Chapter 90
Chapter 90
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 90
Chapter Title: A Forced Day Off
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“Where’s Nova? You’re by yourself?”
“Huh? Nova’s not here?”
Arriving in District 2, Haon glanced around at Chacha’s question, who had been waiting for her.
“Didn’t Nova pick you up today? He always stops by the lab to come with you.”
“He came by, but he left ahead of me.”
“What’s he doing, and where? Must be having one of his fits again.”
Chacha scoffed and led the way toward the building that had been Halla’s base.
Haon followed behind, trying to call Nova, but his phone was off.
‘Was I too hasty…?’
Nova’s dazed expression flickered in her mind.
Was telling him to accept the loss and loneliness from ‘Eun Haon’s’ death really that shocking?
‘Of course it was shocking.’
Haon felt uneasy, but she had no intention of reversing her decision.
She couldn’t be Nova’s substitute for ‘Eun Haon’ forever. That would be bad for both her and Nova.
Just like how she couldn’t shake the emptiness while constantly searching for ‘her Juyeol’ in the current Juyeol.
‘Maybe he just needs time. I’ll leave him be for today. I’ll try to talk to him again properly when we meet tomorrow.’
Lost in thought, she arrived at Halla’s base, where the atmosphere was very different from Cue’s.
Cue’s base, where he ran his smuggling operation, had many warehouse-like spaces for stacking boxes, but this place was like a large, gaudy tavern.
Haon was dumbfounded by the wall lined with broken liquor bottles filled to the brim with bullet casings.
“Does she pick up the casings after every gunfight?”
“Halla owns a bullet factory. She probably got them from there.”
“Ah. That’s why the bullets never seemed to run out.”
Remembering her fight with Halla’s gang, Haon nodded, then froze.
She realized that the children who frequented the industrial district had been working at the bullet factory.
‘How could she shove children into a place full of gunpowder…’
It was a huge relief that they wouldn’t have to work in such a dangerous place anymore.
As long as she was in charge of District 2, she would make sure the children could play a lot, learn a lot, and eat a lot.
“…”
Haon recalled the child who had peeked over to confirm her death after a man’s self-destruction.
He had said he was from District 4.
‘The children in District 4 are probably still being blatantly exploited…’
River had calmed the boy down and sent him on his way, so he must have returned to District 4. And what happened to him then?
The image of the boy’s thin, grimy forearm weighed on her mind.
“Chacha. What kind of business does Rusty in District 4 run?”
“All sorts of dirty stuff. He’s the oldest of the current bosses, so he seems to know the most about doing bad things.”
As Chacha shivered in disgust, Haon’s expression darkened.
“Has any gang ever taken over three districts of the old city?”
“You want to take District 4, too? I don’t think this is the time to worry about that.”
“District 2 still needs a lot of work, but if I deploy the Dudus—”
“Halla will be coming to attack District 2 soon.”
Haon’s eyes widened. She could understand another district’s boss attacking, but Halla?
“Why? I spared her life.”
“She’s coming *because* you spared her. She wouldn’t if you’d killed her. Want to kill her now while you have the chance?”
“…I don’t want to kill her.”
When Haon shook her head with a troubled expression, Chacha asked in a tone of disbelief.
“In the place you came from, do you get the death penalty for killing a villain who’s trying to take your life?”
“It’s not that,” Haon mumbled, then hesitated before continuing.
“I just don’t want to see anyone die anymore.”
“…”
“I’m sick and tired of it.”
Chacha stared at Haon for a moment, then shrugged.
“Alright, then.”
And she didn’t bring up the idea of killing Halla again.
Just as they had in District 1, the two of them started by identifying places that needed repairs.
The reaction of the District 2 residents to their new boss was much better than in District 1.
Rumors about how District 1 had changed were widespread, so many people welcomed Haon.
The residents of District 2 actively participated in the surveys and were generally cooperative.
Haon pondered what to do with the large building Halla had used.
“This place should have something like a community center, too, but it’s bigger than Cue’s building. It feels like a waste.”
Chacha clicked her tongue as she looked at the building’s layout that Haon had scanned.
“It has five basement levels? And it’s seven stories above ground. This was purely for show.”
“It seems the building was too big even for Halla. There are a lot of empty spaces.”
“Leave it empty for now. We’ll find a use for it.”
“I’ll just have the Dudus clean it up.”
After summoning a few mechanical cranes, Haon checked the survey results from the District 2 residents and decided to create a Dudu Bus.
