Blood Rabbit's Unexpected Arrival
After entering the club, we took our seats at the table Seong Jiyeong had reserved in advance. It offered a clear view of the entrance. She mentioned that booking a table here required quite a bit of money, and on a busy Friday night like this—or if this had been one of Seoul's famous clubs downtown—same-day reservations would have been impossible. "With that kind of money, how many servings of galbi could you buy?"
"It was a necessary expense. We don't want anyone else interfering, after all." "You're right about that. It would only cause trouble."
At first, the cost had felt wasteful, but after seeing the club's atmosphere, reserving the table had been a stroke of genius. The place was far more crowded than I'd expected. "It's this packed even on a weekday? Impressive." "No wonder the nightlife business makes money." "Not every club succeeds, though. Apparently, this is the only one thriving in the area. They say this kind of business relies on a positive cycle." "A positive cycle, huh. Good water draws customers, and more customers make the water even better. Something like that?" "Close enough."
While discussing the correlation between a club's success and water quality, we sat and watched the stage. Under flashing psychic lights, people gathered and danced to energetic EDM, letting loose. For someone like me whose idea of entertainment was limited to casual phone games or web novels and webtoons, the scene felt overwhelmingly unfamiliar. "This is too chaotic." "My head's spinning."
It seemed the other members were struggling to adapt as well. Then again, these girls probably found beating up villains far more enjoyable than unwinding in a place like this. No wonder they say only those who know how to play can play well. At least I could be relieved that our members wouldn't cause trouble just to have fun. Of course, their level of depravity far exceeded something as trivial as a one-night stand.
"Is this how these places usually are?" "I'm not sure. This is my first time at a club too." "For a first-timer, you seem to know an awful lot." "I did my research. I need to understand the situation if I'm going to prepare for it."
Plus, there were an unusually high number of booking attempts. According to Seong Jiyeong's investigation, staff-led bookings weren't that common at clubs, yet even the MDs kept hovering around our table, being a nuisance. Some tried booking through the MDs, which was relatively tame—several men approached us directly to make moves. We'd booked the table specifically to avoid trouble, so why was this happening? Seong Jiyeong and I were even wearing makeup debuffs, so this was getting problematic.
(I learned later that booking styles varied slightly from club to club. Some places had MDs aggressively pushing bookings, while others left it entirely to customer initiative. Hot-Dream was apparently one of the former. As for why so many approached us, it wasn't our faces but our body lines. In the dim lighting, many men chose partners based on figure rather than looks, and Seong Jiyeong's short skirt had drawn the flies. Both Tasha and Seong Jiyeong possessed figures that could shatter any tier list, so the moment we entered, all sorts of guys started swarming.)
The only silver lining was this. The achievement window apparently counted booking requests as a form of confession. It was startling, but since I'd earned the same achievement in the first timeline, I wasn't too surprised. Back then, it had left me feeling oddly flustered, but now I felt nothing. Maybe confessions just hit differently depending on the time and place. Right now, all I felt was "How ridiculous."
"Ha, this is seriously annoying. We don't have to do this again tomorrow, right?" "Let's hope tonight is the end of it." "I almost twisted that guy's wrist earlier." "You held back well. Causing a scene would only tire us out."
We needed to wrap this up quickly. As more men attempted physical contact, Tasha's patience was visibly wearing thin. If she snapped, the resulting disaster would be unimaginable. When was that guy even going to show up?
"Oh, he's here..." "He is." "Let's move."
At that moment, a well-dressed man entered the club. A sharp suit, neatly combed-back hair, and frameless glasses. He looked every bit the intelligent, handsome type, and his appearance matched exactly what Yu Hana had described about HD. HD supposedly scouted targets from the second-floor VIP section, lured them in via bookings, and made his move. If we missed him at the entrance, we'd have no choice but to follow him upstairs and attempt a booking ourselves. With the members' patience already at its limit, I had to act faster if we wanted to get out of here soon.
"Oh my!" "Are you all right?" "Ah, yes. I'm sorry." "Haha, it's fine. Are you hurt anywhere..." "I'm fine. Thanks to you catching me." "That's a relief." "Well then..."
