What an Ironic Coincidence (2)
The next morning.
Slurp.
Kang Jin-ho, Park Eun-young, and Trace sat in a dingy basement PC bang, slurping down ramen.
"Jin-ho, let's swap ramen. I wanna try the jjajangmyeon too."
"That's why I told you to order jjajangmyeon from the start..."
"...You don't wanna swap?"
"No, sir! I actually wanted some broth ramen myself!"
"Right?"
Kang Jin-ho frantically swapped bowls, looking horrified. Trace, arms crossed as she watched the farce, let out a deep sigh.
"Excuse me, Officer Kang Jin-ho? Why did you ask us to meet at a PC bang of all places?"
"Oh, didn't I mention in the text? We need to contact the gangsters, so here we are."
"Do we really need to come to a place like this? I could send it tracelessly with my personal gear."
"That'd be too clean. Sometimes a bit of analog misdirection works wonders."
Recalling the lesson from his hiss hiss encounter, Kang Jin-ho opened the illegal messenger app.
"Uh, how does this work again..."
In the game, a few clicks did the trick, but this was his first time in reality, so he fumbled a bit.
"Ah, press this and this."
"...Thank you."
Thanks to his suspiciously savvy senior Park Eun-young, they set it up without much hassle.
"Alright, message sent. Now we wait for a reply?"
Kang Jin-ho fired off the message with a few taps, then slurped down the broth ramen Park Eun-young had given him.
"Officer Kang Jin-ho?"
Trace, peering intently at the messenger, furrowed her brow.
"The message content is one thing, but... this photo you attached."
"Yes. That's a screenshot of the job 'Clay Boy' received. See the request for a fake doll with a snake tattoo?"
"I see it, but... you're sending it to the Black Snake Faction Action Captain?"
Truth be told, Trace couldn't wrap her head around it. Kang Jin-ho's message boiled down to: The Black Snake Faction is about to rob a jewelry store.
But why tip off the Black Snake Faction about their own supposed robbery? They weren't the type to cower at threats—in fact, it'd just piss them off.
"It's not the Black Snake Faction."
"Pardon?"
"The ones planning the robbery aren't the Black Snake Faction to begin with."
Kang Jin-ho explained casually between bites of ramen.
Ding.
The Black Snake Faction Action Captain was pissed—straight to the cursing. But Kang Jin-ho calmly munched on a pickled radish and typed away.
"An organization the size of the Black Snake Faction robbing a jewelry store doesn't add up from the start."
"Why not? They could at least try."
Park Eun-young countered, but Kang Jin-ho replied without looking away from the monitor.
"In Light City, where villains run rampant, jewelry stores are fortified second only to banks. The Hero Association tolerates the Black Snake Faction because they're not that big a threat. For a group their size, cracking a jewelry store is way too risky."
"Ah, yeah, that makes sense."
Ding.
The Action Captain's skeptical reply. Kang Jin-ho continued as he sent the response.
"Plus, the alibi setup is too sloppy. Think a mud doll plopped in plain CCTV view fools an information-type hero? If you deploy, Trace, it'd blow up in seconds."
"...Yes. I'd spot it as a fake doll the moment I used my ability."
"Exactly. So I figured: they never intended to rob the place at all."
"You think it's the Axe Faction's self-staged drama to take out their rivals, the Black Snake Faction?"
"Yes. Touch the jewelry store, heroes swarm in, Black Snake Faction gets crushed. Clean elimination of a thorn in their side."
Kang Jin-ho closed the messenger, then leisurely sucked down a cola.
"The Axe Faction will mask up at the scene, but they'll flash those fake snake tattoos on their forearms. A ploy to fool a late-arriving info hero into thinking it's the Black Snake Faction."
His voice brimmed with conviction about events that hadn't even happened. Trace felt chills listening to him.
"Hold on—that sounds like they planned around my deployment."
"That's what I thought. Haven't you been active around here lately?"
"...My pride's stung. These criminal scum thought I'd fall for that nonsense? But one thing I don't get: how'd you know the Black Snake recruit is a spy?"
"The Axe Faction's running the op— they'd plant at least one mole, right? Newest guy fits. Nailed it."
In truth, from the game, but Kang Jin-ho said it boldly. Hey, he was a spy—what could they do?
"Aha~"
Park Eun-young pushed aside her empty bowl, propped her chin, and grinned.
"Yesterday at the station, you said no need to fight—just march in and arrest. I wondered what that meant. This clever ploy? Pit Black Snake against Axe, nab 'em both at once?"
"Yep. Catch 'em worn out, no fight needed. Evidence from the robbery? You've got Trace. Bust 'em mid-fight, present arrest, rack up stats."
"..."
Trace stared blankly at Kang Jin-ho's profile. She'd heard he was a genius, but this beggared belief. Their first meeting flashed back... Could this really be just 'sharp intuition'? It bordered on prophecy.
But her discreet background check confirmed: he was truly powerless. Police academy tests proved no superpowers.
Even better.
A genuine genius. Heaven-sent talent. In a city of superpowers, that off-the-charts intellect was an unpredictable weapon. With him, S-rank promotion wasn't a dream.
A subtle spark lit Trace's eyes.
"..."
Park Eun-young noticed, but said nothing.
**
Black Snake Faction hideout. Inside the office hidden behind an old billiards hall.
"Hoo..."
The Action Captain glared at his phone screen, face grim.
Honestly, he'd dismissed it as bullshit. Some bored idiot pranking from a PC bang—no reason to trust.
But the scenario was too specific, too devastating if true. Like meat stuck between teeth, the unease wouldn't fade.
"So I figured, just in case! I checked it out~"
The Action Captain stubbed out his cigarette in the ashtray. Then he smashed the back of the recruit's head into the floor.
"Aaaagh! Boss! It's a misunderstanding!"
"Misunderstanding? You old bastard. Lighting my cig with an Axe Faction logo lighter big as a house door, and it's a 'misunderstanding'? You guys using their merch or what? Why's the logo on the lighter?"
"It's trending with MZ gen these days."
"...Hah, fine, whatever. But why's your phone gallery full of pics with the Axe Faction boss?"
"Personal hero of mine..."
"What the fuck are you on about, you psycho! If you're spying, at least commit!"
The Action Captain clutched his neck in disbelief. Sending such a sloppy spy? Axe Faction idiots. And his own crew missing it while living with the guy? Unbelievable.
He sighed raggedly and bellowed at the door.
"Anyone out there?!"
"Yes, boss!"
Rough men with buzzcuts poured in. Some, mid-jjajangmyeon, had sauce on their mouths but grim expressions.
"Hey. You see this lighter and think nothing?"
He waved the confiscated lighter.
"Ain't that MZ trend?"
"...Fuck it. Just fight good, that's your job."
"Huh? What's up, boss?"
"Shut up. Grab tools. Toss this trash in a trunk."
The Action Captain lit a fresh cig, slung a steel pipe over his shoulder from the corner.
"Time to have a real chat with those Axe Faction fuckers."