097. The Youngest Member of the Demonized Human Extermination Squad
097. The Youngest Member of the Demonized Human Extermination Squad
A secluded clearing behind the Hunter Management Bureau.
Instructor had personally guaranteed that no one else was around, so I felt free to speak openly.
"......Ryu Jin-ju. She's the woman who takes over as Hunter Management Bureau Director after the current director is demoted."
Since Instructor Baek Seol-hee had already decided to lend her strength, I figured I'd share everything I knew with her.
In the game, not long after you clear the tutorial, the corruption scandal of the Hunter Management Bureau director, Kim Ji-won, explodes, and she's demoted immediately.
The hunter who takes over the director's seat is a woman named Ryu Jin-ju.
At first, people talked a lot about that unconventional appointment, but as the former director's scandals were reported one after another,
and it was revealed that Ryu Jin-ju was the one who uncovered them, her image skyrocketed instead.
'......She's pretty strong, but she's just as uncompromising in personality. She ends up clashing with Velvet Academy over every little thing.'
When I was just playing the game, she served as a catalyst for the conflict between the academy and the Hunter Management Bureau, raising the stakes......
But this isn't a game anymore; it's reality.
'My life as a transmigrator is already on hardcore mode, so I can't let an opportunity like this slip.'
"......I see. So she was a Demonized Human after all. Hmm, indeed, from the moment I first saw her, there were no signs of physical training on her body......."
"Huh? She's probably not a Demonized Human. She's just a clueless bas—uh, woman."
I flinched and quickly denied what she'd said.
Ryu Jin-ju herself wasn't a Demonized Human. She was just a hot-headed, short-sighted character who always got backstabbed by Demonized Humans.
"No, never mind. I was just talking to myself."
Baek Seol-hee shook her head.
'Hm?'
I tilted my head, but Baek Seol-hee just said, "Anyway," and changed the subject.
"So that's how it is....... With this kind of information, things will become a lot easier."
"What are you planning to do?"
"Let's make this bigger."
"What......?"
Baek Seol-hee calmly put her fingers in her mouth.
Fweet━!
A sharp whistle came from her lips.
We waited for a moment.
Whoosh─
Whoosh─
An eerie wind blew around us.
"Yaaawn—. I was sleeping so well......."
"Commander, what's going on?"
"Oh? Is this the Hunter Management Bureau?"
"!"
Before I knew it, about a dozen black-clad people had appeared behind us, women with presences so faint I would've missed them if I hadn't had Detection activated.
The moment I took in their appearances, I couldn't help but widen my eyes.
Black clothing covered them from head to toe without a single gap.
And cute animal masks that didn't match the rest at all.
'These people.......'
I knew them.
No, maybe I should say I knew their outfits?
'They're the ninjas!?'
They were commonly called Ninjas.
Well, I don't mean literal ninjas like the covert ops groups that appear in Japanese media.
It was just a name that came from a community meme.
You know, that saying: if ninjas suddenly showing up and slaughtering all the characters isn't funnier than the scene you're writing, you have to rewrite it.
As you progress through the game's story, occasionally enemies appear that, according to the setting, your current party can never defeat.
Sometimes, out of absolutely nowhere, women wearing cute animal masks show up as reinforcements, slice up all the enemies, and leave.
— Ninjas to the rescue!
These people who pop up out of the blue to help and then leave without a word.
Because their behavior matched exactly with the ninja from that community meme, the black-robed ones came to be called "Ninjas."
'Wait, was Instructor Baek Seol-hee a ninja too......?'
I looked at Baek Seol-hee with newly surprised eyes.
Baek Seol-hee's eyebrows twitched as if something didn't sit right with her.
"Total count 10? Half of them are missing. Where are the rest?"
"............They're all collapsed. You ran them into the ground yesterday, Commander............. Saying they were worse than academy first-years and all............."
The woman standing at the front spoke as she took off her rabbit mask.
One of her eyes was covered by her hair, and she had a pale complexion with dark shadows under her eyes, giving her a generally listless aura.
"......Tch, I'll deal with those bastards when we get back."
At that, the ninjas started murmuring.
"......They ended up like that because of training, and now the punishment is more training. Is that ever gonna end?"
"Aren't we just going to train our asses off in the back forever and never see a real fight before we're discharged?"
"Isn't this just hell......?"
Seeing the ninjas who'd helped me so many times in the game standing right in front of me made a sense of inner camaraderie surge inside me. I bowed my head to them in greeting.
"Hello."
Only then did they seem to notice me.
"Huh?"
"Oh? This kid....... Isn't that him?"
"Ohh, that, that Jin Yu-ha!"
"Gasp! Is he already joining as a new recruit? He's supposed to be a first-year!"
"He's really goddamn handsome."
"So he got recognized by the Commander with that pretty face?"
They let out startled cries when they saw me.
They were acting as if they'd just come face-to-face with a mythical creature that had only existed in their imaginations.
The rare sight of both sides finding each other fascinating unfolded.
"It's just a simple observation visit."
Baek Seol-hee cut off the ninjas' chatter.
"......Wow, she's really raising him properly, I guess."
"Isn't early training for the Extermination Squad a bit too much for a first-year? That'd be almost six years of nothing but military life, you know?"