We approached him using the most primitive method possible. The three of us headed toward the entrance, and I deliberately body-slammed into him. While he was distracted by the contact, Seong Jiyeong—feigning surprise—successfully slipped the miniature tracker into his pocket. With the job done, we casually exited the club.
"Hard to believe a drug dealer could be that gentle." "The atmosphere too. I guess you really can't judge people by appearances." "Yeah. Let's head back to the hideout first. I'm completely drained." "Me too." "I'm exhausted as well. Seong Jiyeong, is the watermelon punch ready?" "Of course. I'm craving pine needle ade myself. Let's go."
Watermelon punch on the left, pine needle ade on the right. What a horrifying combination. Still, I was tired too, so I didn't bother objecting. Tastes should be respected, after all.
"Yo~ Had fun?" "Fun, my ass. It was just loud and annoying." "Really? Guess that kind of scene isn't your thing~" "Ugh, enough small talk. Let's move on him as soon as he leaves. You're ready, right?" "What's there to prepare? Just need to check if the tracker is working~"
After grumbling a bit to Yu Hana, who had been waiting at the hideout, I immediately changed clothes. We needed to be ready to strike the moment HD left the club and headed our way. Ji Seoeun approached me and confidently held out a black full-body suit. "You probably can't wear this anymore." "Why?" "It's too tight. Risk of exposing your identity." "That issue's already been fixed. This is Full-Body Suit MK-2." "...What changed?" "Apple Shield installed." "...Apple Shield?"
After seeing the office outfit Yu Hana had prepared last time, Ji Seoeun said she'd been inspired. The result was Full-Body Suit MK-2—a new version with the previous stench attack option removed and the Apple Shield added instead. And this "Apple Shield" she mentioned was...
"Isn't this just butt padding?" "It's not that simple. The defensive effect is incredible." "Even if it has defense, it's not like you can block attacks with your butt..."
She claimed the special material's defensive power was guaranteed. But if asked whether this option would actually help in combat, I'd have to shake my head. No matter how high the defense, blocking attacks with my rear end was far too humiliating. Between the stench attack and this, was she trying to shame me to death? My head was already starting to hurt before we even began.
"Ooh, Yeri Yeri~ You look super sexy~" "Is this the power of hip enhancement? Hmm..." "Is it uncomfortable?" "No, it's more comfortable than I thought." "Uses new ceramic material. Wearer comfort guaranteed." "Hmm..."
I swallowed a sigh and tried it on. The fit was surprisingly good. The slight hip enhancement also gave me a subtly different curve than before, making it much easier to hide my identity. The padding didn't show at all from the outside.
"So I have to wear her equipment again after all." It felt a bit unsettling, but the gear was too useful to refuse. With this butt padding, even the security forces might be fooled. Just imagining those guys— who tailored their suits by exploiting the tightness of full-body suits—mistaking random women and getting scolded made endorphins surge through me.
"I'll continue updating it using the wear data. Please cooperate actively." "...Fine."
Moreover, Ji Seoeun seemed intent on continuously improving the suit's performance. Right now it only had weird functions, but given time, something much better could be created. So even if it felt off for now, I needed to cooperate with her for a while.
"The target just left the club~" "Huh? Already?" While calming myself with a cold drink after putting on the suit Ji Seoeun had given me, the target started moving. Less than an hour had passed since we'd left the club, which felt strange. "That's weird. Why is he running?" "Is he fleeing on foot?" "Huh? He stopped in an alley." "The atmosphere feels off." "We can't wait. Let's go now. Seong Jiyeong, teleport us there." "Got it. Hold on to me."
Sensing something was wrong, we moved immediately. "...What the hell is this?"
After teleporting right in front of the target, we found HD being beaten by three men in suits. "....Huh? Bl... Blood Rabbit?" "Damn it. Why is Blood Rabbit here?"
The men in suits seemed just as flustered by the situation—actually, they looked even more shocked than we were. The moment they spotted us, they started backing away with trembling voices. No, we should be the ones surprised here. Why were they panicking? This was making us look like the villains. The whole scene was utterly chaotic.