GDDHM 14

14
Boom! Boom! Boom!
The EDM beat threatened to tear the speakers apart, shaking the first-floor dance floor, but as she climbed the private staircase toward the third level, the cacophony transformed into a heavy, muted vibration.
“This way, please.”
Following the slick-looking man’s guidance, Kim Seung-yeon ascended to the third-floor VIP section. She felt his eyes rake across her body as they walked.
‘Disgusting.’
As she reached the final landing, the third floor opened before her—a place where million-won bottles of Champagne were consumed like water. The very air here was different from the chaos below. Thick carpet swallowed the sound of footsteps, and only the deep red indirect lighting created an atmosphere of secrecy.
Seung-yeon followed the man, her peripheral vision cataloging the layout of the corridor.
‘Where is it? The server room with the closed network…’
At that moment, a fine blue spark flickered across her pupils.
A technique uniquely hers, completed through revelation gained by observing Cheon Do-hyeon’s crude combat methods recently.
Neural Network Activation.
The microscopic current flowing through human neural pathways—accelerated through electrical attribute magic to temporarily elevate bodily abilities and perception to transcendent levels. It was a technique that didn’t fire Mana outward but instead made her own body itself ‘the subject of magic.’
A paradigm shift in understanding.
Crackle—
As she layered Mana over her eyes, her vision inverted into blue light, and she began to perceive the wavelength of the ‘electromagnetic field’ flowing through space. Among the stray radio waves emanating from the audio equipment and lighting, there was one place where an unusually massive current swirled.
At the far end of the corridor, a space sealed shut by a fingerprint scanner and a heavy steel door.
‘Found it! That amount of power confirms it’s a large server room.’
Seung-yeon felt a surge of triumph. She glanced carefully at the back of the man walking ahead, but he seemed entirely unaware that she’d cast magic behind him.
The plan was simple: enter the room, humor them appropriately, slip out with an excuse about using the restroom, and raid that server room.
Before long, both had arrived at the largest private room located in the center of the third floor.
As the heavy soundproof door finished with elegant wainscoting molding swung open, a wave of air washed over her—Seung-yeon nearly grimaced in disgust.
“Boys, look who’s here. A pretty princess.”
Acrid cigar smoke, the thick and cloying sweetness of hookah, and the alcohol-tinged reek of top-tier Champagne like Dom Pérignon and Armand de Brignac assaulted her nose. It was a repulsive smell.
The room had floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking the club floor, and on a U-shaped arrangement of high-end velvet sofas lay four tattooed men lounging carelessly.
The moment Seung-yeon entered, their eyes changed. They looked like beasts appraising fresh prey.
‘Their eyes are wrong. I need to make an excuse and leave right now.’
Seung-yeon felt a primal warning surge through her and stepped backward. The man who’d brought her quickly blocked her escape route and thrust a crystal glass toward her.
“Come now, since you’re here, at least have a glass of Champagne, miss.”
“Oh, no, thank you. I’m not good with alcohol. Could I use the restroom…”
The man’s face, which was always wearing that cheerful smile, hardened rapidly.
“If you leave so suddenly, what does that make me?”
“I’m sorry, I really need to go.”
“Ah… fine, then. Just one tiny sip—just wet your lips. For courtesy’s sake.”
Sticky gazes pressed in from all sides. If she refused even this ‘final’ drink, she had no idea what they might do.
‘All right. One sip and I’m leaving.’
Seung-yeon stiffly took the glass.
Just one sip. Just wet her lips and set it down.
Gulp.
But the moment that sweet liquid touched her tongue and slipped down her throat—
“What…?”
The chandelier light in front of her began to blur grotesquely.
A high-pitched ringing pierced her ears, and her legs lost all strength.
This was far beyond the common club drug colloquially known as GHB.
An illegally modified compound, abnormally potent. The drug had been engineered without regard for the user’s safety, and a single sip was enough to bring Kim Seung-yeon to her knees.
Sway—
Kim Seung-yeon’s body tilted sideways, and the glass fell from her slack grip.
Shatter!
The man caught her as if he’d been waiting, supporting her arm.
“Oh? Looks like you can’t handle your alcohol very well.”
His voice, laced with laughter, echoed as if she were hearing it from inside an aquarium.
He wrapped a strong arm around her waist as she nearly crumpled to the floor.
A wave of revulsion washed over her—like a snake coiling around her body. But the drug’s effects rendered her helpless to resist.
The men on the sofa rose to their feet with sinister smiles spreading across their faces.
“Let… let me go, please…”
She tried to struggle, but the Mana she’d accelerated through her neural network scattered away, leaving her unable to move even a finger.
Clammy hands began to close in around her. Her heart hammered with terror.
‘No…!’
