By Zephyria 
Just then, Vasily’s voice was heard again.
Guide Kwon Gi-dam. Where are you right now?
“I don’t know… Looking around, it seems to be an abandoned building… cough…”
A voice cracked from the cold leaked out. I tried to clear my throat with a light cough, but due to the dust filling the air, it spiraled into a severe coughing fit.
Being in this situation made me feel like a tragic heroine kidnapped by villains in a movie. How did things end up like this? Ever since I got entangled with Vasily, my life hasn’t been smooth sailing.
“You shouldn’t be so relaxed. Right, I should show you what your Guide looks like right now.”
Hearing us converse calmly, the kidnapper must have thought something was off and switched to a video call. Suddenly, my haggard face appeared on the screen.
Vasily seemed to have his camera off, as only a black screen was visible. I tried to turn my head to hide my miserable appearance, but the kidnapper roughly grabbed my chin and forced it up. I instinctively frowned at the touch that lacked any shred of consideration.
On the screen, my unsightly face, flushed from the fever, was vividly displayed. It was deeply humiliating to show Vasily—especially in this state.
“I’ll text you the location. If you don’t come within an hour, this Guide dies. If you want to save him, you’d better come alone.”
They’re really going to kill me? I’m not even Vasily’s Guide… I muttered softly, feeling the injustice of it all.
“I told you, I’m not Vasily’s Guide…”
“Shut up!”
With a thud, my head snapped to the side. A stinging pain spread across my cheek. Feeling a metallic taste in my mouth, I spat, and bright red blood drenched the floor.
Guide Kwon Gi-dam.
Then, the voice came through the phone again.
I’ll be there soon, so please wait just a little longer.
His voice was heavily sunken. It was so chilling that it gave me goosebumps, leaving me unable to answer until I belatedly realized the call had ended.
After the call disconnected, I glanced at the kidnappers. These guys are never getting out of here in one piece. Whether they knew it or not, they were smirking, claiming the operation was a success because Vasily was coming alone.
It would be better for them to run away now. However, if I let them go, I might be put in danger again in the future, so it would be better for me if they were dealt with here.
“Sigh…”
Since my physical condition was worsening, I decided not to resist. In any case, the guys didn’t seem to have any intention of harming me until Vasily arrived.
Perhaps to send to Vasily, the men even took photos of me tied up in a pathetic state. I watched the men snickering as they looked down at me with a frown, then emptied my mind and lay still on the floor.
Go ahead, take your pictures… You’re just guys who will vanish from this world in a few hours anyway. I decided to leave them be, feeling pity for them as they ran their hope circuits, unaware of the fate awaiting them.
“Hmm… this is still missing something.”
“Should we just cut off his wrist and throw it in front of Vasily? I heard that wrist of yours was cut off because of Vasily.”
Wait, what is he talking about? I hurriedly turned my head and saw that one of the men was indeed missing a wrist. The man who heard the suggestion agreed that it was a good idea to cut off my wrist.
…This changes the situation.
The kidnappers briefly left the room to find a tool to cut my wrist. I squirmed and managed to pull myself up.
Since my hands and feet were still tied, I first looked for a sharp object to cut the ropes, but the only things around were broken wooden furniture. Looking around, I spotted a half-broken window and approached it.
I barely managed to open the window with my bound hands. I looked down to escape, but I was on the 4th floor.
If it were the 2nd… no, at least the 3rd floor, I would have attempted to jump. But jumping from the 4th floor with my hands and feet tied had such an obvious outcome that I couldn’t even try. I wondered if I could survive if I landed well on the trees below.
While I was calculating the probability of survival if I jumped, I saw a car approaching from a distance. I visibly brightened. It was too dark to see clearly, but seeing the silver hair of the person who stepped out of the car, it was definitely Vasily.
“Vasil—”
“Hey! What are you doing there!”
