Making Accomplices 4
"Hey, you lot! Get up!"
"Clean! Get the mop!"
The hideout of Korea's worst villains was transforming into a bizarre workspace.
"Careful! There! That's a limited-edition box! Drop it, and your head's next!"
Adel von Kryber was wielding her magic wand like a conductor's baton, playing foreman to the hilt.
Doki, the action captain with a broken nose and swollen-shut eyes, was sweating bullets more than anyone as he hauled display cases. Criminals who'd made careers out of murder and torture were now dusting figurines and assembling shelves.
"Hey, Assistant No. 3! The angle's off! Dessoir's tail has to be at exactly 45 degrees to catch the light right! No sense of aesthetics? Do it again!"
"S-sorry! I'll fix it!"
Doki wanted to cry. Getting beaten by Lee Han had been preferable. That purple-haired woman was the real deal. She looked just like a mad scientist who'd smile while grinding people into paste.
I lounged on the guild master's former throne-like sofa, munching the last pizza crust, watching the scene with satisfaction.
People really need to learn a skill or two.
Adel's eyes had lit up the moment she saw the setup here. She'd been scared at first, but spotting the torture devices and illegal magic gadgets flipped her switch 180 degrees.
She headed straight for Zone 3 in the abandoned factory basement—the old "Room of Truth" for interrogating hunters.
—ZZZT! CRUNCH!—
Blue sparks flew every time Adel swung the wrench.
"Kyaaah! Check the output!! This is it! This is the stuff!"
In front of her lay the dismantled A-rank mana generator, the Red Skull gang's prized possession.
"Assistant No. 2! That mana circuit—bend it 3 degrees left! Or it'll blow!"
"Miss Adel... when do we eat...?"
Assistant No. 2—the former Red Skull guild master himself—ventured timidly. Once the king of the back alleys, now he was an electrician stringing LEDs for Adel's figurine shelves.
"Eat? Food? With this beautiful equation right in front of you?"
Adel fixed him with her hollow-eyed stare.
"If you've got time to eat, grind more magistones! Finish this golem engine by tonight, or I'll rip out your brains and use 'em as CPUs instead!"
"Gaaah! Right away! We'll grind!"
The villains scattered with screams. Adel no longer looked like a kidnapped victim. This was her perfect playground: a lab to feed her research and otaku obsessions, with a truckload of slaves at her command. A fish in water.
"Lee Han! Lee Han! Jackpot here! They stole some A-rank magistones too! Run circuits off these, and computation speed jumps tenfold!"
Adel bounded over, stolen stones in hand, beaming innocently. I wiped pizza sauce from my mouth and asked,
"Didn't you wanna go home? Said to send you back?"
"Home? What's that? This is home. I'm burying my bones here. Library curator's office? Too cramped."
She was already hooked on her new research-slash-figurine room, raided from Red Skull's vault. Seeing her satisfied grin, I pulled out my smartphone.
The world, as expected, was twisting everything into a massive, hilarious mess.
Just heard from a guy who escaped Red Skull (through the bathroom window). Situation's extremely serious.
Lee Han shows up with Adel, takes down the whole guild. But doesn't kill 'em—lets 'em live. What does that mean? He's not hiding; he's building an army.
Red Skull's infamous for brutality, and he's making them his minions? Lee Han's aiming to be the demon king or something.
More shocking: Adel. Wandering around the torture gear going, "This could be modded useful," grinning like a maniac. Escapee said Adel's eyes were scarier than Lee Han's.
Not kidnapping— they're partners plotting world conquest. Academic consensus.
I shut off the screen after scanning the comments. The world saw me as the head of a massive crime syndicate, Adel as a fallen witch. Reality? Just a building manager serving a figurine otaku.
Still, the misunderstanding was useful. The more infamous I got, the more enraged and frantic Isha would become. Until she powered up enough to come kill me. I'd gladly play public enemy.
—Thud thud—
Adel came bounding back triumphantly, holding something aloft. A soccer-ball-sized metal orb, its surface glowing with eerie red runes.
"Check this. Dessoir's Wrath ver 1.0. Took Red Skull's shaped charges and mixed in my mana backlash formula."
"Ho ho."
