Chapter 132
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 132
Chapter Title: The Mayor's Refuge
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"For the time being, Mayor, you'll have to live and eat at City Hall."
A moment.
What did she just say?
My brain refused to process Seria's sentence.
Live and eat at City Hall. Live and eat at City Hall. City Hall, live and eat. Ci-ty. Hall. Live. Eat.
Even breaking it down letter by letter and piecing it back together, the meaning didn't change.
"This is confinement! Illegal detention! Kidnapping! Human trafficking! Forced labor! Human rights violation!!!"
I screamed. No, it was closer to a death rattle than a scream.
"Locking a public servant—the mayor!—in his workplace! Is this something that can happen in a democratic country?"
"Mayor."
I shot up from my seat and paced the room like a madman.
I pointed at Seria with my finger, then jabbed at the ceiling, then rolled around on the carpet.
"24-hour document approvals! 365 days of overtime! Human printer! Stamp machine! That's what you want, isn't it!"
"Mayor."
"Why!"
"You're less efficient than a machine, Mayor. At least machines don't throw tantrums."
Eeeeeek!!
"Seria! You're in cahoots with the Black Knight! No, actually, you're the Black Knight! You're trying to assassinate me through overwork!"
Perfect deduction. No money issues, no romantic entanglements—the secretary's the culprit!
"Are you aware of what you're saying? Or are you just randomly stringing words together?"
"You sneak into armor to threaten me, then lock me in City Hall to bury me under a pile of papers! It's a dictatorial plot to suppress the mayor's freedom! I'll report you to the International Human Rights Court!"
"Do you know how to write a complaint? Oh, right. You get wrist pain after three lines, don't you, Mayor?"
Seria didn't even blink at my desperate protests.
"And if I wanted to kill you, Mayor, would I really need such a complicated method?"
"What?!"
"Just kidding."
It didn't sound like a joke!
"No! I hate it! Absolutely not! Kill me instead! No, sorry, don't kill me! I want to live! But not at City Hall!"
"I'm genuinely curious about your mental age, Mayor. Even kindergarteners don't throw fits like this."
"It's not a fit! It's existential resistance for survival!"
"Haa..."
She let out a deep, long sigh.
The contempt and pity in that sigh were so thick, it felt like my HP dropped by 10%.
"Understood."
Oh? She's backing down surprisingly easily.
"If you hate it that much, we'll look for another location. Of course, it has to be top security level, completely isolated from the outside, with 24-hour surveillance."
She tapped her tablet, and several candidate sites popped up on the screen.
"First candidate: Ninja Town, home of the Kurokumo Clan. 400 shadow assassins will provide ironclad protection 24/7."
First candidate: Ninja Town of the Kurokumo Clan.
...Are you insane?
Into that den of murderers?
They'll shadow me 24/7, whispering, 'My lord, it's mealtime,' 'My lord, your bath is ready.' Zero privacy! Zero rest!
"Rejected! Next!"
"Second: Hearts and Minds Faction. Sugar Girl said she'd gladly give up her bedroom for you, Mayor."
Second candidate: Sugar Girl's Hearts and Minds Faction.
...Even more insane?
Into that yandere baker's lair?
I'll be force-fed new menu items all day. 'Guess how many percent love is in this bread.' My sanity will crumble.
And if a second confession attack comes? No way I survive!
"Absolutely not! Next!"
Third candidate: Special Task Force headquarters.
...Re-enlist me in the army?
Sleep to the smell of sweat, dust, and gunpowder, with Captain Kang Jiyeong's shouts ringing in my ears?
6 AM reveille, morning roll call, road march, PT gymnastics. Horrifying. Pure horror.
"I hate them all! I'm not going anywhere!"
"Then City Hall it is—"
"I said no to that too!"
Deadlock. No way forward or back. Surrounded on all sides.
That was when it happened.
Nyaang—
Nero, who had been plastered to my leg, gazed out the window and let out a lazy meow.
Right. That's it. Why didn't I think of that?
Heaven. Paradise. Utopia.
"That's right! Catopia!"
Seria gave me a surprised look as I shouted.
"You want to live in a cat shelter?"
