Chapter 37
Chapter 37
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 37
Chapter Title: Trickster Chae-ryeong's Whereabouts (1)
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◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ After Ji-woo had also fallen into corruption as a Corrupted Slave and become Si-yoon's complete underling,
the three of them washed their sweat-and-fluid-soaked bodies and sat down on the sofa.
"Whoa! Ow…?!"
Si-yoon was practicing how to wield Ji-woo's Supernatural Ability, 'Weapon Manifestation'.
"It's been too long since I last played games..."
When using the Fire Emission ability, he could easily produce even a small flame,
but right now, he couldn't even manifest a simple dagger-like weapon.
"Ji-woo. What exactly does it feel like to manifest a weapon?"
"Hmm… It's not hard if you think of yourself as a game character!"
Ji-woo immediately spread both hands to the side, focused for a moment,
and quickly manifested her favorite weapon, the dual pistols.
"Like this! …That's how you do it."
"…It's tricky."
Si-yoon had enjoyed computer and mobile games like any ordinary person,
but ever since becoming a combatant in the organization, he'd pretty much forgotten about them for years.
"Is there no limit on the weapons you can manifest?"
"Nope! It doesn't have to be these guns—you can do sharp weapons or bows too."
Ji-woo demonstrated not just the dual pistols, but also a long sniper rifle, a sharp dagger,
and even massive greatswords or spears that looked too heavy to lift.
"Uwaaah! Like this…! You can manifest big weapons too."
"Oh! That spear—I think I know which character it's from."
Seeing the spear Ji-woo was holding sparked a memory,
so Si-yoon closed his eyes for a moment and struck a pose as if gripping a spear.
"…Oh!"
A long spear emitting a faint blue light appeared in his hands.
It was the exact same sharp, hefty spear that Ji-woo had been holding.
"Master's played War of Champs before, huh?"
"War of Champs? War of Champs… You mean War of Champions?"
"That's right! You know it!"
War of Champions was a game that had been out for nearly ten years but still enjoyed lasting popularity.
Si-yoon had played it passionately in the past too.
"Was it Season 1 or 2… I think I grinded hard back then before quitting."
"The character who uses that spear was one of the early ones from launch, so that must be why you remember."
As she explained, the character who wielded that weapon was a manly warrior type who charged in with a spear and shield—one from the early days when Si-yoon had been playing.
"Right, that guy who ran around with the shield. I remember now. It's been forever."
"I've never played games… so I don't know."
Si-yoon drifted into reminiscence, lost in memories from years ago.
Do-hwa watched the two chatting about a game she didn't know, her face falling with a sense of exclusion.
"It's fine! I said we'd play together later, sis.
We can go with Master."
Ji-woo grabbed Do-hwa's hand, who looked a bit down.
"Yeah. I actually quite like gaming.
But that's not it… The moment we got back, we went at it like beasts for over three hours and forgot something important."
"Ah! Trickster…! What happened with her?"
They'd rushed back to the hideout and immediately forgotten because they'd been mating like animals for over three hours,
but up until then, the three had been out executing a plan to pursue 'Trickster' Chae-ryeong.
"You said the operation was a success for sure..."
"Of course! The operation succeeded, naturally."
Si-yoon, disguised as an agent, had taken some action and even sent a 'mission success' message,
but Chae-ryeong had vanished without a trace right before boarding the transport vehicle.
Do-hwa was curious why he'd reported it as a success.
"Just like in the report, Trickster is definitely a clone ability user."
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ A few hours earlier, in front of the café on the outskirts of S City where the 'Trickster' Chae-ryeong suppression operation had taken place.
As Lu-mi and Do-hwa rushed into the café,
Si-yoon turned to follow them inside, just as Do-hwa had instructed.
"Now?"
Ji-woo grabbed Si-yoon's arm as he tried to pursue immediately,
and pointed to the men in black suits standing by the building.
"Master…? There are some suspicious guys over there."
"Suspicious guys?"
Several men wearing sunglasses and black suits stood by the building.
They hadn't been there before Do-hwa and Lu-mi entered the café,
but it seemed they'd hidden somewhere and were lying in wait out of sight.
Anyone could tell they looked suspicious,
but since it was a street with low foot traffic anyway, only Ji-woo and Si-yoon were watching them.
