The military transport plane heading to Japan was not a jet but a propeller aircraft. It had four engines attached to its wings and a thick fuselage.

Machine gun turrets were attached one each on the top, bottom, front, and rear.

Seo Jung-woo sat on one side of the cargo hold where luggage was piled up and unfolded a piece of paper with an address written on it.

That address was given by James Curtain.

‘He said the remnants of the industrial espionage organization would be here.’

It wasn't 100% certain information. Still, if he wanted to deal with them before they escaped, he needed to hurry.

‘Once a war starts, it must be finished.’

That was Seo Jung-woo's way.

No one knew that Seo Jung-woo had wiped out the Knife Gang. Thus, there was no need to deal with the remnants.

The White Shark Guild had only hovered around his and Seo Sora’s house without attacking, so Seo Jung-woo left them alone.

But with this international industrial espionage organization, he had properly clashed. Moreover, these guys had even used guns.

‘These bastards might bear a grudge against Dr. Jeong or try to retaliate against me. So it’s cleaner and better to wipe them out before that happens.’

Once Seo Jung-woo got into a fight, he crushed his opponents completely. If he dealt with them half-heartedly and got stabbed in the back later, it would hurt. The ones he had to deal with this time were in Japan.

Japan is an island nation. Therefore, to send and receive goods from abroad, ships and airplanes had to be used.

In this world, even cargo planes had minimum armament. Not only cargo planes, but almost all large aircraft were equipped with weapons for self-defense in case of encountering flying monsters. When important flights took off, fighter escorts were added.

As for ships, they used a slightly different method. Although cargo ships were equipped with basic weapons, many marine monsters were immune to machine guns. Thus, several cargo ships would usually cross the sea escorted by navy warships equipped with naval guns.

Whichever method, transport costs were higher than in the other world.

Seo Jung-woo arrived at a Japanese airfield.

If he was going to cause trouble in this world, he would need to sneak in secretly, but he had no such plans, so he showed his passport and entered normally. Afterward, he took a bus to his destination.

The situation in Japan was worse than in Korea.

Korea also lacked many materials. Materials not produced domestically had to be imported, but transport via land routes was also possible. Thus, the road connecting through North Korea to China and Russia was strictly managed.

Japan, being an island nation, could not use land transport. All imports and exports had to be done by ship or plane.

However, frequent cargo ship sinkings caused by marine monsters had made maritime transport extremely expensive. As transport costs rose, national competitiveness fell and prices rose.

Seo Jung-woo booked a modest hotel. He had to stay here for a day before using his skill again.

Even hotel food was predictably bad, so he solved his meals with the convenience foods he had brought.

The next morning, Seo Jung-woo left the hotel and headed to the address James Curtain had given him. He moved to a spot a little away from the address and used his parallel dimension teleportation skill.

The scenery before his eyes changed dramatically.

He returned to the world without gates.

However, this time, instead of Korea, he came to a small mountain inside a Japanese city.

“Three-dimensional coordinate movement applies even if the country changes.”

Because the mountain was within the city and small in size, people often climbed it. Even so, immediately after teleporting, this was the place with the least chance of being spotted.

He checked the surroundings first. There was no one in sight.

“Now, what to do with those guys.”

He had already decided on how to deal with them. What he hadn't decided was the timing.

‘Should I deal with them now? Or tomorrow?’

There were two ways to deal with the remnants of the international industrial espionage organization: smash them immediately and hide for a day before disappearing, or wait another day, deal with them, and vanish immediately afterward.

The best method was to wait a day and then handle them. However, a problem could arise— the remnants might escape in the meantime. On the other hand, if he attacked now, he would have to evade the Japanese police for a whole day.

‘Let's check the scene first and then decide.’

Seo Jung-woo descended the mountain and moved toward an area with low-rise buildings clustered together.

His target was a shabby-looking single-story building.

Seo Jung-woo didn't fully trust James Curtain’s words. First, he needed to verify if the information was accurate.