"Not a shelter! VVIP room! They have hotel-suite levels there! 24-hour top-tier security! Unauthorized outsiders completely controlled! Plus loyal guards!"
Of course, the guards mean Nero.
"The Black Knight wouldn't disguise himself as a cat to get in, right? If he did, a black cat? Hmm, that might be kinda cute?"
Seria stared at me blankly for a moment.
Checking my mental state?
Soon, she sighed again, long and deep.
This time, it was the sigh of someone who'd given up. The sigh of someone who'd concluded, 'This guy's hopeless.'
"...Understood. Let's do that."
"Yay!!"
I did it. I won!
David beat Goliath!
Sun Wukong fooled the Buddha!
Lee Garam defeated Seria Park!
Wait, actually, Sun Wukong ended up in Buddha's palm, so he didn't really win...?
Whatever. Escape from City Hall successful!
Entry into Catopia!
"Nero, take good care of me!"
Nya!
*
And so my dream vacation—no, my refugee life—began.
VVIP room on the top floor of Catopia.
Officially called the 'Experiential Space for Special Donors and Prospective Adopters,' but really, it was made just for me.
Well, I'm the biggest donor, so it's only fair. Capitalism forever!
The moment I opened the door.
"Whoa..."
The vast living room had cat towers rising like a forest from floor to ceiling, and the plush carpet was littered with every kind of cushion and hammock cats love.
One wall was floor-to-ceiling glass with a full view of Neo Incheon, and in front of it, wide sunbathing shelves.
It gets fancier every time I come.
And the most important part.
Nyany?
Purrr...
Thud thud—
Dozens of cats.
The noble cat legion welcomed me.
The cats swarmed me the second they saw me, rubbing against my legs, swishing their tails, greeting me joyfully.
Wait, is this paradise?
No work, no papers, no nagging from Seria. Just fluffy furballs.
"Kuhahaha! This is heaven on earth!"
I flopped down right there.
The cats climbed onto my stomach, chest, arms, and legs like they'd been waiting, settling in.
Warm, soft, squishy.
The room filled with the purring of dozens of tiny engines.
This is happiness.
If Buddha had cats, he wouldn't have bothered under the Bodhi tree.
From that day, my daily life flipped 180 degrees.
10 AM.
I wake to sunlight pouring through the window.
No blaring alarm—just the soft kneading paws of a Ragdoll on my belly waking me.
Knead. Knead. Knead.
'Get up, butler. Mealtime.'
Natural alarm. Eco-friendly wake-up system.
Can mornings get more perfect?
Noon.
Room service delivers top hotel cuisine.
I slice steak on the plush sofa, while Nero and the noble cats enjoy premium raw food and churu from their exclusive bowls beside me.
Except when Nero steals my steak.
"Hey! That's mine!"
Nyaang.
'What's yours? Everything here is mine.'
...No argument. Catopia is Nero's domain.
No calls or urgent reports interrupt meals anyway.
Just the sound of cats munching and my happy rolling around.
Afternoon.
Playtime with the cats.
I pull out a laser pointer.
"Ready!"
50 cats crouch in unison.
A red dot appears on the wall—
Thud thud thud!!!
The cats chase it in perfect formation.
Right!
Left!
Up!
Down!
Spin!
Cat precision drill team. I swing the laser like a conductor leading an orchestra.
Evening.
Watch movies on the 100-inch TV.
Nero on my lap, a pair of Siamese on either side, Russian Blue plastered to my back sharing warmth.
Peaceful time munching human popcorn and catnip popcorn together.
Night.
Lie in bed, surrounded by 50 cats who fall asleep around me.
Their heartbeats, breaths, and serene purring like they own the world— the perfect lullaby guiding me to dreamland.
"No work! No papers! Just cats!"
Perfect. Can't get more perfect.
Of course, one unwelcome guest disrupted that perfection.
Next morning.
"Mayor."
Seria Park appeared right on cue.
She carried a box piled with documents like a mountain and looked up at me lounging in a cat tower hammock.
My gray tracksuit was already covered in multicolored cat hair.
"Documents for approval."
"The nyangnies say no. It's rest time now. Cat Constitution Article 1, Clause 1: Humans shall not disturb cats' rest. Got it?"
