Hide and Seek (5)
11:49 p.m.
Midnight was almost here. The appointed hour to meet Quarter was drawing near.
There were a few reasons we hadn’t rushed straight into it.
First, I’d waited for Jeon Su-bin’s wounds to heal a little. Second, I’d made preparations in advance before meeting Quarter. And last of all……
The wind howled softly as I looked out over the blue grassland.
If we fight here, ordinary civilians won’t get caught in the crossfire.
Saebyul Oreum was the battlefield Quarter and I had agreed on. It was one of Jeju Island’s most beautiful tourist spots.
Ryu Su-hon’s voice crackled through the radio. “Everyone stay in your positions and don’t let your guard down. Understood?”
Quarter was a villain the whole country had its eye on. Using his authority as a prosecutor, Ryu Su-hon had requested support from the Jeju police.
After Gyeongso Daejeon, the police—who’d taken a mountain of abuse from the public—had reorganized their chain of command. South Korea’s law enforcement apparatus was slowly trying to clean itself up.
Thanks to that, a large force could be deployed for the operation to capture Quarter.
“Any unusual activity?”
“Nothing around the entrance to Saebyul Oreum.”
“Nothing here either.”
One after another, the police officers hidden around Saebyul Oreum reported in.
Though calling it “hidden” was generous; they were practically out in the open. The terrain of an oreum left nowhere to hide, with its wide, unobstructed view.
Quarter definitely knows that too.
He knew just how many people had gathered to bring him down.
Someone was walking toward us from far away.
It wasn’t Quarter.
A short man with kind eyes.
Harbang, the only surviving executive of the Dark Alliance, had gone out on reconnaissance in search of Quarter.
He rolled one shoulder. “I checked a few places, but I didn’t see so much as his shadow.”
Standing at the summit of Saebyul Oreum, I checked my wristwatch.
11:51 p.m.
Bang Su-hwan, standing to my left, asked, “Hyung-nim. He didn’t run, did he?”
It was possible.
He might have gotten scared by the net tightening around him and fled.
“We’ve still got time. Let’s wait.”
“Yes, sir. Hyung-nim.”
Harbang clamped his mouth shut. The tension on his face was obvious.
Over the past while, he’d spent his life running from Quarter, escaping death more than once.
If he hadn’t had the ability to manipulate dimensions, he’d probably have been killed long ago.
Out of nowhere, I found myself curious.
What exactly was Quarter’s ability?
“Harbang. What’s Quarter’s talent?”
“Hell if I know. I really have no idea.”
A talent was each Awakened’s unique trait. Unless they said it themselves, it was hard to pin down exactly.
Still……
“Going by the way he fights, I’d guess……”
Harbang rubbed his chin and narrowed his brow.
“He might have more than one talent.”
I only had one talent: Purchase. I could buy hero powers with my Awakener’s Balance.
But there were also people who possessed several talents at once.
So-called multi-talent Awakened.
Harbang went on. “Every time Quarter met me, he pulled out some new attribute. Sometimes he used fire. Sometimes ice. Once, he even used poison.”
If what Harbang said was true, then Quarter was very likely a multi-talent Awakened.
If not, then……
There’s another possibility.
For example……
“Ah. I’m hungry.”
Someone called out loudly.
It was Jeon Su-bin, standing to my right.
Captured as a hostage, she wore mana-suppressing handcuffs, and Ha Se-na stood guard beside her.
From the start, Jeon Su-bin didn’t look like she had any intention of running.
“Can’t we just eat something while we wait? I’m craving something sweet.”
She let her shoulders slump.
“Ahh. When’s the boss going to show up?”
Jeon Su-bin yawned and kept talking as if this were all a picnic.
I met her eyes.
“You really believe Quarter will come?”
“Of course. Boss is the kind of man who does what he says.”
Odd words.
We’d used Jeon Su-bin as bait to lure Quarter here. In exchange for releasing her, he had agreed to surrender without resistance.
Does what he says, huh. What’s that supposed to mean?
