[What's life anyway, just living as it goes]
[What's life anyway, just living as it goes]
Raccoon Man.
A mysterious figure, or perhaps a superhero, who appeared during the Yeongdeungpo Department Store fire incident.
His trail of actions began with that incident, followed by the Haeundae Enemy Species attack, the Sindorim Enemy Species appearance, the serial elementary school student kidnapping case, the clash with Thousand Swords Lee Gyeong-jin, and a fight with the Japanese Master-class User Hibiki—an event not well known to the public—among other large and small incidents he has interfered in.
His estimated combat power was initially judged to be below that of a Master-class User, but following his battles with Hibiki and Lee Gyeong-jin, his estimated power level has risen to the point where he is considered to be in the upper tier of Master-class Users.
He is elusive, but it is judged that his base of operations is in Seoul, specifically in Gangbuk, though no further information could be found.
However, there is one uncertain piece of information: that he is a married man. Since he said it in passing at the end of his interview in Busan, it is unclear whether that was a metaphor or a fact.
"The name Raccoon Man is just an internet meme, but his estimated combat power is immense. Furthermore, since he hasn't been assessed as a full-scale threat, it wouldn't be strange for him to aim for the top tier of Master-class Users."
"Is tracking possible?"
"For now, there are a few suspects."
Raccoon Man Countermeasure Team.
An organization created to catch him as he hides his identity and interferes in large and small incidents. Although under the KFU, it was created with government support, including Force Users from the National Intelligence Service, so it possessed quite excellent intelligence capabilities.
"His face is covered, and he moves into blind spots on CCTV, so there's no special info. His outward appearance is so ordinary that there's almost no information to be gained."
"Are you saying you found nothing?"
"No. There was one incident that allows us to infer Raccoon Man's identity. Please look at page 7 of the distributed materials."
At the man's words, the people in the conference room flipped through the materials in front of them.
It was data regarding the serial kidnapping and murder case of elementary school students.
"As stated there, according to the children's testimonies, Raccoon Man appeared and saved them."
"But what is this? It says the kidnapper wasn't an Enemy Species, but something that wasn't human either?"
"That's not our jurisdiction, so let's skip it. Isn't the important thing whether it's a raccoon or whatever?"
"It's being investigated by the police anyway, so let's just do our job."
The man who was presenting continued speaking.
"The point to note here is that while this incident has been going on for nearly a month, Raccoon Man didn't appear at the beginning, but only after the fourth victim appeared. Or, to put it differently, he appeared because the fourth victim was created."
"Huh?"
They aren't fools either. A detective finding all the evidence and the culprit is a cartoonish allowance. In reality, state organizations aren't that incompetent.
Since it's a place where only elites are gathered, they can fully perform their roles unless there is collusion or corruption.
"The first victim was murdered, but the second and third victims were kidnapped and kept relatively safe. However, Raccoon Man, who hadn't appeared for a week after the third victim was kidnapped, moved immediately once the fourth victim appeared."
"Then, that fourth victim?"
"It's on the very next page."
They flip the document and look at the next page. It contained a photo of Sion and her brief personal details.
"Name Choi Sion. Age 24....... 24? Wait, with this appearance?"
"Born in the US, went to Germany for treatment due to illness. Then, fully recovered 2 years ago and made some fun money with stocks."
"Calling it 'fun money' is an understatement; her business acumen is outstanding. There isn't a major conglomerate in the country that hasn't received her investment, and she has wide connections. This is just what we've grasped domestically; overseas, it's unimaginable."
"......Is she involved in anything illegal?"
"No, she's an extremely honest businesswoman. I even asked a friend in the tax office because I was suspicious... not only is there no tax evasion, there isn't even tax avoidance. She paid taxes she didn't even have to, and after applying for immigration, she paid every single penny of income tax related to bringing in overseas funds. She's so clean that I almost want to give her an award."
"Is it to that extent?"
