92
Ch.92 Don’t Make A Fuss
“This place doesn’t look like a hospital.”
“Huh? You still don’t know what kind of place this is, even after seeing the lighting?”
“Doesn’t seem like a butcher shop.”
“Meat?”
“Pfft, you’re both so naive, really.”
At me and Sagugu’s answers, Gu Seo-ryong burst into laughter, opened another iron-barred door, and guided us into a room with a bed.
Inside the dusty, bug-infested room, Gu Seo-ryong pulled out thin clothes from an old wardrobe and shook them out a few times.
Standing naked in front of me and Sagugu without a care, she changed her clothes.
A revealing black dress—Gu Seo-ryong, who had altered her body’s shape to disguise herself as if wearing high heels, winked at us.
“You’ll need clothes for yourself and for Sagugu. Our goal is to explore A-City without being noticed by the lab, right? Both of you stand out way too much as you are now.”
“Meow?”
“Isn’t your outfit even more eye-catching?”
“Not at all? There have always been women dressed like this on these streets, so this is fine.”
I, wearing only firefighter pants with my upper body exposed, and Sagugu in a white dress with cat ears and a tail that kept popping out.
Sagugu might not, but I do stand out a bit.
Gu Seo-ryong fiddled with her phone, tapped something, then gestured for Sagugu to follow.
“The A-City citizen account is still active. Money… Already got hacked. Tsk, that’s the problem here. You wait here.”
“What are you planning to do?”
“Gonna make some quick cash to buy clothes. Sagugu? Come here just in case. Stay hidden in the shadows. Don’t come out. Stay quiet inside.”
“Quiet!”
As I silently watched Gu Seo-ryong leave, I quietly pulled out a cat and sank it into her shadow.
Then, left alone, I slowly examined the place where Gu Seo-ryong was born.
Creak… The sound of old iron bars.
Every door along the narrow hallway had iron bars and locks.
It was hard to call this a normal living environment.
Every room had the same structure.
A hallway behind iron bars, a room with a bed inside, a shower.
Dirty beds, scattered contraceptives, used syringes, handcuffs, torn fabric.
Brushing off dust from the bed with my hand, I scraped the black stains with my fingertips—the smell of long-dried blood.
A faint scent of stimulants from the syringes, bloodstains on the handcuffs as if from digging into wrists.
Beside a pillow infested with mice, a half-chewed business card.
Picking it up, the faded text on the card was barely legible.
Thrilling experiences, anything is possible, ladies are always on standby.
Among construction workers, some carried things like this. I knew what this place was called from hearing them talk.
This is a brothel.
And a pretty extreme one at that.
[Hey, miss, how much?]
Just then, a voice came through the cat I’d hidden in Gu Seo-ryong’s shadow.
A man clung to Gu Seo-ryong, dressed in thin clothes.
He roughly grabbed her seemingly fragile arm, trying to drag her somewhere.
[Stop it, I’m not that kind of woman.]
[You dressed like that in this weather and say you’re not? Doesn’t matter even if you’re not. Money’ll do, right? Come on, hehe…]
Gu Seo-ryong, weakly being dragged away, mixed with the man’s excitement and anticipation.
She obediently let herself be pulled into a deserted alley.
[Heh, ah… Feels good… Ha…]
[That good?]
[Yeah, ah… Best ever, damn…]
Panting breaths, pleasure, ecstasy.
Above the man writhing on the ground, Gu Seo-ryong injected him with stimulants, her tail piercing his neck as she fiddled with his phone.
[Oh? Lucky me. Darling, you’ve got quite a bit of money, huh?]
[Huff, huff… Take it, take whatever…]
[Really? Then I’ll take it all?]
Gu Seo-ryong wrapped her tail around the man’s wrist, pressing his phone against hers. A ding sounded as a notification went off.
Dropping the man’s phone, she used her sensory disruption ability with a snap, then left him in the alley.
[I’d love to just kill him… Hmph.]
[Kill?]
[Sagugu? Didn’t Mommy tell you to stay inside? Shh, be quiet.]
[Shh.]
After shooing Sagugu back inside, Gu Seo-ryong stepped out onto the main street.
Click, click. The sound of high heels drew eyes.
Gu Seo-ryong walked confidently, as if flaunting herself.
She said we shouldn’t stand out, but is this really okay?
[Sorry, but our store doesn’t…]
[Huh? I’m here to buy clothes. You don’t take customers?]
At the clothing store, Gu Seo-ryong showed her phone screen, went inside, and changed Sagugu’s outfit.
A hat and coat straight out of a detective cartoon from childhood.
Even if her cat ears and tail showed, the clothes could hide them.
Gu Seo-ryong changed into a tight dress with slightly less exposure, then grabbed jeans, shirts, and oversized men’s clothes in bulk.
“Here, put these on.”
Later, back in the dark basement, Gu Seo-ryong threw clothes at me.
A large black tank top and a beige jacket.
No pants.
“Those are your favorite pants, right? Bought these to match. Here, shoes too.”
“It’s stuffy.”
“Deal with it. Sagugu, you too!”
“Meow…”
Gu Seo-ryong stopped Sagugu from shaking off her shoes.
She explained the plan to me and Sagugu, now dressed properly like humans.
“Alright, I’ll go to the villains and get citizen IDs for you and Sagugu.”
“Can you make IDs?”
“Illegally, yeah. Look here.”
Flash. A photo was taken with her phone.
