-Wee-woo, wee-woo, wee-woo!
Along with the blare of noisy sirens, three large prisoner transport buses dispatched from the Light City Eastern Police Headquarters completely blocked the entrance to the narrow alley.
“All right, all right, don’t push, get on slowly! Hey, you there—move it, will you?”
The members of the Black Snake Faction and the Axe Faction, who had been fighting as if they meant to kill each other only moments ago, climbed onto the buses side by side, strung together like dried croakers. The officers from headquarters controlled them with broad smiles on their faces.
Most of the officers could hardly believe the police had achieved such results, and their shoulders looked ready to soar into the sky.
“Officer. What on earth is going on here?”
“Ah, what happened is this. The police set up an operation to wipe out organized crime this time, you see? These bastards are real scum—they were trying to rob a jewelry store…”
“Huh? The police did? Not a hero?”
“Of course. When we police put our minds to it, we get the job done.”
The officers in charge of controlling the citizens would latch on and start recounting their heroic tale the moment a passing lady showed even the slightest curiosity.
-Step. Step. Step.
The gangsters boarded the buses one by one.
“They’re awfully well-behaved for gangsters, aren’t they?”
One officer said, tilting his head.
“Right? The Hero Association said they were petty criminals anyway, so they’d left them alone… Maybe that’s why? There’s no bloodlust in their eyes. None at all.”
“When I was working in America, kids would start pulling guns from their waists if you so much as spoke to them.”
Whether the white officer launched into his own heroic tale or not, the criminals, terrified by the pressure emitted by the “Black Flame” they had seen earlier, staggered onto the buses. Judging by the dull look in their eyes, they clearly had not yet come to their senses.
“Oh, Trace-nim! You’ve worked hard.”
Just then, an elite detective from headquarters who had come out to command the scene spotted Trace and bent at the waist with easy familiarity.
“I received the report. They said Trace-nim and our genius rookie wiped out two organizations in one fell swoop? Even if they’re ordinary criminals, they were vicious bastards trying to rob a jewelry store. The citizens will be able to sleep easy now!”
“Um, that’s…”
“As expected, an A-rank hero is on a different level. Thanks to you, headquarters has some results to show too. People have been giving us looks from every direction lately, so we’ll finally be able to save some face! Haha.”
The detective had only heard the report that “the fight between the two organizations had been suppressed,” so he naturally assumed Trace had subdued both groups by force. On top of that, since Trace was famous for her intelligence-gathering ability, he jumped to the conclusion that she must have played a major role in uncovering their criminal plan as well.
“Uh, no…”
“And our rookie! Gang Jinho! Wow~ it’s my first time seeing your face. You look sharp. Let’s shake hands, shake hands!”
Next, the detective spotted Gang Jinho, approached him warmly, shook his hand, and patted him on the shoulder.
“They said you graduated top of your class from the police academy, and rumors about you have already spread all through the police. We’ve got high hopes for you.”
“…Thank you.”
“Good. Let’s keep it up just like this. Looks like you’ll be coming up to headquarters soon enough, so I’ll see you again then.”
“Chief! You need to go now!”
“Right, I’m coming!”
The officers and criminals who had boarded the transport buses all left. Only a few patrol officers remained in the alley, setting up a cordon.
Trace, barely standing with her back against the wall, opened her mouth with a hollow expression.
“The Black Flame just went back… What a relief. I don’t know why, but… Is everyone all right?”
Trace might have been an A-rank hero, but it was the first time in her life she had faced a Class-1 villain right before her eyes.
That overwhelming presence that had seemed to squeeze in from every direction. The terror of death that had made it impossible even to make a sound.
No matter what Trace had done, she would not have been able to escape that situation. Because she had felt such immense helplessness, her fingertips were trembling faintly.
“My body is… fine.”
“I’m fine too, physically~”
Unlike Trace, Gang Jinho and Bak Eunyoung looked relatively composed.
“Officer Gang, weren’t you scared when the Black Flame appeared earlier?”
“I was scared, of course. To be honest, I thought I was going to piss myself.”
Though he said that, Gang Jinho had actually found it bearable in his own way.
It was not that he had not been afraid. But the moment he saw the Axe Faction boss take the glass bead from his pocket, he had realized it was the “Black Flame Summoning Bead” he had seen in the game. There was a huge difference between being hit defenselessly and being hit after preparing yourself mentally.
The “Black Snake Faction Jewelry Store Robbery Incident” was an event that had given Gang Jinho a hefty smack to the back of the head in the game. He had thought it was just a self-fabricated scheme and gone after the Axe Faction, only for a Class-1 villain to suddenly appear and kidnap every hero that had been dispatched. A completely insane event.
Why, if he knew, had he let the Axe Faction boss break the bead? For one thing, it would have been strange for him to know the true identity of that bead, and for another, he had been greedy for the karma reward afterward.
Even if this incident was a big one, the karma reduction would probably only be around ten thousand at most. In order to shave off over four hundred million karma, he had to check just how much karma reward he could receive when he got involved with a Class-1 villain.