"No such constitution exists."
"Just enacted it. Later, later."
I waved her off.
The cats guarding me turned to Seria in unison.
Grrr—!
50 cats bared their fangs, glaring at her.
Alert mode against an intruder in cat paradise.
The cats had reborn as my loyal knight order.
Daily churu brainwashing sessions.
'Seria bad, me good.'
My efforts finally paid off!
Seria gazed down at the cat legion for a moment.
Then she sighed, laden with all the world's disdain.
"I'll come back in one hour."
"Two hours!"
"One hour."
"One and a half!"
"One hour."
"One hour ten minutes?"
"...One hour."
Negotiation failed.
I closed my eyes again.
Fine, one hour's okay.
One hour is 60 minutes.
60 minutes is 3600 seconds.
3600 seconds... that's pretty long, right?
Wrapped in the cats' warm coziness and drowsy purring, I drifted back into sweet sleep.
9 PM in Neo Incheon.
[Good evening. This is NNC 9 O'Clock News.]
Somber voice. Heavy as declaring a national disaster.
[Exclusive: Mayor Lee Garam in Secret Hideout Amid Assassination Threats... Citizens' Concerns Mount]
The anchor's voice echoed beyond the studio, into every home, bar, and street billboard in Neo Incheon.
[Following the award ceremony assassination attempt, the mysterious villain Black Knight has now attacked the Garamland Research Cluster. With his target confirmed as Mayor Lee Garam, Neo Incheon City Hall announced the mayor has relocated to a secret secure location for safety. But...]
The screen switched. Close-up on a political commentator.
[The mayor's lifeblood is communication with citizens. Living completely cut off like this, surrounded only by a tiny staff in a hideout—it's not just personal inconvenience; it severely impacts overall city administration. Decisions from an isolated leader can't be healthy.]
Next, a renowned psychologist.
[From a psychological view, Mayor Lee Garam is under extreme stress. Constant anxiety of attack anywhere, anytime; 24-hour surveillance stripping all freedom. It's like a mental prison. Prolonged, it could lead to PTSD and severe judgment impairment.]
Back to the studio. Expert panels in heated debate.
[The mayor's safety is the city's safety! But this abnormal life can't go on forever!]
[What are the Special Task Force and Hero Association doing? Can't catch one villain!]
Citizens' anger and worry mixed in.
Bottom screen scrolled with exploding real-time SNS reactions.
#ProtectMayor
#BlackKnightWanted
#GiveBackDailyLife
#MIGA_Loyalty
#HumanShieldForce
The city drowned in massive sorrow and rage.
Imagining their hero, who gave everything for them, trembling in fear in a dark secret room.
That image alone tore at Neo Incheon citizens' hearts.
*
Hero Association Central Medical Center.
A girl stood by the window of the VIP room.
Her golden hair in the white hospital gown faintly gleamed in the city lights.
Hanasia.
She'd just gotten discharge approval after days of intensive care.
Her bandaged ribs still ached faintly, but movement was fine.
Her gaze fixed on the large TV on the wall.
NNC 9 O'Clock News.
Anchor's mournful voice, experts' grave analysis, citizens' heartfelt reactions filled the room.
In Hanasia's mind, the image of Lee Garam from the news formed.
Dark, cold concrete floor; tossing sleeplessly under a thin blanket.
In a windowless cell, barely eating stale bread.
Startled by every tiny sound, trembling in fear of the unseen assassin.
Her eyes grew hot.
The mayor she'd known was always confident, sometimes brazenly relaxed.
A warm man who'd casually offered his hand to a D-rank hero like her.
How scared and lonely must he be now.
"Mayor... it must be so uncomfortable and frightening."
Hanasia's fists clenched unconsciously.
From her fingertips, starry energy like captured night sky shimmered faintly.
The pain of her healing wounds paled against the heartache of imagining his suffering.
If only she'd been stronger.
If only she'd stopped the Black Knight at the banquet hall, the lab.
Then he wouldn't suffer this horror.
Guilt and rage swirled within her.
The starlight at her fingertips burned brighter, fiercer.
"I'll... I'll stop the Black Knight. I'll definitely give the mayor back his normal daily life!"