Chapter 102: If You Stay Still, You're Halfway There (2)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 102: If You Stay Still, You're Halfway There (2)
“What’s the plan now?”
After leaving the Director’s office, Red asked Blue what their next move would be, following Blue’s suggestion to withdraw for the moment. Team Hunter Killer had defeated Spacetro Team 4, while Team Guerrilla had suffered a pathetic, crushing defeat against Spacetro Team 3.
However, this outcome didn't change much in the grand scheme of things. Global interest in Spacetro had already dwindled significantly, and the public’s frustration was mostly aimed at the Earth Defense Union, which was funded by their taxes.
It was taken for granted when the Earth Defense Union won, and if they lost, the people didn't really care. Everyone in the world already knew that a single win or loss wouldn't change a thing.
Next week, Team Hunter Killer would face Team 3 as if nothing had happened, and the same cycle would repeat. Nevertheless, the reason Team Hunter Killer was so incensed by Team 3’s first victory was that their win—which no one else cared about—set a precedent.
Team Hunter Killer had never lost a single battle since its inception. Even if the teams had been swapped, the fact remained that the opponent Team Hunter Killer was specifically assigned to handle had recorded its first victory.
Blue, the longest-serving member of Team Hunter Killer, was well aware of this. More than anything, having known the Director for a long time, she knew that he wouldn't be open to reason at a moment like this. That was why she had told the members to back off for now.
“We can talk to the Director later when things settle down. For now, visiting the parties involved will be a better use of our time.”
At Blue’s mention of the "parties involved," the members looked at one another. After they entered the elevator, Blue didn't press the button for the 3rd floor, where Team Hunter Killer’s office was located, but instead for the floor housing Team Guerrilla’s office.
The opponent had been changed on the day of the duel without any prior notice. There was no way the Director had acted entirely on his own. There were certainly others who had planned this with him, and they were likely the ones participating in the duel. This was the conclusion Blue had reached.
The other members grasped Blue’s intention immediately. As soon as the elevator doors opened, they strode toward Team Guerrilla’s meeting room.
Yellow, leading the way, kicked the office door open. The members of Team Guerrilla, who were sitting in the meeting room looking dazed, jumped in surprise and turned their heads.
“What? Is this all of them?”
Not all members of Team Guerrilla were in the office. There were only three, and one of them was Khaki, who was always seen hanging around Indigo and frequently appeared in crime-related news reports.
“What’s with the sudden violence?! We’re busy right now—!”
The moment Khaki started to bark at them, Red approached with a speed too fast for the eye to follow, grabbed him by the collar, and slammed him against the wall.
“Gah!”
The meeting room wall cracked from the heavy impact. Red tightened her grip on Khaki’s collar and lifted him off the ground.
Though Khaki was taller than Red, his feet dangled in the air as he struggled, held aloft by his throat.
“Talk. Who rigged the duel like this?”
“L-Let go...!”
The remaining members of Team Guerrilla belatedly stood up to save Khaki, but Yellow and Pink blocked their path, preventing them from getting close.
Khaki didn't give a straight answer to Red’s question, but Red had come here already knowing who the primary culprit was.
A bastard who’s always full of himself, talking big while being empty on the inside and unremarkable on the outside.
It was highly likely to be Indigo, who wasn't here, or Gainsborough, who followed him around like a chief of staff. If she had to bet on who was more likely, it was definitely Indigo.
Indigo was the one who had been cozying up to the Director—the man who never listened even when Team Hunter Killer reported that Spacetro Team 3 was a powerhouse incomparable to the other teams. This wasn't just a guess; it was a conviction based on his past behavior.
“Where is Indigo?”
The Director had said he was transported to the Research Institute. However, Red couldn't trust even those words. There were all sorts of people in the world, and since the appearance of Superhumans, various opinions had surfaced everywhere.
Naturally, negative public opinion was far more prevalent. Among them, religious groups consistently loathed Superhumans and continued to protest against their creation to this day. Even outside of religion, many people extremely rejected Superhumans, and the Director was one of them.
As an extreme superhuman-hater, there was no trust that the Director would tell the truth to the members of Team Hunter Killer, even if it was a matter of business. Furthermore, since Team Hunter Killer always raised objections to the Director’s proposals, it was perhaps natural that he viewed them unfavorably.
“Indigo was... ugh... transported to the Research Institute... straight from the scene!”
