Retire 334

334 Smuggling Reports: 125(2)

Whenever an Awakened individual was suspected of being involved in a crime in any country, a Hunter would inevitably be drawn into the investigation.

This was true everywhere in the world. The only real difference was which organization handled the investigation. In Korea, it was managed by the police. While the department for investigating Awakened crimes would grow in scale over time, it would always remain a subordinate division of the National Police Agency.

Some countries, like Korea, had the police handle such matters, while others, as I would have preferred, had independent investigative agencies. There were places where the military oversaw everything… In the United States and most European countries, they had added new departments to existing investigative agencies, much like Korea. Of course, unlike Korea, these departments were not subordinate; in fact, they often took precedence in investigations.

“But still.”

“Hmm?”

Hong Seok-young contacted Lee Mi-seon right away. He had barely spoken a few words before she answered, as if accustomed to it, and promptly ended the call.

The naturalness of that entire exchange only made it feel all the more out of place.

How many times must this have happened for it to become so routine?

And I must not forget. Though we had already received much help from Lee Mi-seon, she was, in the end, an outsider. Not that I meant she didn’t know I was from the future, or anything like that—rather, she was a member of the Ability Association.

No matter that the Ability Association was an international organization and not a profit-seeking corporation, it was not the government of the Republic of Korea. Was it really right for her to be involved so casually like this?

Strictly speaking, what Hong Seok-young had asked—or ordered—Lee Mi-seon to do was simply to file an anonymous report. On the surface, there seemed to be nothing wrong with that. Yet the way Hong Seok-young glanced at me, and the way Lee Mi-seon responded without a moment’s hesitation—

It created a subtle sense of friction.

“Why? Is there something you’re curious about?”

“……”

“When you have an excellent teacher, you should ask quickly.”

Though I’d thought about wanting to create an independent investigative agency for Awakened crimes, I was never in a position to actually do anything about it. In fact, being Hong Seok-young’s son made me even more hesitant to act rashly. Anything I did would inevitably be tied back to my father.

He always told me not to let that hold me back, but could anyone truly be so unaffected? I avoided anything that might seem political, kept my head down, and lived as upright a life as I could.

And back then… to be honest, I hadn’t considered the issue as seriously as I do now. If I’d known I would be flung so abruptly into the past, I would have prepared much more thoroughly. Learned everything I could from my father.

“No, not really…”

“Then why are you making that face?”

“……”

I couldn’t help but wonder—twenty years from now, would Lee Mi-seon really have kept her hands out of Awakened crime investigations?

My father had always wanted an independent investigative agency—or if that was impossible, at least to expand the existing one. To make it an affiliated agency of the administration, even.

But that had failed.

He had continued tracking the Ark, so perhaps Lee Mi-seon… Given her personality, she wouldn’t have become a government official. She would still be working for the Association.

Damn it.

No point getting tangled up in things I can’t even verify. It’s a bad habit.

What matters is now, now.

So what if Lee Mi-seon twenty years from now does something? I can stop her from now on. I feel the inadequacy of the investigative agencies, but interference from outsiders is still unacceptable. Especially when it’s done in secret, without any notification. Even in movies, the actions of special agents always become diplomatic issues.

I swept away my useless thoughts.

Though my answer had been lukewarm, it wasn’t as if I had no questions.

I looked across the street. A cluster of factories and warehouses. None of them were operating at this hour of dawn.

Except for the one we were watching.

Its run-down exterior gave no hint of any connection to Atlas. If Leman had any brains, he wouldn’t have left such clues behind.

But our capable Americans had dug up the information and handed it over. Pale fluorescent lights flickered through the windows.

I watched as Hong Seok-young took the mana pen from me and began drawing runes on a piece of paper. Shadow runes. What was that for?

I decided to ask the most pressing question first.

“Do you really think they haven’t made any preparations?”

Hong Seok-young affixed the finished rune to the inside of his hat and stood up. As he put on the hat, his presence seemed to blur. I frowned, trying to keep my eyes on him.

With a hint of laughter in his voice, Hong Seok-young asked,

“Still not convinced?”

“Well, you know how it is.”

I understood what he meant about the captors wanting to resolve things as quietly as possible.

Compared to other countries, Korea had relatively few Awakened crimes. Most crimes committed by Awakened individuals involved illegal dungeon trespassing, stealing dungeon resources to sell on the black market, or raiding assault teams to steal items.

For such people, Korea—being a small country with few opportunities to sneak into dungeons and no black market—held little appeal.

So perhaps it was natural that people didn’t feel the seriousness of the issue… but that was only in Korea. Other countries were different.

Either way, it was difficult for non-Awakened to deal with Awakened individuals.

Even someone like Gamble, who had never received combat training, was far stronger and more resilient than an ordinary person. Why was Gamble able to go without sleep and still function? Because he was Awakened. Even so, it would be tough for a non-Awakened police officer to subdue him.

