Chapter 10
Chapter 10
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 10
Chapter Title: An Unlikely Protector
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Checker was collapsed on the floor, blood streaming from his nose. A small, syringe-like object was stuck in the back of his neck.
“Crying again?”
She turned at the welcome voice and saw Juyeol.
A whimper escaped her lips. In an instant, her chin puckered like a walnut.
“I was scared…”
“What’s that in your hand?”
Haon, who had been lifting the monkey wrench, dropped it with a clang as her hands trembled.
The villain's nosebleed was smeared on the tool.
She wiped away the bit of blood that had trickled from under her chin, and it quickly stopped.
Haon scribbled a note saying she would send the requested item if he provided an address and stuck it to Checker's forehead.
Then, she slipped her hands under his shoulders from behind and tried to move him out the door.
But she didn't even make it a few steps back before tumbling to the floor.
She even accidentally kicked Checker in the head.
“Oh, oh, I'm sorry!”
“You’re really something else…”
Juyeol watched her as if he'd discovered a strange new life-form, then slung Checker over one shoulder and tossed him outside the building.
Haon, also watching as if she were facing a strange new life-form, pointed at the syringe stuck in Checker's neck.
“What did you shoot him with?”
“A high-potency tranquilizer gun.”
“A high-potency… tranquilizer gun?”
Haon's eyes lit up. With that, she might be able to get a good night's sleep.
“Can I have one of those?”
“Why the fuck are you always asking for shit?”
“I’ll, I’ll buy it!”
Juyeol gave her a fed-up look before swinging his leg over his bike.
“But I really need it.”
Disappointed, Haon pulled her hat down firmly and tried to get on behind him.
But Juyeol pushed her forehead back with his finger.
“You take your own car.”
There were several of 'Eun Haon's' cars in the underground garage, but Haon didn't even have a driver's license.
“I don't know how to drive...”
He stared at Haon with a look that said he had a lot to say, then tilted his head in a gesture for her to get on.
Haon quickly hopped on behind him, grabbing his waist and peeking her head out to the side.
“So, why did you use the tranquilizer gun?”
“Because if the gunshot startled him, he might have swung his knife. I don't have a silencer right now.”
“…Wow.”
“What.”
“Heroes really think of everything. The people who live here must be so lucky.”
“…What?”
Juyeol turned, doubting his ears. Haon was smiling bashfully.
To think those words were coming out of Eun Haon's mouth. Juyeol felt like his eyes and ears were deceiving him. He shook his head and faced forward.
And when Haon told him where they needed to go, he furrowed his brow.
“Are you sure?”
“I'm sure.”
Despite her firm answer, Juyeol was skeptical, but he started the bike anyway.
But Haon was truly certain.
It wasn't just the flow of mana; it was a place where an Awakening Sphere had been discovered in her previous dimension.
Haon had gone through articles about Awakening Spheres and eliminated all the candidate locations where they had already been found.
Then she picked out the places that overlapped with the candidate sites and where Awakening Spheres had been found in her previous dimension.
This meant she could harvest Awakening Spheres from other places besides the one they were heading to today.
Haon, who was yawning while holding onto Juyeol's waist, tilted her head.
*‘Did I just see something strange, or was I imagining it? It must have been... huh?’*
Then, she doubted her eyes at the scene that came into view.
*‘Wh-what is this…?’*
As they left the city center, the atmosphere changed noticeably.
The roads were littered with skid marks and dark red stains, and broken blades and shell casings were scattered about.
On one side of the sidewalk lay the wreckage of a broken guardrail and a car bumper.
The brutal traces of the previous night remained.
*‘…What a scary neighborhood. It's like a crime city.’*
This wasn't just a problem in Gwonyoung City.
The existence of 'Awakened Villains' had caused the crime rate in this world to skyrocket.
*‘The scale of their crimes is so much larger, so more criminals get involved.’*
As a result, civilians needed a way to protect themselves, and in most countries here, firearm possession was legal.
Naturally, the rate of gun-related crime was also high.
Haon, who had been researching this dimension, wore a grim expression.
*‘A place with Heroes who save people... How ironic.’*
* * *
“This is the place?”
Juyeol scanned the forest with a displeased look.
“Yeah. It's here.”
Haon nodded and pulled out a shovel. They were in the middle of a forest bordering the city.
With an excited, flushed face, she started digging.
Juyeol wanted to snatch the shovel from her and throw it on the ground.
*‘So clumsy it's pathetic.’*
Sure enough, it wasn't long before Haon gave out.
“…How much have you even dug to be worn out already?”
“It's too, hard…!”
