Chapter 14
Chapter 14
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 14
Chapter Title: Calculated Chaos
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“Yeah, this is it. Now *this* is a gun.”
Chacha smiled with satisfaction as she meticulously inspected the machine gun.
It had been modified in so many places that it looked different from a standard model, but it was clear that ‘Dr. Eun Haon’ was skilled in weapon manufacturing.
“Here’s the rest of the payment. I have to show them I’m prepared for something, or they won’t think twice about messing with me. God, they’re so annoying.”
She plopped the cash on the table, then hoisted the machine gun and left without a backward glance.
*I just sold a machine gun to a villain.*
Haon felt strange.
Since she hadn't received a delivery address from Checker, this was the first time she had handed over one of ‘Eun Haon’s’ commissioned items to a villain.
*I didn’t even make it, but it feels unsettling.*
That act alone felt like she had just stepped into the world of villains.
*Chacha took it to deal with other villains, but will the other clients do the same?*
Feeling uneasy, Haon went down to the commissioned goods storage room and paced between the steel racks and the workbench.
The lab floor was entirely dedicated to experiments and research, while this floor was a workshop, containing both the workbench for creating commissioned items and the storage room.
*Some of these are almost finished.*
Haon ran her hands over the items that only needed their final touches, lost in thought.
From an EMP bomb to a flamethrower that looked like a student’s backpack, to a briefcase bristling with firearms.
Every single one was a dangerous weapon.
*Chacha might even use that gun the next time she robs a bank.*
No matter how she thought about it, she couldn’t let these dangerous items fall into the hands of villains.
That would be aiding and abetting their crimes.
After carefully examining the storage room's layout and making some calculations, Haon made a momentous decision.
She would act immediately, before the other clients came to pick up their items.
She moved around the storage room, fiddling with things here and there, then manipulated the distribution panel on the workshop side.
Finally, she cradled a large harpoon gun in her arms and pressed a button on the wall.
*The louder the commotion, the faster the rumors will spread. It'll be more convenient in many ways, right?*
Just like on the lab floor, a heavy blind retracted, revealing a large pane of tempered glass.
*Let’s see. I insert the cartridge here, load the harpoon, and then…*
Recalling the materials on firearms she had read last year, she fired the harpoon gun at the glass window.
*Twang! Crack—*
“Whoa!”
Unable to withstand the recoil, her body was sent sprawling backward.
The harpoon lodged itself in the glass, but it didn't pierce through. The window was thicker than it looked.
“Wh-What?”
Scrambling to her feet with a stunned expression, Haon examined the harpoon gun.
The moment she heard the *twang*, she had thought, *Huh?*
*How in the world did she build a harpoon gun with this much recoil?*
The realization that she was holding not a hunting tool but a ‘weapon’ gave her goosebumps.
*…I need to get rid of all of this, fast.*
Haon leaned her back against a steel rack and fired the harpoon gun two more times.
Once a section of the glass window shattered, she doused the commissioned items with oil and strapped the flamethrower to her back.
It reminded her of escaping the makeshift lab during the war.
She had set the entire research facility on fire to prevent important data from falling into the terrorists' hands.
*This is similar to that. A lot more things might explode, but it’s fine.*
Taking a deep breath to steady herself, Haon activated the flamethrower.
*Fwoooosh!*
With an immense blast of heat, flames erupted from the flamethrower, quickly turning the storage room into an inferno.
The building’s fire alarm began to blare loudly.
*Ugh, hot!*
She flinched back from the heat, then tossed the flamethrower into the blaze, triggering an explosion. *Boom!*
As the flames intensified, a fire shutter slammed down right in front of her with a clang.
The heat was instantly blocked, completely separating the storage room from the workshop.
*It worked!*
With a fire this intense, even if the items didn’t turn completely to ash, they certainly wouldn’t be in one piece.
Haon clapped her hands, smiling proudly.
* * *
*Weee-ooo, weee-ooo—*
Juyeol, who was guarding the Awakening Sphere while searching ‘Eun Haon’s’ home, flinched.
A fire alarm had suddenly started blaring.
Red lights flashed throughout the entire house, signaling a fire in the research facility.
*What now?*
He scowled and stepped out of the penthouse.
“…!”
Before him, a plume of black smoke was rising from somewhere in the building.
*Did the villains set a fire?*
Juyeol immediately ran toward the lab.
He’d wished more than once that the villains would just fight and kill each other, and Eun Haon was no exception.
Normally, he would have prayed for her to die in an opportunity like this, but now was not the time. Unless he wanted to raid the Headquarters’ archive, Eun Haon was his only lead.
