Hide-and-Seek (1)
The meat sizzled appetizingly over the grill.
“Man, this meat is so chewy!”
Bang Su-hwan stuffed his mouth full and let out an admiring groan as he chewed.
This was a restaurant that served black pork barbecue, one of Jeju Island’s signature dishes.
We’d all gathered after safely finishing the mission in Manjanggul.
The group consisted of Prosecutor Ryu Su-hon, Detective Gong, Bang Su-hwan, Ha Se-na, and Harubang.
And me.
Harubang placed a piece of perfectly cooked meat onto Ha Se-na’s plate.
“So. You feel better now?”
“Yeah, Uncle.”
Ha Se-na nodded vigorously.
She looked a lot lighter than before.
Just recovering that iron box probably hadn’t been enough to overcome her trauma.
But she’d gathered her courage, stood on the very land of Jeju that had frightened her so badly, and then entered Manjanggul, where her brother’s old memories still lingered, searching for traces of him. Bit by bit, that had probably begun to heal the wound.
She’ll keep getting better from here.
Maybe.
Maybe the way to mend a wound of the mind wasn’t to look away from it, but to face it head-on.
Even if the process hurt like hell.
Then, suddenly, something popped up right in front of me.
“Here.”
I snapped out of my thoughts and turned my head.
Ha Se-na had wrapped a slice of pork in lettuce and held it out to me.
“Eat.”
“Sure.”
The lettuce wrap was packed with thick slices of pork, the fat mixed in just right.
Ha Se-na spoke again.
“Did I ever say thank you?”
“You did, earlier.”
“Right. Well, thanks again.”
She adjusted her posture and looked at me.
“This time, I’ll help you.”
Everything we needed to catch Quarter was finally in place.
Harubang, who had been listening quietly, cut in.
“I’ve got no reason not to help either. You said your name was Choi Yongki, right? Just tell me what you need.”
I set down my chopsticks.
Everyone stopped eating and looked at me.
“Tell me what Quarter looks like.”
Harubang was the only person who had ever actually come face-to-face with Quarter.
“Hm.”
Harubang rubbed his chin.
“He was pretty. Pale skin too. Almost white.”
Some said Quarter was a woman. Others said he was some nonhuman hybrid. Some claimed he was undead...
There had been nothing but rumors, because Quarter was that elusive.
Still, it felt like we were inching a little closer to him.
“Be more specific.”
“Tall, long arms and legs. More like a movie star or a model than a villain.”
It wasn’t enough to jump to conclusions.
If Quarter had some shapeshifting talent like Jo Jeong-hwan, then he could change his appearance however he wanted.
Still, it’s useful information.
Harubang pulled a pen from his pocket.
“He looked something like this.”
He spread out a napkin and sketched on it.
His drawing skills were truly astonishing.
Awful.
If I had to compare it to anything, it had a Picasso vibe.
The only thing I could really make out was that the hair was curly.
And—
Those eyes look pretty intense.
It was the kind of drawing a child might make, but oddly enough, it captured the defining features well enough.
I took out my phone and snapped a picture.
Maybe it would help the investigation if I shared it in the Justice Prosecutors Team group chat.
“What about his personality? Anything special, his manner of speech, anything at all.”
“His manner of speech, huh...”
Harubang picked up a cucumber and crunched into it.
He fixed his eyes on the ceiling and thought for a moment before suddenly exclaiming, “Ah!”
“He kept talking about justice. Everything was justice this, justice that, justice, justice, justice.”
Ryu Su-hon gave a faint, bitter smile.
In the past, Ryu Su-hon had concluded that his idea of justice only hurt other people.
So he had given up on pursuing justice altogether and become a materialistic man who chased money and power instead.
Harubang shrugged.
“That’s about all I know. The bastard was so terrifying that whenever I ran into him, I was too busy running away to learn anything else.”
That was enough.
It was time to move on.
“Good. Then let’s go with a sting operation. Harubang, are you okay with that?”
“What’s that?”
