Chapter 27
The evening I was notified of my temporary suspension.
I leaned my back against the side of a park vending machine and popped open a can with one hand.
CHK—.
Fssssss…….
It had already been four weeks since I started the vending machine challenge.
This absurd drink, carbonated coffee, was the last one left.
“Still, whether it’s suspension or expulsion, I somehow managed to finish the challenge.”
Setting a goal in a new world and achieving it…….
I smiled sardonically and took a sip of the drink.
“Ugh, this tastes disgusting.”
The reason I was lazing around here like an idler was that I was waiting for Do Minyeong.
Quite surprisingly, she had contacted me first.
Asking to meet.
For a youth in the blush of reality, it would be a heart-pounding affair, but that did not apply to me.
That was because the feeling that she was a character I had created was strong, and she was not soft enough to engage in romance while under the major undertaking of 'proving her worth'.
Of course, it would be a different story if the person in question was Lee Eunho.
Anyway, why did she call me out?
“Did she grow fond of me in the meantime…….”
Only after I had taken two or three more sips of the drink did Do Minyeong appear in the park.
The girl, with her hood pulled up as if in some secret rendezvous, scanned her surroundings.
After cautiously making her way to the vending machine, Do Minyeong leaned her back against its front before offering a greeting.
“I’m here. But you look surprisingly okay?”
“There’s no reason to be glum, so of course.”
“Hmm…….”
“Why’d you call me? I’m not supposed to have contact with other cadets while on temporary suspension.”
“Take this.”
Do Minyeong stuck out just her arm and handed me something.
A small, flat object the size of a fingernail.
It was a memory card.
I took it and asked.
“Why this?”
“I recorded today’s lecture.”
What?
“I’m talking about Instructor Jeong Harin for Criminal Psychology. After giving a pop quiz for the month-end evaluation, she filled the remaining time with a lecture.”
“Ah…….”
Well, if it was her, she would do that and more.
She had held a discussion about the Phantom Thief from the very first lecture, after all.
“No, but why?”
“What?”
“The recording. Why did you go out of your way to get it for me?”
“…….”
At my question, this time her head peeked out.
And after blinking exactly twice, she disappeared behind the vending machine again.
“……I was just repaying a debt.”
“Ah, is that so.”
A debt…….
Come to think of it, besides Cha Yeri, there was one more person who was clumsy with interpersonal relationships.
Do Minyeong, who had been instantly shunned by the Sword Saint's supporters.
“If that's the case, I’ll accept it gratefully……. But how do you know if I’ll be expelled or not?”
“That doesn’t matter. What’s important is that I’ve repaid my debt.”
“……That’s a weight off my mind.”
“By the way, you.”
“Yeah?”
Do Minyeong showed herself again from the side of the vending machine.
This time, not just her head, but her whole body.
“Did you really hit him?”
“You don’t believe me either.”
“No, I’m asking because I can’t believe it. I can’t imagine you hitting anyone with your lowly physical ability.”
“Why, what’s wrong with me. I know how to throw a punch.”
“Do I really need to give you an analogy for what you’re like? To be honest, I’m confident I wouldn’t lose to you either?”
“…….”
Her characteristic straightforward way of speaking.
It was the truth, so I could not even deny it.
“Believe what you want to believe.”
“So you’re saying you didn’t hit him. Then what are you planning to do now?”
“I have to prove it.”
“How? You can’t even meet Choi Jaejin, and you won’t be able to reason with Kim Muung and his guys…….”
Do Minyeong was right.
The moment I confronted Choi Jaejin, it was checkmate.
The restriction on contact with cadets was a provision to protect the victim in the first place.
Above all, the fact that he had left the dormitory for a short-term stay outside meant he was openly planning to hide.
Until next Tuesday, when the deliberation committee would convene.
“Honestly, it’s a bit of a bleak situation.”
“It’s probably more than a bit, isn’t it? You’re aware that if you can’t clear your name, you’ll be buried as an Awakened, right?”
Do Minyeong, who had at some point crossed her arms.
I just nodded my head silently.
In other words, being expelled from Hero Prep for an unsavory incident was a huge disgrace.
If I had some exceptional talent, I might be able to scrape by, but for a talentless person like me, it was practically a social death.
Still, there was no clear answer right now, so starting a background check on Kim Muung was the priority…….
The problem was that the time given was too tight to do anything alone.
Do Minyeong spoke.
“But there’s one thing I don’t understand.”
“What?”
“The motive, the reason they framed you. No matter how I think about it, I can’t accept that it was just because you’re a social care beneficiary.”
“…….”
