The Academy's Ace (3)
Turning around, I saw a man in a bucket hat clapping in my direction. With the hat pulled down low, his face was completely hidden. Still, it was obvious he wasn’t anywhere near my age. I hadn’t sensed any presence at all… How long had he been standing there?
I gave a small nod. “Who are you?”
The man slowly approached me and spoke. “Impressive skills. Looks like you know your way around a fight. What’s your connection to those guys that you’d pull something like this?”
“......”
“Face completely covered by a mask, too. What are you, some kind of dark hero of the shadows?”
Eventually the man stopped right in front of me and met my eyes squarely. Beneath the shadow of his bucket hat, his gaze burned like a lion’s.
I answered bluntly. “No. I just didn’t like those bastards, that’s all.”
“Really? That’s an unexpected answer.”
“Before anything else, how about you tell me who you are first? You’re asking me all these questions without even introducing yourself.”
“Ah, right. Fair enough.”
The man took off his hat, fully revealing his face. He was a cool-looking man in his early thirties with a hint of rough stubble.
“My name is Oh Hyeong-su. Former detective, currently working as a private investigator. People still call me Detective Oh, though.”
He gave a nod as if to say it didn’t matter what title I used. Then Detective Oh shifted his gaze back to where he’d been standing earlier. A discarded ventilation fan had been placed perfectly beside a building pillar—just big enough for a person to hide behind. He must have been watching everything from there.
He continued. “I’ve been hiding over there since dawn, waiting for the right moment. Truth is, I have a rather deep connection with those men. Then suddenly—you showed up!”
“My plan got a little twisted because of you, but thank you. Thanks to you, a lot of the dirty work disappeared.”
He pointed at the drugs still in my hand and finished speaking. It was obvious what kind of “work” a former detective would be grateful had vanished.
I handed the drugs over. Detective Oh accepted them with a faint smile and kept talking.
“Thank you. I’ve been tracking a criminal organization that distributes this stuff. These were their guys. Do you happen to know anything about them?”
“……That they’re part of the Sabyeong-pa, at least?”
“As I thought—you already know. That’s correct.”
Detective Oh gestured toward the collapsed men and added more details. It was all about the Sabyeong-pa, the Snake Soldier Faction. He explained that an insane volume of drugs had recently flooded South Korea—an explosion of twenty times the usual amount in just one year. The news kept running stories about it, but people still didn’t feel the reality of it. He pointed behind him.
“So here’s my question. Would you follow me for a bit? There’s something I want to show you.”
Huh? Why should I?
I shook my head. I was planning to head back to the dormitory, stretch out, and finally get some sleep. Following him gave me a bad feeling that nothing but annoying complications would follow.
But that was exactly when the message arrived.
The constellation 'Moving Answer Sheet' reveals her curiosity and wants you to follow him.
What? This is such a hassle…!
The constellation 'Moving Answer Sheet' promises a small sponsorship.
Okay. In the end I had no choice but to quietly decide to follow him.
Ding!
The constellation 'Moving Answer Sheet' is satisfied with your choice.
She has sponsored 300 points as a reward.
“Let’s go. Quickly.”
When we arrived at the destination, I couldn’t help but be shocked. An enormous number of drug addicts were sprawled throughout the back alley. The sight was exactly like zombies. It was a living hellscape.
Detective Oh, who had been watching the scene with me, spoke with difficulty.
“As you can see, this is the current state of South Korea.”
“Why are you showing this to me, exactly?”
“I’ve witnessed countless lives destroyed by drugs. When I was a detective, I wanted to save those people and change the world. But I couldn’t. Because I’m… nothing more than an ordinary person. I’m not an awakened individual.”
Unique Skill 'Insight Lv.4' activated.
Perception stat is influencing 'Insight'.
Perfect 'Insight' achieved!
Name:Oh Hyeong-su (♂)
Age:31
Unique Skill:—
Occupation:[Private Investigator] [Former Detective] [Married]
Potential:○○○○○
It was true. Through Insight, I confirmed he really was just an ordinary human. In the awakened city of Unlimited, he was the rarest kind of person—an ordinary civilian. And because of that, he was actually the most special person here.