“You mean he’ll break through everyone’s dragnet here and escape?”
She grinned, lifting the corners of her mouth. “Heh. I can’t tell you that. I’m on the same side as Boss, after all.”
Fool’s hope.
If he were only dealing with regular police, he might have had a chance.
Quarter was an S+ ranked villain. Alone, he could take on a hundred men. No—probably a thousand, and it still wouldn’t matter.
But there was me, Ha Se-na, and Bang Su-hwan.
And Harbang, waiting in reserve.
To subdue everyone and save Jeon Su-bin would be madness.
“Oh, right.”
Jeon Su-bin lightly nudged my shoulder.
“You didn’t forget the promise you made to me, did you?”
She had begged me not to kill Quarter.
I’d be happy if I could keep that promise.
“I never made that promise.”
“Tch. Cold.”
11:59 p.m.
Quarter still hadn’t shown himself.
In the silence, the second hand ticked on and on.
And when the clock was just about to strike twelve, a burst of static ripped through the radio.
“Ghk!”
Someone screamed.
Several gunshots rang out into the sky.
By the sound of it……
It’s the entrance.
“Aaaagh!!”
“H-here! An assailant has appeared!”
Even though it happened without warning, I didn’t panic.
The same situation as before.
They were following the same pattern as last time—attacking the weaker side first.
If it’s an assailant……
Then it had to be one of the remaining New Dark executives.
All of them were top-tier Awakened, so ordinary police officers wouldn’t stand a chance.
But the problem was……
Ryu Su-hon is at the entrance.
Even if only to protect him, I had to move now.
Of course, I wasn’t going myself.
I nodded toward Harbang.
“Got it.”
Harbang drew his dagger and sliced the air.
Light leaked out of the void, and a dimensional gate opened.
Three times a day, that was it. A technique that let him move through space like teleportation.
Harbang shoved his body into the opening and disappeared.
No matter how much of a New Dark executive the enemy was, they’d have a hard time dealing with an S-rank like Harbang.
Almost immediately, Harbang’s voice came through the radio.
“Yep. It’s one of those New Dark bastards. I’ll handle it.”
Right after that, the sharp sounds of combat began to crackle through the radio.
Then what about Quarter?
Was he hiding again, sending only his underling?
Was his promise to save Jeon Su-bin nothing but a bluff?
Had the bastard put his own safety first……
That was when it happened.
Someone stepped out of the darkness.
A man with curly hair and an especially fierce gaze.
There he is.
Bang Su-hwan crouched low in a hurry and grabbed his shield.
It wasn’t really a battle stance so much as a reflex—his body shrinking back instinctively under the oppressive aura rolling off Quarter.
“Boss!”
Jeon Su-bin brightened and rushed forward.
Ha Se-na seized her hard.
“Stay still!”
“Ow. That hurts.”
Even with Quarter standing there, Ha Se-na kept her attention on Jeon Su-bin.
I walked forward alone.
Under the moonlight, I faced Quarter.
“So we finally meet.”
Quarter looked utterly calm.
For all the mana pouring off him, he didn’t show the faintest hint of murderous intent.
“Choi Yongki.”
Quarter spoke.
“Why are you so fixated on me? I don’t believe we have any personal grudge.”
That was true enough.
It was true that I didn’t have warm feelings toward villains.
But I wasn’t so far gone that I wanted to erase every villain in the world.
That is, unless it involved my brother.
“Maybe you don’t know it, but you might’ve given me a reason to hate you without realizing it.”
Quarter tilted his head, looking genuinely baffled.
Perfect.
I was about to ask the question I’d been curious about for a long time.
“If, hypothetically, you were to turn a train upside down—why would you do it?”
I already knew.
The continuity of time was completely different. Quarter’s train incident would happen much later.
“Hmm.”
Even though the question was abrupt, Quarter lowered his eyes and thought it over.
“There’d have to be a reason for it. Like justice, maybe.”
So it was that justice crap again.
