Chapter 3
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 3
Chapter Title: Superhuman Management Bureau (1)
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“A Returnee report?”
Lee Min-hyuk, Team Leader of Team 3 at the Superhuman Management Bureau, tilted his head in confusion.
“Was there a forecast for a Return Gate? I don’t think so.”
Choi Eun-ji, a team member from the same Team 3, replied with a subtle expression.
“It seems like she returned through an irregular gate.”
An irregular gate.
This referred to a gate that didn’t register on the Gate Forecasting System run by the Meteorological Agency.
The cutting-edge forecasting system could predict not only the location of gates but also their exact opening times and scales. Irregular gates that evaded prior detection made preemptive measures practically impossible.
At least irregular gates tended to be smaller in scale than regular ones. The monsters emerging from them could usually be handled by police forces alone.
“An irregular gate, huh...”
Lee Min-hyuk scratched the back of his head with an annoyed look and glanced at Choi Eun-ji.
“So? Where is she?”
“At the police station in Anseong. She turned herself in voluntarily, apparently.”
“Anseong? Where the hell is that?”
Lee Min-hyuk fiddled with his smartwatch to search for Anseong on the map. His face immediately soured.
“That’s practically Chungcheong Province. Chungcheong. It’s a long drive from Seoul.”
And at this hour of the morning, no less.
Choi Eun-ji gave an awkward smile.
“We don’t have a choice, though. We’re short-staffed right now, so you and I are the only ones who can move.”
Lee Min-hyuk pouted and grumbled.
“Ugh. Why do ten Returnees have to show up in Busan right at a time like this? Talk about bad timing.”
Most of Team 3’s members were currently on assignment in Busan, dealing with a group of Returnees who had appeared there.
That left only Team Leader Lee Min-hyuk and Choi Eun-ji available at headquarters.
Lee Min-hyuk let out a deep sigh and stood up.
“Let’s go, let’s go. We’ll wrap this up quick and get some rest.”
With that, the two grabbed their gear and headed to Anseong.
Upon arriving at the police station’s parking lot where the call had come from, Lee Min-hyuk stepped out, lit a cigarette, and took a drag. Spotting a no-smoking sign, Choi Eun-ji pointed it out.
“This is a no-smoking zone, Team Leader.”
“Damn it.”
Lee Min-hyuk crumpled the freshly lit cigarette, clicked his tongue, and entered the station with Choi Eun-ji.
“We’re from the Superhuman Management Bureau. Where’s the person who reported being a Returnee?”
A patrol officer pointed to a table with a strange look on his face.
At the end of his gaze sat a woman slurping down some noodle soup. Empty plastic containers were already piled up beside her—two bowls at least.
Lee Min-hyuk strode over and plopped down in the seat across from her.
“Hello there, ma’am.”
She set down her chopsticks and looked up.
“Who’re you?”
Wow.
Amazed by her stunning beauty, Lee Min-hyuk pulled out his ID from his pocket and showed it to her.
“I’m Lee Min-hyuk, Team Leader of Team 3 at the Superhuman Management Bureau. You said you returned from another world, right? We handle cases like yours—people who come back from other realms.”
“Superhuman Management Bureau?”
“It’s the agency in charge of people with superhuman abilities. You might not know this, but Earth’s changed a lot lately.”
As he spoke, Lee Min-hyuk scanned her up and down.
She’s wearing a neat suit. Did she have that on when she crossed over? Or... did she steal it?
If it was stolen, that was a red flag.
Wearing blatantly stolen goods without a care meant their mindset was far removed from modern legal society.
I’ll leave the police to investigate that.
Lee Min-hyuk flashed a bright smile.
“They’ve probably done a basic ID check here already, but we need to verify a few things ourselves. Do you have a moment?”
“Sure, whatever.”
“Thank you. First, may I have your name?”
“Kim Hyun.”
“Ms. Kim Hyun. Could you give me your hand for a second?”
“My hand?”
“Yes. I need to gauge your mana levels first.”
Kim Hyun smirked.
“Won’t work. You’re better off not trying.”
Lee Min-hyuk’s eyes narrowed.
Won’t work? What does that mean?
He couldn’t compare to Agent Chae Seol-ah, who was in Busan, but Lee Min-hyuk was a quasi-S-Rank hunter seasoned in handling mana. Unless her mana reserves or control far exceeded his, measurement should be no problem.
“You can’t refuse, Ms. Kim. Under the Superhuman Ability Special Act, Returnees must have their mana levels measured and ranked immediately upon return. Refusal could lead to arrest.”
Lee Min-hyuk furrowed his brow, applying pressure.
“Fine, if you wanna try, go ahead.”
Kim Hyun, looking mildly annoyed, extended her left hand.
Lee Min-hyuk gripped it without letting his guard down.
And then.
For some reason, the smell of rotten eggs filled the air.
What’s that smell?