"Yes, they said if you tried to do anything regarding her taxes, you could get sued for false accusation. It's almost like a computer paid the taxes."
Honestly, she's half-computer.
"Anyway, Raccoon Man moved immediately after Choi Sion was kidnapped. There's enough logic to consider a connection. And as you can see from her personal details, she is married."
"With this appearance?"
"Regardless of the husband's tastes, his personal details are right below."
Right below Sion were Choi Ak's personal details.
22 years old, 2 years younger than Sion. Orphanage background due to the Great Depression. Normal school life, military service, discharged early this year.
There are no special notes. It's just unique that he married Sion a few months after being discharged.
"Can young people these days get married this early? Well, if the woman has money, he can just be a kept man, so it shouldn't be a problem......."
"If he's a Force User, there should be at least one suspicious incident, but this is clean?"
"His student record is good too. I thought he might have been a bully because of his rough impression, but it seems his teachers viewed him favorably?"
Few people messed with Choi Ak in school. Those who did were retaliated against, disguised as accidents, but no one died.
Thanks to that, he isn't suspected. His school attitude was good, if anything.
He didn't even have a single common fistfight in his school days. It's so clean it's suspicious.
"Physical features like build match Raccoon Man. If he really is Raccoon Man, then the story that he contacted her after Choi Sion was kidnapped and came to rescue her immediately gains enough credibility."
They were close to the truth.
Sion had been destroying evidence, so it had been fine until now, but the kidnapping case was too blatant. Sion had silenced the police, but if they didn't do something about the Countermeasure Team, it was only a matter of time before they tracked them down.
"Hmm."
"There's a possibility. Since he's an unregistered Force User, it makes sense he's a civilian."
However, someone quietly put forward their opinion.
"Is it okay to be sure when it's this blatant? There's circumstantial evidence, but...... what about the most important physical evidence?"
".......There is no physical evidence yet."
"Is that so? Hmm, is there not even one thing caught on CCTV?"
"We are still investigating, but yes, that's correct."
"In the end, it's just an estimation, isn't it?"
If you start doubting, there's no end to it. They knew that, so they were deep in thought.
"And there is one problem here."
"What is it?"
"What are the odds that the person the kidnapper abducted just happened to be Raccoon Man's wife?"
"Ah......"
There were three elementary schools in the area where the kidnapper was active, and the number of female elementary school students reached hundreds. What are the odds that he kidnapped Sion, who happens to be Raccoon Man's wife, out of all of them? Even thinking simply, it's one in hundreds.
"We don't rely on coincidence or luck. The probability of him kidnapping her out of all those children is low. If that actually happened, fate must be playing a prank."
"That makes sense too, but....."
"It's more likely that Raccoon Man witnessed the fourth victim being created and intervened."
Between the possibility that the kidnapper happened to abduct the wife of a superhero, and the hypothesis that a superhero witnessed the kidnapping process and pursued them, the latter is more likely.
"But I think your opinion also has some possibility. Since there's circumstantial evidence, I don't think it's bad to investigate."
"Shall we tail him?"
"If he's really Raccoon Man, he'll notice if we tail him. Let's monitor him with wiretaps or drones first. If this Choi Ak is really Raccoon Man, he'll definitely leak some evidence."
"That's good. Let's do that."
Having discovered a strong suspect and decided on the investigation method, the meeting ended.
The others left the conference room to do their own work...... and among them, one man, who had voiced a dissenting opinion, quietly moved to a place where there were no people.
And he made a call somewhere.
"Yes, I did as you said."
[Thank you for your hard work.]
A young, emotionless, blunt girl's voice came from the other side of the receiver.
"I pushed the opinion to monitor with wiretaps and drones first. They'll probably monitor him for a while, but...... if a clear alibi is proven, he'll be removed from the suspect list."
[Thank you for your cooperation. As promised, you don't need to worry about your daughter's surgery. It was a bit of a struggle to find a matching donor, but you'll be able to proceed with the surgery in time.]