"One of these wipes a 1km radius clean. Unique mana signature—no tracking. And the explosion? Purple flames! Pretty, right?"
I took the orb. Heavy. Strategic weapon-grade artifact.
"Excellent. My partner's the best."
"Hehe. Right? I did good? Gimme a raise then. Short on figurine funds."
"Performance bonus. Pack up."
"Huh? Already? I just set up my figurines! Lights aren't even done!"
"Time to make money. Big money. Not for lights—for a whole figurine museum."
"...What? As expected of Lee Han. Think big."
I spread an old map from Red Skull's safe on the table.
Time to lay the groundwork for serious cash.
Circled a spot in red pen.
"Eh? Right in central Seoul?"
"Yep. Hell Gate opens there."
"Hell Gate?"
The place that became the grave of countless rankers in my past life. Where Isha tasted her first defeat and despaired. I'd save the damsel in distress there, load her with guilt.
"No time. Squeeze the crew harder."
"Lee Han, leave it to me."
I set the orb on the desk; Adel headed out to handle her task.
Western Branch Interrogation Room
—Bang!
"Spit it out!"
"......"
"Gonna hold out to the end, huh?"
"Only to the Saintess."
Black Moon 3rd Branch Chief Viper Park Cheol-woo stonewalled.
—Knock knock
"Saintess has arrived."
"Hmph. Deal with you later."
The investigator left; an overwhelming presence flooded in.
"What an honor. Seeing the Saintess up close like this—should I thank Lee Han?"
The paladin sat wordlessly across from Park Cheol-woo. Isha von Estelle, her white hair framing a frost-like chill.
"Good call delaying your interrogation. Lets me etch that filthy mug deeper in memory."
"Lee Han—"
"I ask."
Her low voice chilled the air. The killing intent froze the room.
"You answer."
"Lee Han and Adel von Kryber. What'd they take?"
"M-money, magistones."
"That's it? What're you trash plotting with Lee Han?"
"P-plotting?"
Isha tossed photos from her pocket. Lee Han and Adel hijacking the hearse with Red Skull.
"Talks with you soured, so they went to your rivals, Red Skull."
Park Cheol-woo couldn't hold back a hollow laugh. Blood seeped from his split lip.
"You won't believe it, Saintess, but we got hunted."
"......"
"His eyes weren't human. A dragon looked down on us."
Terror gripped his eyes, reliving the nightmare.
"That mage bitch... she was smiling. Raiding our vault, muttering 'What should I blow up with this?' grinning like a psycho!"
Isha clenched her fist.
Smiling?
Adel. The genius grand mage she'd believed would shape the empire's future with her. Testifying she'd raided a criminal den with mass murderer Lee Han, laughing in ecstasy.
"Reason I wanted to see you, Saintess: They're aiming big. Gate opening soon—right in central Seoul."
Isha bit her lip.
Bigger? Another gate?
Worst scenario flashed: Lee Han rallying villains with Dragon Heart power, using Adel's magitech for an artificial gate break in Seoul's heart.
"Insane. Both of 'em snapped."
Isha shot up, storming out. Her cloak whipped wildly.
"Estelle Knights! Full assembly! Target: Seoul City Hall Square!"
Outside Seocho Branch interrogation building right now. Isha comes out after grilling Park Cheol-woo, face like 'Gonna purge all evil.'
Reporter shoves mic: "They're gonna end Seoul if we don't stop 'em." Then helicopters off.
What the hell's Lee Han plotting? Rumors: Ate Red Skull, stripped Black Moon, seduced Adel into strategic weapons. Demon king descent fr?
"Fun times."
Tracking the buzz, I charged my phone. World pegged me as demon king reviver, Adel as mad scientist. Half wrong, half right.
"Ready?"
"Done! Perfect!"
Adel thumbs-upped, face smudged with soot. Behind her loomed a grotesquely modded van.
"Ride this, even gramps Isha couldn't catch us. Zero-to-sixty in 0.1 seconds."
"Why the self-destruct?"
"It's romantic! Hit the button on escape—boom! How cool!"
Adel's eyes glazed in bliss. No wonder Isha was paranoid.
"Let's roll. Hop in."