The moment I tried to call for help from Vasily, the men, who had returned unnoticed, spotted me and shouted. I turned pale when I saw the chainsaw in their hands.
They said they’d cut off my wrist, but with a chainsaw?
At this rate, I was about to star in a gore movie. Without thinking twice, I threw myself out the window.
“Vasily! Catch me!”
Vasily was still a bit far from the building, but I trusted his monstrous physical abilities. I closed my eyes tight, feeling the sensation of falling. I grit my teeth, desperately hoping that what followed wouldn’t be the dull pain of being crushed against the asphalt.
Thump.
“Guide Kwon Gi-dam.”
As expected. Strong arms caught me.
I opened my eyes, feeling a chest as cold as ice. Under the dark night sky, Vasily’s face shone brightly. He was smiling as brightly as the moonlight… for a moment, I thought I was dreaming.
“I told you to wait patiently.”
“Am I supposed to wait patiently when they come back with a chainsaw to cut off my wrist?”
“Hmm… that would have been troublesome.”
My heart was pounding. Once I realized I was safe, the urgent tension instantly transformed into a thrill.
“Haha…”
It wasn’t the situation for it at all, but a mindless laugh escaped me. Unable to suppress the bursting laughter, I eventually laughed out loud. Seeing me like that, Vasily began to laugh along.
We stood facing each other, laughing for a long time.
Belatedly, the kidnappers poked their heads out the window and looked down. Seeing us laughing as if we had lost our minds, they tried to flee in a panic, but they—along with the abandoned building—were instantly turned into ice.
Leaving behind the abandoned building covered in ice like a giant glacier, Vasily turned and walked away while still holding me.
And so, the kidnapping incident came to an end.
* * *
Carried by Vasily, I arrived where his car was parked.
Vasily sat me in the passenger seat and untied the ropes binding my arms and legs. As I moved my now-free body, Vasily looked at me and placed a finger over my split lip.
Immediately after, a cold sensation swept across my lip. Even without checking, I could tell he had stopped the bleeding of my split lip.
“Shall we go to the hospital first?”
“I don’t want to.”
I immediately shook my head at Vasily’s question. When I refused firmly without hesitation, Vasily muttered softly.
“…Did he hit his head too?”
Vasily looked at me as if I were a crazy person. I returned the same look before answering as calmly as possible.
“I’m not seriously injured, and there’s no need to go to the hospital for this.”
“….”
“And I’m tired. Right now, I just want to go home and rest.”
I made that excuse to Vasily, but there was actually another reason.
Going to the hospital frequently wasn’t a good idea. The suppression chip embedded in the back of my neck could be discovered during an examination. The moment the suppression chip is forcibly removed and a matching rate test is conducted again, my life is over.
“…If that’s the case, it can’t be helped.”
Vasily seemed dissatisfied, but he eventually accepted my opinion and turned the car toward home.
After traveling for a while, we finally arrived home. The tension released as I returned to a familiar place. Just as I was about to get out of the car in relief, Vasily spoke to me.
“Guide Kwon Gi-dam, pack your things and come out.”
“Huh? What do you mean…”
“Stay somewhere else for the time being. I happen to have an empty house, so I’ll lend it to you.”
“I don’t wan—”
“The address of where you’re currently living has been exposed. Things like this might happen again in the future; do you intend to keep staying here?”
I quietly shut my mouth.
For once, Vasily was right. As he said, people who hold a grudge against him might target me one by one, and taking such a risk would be a stupid choice.
I’ve finally escaped from being Vasily’s Guide; I can’t let myself die pointlessly by getting caught up in something like this.
“Is it… really empty?”
“Why? If you’re scared of being alone, should I stay with you?”
“No. I don’t want it if I’m not alone.”
“That’s a shame. I was going to go with you if you said you were scared.”
Hearing him speak, it seemed Vasily really intended to just lend me the house and stay elsewhere himself. In that case, there was no reason to refuse.