Pheromone Monster
I stepped out of the car and walked down the street.
Sophia's voice came through the wireless earpiece in my ear.
"Do you see the house with the penguin statue at the entrance?"
"Yeah, I see it. She must like penguins."
"…My daughter liked them. Go into that house. Is anyone around?"
Sophia was tracking my position via GPS from the car. Since she was a civilian, moving around herself was too dangerous — so I was going alone.
I stopped walking and spread out my sensory field. Four people hiding inside the house, six more concealed outside. Ten in total. The enemies had already noticed my presence.
"There are ten of them nearby. All of them are watching me. About two look like B-Class, the rest around C-Class. Should I take them down?"
"…Avoid combat as much as possible."
"I'll try. Where's the data?"
"In the doghouse in the yard. There's a small drawer under the right side of the roof. The USB is inside. You won't see the drawer just by looking — feel for it with your palm."
"So that's why they haven't found it yet. Who would've thought to hide it in a doghouse."
"Haha. I'll take that as a compliment."
I entered Sophia's house through the front gate.
The moment I did, bullets came flying at me.
Noecheonryu — Electromagnetic Barrier.
The rounds failed to pierce the barrier and clattered to the ground.
They opened fire without a second of hesitation. Boshi's people. So they've decided to go all out.
A few bullets weren't going to kill me.
Maintaining my sensory field, I approached the doghouse. It was surprisingly ornate for a kennel — but completely empty. No dog.
"I don't see a pet dog. Did they kill it?"
"…Rex went with my ex-husband."
"Ah. I see."
Sophia's voice had gone gloomy. I regretted asking. Clearly the divorce hadn't been amicable.
I crouched in front of the doghouse and ran my hand along the underside of the right roof. Something caught on my fingers.
I pulled. The drawer slid open, and a USB stick popped out.
"Got it."
"So they really didn't find it. Thank goodness."
"But I think combat is unavoidable."
Footsteps approached from my right and left. Two men. Both B-Class ability users. The remaining eight stayed hidden, waiting.
"Hey. Hand that over."
"We'll make a deal. Give us the USB and we'll let you walk. No trouble."
One held a sword, the other an axe. Aura coated both weapons. I slipped the USB into my pants pocket and summoned Hwaryeonbido.
"I'll give you a warning of my own. Back off right now. Then I'll let you live."
The hairy man with the axe smirked.
"You look down on us because we're B-Class, huh…? Do you know how many A-Class ability users have died by our hands? More than seven."
"Today you'll die, so make it eight."
The skinny one with the sword spoke in a cold voice and charged. I raised Hwaryeonbido, wreathed in blade aura, and blocked his strike.
The hairy one swung his axe at my neck as if he'd been waiting for the opening.
I leaned my head back and dodged. Their attacks were straightforward — almost crude.
These two are bait. The real threat is…
Bullets came flying. Crack! The Electromagnetic Barrier flashed and stopped every round. Spent casings rolled across the dirt.
The eight in hiding. No gunshots — so they're using magic or artifacts. And…
The bullets on the ground weren't copper. Some other metal. Special rounds designed to work even on A-Class hunters, no doubt.
A heavy whoosh cut the air.
Axe and sword came at me together.
Simple. Slow.
The instant I thought that, the axe and sword warped — then split into dozens of blades.
Charna
Remaining Stacks: 6
Startled, I activated Charna.
Reflexively, I analyzed their arms and stances. By my standards, their form was sloppy. They hadn't trained in martial arts professionally.
So this isn't technique — it's ability. The warping of the axe and sword… that's the hairy one's power. And the splitting of the blades is the skinny one's.
Even warped and multiplied, one thing hadn't changed: reach. Their attack range hadn't increased at all.
I stepped lightly backward. With Charna active, it became an absurdly fast backstep.
"What—"
"He's got a speed-type ability too?"
I dropped my upper body and knees low, brought Hwaryeonbido to my side, and poured lightning qi into a slash aimed at both of them.
Blue blade aura carved through their bodies. The hairy one was split cleanly at the waist — upper and lower halves separating — but the skinny one got lucky, taking only a gash across his side that sprayed blood.
"Open fire!!"
The skinny one screamed.
Bullets poured in from every direction. I didn't bother reacting. There was no need. The Electromagnetic Barrier wrapping my body neutralized every single round.
"Damn it! Nobody told us bullets don't work on this bastard at all!!"
The skinny one swung his sword at me in a rage. The blade split into three. Instead of trying to block recklessly, I stepped through my footwork and dodged — then drove Hwaryeonbido into the opening he left.
