Chapter 61
Chapter 61
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 61
Chapter Title: Desperate Measures
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‘Should I swap it with a replica? I’ll aim for a major fight, not the small-time skirmishes we’ve seen so far. An opportunity should be coming soon.’
Gangs don’t run on loyalty or respect alone.
Gang members need to get paid. For a gang large enough to control a sector of the Old District, the amount of money needed to support its underlings was no small sum.
Cue was practically broke after having all her goods for the black market and auctions stolen.
Everyone had assumed that if they just left Cue alone, her gang would collapse on its own, but she had managed to pull money from somewhere.
She had sold a large logistics warehouse to a gang in another region and a smuggling ship to her contacts, a smuggling ring in Macao.
‘She must have sold other things to somehow stay afloat, but it seems even that money has run out now, right?’
It was two days ago that Cue had contacted Haon, claiming she had sold all the weapons she’d bought and begging for some money or potions.
When Haon refused and returned the fancy clothes Cue had given her, Cue had cursed her out for being a disloyal, heartless bitch, so Haon had blocked her.
She had apparently also asked Chacha to make counterfeit money, only to be rejected.
‘Others must know that Cue is on the brink. I should make a replica, whether I end up using it or not.’
When she went down to the cafe, Nova approached her with a smile, as if he had been waiting, and kissed her on the cheek.
“Darling. Did you sleep well?”
Haon flinched and rubbed her cheek, embarrassed. She still wasn’t used to it, even after nearly a week.
“When is this greeting going to stop? Are you still not okay?”
“You don’t like it? It’s still hard, but… if you don’t like it, I guess I can’t help it…”
Nova’s shoulders and eyebrows drooped at the same time.
“I-It’s not that I don’t like it.”
Flustered by his crestfallen demeanor, Haon shook her head back and forth.
Nova, who had been hanging his head dejectedly, lifted it slightly. His eyes, looking at Haon, were sad and cautious.
“Really? You’re not still scared of me?”
“I was until a little while ago… but not anymore. I know you’ve been helping me a lot, Nova.”
His stunning looks made him appear even more pitiful, and Haon found herself making excuses.
“It’s because I’m shy. I’m really not used to things like that.”
“So you don’t dislike it?”
“Of course not! So please don’t be upset.”
She anxiously squeezed his hand, and he slowly nodded.
Only after his expression brightened did Haon feel a sense of relief.
“See? You’re the only one for me. Who else can I trust besides you?”
Nova smiled gently and led Haon to the sofa.
On the table was a meal he had bought.
It was for Haon, who would otherwise subsist on convenience store food if no one looked after her.
Haon slowly thought back on how Nova had been changing recently.
He was going through a hard time because of ‘Eun Haon.’ It seemed the sudden disappearance of the person who had always been by his side was finally hitting him.
It would be a lie to say she hadn’t hesitated when he said it would be less difficult if she could at least share the same greeting he used to have with ‘Eun Haon’…
But she couldn’t bring herself to ignore him as he whimpered, saying he couldn’t bear the sense of loss and was too lonely.
Haon knew all too well how loss and loneliness could eat away at a person’s heart.
He needed her help, and she thought she could help him.
In the end, she allowed him to kiss her on the cheek, and now, it seemed like the right decision.
He had become remarkably tamer recently.
‘Even when he runs into Heroes while searching for Halo, he avoids them now. It doesn’t seem like he’s causing any other trouble either.’
Besides, he no longer asked her to make things for him or demanded that she love him.
If he continued to stabilize like this, he might be reformed to the point where he could no longer be called a Villain.
“Darling. Eat some more. You’ll just keep drinking coffee after I leave.”
“I’ll eat. You should have some more too, Nova.”
Haon even felt a sense of pride watching him push a strawberry onto her plate.
If he kept acting like this, she wouldn’t mind making a few more items for him.
Watching Haon, Nova was once again certain. There was no better way to worm his way into this Eun Haon’s life.
It wasn’t a particularly elaborate scheme.
He had guessed it from watching her with Bani, but this Eun Haon was extremely vulnerable to weak people and the weakness of others.
If he so much as feigned sickness, she would feel sympathy, and if he said he was suffocating from a sense of loss, she wouldn’t know what to do and would try to comfort him.
On top of that, if he treated her like the ‘Eun Haon from another dimension,’ her guard would crumble like a sandcastle.