Since there was already an academy and a hospital in District 1 that accepted residents from other districts, she thought it would be a good idea to provide transportation to and from there.
“Just in case, I should block off the area near the underground passage Bae Anjae made.”
“Then you should probably move the people living nearby, too. That whole area is your property now, anyway.”
Having lived in District 2, Chacha was an expert on its geography and lifestyle.
Thanks to her, Haon laid out her plans smoothly and reached a single conclusion.
“I’m going to need a lot of Dudus.”
“When will the new cranes be deployed to District 2?”
“I’ve set up a Dudu fabricator in District 1, so they should be ready by tomorrow morning.”
“Then take tomorrow off.”
At Chacha’s words, Haon looked up with a bewildered expression.
“Take the day off?”
“You said you can only use simple tech tomorrow because of the server expansion. Besides, the road maintenance will proceed just like it did in District 1.”
“Still, taking a day off… What if Halla comes?”
“You have the Dudus. What are you worried about?”
Chacha said with conviction that as long as the cranes were on patrol, Halla’s gang wouldn’t dare attack so easily.
As she said, Halla’s gang had already been defeated by the Dudus.
Once the nullification patch was installed, there would be no safer places than Districts 1 and 2.
Yet when Haon still hesitated, Chacha snapped.
“I can’t relax because you’re not taking a break! It makes me feel guilty!”
“What? You can just relax if you want.”
“If I tell you to rest, just rest. Go drag Ghost out on a date or something.”
“A date!”
At the shocking choice of words, Haon’s face turned red with bewilderment.
“I told you, Juyeol and I are just friends.”
“Friend or whatever, just go somewhere nice and have fun. No, wait. I’ve never seen you take a break, so I’ll just tell Ghost myself.”
Chacha pulled out her phone and immediately sent a message to Ghost.
「Eun Haon has tomorrow off. Don’t let her set foot in the old district.」
Seeing this, Haon asked with a very surprised look.
“When did you and Juyeol exchange contact info?”
“…”
Chacha nonchalantly averted her eyes, recalling the day he’d given her his number.
“Let me know if Eun Haon gets sick or if Nova makes a move on her.”
“Nova’s always making a move on her.”
“…Let me know if he pulls any *real* crap.”
“Isn’t asking me to do this for free a load of crap itself?”
“Why are you holding out your hand? Are you crazy?”
“Let’s see. It’s real. I’ll be in touch.”
The feel of the bills she’d wrung out of him lingered on her fingertips.
It wasn’t what he’d asked to be told, but wasn’t it a message that would pique his interest?
Chacha resolved to tell him next time that this was a one-time service and he’d have to pay more if he wanted another message.
“It’s not like I’m a huge fan of Ghost, but you’re always going on about him. Just take him and go have some fun.”
“When have I ever gone on and on about Juyeol…?”
Haon pouted.
Then she remembered sobbing her eyes out while complaining that she wanted to get along with him again, and her face flushed beet red.
“I-I might have talked about Juyeol a lot, but it’s not like that, anyway.”
Even her denial couldn’t chase away the embarrassing feeling.
Chacha wasn’t even listening to her excuses. She just smiled smugly and muttered to herself, “How many bills should I ask for this time?”
* * *
That evening.
As promised, Juyeol came to the lab again. He was holding a paper bag full of groceries, his expression tinged with anticipation.
“I hear you have tomorrow off.”
“Y-Yeah. It just happened.”
“Perfect. I’m free tomorrow, too.”
He smiled with satisfaction, closed the distance between them, and leaned in to kiss her on the cheek.
“W-Wait!”
As Haon scrambled back, Juyeol froze mid-lean, then straightened up.
“You don’t want to?”
“I-It’s not that I don’t want to… I decided not to do this with Nova anymore, either.”
“…Good for you.”
“It’s just weird for friends or business partners to do that, you know?”
To her words, which she said without hiding her embarrassment, Juyeol raised an eyebrow as if surprised.
“You were aware that it was weird?”
“Of course! What do you take me for, a child? There were circumstances with Nova.”
“What circumstances?”
He had already moved with Haon into the kitchen, and they continued their conversation while preparing dinner.
“Nova’s been having a hard time lately because he lost ‘Dr. Eun Haon,’ and they say that kind of greeting helps him overcome his sense of loss.”
The moment Haon finished speaking, he slammed the kitchen knife down, chopping the fish’s head off with a thud.
‘That slimy piece of trash.’
Juyeol stared coldly at the fish head that had dropped into the sink. As if it were someone else’s head.