7. Security Dispatch Mission (4)
‘3rd-level alert status?’
3rd-level alert status was not mere caution. It was a warning, like a rain icon on a weather forecast. The probability of a villain’s attack was extremely high.
The security hunters stationed in the park immediately changed their movements. They began to bustle about, scanning their surroundings without a moment’s rest.
“If it’s 3rd level, the surveillance system must have predicted the villain’s attack,”
Yuri’s words were correct. The abnormal movements of the high-priority awakened individuals had been detected.
The performance venue in the park remained peaceful, yet somewhere in this place a villain was hiding.
‘What was their purpose…?’
Defined as a desire-based mental contamination, the villains’ motives varied as wildly as human desires. Those already corrupted by desire-based mental contamination were no different from addicts of abnormal lust.
In other words, there was no telling what they might do.
“Of all the places, this one is the worst. With so many people here…”
As Yuri had said, if a terrorist attack occurred, the loss of life would be inevitable.
The air around them grew noticeably colder. Yuri, the cryomancer, had heightened the awakened senses of everyone present.
And the hunters moving busily around them were no exception.
‘The hunters here… their list is…?’
Of course, the Association’s surveillance center did not publicly disclose detailed information about them. The risk of a villain hacking the data was too high.
‘But Team Leader Seo and I already know.’
Real-time, Team Leader Seo had the number and ranks of the hunters assigned here. And I had personally confirmed their faces with my own eyes.
I could not recognize every face of the B-rank and lower ordinary hunters, but at least for A-rank and above, I had memorized them all before joining Flame.
Just in case something happened at any moment. And just in case they were villains’ collaborators.
Ordinary hunters would not go that far, but I had memorized every face and profile in my head.
‘A-rank hunter. It looks like Choi Shinwoo is the on-site commander.’
Unlike the flashy corporate hunters who were celebrities to the public, Association hunters were civil servants. They preferred to handle matters quietly, so many of them were unknown even to other hunters.
Moreover, the Association’s hunter ranks felt quite different from those of private guilds. Hunter rank evaluation was not based on awakened level but solely on performance.
‘Association hunters who quietly handled villain duties would naturally be underestimated.’
I recalled Choi Shinwoo’s profile in my mind. Seoul, the most densely populated city in South Korea, was where he frequently took on villain missions despite his skill.
His relationship with Flame was ordinary, and he was a meticulous, rule-following personality when it came to work.
‘Choi Shinwoo has given the order.’
If he was the person in charge, I could at least feel some relief. Even if we ended up working together.
And as the alert status rose, a wireless line opened not only to the Association’s security hunters but also to the cooperating hunters nearby.
[Attention all security hunters and patrol cooperators. A wanted villain has been confirmed hiding in this area. Please move immediately to the designated points.]
So the uniformed hunters moved to their assigned positions with precision. The placement was excellent, eliminating blind spots.
“The deployment is complete in no time. The positions are well chosen. The on-site commander seems to be handling things quite well,”
I nodded at Yuri’s words. A moment later, Team Leader Seo relayed the information sent from the surveillance center through my in-ear comm.
“A stalker villain?”
Yuri’s expression showed clear surprise. A wanted C-rank, and among them, the notorious stalker who obsessively followed female idols.
“Not a terrorist, just a wanted criminal. Still, as an awakened, we have to be careful about what they might do.”
However, Yuri’s voice sounded somewhat relieved. To her, this was just a low-rank wanted criminal after facing higher threats.
It seemed the villain’s trail had led here. I casually observed the security hunters’ reactions.
‘Everyone seems relieved. The tension has eased.’
A wanted C-rank, and their awakened ability was also C-rank or lower. It made sense. But I could not relax.
I checked the stalker villain’s criminal record provided by the surveillance center. From E-rank wanted to C-rank, the villain had climbed the ranks extremely quickly.
At first, paparazzi activities. Then breaking into a residence. Later, even kidnapping attempts. There had been reasons for each escalation.
