[Emergency Mission: Rescue [Sora], a kidnapped colleague, within 24 hours]
[Reward – One of [Sora]'s skills]
[Failure – [Sora]'s death]
[Time Limit – 23 hours, 59 minutes, 57 seconds]
"What's wrong, Ren?" Exia turned to ask as she heard the spatula drop. Ren was standing stiffly in front of the pan.
Snapping out of it from her voice, Ren quickly turned to both of them, panic written all over his face.
"Something terrible has happened! Sora-senpai has been kidnapped!!"
"Huh?"
"What?!"
Both Exia and Croissant were so shocked they dropped their spoons, though even that didn't compare to how panicked Ren was.
"Wh-What should we do...? That's right! I need to call the boss—Damn it, my phone!" Ren reached for his phone, only to remember he had given it to Lappland. Without wasting a second, he turned back to the others.
"Either of you! Please contact the boss!"
"Calm down, Ren. Tell us what happened—how do you know Sora's been kidnapped?" Croissant asked, noticing how visibly distressed he was and trying to soothe him. Ren took a deep breath, realizing he couldn't explain the existence of the system's power. Still, he was too worried about Sora's safety to hold back any longer.
"I... I have another ability I haven't told you about. It's like a power that gives predictions. Right now, it's telling me that Sora has been kidnapped," Ren said seriously, trying to explain in the clearest and most believable way possible without mentioning the system.
"A prediction? Like a vision of the future?" Exia asked excitedly. She remembered a moment from a game clip where Ren and Amiya touched and saw a memory they shouldn't have. She wasn't sure what it was, but this new power caught her interest.
"No... It's more like a message popping into my head," Ren answered.
"That's so cool!" Exia beamed with excitement.
Croissant, however, looked hesitant. But seeing the serious look in Ren's eyes, she decided to hold back her doubts and trust him—for now.
"I'll contact the boss right away!" Croissant dashed out of the kitchen to grab her phone from the living room.
Exia turned to Ren.
"By the way, where's your phone? I thought Yith gave it back to you already?"
"I, uh... left it with a friend," Ren answered vaguely, unable to lie directly.
"Oh? Don't tell me it's a girl!" Exia teased. Ren flinched slightly, then nodded.
"Yes... it's a girl."
"Whoa~ You've been in Lungmen just a few days and already got a girl? You've got some moves, Ren!" Exia patted his shoulder proudly. Ren wanted to deny it, but then they heard someone's voice from the kitchen entrance.
"Is something going on?" Texas had arrived, drawn by Exia's shouting. She noticed Croissant speaking on the phone with a serious face in the living room and grew curious.
"Ah, Texas! Ren just landed himself a Lungmen girlfriend!"
"No, I didn't!!" Ren shot back immediately, wanting to smash Exia over the head for joking at a time like this.
"Texas! Sora-senpai has been kidnapped!" he blurted again, not wasting time.
Texas's eyes widened, her expression instantly turning serious.
"Give me the details."
Relieved that she didn't question him further, Ren explained the situation—omitting the system, describing it only as a predictive ability similar to what he told the others. He also mentioned he had seen Sora earlier that morning leaving for work, and a black luxury car had picked her up at the safe house.
"It happened at 6 a.m.?" Texas asked.
"Yes. I met her around 5:30 a.m. She said she was heading to work."
It was now 7 a.m. Based on the mission details, Sora was only recently kidnapped, so they still had time to find her.
"Got it. I'll ask Yith to pull the security camera footage," Texas said, already texting Yith.
"Wait, we have cameras at the safe house?" Ren asked, stunned.
"Yeah," Exia replied. "They're the latest digital cams from Columbia. Super stealth mode, anti-damage, and hidden from view. Emergency use in case of a break-in."
"And great for finding stuff you lost!" Exia added.
Ren's face paled. His mouth opened and closed, wanting to say something, but this was no time to panic—Sora's life could be at stake.
Just then, Croissant ran back in, looking even more shocked.
"It's real! Sora's missing!!"
"It's true?! Your ability actually worked, Ren!" Exia exclaimed in amazement. Texas, meanwhile, looked down at her phone as a video came in.
"Yith just sent me the footage. Looks like he already knows Sora's gone and is tracking her phone and messages. He said it'll only take a few minutes. I'll check the clip—" She pressed play, then suddenly went silent.
Her eyes shifted quietly toward Ren, who seemed to already know what she had seen.
"What's wrong, Texas?" Exia asked and tried to look, but Texas waved a hand slightly.
"It's nothing... I just spotted the car. It's not her manager's—it belongs to some shady company."
To Ren's surprise, Texas didn't say a word about what she saw and even helped him by skipping the part of the video where he would've been caught in frame.
When Exia looked at the footage, all she saw was the camera pointing at the front of the safe house. It showed Sora waving to someone before getting into the car.
Croissant, now watching too, ignored Ren entirely. His face was barely visible—only his hand waving could be seen under the edge of the camera.
"I think I recognize that car. It belongs to the company Sora was negotiating with. If I remember right... the name was Laserly Interlac Corporation."
"Oh! I know that company! They used to manage that idol—Evalia, right? She was on every university magazine cover a few years ago!" Exia said. She recognized the logo, having seen it frequently in her sister's fashion magazines.
"Yeah... but from what I heard, she had a lot of scandals two years ago—drugs, cheating, and even nearly beating a rival singer to death. She fell from grace. Just half a year ago, the company tried rebranding her as a 'strong woman' idol, but her voice had deteriorated too much. She vanished again after a failed comeback," Croissant added. She knew the woman well, having often seen her while working security for Sora.
"Honestly... after meeting her, I'd say she hated Sora. Maybe she was jealous of Sora's better voice and set up this whole kidnapping scene like something out of a trashy drama," Croissant said, not hiding her suspicion.
"Let's not jump to conclusions. We don't have enough information yet," Texas said calmly. She took a photo of the license plate and sent it to Yith, asking him to find the current location of the vehicle.
Moments later, Yith replied with the location—the car had been seen parked outside a coffee shop in District 10 just a minute ago, and the driver was still inside.
"Yith says the car is parked outside a café in District 10. We're going there to find that man and ask about Sora. Everyone, get ready," Texas ordered and left the kitchen for the garage.
"Woohoo! Let's go!" Exia shouted with excitement.
"Let's rescue our teammate!" Croissant turned to Ren with a smile.
"Yes" Ren nodded with determination, following the others toward the garage, silently praying that Sora was still safe.
...............
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