Chapter 149 – Al-Baghdadi
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Thud—!
Victor couldn’t believe his eyes.
Abubakar was trembling at his feet, shaking violently, his appearance reduced to rags.
That Boko Haram boss who had tormented him for a year.
“Aaauuugh… aauu…”
Victor didn’t feel any pity as he stared at the man, teeth gone, blood pouring nonstop.
If anything, he felt a murderous urge—as if this was his chance.
After everything he had suffered while being held, ripping the man apart wouldn’t even feel satisfying enough.
“Don’t kill him yet.”
The savior in the white mask spoke to him in English.
The voice sounded male, but Victor didn’t know what country he was from.
Victor offered his thanks first.
“Thank you so much. Thanks to you, Ricky and the children are safe. Ricky. You should thank him too.”
“Th-thank you.”
As he watched Ricky greet him shyly, Ryu Min thought,
‘Looks like this kid was originally fated to die, since I’ve never seen him before.’
If Ryu Min hadn’t stepped in, he would have died for sure.
Maybe because Victor and the children greeted him and their guard dropped—
The people who had been keeping their distance began to creep closer and express their gratitude to Ryu Min.
“Thank you, Mask-nim.”
“Thank you. For saving our lives.”
“Thank you. For dealing with that trash.”
Reading their thoughts, he saw they recognized him as a complete ally.
He had killed every Boko Haram member, and even captured their boss.
Who wouldn’t see him as an ally after that?
The eyes of those looking at Ryu Min were filled with deep respect and affection.
Then Victor asked the question everyone wondered, speaking on behalf of them all.
“Mask-nim. May I ask your name?”
“……”
“Ah, I understand it may be difficult to reveal. That’s why you’re wearing a mask. But please consider our position as well. You are the savior of our lives—if we don’t even know your name, wouldn’t we live with regret forever? If it’s truly difficult, then please at least tell us your nickname.”
“Black Scythe. That’s my nickname.”
“Ah…!”
The others were ordinary people and didn’t know, but the moment Victor heard that name, he couldn’t hide his shock.
“A-are you truly Black Scythe-nim?”
“Do I look like someone who would lie?”
“N-no, it’s just… it’s hard to believe…”
To have such a famous figure—someone any Player would know—standing right in front of him.
And as the benefactor who had saved his life?
Of course Victor found it hard to believe.
“To meet Black Scythe-nim, the Rank 1… it is an honor. I am Victor Jafayile. I am a Player, a level-40 Alchemist.”
“Is that so?”
Ryu Min replied as if it were nothing, even though he already knew all the details.
“But what did you mean earlier? When you said not to kill him yet?”
“It’s because he still has value. Through this bastard, we need to draw out IS’s leader.”
“The leader?”
Even though Victor had been held by Boko Haram for a year, even he didn’t know who IS’s leader was.
They were a decentralized network, numerous, hard to locate, and the leader kept his identity hidden in the shadows.
“How are you planning to…?”
“I’m going to send a text. With this guy’s photo. Since we’re talking about it, let’s throw out the bait right now.”
Ryu Min took a photo of the battered Abubakar, then searched for the IS leader’s contact number in the messages.
He already knew who the leader was from the previous run, because he had confirmed it then.
‘He already sent a text saying he’s being attacked.’
Perfect, he thought, and sent a message along with the photo.
[Abubakar: He has been defeated. If you want him alive, come here immediately.]
Victor tilted his head after reading it.
“Is this person the IS leader?”
“Yes.”
“How do you—”
“I just know.”
“No, more importantly… even if you send this, will he come? Won’t he do the opposite and not come?”
A cold IS leader wouldn’t be shaken by a threat like this.
A Boko Haram boss could simply be replaced.
That was why Victor asked, and Ryu Min agreed with the logic.
But he was certain.
“He’ll respond. Definitely. If anything, he’ll be interested.”
In the previous run, he had hooked al-Baghdadi this way too.
And sure enough—
A reply pinged in.