“As the person involved, don’t you have some inkling? For example, you got on Kim Muung’s bad side or something…….”
An inkling…….
The Kim Muung in my setting was a loser who had fallen out of Gong Minwu’s group.
A one-off character who gets kicked out of Hero Prep for cheating on various evaluations with the sole intention of transferring to the Combat Division.
If I had to pick Kim Muung's goal, it was one thing: to get back into Gong Minwu’s group.
To return to that group and gain recognition…….
But he did not have the patience to cling to a future with a near 0% chance of happening.
It was more likely that he was acting out because things were not going his way.
Lashing out, for instance.
“Unfortunately, nothing comes to mind. It's also ridiculous to question the cause when the water has already been spilled. ……In the end, this incident will only end when someone gets expelled.”
“That may be so, but…….”
Do Minyeong lowered her gaze slightly and trailed off.
It was an action that anyone could see was disappointed.
“But you… are you possibly worried, about me?”
“I’m just a little concerned. Since you helped me at the tactical training ground.”
A characteristically plain answer.
From her tone of voice, the feeling of her being untainted was openly revealed.
Do Minyeong had gone abroad at an age when she should have been developing relationships with her peers for a long time.
Therefore, she was clumsy at hiding and revealing her words and actions.
She was not skilled at lying either, and the only way she knew was to express her thoughts honestly…….
Huh? Wait a minute.
“…….”
At a sudden thought that crossed my mind, I slightly crushed the can I was holding.
As a result, a little of the unfinished drink spilled out.
“What’s wrong?”
What do you mean, what's wrong.
Thanks to you, a worthwhile attempt came to mind.
Do Minyeong was the Sword Saint’s only direct descendant.
As was known, she had traveled around the world to avoid excessive attention and returned to enroll in Hero Prep.
The unique point was that while traveling abroad, she had been exposed to the media only a handful of times.
The fact that she was the Sword Saint's descendant could not have been known only to the Awakened in Seoul.
What I was focusing on was a certain person behind the scenes.
An expert from the underworld who had taken measures in advance so that Do Minyeong would not be exposed to the media.
To be precise, a private investigator hired by Do Minyeong's guardian, a superpowered detective.
If it were him, he would surely be able to dig up everything Kim Muung was hiding, without leaving a single speck of dust.
The problem was that he was a difficult person for a mere Awakened like me to contact.
However, it was not as if there was no way at all.
If I could not contact him, I could just use the existing client, Do Minyeong.
“No, it’s just. I was thinking that living an ordinary life after leaving Hero Prep might not be so bad. It wasn't a place that suited my station in the first place.”
“What? Why are you suddenly saying that.”
“To clear my name, I need to do a background check on Kim Muung and Choi Jaejin, but honestly, it's hard.”
She had one more debt to me that she had not repaid.
The help at the tactical training ground.
The fact that she had thanked me separately was proof that she had kept it in her heart.
Furthermore, Do Minyeong, who had suffered among Awakened with dark intentions since she was young, did not do things that would leave her indebted to someone.
She must have keenly felt through her experiences that debt soon becomes poison.
I continued speaking while watching Do Minyeong’s reaction.
“Even if I somehow get through this, I’m not confident I can graduate from Hero Prep. There are plenty of cadets who can’t advance to the next year because they lack points.”
“My goodness, who are you talking about points in front of? Who is it whose name is written at the top of the point rankings every week.”
“That's how it is now, but it’s obvious I’ll fall behind as the evaluations pile up. You know my athletic ability.”
“That is……. Well, if you work hard…….”
Do Minyeong trailed off and fell into thought.
Her gaze fixed in the air.
Her lips pressed together as if swallowing her words.
And an expression that seemed to oscillate between hesitation and conflict.
My crude script to evoke sympathy had ridiculously worked.
Not missing the opportunity, I leaned my body limply against the vending machine and let out a big sigh.
“Haaah……. Still, it was a valuable opportunity. Coming all the way here from the outskirts of Seoul. I wanted to prove my worth with the resolve that a social care beneficiary can do it too.”
“……You did?”
“If I had a little more opportunity, I would have given it my all, but maybe this is a sign from someone to just give up?”
“That sounds too pessimistic.”
“It’s realistic. Honestly, how can someone like me with no connections do a background check on Kim Muung.”
“…….”
She let out a shallow sigh.
Then, she leaned her body against the vending machine like me.
Did it work properly?
I did not know the intention of the sigh, but I could guess the intention of the silence.
It was that she was sympathizing with my current situation.
Sympathizing with the fact that, like herself, I had considered Hero Prep a ‘stage to prove my worth’.
“…….”
For a moment, I wondered if I was using a character too nakedly.