"......Poor thing."
Their voices changed to ones filled with pity in an instant.
A sincere regret settled over them, as if to say, "How did you end up tangled with this kind of woman?"
"Shut up. Anyway, I'm only going to explain this once, so listen carefully."
.
.
.
"......We're hitting the Hunter Management Bureau?"
At Baek Seol-hee's words, the woman with one eye covered asked in surprise.
"We aren't hitting them directly. First, we start by securing Ryu Jin-ju."
"......That's the same thing! We're still dealing with the mess from tearing apart the Demonized Human Surveillance Team last time. This could backfire on us badly if we mess up. You know that, Commander?"
She spoke in a worried voice, and Baek Seol-hee just smirked.
"Since when have I ever cared about things like that? Also, dump all the information on the Hunter Management Bureau that we've gathered so far. Speed is key. Number 1 and Number 3, you two will handle that. The rest of you, follow me."
And so, the members of the Demonized Human Extermination Squad and one observing (cadet) began to move.
* * *
Gulp.
"......I-is this real?"
Forearms as massive as boulders.
A huge woman with dark auburn hair.
Ryu Jin-ju, head of the Gate Field Management Department, checked the express delivery that had just been sent to her.
A suspicious box delivered anonymously.
Inside were records of all sorts of corruption that the current Hunter Management Bureau director appeared to have committed.
It was like a ledger someone had compiled and recorded over a long period of time.
Flip─ Flip─
Ryu Jin-ju's eyes grew faster and faster as she leafed through the ledgers.
"......This woman, and that woman too, and even that old bitch were involved? Even with the Velvet Hunter Academy......!?"
The corruption reached astonishingly deep.
Ha. It's a complete mess, isn't it?
No matter how rotten the Hunter Management Bureau had become lately, she hadn't expected it to be this bad.
The paper crunched as it crumpled in her hand.
'This, is not acceptable.'
A sense of righteous indignation surged from within her.
A sense of crisis washed over her that if she just sat by and did nothing, the Hunter Management Bureau might truly be finished.
If she'd been a more thoughtful person, she would have first checked the source of the information and cross-referenced it to verify its authenticity, but
"......Obviously, this must be someone who's been watching for a chance from the shadows. And, unable to stand it any longer, this is their desperate cry for me, Ryu Jin-ju, to rebuild this rotten Hunter Management Bureau."
Being a hot-blooded person by nature, she had already concluded that the current director, Kim Ji-won, was the century's greatest villain.
"Ha, fine. I'll do it."
She shot up from her seat.
She had to tip off the media immediately and bring Kim Ji-won down. She couldn't afford to waste a single second.
"You lot!"
Ryu Jin-ju whipped her head around, looking all over the place.
Huh?
For a moment, Ryu Jin-ju couldn't help but look flustered.
"Where did everyone go?"
Because all the employees of the Gate Field Management Department had vanished.
Only a desolate atmosphere filled the office.
Flicker flicker─
Just then, the ceiling lights began to flicker.
A heavy, sinking mood.
Suddenly, voices came from somewhere.
─ Commander, shouldn't we get a look at the kid's skills?
─ He is not the youngest member. And why did you swing your sword like that earlier? I told you, if you swing once, follow it through to the end.
─ Th-that, well......!
─ Instructor, I'd like to face her.
─ ......Hmm, is that so. Go ahead.
─ Whoa! The Commander changed the order!
"......What the hell. What is going on."
Tap.
And then, in front of Ryu Jin-ju, who was wearing a bewildered expression, a figure in black appeared, wearing an adorable dog mask with its tongue sticking out.
"A dog......?"
"Uh, um....... I do have a little bit of a personal grudge too, I guess......."
He said, scratching the cheek of the mask.
"But this has nothing to do with that."
Shing─
Without warning, the black-clad person in the dog mask drew a blue sword from his waist.
Ryu Jin-ju braced herself, but couldn't help letting out a puzzled voice as she did.
"......A m-man?"
* * *
Meanwhile, Number 1 and Number 3 had returned to the Extermination Squad's hideout separately, and were doing the groundwork for compiling and releasing all the data they'd collected on the Hunter Management Bureau over time.
Tap tap─
"Ugh, this is such a waste, you know. We shouldn't be using this like this."
"Just leak it if they say leak it............."
Number 3 grumbled, but Number 1 tapped away at the keyboard with a listless face.
Ding─
Just then, a new directive was added to Number 1's communications.
"Uhmmm............? The Commander gave us another personal job............."
"What is it?"
"............The whereabouts of the Demonized Human known as the Follower of Elcross. She wants us to find them............?"
"Didn't that bastard disappear ten years ago!? Why search for someone who hasn't even been active?"
"Uh, yeah....... She said to take our time but do it quickly."
"And that bastard is seriously dangerous! They've got an ability that traps people in a mental space for years!"
"Hmm? She said Jin Yu-ha might be one of their victims............?"
"Does that make any sense? Everyone that bastard has ever done that to has gone completely insane or lost their mind!?"
"Don't know............. For now, we do it if we're told to............."
Tap tap─
The sound of typing echoed through the quiet hideout once more.