SYNO Chapter 4

“…….”

“After thoroughly searching the Dependent Nation, we found out a few more things.”

He slowly caressed Ssangryeong’s nape.

“You run a Name Detective Agency. Occasionally taking requests from large organizations, selling information. They say you’re a difficult one to handle, with a strong sense of pride and a soft heart.”

The information, wherever he got it from, was chillingly accurate. Ssangryeong swallowed dryly.

Pienne smiled smoothly.

“That’s why I spared those two.”

A silver handcuff was thrown at Ssangryeong’s feet.

The man gestured towards the handcuff with his eyes.

As if telling him to put it on himself.

Ssangryeong ran his dry tongue over his lips.

He was surrounded. His allies were wiped out, and all that remained were three enemies. One of them was a peerless sharpshooter with two bullets left.

‘I’m really fucked. What am I supposed to do?’

No matter how much he racked his brains, he couldn’t think of a suitable course of action. But picking up the handcuffs and putting them on like an obedient dog painted a bleak future.

‘If I go to the Home Nation, I’m dead. I’ll most likely be tortured and thrown into a fire.’

Moreover, he was a criminal who had stolen the Name Object information of high-ranking officials in the Home Nation. Anyone who desired that precious information would want to kidnap and torture him.

Ssangryeong slowly raised his eyes. The two men carrying the drug bags seemed to have fulfilled their roles.

‘The problem is this guy.’

Pienne was reflected in Ssangryeong’s amber eyes. A handsome face that overshadowed even his expensive suit. To have killed nine people and crippled two, yet maintain such a calm expression…

‘Why don’t I remember this bastard’s Name Object? He must be a high-ranking official in the Home Nation.’

He had stolen a considerable amount of information, but it seemed he had missed Pienne’s Object.

Ssangryeong clicked his tongue.

‘If I had memorized his weakness, I could have used it as leverage to threaten him…’

Searching for a way out, Ssangryeong finally thought of a suitable method. He lifted his head.

And stared at the man who was still slowly wiping his black gloves.

“I’m well aware of the Home Nation’s laws. It’s punishable by death if someone who isn’t a high-ranking official learns or discloses the Name information of a high-ranking official. That’s why you’re trying to arrest me, right?”

At Ssangryeong’s words, Pienne tilted his head.

As if he was running out of patience, his blue eyes darkened like ink. Ssangryeong continued speaking, undeterred.

“Lieutenant Colonel Hymes D1HRELDL99001. Colonel Catherine RIW873RGPMQQ. Colonel Sebastian TNBTK24DFS580. Brigadier General Roxhine OFD19DSNFK216….”

“What are you doing?”

Pienne, who had been like an impassive portrait, frowned. Ssangryeong gave a triumphant smile.

“Why ask, when you know? Those are the Object codes of high-ranking officials in the Home Nation. Knowing these codes allows access to their private information.”

Pienne let out a scoff. For a moment, amusement flickered in his eyes. The man, resting a hand on his hip, swallowed.

“It’s true then. That memory of yours.”

He stroked his chin with his gloved hand. After a moment of contemplation, Pienne picked up his gun with his large hand.

Bang! Bang! 

He  shot the two men beside him in the head with his steady aim. The men who had been guarding the drug bags collapsed to the floor.

He had killed those who had heard the information of high-ranking officials.

“…….”

Ssangryeong closed his slightly parted mouth.

‘He’s really crazy…’

Although it was the intended outcome, he hadn’t expected him to shoot them dead so readily. Ssangryeong stared at the two corpses with a disturbed look.

‘Shouldn’t he have at least hesitated before shooting? They were his subordinates.’

That’s why he had leaked the information.

‘It’s punishable by death if someone who isn’t a high-ranking official learns or discloses the Name information of a high-ranking official.’

Pienne, presumably a high-ranking official himself, wouldn’t be subject to execution. But the two men beside him, while likely government personnel, were definitely not high-ranking.

So, if he leaked the information, the two people in this room who heard it would become subject to execution.

Pienne, as an enforcer of the Home Nation, would have had no choice but to do his duty.

‘Just like how he came here to catch me.’

Ssangryeong slowly moved his arm.

‘Now, he’s used up the two remaining bullets.’

Now, the only person who could threaten him in this place was Pienne. This also meant that if he could deal with this guy, he could escape into the comforting shadows of the Dependent Nation.

Ssangryeong reached into his pocket. He wasn’t afraid of an unarmed person, and he had a pistol he’d brought for self-defense.

Just as he was about to draw his pistol and aim it at the man…

“….!”

Ssangryeong’s eyes widened. Pienne was standing right in front of him. A faint, sweet scent wafted over him.