But what could I do.
From the moment I meddled with Lee Eunho’s fated encounter last time, my path was already set.
To survive in this shitty world, no matter what it takes.
To escape from the palm of the devoted reader, one way or another.
That was all.
While the silence continued, I tilted the crushed can and finished the drink.
As I was continuing useless thoughts like ‘if I throw the empty can into the trash and it doesn’t go in, I’ll give up’…….
“……By any chance, you.”
Do Minyeong broke the silence.
“Are you free tomorrow?”
***
Late at night, somewhere on the outskirts of Seoul.
An empty tavern with no customers, named ‘Leather and Bloodbath’, located in a narrow alley.
In this place, which exuded a gloomy atmosphere that only regulars would likely visit, the hunter Bruno was sharing a glass with a man in his late 30s.
“I’m a bit sorry I couldn’t deliver satisfactory news. It disappeared without any context.”
“As long as you can find it, it doesn’t matter how long it takes.”
“It seems it’s no ordinary item. ……To think you people had such romance in you.”
The man with a somewhat condescending feel was a superpowered detective named Im Seonjae.
A detective was a private investigator hired privately to work on cases involving superpowers, and a so-called information broker.
To put it in terms of public opinion, they were ‘thugs who couldn’t become Dispel’s investigators.’
In the investigation world, which was practically monopolized and dominated by famous detectives, Im Seonjae was an exceptional talent who had risen to a top position in the industry in just a few years.
His business creed was to solve anything that paid ‘sufficient’ money.
“That gun is worth more than my life to me.”
“Saying it like that makes it a little burdensome, you know? This is really the first time I’ve had a case like this. Whether it sank into the exhibition hall’s ground or soared to the ceiling……. I didn’t know finding just one item would be this difficult.”
“That’s probably why I came to you. Because you’re the best information broker I know, at least.”
“Of course, as long as you pay. Any kind of shitty job.”
As long as he was paid, be it the mafia, a criminal on death row, or even a Demonic Being.
“But as I said before, I don’t handle non-awakened people and children. If there had been a minor victim in the last incident, I wouldn't even be dealing with you.”
“I know. Everyone has their own interests.”
“Anyway, that’s why I’d like you to tell me a bit more about what you remember of the scene at the time.”
“Hmm…….”
Bruno fiddled with his glass and retraced his thoughts.
The person who imitated the Phantom Thief and fought at the exhibition hall at that time…….
This request was proceeding under the premise that the MA13 was lost during the incident.
But he had not mentioned the person who imitated the Phantom Thief at all.
Mentioning that fact would help in finding the MA13, but for Bruno, it was an unwelcome disclosure of information.
That was because that person was a tempting prey with an extremely rare scent of using the dark attribute despite not being a Demonic Being.
The monopoly of prey.
Perhaps a more attractive goal than his specialty, hunting Demonic Beings.
‘I want to meet you again soon…….’
Putting other things aside, considering the ripple effect the dark attribute had in the Awakened world, it was clear that it was not information to be exposed to an information broker.
“I don't think there's any particular information to pass on.”
“Is that so? That’s a shame. ……Ah! This. It was at the scene.”
Im Seonjae poured some bullet heads onto the bar table.
Then he picked up one slightly twisted bullet head and continued.
“It seems there was a battle? It looks like it was quite a close fight.”
“…….”
“Well, I’m not interrogating you. I just have one question.”
“A question……?”
“After comparing it with the traces at the scene, it seems several bullet heads passed through the opponent. But isn’t it a bit strange? There isn’t a single trace of blood that should be on the bullet heads.”
His own bullets that had pierced the person who imitated the Phantom Thief.
Just as Im Seonjae said, there were no traces left.
“I don’t know what you’re hiding, but within my knowledge, there’s only one person who can do this. ……The Phantom Thief.”
“……First time I’m hearing of it.”
“Among the rumors spread about that legendary figure, it’s said that he had a strange ability to not leave behind blood or sweat.”
“So you’re saying I met the Phantom Thief?”
“No, it’s just a deduction. There are still many unknown items in this world. However…….”
In a flash, Im Seonjae’s smartphone rang.
He ostentatiously held up the back of his phone and said.
“There are many VIPs who make Catalina’s second-in-command pale in comparison, so I’m just making an excuse that the request will take a long time.”
Im Seonjae finished his glass and got up from his seat.
“Ah! The Core of the Earth that you all were wronged about, perhaps that person took it. You must catch him to clear Catalina’s name, shouldn’t you? ……Well, I’m not forcing you. I’m just saying to contact me if you have a change of heart.”
“…….”
“See you again then, hunter.”