The Weapon Genius: Anything I Hold Can Kill

Chapter 56 - 56: The Echo That Shatters

The system pinged.

[Territory Alert: School Grounds Under Attack]

[Threat Level: Moderate]

[Territory Leader Unavailable — Nearest Defender: Min Seo-Jun]

Echo wiped sweat off his brow, chest heaving from his last training set. His clothes clung to him, soaked, and his muscles screamed — but he grinned.

It had been two hours since Jin and the others left for the hospital.

And he was already bored.

"Finally," he muttered, cracking his neck. "Something to do."

He grabbed his jacket, shrugged it on, and stepped out onto the front steps of the school.

The sun glared overhead, casting long shadows across the courtyard.

Five figures stood near the gates, partially obscured by the crooked fence.

They weren't survivors.

Their stances were too sharp, their movements too deliberate.

One of them broke away from the group, moving fast. Too fast.

They blurred across the distance in an instant, a knife gleaming in their hand —

And went straight for Echo's throat.

The blade whistled through empty air.

Echo wasn't there.

He was sitting cross-legged on the top of the gate, balancing on one of the stone columns like he weighed nothing at all.

The attacker skidded to a stop, confused.

Echo tapped his chin, resting his elbow on his knee.

"I get it," he called down, voice echoing slightly. "You see an empty school, think you can take it over."

He tilted his head, grinning wide.

"But you really should've done your re

The blaster whimpered, curling into themselves.

Echo sighed, standing back up.

"Man," he muttered. "I thought you guys would last longer."

He dusted off his jacket, stretching his arms overhead.

Then he froze.

Because the system pinged again.

[Territory Leader Approaching]

[Distance: 0.8 Miles]

Echo squinted at the notification.

"...Oh," he muttered.

Then he grinned.

He turned toward the road — toward the faint silhouettes of people approaching from the distance.

He shoved his hands in his pockets, stepping over the unconscious bodies, whistling.

"About time," he muttered.

Echo whistled as he stepped back onto school grounds, rubbing his neck like he'd just finished stretching after a light jog.

The unconscious attackers lay sprawled across the entrance, groaning or knocked out cold.

Echo didn't even glance at them.

He walked into the station, rummaging through a supply closet until he found a tangle of zip ties and some old extension cords.

"Good enough," he muttered.

Five minutes later, he had the entire group lashed together in a heap, arms and legs bound like they were part of some post-apocalyptic art piece.

One of them started waking up.

Echo squatted down, resting his chin on his fist.

"Welcome back," he said, voice cheerful. "Quick question — do you like breathing?"

The guy nodded frantically.

Echo smiled.

"Cool," he said, patting the guy's head. "Then stay quiet."

The guy immediately passed out again.

Echo dusted off his hands, feeling the faint hum of footsteps approaching in the distance.

He stretched, cracked his neck, then leaned against the gate, waiting.

A few minutes later, he spotted movement — the shapes of Jin, Seul, Joon, and the fifteen recruits appearing down the road.

Jin squinted, eyes narrowing as he took in the pile of tied-up bodies.

Echo lifted a hand, waving lazily.

"Hey," he called out, voice echoing across the street. "Missed you guys."

Joon tilted his head, staring at the wreckage.

"...What the hell happened here?"

Echo shrugged.

"We had some visitors," he said. "Had to take care of them."

Seul laughed, rubbing her face.

Jin just sighed, gripping the staff tighter as they kept walking.

Because he had a feeling that they were gonna have to deal with a lot more "visitors".