Chapter 24
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 24
Chapter Title: Choi Ga-eun's Arrival
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I hadn't completely failed to anticipate this situation.
I hadn't expected Choi Ga-eun to show up specifically.
But from the moment I reported it to the heroes, I'd wondered if they might come chasing after us.
If heroes investigated the scene, they'd easily notice the safe and the villains' vehicle were gone.
And in South Korea—heaven for CCTV and dashcams—tracking a fleeing car wouldn't take long.
It was only a matter of time before the heroes found us.
But unexpected events had made us waste far too much time.
Not only had a hero shown up, but it was Choi Ga-eun, of all people.
Ga-eun's face was flushed red, her eyes shaking with shock.
"You... you left Min-ji... No, how much did you do to leave her like this..."
Ga-eun struggled so much just to speak that she pointed at me while stammering repeatedly.
I fell into thought.
What should I do?
Should I be honest?
Or should I act strong and confident, like I did at the café?
After agonizing over it, I chose the latter.
"It's not a crime for a man and a woman to do it, right? Min-ji would understand."
"What nonsense... There's no way she'd understand something like this..."
"Min-ji and I have that kind of relationship anyway."
"What?!"
It wasn't exactly a lie.
Neither Han Byul, lying there now, nor Min-ji had a relationship I could clearly define.
If anything, it was victim and perpetrator.
In my relationship with Han Byul, I might even be the victim.
I'd tried so hard to hold back, only for her to tempt me with pleas for help.
"Y-You did that with Min-ji too...?"
At those words, Choi Ga-eun glanced at Han Byul.
She couldn't easily tear her eyes away from the pitiful sight.
Even her usual confident demeanor faltered now.
Her trembling eyes and fidgeting fingers were proof.
She really seemed weak to this sort of thing.
But Ga-eun had no idea.
"Actually, Min-ji and I go even deeper than that."
"D-Deeper?"
Whatever she was imagining, Ga-eun bowed her head.
Her imagination was probably spot on.
After all, I'd pounded Min-ji relentlessly until cute moans mixed with coquettish cries escaped her rough mouth.
"...A-Anyway... this car. You know it's the villains', right? And those villains... you took them out?"
"...Yeah."
"I knew it... The marks looked like blunt force trauma."
Ga-eun nodded.
Having seen me carrying a bat around, she must have connected the dots at the scene.
Then she added one more thing.
"What about the safe?"
"That... no, I didn't."
"...Liar."
I lied.
Even though the safe was inside the vehicle.
Even though CCTV or dashcams might have caught me loading it in.
I denied it first, because seeing Ga-eun earlier made me think I could get away with hiding it.
"If you don't believe me, check inside the car."
"I-In there?"
Ga-eun pointed in shock—at the car, more precisely, at Han Byul sprawled out inside.
The drug's effects had somewhat worn off; her flushed color had mostly returned to normal. But that only made her breasts and pussy—reddened from intense masturbation—stand out even more.
"Yeah. Go ahead."
"..."
I even stepped aside to clear the way, and Ga-eun approached the vehicle with hesitant steps.
She moved like someone facing a bomb.
"It's hot in there..."
The car's interior was still sweltering.
The female scent and heat poured out through the open door.
Feeling it up close, Ga-eun couldn't bring herself to look inside.
"...D-Doesn't seem to be anything."
"You sure you don't want to check deeper inside?"
"...It's fine. No one would care if a villain's safe went missing anyway."
She didn't venture further, just peeked from outside the door.
And eventually gave up.
She really had no resistance to this.
Then she stared blankly at Han Byul before startling herself and speaking up.
"A-Anyway, you did good. As a hero aspirant, taking down villains and reporting it was the right call."
"Yeah."
"But it was dangerous. They were B-Rank villains."
B-Rank.
That surprised me. Their abilities had seemed tougher than expected, but I hadn't pegged them as B-Rank.
And I recalled something I'd heard.
"I thought Min-ji took down the Scorpion Gang by herself..."
"Where did you hear that— Oh, since you and Min-ji are... like that, I guess."
Ga-eun questioned how I knew, but glanced at Han Byul and seemed to accept it.
She explained my doubts.
When Min-ji had taken down the Scorpion Gang before, she'd subdued them with telekinesis before they could even use their powers, ending the fight instantly.
But right after, as her telekinesis weakened, Scorpion seized the chance, resisted, and escaped.
If he'd known she was powered and fought from the start, Min-ji might have lost.
It made sense now why a ruthless villain like Kim Scorpion was doing loan sharking in Incheon instead of prison.
She hadn't caught him back then.
And now he'd fallen to me.
"Taking down a B-Rank hero all by yourself before even taking the exam..."
Ga-eun's gaze shifted slightly.
It felt somehow heated.
"A-Anyway, report the car later and turn it in."
Saying that, Ga-eun hurried off like she was fleeing.
That atmosphere, that look... Not bad at all.
I definitely felt recognized as a man in her eyes.
And I turned to Han Byul inside the car.
"...She'll wake up eventually, right?"
After some time, once Han Byul woke up, I bought some light clothes nearby and put her in a taxi.
With the drug's effects gone, she was even more timid, barely speaking. But she managed to ask for my number in a trembling voice, so we exchanged contacts.
I grabbed the safe and took a taxi to the Black Market in Myeongdong.
At first, the driver eyed me suspiciously as I boarded with the dented safe, but he didn't want trouble and ignored me after that.
Which suited me just fine.
At the Black Market, I first sought someone to open the safe.
It wasn't hard to find help.
Carrying the safe around drew an old man who offered to open it for 100,000 won. I paid, and he cracked it open right there.
It was a digital safe with a keypad like a door lock. He glanced at it after taking the money, punched a few buttons, and popped it open.
No hesitation entering the long password.
"How...?"
Satisfied with my stunned reaction, the old man chuckled and explained.
He didn't know about key or dial safes, but digital ones like door locks often had long, complex emergency codes known only to a few staff, in case of lost passwords.
And somehow, he knew it.
This was a villains' haven, after all.
Of course a normal old man wouldn't be here.
Inside the open safe were thick bundles of cash—and gleaming gold bars.
I hauled the whole safe and headed to the Violet BAR deeper in the market.
Rarely, Violet stood side by side with the bartender.
Seeing me enter with the half-open safe, she smiled brightly.
"As expected, so capable."
"...No big deal."
She greeted me warmly, like she'd known I'd come.
Word of me beating Scorpion must have reached her ears.
I casually handed over the safe, but Violet just stared blankly at the bartender.
The bartender raised her hand briefly and shook her head.
"I can't carry something this heavy."
"Right?"
"...Ah."
Yeah, that made sense.
I hadn't thought about it since getting Strength and Stamina skills, but my body was beyond normal human limits now.
I gave up handing over the whole safe, set it down, and pulled out the gold bars and cash bundles.
"Ugh, even this is heavy."
The bartender's face flushed as she took a gold bar.
I'd thought it heavy for its size too, but apparently it was too much for a normal person.
"About 50 million won?"
"50 million?"
Violet smiled faintly.
Then she patted my head like I was cute.
Of course, I was much taller, so she had to stand on tiptoe.
I found her reaction odd.
I had no idea gold prices, so I couldn't relate.
I'd just heard people say to buy gold, that it was super expensive—vaguely knowing it was pricey, but not the exact value.
"This big bar looks like it weighs over 10kg."
Violet tapped the gold bar with her finger.
"We'd have to verify, but if it's high purity—"
Her fingers extended one by one until all ten were spread.
"It'd be over a billion won, easy."
My mouth slowly gaped open at the unimaginable sum.