Even as he choked from the grip on his collar, Khaki answered Red’s question. Red lifted him even higher, tightening the pressure on his windpipe.
“The proof?”
She couldn't trust his words either. The reason Team Hunter Killer continued their activities was to improve the public perception of Superhumans. Though they hadn't been unified in the past despite sharing the same goal, they had recently achieved team harmony. Knowing they were all working toward the same purpose had given them even more motivation.
Even if their personal finances remained tight.
Team Guerrilla, on the other hand, was a group that used their status as Superhumans to commit social atrocities. Though they had been in the news several times, the Director would contact the media and have the articles deleted immediately.
However, he couldn't stop their public reputation from souring, and it was an open secret that the Director was scrubbing negative press about Team Guerrilla behind the scenes. Ultimately, with one thing leading to another, Team Guerrilla was currently the worst group for ruining the image of Superhumans, making them the polar opposite of Team Hunter Killer.
“Phone! My phone!”
Struggling for breath, Khaki pointed toward his smartphone lying on the meeting room table. Red threw Khaki to the floor and picked up the device.
She tossed the locked phone back in front of him and looked down at Khaki, who was sprawled on the ground.
“Open the messenger app where you got the message from the Research Institute. If you’re bullshitting me, you’re dead right here.”
Team Guerrilla, a group with a completely different character from Hunter Killer, had always mocked the Hunter Killer members and sexually harassed them verbally. Feeling they weren't worth the effort, the women had ignored them until now, enduring it because they weren't supposed to cause conflict between Superhumans.
But those bastards had finally stepped into Hunter Killer’s territory and ruined everything. As their long-accumulated irritation exploded, Red—no, every member of Team Hunter Killer—was in an extremely sensitive state.
“A-Alright.”
Khaki hurriedly unlocked his phone and showed Red the text he had received from a researcher at the institute.
Just as Khaki said, Indigo had been severely injured and was rushed to the Research Institute in an ambulance that had arrived at the scene. Among the exchanged messages was a photo of Indigo lying down with an oxygen mask, covered in blood.
It was a gruesome sight that would naturally make anyone cringe, and it would have been normal to look away from such a wretched state. However, Red smiled, feeling a sense of catharsis that relieved her stress. She felt absolutely no sympathy for the mangled Indigo.
“Who did this to him?”
“I don't know. Those Spacetro guys all wear the same outfit, how am I supposed to know who’s who...?”
Red felt a sense of pathetic inadequacy at Khaki’s inability to identify the culprit. First of all, if they were wearing the standard outfit, it wasn't the executive, Luche.
That meant it was one of the regular soldiers. As Khaki said, the regular soldiers of Spacetro all wore the same uniform. However, they could be distinguished by their physical build, their assigned positions, or their fighting styles.
Even without knowing their names or faces, it wasn't hard to tell that the regular soldiers were different individuals, all of whom were professionally trained. Team Guerrilla had been active as Superhumans as long as, if not longer than, Red, yet they couldn't even grasp such simple details. She couldn't help but sigh at the answer that they couldn't tell who was who.
Indigo, the certain mastermind behind this, was currently a patient at the Research Institute. But there was no way Khaki was entirely in the dark about the situation.
“Today’s duel. Since when was it planned to be this way?”
“Huh?”
“Hey.”
When Khaki responded with a question instead of an answer, Red spoke in a low, sinking voice as she looked down at him.
“If I have to ask more than twice from now on, I’m going to turn that smug face of yours into a total mess. Answer me the first time.”
She wasn't just making threats. Superhumans possessed incredible recovery abilities. While the difference in physical power between the members of Team Hunter Killer and Team Guerrilla was like heaven and earth, there wasn't a huge gap in their recovery rates.
Red knew Indigo would likely recover and return soon, and even if she wrecked Khaki’s face right now, he would heal quickly. She meant every word.
“Y-Yesterday! Indigo and Gainsborough suddenly told us yesterday. I don't know exactly what was discussed with the Director!”
Sensing the killing intent in her voice, Khaki shouted his answer in a panic.
It doesn't seem like he's lying.
After hearing Khaki’s words, Red confirmed that he wasn't deeply involved in the adjustment of the duel. In that case, she needed to find the actual parties involved, Indigo and Gainsborough. But as mentioned, Indigo was currently hospitalized. That meant she had to find Gainsborough, who acted as Team Guerrilla’s strategist, first.
“Where did Gainsborough go?”
“…….”
The moment Khaki hesitated to answer, Red didn't hesitate to throw a punch.