[Al-Baghdadi: Wait there.]
He would have been intrigued by the name Black Scythe, but after learning this man had toppled an organization alone, he would have become even more interested.
“H-he really responded.”
Victor stared at the message, eyes widening.
But his face quickly turned worried.
“Are you planning to wage war against IS?”
“Once we’ve started, we have to rip out every last IS member by the roots.”
“Isn’t that too dangerous?”
“For me? Or for them?”
At Ryu Min’s confident words, Victor let out a small, disbelieving laugh.
It didn’t feel like bluffing or arrogance.
He was a man who truly had the strength and the right to speak that way.
“I worried for nothing.”
“Victor, what will you do now?”
At Ryu Min’s question, Victor answered quietly.
“I have to go back to Lagos—my hometown. If I go now, I’ll see my family for the first time in a full year.”
Ryu Min nodded and gestured outward with his hand.
“Go. Leave this to me.”
As if he would let him go without hesitation.
Of course, reading his thoughts, Ryu Min knew Victor wouldn’t leave.
“Why aren’t you going?”
“I’ll watch.”
Victor’s eyes were already set with resolve.
“I need to stay and see, to the very end, what kind of ending awaits the demons who tormented me here.”
“And the others? Do you all feel the same as Victor?”
At Ryu Min’s question, the people hesitated—then nodded.
“Honestly, we don’t want to stay here for even a moment. But if Victor stays, we’ll stay too.”
“We’ll stay and watch what happens to IS.”
Their determination and courage were admirable, but Ryu Min quietly shook his head.
Thinking about the battles ahead, they would only become burdens.
“Victor is a Player, so he might be fine, but you are ordinary people. Even a graze from a bullet can put you at death’s door, and you want to remain at an IS garrison? It’s dangerous, so you must return immediately. You can hear the results later through the news.”
“Mm…”
There was nothing wrong with what he said, so no one could argue.
To be honest, they didn’t want to stay in such a dangerous place.
Especially if the IS leader was coming?
They wanted to sprint down the hill as fast as possible.
They were only hesitating because of their loyalty to Victor.
Realizing that, Victor smiled and said,
“Black Scythe-nim is right. You shouldn’t be here. It’s far too dangerous. Before IS arrives, please return home right now. And you need to take care of the children here as well, don’t you?”
“Mm… if you put it that way, we understand.”
“Victor, thank you so much for treating us and protecting us all this time.”
“No. It’s not like I did much.”
“That’s not true. We endured because you were here.”
“Thank you for saying that. Ah, Mr. Marcus! You said you live in Lagos, right? Until I return, could you look after the children? There are many kids who lost their parents and have nowhere to go.”
“If that’s it, don’t worry. I’ll take responsibility and return the kids to their parents. And any child without parents, I’ll keep with me.”
“Thank you, Mr. Marcus. There are a lot of cars down below, so you can take any one you like.”
“Got it. Let’s meet again alive.”
“Haha, yes.”
“Then we’ll be going now.”
“We’ll learn what happens to IS through the news. Please… may it be a good outcome…”
“Please be careful, all of you.”
“Come on, kids. Let’s go.”
Fourteen adults and ten children began leaving the garrison.
Ricky kept glancing back, and in the end he couldn’t hold it in—he ran over and threw himself into Victor’s arms.
“Sniff… Uncle. We can meet again, right?”
“You little punk. Of course. Wait at Uncle Marcus’s house. When this is over, I’ll come find you right away.”
“Yes. You have to come.”
After stroking his head, Victor sent Ricky away.
Ricky kept looking back over and over until he was far enough away that he vanished from sight.
‘Ricky. Get down safely.’
There were plenty of organization cars below the hill, so escaping shouldn’t be a problem.
Victor turned back to Ryu Min and Yamtti.
“There’s a chance to win, right?”
“Of course.”
Ryu Min spoke with absolute confidence, but Victor couldn’t shake his unease.
Because there was no way the IS leader would show up empty-handed.
“My job is Alchemist.”