“Sagugu, follow Mommy. Just in case… No, don’t hide in the shadows this time.”
“Meow?”
“Humans let their guard down weirdly around mother and daughter. Less hassle. Stay close.”
“So much walking today!”
Excited, Sagugu spun around the small room and tugged Gu Seo-ryong’s arm.
Dragged along, Gu Seo-ryong pointed at me.
“Can you scout outside with your cats? Listen to conversations, get a feel for the city. Seems like A-City’s changed a lot since I last saw it.”
“Got it.”
“Meow!”
I stood up, creating two more cats.
Sagugu tried to run toward them but was grabbed by the scruff by Gu Seo-ryong.
“Just in case, remember—only recon. No causing scenes like in W-City.”
“I know.”
“No, you don’t. Magic Bullet might come after us here, so be careful.”
“Magic Bullet?”
“Yeah, a hero with an ability called Magic Bullet.”
Gu Seo-ryong explained: an S-rank hero in A-City, Baskerville.
Ability nickname: Hunting Hound.
“If they’re in A-City, they can fire bullets that chase targets infinitely. Low-tier villains and monsters are all theirs.”
“An ability that covers the whole A-City with lethal force? Impressive.”
Abilities weaken the farther they are from the core.
Electress’s electromagnetic field wasn’t lethal, so its city-wide range wasn’t strange—but one with killing power at that scale?
“Won’t hurt us monsters much, but once Magic Bullet locks on, it’ll be annoying.”
“I’ll be careful.”
“Good. If I call for help, come running like a prince. See you later.”
Waving, Gu Seo-ryong left first, gesturing to her shadow.
Had she noticed the cat inside?
After she left, I exited the basement with two cats.
Past the torn plank entrance, I sent the cats ahead and slowly walked the alley, observing.
A damp alley, sunlight barely reaching even at noon, lined with similar planks.
“Tch.”
Clicking my tongue near the planks, I bounced sound waves to scan inside.
Echolocation—using a monster’s senses—revealed a structure like where we’d been with Gu Seo-ryong.
Was this whole alley a brothel?
“Hahaha, brother, you’re funny.”
“Like that?”
“Pfft, where else would you get that price~”
Voices from outside the alley via the cats.
Under neon lights, women in even skimpier clothes than Gu Seo-ryong’s forced smiles for drunk men.
The faint smell of alcohol from puddles on wet asphalt.
Red and blue lights scattering on the surface reminded me of Guryongseong
“Whoa… What the hell?”
“S-Superpower human?”
“How tall…”
Exiting the alley, I drew stares as I walked.
Fear, unease, gratitude, envy—mixed emotions.
Different from where the cats were.
“A new superpower human? Just registered?”
“Not the usual hero for this area.”
“Just a big guy, right?”
“Wow, a real superpower human? Lucky…”
At my height, towering over the humans around me, they assumed I was a superpower human.
Some nervously stepped aside, others bowed gratefully.
Definitely… Different from W-City.
“Hey, careful… Superpower human over there.”
“What? Not patrol time. Why’s a superpower human in Sector 9…?”
“Not a villain, right? Heard villains have been hiding here lately.”
“No way. A villain wouldn’t walk around so openly.”
“Better avoid just in case. Don’t wanna get caught in Magic Bullet.”
Among tense citizens, I stopped at a hot dog food truck in the middle of the street.
The owner, bent over organizing something, glanced up as I dug through my pockets for coins and bills.
“One hot dog.”
“Coin sounds? We haven’t taken cash in ages…”
Straightening, the owner startled at me.
“S-Superpower human? Yes, hot dog, coming right up. Just a moment.”
Nervous, he quickly prepared the hot dog, then handed my cash back with both hands.
“No need for payment. Can’t take money from a superpower human.”
“Superpower humans don’t pay for hot dogs?”
“Huh? Well… Of course not…? Just show your superpower human registration.”
“Registration?”
Strange, but good news—I was about to order 500 hot dogs when he mentioned registration.
“No registration? Unregistered superpower human… Wait, a villain…?”
“I’m not a superpower human.”
Denying it outright, the owner eyed me suspiciously.
“…Villains or superpower humans wouldn’t pay anyway. Plus, cash… You from outside?”
“Yes.”
“Rare. Not a superpower human at this size, an outsider in these times…”
Meaningfully, he pocketed the cash and assembled the hot dog.
“What do you mean, these times?”
“Ah, hear that?”
As the smell of veggies, sauce, and cheese made me swallow saliva, gunfire echoed in the distance.
Rat-tat-tat. Boom, boom. Explosions.
Following the sound, the scent of blood and gunpowder grew closer.
“Heroes hunting villains. Kage just declared it earlier—rooting out all villains in A-City.”
“Hmm.”
Unfazed, citizens walked past as the hot dog finished.
Just as I reached for it, two heroes flew over from the commotion.
“Ugh—hot! Old man, got ice?”
“Ah, yes! Here.”
A soot-covered hero—probably hit by a grenade.
The owner pulled out ice, and the hero stepped into the tiny truck, dunking into the freezer like a bathtub.
“Whew… Alive…”
“Ah…”
Sizzling flesh, the owner forcing a smile.
Probably ice meant for drinks.
“Gimme food. Oh, hot dog? Lucky~”
“Ah, that’s a customer’s—”
The other hero snatched my hot dog.
Frowning, I grabbed it back.
“…What?”