"Guh—!"
He couldn't dodge. Couldn't even block. The dagger punched straight through his chest.
"You can't even stop a basic attack like that? So only your physical stats and mana were B-Class. Your actual combat skill doesn't even reach C-Class. Right… you were never hunters."
If they'd been hunters, they wouldn't have gone down this easily.
They hadn't become hunters against their will, either. To register as a hunter, you needed a clean criminal record. These men had been criminals long before they awakened their abilities.
Well — or maybe they just never wanted the hunter life.
Once I confirmed the skinny one's breathing had stopped, I scanned the area. Through my sensory field, I felt the ones who'd been shooting at me from hiding scramble away in a panic.
I repeated Sophia's words in my head — kill as few people as possible.
I dismissed Hwaryeonbido and headed back to Sophia.
Back in the workshop, Sophia sat at her computer, hammering away at the keyboard. I sat on the bed watching her work for a while, then quietly closed my eyes.
Bang!
A loud noise jolted me awake. I wiped the drool from the corner of my mouth with the back of my hand and looked toward the source of the sound. Sophia had stood up from her chair and was glaring at the computer like she wanted to murder it.
I checked my phone. Eleven in the morning.
"…Sophia. I don't think I can say good morning. Did you work through the night?"
"……No. I slept in between. You're the one who woke up late. Did you sleep well?"
"Yes. Slept great. You don't look happy, though. Work not going well?"
"Jack Taylor got caught by Boshi. Because of that, Bluecad's activities have completely stopped."
I got up from the bed and scratched my head.
"Just one person gets caught and Bluecad shuts down entirely?"
"Jack Taylor was the center of Bluecad. The politicians who followed him decided to sit back and watch how things play out. …And I've been reduced to a journalist spouting nonsense again. A few outlets are still supporting me, but… that won't last long. Boshi is far too good at using the media. And for some reason, influential figures in politics and business are publicly backing him."
"……Can't we just tell the public that Jack Taylor was captured?"
"Boshi isn't an easy opponent. Officially, Jack Taylor has suspended his activities due to poor health. If we claim Boshi captured him, no one will believe us."
"Hmm…"
"Want to hear the worst part? You and I are now wanted. Our faces are spreading across the internet in real time."
Sophia pointed at the monitor.
My face and Sophia's were plastered across online news sites. Bounties attached. Sophia: fifty thousand dollars. Me: three million.
"Isn't the bounty difference a little extreme?"
"You're an Awakened. An ability user at A-Class level, no less."
"Hmm. Fair point."
"…You're awfully calm. I nearly lost my mind when I saw this."
"Something like this doesn't get me worked up. What matters is what we do next."
Sophia let out a deep sigh.
"Bluecad is planning a rescue for Jack Taylor. But…"
"Not going well, I take it?"
"Without a center, they're half-hearted about it. Looks like they're preparing a separate protest, but… it won't accomplish much. Bluecad as it stands won't be any help."
"Then should the two of us go save Jack Taylor?"
"…No. That would be difficult. There's another way, though…"
Sophia stared straight at me.
"There is a method. It requires your consent, though."
"I already said I'd help. As long as it's not something completely unreasonable."
"Do you know what Americans go crazy for?"
"…Uh. Freedom?"
"Freedom is a given. Americans love heroes. Superheroes with superpowers."
"That much I know. America's top hunters get called heroes separately, don't they? I heard they're more popular than most celebrities."
"Exactly. So… have you ever thought about becoming a dark hero?"
"…Are you serious?"
"I'm serious. Setting aside public opinion about me, the sentiment around you isn't actually that bad. The three people you killed yesterday were all mafia — superpowered criminals. Villains. Some communities are already calling you Jupiter and praising you."
"Jupiter?"
"You don't know? Zeus, the chief god of Greek mythology…"
"No, I know that. What I'm curious about is why Americans are praising me."
"Dark heroes who punish criminals without holding back are rare."
Skilled hunters didn't play dark hero. No matter how much the public wanted it, a dark hero was ultimately a criminal.
There was no reason to throw away a stable career just to win popularity with the masses.
"Do I really have to do this dark hero thing?"
"We're already criminals. At this rate, all that's left is being hunted by police and bounty hunters. But if you become the perfect dark hero that Americans want… we can steer American public opinion in the direction we need. We could even brand Juji Boshi as evil and drag him out of the presidency."
"……"
I fell into thought, weighing various factors.
First of all — it looked pretty fun.
Next was the risk… After considering several angles, I nodded. It was doable.
"Hell with it. Let's give it a shot."