052 – Nymph Inoi hates uniforms!
“Those are some really bad guys…! They were trying to take away all the illegal funds and firearms that Illinois had worked so hard to gather…!”
A large van that seemed suitable for transporting broadcast equipment. Inside, videos were playing on the screens set up there.
They were videos secretly filmed by Bang Bang with a body cam.
In them, a woman wearing a pest doctor mask and a man with a mechanical arm were vividly captured.
“Wait a second, pause it.”
Seo Ye-rim paused the screen. The image froze at the moment the mechanical arm was ejected.
“Seong, can we track where this arm is from? If we find the buyers, we might get some hints about who these guys are.”
“I just looked into it, but it doesn’t seem like a corporate product. It looks more like an illegally modified prosthetic arm from a back alley. We’ll need to investigate further, but judging by the craftsmanship, it could be from a highly skilled professional.”
An unidentified group.
This is just my guess, but it seemed likely there was more than one of them.
There must be someone supplying them with the equipment they’re using.
The threat level of this group is at least A Rank or higher in my estimation.
After swiping through the screen, I pointed at a woman in a white gown.
“This woman wearing the pest doctor mask. She sensed that the Illuminator team was coming and noticed. She’s an Awakened with detection abilities. Looks like at least A Rank.”
A crime organization with at least two or more individuals above A Rank.
They were dangerous in many respects.
I had no idea what they were planning to do with Bifrost, but it certainly wouldn’t be anything good.
I asked,
“There are three S Rank Awakened individuals in Korea, right? Since Lee Joon-Hun has fallen in many ways, should we just say two now? Is there a possibility that there are even more, like unregistered Awakened?”
Awakened individuals had to register their bl**d and fingerprints with the government thoroughly. In many ways, they were under strict control.
It was as if a leash was put on them, since having unregistered Awakened causing incidents and accidents would lead to headaches.
It was a topic that caused a lot of noise regarding human rights violations before the bill was passed.
In the end, the law passed.
The Awakened received work from the government or enjoyed various benefits in exchange for registering their identities in the government’s database.
It was like a carrot to soothe them.
“Is there a probability that there is an unregistered S Rank Awakened?”
Today.
I believed that the woman in the pest doctor mask might be an S Rank Awakened who had escaped the government’s control. Seo Ye-rim hesitated and said, “It’s difficult, but it’s not entirely impossible…”
Then she asked me,
“Let’s say this beak-masked woman is S Rank. And the man with the mechanical arm would be A Rank. Why would such individuals abandon their work and run away?”
“That? They ran away because they were scared. If they fought me, one of us would have to grab and cling to the other somehow. But it seems like they noticed and fled.”
“Who do you think you are for them to run away? What are you?”
Seo Ye-rim opened her narrow eyes.
I puffed out my chest and said,
“They know about me as well. They even know I was the top in close combat during the first generation training.”
“Your information power is remarkable. And they are very cautious. Whatever it is, they tried to steal our Telos assets. We need to find them. Also, there’s this guy.”
“Why are you looking at this Illinois with those eyes…? This Illinois is an endlessly harmless and good organic Nymph…! Please call the Nymph rights attorney…”
Illinois.
The boss of the Fairy Tale Gang.
No, should I call her the former boss now?
The Fairy Tale Gang disbanded today.
Seo Ye-rim swept her face with her hand.
“Did they steal the blueprints and materials from these kinds of guys? Seriously, the corporate scene is unbelievable. What should we do about this one? Should we take her with us?”
“Muhuh, I smell money from Core…! This Illinois, if it’s Core Ye-rim, it’s okay to become a companion Nymph…!”
The strange Nymph Illinois decided to temporarily be under Seo Ye-rim’s care.
Seo Ye-rim was an S Rank Awakened and a member of a corporate family, so thanks to Inoi, she would know enough about Nymphs to be a good protector.
# # #
“Senpai, I heard while talking to Ye-rim! You almost fought some dangerous guys? Are you okay? How’s your body?”
When I returned home, Yu Ara came to visit.
There was an unfamiliar car in the yard.
“Oh, you got a new car? The black one looks cool.”
“Hehe, it’s second-hand, though. But more importantly, are you hurt? I heard you had a vicious clash!”
“I inhaled some strange gas, but aside from that, I’m fine.”