There were no CCTV cameras openly visible on the building. Using a small high-magnification telescope he bought in this world, he carefully observed the building and spotted hidden camera lenses concealed within exterior decorations.

‘Since they’ve installed hidden CCTV, this is no ordinary building.’

He didn’t bother to approach closer to check the interior. Thanks to the telescope, he confirmed that there were people inside through the windows.

‘It’s better to wait.’

He retreated far enough that the building was just barely visible.

‘If those guys try to flee, I'll deal with them immediately. If not, I'll take care of them tomorrow.’

4cats couldn't afford to relax on the weekend because they had too little practice before debut.

But working non-stop all week was unbearable for anyone. So Oh Dong-Cheol had cleared Saturday afternoon for them.

During a break in their morning practice, Yoon Nana asked Seo Sora,

“D oppa doesn’t have to report to the police station today, right? Should we go hang out somewhere?”

After gulping down an ion drink, Seo Sora answered,

“Oppa? He’s on vacation.”

“Huh? Vacation?”

“He said reporters kept looking for him, so he just ran away. Said he’s going to a hotel deep in Gangwon Province, turning off his phone, and resting.”

“Really? He really went to a hotel in Gangwon?”

“That’s what he said, but you know, he’s the type who says one thing and does another. I’m not sure either.”

Yoon Nana quickly said to the twins,

“You two! Check Lee Seon-hwa’s SNS! See if there’s anything about going to Gangwon, being in the mountains! Maybe in a selfie from the hotel, you can see mountains outside the window!”

Park Da-yeon immediately raised her hand.

“Leave it to us! What’s the fee?”

“I'll buy you lunch.”

“I want Mexican food today.”

“Fine, just hurry up and investigate!”

Top star Lee Seon-hwa glared at her phone.

“Seriously, what kind of guy only pushes and never pulls! Why isn’t he calling! Just saying he’s not free this weekend and hanging up— is that it? We should at least set a time and place for next week! I’m a busy person!”

She had been waiting for Seo Jung-woo’s call, but not even a single text had come.

“He hasn’t even given me the necklace I picked out yet!”

Kim Gyeong-mi scolded her.

“Hey. Just give up. Seo Jung-woo isn’t the only man in the world, is he? You have guys lining up for you.”

She said while making a phone call.

“No. On second thought, maybe he's desperately waiting for my call. Sometimes I should be the one to call first.”

Seo Jung-woo’s phone was turned off. She threw her cellphone.

“Ah, what the heck!”

Seo Jung-woo settled in a spot in a Japanese city where he could watch his target without attracting attention. He intended to stay there until the next morning.

But that night, a problem arose.

“Ah, those punks. They're making things complicated.”

Near his hideout, five thugs were trying to snatch a young woman’s bag.

If Seo Jung-woo revealed himself now, it could interfere with his mission. So he intended to overlook it if possible, but things didn't go so smoothly.

The woman hugged her bag tightly and screamed. One of the thugs kicked her. As she fell, she shouted something in Japanese.

Seo Jung-woo barely knew any Japanese. He always thought that foreign languages should be learned out of necessity.

In that other world, there was no need for foreign languages. The ones who struggled were always the foreign special forces who operated with him. Thanks to frequent joint missions with them, he could at least understand simple English.

He had once worked with Japanese special forces too, but there was a Korean-speaking agent with them at the time, so he never had a chance to learn Japanese.

Although he didn’t understand Japanese, he could tell that the woman had no intention of giving up her bag, even if it meant dying.

‘Why is she so desperate to protect that bag? Maybe it contains her sibling’s hospital fees or something?’

Suddenly, one of the thugs pulled a knife from his pocket. The blade glinted under the moonlight.

Seo Jung-woo pulled a coat out of his bag and threw it on.

“Ah, no choice now.”

The coat was made with thinly processed monster leather lining. It wouldn't stop a bullet, but it could block a glancing knife strike.

He had worn this coat before when wiping out the Knife Gang.

He put on a combat mask over his face.