The only exception, who she fretted over regardless, was probably Ghost.
The guy left on his own, but he couldn’t let his guard down yet.
Even now, Haon would sometimes look back at him, unconsciously call out, “Juyeol!” and then startle in surprise.
It would have been better if he had died the day the safe house blew up…
Gazing at Haon as she popped a strawberry into her mouth, Nova recalled a conversation from a few days ago.
“Darling. What would you do if I accidentally killed Ghost while trying to escape a scene?”
“Don’t do that.”
“Why? He’s the one who didn’t believe you and left.”
“I still need Juyeol.”
“Even if he’s not by your side?”
“…Yes. I need a world where Juyeol exists.”
If he were to kill Ghost, it would have to be a thorough accident. Or at the hands of another Villain.
‘If that Villain were Cue, I could take care of both of them at once.’
Nova’s lips curled up, delighted by the mere thought, and he asked.
“Darling. You don’t look so good. What’s wrong?”
“Hmm. It’s past the time Bani usually gets here, and she hasn't contacted me.”
Haon was fiddling with her phone, a worried look on her face.
“Maybe she overslept? Or maybe she just suddenly wanted to take the day off.”
“But she always contacts me if she’s going to be late or can’t make it…”
After a moment of thought, Haon decided to wait a little longer.
‘She’s usually so diligent, I should let her be late once.’
However, even after Nova left and the afternoon wore on, Bani did not appear.
‘Is she sick somewhere?’
Suppressing her anxiety, Haon contacted Chacha to ask, who burst out laughing in response.
[Ah, Bani! Last night she said she was going to party all night with a group that had a cute guy in it. She must still be sleeping. I’ll go check on her.]
Chacha sounded like she was dying to go and tease Bani, which made Haon smile as well.
Relieved, she brewed a strong cup of coffee. Just as she was drinking it, she got another call from Chacha.
‘Did she wake Bani up? I should tell her to just let Bani rest today.’
Chuckling, Haon answered the phone, only to drop her coffee cup at Chacha’s unexpected words. The shattering sound rang out like an alarm.
“…What did you say?”
[That crazy bitch Cue kidnapped Bani! She’s demanding a ransom from you! That psycho has lost her mind, there’s no telling what she’ll do to Bani!]
The moment she heard those words again, it felt as if all the blood had drained from her body.
Should I have given Cue some money when she called and asked?
Should I have at least not blocked her, so she could curse me out to her heart’s content?
The image of Bani, who just yesterday had been walking around the cafe with her youthful face and cute dumpling-like hair buns, flickered in her mind.
‘First, I need to call the police…’
Haon, who had been panicking, froze. The police don’t enter the Old District.
The Heroes were probably keeping a close eye on Sector 1, but would they want to raid Cue’s hideout, where a turf war could break out at any moment?
Would they rescue a young cat burglar who had Eun Haon and Chacha behind her?
Her heart pounded with anxiety.
In the end, Haon couldn’t report it to anyone and rushed out of the lab in a hurry.
* * *
‘I didn’t mean for it to go this far. I’m not some bottom-of-the-barrel trash who kidnaps kids.’
Cue bit her nails as she paced around her office. Her anxious eyes were fixed on the picture frame that hid her secret safe.
No matter how she thought about it, it was strange.
‘I know the gang was unstable. But it wasn’t so bad that it would collapse this quickly. As long as I had money and potions, my underlings would stick by me.’
Cue had seized control of Sector 1 with her Awakened ability, but it was her financial resources that had allowed her to maintain the gang afterward.
It was only natural, given that she had smuggling ships and connections with overseas traffickers.
But at some point, the money started disappearing too quickly.
Every new business she started with the money earned from selling smuggled goods failed, and suddenly, rats appeared in her logistics warehouse.
Once she exterminated the disgusting vermin, a thief broke in, and then her gang members started leaving for other regions.
Even the gang’s secret information was being leaked to the outside.
‘Was it Two-Shot? Or maybe Rusty?’
It could have been Weaver, who always acted so high and mighty, or it could have been Halla, whose territory bordered hers.
‘If only I had sold that jewel, I wouldn’t be in this mess…!’
Cue seethed and kicked the wall hard, making the picture frame rattle.
She recalled her conversation with Nova, who had visited her a while ago.