‘Desire-based mental contamination is like drugs. The threshold for pleasure keeps rising.’
Just as drug addicts develop tolerance and need higher doses, villains controlled by desire-based mental contamination behaved the same way.
‘This is dangerous. No matter how low their awakened ability, they climbed two ranks in such a short time.’
I might be overly worried about a pyramid villain, but I trusted my instincts.
“Guild Master! Move to the stage quickly!”
“Stage? Understood!”
And despite the sudden command, Yuri moved without the slightest hesitation or question.
***
[Who is that woman? Stop her right now!]
Through the security hunters’ in-ear comm line, a transmission came in. The hunters looked startled as they watched Yuri hurry toward the stage.
I immediately responded to the line.
[Flame Guild. Hunter Yuri Tarkovskaya speaking. Do not stop her!]
[Flame? Even so, we are responsible here as Association hunters! Do not intrude arbitrarily! The villain hasn’t appeared yet, what are you—]
A hunter on the line pushed back against my words. I immediately countered.
[Yuri Tarkovskaya is an S-rank hunter. She has the right to intervene on-site, so there is no problem under hunter law.]
[S-rank hunter? How can such a young girl—]
Yuri was in disguise, so she had been unrecognizable at first. But soon another hunter spoke in a calm voice. It was Choi Shinwoo, the security manager here.
[I checked the line code. It’s Flame. And the intervention privilege—]
Even compared to other hunters, the proof of superior ability was S-rank.
‘Meaning they had accumulated that much performance.’
That was why they granted them special rights on-site like this. It was the intervention privilege.
But even an S-rank hunter jumping into the fray like Yuri, a young woman, could be unwelcome to conservative hunters.
[If it’s Yuri Tarkovskaya, she’s definitely an S-rank hunter. For now, don’t interfere with her and watch.]
However, with those words from Choi Shinwoo, the hunters fell silent. It seemed he commanded considerable trust from the Association hunters, and even from the other hunters who had come to support them.
And I felt the security hunters’ gazes turning toward me. Since we shared the line, my location information was also exposed.
‘Since I acted on my own, they’re probably complaining.’
But I accepted the gazes without concern and moved to the location.
The center of the crowd gathered by the audience. A place where the stage was clearly visible. I hurried there.
And my instincts proved correct. The moment the idol’s performance ended and applause and cheers erupted.
Simultaneously, when Yuri arrived on stage, the expected happened.
“Y-You… you’re going to die!! If I die with you… we’ll be together forever…!!!”
A staff member on stage lunged at one of the idols who had been greeting the audience. Then, from behind, he grabbed the idol’s body and pulled out a knife.
“Kyaaah!! S-Save me!!”
“L-Live with me… f-forever…”
The staff member shouted in a voice filled with madness and slurred speech. The typical words of a drug addict. And the words of a villain who could not control their desire-based mental contamination.
‘Dangerous. I don’t know what he might do.’
The line became extremely busy.
[Move to the stage quickly! And do not provoke that staff member, I mean the villain! Civilians are watching!]
Choi Shinwoo gave hurried instructions. But Yuri’s reaction was faster.
A hostage situation was unfolding in real time. Just before chaos broke out among the spectators who had witnessed the scene.
Yuri summoned an opaque ice wall that completely blocked the stage.
‘Phew. Good.’
Confusion, fear, terror—these negative emotions that occurred among ordinary people rapidly raised the atmospheric MCI.
And the mana mixed with those emotions evoked far stronger pleasure and addiction in the villains than drugs.
‘Doubtful Monster. So she too…’
The Tragedy of Eins. The students had fallen to the Doubtful Monster’s manipulations.
The students’ own rational judgments. And when they realized that those rational judgments had led to the worst outcome.
The despair that began with the students was so dark and strong that the MCI shot up to 100 in an instant.
The face of the Doubtful Monster, looking at the students with a face soaked in ecstasy, was still unforgettable.
‘No. That’s not the time to think about such things.’
Through the in-ear comm, the hunters’ conversations continued.
