10. The Pinnacle of Modern Civilization (2)
I didn't need several guns. What I needed was bullets, not guns.
Ah. Well, I did need a spare gun too. But this wasn't the time to think about that. I could grab one later without any problem.
A police revolver. What was that part called again? The place where the bullets go?
Anyway, I opened it.
Two bullets left. I opened the gun I'd taken from the male officer a little earlier too.
One empty chamber, four rounds. One of them was a little different.
Right. This one was a blank and these were live rounds, weren't they?
I took out the three live rounds, shoved the gun into my back pocket, and loaded three rounds into the gun I'd originally been carrying.
There. Now I had five rounds. Meaning, if I shot well, I could kill five people.
Ah. But did people really carry this few rounds around?
That's fucking stingy. Wasn't there anything else they carried separately?
If it were a rifle, it would at least have a magazine.
This wasn't that. With this, I had to carry the rounds separately.
The female officer who'd been stabbed was taken inside the police substation. The dead male officer was lying on the ground.
Everyone had gone inside the substation, and by now it was getting fairly dark, so there was no one around the male officer.
So I approached, and without touching him yet, I looked over the places where bullets were likely to be.
Then I spotted something like a small pouch at his waist.
When I glanced toward the substation, I could see several officers inside looking out.
They were probably on guard. People had been hurt and even killed, so they had to be wondering what the hell was going on.
If someone had killed a person, and had gotten a skill from it, then the sharp ones would have roughly figured things out.
But if they hadn't, it would be hard to connect it to this situation. Not completely impossible, but hard.
Anyway, they wouldn't be thinking that there was an invisible man here.
So, as inconspicuously as possible, I opened the pouch at the officer's waist.
And inside it were five bullets fitted into something.
Good. That made ten rounds. Still not enough, though.
The problem was that I couldn't get inside there.
A closed door. I couldn't open it. If a door suddenly opened, anyone would think it was strange.
Besides, slipping in behind someone else or going in when it opened was also difficult.
I couldn't bump into anyone. So for now, I had to wait. Until I came up with a way to get inside.
About five minutes passed, maybe. The door opened and two officers came out. Holding guns and on high alert, they approached the dead officer.
Were they trying to recover the body? Because he was a colleague?
I understood what it meant, but it was seriously reckless. Why were they doing something that stupid?
I didn't know. It was something I couldn't understand.
Of course, romance is always inefficient. And it looks like a stupid act.
So you could say those two were fairly romantic.
If it succeeds, it's romance; if it fails, it's idiocy. That's how the world works.
So I let them realize their romance.
Well, you have to have days like this, right? They'd feel lucky, wouldn't they?
My whims could become someone else's good luck. That felt pretty satisfying.
The two of them carefully made their way to where the dead officer lay. Then two other officers who saw it came running over and joined them.
The two who arrived late lifted the officer's body and went inside.
The two officers with guns kept watching the surroundings, and walking backward, they followed them all the way into the substation.
Heh. A tear-jerking scene. Impressive.
But what were they planning to do with that body? Was there even a place to put it inside?
Anyway, there was no need to keep standing here. If there was a way in, that would be one thing, but if there wasn't, staying like this was a waste.
So I was about to leave when I heard a siren in the distance and a police car approached the substation.
They must have been officers returning from a call.
When the car stopped in front of the substation, its door opened and officers came out to stand guard. The two officers stepping out of the car had their guns drawn and scanned the area sharply.
Probably, their guard was up so high because of me. Well, of course it was. They weren't idiots either.
How long would that state last? It wouldn't be easy. If they kept that up, they'd get exhausted.
As expected, getting in right now was difficult. So I decided to pull back and keep watching. No point trying anything now.
With that, I looked around once and went into the building across the street with a view of the substation.
Dumb bastards. I'd go lie down comfortably and watch. Without suffering like that.
The first floor was a coffee shop, and from the second floor up there were offices.
There was no one there. Since they were offices, there was no reason for anyone to still be around at this hour.
On the third floor, I saw a shared office. So I went there, smashed the glass door in front of it, and went inside.
Thinking about things like this, our country really is a good place to live.
People feel safe with just one glass door and one security company sticker.
Without even worrying about getting robbed.
It wasn't the first time, but I got curious.
Would the security company guys actually come? If they did, that would be legendary.
If they did come, I'd let them live. Without killing them. That's romance too, isn't it?
I went inside and kicked open the locked doors one by one.
Then I found a spot with a window and a comfortable chair, and flopped down there.
A place with a good view of the substation. I could rest easy here. Maybe even get some sleep.
I thought this might be the real advantage of this skill. Even if I slept like this, no one would spot me.