As her consciousness began to fade and despair crashed down upon her—
A deafening explosion tore through the air!
The door, which had been locked firmly shut, exploded inward with a tremendous crash.
Dust rose in thick clouds.
The men froze, caught off guard by the sudden intrusion.
A figure stepped through the forced opening—the sealed room now violently exposed.
His eyes blazed as though lit from within. It was Cheon Do-hyeon.
“What are you doing? Preying on a high school girl?”
‘Am I dreaming?’
That was Kim Seung-yeon’s last coherent thought.
Watching Cheon Do-hyeon’s silhouette, she released her desperate grip on consciousness. Darkness swallowed everything.
#
Hours earlier.
Ring—ring.
Just before Cheon Do-hyeon left for Babylon, his phone buzzed.
When he answered, a familiar voice came through the receiver.
—Do-hyeon, it’s me. Jun-pyo.
They hadn’t exchanged numbers since Do-hyeon had graduated Jun-pyo from the role of punching bag, but it seemed he’d dug up the class emergency contact list.
Only something urgent warranted such a search.
Do-hyeon instinctively picked up on the anxiety underlying Jun-pyo’s words.
“What’s wrong?”
—I’m sorry. I know you’re busy, but… Seung-yeon seems off. She’s been asking about your whereabouts and something called the Golden Wheel all day. I got worried and asked her about it, and then she said she was planning to infiltrate Babylon.
“The class president?”
—Yeah. If Babylon is the Club Babylon I know, it’s way too dangerous, right? And I don’t have the guts to help her. So—!
Jun-pyo’s voice grew urgent.
—I mean, if that place is what I think it is, she can’t just walk in there. You know? But I’m useless, and I thought… I should at least tell you!
“Sigh.”
Do-hyeon exhaled deeply.
He’d known Jun-pyo’s information network and curiosity were unusually sharp, but he never expected the guy to voluntarily walk into the tiger’s mouth without being asked.
“I understand, Jun-pyo. Don’t worry—leave the rest to me.”
After hanging up, Do-hyeon arrived at Babylon ahead of schedule.
If Jun-pyo’s words were true, Kim Seung-yeon would enter the club in disguise.
He decided to wait until then.
How much time had passed?
A familiar face entered Do-hyeon’s line of sight.
Makeup? Really?
At first he nearly missed her, but when he focused on her suspicious gait, he recognized Kim Seung-yeon beneath the disguise.
Just as he was about to rush out, she slipped into the club before he could stop her.
He exhaled sharply and followed immediately after.
Heavenly Demon Phantom Shadow.
Deploying the supreme technique of the Heavenly Demon Divine Art, his body dissolved into the ambient energy like morning mist. The Heavenly Demon Phantom Shadow at the third level effortlessly fooled the guards’ eyes.
‘Where did she go?’
Once inside the club, the blaring music and flashing lights made his head spin.
‘Deafening and chaotic. What’s even the appeal of a place like this…’
Nevertheless, Do-hyeon managed to pinpoint Kim Seung-yeon’s location.
She was being led upstairs by a suspicious man.
He started to follow, but a man in a black suit blocked his path.
The man looked Do-hyeon up and down—taking in the sweatpants—and demanded bluntly, his expression openly skeptical.
“Show me your wristband.”
“…”
It was clear not everyone could simply walk upstairs. Do-hyeon lowered his head slightly and stepped back. Then, slipping into the crowd, he deployed the Heavenly Demon Phantom Shadow.
Erasing all presence, Do-hyeon ascended to the third floor and sensed Kim Seung-yeon’s Qi/Life Force Signature emanating from behind a firmly locked VIP room.
Moments later, he felt her energy flare erratically. Something was happening in there.
‘Discreet’ was no longer an option.
Do-hyeon strode toward the sealed soundproof door. Without hesitation, he concentrated his Internal Energy into his legs and kicked.
CRASH—!!!
The luxurious wainscoted soundproof door tore free as though struck by an explosion, flying into the VIP room in one massive piece.
Tables shattered. Liquor bottles exploded. Glass shards scattered in all directions.
“What the—what the hell!”
The men touching Seung-yeon’s shoulders jolted up in shock.
Through the thick cloud of dust and cigarette smoke, Cheon Do-hyeon stood with his sleeves rolled up, his posture crooked with barely contained fury.
“What are you doing? Messing with a high school girl?”
Cheon Do-hyeon’s cold gaze swept back and forth between Seung-yeon sprawled across the sofa and the men surrounding her.
“Against a high schooler.”
As Seung-yeon’s consciousness blurred, she saw Cheon Do-hyeon’s broad shoulders filling the doorway where he’d kicked it open.
Before she could even form the thought ‘How…?’, darkness claimed her.
The gazes of the men remaining in the room collided with Cheon Do-hyeon’s in the empty air.