[That woman, no, Yuri Tarkovskaya stopped the villain!]
[Arrest the villain! And move all the people on stage to another place!]
Fortunately, it seemed Yuri had successfully handled the situation. Even as the massive ice wall remained in place, Yuri had suppressed the villain at the same time as the chant.
[As expected, S-rank hunters are different…]
[A villain who took a hostage in a single moment…]
Through the line, the casual words of other hunters reached me. At the same time, the alert status here dropped from 3rd level to 2nd level, caution.
‘Did the surveillance center judge there was no longer any threat?’
No. I had felt an instinctive unease even after stopping that villain.
Just like when facing the Doubtful Monster, just like in the Tragedy of Eins.
***
Through the line, the hunters’ conversations continued.
[We almost got it. If that idol taken hostage had died, the Association hunters’ reputation would…]
[Well, since it ended like this, it’s fortunate.]
[Enough gossip. Until further instructions for the event, we’ll wait here for a moment.]
So a kind of stalemate was reached. And Choi Shinwoo announced through the venue’s guidance broadcast.
“There was a brief commotion. But since the hunters suppressed it all, please do not worry and follow the subsequent guidance calmly. Until then, please wait here…”
Thanks to Yuri’s quick response, the citizens had not properly seen what had happened.
“Is this a safety event planned by the Hunter Association?”
“Maybe? It’s like a sudden civil defense drill, isn’t it?”
“Yeah, right. If a real villain appeared, it wouldn’t end so boringly.”
“Aww, too bad. If we had properly recorded this, it would be a YouTube hit.”
“The event continues, right? The next performers are my favorites…”
They laughed lightly and seemed relieved. I moved cautiously through the crowd, constantly checking my in-ear comm.
‘Something feels off. There’s more.’
The surveillance center had lowered the alert status, and the Association hunters seemed relieved. But my instincts kept shouting that it was not over.
I had the portable MCI oscilloscope I received as a reward from the last outing, still turned on and connected to my in-ear comm.
The waveform curve of the MCI moving constantly in my field of view. Around me were only ordinary citizens. The curve was almost perfectly flat, a normal line.
‘But there is noise.’
The oscilloscope manual clearly stated that noise existed, but it was different from that noise. My instincts whispered.
I had directly confirmed the difference between the noise and the mana when I had destroyed the black mist with Yuri earlier.
‘Hurry. Think without stopping. That difference.’
My head and eyes moved busily.
Villains. The awakened who had their mana hearts eroded by desire-based mental contamination definitely emitted mana with a waveform similar to monsters.
Of course, the waveform graph did not rise sharply like a monster’s, but during rehabilitation, I had analyzed countless graphs with Professor Chaerin.
I had to trust that experience and memory.
Perhaps even a high-level intelligence team or Team Leader Seo Duho could not distinguish, but with the sensitive senses from Ruby and the memorized villain waveform patterns burned into my memory.
And among the citizens, but subtly different from that noise. I focused on it. And finally, I was certain that the unease was not just my imagination.
‘A villain is hiding among the citizens.’
The place where the portable oscilloscope’s noise spiked the most. Not one person. I hurried toward the villain.
‘A villain who has completely hidden their appearance. Dangerous.’
The lower the villain’s rank, the more they could not suppress themselves and released more mana. If they were a villain who could not be distinguished from ordinary people, they were definitely A-rank or higher.
‘In a situation like now where everyone is relaxed, if they commit an act… the worst result would be…’
And they had surely prepared for it. A clumsy pyramid villain’s premature intrusion. But it had been easily suppressed.
At the moment when everything seemed to have ended and both citizens and hunters were relieved, it was the ideal time to cause terror.
That panic would bring far thicker confusion than the commotion earlier, granting pleasure to the villain.
I finally stood behind one person. And whispered quietly into their ear.
‘Don’t do anything foolish. Stay still. If you don’t want to live as a blind man for the rest of your life.’
At the same time, I summoned two fireballs right in front of the villain’s eyes.