“Gas…!?”
Yu Ara put her finger on my wrist.
Was she checking my pulse?
“How is it?”
“It was tear gas. It’s non-lethal, so it shouldn’t have caused health issues, but you must have had a bad cough and runny nose. Are you okay? I brought some spray to clear off the particles!”
Really?
So it was tear gas.
I had no idea.
It seemed like the spider web talisman necklace given by Inoi helped block its effects.
Shiiik, shiiik-.
Yu Ara was spraying to clear the tear gas particles off my body, and she didn’t stop asking.
“More importantly, Senpai, you’re about to enter B Rank soon? I need to do a precise examination, but I feel it’s at least that.”
“Really?”
B Rank.
Just hearing that made my heart race.
As I said before, an F Rank Awakened is essentially no different from an ordinary person.
They simply have enough magical power to endure the pressure when entering or exiting a rift.
E Rank is similar to F Rank.
Starting from D Rank, individuals can become aware of their body’s magical power and enhance their physical abilities.
From C Rank, individuals can enhance their physical abilities and expel any remaining magical power to wrap around their weapons or perform other tasks. From this point onward, they could really be called “super humans.”
And as far as I knew, B Rank was a level only a select few among C Rank Awakened could achieve.
It felt like only yesterday that I reached C Rank, and now I was already on the brink of B Rank!
Could it be that I was someone worthy of being called “elite”?
While I was feeling happy, Yu Ara spoke.
“Senpai, you know you need to go through a special baptism process to enter B Rank, right? Without this process, no matter how much time passes, there’s a limit to what the human body can achieve.”
“Uh—, I think I’ve heard something like that.”
To reach from C Rank to B Rank, I had heard that there was a special ceremony or act required.
I needed to look into it more thoroughly.
Without me having to explain, Yu Ara, being a doctor, explained it well.
“To reach B Rank, you must undergo an external process. This is to dramatically increase the amount of magical energy circulating in your body and the outside. They also call it marking.”
I had heard of that.
To reach B Rank, an artificial method needed to be used.
After training and cultivating the body by special methods, one would receive treatments, right?
I’ve heard the costs are astronomical.
Did Seo Ye-rim and Yu Ara go through that process too?
“Yu Ara, did you go through that?”
“When I went through it, there was no technique or knowledge, so it was unbearably painful. The technicians and doctors were doing surgeries with no experience at all. It was truly horrific.”
“Really? So where was your mark? Show me!”
“Where, uh—.”
Yu Ara hesitated before pulling up her outer garment.
“…I can’t show you! Anyway! The techniques have improved, and the time needed has been reduced to five hours instead of the 72 hours it used to take. Isn’t that amazing?”
That was the case.
Technology has indeed progressed compared to before.
The prosthetic arm that that weirdo used yesterday was way more advanced than the mechanical arm that my classmate Kang Cheol-Min had been using.
Soon, Yu Ara added,
“So, Senpai, how would you feel about doing a part-time job for a bit? You know there’s a new officer academy in Nonsan, right? It’s a place that trains Awakened individuals. They’re looking for instructors there—.”
Instructors, huh.
Me, teaching kids again?
Suddenly?
As I felt perplexed, Yu Ara explained.
“It’s a temporary position, but if I take the position of an invited instructor, it’s recognized as being half public servant, you know? That’s how the law works. And for public servant Awakened, they provide support for the marking surgery!”
I see.
So, it means I can receive marking surgery as a public servant benefit.
This was quite an enticing offer for me, who was on the brink of entering B Rank.
By the way, the surgical cost was said to be 300 million.
300 million.
How many chickens can that buy?
How many rounds of mechanical snails can Inoi play?
With that money, no matter how much Inoi is, they could probably clear the final boss.
It might be small change for rich folks like Seo Ye-rim, but for a common person like me, it was an astronomical amount, a sum I might never even dream of touching in my life, and it made my head spin.
“Ari, I’ll think positively about it. Thanks for telling me. I can take a moment to think it over, right?”
“Of course!”
It’s said that having at least one public servant in your acquaintance would be beneficial.
That way, I could seek legal benefits or advice.
And it would be nice to have a doctor friend as well.
But Ari was both a doctor and a public servant.
“A doctor working in a public institution. She’s quite the catch.”
Ah—.
