Chapter 32

As I was organizing my thoughts and gauging the best time to start, Sabrina suddenly turned her head sharply to look at me while trudging somewhere.

“You… What’s your name? Or did you say you couldn’t talk?”

“….”

“Then I’ll just call you Fox. Your mask looks like a fox. Is that okay?”

“….!”

I don’t really care if she calls me Fox.

I nodded as if to say so.

Did she get the message? Sabrina made an aloof expression, then adorably furrowed her thick eyebrows and said:

“Fox. By following me, I’ll take that as you helping me. But if things get dangerous, leave me immediately and run away. Got it?”

“….”

“Answer me! Oh right.”

Didn’t I say I can’t talk?

As I silently stared at her, wondering what I was doing alone, Sabrina awkwardly twitched her round ears and coughed.

“Hmm, anyway! Don’t drag me down or I won’t forgive you.”

“….!”

“Don’t worry about me? Sheesh, you look weak but have so much confidence.”

She chuckled at my nod, then quickly looked ahead with a serious gaze.

This wasn’t strange.

If anyone found us here, it could affect David’s plans beyond just getting scolded. She probably realized this wasn’t the time for idle chatter.

Sabrina looked around and spoke.

“According to Oppa’s information, this is an unused passage. It was abandoned during the hotel’s renovation.”

We had entered a fairly high-ceilinged empty corridor.

This was one of the back-of-house areas typically used by hotel staff.

Through multiple renovations, this unused passageway naturally formed – no CCTV, no signs of people, perfect for our mischievous intentions.

Hehe, I felt like a ninja and enjoyed it.

While following Sabrina, a question popped into my mind.

Come to think of it… what exactly was Sabrina planning to do?

“Why are you staring? Do you want to ask about the plan?”

“….!”

“Ahh… right. You should know too. Fine, let me explain my genius brother’s great plan!”

No, I already know that.

With sparkling eyes, I half-listened to her brother-complex rant while recalling David’s plan in my mind.

To summarize his plan:

First, create chaos in the hotel to make an opening, then forcefully break through to secure Raine.

Escape using pre-prepared transport while shaking off pursuit.

Of course, the “chaos” meant causing a blackout throughout the building and dispersing sleeping gas.

The “breaking through” involved Nemesis’s confident combat robot battalion and triple-number Pixie, Lexi.

Even if we succeeded in escaping, evading the powerful police force in this city would be problematic…

Listening to her, it seemed Sabrina intended to surpass David hiding gas devices throughout the hotel and wait for him to join up.

‘Hmm… that’s not a good idea.’

On a scale of 100, it was about a 5-point idea.

On a 10-point scale, it wouldn’t even reach 1 point – a terrible plan.

Think about it, the key points of David’s plan were its boldness and unexpectedly fast execution.

Who would cause a blackout in an entire building and burn through a year’s salary worth of sleeping gas just to rescue someone? The ones predicting this would be considered strange.

And now, two useless burdens were interfering?

This was like throwing sand on David’s sharp plan.

So after pretending to ponder with crossed arms, I decisively shook my head as if saying it wasn’t good.

“What? Fox. Do you have complaints? Are you scared? Then go back!”

“….”

“You don’t have any better ideas anyway!”

Tsk tsk tsk.

Was she seeing me as the group project villain who opposes without ideas?

I confidently opened my mouth to enlighten clueless Sabrina with the right answer… only to close my eyes tightly against the cold reality of having no voice.

How inconvenient it was to not be able to persuade with words!

With an angry Sabrina in front of me, all I could do was scratch my head.

BANG!

Suddenly, from not far away, came the sound of something falling.

Isn’t this supposed to be a passage where no one passes through?

Sabrina’s eyes widened as if wanting to say just that.

‘Well… Nemesis isn’t stupid. They definitely noticed this annoying space.’

But perhaps it was to be expected.

If external hacker David could find out, how could Nemesis not know?

Especially today, with precious VIPs gathered.

They were equally vigilant against any unfortunate incidents.

Besides, this scene appeared in the original work, so it wasn’t surprising to me.

“Ugh! Ro, Robot…!”

In the distance appeared a giant spider-shaped robot.

An autonomous exploration robot with eight legs made of steel and machinery.

Startled, Sabrina clenched her fists ready to fight the spider robot, but I urgently grabbed her shoulder to stop her.

Unless David’s plan had already started, touching that thing now would mean ruining everything before it began.

“What, what should we do then! We could just run…!”

“….”

Shh.

I placed my finger on her lips, clearly panicking.

This gesture had two meanings:

Be quiet to avoid unnecessary commotion.

And don’t tell anyone what you’re about to see.

“Eeek?!”

I pressed down on Sabrina’s knees with telekinesis, making her lose balance, then caught her princess-style as she fell.

Using telekinesis, I threw both of us up, jumping over the crawling spider robot.

…Of course, since Sabrina and I were almost the same height, with me being thinner, it looked a bit weird.

But insufficient strength and balance could be solved with telekinesis, so there was no real problem.

“Kyaaah…!”

“….!”

Sabrina tightly hugged my neck with a pitiful scream, eyes squeezed shut.

If not for the telekinesis, my neck might’ve snapped from the thrilling moment!

I inwardly wiped cold sweat while landing softly without any sound.

