128
Ch.128 Park Refugee
Everyone's gaze focused on me at the policeman's gesture.
The superpower humans from other cities looked at me with eyes that wondered why this cop knew me, while the civilians and other officers stared as if questioning who I was to warrant such attention.
“What? Why does the cop know that guy?”
“Don’t tell me W-City already figured out his identity and was keeping tabs on him?”
The superpower humans grew wary of both me and the cop, distancing themselves from me.
A tension resonated through the air, carried by the wavelength of abilities—gulp—someone swallowed hard.
After devouring the slice of pizza I’d been holding in three bites, I waved the other slice in my hand and answered.
“Eating pizza.”
“Huh? Wha—wait… Huh?”
Confusion, terror, fear, anxiety—emotions bubbled and burst like soap bubbles from the cop, repeating in cycles.
“What are you so afraid of?”
“Huh? Well, uh, you’re not… Supposed to be here, right?”
“Am I not allowed to be here?”
“Uhhh… Well, this is now the Black Cat Central Park, so it’s not like you can’t be here, but… Uh, wow! Seriously, what the—!”
He seemed to want to say something but couldn’t.
The cop looked around, opening and closing his mouth several times, and the emotions radiating from the people in the air grew increasingly taut.
Then, the cop asked me a question as I continued eating my pizza, unfazed.
“Uh, sir? What brings you here? If it’s some complicated reason you can’t explain, you don’t have to say.”
“They gave me food.”
“That’s it? No other special reason?”
“Yeah.”
“Phew, I’m breaking out in a cold sweat.”
As I nodded, the cop sighed in relief, and the tense superpower humans stepped forward.
“Hey, officer, what’s the deal with this guy?”
“Wait… Starlight was in the same class as Kage, right? And Starlight’s still flying around helping out in A-City.”
“Wasn’t A-City in cahoots with W-City from the start?”
“Was this an undercover operation?!”
“What’s an undercover operation?”
Even the superpower humans frowned in disbelief at my question.
Likewise, the cop made the same face at their conversation.
“Undercover operation? What are you talking about?”
“It’s too late to play dumb! This guy’s a superpower human planted by W-City, right?”
“Ha, almost fooled us! Even registered as an A-City superpower human? W-City’s thorough, I’ll give ‘em that.”
“What the hell are you talking about? This guy’s not like that. I was just surprised because I know him personally.”
“How does a cop know a superpower human?”
“What, cops aren’t allowed to know people now?”
“Of course not! superpower humans and cops are…”
“Ugh! There he goes again with that B-City crap! W-City cops and superpower humans get along fine, okay?!”
As the cop raised his voice in frustration, the superpower humans hesitated and exchanged glances.
“So… You really just know him personally? That’s it?”
“Yeah.”
“How? Who is he?”
“Well… He’s that famous superpower human beggar from the Black Cat Park in the apartment complex. Superpower human beggar sounds weird, but anyway… I was in charge of that area, so I just recognized him and was surprised.”
“Superpower human beggar? What the hell?”
“Guess he’s a superpower human.”
“With that build, it’d be weirder if he wasn’t.”
At the cop’s claim, the surrounding civilians and refugees buzzed with murmurs.
“But is that guy really a beggar? Even though he’s a superpower human?”
“Must be. I saw him digging through a trash can earlier.”
“Sir? What’s this about? You were digging through trash cans again?!”
“The hot dog sausages were tasty.”
“Why… wyhy would you…?! Seriously, why?! You don’t have to do that anymore, right? You’re not just doing it for fun, are you?!”
“Wait, so this guy wasn’t sent by A-City? He’s just a refugee who snuck into A-City? Just a superpower human?”
“It wasn’t an act?”
Hearing that I’d been digging through trash cans, the superpower humans cut in.
“Why would an A-rank superpower human…?”
“Probably heard about the Black Cat. Even A-ranks don’t wanna die, right?”
