The Siberian Tiger's Secret
I stared at the ceiling in silence for a long time after returning to the dorm. The situation was simply too unbelievable to process. Maybe it was because my mood was so obviously off, but Yu Hana didn't try to talk to me. She just quietly disappeared. That girl really does have sharp instincts, I'll give her that.
"Of course there must be a reason, but... her follow-through is on another level."
I'd figured there had to be some explanation for why Tasha, whose mother had passed away, would come all the way to Korea. And why she'd be wandering the streets in the middle of the night. But I never imagined that someone who'd been in the country for less than a year would be operating so brazenly. And as a Phantom, no less. The daughter of a Special Task Force member pulling the very stunts the Task Force despises most? It was so absurd I couldn't even laugh.
On top of that, Tasha was being way too careless. The Public Security Bureau must have already raised red flags, yet here she was moving around completely exposed. "Does she seriously trust her superpowers that much?"
From what I'd observed today, Tasha's registered ability was likely "duplication." She'd probably been using clones to create alibis and shake off tails all this time. But that only worked when the Superhuman Bureau wasn't seriously involved. If the Special Task Force actually mobilized, that level of trickery wouldn't cut it. Even I had noticed something off about the duplicates at first glance.
"Now that I think about it, she faked her superpower too."
The fact that her ability wasn't actually "stamina" was equally ridiculous. If it wasn't a superpower, that meant all her insane physical feats were purely the result of training. Just what kind of hellish regimen had she gone through?
"Don't tell me that joke about hunting bears as a kid... wasn't actually a joke?"
When Yu Hana had laughed and told me that story, I'd assumed it was just a funny anecdote. But now I was starting to wonder if there was more truth to it than I'd realized. I still had no idea what was really going on, but one thing was clear: some nameless senior had raised an absolute monster.
"But she can't take on the Public Security Bureau or the Special Task Force alone. That's impossible from the start. If Tasha gets caught... we're doomed."
No matter how strong someone is, they can't fight an entire organization by themselves. If my predictions were right, it was only a matter of time before Tasha was apprehended. And if that happened, I'd be in serious trouble too. When a Phantom is captured, orders come down to investigate their associates with extreme scrutiny. Birds of a feather flock together, after all. The chance of another Phantom hiding among their circle is high.
If Tasha got caught, our company would naturally fall under that investigative net. A full-scale probe from the Superhuman Bureau? As someone hiding their own abilities, that was the last thing I wanted. This wasn't just Tasha's problem anymore. It affected all of us.
"Let's see... Black Yaksha..."
Realizing I couldn't just sit around, I started digging up information on Black Yaksha. I scraped together everything I could find—from the latest videos on Psyker Mad to posts across various Phantom-related communities—and managed to gather some pretty useful intel. The fact that this much information was already circulating also meant the Superhuman Bureau was fully aware of Black Yaksha's existence. There was no way they'd let a Phantom this well-known run around unchecked.
It looked like I didn't have much time left.
"Area of activity... Yeongdeungpo and surroundings."
Black Yaksha only appeared in the Yeongdeungpo area. There wasn't a single report of sightings anywhere else. The fact that someone could parade around in such a ridiculous outfit without any reports from other districts meant Tasha was deliberately limiting her activities to Yeongdeungpo. Repeatedly operating in just one region? It seemed there was something there that Tasha wanted.
"She only beat up the local gangsters in that district. No fatalities. The ones who died were a serial killer and a superpower murderer. I see. So that's why..."
There are villains who fall into the "livelihood" category. In simple terms, they're basically modern-day gangsters who don't rely on superpowers. They make their living by controlling territories. Both the Public Security Bureau and the police know exactly where these groups operate. But they don't bother arresting them. It's the same as back in the old days—cops knew where the gangsters were but left them alone. Arrest one crew, and another would just take their place. As long as the group in charge isn't completely brainless and causing major incidents, authorities tend to leave them be.
In dangerous back alleys like those in Yeongdeungpo, having these groups around actually helps maintain some semblance of order. It's a kind of necessary evil. Even during my time in the Special Task Force, I understood that much. These types tend to be surprisingly civilized and rarely mess with civilians. They know that if things get too big, the Bureau will have no choice but to move in, so they keep themselves in check.
When Black Yaksha first appeared, he only got into fights with the local gangsters in Yeongdeungpo's back alleys. So the Public Security Bureau treated it as an internal turf dispute and didn't pay much attention. At the time, the public wasn't particularly interested in Black Yaksha either.
The real problem started when Black Yaksha began eliminating the two murderers operating in the Yeongdeungpo area. One of the killers, who was being pursued by the Bureau, ran into Black Yaksha while trying to escape—and got publicly executed on the spot. Up until then, it hadn't been that big of a deal. But once word spread, Black Yaksha was officially classified as a Phantom. Then the various Phantom communities and internet leeches got interested and started spreading the news everywhere, and things snowballed from there.