Isn’t it a bit inappropriate to say such things these days?
As I was having such thoughts, Ari playfully slapped my shoulder, as if feeling shy.
“Hehe, don’t say things like that!”
She’s embarrassed.
Even if she’s grown, she still has that youthful high school girl aspect of her.
Of course, Yu Ara still disliked Inoi.
“The Nymph hater should get going…! This Inoi, I need to water the yard, but I can’t go to the living room with a Nymph hater around…!”
Inoi slipped in through the slightly opened door and growled inappropriately.
Seeing that, Yu Ara looked awkward.
“Nymph hater? What does that mean?”
“Ah—. It’s nothing much. Inoi is afraid of public servants in uniforms. She’s afraid of police or soldiers too.”
Earlier, when Telos’ Illuminator team rushed the scene and secured the cargo, Inoi flipped out entirely.
She was so anxious that she tried to run away and such.
Inoi has also shown fear of the police who showed up afterward, and the reason was as follows.
“When this Inoi was trying to eat fruit at the supermarket… some terrifying Nymph haters tried to catch this Inoi…! This Inoi will never forget the fear of that day…!”
It was the first day Inoi stepped out into this world after slipping out of a distorted rift.
Hungry, Inoi wandered the supermarket and grabbed some fruit to eat.
At that time, the concept of money didn’t exist for Inoi.
Soon, the police arrived to capture Inoi, and while running away, she ended up rummaging through a garbage can near my house—that’s the story.
The shock of being chased by police at the time had evidently been deep, as Inoi still feared and disliked police or anyone in uniforms.
“They definitely wanted to catch this Inoi with a net…! And they would surely sell this Inoi at the market…! The police are definitely Nymph hunters…!”
I see.
It seems that resentment will last a long time.
━ Bang bang…!
At that moment.
Bang Bang, who was stuck to the ceiling, jumped down onto Yu Ara’s head.
Bang Bang, who usually avoids people, approached someone first?
Did it like the simple and kind-hearted Ara?
━ Hioooong…!
“Oh my gosh! What is this! Get it off! Ugh!”
But Ara was so flustered, she had probably never seen anything like it in her life.
The surprise attack from Bang Bang seemed to have worked splendidly.
Yu Ara was wriggling on the floor.
Bang Bang, who liked warmth, burrowed under Yu Ara’s clothing.
Thanks to that, a small diamond-shaped mark, the size of a pinky nail, appeared just above Yu Ara’s navel.
“Eek! Get it off! What is this!”
Was that diamond-shaped mark the emblem?
It seemed small, but the technology behind it was unimaginably advanced, right?
I heard that the placement of the mark differs from person to person.
Ari had it above her navel.
“……”
Anyway.
“Uh, Bang Bang, come here. You shouldn’t scare people. And Ari, I’m not trying to touch you, I’m just trying to remove Bang Bang, so don’t misunderstand.”
━ Hioooong…!
Swoosh-.
I put my hand inside Ari’s clothes and grabbed Bang Bang with my hand.
Bang Bang looked dejected as if it realized its mistake, and only then did Yu Ara calm down, her face reddening as she cleared her throat awkwardly.
“Forget about what just happened… It just appeared without a sound… What is that creature? I’ve never seen an animal like that. A spider? The color is so… Where on earth did it come from…?”
“Really? You didn’t sense it at all, Ari? This is my new friend, Bang Bang.”
━ Bang bang…!
“Ah… Bang Bang… It didn’t get caught in my detection… how very strange…”
Yu Ara was an enhanced sensory Awakened.
Wasn’t she able to sense everything around her?
Her skills were so impressive she could even identify how many mosquitoes were flying in a wide room or where they were sitting without opening her eyes.
Every time I woke up because of the mosquitoes buzzing in my ear while sleeping, I would envy Yu Ara’s skills.
Soon, Inoi appeared at the door frame, grinning evilly.
“Muhuhh-, the ghost spider is the master of ambush…! It attacks from behind so that nasty Nymph haters can’t catch on…! If you’ve been caught off guard, retreat immediately…!”
It seems so.
If Yu Ara is unaware, then Bang Bang’s stealth and ambush abilities could neutralize even a typical sensing Awakened’s perception.
If I meet that pest doctor again, Bang Bang might be helpful in battle.
