Small, but I'd definitely heard it. Could've been a rat, could've been a sneeze...
Now thoroughly unsettled, I scanned the room again. I focused especially on the wall the sound had come from.
Nothing there, though.
I really didn't want to consider that it might be a person.
That was when a picture frame hanging at an odd height caught my eye. Inside the silver border was a photo of a young child.
?
I lifted the awkwardly-placed frame off the wall.
“!”
My eyes went wide on their own. There was a handle behind the frame.
A hidden space?
It was a concealed door. One I'd failed to notice until now thanks to the busy wall pattern.
A place I'd never found in my past life.
As if entranced, I gripped the handle. My chest tingled with anticipation.
A rich family's secret compartment, that's practically guaranteed to be a treasure vault. And it's not even underground.
I could pocket whatever fortune was stashed away. My breathing turned ragged on its own.
Picturing a space full of pretty jewels, I flung the door open.
Whoosh!
“...”
I scowled.
The space behind the door was smaller than I'd expected. About the size of a wardrobe at most. And crammed into that cramped little spot was a single boy.
I was let down. Not a rat, not treasure, just a person.
“Ngh...!”
“Shh.”
I clamped a hand over the mouth of the startled child as he tried to rise. Elementary schooler, no, middle schooler maybe. The mole at the corner of his mouth struck me as oddly familiar.
The kid kept dropping tears. His body had gone completely rigid. This was making me feel like some kind of brute. The one he should be resenting was his own parent.
The reason he was in here was obvious. They'd clearly decided the kid would be dead weight and abandoned him.
I'll have to knock him out...
I reflexively moved to use my power, but instead of the power, a window popped up.
[Penalty triggered: 〈Restriction〉 in effect. (00:03)]
Even without my power, killing one kid wouldn't be hard, but... I decided to hold off for now.
I had no idea how much the system would lose its mind if I attacked a child with my own hands. And I had no interest in collapsing here and getting found by the police.
“Mmf...!”
For now, getting the kid out of the room seemed best. The plan was to move somewhere the police wouldn't look and stall until the penalty wore off.
But once I'd hauled him out, the kid was bigger than he'd looked. On top of that, he started thrashing with his whole body.
“Gah!”
A punch to the crotch made me lose my grip for a second.
This little brat-
The kid shook off my hand and bolted, throwing the window open. I planted myself in the path to the door and sneered.
“What, you planning to jump from there?”
This was a high-rise, at least twenty floors up. No way a kid survived a bare-bodied fall.
Lips pressed tight, the kid spun around, grabbed the railing, and threw himself over the windowsill.
In a flash, the empty window was bare, only the curtains fluttering.
“Huh...?”
Seriously?
I hurried over to the window.
There were no bloodstains on the flower bed below. Autumn-tinged leaves swayed peacefully in the breeze.
...
Hidden by the trees, maybe?
I leaned out as far as I could and spotted a single slipper sticking out.
...I'd better go down and check.
The moment I stepped out of the room-
“Seo Sinwoo.”
“!”
Go Sangwon appeared from the direction of the stairs.
“I thought you'd already left?”
“There was a message from the Boss, so I came back, but...”
The timing was just awful. I gave my jacket a pointless little brush.
“...”
“Is something bothering you?”
I hesitated, wondering whether to say anything. But.
“No. It's nothing...”
I took Go Sangwon's hand. I'd made up my mind to keep this to myself.
He's dead, surely.
Common sense said no one survived a fall from this height. A child traumatized by the sight of his father's corpse takes his own life, that kind of small footnote. The sort of story that stirs up a little neighborhood talk before being forgotten.
“Ah. So what was the message?”
“It's...”
“Huff, huff...”
The child ran out in his pajamas. In his head, he was desperately replaying the conversation he'd just overheard. Determined not to forget even the smallest clue.
“Ugh!”
Running frantically, he slammed into a hard wall. The child toppled backward.
“...”
When he looked up, what met him was a pair of sharp eyes. A man with his hair tied up high looked down at him, expressionless. What he'd thought was a wall had been the man's back.
The child flinched and shrank at the sight of the sword resting at the man's side.
“S-sorry...”
“...”
The man's hand reached slowly toward him. The child squeezed his eyes shut and trembled.
Contrary to his fear, what came was a gentle touch. The man carefully took the child's palm and examined it.
“Are you hurt anywhere?”
“...Hic.”
At the unexpectedly kind voice, the child's nose stung. He looked at the man's hand and bowed his head.
When the child began to sniffle, the man, puzzled, lowered himself further.