When the spider robot disappeared ahead with squeaky sounds, a dazed Sabrina looked up at me from my arms and asked:

“You, you! That just now, was it magic…?”

“….”

Don’t know. Won’t tell you anyway. Not like I can talk.

I shrugged nonchalantly, playing dumb.

Eh? What if using telekinesis so openly gets discovered?

Well… who cares! With her personality, she probably won’t tell anyone, and even if she does, who would believe her?

Unless I knock her out and drag her, she was bound to discover my telekinesis anyway. My plan was impossible without it.

So why bother hiding it unnecessarily?

This was all based on rational judgment.

“Hmph! I’m, I’m not going to thank you!”

While I organized my thoughts, maybe something changed in her feelings.

Sabrina blushed and quickly escaped from my arms.

Uh… Was she embarrassed about getting help from someone who seemed so weak?

Thinking dust might’ve gotten on my borrowed suit, I brushed it off while quietly staring at her.

My silent gaze carried the meaning: I have a better idea, what do you think?

“…Do you have another plan? Something other than me clumsily joining up with Oppa.”

“….!”

“Then… let’s go with your plan. What are you thinking?”

It worked?

I confidently nodded at Sabrina’s careful question.

Your plan? 5 out of 100 points.

But my plan? 120 out of 100 points. No, 150 points!

But time was somewhat tight.

There were still variables to consider.

‘A little hurry would be good.’

I extended my hand to Sabrina as if asking her to hold it.

She hesitantly took my hand.

Hehehe, gotcha.

As soon as Sabrina grabbed my hand, I pulled her into my arms again.

Sticking upside-down to the ceiling with telekinesis, I quickly ran forward.

“Hoo, hoo! I, I knew this would happen! I told you I’m scared of these kinds of things!”

Ignoring her whining, I moved through the small space between ceiling and floor like swimming.

Soon, we reached the elevator shaft where elevators move up and down.

“Hoo, hoo… Is, is it over now?”

Nope, this part will be scarier.

Like giving a preventative shot, I gently patted Sabrina’s head whose soul seemed to have left her body, then without hesitation, threw myself into the vertical shaft leading to the basement.

Maybe she was out of energy to scream. Sabrina just flapped her lips like a goldfish.

Whatever. Enjoying the feeling of my insides dropping like a roller coaster, I used telekinesis as a foothold to quickly ascend.

How far up did I go?

The moment I intuitively reached the target floor, I rolled sideways to avoid an elevator coming down at terrifying speed and squeezed into the space between ceiling and floor.

Ah, how should I describe this feeling?

It was like finally stretching after crouching for a long time, then lightly sprinting full speed.

The perfect mix of fatigue and refreshment. A smile naturally rose to my lips.

“Geeeh… Sis… Bro…”

Aww, stop being dramatic.

I carefully put down soulless Sabrina who was sniffling, then lightly looked around.

This place was filled with various wires, devices, and dust.

Well, it was above the ceiling, so it was natural.

Arriving here meant we were almost done.

Moving carefully to avoid sound, I used telekinesis to carefully release the fastening of a ceiling section I had in mind, then peeked below.

‘This isn’t it. How about here? Not this either. Then…’

Open and close, open and close.

After repeating this about four times, I finally found my target location.

“Ugh, Fox. What are you doing now? Why suddenly the floor… Ah, that…!”

Sabrina, now recovered, approached me and widened her eyes like saucers in surprise.

Well, it was understandable.

Below the ceiling I had just opened stood dozens of intimidating combat robots.

Recalling the original work, there were probably exactly twenty.

Facing such overwhelming numbers, Sabrina’s expression naturally turned serious.

“With those things moving around… Even if he’s a dumb brother…”

Exactly.

Combat robots are called combat robots, but at this level, calling them killing machines wouldn’t be an exaggeration.

Bullet scratches would be lucky, and normal shells probably couldn’t even dent their toughness.

Their attack capabilities surely included basic guns and missiles, plus unstoppable monomolecular cutters.

My low-powered telekinesis didn’t match well with them – avoiding was the best option if there were two or more.

‘But if they’re peacefully sleeping like this, it’s a different story.’

However, that was only when these robots were fully operational.

Right now, they were waiting in the hangar for activation signals.

For me, there couldn’t be easier targets to handle.

‘My telekinesis can interfere with their internals when focused!’

From the ceiling where CCTV couldn’t see, I reached out toward the combat robots.

I drew out my telekinesis like thin threads from my palm and deeply penetrated the robot’s interior.

They seemed waterproof, dustproof, even anti-magic.

But apparently, they didn’t anticipate supernatural abilities?

After about 4 minutes of concentration, I felt my telekinesis invading the robot’s interior.

“Break, yab!”

Fixing is hard, but breaking is always easy.

I crudely crushed the circuits inside the robot’s head.

That’s one down.

Now to deal with the remaining 19.

‘Time is… tight, but it’s enough.’

Perhaps because I learned tricks to save time the more I did it, I felt a sense of accomplishment like climbing a mountain after neutralizing all combat robots in 40 minutes.

Now, if only I could deal with Lexi somehow, nothing would hinder David.

As I exhaled in relief, suddenly all lights went out with a flicker.

Sabrina, who had been quietly watching me from the side, startled and looked around.

But I immediately realized this was David’s doing.

Finally, the true beginning of the Nemesis terrorist incident had arrived.