So what about illegal Awakened individuals who slipped in and out of dungeons?

Could you really treat a person who could tear a car apart with one hand the same as any other human?

Never forget: Hunters were people who fought monsters ten meters tall.

How was anyone supposed to subdue a body that didn’t even get scratched by bullets? Of course, only another Awakened—one even stronger—could step in.

So, just as Hong Seok-young said, it was bound to escalate into violence. After all, those criminals wouldn’t just sit there and take it.

Battles between Awakened were, by any normal standard, horrifyingly violent. And since the opponent was not a monster threatening humanity, but another human, it was violent even by Hunter standards.

It was like showing off the combat skills honed against monsters, but against humans. No decent person would ever want to boast about that.

But as we know, no decent person would commit crimes in the first place.

Wouldn’t they, in fact, try to stir up chaos to create a narrative favorable to themselves?

“Don’t you think so?”

“In America, probably. That’s a country where lawsuits are a way of life.”

“That’s a bit of a stereotype.”

“Relatively. I mean relatively.”

It was fortunate Han Tae-kyung was still behaving himself. In five years, even Hong Seok-young wouldn’t be able to say the same.

“It’s a bit odd to say this here, but in the end, crimes are committed by people.”

“…Isn’t that obvious?”

“Not just criminals or police—witnesses’ biases also come into play, and strongly so.”

“That’s true, too.”

“So you have to consider all sorts of circumstances.”

“…And what does that have to do with this?”

“It’s hard to explain in words.”

I frowned.

“No matter how little you teach at school, you’re still a teacher. How long are you going to tell the kids to just go with their gut? Explain it properly.”

“Why would I teach when you’re here… No, sorry. Just a joke. Don’t glare at me like that!”

Hong Seok-young shook his head in mock desperation.

“Well… there’s a lot to explain, but for now, there’s only one thing you need to learn.”

“…What is it?”

“Koreans don’t fear the Awakened.”

“……”

“Is it because there are so few Awakened crimes? Not at all. It’s simply because they don’t know how many crimes are actually happening.”

Hong Seok-young gazed at the road with indifferent eyes. In the distance, a police car was approaching.

“They don’t know how serious it is.”

“……”

“They don’t know how many people are suffering.”

The police car stopped in front of the warehouse. Officers got out of the front seats and ambled toward the building.

“So they don’t think about it at all.”

Knock knock!

“Police!”

“Do you think the criminals don’t know that? Criminals always find a way out—uncannily so.”

Knock knock knock!

“We received a report and need to check things out!”

Clunk.

“At least in Korea, it’s best to just keep your head down.”

“That doesn’t mean they don’t watch out for regular police…”

“Of course.”

Hong Seok-young replied with a quickness that almost sounded cheerful.

“This is one of my bad habits. Make sure you never pick it up.”

“Excuse me?”

“I’m showing you on purpose because it’s something you shouldn’t learn.”

Because I didn’t want you to.

Hong Seok-young whispered low. I’d never heard him speak like that before. Surprised and unsettled, I looked at him. As if the rune weren’t enough to obscure his face, the brim of his hat hid it further. I couldn’t see what expression he wore.

Just then, someone emerged from the opposite warehouse, responding to the police.

“Oh, what’s going on? We’re just busy working… It’s not a crime to work at night, is it?”

“That’s true, but we received a report of a burning smell in the area. This is the only place operating right now, so we need to check.”

“A check?”

“We just need to make sure there’s nothing wrong.”

“Oh, just a moment… Team leader! The police are here and want to check something!”

In the shadows, Hong Seok-young moved ever so slightly. As if searching for a position. Then he picked up a few small pebbles lying at his feet.

“……?”

Hong Seok-young drew his arm back as if to throw a ball. What was he planning?

I opened my mouth to ask, but before I could, he flicked one of the tiny pebbles.

The man known as Korea’s strongest Hunter sent the pebble flying across the road in an instant. It shot past the police and straight into the warehouse. By the time the officers sensed something amiss and turned their heads, it was already too late.

Crash!

“Aaagh!”

“What’s happening?!”

The commotion inside the warehouse made the police start to move in. The employee who had come out first tried to block their way.

“Looks like someone dropped something inside. No need to worry. You said you smelled something burning? We didn’t notice anything…”

The employee, feigning innocence, glanced over the officer’s shoulder—directly at where Hong Seok-young stood. He’d seen the direction the pebble had come from.

Which meant—

Hong Seok-young immediately threw another pebble. This time, it was even faster than before. And this time, he wasn’t aiming for the inside of the warehouse.

“Hey, you son of a—!”

The employee cursed as he swatted away the pebble aimed precisely at his forehead.

The man started to shove the officers aside, then seemed to change his mind and reached for one of them instead. His intent to grab was obvious.

“Wh-what are you doing?!”

The police, unable to grasp the situation, fumbled in confusion.

And then Hong Seok-young moved.