Meeting eyes brimming with worry, the child burst into quiet sobs.
“Please help me...”
Some time had passed since the incident at the apartment.
The days had been so peaceful it made my earlier worries seem laughable. Lately, on the Boss's orders, I'd practically been living at the hideout.
Doing laps through dungeons, as told.
Today was no different. Right now I was in an underground waterway, with water running through it.
Together with Choi Haegang.
“...”
“...”
I don't know why. I'd walked in and Choi Haegang just happened to be there. For the record, I'd come in through an association employee the Boss had bought off.
The instant I made eye contact with Choi Haegang on entering, I wanted nothing more than to turn around and walk right back out. But my body was already inside the gate.
So we ended up facing each other. Without so much as a word exchanged.
“...”
“...”
Of course, we couldn't keep that up forever. In the end, I was the one who caved first.
“Well now. Fancy meeting you again, haha.”
As I spoke, I sidled away crab-style to put some distance between us. His stare clung to me, persistent.
“I'll be on my way, then...”
Once I'd put a decent gap between us, I started walking in the direction the detector pointed. Then, behind me, came the sound of footsteps padding through the damp.
Choi Haegang followed me at a fixed distance. I couldn't tell if he was even watching his surroundings, since every time I glanced back, our eyes met.
“...”
I had plenty I wanted to say, but I didn't bother running my mouth.
It would've been nice to have built a good impression from the start. But honestly, that ship had sailed. I even had the memory of laughing in Choi Haegang's face while he pleaded his innocence, so brazenly latching onto him now felt a little shameless even for me.
Somehow, the uncomfortable company dragged on. Following the path straight ahead, a set of vertical iron bars blocked the way. In front of them stood a crocodile-like monster holding a spear.
A gatekeeper, huh.
Inspecting the bars, I saw the gate had a chain and a small padlock on it.
That monster might be holding the key. As I was thinking it over, Choi Haegang stepped up to the bars. Instead of attacking the monster, I quietly glanced back at him.
“It's a monster...”
Since we're stuck together anyway, might as well put him to use. There was also a sliver of I'd rather not show my full hand mixed in. When I just stood there with my hands off, Choi Haegang finally opened his mouth.
“I already know what your power is.”
“Is that so.”
We'd even fought, so it was hardly a surprise.
“That your real name is Seo Sinwoo, too.”
“...”
“And that you're working under someone called ‘the Boss.’”
“I-is that so...”
I kept the smile up by force, but my mouth had gone bone dry. How did he know all that?
“Turn yourself in to the police. If you do, I won't take any private action against you.”
“Then... maybe I'll turn myself in.”
The man, who'd been silently glaring at me, readjusted his grip on the sword hilt.
“I'll turn myself in the second we're out!”
I hastily changed my tune and nodded. But Choi Haegang didn't let go of the blade. With a click, the edge slid free of its sheath.
Whoosh!
Choi Haegang swept the drawn sword in a wide horizontal arc.
“...!”
I lurched aside. It missed me by a hair.
That scared me.
The target hadn't been me, it was the monster. Struck dead-on, the monster split on a diagonal and toppled.
Having killed it, Choi Haegang sheathed his sword.
“I'll look for the key.”
I shut my mouth and nodded.
He passed me by, heading for the monster's corpse. I lowered the hand I'd thrown up to shield my face.
“You'd better keep your word just now.”
“...Suuure.”
It seemed my promise to turn myself in had landed.
Like hell I'd turn myself in. The moment we're out, I'm bolting.
Just as I was sneering at the gullible Choi Haegang on the inside-
A chill.
For some reason, a cold shiver crawled up my spine.
“...?”
I whipped my head around. Scanning the area, there were no monsters left. Choi Haegang had his back to me, digging through the corpse.
Even after confirming there was no danger, my sixth sense kept sounding the alarm.
What is it?
The instant the doubt formed, I felt a fierce killing intent at my back. I scrambled to twist around and identify whoever it was.
“...”
All I saw was an empty waterway.
Something's off.
Was there an invisible monster?
Backing away, I froze. I thought I'd heard a light footstep.
Then the flow of air shifted. Like someone was sprinting straight for me.
Stab!
A sharp prick in my stomach.
“...!”
Choi Haegang, his back to me, didn't seem to have noticed the situation yet. Only after he'd found something on the corpse did he straighten up.
“There was a key.”
“...Yeah, but.”
I snatched the hand that was letting go of the blade and pulling back.
“Is this little brat one of your guild members too?”
The kid I'd seized came into view.
