Chapter 6
Chapter 6
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 6
Chapter Title: A Little Thief
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Haon's face went pale.
"Aaaah!"
But the person screaming was the one outside the door.
"...Huh?"
Taken aback by the unexpected reaction, Haon grunted as she pulled the axe free.
Through the hole pierced by the axe blade, her eyes met a young girl's.
The girl's eyes were filled with terror as she collapsed to the floor.
"I-I'm sorry! I'm so sorry!"
"...?"
Haon slowly opened the bedroom door and stepped out. The axe in her hand dragged along the floor.
"W-Wait, sis. Hold on. Calm down!"
The girl, who looked to be a middle schooler at most, scrambled backward from her seated position. Beside her, a carrier filled with jewelry lay overturned.
Blinking, Haon muttered in confusion.
"Sis?"
Misinterpreting her reaction, the girl's face turned white as a sheet, and she dropped to her knees.
"I just heard you were dead! I was just gonna spend your ownerless money for you!"
Haon's eyes widened.
*The rumor's already spread?*
The body of 'Eun Haon' she'd found hadn't been dead for long.
The culprit, who had even destroyed the rooftop camera, didn't seem like the type to go around bragging about the murder.
This meant someone had come to the lab right before she fell into this dimension.
*That person might be the killer or a witness.*
Haon had learned something from her encounter with Juyeol.
No one would believe her if she just insisted that 'Eun Haon' was dead and she was someone else.
So, she decided to pretend to be 'Eun Haon' for now and gather information.
"Eun, no. Who said I was dead?"
"Chacha did!"
"...Chacha? Hold on."
When she hurried out of the bedroom with her laptop, the girl was still on her knees.
Seeing someone younger than her like that made her uncomfortable.
"Let's sit on the sofa."
Haon dragged the axe over, leaned it against the sofa, and sat down.
"Did... Chacha say she killed me?"
The girl, who hesitantly sat across from her, kept glancing at Haon nervously.
"No. She said she went to pick up something she commissioned from you and saw you were dead."
Haon searched for the name 'Chacha' on the villain registry site. She wondered just how high the crime rate was for a search site like this to even exist.
Chacha was a decadent beauty with long, crimson hair.
「Villain Name: Chacha
Age: 24
Criminal Record: Counterfeiting. Bank Robbery
Notes: Not Awakened」
"..."
She slowly raised her gaze to look at the girl across from her.
A freckle-faced girl with her hair in high buns on both sides.
How did a kid like her come to know people like 'Chacha' and 'Eun Haon'?
"What's your name?"
"What?"
"I, I suddenly can't remember."
The girl gave Haon a strange look before speaking.
"Bani."
Haon searched for 'Bani' in the registry and felt a sense of relief.
"You're not on the villain list."
"You're acting a little weird today."
Tilting her head in confusion, Bani glanced at the axe and answered meekly.
"Would a petty house thief like me be listed there?"
Haon froze for a moment, her mind going blank. A neighborhood where a kid like that was a burglar.
"Bani."
Bani straightened her posture. She was clearly tense.
"Eun, I mean, who do you think would want to kill me?"
"...You think there's only one or two?"
"I-It's that bad?"
Haon remembered that 'Eun Haon's' death was met not with mourning, but with a burglary.
It seemed she had a strictly business relationship with the villains—nothing more, nothing less.
And since she crafted lethal weapons for villains, she would have been an enemy to the heroes as well.
*I finally came to a world with heroes, but I can't even get their help.*
She was scared, but not to the point of panicking.
Being a 'target for elimination' was nothing new to Haon.
Haon, currently twenty years old, had earned her doctorate three years ago. Her title as the genius Mana Engineer of the century had shone brightly during the war.
Throughout the war, she designed useful systems with Mana Engineering and saved countless lives.
To the terrorists, Haon was naturally a thorn in their side, so her name was on their 'list,' and her life was constantly threatened.
*The only reason I survived those situations was because my phone was intact.*
This was a dangerous dimension with a high crime rate, thanks to the Awakened villains and their gangs.
*There was an explosion just a little while ago.*
Loud noises had become routine for Haon, but this place wasn't at war.
*Before I can find a way to go home, I need to fix my phone just to survive.*
Her small, slender hand fumbled for the phone through her pocket.
*The key is staying alive until then.*
Having made up her mind, Haon looked up.
"Bani."
Bani shot up straight in her seat.
"Yeah!"
"Can you tell Chacha to come to the lab tomorrow? Around evening."
"I-I will. Can I go now?"
Bani cautiously started to get up.