Why this sudden stench?
Puzzled but undeterred, Lee Min-hyuk channeled his mana.
“Gahk!”
The moment he tried injecting mana into my body.
The guy recoiled from my hand like he’d been electrocuted.
Black blood gushed from his mouth in violent heaves. The price of daring to invade a demon’s flesh with a mere human body.
“Team Leader!”
The woman beside him whipped out a dagger from her coat the instant he vomited blood. The patrol officer behind them jumped in alarm and drew his pistol.
I clicked my tongue.
“Told you not to.”
Humans really are so damn stupid.
Well, that’s why they’re human.
I shrugged and slowly raised my hand.
My belly was full and I felt good, but that didn’t mean I’d show mercy to those baring their teeth at me.
And just as I was about to snap my fingers.
“Cough! Stop—stop! Everyone, lower your weapons!”
Lee Min-hyuk bellowed through the blood.
His pale face twisted as he collapsed to the floor. Struggling, he looked up at me.
I gave him a grin.
“You’re lucky.”
If he hadn’t stopped me, everyone here would be dead.
Meanwhile, having caught his breath, Lee Min-hyuk reached out to the woman with the dagger.
“...Agent Choi. Help me up.”
“T-Team Leader?”
“Now.”
“B-But.”
The agent called Choi hesitated and glanced at me.
“Don’t worry. It’s useless anyway.”
At Lee Min-hyuk’s words, Agent Choi helped him to his feet. Barely standing, he stared at me with a stiff expression.
Soon, he spoke.
“...You held back?”
“In a way, yeah?”
I’d just sat there doing nothing. That counted as mercy, right?
“...Understood. Is there anything you need?”
Lee Min-hyuk asked, his attitude utterly submissive. It even flustered Agent Choi beside him.
I stated what I needed.
“ID and a cell phone. Those two.”
“ID restoration and a smartwatch, got it. I’ll procure them immediately. Anything else?”
I pointed to the plastic bowls that had held the soup.
“That stuff—delivery gukbap or whatever? Tasted like crap.”
“I’ll escort you to the best gukbap joint right away.”
Oh, civil servant recommendations? Nice.
Finally, some real food.
Seoul, Seocho-gu.
After guiding Kim Hyun to a gukbap restaurant near Superhuman Management Bureau headquarters, Lee Min-hyuk slipped out while she ordered.
Choi Eun-ji followed soon after. She eyed the bloodstains on his collar with worry.
“...You okay?”
“No. Not really.”
His guts felt like they’d been churned to mush. He’d been thoroughly wrecked.
This would mean at least one or two weeks of recovery. Or maybe a healing session at a church.
Not sure that’d even fix it...
With that thought, Lee Min-hyuk lit a cigarette. As he did, Choi Eun-ji cautiously asked.
“I didn’t ask earlier because the situation was tense, but why’d you do it?”
“Do what?”
“Stop us from subduing her.”
“Because we can’t subdue her.”
“Huh?”
What did that mean?
Sure, S-Rank Awakener Lee Min-hyuk had been taken out by a surprise attack, but Choi Eun-ji was an A-Rank herself.
And hadn’t Lee Min-hyuk snapped out of it quickly?
An S-Rank and an A-Rank Awakener. Not just any hunters, but Superhuman Management Bureau agents who specialized in dealing with Awakeners.
No matter how impressive a Returnee...
Impossible to subdue?
Lee Min-hyuk replied gravely.
“Remember the criteria for National Power-level Hunter?”
The out-of-left-field question made Choi Eun-ji frown.
What was this about all of a sudden?
But she soon counted off on her fingers.
“They have to possess strength beyond ranks, solo clear an S-Rank Gate, and be able to uproot and destroy a World Tree sapling. Though the key part is the treaty with the nation, of course.”
“Kim Hyun might be National Power-level.”
Choi Eun-ji blinked in shock at his bombshell.
“What? Suddenly?”
Lee Min-hyuk nodded.
“It’s from intel we got when Liu Guoliang visited from China. National Power-levels can destroy World Tree saplings because their mana corrupts.”
He glanced toward the gukbap place.
“I heard about mana corruption back then... It matched exactly what happened to me with Kim Hyun.”
“N-No way. So you’re saying she has National Power-level strength?”
“Who knows. But she’s definitely stronger than me. And with mana corruption, most Awakeners couldn’t even face her. That’s why National Power-levels dominate S-Ranks.”
Choi Eun-ji’s expression turned serious.
“...So how do we control her?”
“It’s not confirmed yet. Agent Chae will need to check in person. She might just be a regular Returnee with some weird ability.”
“Even you don’t believe that...”
“Ahem.”
Lee Min-hyuk cleared his throat and pressed his abdomen. The pain from his wrecked insides lingered.
“...Anyway, let’s run the standard Returnee protocol. Who knows? She might be Korea’s new hope.”