But the one down in the lab wasn't the usual Eun Haon; it was the unhinged one.
And all that version of Eun Haon knew how to do against villains was cry and swing a spanner around.
He remembered her whimpering voice calling his name, “Juyeol,” and her glassy, tear-filled eyes.
That memory triggered a cascade of others, moments where she acted nothing like the ‘Eun Haon’ he knew.
*Dammit.*
Shaking his head to clear it, Juyeol cocked his gun with a click and quietly scanned the lab. There wasn’t a trace of smoke.
“Tsk.”
He clicked his tongue softly and headed to the floor below, a place he had never entered before.
*A workshop?*
He sensed a presence.
Pressing himself against the wall, he readjusted his grip on the gun and cautiously entered the workshop.
*Clap, clap, clap.*
Eun Haon was standing in front of the fire shutter, clapping her hands excitedly.
“…?”
And she was laughing brightly as she did.
All the tension drained out of Juyeol. He closed his eyes in frustration, then opened them again.
Nothing had changed.
The unhinged Eun Haon was watching the fire through the transparent window of the fire shutter, applauding.
He glanced around, but there were no other villains in sight. She was doing this all by herself.
“…Haaah.”
He felt foolish and bewildered for rushing all the way down here.
“What in the…”
Juyeol strode toward her, trying to suppress the rising irritation.
“Hey.”
His hand was rough as he spun her by her slender shoulder.
“How much crazier are you trying to get?”
Haon’s eyes widened.
“Oh? Juyeol.”
“Now you want to set fires? I seriously want to open up your head and see what's inside.”
At his words, spoken through gritted teeth, Haon quickly covered her forehead with her small hands.
“Wh-What’s wrong? It was all part of my plan. I didn't do this without thinking.”
“Right, setting your own building on fire is a very calculated move.”
“It’s the only way the clients will understand and accept a refund.”
Juyeol couldn’t believe what he was hearing.
“I didn't want to hand over scary weapons to villains, so I decided to burn them all.”
“…What?”
“I think we can put the fire out now.”
Ignoring his confusion, Haon manipulated the workshop’s distribution panel and pressed a few buttons.
A hissing sound, like something being sprayed, came from within the fire shutter.
Moments later, the shutter rose to reveal grotesquely melted shapes, now frozen solid.
“This place makes dangerous things, so the fire suppression system is top-notch.”
She had confirmed beforehand that the sprinklers in the ceiling and walls were connected to liquid nitrogen instead of water.
Since it would be a problem if the fire was extinguished before the items were completely destroyed, she had modified the system to operate manually.
“Smoke went out the window, so the clients will know there was a fire here!”
* * *
And just as she predicted.
The villains who had commissioned her work arrived in a frantic hurry, their faces pale. It was surprising that even in their haste, they had all brought a gun or a knife with them.
“Who are you again?”
Haon’s eyes darted around as she looked at the villains. Though she had memorized the entire villain list, she seized the opportunity to play up her memory loss.
“Did she really lose it?”
“So the rumors are true?”
“Her whole vibe seems different, too.”
The bewildered clients, deciding that wasn't the important issue, abruptly held out wads of cash.
“Where’s my stuff?”
“Take the rest of the payment and give me my item, quick.”
But instead of taking their money, Haon gave them money back.
“You saw the fire on your way here, so you must have guessed. I’ll return your deposit in full. There’s nothing left to salvage.”
“Wh-What are you talking about? It all burned down?”
“Then what about my bone saw! Who’s going to make my projectile bone saw now!”
The villains, who clutched their heads in disbelief, had no choice but to give up when she showed them the charred remains of the storage room.
One of them offered to pay extra for materials if she could just get his item safely.
“I can wait, so just make it again.”
“I told you, I can’t remember. I don’t even know what kind of blueprints I drew.”
Haon stuck to her story of not knowing.
“So, I’ve decided not to take any more commissions.”
She delivered the final blow that left the villains in shock.
*Soon, everyone will know I’m not taking commissions anymore, right?*
After that, villains continued to visit, only to leave in despair.
“Aargh! I needed it in a few days! Is there anything else? Don’t you have any leftover weapons you’ve made?”
One villain was desperately searching for a weapon. He was a member of the Halla Gang.
As far as Haon knew, there was only one place a member of the Halla Gang would need a weapon in a few days.
*Is Mr. Solmae really in big trouble?*
Chacha had said there was no need to worry about the people living perfectly fine in the old district, but Haon couldn’t help but feel concerned.
After mulling it over until the villains left the lab, she finally decided to go to the old district’s Sector 2 on the day the fight was supposed to happen.
“Hey.”
Just then, a voice spoke from behind her without a sound.