Frustrating Woman, Smart Woman, Strange Woman

Around eight in the evening, at the detective agency. Shocked by Athena’s bombshell declaration, Yujin and Kilos immediately convened a hearing. The defendant, naturally, was Jinhyun. The main question on the agenda was simple: just what the hell had happened aboard that airship for the words “I’m interested in you” to fall from Athena’s lips?

Jinhyun, of course, had no answer to their relentless interrogation. After all, the only thing that had occurred on the airship was a brief exchange of greetings. It wasn’t a figure of speech. That was literally all there had been.

Wondering if he had somehow forgotten something, Jinhyun dug through his own memories.

Even after rummaging through every corner of his mind, there was nothing. If anything, the only memory that surfaced was how curt and borderline rude her responses had been.

“What?! The fact that Senior was straight-up flirting is so obvious you have no defense?!”

“No, that’s not—”

“What?! You’re telling me that while I was gone you seduced Athena so thoroughly that you have nothing to say for yourself?!”

“If you’d just let me speak—”

But Yujin and Kilos twisted every one of Jinhyun’s protests in the worst possible way.

“Puhahaha!!”

At the absurd scene, Han Cheolho burst into roaring laughter. Jinhyun glared at him. The man wasn’t helping at all—just laughing his head off. And the root cause of this entire mess, Athena, had been sitting there in total silence the whole time, which only made it worse.

“Aaaargh! Will you people please just listen when someone is talking?!”

Finally unable to hold back, Jinhyun exploded. Since he was famous for his gentle nature, Yujin was so startled he audibly gulped.

“I really don’t know anything! Why is she acting like this?!”

Rarely for him, Jinhyun pointed straight at someone. The target was, of course, Athena.

“If you have a mouth, say something!”

“...?”

Athena tilted her head, the motion clearly asking, Me?

“Yes, you! Why did you suddenly show up and say something like that to me?!”

“Did I… do something wrong, Kilos…?”

At that reaction, Kilos’s eyes flew wide open.

“Athena, just to be sure—when you told the guy sitting over there that you ‘have an interest’ in him, what exactly did you mean?”

“...? Having interest means having interest.”

“Yes, but specifically what kind?”

“Mmm… I want to fight him…?”

“Hey.”

The informal tone slipped right out of Kilos’s mouth. Jinhyun collapsed onto the sofa in utter exhaustion. Sharp-eyed Yujin immediately plopped down beside him and began sucking up.

“Aww~ Senior, you’re not that mad, right?”

“Kid, that’s having the opposite effect.”

“...Shut up. I was starting to think this whole thing sounded pretty ridiculous myself.”

After the brief chaos died down, a single message arrived at the detective agency.

“Ugh, who is it now? It’s almost ten already.”

Yujin irritably opened the email.

Yujin’s face filled with alarm as he read the message. Seeing his reaction, Cheolho leaned in from the side and read the same email.

“Let’s see… the remnants of a villain alliance were brawling inside a casino?”

“Oh, if it’s the Red Witch, that’s the organization that fell apart after Athena cut off their leader’s head not long ago.”

Kilos had somehow wedged himself between Cheolho and Yujin.

“A trio in walking suits… that raises the possibility of people from the Followers of the Crescent Moon or the Underworld.”

“How does a shorty like you know so much?”

“I may not look it, but I am the sidekick of an S-class hero, you know?”

Kilos shrugged his tiny shoulders.

“But kid, what part of this message has you so worked up?”

Cheolho, who had been quietly rereading the email, asked. Yujin, who had been staring holes through the recipient field wondering if he had misread it, answered.

“This email didn’t come to the agency’s official address.”

“What?”

Cheolho hurriedly checked the recipient line.

Recipient: God_Eugene

“This… is your personal email?”

“Yeah. And there’s only one person who knows it.”

“Who?”

“...Yuha.”

Jinhyun shot up from his seat and strode over.

“Tell me everything.”

“This is the email address written on the card she secretly gave me. She said to contact her if anything happened to her.”

“For real?”

“Why would I lie about something like this! What should we do? You don’t think something’s happened to her, do you…?”

“Did you try texting her?”

“I’ve been trying since earlier, but it’s not even showing as read.”

Both Jinhyun’s and Cheolho’s expressions grew grave.

Meanwhile, in one corner of the reception room, Athena was quietly sipping a cup of warm tea.

Slurp.

“Everyone… looks so busy…”

With her mood greatly improved by the tea, Athena murmured with a soft, relaxed expression.

“Is there… anything I can help with…?”

At those words, the eyes of all four men snapped toward her in unison.

Around nine in the evening, at the Evil Base.

Having finally shed her long-worn shackles and gained true freedom, A.G.O was experiencing the emotion called happiness for the first time in ages. The safety lock that had been installed without her knowledge was gone. The hitmen who had threatened her life were gone. The bounty code was gone. In their place were a channel where she could freely upload videos, the throwaway accounts essential for manipulating public opinion, and countless routes to gather data.

“Hehehe…”

A.G.O let out a sinister chuckle as she booted up the internet. Nadja watched her with great interest.

“Kuhuhu…!! Yes…!! Keep fighting until Cheongang splits right down the middle…!!”

“Whoa…”

Nadja, who had been silently watching, let out a sigh of pure awe. To be honest, she had been slightly puzzled why Yuha treated A.G.O so well. Of course, during the airship terrorist incident, A.G.O had handled the entire broadcast script for First as well as all the video direction. Still, even adding all of that up, Nadja had felt it wasn’t quite enough to warrant this level of favor.

But after seeing this, she realized she had been far too arrogant. The sight of A.G.O with over a dozen windows open at once, hands flying across the keyboard without pause… it was practically divine.

While A.G.O, now completely unleashed, holed herself up in her room and accelerated her public opinion manipulation—

At the front gate of the Evil Base, the trio of Yuha, Seokho, and Seolhwa stood sniffling.

She said she’d open it… She definitely said she’d open it… Just what is she doing in there that she won’t open the door…?

Chae Yuha firmly resolved that next time she left, she would definitely get a spare key.