Haon was busy gasping for breath. Her stamina was shockingly poor.
“S-sorry…!”
Seeing Haon panting, Juyeol grit his teeth and started digging.
*‘Just you wait, if nothing comes up. I'm really going to shoot you this time.’*
Swallowing curse after curse, he kept digging for a good while before freezing at the presence of someone nearby.
“Tsk.”
At the same time, a woman's voice came from beyond the bushes.
“What's this? Is that you, Ghost?”
Juyeol lowered his voice and whispered.
“Hey, put on your hat.”
Startled, Haon hurriedly pulled her hat down low.
Just then, the Hero River emerged from between the bushes.
“It really is Ghost. What are you doing here?”
Before River's attention could turn to Haon, Juyeol took a few steps forward.
If a suspended Hero was caught searching for an Awakening Sphere with none other than Eun Haon, it would become a huge pain in many ways.
“What are *you* doing here?”
“It's my day off, so I was just out. A kid said they lost their puppy, and it ran off this way. But who's that over there?”
River observed Haon with a curious expression.
Haon flinched and quickly hid behind Juyeol's back. He stiffened and glanced back.
“What are you doing?”
“St-stay still.”
Haon clutched his clothes tightly, refusing to move from behind his back.
“Did she just… hide behind you?”
River muttered in disbelief.
“After seeing me?”
Juyeol couldn't believe it either. No matter how strange Eun Haon had become, this was a first for him as a Hero.
He'd met a truckload of people who would cry and run away to other Heroes, saying he was scary even after he'd saved them.
And now someone was clinging to him, of all people, instead of River, who was famous for being kind to civilians.
Juyeol felt a little smug.
Haon's shoulders tensed up under River's persistent gaze.
*‘She doesn't even know who I am, so why is she staring at me like that?’*
Considering her first encounter with this world's Juyeol, she had to be cautious of this Hero named River, too.
That person would surely pull out a gun if she realized she was 'Eun Haon'.
“How could you see me… and hide behind *him*…?”
River muttered with a look of astonishment and took a step closer.
“...!”
Haon pressed herself tightly against Juyeol's back so her face wouldn't be seen.
“J-Juyeooool.”
She urged him to do something, quickly.
River, seemingly in shock, let out a hollow laugh. “Ha.”
“You're not threatening her, are you? Excuse me. Are you being threatened?”
Haon shook her head vigorously. A low chuckle could be heard.
“Hey, is River scary?”
To the question, which was tinged with a slightly cocky amusement, Haon nodded frantically.
“Me? I'm scary?”
“Then am I not scary?”
She hesitated for a moment at the next question before opening her mouth.
“…You're not scary if you don't act scary.”
He was really scary when they first met, but maybe because of his familiar face, it was fine once she understood the situation.
Besides, hadn't he just saved her from a villain today?
Of course, even if that hadn't happened, with another Hero right in front of them, he would have felt reliable.
“I don't think I've ever acted scary!”
Juyeol raised a hand as if to say 'that's enough' and twisted his lips into a lopsided grin.
“She said you're scary.”
“You…!”
River took a few steps back and glared at Ghost. She'd never found him so annoying before.
“Just tell me what you were doing here. Why are you holding a shovel?”
“I'm not at a crime scene, so why are you interrogating me?”
Juyeol added with a smirk.
“I'm on suspension, so I've got time on my hands. But you're starting to get on my nerves.”
Woof woof!
Just then, a dog's bark was heard a short distance away. River suddenly remembered she was looking for a puppy.
It felt unfair to leave just like that, but it also seemed difficult to change the mind of this unknown civilian.
River pointlessly shook a fist at Ghost.
“Just don't let me catch you doing anything suspicious!”
Then she spun around and ran toward the sound of the barking.
At Juyeol's silent response, Haon cautiously raised her head.
“Is she, is she gone?”
“She's gone.”
She looked around, but River was nowhere to be seen.
“Phew.”
Haon let out a sigh of relief and looked up at Juyeol.
“Juyeol. Are you not on good terms with your friends?”
Juyeol turned to her with a baffled expression.
“Friends? Fuck no. She's just a coworker.”
“I see. But you're on suspension?”
“Don't you know it's because of you?”
His eyebrow twitched as he met her gaze, then he went back to digging.
Haon blinked with a slightly puzzled expression.
*‘He... doesn't seem to be in a bad mood?’*
After suddenly running into another Hero and hiding behind him like that, she had expected to be told she was being a nuisance.
She didn't know why, but the fact that Juyeol wasn't annoyed was a good thing, at least.
Meanwhile, he was quietly smirking to himself.
Thinking that this strange new Haon wasn't all bad.