"Honestly, this doesn't even qualify as Phantom activity. She just had terrible luck."
In my opinion, Tasha had some business with the organizations operating in Yeongdeungpo. Based on the information I had, it was most likely related to her deceased mother. If they were enemies, she wouldn't have stopped at just beating them up. She was probably making contact to gather information. But then she ran into those murderers, and things got complicated. Given her personality, she would've taken them out the moment she saw them. That led to minor clashes with the Public Security Bureau, and once the truth got out, she accidentally built up a reputation she never wanted.
So Tasha wasn't hiding her identity because she wanted to be a Phantom. She was just genuinely trying to keep her real self hidden. Attacking villains isn't the main objective—if the goal is to achieve something specific by attacking villains, then it doesn't count as Phantom activity. Strictly speaking, Black Yaksha wasn't a Phantom at all.
From the looks of it, her objective wasn't simple either. But it was still better than running around as a Phantom with no purpose whatsoever. And more than anything, I felt a little relieved knowing that the daughter of that nameless senior wasn't actually doing Phantom work. The daughter of a Special Task Force member becoming a Phantom? That would be ridiculous.
"Tasha, huh..."
Tasha's personality is straightforward and hot-blooded. And usually, people like that don't hold grudges, which is nice. To be honest, she was exactly the type I liked. If I could have her as an ally, there'd be no one more reliable. Actually, whether male or female, that kind of personality was surprisingly common in the Special Task Force. You could call it bold and decisive, or you could call it reckless. Either way, I understood how people like her operated. They didn't listen to words.
They basically had a passive skill called "I don't listen to anyone weaker than me."
"But this girl... is she still active duty? This is straight out of Ryitser. And there's a weird hint of Special Task Force style mixed in..."
From the way she immediately crushed those delinquents the moment she spotted them, I could tell Tasha was quite experienced in real combat. I'd thought that was natural enough. Russia was a rough place too, after all. Most of the countries surrounding Korea were chaotic, and Russia was no exception. The superhuman warlords and the government maintained a delicate balance there, which left significant gaps in public security. A beauty like Tasha would have needed to know how to protect herself. So I'd just assumed she'd learned a bit from her Special Task Force mother and let it go.
But after watching the combat footage of Black Yaksha, I realized it was far beyond that. The reason Psyker Mad had gone crazy over Black Yaksha in the first place was because of that fierce, exhilarating fighting style. There was something about Black Yaksha's battles that set people's hearts on fire.
When I'd first watched the videos, I hadn't analyzed them seriously and just thought, "Huh, she fights pretty well." But once I really broke it down, it was clear this was no ordinary situation. A large part of Black Yaksha's combat techniques matched the Ryitser style I knew all too well.
If Korea has the Special Task Force, Russia has Ryitser. It's a bit awkward to pronounce in Korean, but written in Russian it's ры́царь. Translated, it roughly means "knight" or "warrior." You can think of Ryitser as Russia's version of the Special Task Force. The Russian government maintains what little power it has thanks to them. If the government ever went all-out, the warlords would suffer devastating losses, so both sides hold back just enough to maintain this precarious balance.
While the Special Task Force pursues precision and sharpness in combat, Ryitser focuses on overwhelming power and suppression. Since Western superhumans tend to have superior stamina and strength compared to Asian ones, each organization developed in the direction that suited them best.
In my previous life as an ace of the Special Task Force, I'd participated in several joint operations with Ryitser. The style I'd experienced back then was deeply embedded in Black Yaksha's movements. Just as civilians rarely get access to Special Task Force techniques, Ryitser methods are far too dangerous for ordinary people to learn.
That meant Tasha was, with high probability, either an early retiree or someone dishonorably discharged from Ryitser—or at the very least, closely connected to them. In other words, she'd been active duty until relatively recently. And that wasn't all. The occasional strange movements she displayed carried the distinct scent of well-trained Special Task Force techniques. It seemed she'd taken Ryitser combat as her foundation and skillfully incorporated elements of the Special Task Force style.
"Ha... Senior, just what were you trying to raise your daughter to be?"
After confirming Tasha's true nature, I couldn't help but sigh. People like her could only be persuaded with fists, not words. And from what I could see, that wasn't going to be easy. Honestly, if I hadn't gotten involved with her, I wouldn't have even considered interfering.
"Is debuting as an idol supposed to be this hard? What a life..."
All I wanted was to debut as an idol, fix that awful Retry ending, and make some decent money. I had no idea so many complications would keep getting in the way.