3:27 AM. Haon checked the time and pursed her lips.
It was late for a middle schooler to be out and about. Especially in a dangerous neighborhood like this.
"It's too—"
"Late, so I'll get going!"
Bani scurried out as if she were escaping.
Watching her go in bewilderment, Haon muttered, "Guess she's a homebody," and turned back to the villain registry.
Chacha had said she was coming to pick up a commissioned item. She would be meeting more villains at the lab, so she needed to familiarize herself with the dangerous faces.
*I thought about hiding somewhere else, but...*
The villains looking for their items might track her down, and it wouldn't be easy to find a decent lab and a place to live at the same time.
After quickly memorizing the list, Haon examined Bani's carrier.
It contained jewelry, wallets, and what looked like expensive sculptures.
There was still so much to steal even after one burglary. It was a clue that reinforced her suspicion.
*Just as I thought, the culprit didn't rob the place for some jewelry.*
Lost in thought, Haon went to the glass board in the study to organize the situation.
She had, without a doubt, fallen into an unfamiliar dimension.
*To get home, I need to research dimensional travel.*
To do that, she needed to handle mana, but her phone was dead.
In an environment with no Mana Engineering tools, fixing her phone would require a Mana Core—in other words, an Awakening Sphere.
*Without an Awakening Sphere, it could take three or four months just to fix the phone.*
She didn't know how long it would take to build a dimension gate by herself, so that would be far too long.
And the only Awakening Sphere currently available to her was with Juyeol.
*...He's not just going to hand it over, is he?*
Originally, 'Eun Haon' was supposed to receive that Awakening Sphere in exchange for information, but things went wrong.
It seemed she could get the sphere if she helped him find his brother's killer, but...
*If I could just fix my phone first, I could find clues about the killer much more easily!*
The broken phone had thrown the whole sequence of events into disarray.
*The problem is, it seems 'Eun Haon' was also killed by the same person.*
When you investigate someone for a long time, they're bound to notice.
'Eun Haon,' back from the dead, investigating the person who tried to kill her? That would look like nothing short of preparing for revenge.
*Since I can't use Mana Engineering, I might get shot and die too.*
Haon shivered, a chill running down her spine.
Whatever she did, getting the Awakening Sphere was the priority, but something worried her.
*Will Juyeol... come back?*
She wondered if Juyeol, who had left looking disgusted, would ever come looking for her again.
*Honestly, I'm probably lucky he even saved me.*
Haon sighed.
If possible, she wanted to help Juyeol before returning home.
Back in her world, Eun Haon and Woo Juyeol were the best of friends, but here they were enemies. That was just too sad.
Outside the window, the sun was faintly beginning to rise.
*Does this mean I've officially survived one day?*
She'd had the exact same thought on the first day of the war.
Haon took out her broken phone, held it in her hand, and rummaged through the bedside table in the bedroom.
She found a phone charger there and plugged it into the outlet next to the bed.
Just that simple act made the place instantly feel like her own.
She probably wouldn't move that charger for as long as she stayed here.
For those who never let their phone out of their sight, that was their room.
Haon plugged her phone into the charger.
*My survival base.*
It was a declaration of her will to survive another day.
* * *
A black motorcycle crossed the drawbridge and entered the city center.
The sight of 'Ghost's' motorcycle in broad daylight drew people's attention.
Juyeol, who had been muttering a string of curses under his breath, let out a sigh.
*I should've left yesterday before Hunter took the Awakening Sphere.*
He clicked his tongue and grumbled, then let out an irritated laugh. If he had, it wouldn't have ended with just a suspension.
He wouldn't have cared if he got fired as long as he got the information he wanted, but in the end, he got no information and only a disciplinary action.
Juyeol swore again. She'd said she'd tell him who killed his brother if he brought her the Awakening Sphere.
*Damn it. Should've known who to trust. Stupid bastard.*
His grip on the handlebars tightened. As he replayed yesterday's events, fuming, his expression grew increasingly strange.
No matter how he thought about it, Eun Haon's behavior had been weird. 'Weird' didn't even begin to cover it.
*Amnesia?*
But she remembered his name.
*Did she really hit her head?*
It was the first time he'd ever seen Eun Haon say his name, or cry.
Except for that time she cried from laughing too hard at some villain's funeral.
She'd cackled even with a bullet in her leg, but now she seemed like a completely different person.
Crying annoyingly. Throwing herself in front of him as if to protect him.
Trembling with a terrified expression, then looking at him with eyes that said she wanted to help him no matter what.
*...What the hell was with those eyes?*