“We’re going to use you as bait.”
“Hmph. I figured that out ages ago. No need to make a big deal out of it. Sting-whatever, fine. Let’s do it.”
The proper term was sting operation.
It was what they called a police operation where officers used bait to catch a criminal.
“Like I said before, we’ll split into four teams. Let’s spread out and search north, south, east, and west.”
Jeju Island was divided into regions centered around Hallasan.
“Prosecutor Ryu Su-hon, you take the north—Jeju City. Su-hwan, you cover the south—Seogwipo City and Namwon-eup.”
“Yes, boss.”
“Detective Gong, you handle the west—Hallim and Daejeong. Ha Se-na, take the east—Gujwa and Seongsan.”
“Got it.”
Ryu Su-hon raised a hand slightly.
“Aren’t the north and west a little too weak?”
He wasn’t wrong.
Compared to the south and east, where awakened fighters were stationed, the northwest teams were made up of ordinary people.
“I’ll send Harubang’s people with them. That should be fine, right?”
“Do whatever you want. I’ll pick out some sharp, useful ones.”
The Dark Alliance was a group made up of awakeners.
That meant the northwestern areas had also been reinforced.
Using villains to catch a villain.
Fight fire with fire.
If we wanted to catch Quarter, this was no time to be picky.
“Last thing.”
I looked at Harubang.
Before I explained the core of the operation, there was something I needed to confirm.
“Are there any limits on your dimensional movement?”
Among awakeners, asking about someone else’s abilities was an unspoken taboo.
It could expose a fatal weakness.
Even so, this was something we absolutely had to address.
Harubang answered honestly.
“I can only move to places I’ve already been. But hey, I’ve been just about everywhere in Jeju, so this island’s basically my turf.”
That was also the reason he had survived Quarter at all.
Jeju was a small island, and yet it was wide enough that if an enemy kept changing locations every time you found him, it could become impossible to pin him down.
Good.
The more freely Harubang could move around, the higher our chances of success would be.
“But there is a limit on how many times I can do it. Three times a day. After that, I can’t move anymore. And I can’t go back to a place I’ve already visited, either.”
I frowned.
No matter how carefully you planned, variables always appeared.
There was no way to predict exactly how Harubang’s limitations would affect this operation.
Nothing for it.
All I could do was use my past life to sketch out a rough outline of the future.
I couldn’t know the details with one hundred percent certainty.
“Can you bring other people with you when you move?”
“One person. Exactly one person can go with me. Or, to put it another way, the passenger limit is two. I don’t actually have to be the one inside.”
I imagined Harubang’s ability in my head.
Then—
I set a carrot slice on the table.
“Let’s say this is the center of Jeju. Harubang, use a car whenever you can. Roam around north, south, east, and west.”
I traced a circle around the carrot with my chopsticks.
“And if you run into Quarter...”
I stabbed the carrot slice with the chopsticks.
“Bring him to me.”
“You really think he’ll come along quietly?”
“If you’re using dimensional movement with him as a companion instead of as someone you’re fleeing from, then he won’t have much of a choice.”
If he didn’t cooperate, I’d prepare a Plan B.
Harubang tilted his head.
“By the way, the center? Where exactly is that?”
Quarter was an S+ rank villain.
If he and I clashed head-on, there was no doubt the people around us would get dragged into it.
If I’m not careful, innocent civilians could get hurt.
I needed a safe place—somewhere sparsely populated, somewhere civilians wouldn’t be caught up even if a battle broke out.
Harubang caught on to what I was thinking.
“Don’t tell me...”
“That’s right.”
At 1,947 meters above sea level, it was the highest point in South Korea and located right here on Jeju.
“Hallasan.”
That would be the battlefield where Quarter and I settled things.
* * *
The next day, the sting operation went smoothly.
“This is north Jeju City. No problems.”
Ryu Su-hon relayed the situation through the phone that allowed group calls.
“The east is clear too.”
That was Ha Se-na.
“North here—wait, ah! Boss...!”
