Where's Your Gear?
Where's your gear? ............... I crouched in the corner of the break room, hiding behind a potted office plant, secretly watching Yeom Hana.
Her thin workout clothes were soaked with sweat. Her hair was tied up high, and sweat streamed down her neck and collarbone. Every time I saw them, they were so big. Her breasts and her hips. I get why other humans find that body attractive. The glasses-wearing smarty-pants and the doctor in the white coat—who've been getting sharper by the day—explained it to me.
[Homo sapiens release specific hormones in the brain when they see a body like that.]
[Not just the males, but a lot of females react too.]
Maybe Yeom Hana's got a major weapon that could help her in life. Though calling it a "weapon" feels off since it looks so soft and squishy.
"Nine hundred ninety-eight! Nine hundred ninety-nine! ......One thousand!"
Bang! Yeom Hana slammed the barbell she'd hoisted onto her shoulders back onto the rack. Those discs stacked on both ends weren't ordinary ones. The blue sheen on the edges marked them as gravity-amplifying alloy—special material used in Awakener training gear. Each disc weighed over 100 kilograms effective. Six on each side made a total of 1.25 tons.
[Huh? Not 1.2 tons?]
Silly fool—the empty bar weight doesn't lift itself, you know.
[Ah!] The glasses guy made a "gotcha" face. It was something I'd overheard from the trainer last time, but whatever. Now you know, right? I'm smart. Heheh.
Anyway, doing a thousand squats with that on her back. Awakeners have insanely higher strength levels than regular humans, huh. Watching Yeom Hana wipe the sweat from the nape of her neck with a towel, a strange question suddenly popped into my head.
This redhead—this Yeom Hana—seems to have some complicated feelings toward me. Last time, when she was sitting on my lap watching TV, she said this after hesitating forever.
"Hey."
Yeom Hana finally opened her mouth after a long pause.
"Um...... just hypothetically. Could you maybe turn me back into my old body?"
Old body? It's exactly the same as this one. Did she want to be younger or something? ......I wanted to say that, but the sounds from my mouth shatter human minds. So I just tilted my head instead.
Yeom Hana's face hardened on her own, then she shook her head vigorously, like she was trying to snatch her words out of the air and swallow them back down.
"Ah, no...... it doesn't matter anymore anyway. My gear's all gone, and I'm legally dead now. Just forget it."
We let it slide then. But thinking about it now, there's one word that bugs me. What was it?
By now, Yeom Hana had started squatting again. Tank top, leggings, sneakers. Tank top, leggings, sneakers. ......Tank top, leggings? I got it. Gear. When I restored Yeom Hana's body, I definitely restored her gear too. It was super cool and pretty armor. Semitransparent material that clung perfectly to the body, showing off every curve—but with her figure, that just meant she could flaunt it, so win-win.
So why does she always wear those workout clothes? Last week during the dispatch alarm, didn't she run out in just that same outfit?
Unbelievable. I went to all that trouble sweating (okay, not me) to restore it all transparent and pretty to show off her figure, and she's fighting barehanded without it?
[Actually, you didn't sweat, and we did all the hard work—]
Right. It was our collective effort, so it's mine too.
[I-Is that how it works?]
Of course it is. Smacking down the glasses guy felt good, but Yeom Hana's behavior is serious betrayal. Disregarding the efforts of a good entity like me. Why on earth?
My doubts and annoyance amplified together. I couldn't hold back anymore—I stood up and approached Yeom Hana mid-squat.
I could see her back. The erector spinae muscles peeking from under her tank top glistened with sweat, firm and elegantly curved in a strangely alluring way. I reached out a finger. Poke right in the center.
"Eek—!?"
Goosebumps shot across Yeom Hana's back like an electric current. Ooh, chicken skin rising all the way up her neck. At the same time, the barbell on her shoulders slipped off track.
Uh-oh. The massive metal hunk slid from her hands, tumbling toward her back—and my head was at the end of that path.
Thonk. The barbell that bonked my head made a cheerful rebound sound, like hitting a taut rubber ball, then—
BOOM.
It crashed two meters away. ......That wasn't my fault. Yeom Hana can pay for the damages later.
"Wh-what!?"
Yeom Hana whipped around in shock, spotted me, and her eyes went wide. Her surprised expression turned to irritation, then worry. She'd seen the barbell hit my head.
"Outer God, it was you. You okay?"
She apologized hurriedly, then let out a disbelieving chuckle.
"......Not that it matters who I ask. Of course you're fine."
She's right. No way a few tons could hurt. But that's not the point now. The important thing is elsewhere.