“Gah!”
Knocked unconscious by a single blow, Khaki collapsed to the floor, his body twitching and convulsing. Red merely stared down at him coldly with her crimson eyes.
Then, she took the water the Team Guerrilla members had been drinking from the table and splashed it on his face.
“!!!”
As Khaki regained consciousness, he felt fear from Red’s sharp gaze before he even felt the excruciating pain in his face. He belatedly remembered being knocked out by a single punch, and seeing Red’s clenched fist, he was terrified she might hit him again.
“Answer me. Where is Gainsborough?”
“H-He went to the Research Institute with Indigo... I don't know where he went after that....”
As Red took a step toward the trembling Khaki, he cowered in fear and wet his pants.
“I-It’s true! I really don't know! That guy, Gain... he told us to head back first and then left in the Research Institute’s vehicle!”
“Tch.”
Clicking her tongue and furrowing her brow, Red turned her back on the cowering, shivering Khaki.
“Let’s go. I don't think we’ll get anything more out of him.”
“Right.”
The other members were also convinced that they wouldn't get a proper answer from the remaining Team Guerrilla members, and they filed out of the meeting room one by one. Before Red left last, she looked back at the silent room and spoke.
“Don't stick your noses in our business ever again. Just do your own jobs. If you stay still, you're halfway there.”
It was a warning. A warning layered with many meanings. After leaving those words behind, Red walked out of the meeting room.
“Y-You bitches!”
Khaki’s voice echoed from inside the room behind the departing Hunter Killer members, but they didn't care. They didn't even want to care.
“Let’s disband for today.”
Having endured so much stress in such a short time, Red just wanted to go home and rest.
*
After work, I returned home and lay on my bed. Looking up at the familiar ceiling, my mind was blank. I just wanted today to pass quietly.
Even though it was the first victory in ten years, I wasn't happy at all. It wasn't that I felt bad or angry, but that made it even more complicated and subtle.
The unknown sometimes becomes fear. Even though I pride myself on having a fair amount of experience, there are still many things I don't know about myself.
Should I just sleep?
I sat up in bed and looked out the dark window, thinking it might be better to sleep than to keep feeling this complicated. But it was too early for bed, and I felt like waking up in the middle of the night in this state would only make my head spin more.
And then, I heard the sound of the front door lock.
“?”
There was no one who would come at this hour. No, actually, there was. Regardless of the time. Regardless of the date. There was one person who was freely allowed into my room, and she was the only one who would come to my house.
“Oppa. I’m here.”
Yubin opened the door and walked in, a smile on her face. Her slightly awkward smile seemed to be apologizing for coming over without a word.
“Welcome.”
I smiled back at Yubin. After taking off her shoes at the entrance, she ran straight to me as I sat on the bed and buried her face in my chest.
Today was the first time in years that I hadn't seen Yubin as Red during a duel. Because of that, I suddenly became curious. What was she thinking during today’s duel? Did she know the opponent had been swapped? How did she fight today? How was her mood?
But Yubin and I both hold secrets from each other. I know she is a superhuman and the leader of Team Hunter Killer, Red, but officially, Yubin has never once mentioned being a superhuman to me.
She surely wants to hide the fact that she’s a superhuman from me.
And I am hiding from Yubin that I am part of Spacetro. To be precise, I’m hiding it from everyone. we were in a situation where we couldn't freely share the things that could be the biggest issues of our day.
“……Oppa.”
“Yeah?”
“You’re warm.”
“You’re warm too, Yubin.”
Yubin must also be feeling frustrated about the current situation and today’s events. The Red of Team Hunter Killer that I know is that kind of person. Righteous and fair.
“……Ah.”
With a small sound escaping me, I realized why I felt such a complicated and subtle emotion about this first victory.
It was the first victory in ten years. Spacetro Team 3 had defeated Superhumans for the first time, and even if the opponent wasn't Team Hunter Killer, whom they faced every time, a win was a win.
And through that duel, my comrades had vented the stress of the humiliation they had suffered and the frustration of seeing Team Hunter Killer’s efforts rendered moot. They had even snatched victory. Yet, the reason I wasn't happy was...
Because nothing changes with this victory.
I need to know more. Only then will I be able to change even one thing.
Only then will I be able to make them even a little bit happier.
I wrapped my arms around Yubin’s shoulders and pulled her closer, and Yubin likewise wrapped her arms around my waist and leaned into me.