Wolves Do Not Form Packs
"Hey! I'm with the Villain Alliance! If you kill me, you'll become a target for the whole Alliance!"
The bastard shouted desperately, but it wasn't worth considering. I had no idea if he was really with the Villain Alliance, and even if he was, those villains didn't strike me as the type with unbreakable camaraderie. Letting him go here would just mean my identity got leaked to the Alliance, and they'd come hunting me down for sure.
I ignored him completely, so he gave up on persuasion and seemed to squeeze out his last bit of strength.
"Damn it... Boom!!"
Kaboom.
A powerful explosion erupted at point-blank range, scorching my entire body. My fur and skin charred black.
"Grrgh..."
He wasn't unscathed either—far more ragged than me, barely clinging to life as he twitched feebly. Even after mustering all his power for that strike, I didn't budge, and he stared at me with eyes full of terror.
"Freakin' monster..."
With that, I slashed my claws across his throat.
Thud.
His severed head rolled across the floor, blood gushing out in a flood. The headless body sprayed blood as it staggered limply before collapsing.
The explosion had left my whole body stinging. I'd taken a pretty bad burn. I'd played it cool, but the damage was more serious than I'd thought. Should've just killed him outright instead of listening to his crap—he'd been gathering power from the start, betting I wouldn't negotiate.
What a pain in the ass. Guys like him only get more annoying the more time they have to prepare. This time, I'd caught him off guard since he never saw me coming, making it easy to take down. But if he'd come at me fully intent on killing, it might've been dangerous.
Leaving his corpse behind, I approached the fallen Marie. She was still breathing, thankfully. But her wounds were severe, and she'd lost a lot of blood—if I left her like this, she'd die.
Should I call an ambulance? As I pondered, a voice rang out.
"We meet again, mister."
Spica. She'd shown up. Worst timing ever.
"So you're with the Alliance too, huh? Starting a terror attack right in the city like that... I should've caught you back then no matter what."
Her eyes burned with killing intent.
Alliance? What the hell? And why was she beat to hell already?
Spica's full-body suit was torn in places, covered in minor cuts. Her legs wobbled, and her breathing was ragged. Had she fought someone before coming here?
「Believe it or not, this wasn't me. That dead guy's handiwork.」
"Another wolf joke?"
「More importantly, isn't that your teammate? Take her and go. She looks like she's about to croak.」
"Nice of you to say after you did this to her."
「Listen, girl. You've got two choices: leave quietly with your friend, or die by my claws.」
"..."
Spica knew it too. She was no match for me even at her best, and in her current state? No chance. Charging in would just get her killed—and Marie, already critically wounded, too.
She looked furious, guts churning with rage, but she didn't lose her head. Instead of the stupid option, she chose to quietly carry Marie away.
「For the record, I'm not with the Alliance. Wolves don't run in packs.」
I had no clue what the Alliance was, but I defended myself anyway. "Wolves don't run in packs" was just something I made up. I didn't know how other werewolves lived. But revealing my identity as one was a fatal weakness, so I doubted they'd easily form groups with outsiders.
I stepped aside from Marie, letting Spica take her, then left the half-destroyed convenience store behind them.
With the store in ruins, no more part-time gig here. Guess I was unemployed again. Tomorrow, I'd start job hunting.
The next day, I woke up, washed up roughly, and opened my laptop to look for jobs. Chaos everywhere.
Last night's terror attacks weren't just at my convenience store. The Villain Alliance had targeted heroes across the city.
That explained Spica's battered state—she'd been ambushed by another villain. For a "beefed-up patrol," the other heroes had arrived late. Guess they were under attack too.
Reading on, I saw some heroes had died in the assaults. Many more critically injured. Even civilians nearby had casualties.
Marie wasn't one of the dead, right? God, I hoped not. Would feel super guilty.
What the hell was going on? I'd read the novel's early parts, but no dates stuck out. Not even sure if time was mentioned. So I couldn't tell if this was before or after the story's timeline.
The protagonist from the novel was still around, so probably not too far off. But my novel knowledge wasn't helping at all.
Whatever—point was, the Villain Alliance had launched a massive hero-hunt. The ones lurking in the shadows were stepping out.
Bad vibes. Already hunted by heroes, and now I'd killed one of their villains. Could end up targeted by the Alliance too. The one who'd seen my face was dead, so identity safe, but transforming again might spell trouble.
Needed to move carefully from now on. Best to avoid transforming altogether.
A few days passed since the Villain Alliance attacks. Lucked out and snagged a part-time job starting tomorrow.
Out for a walk around the city, I spotted more patrolling heroes—probably due to the recent terror. Then I saw Spica on patrol. No Marie with her, unlike usual.
Worried something happened to Marie, I approached and asked.
"Um, Spica? How's Marie doing?"
"Marie unnie? Why do you ask?"
"She was at the convenience store with me during the villain attack. She got hurt bad protecting me. Is she okay?"
"Oh, you're the guy Marie unnie mentioned."
Mentioned me? Why did that make me uneasy? Hope she didn't call me a pervert or something.
"She's fine. She's in the hospital, but almost recovered—back to action soon."
"Good to hear. News said some heroes died, so I was worried."
"Hmm... Wanna visit her?"
"Me? Visit?"
Heroes here were celeb-level famous. Could a normie like me just show up?
"I shouldn't tell civilians, but Marie unnie was worried about you. Kept wondering if you'd escaped okay or were still alive."
A near-death hero fretting over me first? Made my chest tighten.
"If you tell me, I'd be grateful."
"Sure. You look healthy—glad you're okay. No injuries?"
"Thanks to Marie, I'm fine."
"Hehe. Tell her that—she'll love it."
Nothing better to do, so I headed straight to the hospital from Spica's directions.
Nerves hit thinking of meeting a hero personally, but she was my lifesaver—couldn't ignore that. Without her shielding me, I'd be dead. I was just a regular guy with slightly better physique in human form.
Bought a modest thank-you gift, found her room, and went up.
Room 302: Maria.
Maria was Marie's real name. Young heroes often used their real names or slight tweaks as aliases.
Being a hero, she had a private room. I knocked softly.
Knock knock.
"Who is it?" Marie's voice from inside.
"Jeong Yuseong. Remember me?"
"Jeong Yuseong? Oh, Pervert? Come in!"
Pervert? I gave her my name—why that nickname?
I entered at her okay.
"How'd you find this place?"
"Asked Spica on patrol. News about dead heroes had me worried."
"Hehe. Guess I got lucky surviving."
She'd been critically wounded, yet looked unscathed now. Heroes really healed insanely fast, beyond human limits.
...For reference, I was fully healed by next morning.
"You feeling better?"
"Yeah. Wounds closed up—resting a few days till discharge."
"Relieved to hear."
"You okay, Pervert? Sorry I collapsed without protecting you properly. Worried you might not have escaped."
Her apologizing? If anyone's sorry, it's me.
"No, why apologize? Thanks to you, I got away without a scratch."
"Phew, good. So what happened after I passed out?"
"Huh?"
"Spica said she ran into a werewolf. Know anything?"
Oh right—had to explain that first.