Victor suddenly pulled several vials from his inventory and held them out to Ryu Min.
“Take them. They’ll help in battle.”
“Thank you, but I’ll decline. There’s no need to go that far.”
“Still, it’s better to increase your strength even a little—”
“Trust me. If I thought I could be pushed back by something like IS, I wouldn’t have started.”
After he said that much, Victor had no choice but to put the vials back.
His face still unable to let go of its worry.
Then Ryu Min, Yamtti, Victor, and the ragged Abubakar went inside the building and waited for the enemy to reveal himself.
Until the sun set, night came, and even dawn arrived with stars glittering overhead.
They waited and waited, but for some reason the IS leader didn’t appear.
‘Did they make it back okay?’
Tired of waiting, Victor was absentmindedly thinking of the people who had left—
Tap, tap—
He turned at the feeling of someone patting his shoulder.
“He’s here.”
“He’s here?”
When Victor snapped back to himself, he heard the sound of multiple vehicle engines.
They went outside and looked down the hill.
People poured out of dozens of trucks.
Ryu Min activated Area Scan and watched as the red dots increased and multiplied.
‘He really brought a lot.’
Victor went pale at the sight of organization members swarming up toward the garrison where they were.
‘H-how many is that?’
Even by rough estimate, at least three hundred people were entering the garrison.
Ryu Min gestured to Yamtti with a nod.
“Hide inside the building with Victor. Leave Abubakar outside.”
“Yes, Black Scythe-nim.”
Following his instructions, Yamtti dragged out the hostage they had kept tied up, then shut the door with Victor inside.
Ryu Min led the hostage—Abubakar—out into the wide open yard.
Meanwhile, Victor watched the situation through the window.
He could see organization members surrounding Ryu Min.
‘This is bad. There are too many.’
Victor hadn’t expected this many to show up, and he looked to the side with a face drained of color.
“Will Black Scythe-nim be alright? There are so many—”
“I don’t know what you’re saying. This is frustrating. I should learn English or something.”
After watching Yamtti grumble, Victor turned his eyes back outside.
As if they’d gathered nearly all their forces, an uncountable number of people surrounded Ryu Min.
Step, step—
From among them, a bearded man walked forward.
“Who is Black Scythe?”
“It’s me.”
Ryu Min, in his white mask, answered boldly.
“You’re Black Scythe?”
“Yeah.”
“Nice to meet you. I am Abu Ibrahim al-Hashimi al-Baghdadi, the leader of IS.”
“Is that so?”
“Now. I came like you told me to. Release Abubakar.”
“But you didn’t come alone.”
“Did I ever say I was coming alone?”
“You were holding a subordinate hostage, so I thought you’d come alone.”
“Your head is a flower garden. Did you think I’d sacrifice myself just to save one mere subordinate?”
“……”
“You should’ve been prepared for this much if you were going to touch IS. Don’t tell me you’re scared after seeing this force.”
“Scared of this bunch? No way.”
Ryu Min let out a small snort of laughter.
Of course, he had expected them to come gathered like this.
“The one who should be scared isn’t me. It’s you—fake al-Baghdadi.”
“……”
At those words, the man’s shoulders twitched for an instant.
He tried not to show it, but it was visible.
The panic and confusion stirring inside him.
Naturally—because that bastard was only a stand-in pretending to be al-Baghdadi.
Not the real one.
“If you’re going to run a con, you should pick your target. Did you think I called you without knowing your face? You thought if you brought a mob of underlings and put a substitute up front, I’d go, ‘Oh, I see,’ and swallow it?”
“What nonsense are you spouting—”
“I know you’re hiding in the back. Stop testing the waters and come out already. I’ll listen to whatever garbage you want to say.”
“What insane talk is that? I am the leader of IS—”
That was when it happened.
“Enough. Drop the act!”
A middle-aged man walked forward from within the crowd.
The moment Ryu Min saw him, his gaze changed.
That man was the true IS leader—the real al-Baghdadi Ryu Min remembered.