The Weapon Genius: Anything I Hold Can Kill

Seo Yewon pressed two fingers to her earpiece, slowing mid-step. The soft motion was enough for Jin to adjust his stance, already reading the shift in her posture. He didn’t speak, just waited, blade still sheathed at his side, breath held.

There was a pause as she listened. A slight furrow appeared between her brows.

Then she said, "Repeat that."

Another few seconds. A fainter tone now in her voice.

"Send it. Now."

She looked at Jin as she lowered her hand. "My scout found something. One of the districts on the far edge of the city, he says Gugwe-mok was headed that way but suddenly diverted. No sign of vines, no roots. No damage."

Jin raised an eyebrow. "It avoided it?"

"Completely." Seo turned on her heel. "Come on. He’s opening a ring to our location. We’re going in."

Before Jin could ask another question, the golden shimmer sparked into life a few feet ahead, a ring wide enough to fit a small car, its edge rippling like sunlight across water.

Seo didn’t wait.

She reached out and grabbed his wrist, not hard, but with enough momentum to pull him forward.

And Jin followed.

The ring was different this time.

The air curved around them like wind coiled into a spiral. Light swept across their skin, bending colors and gravity all at once. Jin felt his body jolt, weightless for a fraction of a second, then heavy, then weightless again.

And then they landed.

Jin stumbled once before finding his footing. Seo dropped beside him like she’d done this a hundred times.

They were in a new part of the city now. Quieter. Narrower streets, intact windows, lamp posts that still stood tall. No vines. No glowing green. No rot or ash.

But the silence was wrong.

Like the city was holding its breath.

Seo didn’t let go of his wrist at first. Her grip was firm, but there was a flicker of something gentler in it now. Something that lingered a second too long before she noticed and stepped back.

"Sorry," she said, her tone casual, as if to deflect it. "Didn’t mean to hold on that long."

Jin shook his head. "You’re good. Thanks for the... ride."

She gave a faint grin at that, barely more than a twitch at the corner of her mouth. Then she looked forward again, scanning the block.

"He should be close," she said.

And as if on cue, the faintest hum of a ring sparked again—this one smaller, off to the left, near a half-toppled parking structure. From it, the blue-jacketed scout stepped out, spinning one of his floating discs on his finger like a coin.

"You two move fast," he said, giving Jin and Seo a lopsided grin. "Or maybe I’m just getting better at placing my rings far range."

Seo didn’t answer at first. She took two more steps forward, boots crunching over dry leaves. The air pulsed subtly, the last nearby tree withered into dust behind her.

Jin raised an eyebrow. "You’ve been scattering rings all over?"

The teen scout nodded, catching his disc again. "Yeah. Thought it’d save me the trip yelling at people across buildings. More efficient this way."

Seo gave him a long look. "You sent them out already?"

"Five. One for each team," the scout replied. "Should be popping through any second."

And like a ripple of sound catching up to them, four more rings burst into life across the street, quiet and controlled, each one timed precisely. The rest of the squad stepped through moments later. Seul, Joon, Echo, Chul, moving steady, alert, eyes scanning the shadows before settling on Seo and Jin.

Seul spotted her brother instantly and narrowed the distance in three steps, grabbing his arm with a firm grip.

"You shouldn’t be walking," she muttered, checking his balance.

Chul winced but didn’t argue. "Had to come."

Seo nodded slightly to the scout. "Nice work."

He saluted lazily, spinning another disc in his hand. "Name’s Yeon, by the way. Since no one bothered to ask."

Jin blinked. "You’re just telling us now?"

"You didn’t ask." He grinned. "Besides, mystery’s half the charm."

"Right." freewebnøvel.coɱ

Seo turned to the group. "Everyone here?"

Echo raised a hand, then dropped it. "All accounted for."

"Good." She turned slightly, her voice shifting. "Echo, check the area."

He didn’t question it. Just closed his eyes, palm pressing gently against the pavement. A soft hum vibrated outward, quiet as a whisper.

Nothing.

He frowned. "It’s... dead. No trace. Nothing’s echoing back."

Seo crossed her arms. "You sure?"

He nodded, lips tight. "Yeah. Sound’s just absorbing."

Her eyes narrowed, thoughtful. "Try deeper."

He adjusted his stance and pushed harder, sending another pulse, this one sharper, diving further beneath the surface. A long silence stretched.

Then he flinched.

"There’s something underground," he said slowly. "A network. Could be part of the subway system... but it doesn’t feel empty. There’s interference. A kind of vibration, like it’s alive but... muffled."

Jin stepped forward. "Could that be where it’s hiding?"

"Possibly," Echo murmured. "Whatever’s down there, it’s layered. Thick. Hard to map out, but there’s movement."

Yeon stepped forward, spinning a disc again. "You want me to get us down there?"

Seo nodded. "Do it."

He flipped the disc into the air and clapped once, and with a sound like a note struck too cleanly, another golden ring flared into existence, hovering just a foot off the cracked sidewalk.

"Stay close," he said. "I’ve only got so many of these before I tap out."

Seo turned to Jin. "You ready?"

Jin glanced at the ring, then back at the dead trees behind them, then nodded. "Yeah. Let’s see what’s waiting under the city."

The group moved closer.

And one by one, they stepped through.

The air on the other side was colder, thick with dust and damp earth. The ring dropped them into what looked like an old maintenance tunnel, wide enough to walk shoulder-to-shoulder, with rusted piping running along the walls and cracked tiles underfoot. Faint emergency lights flickered red from somewhere down the hall, casting everything in that strange, half-alive glow.

Jin took a step forward.

It was quiet. Too quiet.

And then the ground rumbled.

A low, dragging groan echoed through the tunnel, deep and distant, like something massive shifting far beneath the city. Bits of ceiling dust rained down in small puffs. Chul braced himself against the wall. Even Echo frowned, turning his head as if listening to something just out of range.

Joon exhaled slowly. "Yeah. That’s not normal."

Seo reached for her earpiece. "Eyes open. Whatever’s down here, it knows we’ve arrived."

And ahead of them, the tunnel stretched into shadow. Waiting.