Ssangryeong hurriedly drew his pistol.

However, Pienne didn’t seem surprised. Instead, the man stepped closer and grabbed Ssangryeong’s hand holding the pistol, pressing it against his own forehead.

“F-Fuck, what the hell are you doing?!”

Ssangryeong flinched and shuddered. He struggled to push the man away, but he wouldn’t budge.

“Shoot.”

Pienne said soothingly.

“Isn’t that why you drew your gun?”

Ssangryeong was dumbfounded by his smiling words. This man was truly the craziest person he had ever met.

He was a criminal directly pursued by the Home Nation. And this man was urging him to shoot, even with the gun pointed at his forehead? What if he actually pulled the trigger?

“Huh… fuck, you crazy bastard!”

Ssangryeong struggled to shoot, as Pienne wanted. His finger on the trigger was half-pulled, then trembled repeatedly.

Seeing his continued hesitation, Pienne’s lips curved into a soft smile.

Ssangryeong gritted his teeth.

Yes, damn it. He had never directly killed anyone. He had seen countless people die beside him. He had also led people to their deaths many times to survive.

Those were someone else’s affairs, so it didn’t matter much.

‘I had to survive, no matter what.’

But he wasn’t keen on killing someone directly with his own hands. To be precise, he didn’t want to.

Even just now, he had only intended to shoot a non-vital part of Pienne’s body. Then he would escape while the man was incapacitated. However, the thought of actually crushing someone’s skull with his own hands made his stomach churn. His breath quickened, and cold sweat drenched his neck.

Seeing this, Pienne’s smile disappeared. He said in a low, threatening voice,

“Did you think I wouldn’t know?”

“Haah, haah.”

“That you don’t have the guts to kill.”

He grabbed the gun that was pressed against his forehead. And then, crunch, he crushed it like a crumpled can.

Ssangryeong’s eyes wavered. He had just witnessed his steel pistol, smuggled from the Home Nation, being crushed with bare hands.

“I wonder how you managed to escape from the Home Nation.”

He muttered questioningly. Pienne tossed the crushed pistol aside. It hit the wall and shattered, the sound echoing loudly.

Ssangryeong, his legs weakening, stumbled back a step.

Then Pienne grabbed his waist and pulled him close.

“Ugh!”

What kind of human strength…!

“Let go, you bastard! Let go of me!”

Thwack! Thwack!

He used all his strength to struggle against Pienne’s grip. He tried pushing, hitting, but the rock-hard muscles didn’t budge.

“Whoa, shi….”

Just as Ssangryeong was about to collapse from exhaustion, the familiar, suffocating feeling covering his face suddenly disappeared.

Ssangryeong’s pupils dilated.

His skin… his disguise was peeled off.

Or rather, it had been taken.

Ssangryeong swung his arms with the last of his strength. Not to hit Pienne, but to retrieve his fake skin.

However, his wrist was also caught by the man.

“Haah, haah.”

Ssangryeong stared up at Pienne with wide eyes. The man, with raised eyebrows, was scrutinizing something.

His bare face.

As the man’s gaze lingered, Ssangryeong quickly turned his head.

But Pienne didn’t allow it. He gripped Ssangryeong’s cheek with a strong hand, forcing him to look.

“Ugh!”

Pienne’s hand was larger than he imagined. As the rough texture of the leather glove grasped his jaw and cheek, Ssangryeong felt like he was suffocating.

“Is this a mask too?”

He sounded genuinely curious. Ssangryeong gritted his teeth and struggled.

“Why don’t you try peeling this off too? Who knows, there might be another face underneath.”

“That’s possible.”

Agreeing, Pienne began to caress the area around Ssangryeong’s neck as if he were about to peel off his real skin. Ssangryeong’s eyes widened.

“Hey! Hey…! Stop it! Stop it, fuck! This is my real face! Aargh!”

If this bastard actually peeled, his real skin would be ripped off.

Terrified, Ssangryeong screamed and squeezed his eyes shut.

Click.

‘…Click?’

An unpleasant metallic sound came from below. Ssangryeong opened his eyes hesitantly, disbelieving his ears.

He saw shining silver handcuffs, as if they had never been used before. His own face, drenched in sweat and splattered blood, was reflected on them.

“…….”

Ssangryeong held his breath.

When he first heard the news that the new ruler of the Dependent Nation was turning the place upside down to catch him, he’d scoffed.

He was someone who had escaped from the Home Nation, after all.

Ssangryeong lifted his trembling eyelids.

He had been caught by that damned man.

The man, seemingly finished with his business, had a cigarette between his long fingers. He stared at Ssangryeong with an amused glint in his eyes.