- Shiiik—
"Smoke from inside the café…?"
"Looks like they released smoke grenades or sleep gas inside."
While their attention was briefly diverted,
pure white smoke was seeping out bit by bit from the café.
"It's a tactic villains often use right before their hideout gets raided.
Those guys are probably waiting to catch them as they try to escape."
"As expected from an experienced hero.
Guess I should disguise myself as one of those guys then?"
"That'd be good for you, Master… but not for me."
Among those burly men who looked at least 180cm tall on average,
Ji-woo, under 160cm, wearing a suit would look incredibly suspicious.
"Then climb up to the roof and keep watch. Provide sniper support if things get dangerous."
"Yes, sir! Your orders!"
Ji-woo dashed up the stairs leading into the adjacent building.
After sending her off, Si-yoon cautiously approached the black-suited men.
'Three of them… Not gonna be easy barehanded?'
Si-yoon strode right up to the black-suited men without hesitation.
One of them—the burliest—stepped forward toward Si-yoon.
"You can't come this way. It's dangerous—step back."
"Huh? I need to go through here."
Thinking Si-yoon was just a civilian, the men blocked the alley without explaining details, citing danger.
"Are you arresting a criminal or something? Wait… Villains?"
"We said it's dangerous. Leave now."
The man shoved Si-yoon's shoulder to keep him out.
Si-yoon clenched his fist and punched the man in the face.
- Thwack—!!
"Wha… what the hell, you bastard!"
"You shoved me first, didn't you? Self-defense."
The man, struck hard on his right cheek, staggered up, unable to lift his head properly from the impact.
"Grab this bastard!"
"Yes!"
As the staggering man fell back, the other two charged at Si-yoon.
"Hup!"
He shoved the bald guy coming from the left hard,
and kicked the rough-looking one grabbing at his arm from the other side.
"Guhk!"
"Kek!"
The bald man slammed into the café's outer wall and slumped against it, dazed from the shock,
while the rough-looking one clutched his gut and glared at Si-yoon.
- Pfft—!
"Don't move. Hands up, stay right there."
It wasn't as loud as a normal gunshot.
The man who'd been punched had fired a warning shot from a pistol with a suppressor.
'Tch… Hand-to-hand I can handle, but guns are a whole other level.'
Thanks to his combatant days, he was confident in brawls,
but guns made it an entirely different story.
"Hands up now! Didn't you hear me!"
"Haha…."
Si-yoon eventually raised both hands in front of the gunman.
- Shwoosh—
"Urk?! Uwaaaagh!"
The gunman was suddenly struck in the neck by a thin projectile from somewhere and collapsed unconscious seconds later.
The same happened to the man slumped holding his gut.
They fell asleep instantly, as if drugged,
so someone must have fired sedative needles or something similar.
'Could it be… Ji-woo?'
"Ugh… Uwaaaaaah!!!"
As he watched the sedated men, the bald one who'd crashed into the wall recovered and charged again.
'Not confident, but… It'll get better with real combat practice.'
⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙ [Slave: Using Yoon Do-hwa's Supernatural Ability 'Fire Emission'.] Si-yoon used Do-hwa's ability to wrap his fist in flames,
spread his arms, and thrust a flaming punch at the man charging to subdue him.
- Fwoomf—!!
"Gaaaaah!!!"
The man's hand reached Si-yoon's shoulder first, faster than the punch,
but he screamed in agony from the exploding flames.
"Hoo… Mess up and I could hurt myself too. Now I get why they wear suits."
The tip of Si-yoon's flame-wrapped fist was slightly singed,
leaving a faint red burn mark.
It was partly because he wasn't used to the 'Fire Emission' ability yet,
but as he said, without a suit or gear to protect against his own power, that was inevitable.
- Ding—!
⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙ [Ji-woo: Handled as ordered!] "As expected. Looks like Ji-woo helped out."
Confirming the text from Ji-woo,
he stripped the sedated man of his clothes and sunglasses.
"Size fits perfectly. Ugh! They don't clean their sunglasses before wearing?"
Putting on the black suit and sunglasses,
he propped the fallen men side by side next to the café alley's dumpster.
"Okay… And if I tuck these in my ears…?"
Si-yoon completed his perfect Hero Union agent disguise.
He slowly walked deeper inside, where the other agents might be.