“If they make too much noise, my target might bolt tonight. Let’s quiet them down. That girl’s sibling needs surgery too.”

Momoko curled up, clutching her bag. Her shoulder throbbed painfully from the kick, but she couldn’t let go of the bag.

The bag didn't contain hospital fees. It contained a movie prop she had acquired that day.

She ran a famous internet site themed around heroes. The prop she was protecting was a mask actually used in a hero movie. She had been bragging on her site for days that she was about to acquire it.

The thugs had found out through the site that she would be buying the mask today. They had suggested meeting here under the pretense of selling another rare hero mask, setting the time so that she wouldn’t have time to move elsewhere after the first deal.

The mask she bought cost 500,000 yen. Since it was from a major movie, the price was steep. The second mask they falsely offered was also priced at 500,000 yen.

Together, it amounted to about 10 million won in Korean money. That was the thugs’ objective.

One of the thugs raised his knife.

“Hand over the bag and the money, or I'll kill you!”

Seeing the blade, she was paralyzed with fear. But still, she couldn’t give up the bag. It wasn't about the money. This hero mask was one of a kind in the world.

“Please, someone help me!”

“No one's coming here—”

Before he could finish, the thug threatening her with a knife suddenly flew sideways. He didn’t even have time to scream.

Momoko didn’t understand why the thug had suddenly vanished before her eyes.

“Eh?”

Where the thug had been, a figure now stood, wearing a coat and a black mask over his face.

The four remaining thugs were startled and reached into their pockets, each grabbing a knife.

Seo Jung-woo rushed in before they could even scream.

The closest thug was struck and sent flying backward.

In Momoko’s eyes, his fluttering coat looked like a cape.

She blurted out involuntarily,

“A h-hero? A real hero?”

Seo Jung-woo’s coat fluttered as he took down the thugs. In her eyes, the billowing cape and the flying thugs overlapped like a scene from a movie. The terrifying thugs were knocked aside and stacked neatly like dominoes.

She was genuinely impressed.

‘How can someone fight so beautifully and cleanly?’

Seo Jung-woo swept away the five thugs easily. To avoid attracting too much attention, which might cause the remnants of the international industrial spy ring to flee, he struck their throats first to silence them and knocked them out.

Seo Jung-woo looked back at Momoko. She was clutching her bag tightly, blinking at him in awe.

He made a gesture of a phone against his ear and mouth, then shook his finger side to side.

Though they couldn't speak the same language, the gesture was clear enough.

Momoko, the hero site operator, instantly understood.

‘He’s telling me not to call the police! Ah! That’s one of the basic hero patterns!’

She quickly nodded.

Seo Jung-woo didn’t know what she was thinking, but he figured he should give her something to keep her mouth shut.

He rummaged through the five thugs’ bodies. Collecting the money from their wallets, he gathered about 50,000 yen.

He held it out to Momoko.

‘If you accept this, we’re accomplices now.’

She just stared at the money. Seo Jung-woo shoved it into her hand.

‘Maybe she barely managed to scrape together her sibling’s surgery fee. This should cover a few days’ hospitalization costs.’

Momoko looked at the money, puzzled.

‘Why is he giving me money? And only 50,000 yen at that?’

She was rich enough to spend 500,000 yen on a single movie prop.

Seo Jung-woo, thinking the deal was settled, gestured for her to leave.

Momoko didn’t understand why she was given the money, but she recognized the meaning of the gesture immediately. She bowed deeply and ran off. After a few steps, she turned around, bowed again, and continued running.

Seo Jung-woo dragged the five thugs into a corner.

‘Let’s hide them somewhere they won't be found until morning.’

Other than that minor commotion, nothing much happened until sunrise.

Seo Jung-woo checked the status of his parallel dimension teleport skill. He could feel it was ready to use again.

‘It’s been 24 hours.’

He checked his weapons and made sure he hadn't left anything behind at the scene.

Now it was time to clean up the remnants of the international industrial spy organization.