Owed chapter 2/7

XG 112 - He's a great teacher

They did not have much time, so their plan was hastily made. They will have to improvise if the situation changes.

The rescue team would sneak in from the next building, a toy store, and get to the second floor. From there, they would climb from the window and onto the huge tree at the church's compound. With the help of the tree, they would land on the church's rooftop, where they could climb down to enter the window connected to the attic. From the binoculars, there was no one in the attic now and they quickly took the chance to cross over.

Other than Woojin's near slip when he jumped onto the rooftop, they safely reached the attic's window within the time frame.

Beom Seok did his best to create as little noise as possible when he broke a small part of the window glass to unlock it. The window was installed at the time the church was built so it was not moving smoothly.

Wong Xue Guo had two mini heart attacks from the sound the window made when Beom Seok pry it open wider with brute strength.

Among them, only Teacher Jang had frequently been to the church before, so he knew about the layout clearer than the rest of the team. But what he knew was only the layout that the visitors only had access to. It was at least better than not knowing anything at all. Unfortunately, Teacher Jang could not walk without erasing most of the sound of his footsteps, so he could not join the rescue team.

It would have been faster if two teams sneaked into the church, but they do not have enough walkie talkie to spare.

The only way they could seek help if they met a wall was through the walkie talkie. Teacher Jang was anxiously staring at the church as if he was able to see his students behind the wall. Often than not, he would look at the walkie talkie on Kang Xunsu's hands, not knowing if he was praying for the contact or not.

"Your teacher worries a lot for his students," Kang Xunsu commented when he once again caught Teacher Jang's gaze on his hand.

Haneul, who was decent in English, nodded. "He's a great teacher."

"Teacher Jang's relationship with his students is good?"

"Yeah. He cares a lot about us, especially Woojin and is willing to stick with us even if we get into trouble. He listens to us as if we are important."

"What a devoted teacher."

Haneol grinned. "Yeah."

The rescue team confirmed that the sacrifice was not in the attic. Testing the doorknob, they were surprised that it was unlocked. With one glance, they confirmed there was only an attic on the highest floor. The church only has two and a half floors, reducing their effort in searching.

Beom Seok took the lead and they went to the second floor, quickly searched around the rooms, and concluded the sacrifices were not on the second floor either.

Not only that, they did not encounter even a single person along the way. Wong Xue Guo silently roasted the church members for slacking off when it comes to security, while also gleeful for it because it made their rescue mission easier.

The remaining floor they had yet to search was the first floor, which was also the most dangerous place because that was the only place left for the church members to be.

"What if the sacrifices are with the church people?" Kwangsu whispered.

Seonmi gritted her teeth. "We will distract them."

"Seonmi, I think we found them." Woojin pointed in a direction, where lo and behold, could look down at the first floor, right down at where the gathering was. They could be said to have found the VIP seat as they could see the entire chapel.

Crouching low as they peered over the wooden railings, they saw all of the seven sacrifices lined up at the altar while forced to kneel down facing the statue. Surrounding them were the church members, all wearing white robes. They were guarding the sacrifices, fearing they would make a move to escape even when they were all tied up. Some of the sacrifices were heavily bleeding, likely from their failed attempt to resist capture.

This was the worst case scenario, alright.

"Xunsu, the sacrifices are surrounded by the church members before the statue," Beom Seok reported.

"Then it's no different to ambush them now or later," Kang Xunsu said. The time was ticking close to the appointed time, and with the short amount of time, it was unlikely the sacrifices would have any more opportunity to be left alone.

"Right, then while you are at it, we will slip away the sacrifices." That was the best they could do, with the risk of the sacrifices getting hurt from the fight.

"Good. We will wait until they set out to ambush them. Duljjae is taking his sweet time coming over," Kang Xunsu complained.

"What's the estimate?" L.L. asked from his lookout point.

Wong Xue Guo carefully peered down from the railing and did a rough headcount. "Around thirty-two... all armed. Strange, their number is much lesser than Duljjae's group." Surely Duljjae's group can handle them even if Nanse has an ability?

"I will ask Duljjae. He better not be fucking with us, or I will blast off his nuts," Kang Xunsu swore.

Brother Xunsu, are you not worried about karma hitting your own nuts? You should not say it aloud and invite misfortune.

When something vibrated from her jacket pocket, Wong Xue Guo flinched in surprise. She had not expected it would be her personal mobile phone, as the internet was down and calls were hard to connect. The Musihada Lab's mobile phone was in her backpack, which immediately became useless the moment she stepped out of the land. Musihada's communication line was only set up after the apocalypse hit them and they did not bother widening the signal range to outside the land.

Feeling a little excited, she sneakily pulled out her mobile phone and saw she got a missed call. Her pupils dilated when she saw who it was.

It was her grandmother!

She hurriedly dialed back, but the ringing tone was dead. There was no line as usual, and it was as if the missed call was an act of ghost.

Suzie Yap had said their family communication line was handled by Chin Chun, her father's adopted son and future heir of the mafia family. When the family line was down, they thought Chin Chun was in danger and went into hiding, unable to maintain the communication line.

Perhaps Chin Chun had restarted the communication line and something went wrong halfway? And that short time of reconnection happened to be grasped by her grandmother by chance? Could it be that her grandmother could not contact her parents and had no choice but to call her as a last resort?

Anyway, if it was not an act of a ghost, it means that her grandmother was safe.

Wong Xue Guo sent a short message to her grandmother, telling her where they were, and saw that it failed to send out. She left it alone since the message would automatically resend once there was a signal.

"Beom Seok, tell us when they move out," Kang Xunsu's voice came from the walkie talkie, pulling her back out from her own thoughts. A cold chill spread throughout her limbs when she realized she had gotten herself distracted in a dangerous place.

She put away her mobile phone and Woojin suddenly asked her a question, "Xue Guo, your phone is working?"

"Of course not. I'm just reading an old message to calm down my nerves," Wong Xue Guo replied. If she wants to lie, not many people can pierce past her facade.

Seonmi nodded in understanding. "Yes, whenever there's an exam, I would always go through my notes to ease my tension."

"It's ten minutes to four. They are moving." Beom Seok connected the walkie talkie as soon as the excited church members hauled the sacrifices towards the door.

At the same time, Woojin suddenly said, "I smell something burning."

"It's coming from the attic!" Seonmi noted when she saw the staircase leading up to the attic was covered with smoke.

The church building was a fusion of wood and cement, which means it would not be able to hold back the fire from spreading quickly. The fire happened too suddenly, and what was worse, the church members had caught onto the burning smell as well.