"Th-thank you so much!"
The man bowed and expressed his gratitude as if he were bowing to the cell phone.
A blunt but faintly smiling voice came from the other side of the receiver.
[Don't mention it, I'm the one who should thank you.]
Sion said abruptly during breakfast.
"There will probably be drones or wiretaps on us for a while. Honestly, I'm just manipulating them so they're there, so don't worry."
"What kind of wiretaps?"
"The Raccoon Man Countermeasure Team suspects you. I deliberately made it so they wouldn't use people and only use machines, so we can just manipulate them and pass."
"What did you do?"
Sometimes I wonder what Sion does.
Of course, I do the physical work, and Sion does the brain work. We divide it like that, and honestly, if I interfere, it's full of things I wouldn't understand, so it's better to just ignore it.
Just as Sion doesn't stop me when I kill people, I don't interfere with what Sion does either.
They say a husband and wife are one body, but in some areas, you have to draw a line to get along well.
"I pulled strings with the Raccoon Man Countermeasure Team. One of the people there has a daughter who needs urgent transplant surgery, so I decided to help a little."
"You're not holding it over them and bullying them, right?"
"It's more like giving water to someone dying in the desert."
"Then that's fine."
They say there's giving a disease and then giving the cure, but if that's the case, it would have been better not to give the disease at all. But if you just give the cure, it's all gain, so it's fine.
There's nowhere left to fall anyway, so if she pulls them up, they should be grateful. I don't care if I trample and crush someone who's already down, but I don't want Sion doing such dirty work.
"Ah, are you two up already?"
"This is our usual wake-up time. What about you, Yejin?"
"Since I was in the lab, my sense of time got paralyzed, so I got sleepy during the day and awake at night. I think I need to adjust to the time difference for a while."
"Adjust, but get plenty of sleep before school starts. You said you're going starting next week, right?"
"Yes."
Yejin was going to transfer to a nearby school on the surface. She had attended school before, so she'd be good at acting like a transfer student. Half of it is true, anyway.
"Whine, whine!"
"Yeah, you want food?"
Doggie, seeing that we were all up, woke up from its sleep and came running to beg for food. Just seeing it wag its tail is cute.
When I poured feed into the dog's bowl, it started eating greedily. Is it a glutton? It eats really well even when I feed it on time.
I gave Doggie a pat on the butt while it was eating om-nyom-nyom, and prepared breakfast for Yejin.
"What shall we do today? There's nothing much to do before school."
"Why is there nothing to do? You need to buy what you need before you go. I'll give you my card, so buy everything you need for personal use."
"Wow! Black card! You're the best, mister!"
"That card is mine."
"You're the best, ma'am!"
Your change of attitude is excellent, Yejin.
After that, I went to work. Sion stayed home. Yejin went shopping..... but I pushed Sion to go with her. At least one adult needs to be with her.
"......Adult?"
"Ah, if you go with Sion, at most you'll be treated like a cousin."
"Even if it looks like that, that was something you shouldn't have said!"
Sion tapped my shoulder while bickering. Sion doesn't like being treated like a kid because of her appearance.
Anyway, I decided to let them go shopping together, and I decided to leave first. I have to go to work. I have to go sell chicken today too.
"Come to think of it, you'll need a car when you go out. Should I give you a ride?"
"I can just go out in Lawyer Kim's car."
"Don't use a lawyer as a chauffeur."
"I bought that car for him."
".....That was the case last time too, but if you say it like that, I have nothing to say."
If I asked someone to be a chauffeur occasionally in exchange for buying them the car they want, there would be many people who would raise their hands immediately. This is why in a capitalist society, there is nothing money can't do.
A thought occurred to me before leaving the house. With a kid added to the house and a pet added, it feels much more lively. It wasn't that I felt lonely with only Sion left when I went to work, but it feels like the more family, the better.
It's my first day back at work after summer vacation. Baek-ri had arrived first and was preparing the ingredients.