That was when Detective Oh spoke again.
“So I have a proposal for you.”
“For me?”
“Yes. To be direct, I’ve spent the last five years gathering information while tracking them. But I don’t have the ability to act on it. So if your goals align with mine, would you lend me your strength? From what I’ve seen, your skills are far from ordinary. Of course I won’t ask you to do it for free. If you accept, I’ll give you a substantial reward.”
“A substantial reward? What is it?”
“Unfortunately I can’t tell you that. Detective’s duty of confidentiality.”
With those words, Detective Oh pulled his bucket hat down again. I scratched my head and looked back at the alley.
The constellation 'Moving Answer Sheet' is watching your choice.
I had no idea what kind of plan this man was cooking up… Strictly speaking, it had nothing to do with me. And I couldn’t accept some vague proposal without knowing the details.
I answered. “No. I’ll decline.”
“Ah… I see.”
The constellation 'Moving Answer Sheet' understands your choice and nods.
Detective Oh looked somewhat disappointed. A moment later he spoke again.
“I expected you’d answer that way.”
Even as he said it, he slipped a business card into my hand while my back was already turned.
“But if you change your mind, please contact me.”
“Sure, whatever.”
I waved without looking back and left him behind. I had no lingering feelings, so I didn’t bother turning around. Still, I didn’t throw the business card away—I slipped it into my pocket.
The moon was bright.
That was how I headed back to the dormitories of Raven Academy.
Meanwhile, Kim Jeong-a arrived at the location a little too late. This was her first time in District 6, so clear tension showed on her face.
“Just how far did he go?”
The model student Kim Jeong-a had followed him all the way past the academy walls. Ha Yeonjun had already disappeared from sight, but finding his traces was easy for her. After all, she had sensed his magic power once before inside the labyrinth.
Kim Jeong-a, who possessed outstanding talent in handling magic power, could still detect his faint traces. Like a magnet. Or a hunting dog.
That was how she had tracked Ha Yeonjun all the way into this back alley.
In that moment, her eyes widened.
“……This? No way!”
In the empty lot, five or six men lay unconscious. It looked like they had been beaten down. It didn’t take her long to realize they were members of the Sabyeong-pa.
Kim Jeong-a covered her mouth and looked around.
“This can’t be……”
She knew about the Sabyeong-pa very well. She always read every news article about villains that came out.
And Kim Jeong-a quickly understood that all of this was connected to Ha Yeonjun.
One of the collapsed men looked at her and muttered.
“You too… with that masked guy… ugh.”
The man lost consciousness and collapsed. Seeing that, Kim Jeong-a’s eyes grew even wider.
“Then… all of this was really done by Ha Yeonjun?”
Sneaking out of the dormitory in the middle of the night to deliberately punish villains… Until now it had only been speculation, but now Kim Jeong-a truly believed he was a hero.
She recalled the past for a moment. The young girl trapped in darkness, wandering through fear every day. The man who had saved that girl was a hero Kim Jeong-a could never forget for the rest of her life.
Since then, she had admired heroes who punished evil.
That was why this incident became the moment she saw Ha Yeonjun in a new light.
Kim Jeong-a began to overlap the image of that man from her past with Ha Yeonjun.
And she was overcome with a thrill.
Ha Yeonjun really is a hero!
That was when her smartphone notification sounded.
Only then did Kim Jeong-a realize how late it had gotten. She scratched her head while checking her phone.
I returned to the academy. Since it was the middle of the night, all three dormitories had their lights off. The only exception was the entrance of Citizen Hall, where a light was on. It looked like someone was standing in front of the door.
My eyes narrowed.
……Lee Dae-han?
That was when my eyes met Lee Dae-han, the promising genius.
His expression didn’t look very good.
He walked toward me and spoke. “Ha Yeonjun. Where are you coming from at this hour?”
“None of your business.”
I answered curtly and walked past him toward the dormitory door.
“Yeah, I guess it isn’t any of my business……”
Lee Dae-han’s mutter came from behind me. Right as I was about to open the door, he urgently spoke again.
“By the way… have you seen Jeong-a anywhere?”
“……Kim Jeong-a?”
I turned to look at him.