“Wait, so he was really just a beggar?”
“So, this guy isn’t a W-City hero, has no job, and is an A-rank superpower human digging through trash?”
“Does that even make sense?”
“But if that’s true, then this guy is just… An unaffiliated A-rank superpower human?”
By the end of the conversation, the superpower humans realized I wasn’t a spy sent by A-City.
A stunned silence fell, but only briefly.
“Sir, stop this and come over here.”
“W-wait!”
As the cop approached to pull me away, a superpower human burst from the crowd of refugees and grabbed my arm.
“This superpower human’s one of us! Don’t touch him!”
“What? You just said he’s a beggar!”
“Yeah, a beggar! But an A-rank superpower human!”
“Huh?”
“H-he’s right! Hands off! He’s ours!”
“What’s wrong with you people?!”
More superpower humans rushed out and clung to my arm.
On one side, a single cop. On the other, multiple superpower humans.
“Hey, you! Park Deun-deun, right? Don’t you hate this city? You must! A city that reduces even A-rank superpower humans to beggars!”
“Yeah! This garbage city can’t do anything without the Black Cat!”
“Black Cat should be shared with other cities! Don’t you agree?!”
“The Black Cat belongs to everyone! Don’t you think so?!”
“Whoa! What kind of crazy talk is this?! Can’t you shut up?!”
The superpower humans pulled at my arm, hoping I’d side with them, while the cop panicked and clung to me.
It was getting noisy. Maybe I should just toss them all aside.
As I debated swinging the arm swarmed by refugees, one of the superpower humans shouted.
“Everyone, help! We can’t let the cops take him!”
“He’s a poor A-rank superpower human W-City didn’t even care about! He’s on our side!”
“If we have an A-rank superpower human, they won’t ignore us anymore!”
“Liberate the Black Cat!”
“Wooooah!”
The park refugees surged forward, grabbing the superpower humans and pulling toward the box houses.
Now I couldn’t throw them away.
“Heave! Ho! Heave! Ho!”
“Damn it… He won’t budge!”
“How much does he weigh?!”
Fragments of thought spilled from the united refugees and civilians, digested by the monster core and pieced together.
The superpower humans and refugees were trying to recruit me—an A-rank superpower human in their eyes—to their side, using me to achieve their goals.
They needed an A-rank superpower human to protect themselves from W-City’s threats, its heroes and cops, all under the Black Cat’s safety.
“But why are you pulling him?”
“Dunno! Just pull!”
No concrete plan, just the strange belief that brute force would work.
As the refugees and superpower humans strained with all their might, the other cops grew puzzled.
Standing motionless, I lifted the arm the cop was clinging to and finished my pizza.
“You’re noisy.”
“It’s your fault! Bl—! No, sir! Why are you doing this?!”
“I just want to eat in peace.”
“Eat…?”
“Eat! Right! You said he’s a beggar?! We’ll feed him all he wants! Come with us, and we’ll fill you up!”
“You’re out of your minds! Don’t make promises you can’t keep!”
“Hmm?”
Fill me up, huh?
At the superpower human’s words, I glanced down at the cop.
The cop, looking uneasy, frantically spoke up.
“A hundred hot dogs! I’ll buy you a hundred! Don’t go! Just stay a W-City beggar!”
“Pfft! A hundred? Seriously?!”
“He’s just blabbering because he’s desperate!”
“You’re not buying that nonsense, are you? We’ll feed you till you’re full—join us!”
“You’re the ones spouting nonsense!”
“Let’s free the Black Cat together!”
Honestly, I doubted these guys could actually feed me till I was full.
But having said it, they’d at least try.
“This side sounds better than a hundred hot dogs.”
“No, don’t!”
“Waaaah!”
When I raised my hand toward the superpower humans, they toppled over, rolling on the grass.
But only for a moment—soon, they sprang up and cheered.
“The A-rank superpower human’s on our side!”
“Get lost! This park’s under his protection now!”