Stare~~ I looked up at Yeom Hana. Tank top, leggings, sneakers. The gear I restored for her—where was it?
"Wh-why are you staring like that?"
Stare~~
"......Did I do something wrong?"
Yes. Something huge. Where'd you put the pretty red armor I restored for you?
.................. Knock knock knock.
"Come in."
The door opened. But not all the way. Red hair peeked through the crack, but her body didn't enter.
"......What is it?"
"Ah, yes, um......"
With an awkward laugh, Yeom Hana made a troubled face and swung the door wide, stepping in. She turned quickly to shut it—and just before it closed, something slipped inside.
Shin Chang-seok's gaze naturally shifted to the intruder following Yeom Hana. Long purple hair, girl in a white dress. Alpha Outer God.
"She keeps following me...... is that okay?"
'Like hell it is.' Shin Chang-seok's temple throbbed.
Alpha Outer God was a contained threat entity. Estimated threat grade: over 40 Tera. She was supposed to be managed in an isolation room with multi-phase reinforcement barriers, following strict protocols. Yet here she was, barefoot, wandering the Threat Management Agency HQ freely.
Shin Chang-seok and the agency brass had agonized over this for days and finally reached a conclusion. There was no way. No means to contain her. Labeling something you couldn't contain as "isolated" was just self-delusion. And so far, she hadn't harmed any humans. That didn't guarantee she wouldn't, but still.
"......What do you want?"
Shin Chang-seok deliberately pushed the girl from his view and looked at Yeom Hana.
"Nothing big."
'Nothing big, yet you hesitated at the door crack forever?' ......He didn't say it. He was an adult.
"Can I get my gear back?"
"Gear?"
"Not the Masked Warrior stuff. The one I was wearing when I became like this. The...... red armor."
Nothing big, my ass—this was insane. Shin Chang-seok swallowed his irritation and gripped his interlocked hands tighter.
"I wouldn't think you'd seriously believe that was possible."
"Ah, yeah. I knew it wouldn't, but I thought maybe—"
"It's contamination-suspect. Can't release it until analysis is done."
As the conversation continued, something moved in the corner of Shin Chang-seok's vision. Alpha Outer God was prowling the office. The girl ran her finger along the confidential file cabinets on the wall. Then she approached the desk and flicked the miniature globe in the corner with one finger. Spin. It whirled around.
Cold sweat trickled down Shin Chang-seok's back. This childlike girl was a genuine 40+ Tera threat. Not a metaphor—fact. So the scene wasn't cute at all. But there was no way to stop her. Couldn't tell her to leave or not to touch. Even addressing her could trigger a reaction, becoming a risk factor.
Ignore her. Pretend she wasn't there. Not ideal, but the next best thing.
"—And with America sniffing around Outer God-related materials lately, we're blocking all external leaks. Nicole too, and Feistagram."
"Ah...... I see."
Yeom Hana nodded, then turned to the girl who'd sidled up beside her.
"See? Told you no."
The girl puffed out her cheeks at the words. She looked exactly like a kid sulking after losing a toy.
"Then we'll be going."
Yeom Hana bowed and turned. The girl followed silently without a word.
Watching Yeom Hana grab the doorknob, Shin Chang-seok pulled out a ominous intel report that came to mind.
"Wait, just in case."
"Yes?"
"I know you're anxious without your Masked Warrior power, but don't chase pipe dreams."
"What do you mean......?"
"Microgenix drugs are circulating lately...... Don't take them, ever. Will Bates' stuff is potent, but the side effects are beyond what anyone can handle."
Yeom Hana gave a bemused smirk at his earnest warning.
"Come on, Director. As if I'd touch drugs! But got it!"
She answered brightly, finally opening the door and stepping into the hall. The girl following her suddenly stopped, turned back.
Purple eyes, expressionless, doll-like face. Shin Chang-seok didn't avoid her gaze. It was the last shred of dignity as the building's head.
After a suffocating moment of silence.
The girl stuck out her tongue.
Bleeeh.
By the time Shin Chang-seok's eyes widened, the girl had vanished out the door.
"Haa......"
'Finally, the uninvited guest is gone.'
Shin Chang-seok slumped back in his chair with a sigh. He took off his Kim Gu glasses to set them on the desk—and his hand froze.
Something that shouldn't be there sat between the pencil holder and the miniature globe: a chocolate sculpted like a mushroom cap. No doubt left by Alpha Outer God moments ago.
Realizing what threat entity that chocolate symbolized, Shin Chang-seok's face flushed beet red.
"Damn it, how'd she know about the Rice Weevil—"