As long as the people who resented me didn't disappear, or my hat didn't come off.
It hadn't even been a full day yet, but sitting like this and leaning back, fatigue washed over me.
It was a long day. A hard day.
When I'd left the house just this morning, I hadn't known the day would turn out like this.
There happened to be a phone charger, so I plugged my phone in.
And as I did, a question came to me.
How long would infrastructure like this actually last?
It was amazing that the police force was still functioning.
I couldn't even imagine how they were managing it. How was it still working? The question came to me unbidden.
Was that goodwill? A good nature? Conviction or a sense of responsibility? Or were they just cowards?
Thinking thoughts like that, I closed my eyes for a moment.
Ah. This chair is comfortable. Really comfortable. I should remember to check the brand of this chair later.
With those idle thoughts, I fell asleep for a while.
When I opened my eyes, it was nearly midnight.
I didn't know how many dreams I'd had in the meantime.
I dreamed I was discovered and caught, and I also dreamed of waking from that dream.
Following that, this time I dreamed my skill disappeared, and at that moment I realized it was a dream.
And then I woke up right away. The moment I realized it was a dream.
My body felt a little heavy and my head was foggy, but I slowly came back to normal.
But I wanted to come back a little faster, so I went outside and mixed myself a coffee mix.
I'd seen them when I came in earlier. For waking up, this stuff works instantly, doesn't it?
Drinking the coffee like that, I took out a cigarette and lit it.
Come to think of it, after everything went down, the thought of smoking hadn't even crossed my mind.
Interesting. Why was that? Was I just not that serious about cigarettes?
Now that I thought about it, even now I'd lit up out of habit, but it didn't taste particularly good.
Well, it did have a calming effect on my mind and body. Even so, I didn't feel any particular need to keep smoking.
So that was it. I was a fake smoker.
I was discovering a lot of surprising things today. A really long day.
Pulling myself together like that, I looked out the window at the police station.
The police station was still quiet. But in the meantime, two more police cars had pulled in.
How could I get in there? Did the police station have a back door too?
I was looking at the police station thinking that when two men and two women came running up breathlessly and hurried inside the station.
"Huh?"
It was so absurd that I blinked and stared at the police station the four of them had entered.
Ah. Right. Fuck. I was a dumbass.
Right. That was a place anyone could enter if they needed help.
But I'd been thinking like an idiot. As if going in with my face exposed would get me killed.
A hollow laugh escaped me. It was so absurd I couldn't even speak.
That meant I considered my current situation something I couldn't be open about. So the very thought of showing my face hadn't occurred to me.
Right. I could die. So this Invisible Man Skill was a welcome thing.
But if necessary, I could go in there anytime. Without any hesitation.
I grabbed my phone. Then I searched the rooms and grabbed a bag.
I put all the guns in it. My phone too, my cigarettes too, anyway, everything jangling around in my pockets.
I went down to the first floor.
And on the first floor of the building, I jogged a little. Enough to get out of breath. Enough to break a slight sweat.
The four people earlier had gone in as if something was chasing them. So I just had to do something similar.
I released the invisibility. Then I ran toward the police station.
When I reached the glass door, I could see inside the substation.
I could see the two men and two women who had come running earlier explaining something to the officers.
I opened the door too, and the people talking with the officers hurriedly looked my way.
"Huff, huff, huff. I made it."
With that, I came inside the police station and slumped down as if my legs had given out.
"Are you okay!? What happened!?"
"Huff, huff, no.... Over there, something killed people!"
"Wait! Was it the one with yellow hair?!"
The woman who had been talking to the officer shouted urgently at me.
I didn't know what the yellow hair was about, but they must have fled from that yellow-haired person.
"Yeah. I think it was. Hah, hah. Um, sorry.... Could I get some water!?"
When I said that, one of the officers gave me water. Generously, too.
"See! I'm telling the truth! When he swung his fist like this, the guy's head went pop! It burst!"
The woman said that to the officer. The other woman and the two men added to her story, and thanks to that, I learned a few things.
That when that yellow-haired person's body touched someone, the person's body burst apart without exception.
So it was that kind of skill? He had to touch them? What a lame skill. The conditions were a pain.
"Understood. For now.... Come this way. The substation is a bit crowded right now, so you'll need to stay with the others. You too, sir."
One of the officers said that to the four of them and to me.
So I caught my breath and followed them inside.
Ah. That was easy. I should've done this sooner.
Anyway.... I was in, so that was that. And I'd gotten some unexpected information too.
And there were women here too. The two women from earlier. They were decent-looking.
Thinking that, I almost laughed without realizing it.
Whew. No, I couldn't do that. I'd finally gotten inside, and I was about to ruin everything.