“Liberate the Black Cat! Liberate the Black Cat!”
On the other side, I tilted my shoulder to let the cop down gently and gestured for him to leave. The cop paled and staggered back.
“Th-this is bad…!”
The cop’s desperation spilled from his mind, spreading to those around him.
At this rate, they’d lose the Black Cat.
With trembling hands, the cop reached into his pocket and hit the emergency call button.
“This is District 3! Backup! We need backup now! Emergency!”
“Wait.”
“Now! Send backup! Hurry!”
“Hey.”
I tried to stop the cop, who was radiating something ominous, but he was too far gone, shouting into the radio.
“The Black Cat’s being taken to another city!”
Right after, an alarm I’d never heard before blared from the radio.
***
How did it come to this?
I just wanted to fill my stomach since they offered food.
“Liberate the Black Cat!”
“Black Cat is for all!”
“Share the Black Cat!”
“Peace for everyone!”
Just moments ago, District 3’s Central Park had been peaceful.
Now, the recently renamed Black Cat Park was a standoff between refugees, superpower humans, and W-City’s heroes.
[We repeat: Refugees, please calm down and lower your weapons.]
The refugees held frying pans, kitchen knives, wooden poles, and iron bars ripped from park fences.
The heroes and cops carried riot guns loaded with rubber bullets and stun guns called shockers.
“The heroes are trying to kill us!”
“Aren’t refugees people too?!”
“Selfish W-City bastards!”
“Think they can fool us?!”
“We won’t take it anymore! We’ll protect ourselves!”
The refugees raised their weapons overhead, voices rising, while amidst the chaos, the heroes and cops quietly assessed the situation.
“What’s going on? Losing the Black Cat?”
“Well, one cop triggered the Black Cat emergency alarm…”
“What does an A-rank superpower human have to do with the Black Cat?”
“Dunno, he was saying weird stuff…”
“He said if we didn’t come, they’d take the Black Cat, that his whole career was on the line.”
“Why would they take it? What’d they do?”
“Said he couldn’t explain why.”
“What the hell…?”
“But, well, seeing this, it’s good we came.”
[Lower your weapons! We will not tolerate further disturbance!]
Despite the warnings, the chaos didn’t subside. A largely built hero stepped forward and took the mic.
A hero I’d seen a few times—the one who’d been with Electress in the quiet hallway.
[This is W-City A-rank hero Iron Might, Kim Seong-ho. Refugees, please exit the park. This is W-City’s park. Anyone who continues disrupting order will face legal consequences.]
As Iron Might announced his rank and unleashed a terrifying wavelength, the refugees within the police and hero encirclement hurled empty cans and trash at the W-City heroes.
“Selfish heroes, get lost!”
“This is our District now!”
“Now you’re outright violating refugee protection laws! Not even hiding it!”
“Iron Might! Think we’re scared because you’re A-rank?!”
“We have Park Deun-deun on our side!”
Wooooah! Amid the refugees’ cheers, the superpower humans around me pointed at me.
The heroes zoomed in on my face from afar, checking my info.
“It’s really him. A-City A-rank superpower human Park Deun-deun.”
“Did he flee A-City recently?”
“Wait, Park Deun-deun… I saw that name in the Guryongseong Collapse incident files. Suspected to be a close associate of Gu Seo-ryong.”
“Now that you mention it, I’ve seen it too. Unusual name, so it’s definitely him.”
Hearing the heroes’ conversation, I could see the hassle coming. I raised a hand to my mouth and shouted.
“I’m not Park Deun-deun!”
At that, the superpower humans around me amplified my voice.
“Right! This man is no longer the wandering beggar of W-City, Park Deun-deun!”
“He’s the vanguard of the Black Cat Liberation Front, sick of W-City’s selfishness!”
“Don’t even think of ignoring us anymore!”
“Hear our voices!”
Wooooah! The refugees erupted in cheers.