“Then what’s your justice?”
Quarter raised his head and stared at me.
“Order and control.”
I let out a dry laugh.
“Not exactly something a guy who breaks the law and goes on serial killings should be saying.”
“That’s not what I mean.”
Quarter pushed back.
“All humans are evil. Evil is bound to emerge on this earth. Eradicating evil is impossible. Punishing and judging every last bit of it is impossible too. So what are we supposed to do?”
Quarter, laying out his argument, sounded more serious than ever.
“I chose not to eliminate evil, but to control it. To stand at the pinnacle of evil and point it in the direction it should go. That is what I pursue.”
That sounded pretty convincing.
And ironically……
His thinking is a little like mine.
The one who put on a purple mask, became a hero, and judged evil.
And the one who was willing to become evil himself, standing at the center of it all.
Just how wide was the gap between us, really?
“So you’re saying you’ll kill anyone who doesn’t fit your standards. Is that it?”
“It can’t be helped. Destruction and construction always demand sacrifice.”
Just a little.
My heart wavered.
Like Jeon Su-bin, who had been kidnapped as a child and spent a miserable life in a brothel, maybe Quarter had a similar story of his own.
I gritted my teeth.
Don’t make me laugh.
It was hard enough to build a conviction.
Keeping it was even harder.
Heroes and villains were fundamentally different.
Everyone had a story.
That was all.
The plan didn’t change.
I’ll catch Quarter.
“Keep that crude little social-Darwinist philosophy you picked up somewhere and rot over it in prison.”
I took a pair of handcuffs from my pocket.
“Hold out your arms.”
“…….”
Without a word, Quarter held both hands out.
That easy?
He didn’t look like he had any intention of resisting or fighting back.
Or is he looking down on me?
Then I quietly shook my head.
It’s not that big a gap.
No matter how strong he was, Quarter wasn’t a dragon.
If I wanted to, I could still make the first move.
Don’t get careless.
I lifted the handcuffs.
“I have one request.”
Quarter spoke.
“What is it?”
Quarter’s gaze drifted past me, to my back.
“I’d like to say goodbye to Jeon Su-bin.”
If Quarter were to stand trial, the sentence would be severe.
At the very least, life imprisonment.
The maximum would be death.
Maybe today really would be the last time Jeon Su-bin saw him.
“Fine. Don’t try anything stupid.”
I nodded toward Ha Se-na.
Ha Se-na removed Jeon Su-bin’s handcuffs.
“Boss!!!”
With a bright smile, Jeon Su-bin ran toward him with both arms spread wide.
Quarter pulled her into a tight embrace.
From a distance, they looked almost like a pair of affectionate lovers.
“Boss! It’s been forever, hasn’t it? You missed me, right? You didn’t miss me?”
Jeon Su-bin chattered away.
“You’re not really going to surrender, are you? Wouldn’t it be better to just use your power and…….”
She stopped mid-sentence.
Slash!
In an instant, Jeon Su-bin’s body was torn into four pieces.
Her upper and lower halves separated and rolled across the dirt.
Everyone froze.
Not even the slightest breath could be heard.
Only after a beat did I understand what had happened.
Quarter flicked blood from his fingers.
“Sorry, Su-bin. Can’t be helped. You’d just be in the way of what I’m trying to do.”
He’d said the same thing before.
Can’t be helped.
Quarter was the kind of man who would stop at nothing—method or means—to pursue the justice and conviction he believed in.
Jeon Su-bin collapsed on the grass and never closed her eyes again.
Her wide-open gaze fixed on me.
Her words brushed past my ear.
You didn’t forget the promise you made to me, did you?
Quarter had killed Jeon Su-bin.
And yet Jeon Su-bin had tried to protect Quarter until the very end.
Something foul surged up my throat.
“You…….”
I forced mana out of my body with all the strength I had left.
My promise to spare him meant nothing anymore.
Staring Quarter down, I slowly opened my lips.
“I’m going to kill you. No matter what.”