan released the sack.

“We’re not going to do it here, are we?”

“Are you crazy? I have my privacy. It’s too open here, so let’s go over there in the corner.”

They now grabbed Cha Woojin’s ankles, not the sack, and dragged him away.

Cha Woojin no longer had the strength to resist them.

The places where he had been hit or bumped were painful, and his whole body was aching from being tied up uncomfortably for so long. He didn’t even feel like struggling anymore.

He just hoped that this pain and time would pass quickly.

Cha Woojin gave up resisting their touch and simply let himself be dragged.

He just desperately hoped not to hit the stones on the road as much as possible while being dragged.

*

“Ugh, what is this in this urgent situation!”

I came up to the surface to get GPS tracking authorization again.

Kwak Seunghae sent me out because communication was better above ground than underground.

‘It would be better to search the underpass a little more during this time, but what a waste of time?’

However, Kwak Seunghae’s words that he couldn’t search an area of about 3km2 on foot made sense.

To get permission as quickly as possible, I called Central as soon as the message appeared that the application was complete. To get permission from Central as quickly as possible, it’s good to call and emphasize the urgency.

I ran back down into the underpass as soon as I heard the dial tone.

It doesn’t need to be a clear phone call, it’s important to find Cha Woojin’s tracks even a little bit. And if Central sees the situation where we are frantically searching, it is easier to get permission.

As I was rummaging through the debris scattered in the underpass, I heard a voice from the Smartwatch.

-This is the Central Center Management Bureau. Please state your identity.

Oh, it’s connected! I turned the voice call into a video call.

“Yes, this is B9103960 Esper Gang Hana.”

-B9103960 Esper Gang Hana, your identity has been verified. What’s going on?

It’s good to switch to video because identity verification is quickly completed. It takes longer to analyze the voice with a voice call.

It’s time to get to the point.

“I need GPS tracking permission for the D-grade Guide Cha Woojin that I applied for last time. He’s currently missing.”

-You cannot receive permission for 6 months because you have already received GPS tracking permission for the target once.

Huh? What are you talking about?

“No, he’s been kidnapped by hooligans! It’s an emergency! If you give me permission just once, I’ll find him quickly!”

-You cannot receive permission for 6 months because you have already received GPS tracking permission for the target once.

“Hey, isn’t this an AI hologram and not a Central Center employee? Get the person in charge out here quickly! It’s really urgent!”

-You cannot receive permission for 6 months because you have already received GPS tracking permission for the target once. The counselors at the Central Center are your precious guides and fellow members of the Association. Please refrain from using vulgar language.

“Get the person in charge out here. Is this the time to say I can’t track him for 6 months? Cha Woojin is in danger!”

-The counselors at the Central Center are your precious guides and fellow members of the Association. Please refrain from using vulgar language.

“I didn’t swear. Change to the person in charge.”

-The counselors at the Central Center are your precious guides and fellow members of the Association. Please refrain from using vulgar language.

Ugh! Everyone is so unhelpful!

*

Cha Woojin opened his eyes to the sound of someone smacking their lips.

This time, he was not crammed into a sack, but sprawled out on the cement floor with his face pressed against it.

His mouth was still gagged and his limbs were tied.

Cha Woojin barely turned his head to look around.

He must have entered a building somewhere, because it was dark all around. But it wasn’t so dark that he couldn’t distinguish the objects in front of him.

When he turned his gaze upwards, he saw a faint light leaking from a light bulb hanging from the ceiling. And below it, the hooligans were hurriedly gulping down something.

Perhaps it was because his eyes were unfocused, but he couldn’t see what the hooligans were holding in their hands.

Cha Woojin strained his eyes to focus the blurry image. He could see the objects in the hooligans’ hands with a clearer view.

It was canned food.

Something that Cha Woojin himself considered a precious food before being rescued by Gang Hana.

Of course, he doesn’t even look at food marinated in spices and packed in sealed containers anymore, but back then, he was desperate to get it. Because it was the safest food.

So there were times when Cha Woojin lived desperately trying to collect even one more can. Because his younger sister could survive only if there was safe food.

‘The source of the canned food was here.’

Cha Woojin looked around and realized it anew.