"Ah, hyung, you're here? Did you sleep well last night?"
"About the same as usual. Did you guys get home okay?"
"Ruri tried to go to sleep after getting home, but she ended up opening her problem books. She seems secretly worried."
"The CSAT stress is huge. You take good care of her."
"There's not much I can do, is there?"
"You still spar sometimes, right? Just be a good opponent so she can relieve stress."
It's even better if she gets beaten up.
I helped Baek-ri prepare the ingredients and told him about Yejin.
"Come to think of it, one family member was added to our house."
"Family? That bastard fox?"
"Not her, Yejin. Somehow we ended up living together. If you see her later, get along well. She's one year younger than Ruri."
"High school sophomore? She's not much younger than me."
"You and I aren't that far apart in age either, you punk."
"Hyung, you're old on the inside."
"Why, you little...!"
If I bring up that I'm a reincarnator, I can't deny that I'm an old man. Acting recklessly is something I've done since long ago, so that's one thing, but a personality that prefers watching kids play rather than playing myself is something I acquired as time passed.
Honestly, sometimes I get up with a groan, even though my body is fine. My body is fine, but my heart feels old.
"Anyway, since it's a one-year difference, they could be friends if they get to know each other. You introduce them later."
"Honestly, I think it'd be better to grab a random passerby and become friends than to become Ruri's friend."
"Aren't you being too harsh on your younger sister?"
"I'm strict because she's my younger sister."
Ah, these typical siblings. I've rarely seen siblings who get along this well in this day and age.
But I wonder if that relationship can continue well...... Ruri isn't an ordinary kid, either.
Not in terms of personality, but in terms of being a Transcendent.
"Hyung, but you know. That girl named Yejin."
"Why?"
"Where did you bring her from?"
Looking at Baek-ri's eyes, he was half-convinced. That makes sense; Baek-ri knows a considerable amount about me, and she's the girl I brought home the day after I said I was going to go crush someone.
If you look at it roughly, you can estimate the situation. People pure enough not to notice this are rare in this world these days.
"You're right. That's why I'm keeping her to protect her."
"Is she a Force User too?"
"Yeah, she was more capable than you."
"......? Even so, I'm not weak enough to lose to a high school sophomore... Losing to Ruri while sparring is because Ruri is a weird kid."
"Yejin is a Foresight-type Awakened."
"Huh?"
Everyone is afraid of the uncertainty of the future that is to come. That is why they can have hope and certainty in being able to know the future.
These days, if you look at novels, half are isekai and half are regressors. The reason for that is that isekai novels stem from the desire to start over in another world because reality is miserable, and regressors stem from the desire to start over with certain information because the future is uncertain.
But isekai is one thing, but things like the future are variable, so it's quite hard to watch.
"Isn't that extremely rare? Foresight traits are rare in talent, and there's no separate curriculum, so they say you have to rely on luck."
"She's still more capable than you, though it feels like she relies on gut feeling, she can see the future a little."
"If she looks at stock info or something later and invests......."
"If the future goes awry then, you're done for in an instant, you punk."
Yejin is a much more precious existence than she thinks herself. If it's discovered that she is a Foresight-type Awakened, she'll be dragged off by the country regardless of being a minor to forecast Dimensional Rifts. Then, the one Foresight-type Awakened we had in our country in the past disappeared.
Seeing the far future means bearing that much burden yourself. Unless the world is in danger of perishing, it's rare for that much Causality to be given to one seer.
"Come to think of it, since there's something like future foresight, I thought there might be something like fate at least once."
"Fate?"
"Yes, they say if coincidences overlap, it's inevitability and fate, right? Is there actually something like fate?"
I hesitated for a moment before answering. It's not because I deny its existence.
It's rather because I know it for sure.
"There is."
And to add one thing, she's my direct superior.
"There's one fucking bitch of an old maid."
That bitch will die someday. Whether by my hand or someone else's.