Bang Su-hwan’s voice made everyone tense up.
Ha Se-na shouted urgently, “What is it?”
“There’s omegi rice cake for sale over there. Can I go grab one and come back?”
“...”
The silent Ha Se-na finally exploded.
“You fat bastard! How long has it been since you ate!”
“Come on. This is a snack.”
Ryu Su-hon let out a long sigh.
“Hah. My heart nearly dropped out of my chest.”
Once we’d entered the actual mission, everyone’s nerves had sharpened.
I had plenty of experience at this point, thanks to everything I’d been through.
What I’d learned from the Dirty Kraken was simple.
Don’t get impatient. Don’t rush.
I had to wait calmly until the enemy walked into the trap.
If I let myself get hasty, I’d ruin everything.
This was a battle of pursuit and evasion.
My war with Quarter was going to be a long contest of patience.
I brought the phone to my mouth.
“Eat your omegi rice cake. Eat whatever you want. Just don’t go starving yourself.”
“Ha! Thanks, boss. I’ll even buy some for you.”
A yawn drifted through the receiver.
“Haaahm! I’m dead tired.”
Wind, mixed with the sound of a horn, crackled through the line.
Harubang was moving in a car.
“Report.”
“Heading west right now. Over.”
I tightened my grip on the phone.
“Hm?”
Come to think of it, the west had gone quiet.
“Is Hallim still all right?”
Silence settled heavily.
That was the west...
The side where Detective Gong is.
The moment I opened my mouth to ask again—
“Kyaaaagh!!!”
The scream slammed into my eardrums.
“H-help me!”
An ominous chill ran down my spine.
“What happened?”
“H-he’s here! He’s here!!”
I was on the slope of Hallasan.
Jeju Island covered about 1,849 square kilometers.
Even if I ran as fast as possible, it would still take more than an hour to reach the west.
Should I use Speeder’s power?
I immediately shook my head.
Infinite Acceleration cost ten million won per kilometer.
If I ran all the way to the west, I’d burn through a massive chunk of my Awakener’s Balance.
No. It’s fine.
There were plenty of other options.
“Harubang.”
“Already on it.”
Over the green grassland, a line was drawn across the air.
The boundary split apart smoothly, like someone slicing through a giant pane of glass.
Space opened at the fingertips of the dimensional mage.
And Harubang appeared from it.
It had happened in the blink of an eye.
Harubang had definitely been in the car a second ago.
Now he had reached the middle of Hallasan in an instant.
“Hurry up!”
“I’m already going.”
Harubang raised the hand holding his dagger.
Faint light gathered at the tip of the blade.
The air trembled, and a new space opened from top to bottom.
Harubang waved at me.
“This way!”
I jumped into the opening with him.
A strange sensation seized my whole body.
It felt like being buried inside a giant jelly.
A soft, sticky sensation swirled all around me.
“Ghk!”
“Just hold on.”
Harubang grabbed me before I could lose my balance.
Then, a blinding white light appeared.
And just like that, the space opened and spit us back out on the other side.
The sea stretched out before us on the horizon.
This is...
Judging by the location, we were at the far western edge of Jeju.
Harubang muttered, “Yeongal Beach.”
I looked around.
“Ugh.”
“Ghh...”
Sturdy men lay sprawled on the ground, bleeding.
They were all from our side—the Dark Alliance.
Beside me, I heard Harubang grind his teeth.
“That son of a bitch...”
He was furious that someone had touched his subordinates—his little brothers.
Fortunately, Detective Gong was unharmed.
He ran toward me.
“Those bastards suddenly popped out and attacked us.”
He pointed somewhere.
On top of the basalt rocks stood four people.
One woman, three men.
They hadn’t gone after Harubang directly. Instead, they’d struck the weakest point first.
They’d gotten the jump on us.
Doesn’t matter.
Wasn’t this exactly what I wanted?
It was finally time to strike back.
“Which one of you...”
I drew White Revenge from my thigh.
“Is Quarter?”