The surroundings were piled up like mountains with various foods, including canned goods. There were rows of water and beverage boxes, and even snacks. Cha Woojin guessed where he was by looking at these supplies.

This place must be a warehouse in Downtown.

Cha Woojin recalled the streets of Downtown he had walked with Gang Hana. Recently, the street was decorated with colorful light bulbs and green and red ribbons.

A splendid decoration commemorating the year-end event. It is a fragment of the world that could be seen every year before this world. Cha Woojin, who didn’t know that the culture of celebrating Christmas would still remain in the world that was only ruins, was moved by the appearance of the splendid streets.

How much his younger sister, who saw such a sight for the first time since birth, liked it.

She was born in the ruins and has only lived in them, but she was enjoying the same civilization as before.

For that reason alone, Cha Woojin could not end his life here.

He had to be a pillar of support for his younger sister, who had never enjoyed anything since birth.

Cha Woojin grabbed his fading mind and vowed to survive.

*

“It’s not here either!”

“I completely failed too.”

“Then look somewhere else! You just have to search the store warehouses!”

I didn’t get GPS tracking permission after all. Thinking back to the conversation I had with the Central Center employee earlier makes my skin crawl.

-Yes~ This is the Central Center Management Bureau. What’s going on?

“It’s an emergency, so please grant me GPS tracking permission!”

-Didn’t you hear the explanation that you can only get permission 6 months after the expiration date?

“One of our team members has been kidnapped by hooligans! A person’s life is at stake!”

-Esper Gang Hana. The internal GPS is a secret within the Association. You are not supposed to contact us like this during a mission. Originally, individual team leaders are not allowed to give permission. And that team is a temporary team and you are a temporary team leader. You shouldn’t be doing this.

“B, but I got permission last time.”

-That was possible because approval was obtained from the Guide Bureau at that time. Anyway, you shouldn’t be doing this.

Click-

The Management Bureau hung up like that.

“No, if you hang up like that, what happens to Woojin!”

I’m angry, but I have to calm down first. I’m a veteran Esper. It’s not my specialty, but I can guess the destination of the hiding hooligans as much as possible.

The reason hooligans hide in Downtown is because of necessities. Especially food.

But they don’t hide in restaurants and steal food. Restaurant food is difficult to preserve.

What they mainly target is well-preserved canned food. The expiration date is long and the containers are strong, so they steal a lot.

Wouldn’t a place where you can get that be a supermarket? Surely, they will hide in a supermarket in Downtown and steal things.

I turned on the map of Downtown with my Smartwatch and searched for supermarkets.

According to the search results, there were a total of 142 supermarkets in Downtown.

*

We are first looking at places close to the observation post-D here.

Five people, including three of my classmates, Kwak Seunghae, and me, were searching all the supermarkets in the area.

“Sunbae, are you sure it’s near here? How can we not know when there are so many people walking around here?”

“That’s right. I’m conscious of running between people. Everyone gets annoyed when we bump into them.”

“Isn’t it already out?”

As always, the kids were full of complaints whenever they were asked to do something.

“Hey! Our team’s Guide has disappeared, so how can you say that? Look around even one more place! People’s lives are at stake. Jang Hana, use your ability to search. Hurry up!”

I would usually be lenient to some extent, but I couldn’t be this time.

I scolded the kids and got angry. I told them to go around and find them separately, but whenever they had a chance, they flocked to me and whined.

“Use the radio if you have something to say!”

Jo Yong, who came to see me to report the intermediate results, turned around and ran away when I got annoyed.

But he must not have looked around because he was running away in a hurry.

“Oh, student! What are you doing?! What are you going to do if you ruin the things I put out to do business today!”

Jo Yong kicked the box placed under the outdoor stall.

As expected of something kicked by a Enhancement-Type S-grade, the appearance of the box was terrible.

“Oh my, really! What are you going to do about this? Huh? What are you going to do about this? I’ve been preparing all night since yesterday….”

I’m so busy, but I have to clean up what Jo Yong caused.

My head is throbbing, really.

※ The rights to this work belong to the copyright holder. Copying, reproducing, modifying, or distributing the work may result in criminal punishment and civil liability.

(54)============================================================