Besides, if he clumsily tried to take the bead and the boss ended up fleeing, wouldn’t that create a new variable? Gang Jinho believed in the butterfly effect, and he did not want the game knowledge he possessed to change.
So what had he planned to do if a Class-1 villain really appeared?
‘There’s Eunyoung.’
Gang Jinho trusted Eunyoung. If it was Eunyoung, who currently showed an immense interest in him, he believed she would repel the Black Flame. Eunyoung and the Black Flame were both Class-1 villains, but there was clearly a difference in their caliber.
And even if Eunyoung did not stop him, Gang Jinho had a way to drive the Black Flame away. He was just glad he did not have to use it.
-You have resolved the incident. Karma has decreased by 8,000.
-You have repelled a Class-1 villain. Karma has… An error has occurred.
-Calculating.
Gang Jinho kept sneaking glances at the status window. Not only had he dealt with all of this month’s karma quota, but since he was apparently going to receive an additional karma reward for repelling a Class-1 villain, he felt a deep sense of satisfaction.
“Phew.”
Just then, Trace braced herself against the wall and staggered upright. Then she looked at the spot where the detective had been earlier and smiled bitterly.
“This incident. I didn’t do anything. I’ll send a separate document to the National Police Agency later too. Asking them to leave my achievements out.”
“What? No, there’s really no need for you to go that far…”
“No.”
Trace looked straight at Gang Jinho and said,
“Officer Gang Jinho, you set the board from start to finish. You saw through their plan and guided them into destroying themselves. I didn’t do anything, so I can’t take credit for it.”
“I’m really fine with it. If you feel indebted to me, then please just spread the word among the heroes around you. Tell them there’s a capable officer here, so if they have a troubling case, it’s fine to come ask me about it.”
“…Haha. You nearly died at the hands of a Class-1 villain just a moment ago, and you’re already thinking about solving the next case? Honestly… should I call you bold? Amazing? I suppose this is what they mean by a police officer’s sense of duty.”
Trace laughed freely, then took Gang Jinho by the arm and led him toward a corner of the alley.
“Officer Gang. No, Jinho-ssi.”
“Yes?”
“I’ll withdraw my scouting offer. My vessel is still far too small to use you as an assistant.”
Trace shook her head as she recalled Gang Jinho’s courage, which had remained relatively calm even in the face of a Class-1 villain, and his intelligence, which had toyed with the gangsters. At her current level, Trace lacked the ability to use Gang Jinho as her assistant.
“When I grow enough to become an S-rank hero, I’ll come scout you again. Please don’t refuse me then.”
“Yes, well. Do that.”
Gang Jinho nodded moderately. Because by the time Trace became an S-rank hero, he calculated that he might be able to deal with Bak Eunyoung.
“Then, I’ll be going.”
Trace disappeared smoothly into the depths of the alley. By the time her back could no longer be seen—
-Ding.
“Hmm?”
Gang Jinho’s messenger rang. The sender was Trace, who had just disappeared.
-Jinho-ssi. You should be careful of Officer Bak Eunyoung, your senior partner.
“?!”
Gang Jinho immediately covered his phone with his body. There was too much darkness near the alley. This place was Eunyoung’s domain.
-When the Black Flame appeared earlier. When all of us were terrified.
Trace’s texts showed no sign of stopping regardless.
-Officer Bak Eunyoung was smiling. I found that smile far too bizarre. I’m planning to send out some informants and investigate her separately, so…
-Don’t.
After sending the short text, Gang Jinho immediately turned off his phone. Then, as if he had merely been enjoying the afterglow of resolving the incident, he naturally stretched and cracked his neck from side to side.
“Jinho?”
“Yes! Did you call me?”
At just the right moment, Bak Eunyoung’s voice came from behind him. Gang Jinho turned around as naturally as possible.
“Can I ask you just one thing?”
“Yes! Please ask me anything!”
“You see.”
Bak Eunyoung wore a catlike, mischievous smile as she approached Gang Jinho, who had been driven into the corner, one step at a time.
“You. Did you not know the Black Flame would appear?”
“…Pardon?”
“I’m asking if you didn’t know the Black Flame would appear here.”
“…”
At this crucial moment, Gang Jinho racked his brain until it felt like it would burst, then answered carefully.
“I thought there was a low possibility, but I wasn’t certain. I apologize for not telling you in advance.”
“Really?”
“Yes.”
“Then that’s fine. Let’s go back and rest now. You worked hard today~”
Eunyoung leisurely turned and headed out of the alley.
“Phew.”
Gang Jinho let out a sigh of relief at the fact that Eunyoung had not pressed him further. If she had persistently questioned him here, he would have been at a loss for excuses, so he was glad she had let it pass.
-Click.
And Eunyoung, who reached the patrol car first, looked at her own face reflected in the car mirror. The Eunyoung in the mirror was smiling brightly.
“Hehe.”
Eunyoung thought.
That man.
Was truly far too interesting.